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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Death Valley in '49
+
+Author: William Lewis Manly
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2004 [EBook #12236]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEATH VALLEY IN '49 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry Mittell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+DEATH VALLEY IN '49.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+IMPORTANT CHAPTER OF California Pioneer History.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+--THE--
+
+AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PIONEER, DETAILING HIS LIFE FROM A HUMBLE HOME IN THE
+GREEN MOUNTAINS TO THE GOLD MINES OF CALIFORNIA; AND PARTICULARLY
+RECITING THE SUFFERINGS OF THE BAND OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO GAVE
+"DEATH VALLEY" ITS NAME.
+
+BY WILLIAM LEWIS MANLY.
+
+1894.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by WM. L.
+MANLEY, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TO THE PIONEERS OF CALIFORNIA, THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, THIS
+BOOK IS DEDICATED, WITH THAT HIGH RESPECT AND REGARD SO OFTEN EXPRESSED
+IN ITS PAGES, BY THE AUTHOR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I. Birth, Parentage.--Early Life in Vermont.--Sucking Cider
+through a Straw.
+
+CHAPTER II. The Western Fever.--On the Road to Ohio.--The Outfit.--The
+Erie Canal.--In the Maumee Swamp.
+
+CHAPTER III. At Detroit and Westward.--Government Land.--Killing
+Deer.--"Fever 'N Agur."
+
+CHAPTER IV. The Lost Filley Boy.--Never Was Found.
+
+CHAPTER V. Sickness.--Rather Catch Chipmonks in the Rocky Mountains than
+Live in Michigan.--Building the Michigan Central R.R.--Building a
+Boat.--Floating down Grand River.--Black Bear.--Indians Catching
+Mullet.--Across the Lake to Southport.--Lead Mining at Mineral
+Point.--Decides to go Farther West.--Return to Michigan.
+
+CHAPTER VI. Wisconsin.--Indian Physic.--Dressed for a Winter Hunting
+Campaign.--Hunting and Trapping in the Woods.--Catching Otter and
+Marten.
+
+CHAPTER VII. Lead Mining.--Hears about Gold in California.--Gets the
+Gold Fever.--Nothing will cure it but California.--Mr. Bennett and the
+Author Prepare to Start.--The Winnebago Pony.--Agrees to Meet Bennett at
+Missouri River.--Delayed and Fails to Find Him.--Left with only a Gun
+and Pony.--Goes as a Driver for Charles Dallas.--Stopped by a Herd of
+Buffaloes.--Buffalo Meat.--Indians.--U.S. Troops.--The Captain and the
+Lieutenant.--Arrive at South Pass.--The Waters Run toward the
+Pacific.--They Find a Boat and Seven of them Decide to Float down the
+Green River.
+
+CHAPTER VIII. Floating down the River.--It begins to roar.--Thirty Miles
+a Day.--Brown's Hole.--Lose the Boat and make two Canoes.--Elk.--The
+Cañons get Deeper.--Floundering in the Water.--The Indian Camp.--Chief
+Walker proves a Friend.--Describes the Terrible Cañon below
+Them.--Advises Them to go no farther down.--Decide to go
+Overland.--Dangerous Route to Salt Lake.--Meets Bennett near
+there.--Organize the Sand Walking Company.
+
+CHAPTER IX. The Southern Route.--Off in Fine Style.--A Cut-off
+Proposed.--Most of Them Try it and Fail.--The Jayhawkers.--A New
+Organization.--Men with Families not Admitted.--Capture an Indian Who
+Gives Them the Slip.--An Indian Woman and Her Children.--Grass Begins to
+Fail.--A High Peak to the West.--No Water.--An Indian Hut.--Reach the
+Warm Spring.--Desert Everywhere.--Some One Steals Food.--The Water Acts
+Like a Dose of Salts.--Christmas Day.--Rev. J.W. Brier Delivers a
+Lecture to His Sons.--Nearly Starving and Choking.--An Indian in a
+Mound.--Indians Shoot the Oxen.--Camp at Furnace Creek.
+
+CHAPTER X. A Long, Narrow Valley.--Beds and Blocks of Salt.--An Ox
+Killed.--Blood, Hide and Intestines Eaten.--Crossing Death Valley.--The
+Wagons can go no farther.--Manley and Rogers Volunteer to go for
+Assistance.--They Set out on Foot.--Find the Dead Body of Mr. Fish.--Mr.
+Isham Dies.--Bones along the Road.--Cabbage Trees.--Eating Crow and
+Hawk.--After Sore Trials They Reach a Fertile Land.--Kindly
+Treated.--Returning with Food and Animals.--The Little Mule Climbs a
+Precipice, the Horses are Left Behind.--Finding the Body of Captain
+Culverwell.--They Reach Their Friends just as all Hope has Left
+Them.--Leaving the Wagons.--Packs on the Oxen.--Sacks for the
+Children.--Old Crump.--Old Brigham and Mrs. Arcane.--A Stampede
+[Illustrated.]--Once more Moving Westward.--"Good-bye, Death Valley."
+
+CHAPTER XI. Struggling Along.--Pulling the Oxen Down the Precipice
+[Illustrated.]--Making Raw-hide Moccasins.--Old Brigham Lost and
+Found.--Dry Camps.--Nearly Starving.--Melancholy and Blue.--The Feet of
+the Women Bare and Blistered.--"One Cannot form an Idea How Poor an Ox
+Will Get."--Young Charlie Arcane very Sick.--Skulls of Cattle.--Crossing
+the Snow Belt.--Old Dog Cuff.--Water Dancing over the Rocks.--Drink, Ye
+Thirsty Ones.--Killing a Yearling.--- See the Fat.--Eating Makes Them
+Sick.--Going down Soledad Cañon--A Beautiful Meadow.--Hospitable Spanish
+People.--They Furnish Shelter and Food.--The San Fernando
+Mission.--Reaching Los Angeles.--They Meet Moody and Skinner.--Soap and
+Water for the First Time in Months.--Clean Dresses for the Women.--Real
+Bread to Eat.--A Picture of Los Angeles.--Black-eyed Women.--The Author
+Works in a Boarding-house.--Bennett and Others go up the Coast.--Life in
+Los Angeles.--The Author Prepares to go North.
+
+CHAPTER XII. Dr. McMahon's Story.--McMahon and Field, Left behind with
+Chief Walker, Determine to go down the River.--Change Their Minds and go
+with the Indians.--Change again and go by themselves.--Eating Wolf
+Meat.--After much Suffering they reach Salt Lake.--John Taylor's Pretty
+Wife.--Field falls in Love with her.--They Separate.--Incidents of
+Wonderful Escapes from Death.
+
+CHAPTER XIII. Story of the Jayhawkers.--Ceremonies of Initiation--Rev.
+J.W. Brier.--His Wife the best Man of the Two.--Story of the Road across
+Death Valley.--Burning the Wagons.--Narrow Escape of Tom Shannon.--Capt.
+Ed Doty was Brave and True.--They reach the Sea by way of Santa Clara
+River.--Capt. Haynes before the Alcalde.--List of Jayhawkers.
+
+CHAPTER XIV. Alexander Erkson's Statement.--Works for Brigham Young at
+Salt Lake.--Mormon Gold Coin.--Mt. Misery.--The Virgin River and Yucca
+Trees.--A Child Born to Mr, and Mrs. Rynierson.--Arrive at
+Cucamonga.--Find some good Wine which is good for Scurvy.--San Francisco
+and the Mines.--Settles in San Jose.--Experience of Edward Coker.--Death
+of Culverwell, Fish and Isham.--Goes through Walker's Pass and down Kern
+River.--Living in Fresno in 1892.
+
+CHAPTER XV. The Author again takes up the History.--Working in a
+Boarding House, but makes Arrangements to go North.--Mission San Bueno
+Ventura.--First Sight of the Pacific Ocean.--Santa Barbara in
+1850.--Paradise and Desolation.--San Miguel, Santa Ynez and San Luis
+Obispo.--California Carriages and how they were used.--Arrives in San
+Jose and Camps in the edge of Town.--Description of the place.--Meets
+John Rogers, Bennett, Moody and Skinner.--On the road to the
+Mines.--They find some of the Yellow Stuff and go Prospecting for
+more--Experience with _Piojos_--Life and Times in the Mines--Sights and
+Scenes along the Road, at Sea, on the Isthmus, Cuba, New Orleans, and up
+the Mississippi--A few Months Amid Old Scenes, then away to the Golden
+State again.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI St. Louis to New Orleans, New Orleans to San Francisco--Off
+to the Mines Again--Life in the Mines and Incidents of Mining Times and
+Men--Vigilance Committee--Death of Mrs. Bennett.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII Mines and Mining--Adventures and Incidents of the Early
+Days--The Pioneers, their Character and Influence--- Conclusion.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+DEATH VALLEY IN '49
+
+THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PIONEER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+St. Albans, Vermont is near the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, and
+only a short distance south of "Five-and-forty north degrees" which
+separates the United States from Canada, and some sixty or seventy miles
+from the great St. Lawrence River and the city of Montreal. Near here it
+was, on April 6th, 1820, I was born, so the record says, and from this
+point with wondering eyes of childhood I looked across the waters of the
+narrow lake to the slopes of the Adirondack mountains in New York, green
+as the hills of my own Green Mountain State.
+
+The parents of my father were English people and lived near Hartford,
+Connecticut, where he was born. While still a little boy he came with
+his parents to Vermont. My mother's maiden name was Phœbe Calkins, born
+near St. Albans of Welch parents, and, being left an orphan while yet in
+very tender years, she was given away to be reared by people who
+provided food and clothes, but permitted her to grow up to womanhood
+without knowing how to read or write. After her marriage she learned to
+do both, and acquired the rudiments of an education.
+
+Grandfather and his boys, four in all, fairly carved a farm out of the
+big forest that covered the cold rocky hills. Giant work it was for them
+in such heavy timber--pine, hemlock, maple, beech and birch--the
+clearing of a single acre being a man's work for a year. The place where
+the maples were thickest was reserved for a sugar grove, and from it was
+made all of the sweet material they needed, and some besides. Economy of
+the very strictest kind had to be used in every direction. Main strength
+and muscle were the only things dispensed in plenty. The crops raised
+consisted of a small flint corn, rye oats, potatoes and turnips. Three
+cows, ten or twelve sheep, a few pigs and a yoke of strong oxen
+comprised the live stock--horses, they had none for many years. A great
+ox-cart was the only wheeled vehicle on the place, and this, in winter,
+gave place to a heavy sled, the runners cut from a tree having a natural
+crook and roughly, but strongly, made.
+
+In summer there were plenty of strawberries, raspberries, whortleberries
+and blackberries growing wild, but all the cultivated fruit was apples.
+As these ripened many were peeled by hand, cut in quarters, strung on
+long strings of twine and dried before the kitchen fire for winter use.
+They had a way of burying up some of the best keepers in the ground, and
+opening the apple hole was quite an event of early spring.
+
+The children were taught to work as soon as large enough. I remember
+they furnished me with a little wooden fork to spread the heavy swath of
+grass my father cut with easy swings of the scythe, and when it was dry
+and being loaded on the great ox-cart I followed closely with a rake
+gathering every scattering spear. The barn was built so that every
+animal was housed comfortably in winter, and the house was such as all
+settlers built, not considered handsome, but capable of being made very
+warm in winter and the great piles of hard wood in the yard enough to
+last as fuel for a year, not only helped to clear the land, but kept us
+comfortable. Mother and the girls washed, carded, spun, and wove the
+wool from our own sheep into good strong cloth. Flax was also raised,
+and I remember how they pulled it, rotted it by spreading on the green
+meadow, then broke and dressed it, and then the women made linen cloth
+of various degrees of fineness, quality, and beauty. Thus, by the labor
+of both men and women, we were clothed. If an extra fine Sunday dress
+was desired, part of the yarn was colored and from this they managed to
+get up a very nice plaid goods for the purpose.
+
+In clearing the land the hemlock bark was peeled and traded off at the
+tannery for leather, or used to pay for tanning and dressing the hide of
+an ox or cow which they managed to fat and kill about every year. Stores
+for the family were either made by a neighboring shoe-maker, or by a
+traveling one who went from house to house, making up a supply for the
+family--whipping the cat, they called it then. They paid him in
+something or other produced upon the farm, and no money was asked or
+expected.
+
+Wood was one thing plenty, and the fireplace was made large enough to
+take in sticks four feet long or more, for the more they could burn the
+better, to get it out of the way. In an outhouse, also provided with a
+fireplace and chimney, they made shingles during the long winter
+evenings, the shavings making plenty of fire and light by which to work.
+The shingles sold for about a dollar a thousand. Just beside the
+fireplace in the house was a large brick oven where mother baked great
+loaves of bread, big pots of pork and beans, mince pies and loaf cake, a
+big turkey or a young pig on grand occasions. Many of the dishes used
+were of tin or pewter; the milk pans were of earthenware, but most
+things about the house in the line of furniture were of domestic
+manufacture.
+
+The store bills were very light. A little tea for father and mother, a
+few spices and odd luxuries were about all, and they were paid for with
+surplus eggs. My father and my uncle had a sawmill, and in winter they
+hauled logs to it, and could sell timber for $8 per thousand feet.
+
+The school was taught in winter by a man named Bowen, who managed forty
+scholars and considered sixteen dollars a month, boarding himself, was
+pretty fair pay. In summer some smart girl would teach the small
+scholars and board round among the families.
+
+When the proper time came the property holder would send off to the
+collector an itemized list of all his property, and at another the taxes
+fell due. A farmer who would value his property at two thousand or three
+thousand dollars would find he had to pay about six or seven dollars.
+All the money in use then seemed to be silver, and not very much of
+that. The whole plan seemed to be to have every family and farm
+self-supporting as far as possible. I have heard of a note being given
+payable in a good cow to be delivered at a certain time, say October 1,
+and on that day it would pass from house to house in payment of a debt,
+and at night only the last man in the list would have a cow more than
+his neighbor. Yet those were the days of real independence, after all.
+Every man worked hard from early youth to a good old age. There were no
+millionaires, no tramps, and the poorhouse had only a few inmates.
+
+I have very pleasant recollections of the neighborhood cider mill. There
+were two rollers formed of logs carefully rounded and four or five feet
+long, set closely together in an upright position in a rough frame, a
+long crooked sweep coming from one of them to which a horse was hitched
+and pulled it round and round, One roller had mortices in it, and
+projecting wooden teeth on the other fitted into these, so that, as they
+both slowly turned together, the apples were crushed, A huge box of
+coarse slats, notched and locked together at the corners, held a vast
+pile of the crushed apples while clean rye straw was added to strain the
+flowing juice and keep the cheese from spreading too much; then the
+ponderous screw and streams of delicious cider. Sucking cider through a
+long rye straw inserted in the bung-hole of a barrel was just the best
+of fun, and cider taken that way "awful" good while it was new and
+sweet.
+
+The winter ashes, made from burning so much fuel and gathered from the
+brush-heaps and log-heaps, were carefully saved and traded with the
+potash men for potash or sold for a small price. Nearly every one went
+barefoot in summer, and in winter wore heavy leather moccasins made by
+the Canadian French who lived near by.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+About 1828 people began to talk about the far West. Ohio was the place
+we heard most about, and the most we knew was, that it was a long way
+off and no way to get there except over a long and tedious road, with
+oxen or horses and a cart or wagon. More than one got the Western fever,
+as they called it, my uncle James Webster and my father among the rest,
+when they heard some traveler tell about the fine country he had seen;
+so they sold their farms and decided to go to Ohio, Uncle James was to
+go ahead, in the fall of 1829 and get a farm to rent, if he could, and
+father and his family were to come on the next spring.
+
+Uncle fitted out with two good horses and a wagon; goods were packed in
+a large box made to fit, and under the wagon seat was the commissary
+chest for food and bedding for daily use, all snugly arranged. Father
+had, shortly before, bought a fine Morgan mare and a light wagon which
+served as a family carriage, having wooden axles and a seat arranged on
+wooden springs, and they finally decided they would let me take the
+horse and wagon and go on with uncle, and father and mother would come
+by water, either by way of the St. Lawrence river and the lakes or by
+way of the new canal recently built, which would take them as far as
+Buffalo.
+
+So they loaded up the little wagon with some of the mentioned things and
+articles in the house, among which I remember a fine brass kettle,
+considered almost indispensable in housekeeping. There was a good lot of
+bedding and blankets, and a quilt nicely folded was placed on the spring
+seat as a cushion.
+
+As may be imagined I was the object of a great deal of attention about
+this time, for a boy not yet ten years old just setting out into a
+region almost unknown was a little unusual. When I was ready they all
+gathered round to say good bye and my good mother seemed most concerned.
+She said--"Now you must be a good boy till we come in the spring. Mind
+uncle and aunt and take good care of the horse, and remember us. May God
+protect you." She embraced me and kissed me and held me till she was
+exhausted. Then they lifted me up into the spring seat, put the lines in
+my hand and handed me my little whip with a leather strip for a lash.
+Just at the last moment father handed me a purse containing about a
+dollar, all in copper cents--pennies we called them then. Uncle had
+started on they had kept me so long, but I started up and they all
+followed me along the road for a mile or so before we finally separated
+and they turned back. They waved hats and handkerchiefs till out of
+sight as they returned, and I wondered if we should ever meet again.
+
+I was up with uncle very soon and we rolled down through St. Albans and
+took our road southerly along in sight of Lake Champlain. Uncle and aunt
+often looked back to talk to me, "See what a nice cornfield!" or, "What
+nice apples on those trees," seeming to think they must do all they
+could to cheer me up, that I might not think too much of the playmates
+and home I was leaving behind.
+
+I had never driven very far before, but I found the horse knew more than
+I did how to get around the big stones and stumps that were found in the
+road, so that as long as I held the lines and the whip in hand I was an
+excellent driver.
+
+We had made plans and preparations to board ourselves on the journey. We
+always stopped at the farm houses over night, and they were so
+hospitable that they gave us all we wanted free. Our supper was
+generally of bread and milk, the latter always furnished gratuitously,
+and I do not recollect that we were ever turned away from any house
+where we asked shelter. There were no hotels, or taverns as they called
+them, outside of the towns.
+
+In due time we reached Whitehall, at the head of Lake Champlain, and the
+big box in Uncle's wagon proved so heavy over the muddy roads that he
+put it in a canal boat to be sent on to Cleveland, and we found it much
+easier after this for there were too many mud-holes, stumps and stones
+and log bridges for so heavy a load as he had. Our road many times after
+this led along near the canal, the Champlain or the Erie, and I had a
+chance to see something of the canal boys' life. The boy who drove the
+horses that drew the packet boat was a well dressed fellow and always
+rode at a full trot or a gallop, but the freight driver was generally
+ragged and barefoot, and walked when it was too cold to ride, threw
+stones or clubs at his team, and cursed and abused the packet-boy who
+passed as long as he was in hearing. Reared as I had been I thought it
+was a pretty wicked part of the world we were coming to.
+
+We passed one village of low cheap houses near the canal. The men about
+were very vulgar and talked rough and loud, nearly every one with a
+pipe, and poorly dressed, loafing around the saloon, apparently the
+worse for whisky. The children were barefoot, bare headed and scantly
+dressed, and it seemed awfully dirty about the doors of the shanties.
+Pigs, ducks and geese were at the very door, and the women I saw wore
+dresses that did not come down very near the mud and big brogan shoes,
+and their talk was saucy and different from what I had ever heard women
+use before. They told me they were Irish people--the first I had ever
+seen. It was along here somewhere that I lost my little whip and to get
+another one made sad inroads into the little purse of pennies my father
+gave me. We traveled slowly on day after day. There was no use to hurry
+for we could not do it. The roads were muddy, the log ways very rough
+and the only way was to take a moderate gait and keep it. We never
+traveled on Sunday. One Saturday evening my uncle secured the privilege
+of staying at a well-to do farmer's house until Monday. We had our own
+food and bedding, but were glad to get some privileges in the kitchen,
+and some fresh milk or vegetables. After all had taken supper that night
+they all sat down and made themselves quiet with their books, and the
+children were as still as mice till an early bed time when all retired.
+When Sunday evening came the women got out their work--their sewing and
+their knitting, and the children romped and played and made as much
+noise as they could, seeming as anxious to break the Sabbath as they had
+been to have a pious Saturday night. I had never seen that way before
+and asked my uncle who said he guessed they were Seventh Day Baptists.
+
+After many days of travel which became to me quite monotonous we came to
+Cleveland, on Lake Erie, and here my uncle found his box of goods,
+loaded it into the wagon again, and traveled on through rain and mud,
+making very slow headway, for two or three days after, when we stopped
+at a four-corners in Medina county they told us we were only 21 miles
+from Cleveland. Here was a small town consisting of a hotel, store,
+church, schoolhouse and blacksmith shop, and as it was getting cold and
+bad, uncle decided to go no farther now, and rented a room for himself
+and aunt, and found a place for me to lodge with Daniel Stevens' boy
+close by. We got good stables for our horses.
+
+I went to the district school here, and studied reading, spelling and
+Colburn's mental arithmetic, which I mastered. It began very easy--"How
+many thumbs on your right hand?" "How many on your left?" "How many
+altogether?" but it grew harder further on.
+
+Uncle took employment at anything he could find to do. Chopping was his
+principal occupation. When the snow began to go off he looked around for
+a farm to rent for us and father to live on when he came, but he found
+none such as he needed. He now got a letter from father telling him that
+he had good news from a friend named Cornish who said that good land
+nearly clear of timber could be bought of the Government in Michigan
+Territory, some sixty or seventy miles beyond Detroit, and this being an
+opportunity to get land they needed with their small capital, they would
+start for that place as soon as the water-ways were thawed out, probably
+in April.
+
+We then gave up the idea of staying here and prepared to go to Michigan
+as soon as the frost was out of the ground. Starting, we reached Huron
+River to find it swollen and out of its bank, giving us much trouble to
+get across, the road along the bottom lands being partly covered with
+logs and rails, but once across we were in the town and when we enquired
+about the road around to Detroit, they said the country was all a swamp
+and 30 miles wide and in Spring impassible. They called it the Maumee or
+Black Swamp, We were advised to go by water, when a steamboat came up
+the river bound for Detroit we put our wagons and horses on board, and
+camped on the lower deck ourselves. We had our own food and were very
+comfortable, and glad to have escaped the great mudhole.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+We arrived in Detroit safely, and a few minutes answered to land our
+wagons and goods, when we rolled outward in a westerly direction. We
+found a very muddy roads, stumps and log bridges plenty, making our rate
+of travel very slow. When out upon our road about 30 miles, near
+Ypsilanti, the thick forest we had been passing through grew thinner,
+and the trees soon dwindled down into what they called oak openings, and
+the road became more sandy. When we reached McCracken's Tavern we began
+to enquire for Ebenezer Manley and family, and were soon directed to a
+large house near by where he was stopping for a time.
+
+We drove up to the door and they all came out to see who the new comers
+were. Mother saw me first and ran to the wagon and pulled me off and
+hugged and kissed me over and over again, while the tears ran down her
+cheeks, Then she would hold me off at arm's length, and look me in the
+eye and say--"I am so glad to have you again"; and then she embraced me
+again and again. "You are our little man," said she, "You have come over
+this long road, and brought us our good horse and our little wagon." My
+sister Polly two years older than I, stood patiently by, and when mother
+turned to speak to uncle and aunt, she locked arms with me and took me
+away with her. We had never been separated before in all our lives and
+we had loved each other as good children should, who have been brought
+up in good and moral principles. We loved each other and our home and
+respected our good father and mother who had made it so happy for us.
+
+We all sat down by the side of the house and talked pretty fast telling
+our experience on our long journey by land and water, and when the sun
+went down we were called to supper, and went hand in hand to surround
+the bountiful table as a family again. During the conversation at supper
+father said to me--"Lewis, I have bought you a smooth bore rifle,
+suitable for either ball or shot." This, I thought was good enough for
+any one, and I thanked him heartily. We spent the greater part of the
+night in talking over our adventures since we left Vermont, and sleep
+was forgotten by young and old.
+
+Next morning father and uncle took the horse and little wagon and went
+out in search of Government land. They found an old acquaintance in
+Jackson county and Government land all around him, and, searching till
+they found the section corner, they found the number of the lots they
+wanted to locate on--200 acres in all. They then went to the Detroit
+land office and secured the pieces they had chosen.
+
+Father now bought a yoke of oxen, a wagon and a cow, and as soon as we
+could get loaded up our little emigrant train started west to our future
+home, where we arrived safely in a few days and secured a house to live
+in about a mile away from our land. We now worked with a will and built
+two log houses and also hired 10 acres broken, which was done with three
+or four yoke of oxen and a strong plow. The trees were scattered over
+the ground and some small brush and old limbs, and logs which we cleared
+away as we plowed. Our houses went up very fast--all rough oak logs,
+with oak puncheons, or hewed planks for a floor, and oak shakes for a
+roof, all of our own make. The shakes were held down upon the roof by
+heavy poles, for we had no nails, the door of split stuff hung with
+wooden hinges, and the fire place of stone laid up with the logs, and
+from the loft floor upward the chimney was built of split stuff
+plastered heavily with mud. We have a small four-paned window in the
+house. We then built a log barn for our oxen, cow and horse and got
+pigs, sheep and chickens as fast as a chance offered.
+
+As fast as possible we fenced in the cultivated land, father and uncle
+splitting out the rails, while a younger brother and myself, by each
+getting hold of an end of one of them managed to lay up a fence four
+rails high, all we small men could do. Thus working on, we had a pretty
+well cultivated farm in the course of two or three years, on which we
+produced wheat, corn and potatoes, and had an excellent garden. We found
+plenty of wild cranberries and whortleberries, which we dried for winter
+use. The lakes were full of good fish, black bass and pickerel, and the
+woods had deer, turkeys, pheasants, pigeons, and other things, and I
+became quite an expert in the capture of small game for the table with
+my new gun. Father and uncle would occasionally kill a deer, and the
+Indians came along and sold venison at times.
+
+One fall after work was done and preparations were made for the winter,
+father said to me:--"Now Lewis, I want you to hunt every day--come home
+nights--but keep on till you kill a deer." So with his permission I
+started with my gun on my shoulder, and with feelings of considerable
+pride. Before night I started two deer in a brushy place, and they
+leaped high over the oak bushes in the most affrighted way. I brought my
+gun to my shoulder and fired at the bounding animal when in most plain
+sight. Loading then quickly, I hurried up the trail as fast as I could
+and soon came to my deer, dead, with a bullet hole in its head. I was
+really surprised myself, for I had fired so hastily at the almost flying
+animal that it was little more than a random shot. As the deer was not
+very heavy I dressed it and packed it home myself, about as proud a boy
+as the State of Michigan contained. I really began to think I was a
+capital hunter, though I afterward knew it was a bit of good luck and
+not a bit of skill about it.
+
+It was some time after this before I made another lucky shot. Father
+would once in a while ask me:--"Well can't you kill us another deer?" I
+told him that when I had crawled a long time toward a sleeping deer,
+that I got so trembly that I could not hit an ox in short range. "O,"
+said he, "You get the buck fever--don't be so timid--they won't attack
+you." But after awhile this fever wore off, and I got so steady that I
+could hit anything I could get in reach of.
+
+We were now quite contented and happy. Father could plainly show us the
+difference between this country and Vermont and the advantages we had
+here. There the land was poor and stony and the winters terribly severe.
+Here there were no stones to plow over, and the land was otherwise easy
+to till. We could raise almost anything, and have nice wheat bread to
+eat, far superior to the "Rye-and-Indian" we used to have. The nice
+white bread was good enough to eat without butter, and in comparison
+this country seemed a real paradise.
+
+The supply of clothing we brought with us had lasted until now--more
+than two years--and we had sowed some flax and raised sheep so that we
+began to get material of our own raising, from which to manufacture some
+more. Mother and sister spun some nice yarn, both woolen and linen, and
+father had a loom made on which mother wove it up into cloth, and we
+were soon dressed up in bran new clothes again. Domestic economy of this
+kind was as necessary here as it was in Vermont, and we knew well how to
+practice it. About this time the emigrants began to come in very fast,
+and every piece of Government land any where about was taken. So much
+land was ploughed, and so much vegetable matter turned under and
+decaying that there came a regular epidemic of fever and ague and
+bilious fever, and a large majority of the people were sick. At our
+house father was the first one attacked, and when the fever was at its
+height he was quite out of his head and talked and acted like a crazy
+man. We had never seen any one so sick before, and we thought he must
+surely die, but when the doctor came he said:--"Don't be alarmed. It is
+only 'fever 'n' agur,' and no one was ever known to die of that." Others
+of us were sick too, and most of the neighbors, and it made us all feel
+rather sorrowful. The doctor's medicines consisted of calomel, jalap and
+quinine, all used pretty freely, by some with benefit, and by others to
+no visible purpose, for they had to suffer until the cold weather came
+and froze the disease out. At one time I was the only one that remained
+well, and I had to nurse and cook, besides all the out-door work that
+fell to me. My sister married a man near by with a good farm and moved
+there with him, a mile or two away. When she went away I lost my real
+bosom companion and felt very lonesome, but I went to see her once in a
+while, and that was pretty often, I think. There was not much going on
+as a general thing. Some little neighborhood society and news was about
+all. There was, however, one incident which occurred in 1837, I never
+shall forget, and which I will relate in the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+About two miles west father's farm in Jackson county Mich., lived Ami
+Filley, who moved here from Connecticut and settled about two and a half
+miles from the town of Jackson, then a small village with plenty of
+stumps and mudholes in its streets. Many of the roads leading thereto
+had been paved with tamarac poles, making what is now known as corduroy
+roads. The country was still new and the farm houses far between.
+
+Mr. Filley secured Government land in the oak openings, and settled
+there with his wife and two or three children, the oldest of which was a
+boy named Willie. The children were getting old enough to go to school,
+but there being none, Mr. Filley hired one of the neighbor's daughters
+to come to his house and teach the children there, so they might be
+prepared for usefulness in life or ready to proceed further with their
+education--to college, perhaps in some future day.
+
+The young woman he engaged lived about a mile a half away--Miss Mary
+Mount--and she came over and began her duties as private school ma'am,
+not a very difficult task in those days. One day after she had been
+teaching some time Miss Mount desired to go to her father's on a visit,
+and as she would pass a huckleberry swamp on the way she took a small
+pail to fill with berries as she went, and by consent of Willie's
+mother, the little boy went with her for company. Reaching the berries
+she began to pick, and the little boy found this dull business, got
+tired and homesick and wanted to go home. They were about a mile from
+Mr. Filley's and as there was a pretty good foot trail over which they
+had come, the young woman took the boy to it, and turning him toward
+home told him to follow it carefully and he would soon see his mother.
+She then filled her pail with berries, went on to her own home, and
+remained there till nearly sundown, when she set out to return to Mr.
+Filley's, reaching there yet in the early twilight. Not seeing Willie,
+she inquired for him and was told that he had not returned, and that
+they supposed he was safe with her. She then hastily related how it
+happened that he had started back toward home, and that she supposed he
+had safely arrived.
+
+Mr. Filley then started back on the trail, keeping close watch on each
+side of the way, for he expected he would soon come across Master Willie
+fast asleep. He called his name every few rods, but got no answer nor
+could he discover him, and so returned home again, still calling and
+searching, but no boy was discovered. Then he built a large fire and put
+lighted candles in all the windows, then took his lantern and wont out
+in the woods calling and looking for the boy. Sometimes he thought he
+heard him, but on going where the sound came from nothing could be
+found. So he looked and called all night, along the trail and all about
+the woods, with no success. Mr. Mount's home was situated not far from
+the shore of Fitch's Lake, and the trail went along the margin, and in
+some places the ground was quite a boggy marsh, and the trail had been
+fixed up to make it passably good walking.
+
+Next day the neighbors were notified, and asked to assist, and although
+they were in the midst of wheat harvest, a great many laid down the
+cradle and rake and went out to help search. On the third day the whole
+county became excited and quite an army of searchers turned out, coming
+from the whole country miles around.
+
+Mr. Filley was much excited and quite worn out an beside himself with
+fatigue and loss of sleep. He could not eat. Yielding to entreaty he
+would sit at the table, and suddenly rise up, saying he heard Willie
+calling, and go out to search for the supposed voice, but it was all
+fruitless, and the whole people were sorry indeed for the poor father
+and mother.
+
+The people then formed a plan for a thorough search. They were to form
+in a line so near each other that they could touch hands and were to
+march thus turning out for nothing except in passable lakes, and thus we
+marched, fairly sweeping the county in search of a sign. I was with this
+party and we marched south and kept close watch for a bit of clothing, a
+foot print or even bones, or anything which would indicate that he had
+been destroyed by some wild animal. Thus we marched all day with no
+success, and the next went north in the same careful manner, but with no
+better result. Most of the people now abandoned the search, but some of
+the neighbors kept it up for a long time.
+
+Some expressed themselves quite strongly that Miss Mount knew where the
+boy was, saying that she might have had some trouble with him and in
+seeking to correct him had accidentally killed him and then hidden the
+body away--perhaps in the deep mire of the swamp or in the muddy waters
+on the margin of the lake. Search was made with this idea foremost, but
+nothing was discovered. Rain now set in, and the grain, from neglect
+grew in the head as it stood, and many a settler ate poor bread all
+winter in consequence of his neighborly kindness in the midst of
+harvest. The bread would not rise, and to make it into pancakes was the
+best way it could be used.
+
+Still no tidings ever came of the lost boy. Many things were whispered,
+about Mr. Mount's dishonesty of character and there were many suspicions
+about him, but no real facts could be shown to account for the boy. The
+neighbors said he never worked like the rest of them, and that his patch
+of cultivated land was altogether too small to support his family, a
+wife and two daughters, grown. He was a very smooth and affable talker,
+and had lots of acquaintances. A few years afterwards Mr. Mount was
+convicted of a crime which sent him to the Jackson State Prison, where
+he died before his term expired. I visited the Filley family in 1870,
+and from them heard the facts anew and that no trace of the lost boy had
+ever been discovered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+The second year of sickness and I was affected with the rest, though it
+was not generally so bad as the first year. I suffered a great deal and
+felt so miserable that I began to think I had rather live on the top of
+the Rocky Mountains and catch chipmuncks for a living than to live here
+and be sick, and I began to have very serious thoughts of trying some
+other country. In the winter of 1839 and 1840 I went to a neighboring
+school for three months, where I studied reading, writing and spelling,
+getting as far as Rule of Three in Daboll's arithmetic. When school was
+out I chopped and split rails for Wm. Hanna till I had paid my winter's
+board. After this, myself and a young man named Orrin Henry, with whom I
+had become acquainted, worked awhile scoring timber to be used in
+building the Michigan Central Railroad which had just then begun to be
+built. They laid down the ties first (sometimes a mudsill under them)
+and then put down four by eight wooden rails with a strips of band iron
+half an inch thick spiked on top. I scored the timber and Henry used the
+broad axe after me. It was pretty hard work and the hours as long as we
+could see, our wages being $13 per month, half cash.
+
+In thinking over our prospect it seemed more and more as if I had better
+look out for my own fortune in some other place. The farm was pretty
+small for all of us. There were three brothers younger than I, and only
+200 acres in the whole, and as they were growing up to be men it seemed
+as if it would be best for me, the oldest, to start out first and see
+what could be done to make my own living. I talked to father and mother
+about my plans, and they did not seriously object, but gave me some good
+advice, which I remember to this day--"Weigh well every thing you do;
+shun bad company; be honest and deal fair; be truthful and never fear
+when you know you are right." But, said he, "Our little peach trees will
+bear this year, and if you go away you must come back and help us eat
+them; they will be the first we ever raised or ever saw." I could not
+promise.
+
+Henry and I drew our pay for our work. I had five dollars in cash and
+the rest in pay from the company's store. We purchased three nice
+whitewood boards, eighteen inches wide, from which we made us a boat and
+a good sized chest which we filled with provisions and some clothing and
+quilts. This, with our guns and ammunition, composed the cargo of our
+boat. When all was ready, we put the boat on a wagon and were to haul it
+to the river some eight miles away for embarkation. After getting the
+wagon loaded, father said to me;--"Now my son, you are starting out in
+life alone, no one to watch or look after you. You will have to depend
+upon yourself in all things. You have a wide, wide world to operate
+in--you will meet all kinds of people and you must not expect to find
+them all honest or true friends. You are limited in money, and all I can
+do for you in that way is to let you have what ready money I have." He
+handed me three dollars as he spoke, which added to my own gave me seven
+dollars as my money capital with which to start out into the world among
+perfect strangers, and no acquaintances in prospect on our Western
+course.
+
+When ready to start, mother and sister Poll came out to see us off and
+to give us their best wishes, hoping we would have good health, and find
+pleasant paths to follow. Mother said to me:--"You must be a good boy,
+honest and law-abiding. Remember our advice, and honor us for we have
+striven to make you a good and honest man, and you must follow our
+teachings, and your conscience will be clear. Do nothing to be ashamed
+of; be industrious, and you have no fear of punishment." We were given a
+great many "Good byes" and "God bless you's" as with hands, hats and
+handkerchiefs they waved us off as far as we could see them. In the
+course of an hour or so we were at the water's edge, and on a beautiful
+morning in early spring of 1840 we found ourselves floating down the
+Grand River below Jackson.
+
+The stream ran west, that we knew, and it was west we thought we wanted
+to go, so all things suited us. The stream was small with tall timber on
+both sides, and so many trees had fallen into the river that our
+navigation was at times seriously obstructed. When night came we hauled
+our boat on shore, turned it partly over, so as to shelter us, built a
+fire in front, and made a bed on a loose board which we carried in the
+bottom of the boat. We talked till pretty late and then lay down to
+sleep, but for my part my eyes would not stay shut, and I lay till break
+of day and the little birds began to sing faintly.
+
+I thought of many things that night which seemed so long. I had left a
+good dear home, where I had good warm meals and a soft and comfortable
+bed. Here I had reposed on a board with a very hard pillow and none too
+many blankets, and I turned from side to side on my hard bed, to which I
+had gone with all my clothes on. It seemed the beginning of another
+chapter in my pioneer life and a rather tough experience. I arose,
+kindled a big fire and sat looking at the glowing coals in still further
+meditation.
+
+Neither of us felt very gleeful as we got our breakfast and made an
+early start down the river again. Neither of us talked very much, and no
+doubt my companion had similar thoughts to mine, and wondered what was
+before us. But I think that as a pair we were at that moment pretty
+lonesome. Henry had rested better than I but probably felt no less
+keenly the separation from our homes and friends. We saw plenty of
+squirrels and pigeons on the trees which overhung the river, and we shot
+and picked up as many as we thought we could use for food. When we fired
+our guns the echoes rolled up and down the river for miles making the
+feeling of loneliness still more keen, as the sound died faintly away.
+We floated along generally very quietly. We could see the fish dart
+under our boat from their feeding places along the bank, and now and
+then some tall crane would spread his broad wings to get out of our way.
+
+We saw no houses for several days, and seldom went on shore. The forest
+was all hard wood, such as oak, ash, walnut, maple, elm and beech.
+Farther down we occasionally passed the house of some pioneer hunter or
+trapper, with a small patch cleared. At one of these a big green boy
+came down to the bank to see who we were. We said "How d'you do," to
+him, and, getting no response, Henry asked him how far is was to
+Michigan, at which a look of supreme disgust came over his features as
+he replied--"'Taint no far at all."
+
+The stream grew wider as we advanced along its downward course, for
+smaller streams came pouring in to swell its tide. The banks were still
+covered with heavy timber, and in some places with quite thick
+undergrowth. One day we saw a black bear in the river washing himself,
+but he went ashore before we were near enough to get a sure shot at him.
+Many deer tracks were seen along the shore, but as we saw very few of
+the animals themselves, they were probably night visitors.
+
+One day we overtook some canoes containing Indians, men, women and
+children. They were poling their craft around in all directions spearing
+fish. They caught many large mullet and then went on shore and made
+camp, and the red ladies began scaling the fish. As soon as their lords
+and masters had unloaded the canoes, a party started out with four of
+the boats, two men in a boat, to try their luck again. They ranged all
+abreast, and moved slowly down the stream in the still deep water,
+continually beating the surface with their spear handles, till they came
+to a place so shallow that they could see the bottom easily, when they
+suddenly turned the canoes head up stream, and while one held the craft
+steady by sticking his spear handle down on the bottom, the other stood
+erect, with a foot on either gunwale so he could see whatever came down
+on either side. Soon the big fish would try to pass, but Mr. Indian had
+too sharp an eye to let him escape unobserved, and when he came within
+his reach he would turn his spear and throw it like a dart, seldom
+missing his aim. The poor fish would struggle desperately, but soon came
+to the surface, when he would be drawn in and knocked in the head with a
+tomahawk to quiet him, when the spear was cut out and the process
+repeated. We watched them about an hour, and during that time some one
+of the boats was continually hauling in a fish. They were sturgeon and
+very large. This was the first time we had ever seen the Indian's way of
+catching fish and it was a new way of getting grub for us. When the
+canoes had full loads they paddled up toward their camp, and we drifted
+on again.
+
+When we came to Grand Rapids we had to go on shore and tow our boat
+carefully along over the many rocks to prevent accident. Here was a
+small cheap looking town. On the west bank of the river a water wheel
+was driving a drill boring for salt water, it seemed through solid rock.
+Up to this time the current was slow, and its course through a dense
+forest. We occasionally saw an Indian gliding around in his canoe, but
+no houses or clearings. Occasionally we saw some pine logs which had
+been floated down some of the streams of the north. One of these small
+rivers they called the "Looking-glass," and seemed to be the largest of
+them.
+
+Passing on we began to see some pine timber, and realized that we were
+near the mouth of the river where it emptied into Lake Michigan. There
+were some steam saw mills here, not then in operation, and some houses
+for the mill hands to live in when they were at work. This prospective
+city was called Grand Haven. There was one schooner in the river loaded
+with lumber, ready to sail for the west side of the lake as soon as the
+wind should change and become favorable, and we engaged passage for a
+dollar and a half each. While waiting for the wind we visited the woods
+in search of game, but found none. All the surface of the soil was clear
+lake sand, and some quite large pine and hemlock trees were half buried
+in it. We were not pleased with this place for it looked as if folks
+must get their grub from somewhere else or live on fish.
+
+Next morning we were off early, as the wind had changed, but the lake
+was very rough and a heavy choppy sea was running. Before we were half
+way across the lake nearly all were sea-sick, passengers and sailors.
+The poor fellow at the helm stuck to his post casting up his accounts at
+the same time, putting on an air of terrible misery.
+
+This, I thought was pretty hard usage for a land-lubber like myself who
+had never been on such rough water before. The effect of this
+sea-sickness was to cure me of a slight fever and ague, and in fact the
+cure was so thorough that I have never had it since. As we neared the
+western shore a few houses could be seen, and the captain said it was
+Southport. As there was no wharf our schooner put out into the lake
+again for an hour or so and then ran back again, lying off and on in
+this manner all night. In the morning it was quite calm and we went on
+shore in the schooner's yawl, landing on a sandy beach. We left our
+chest of clothes and other things in a warehouse and shouldered our
+packs and guns for a march across what seemed an endless prairie
+stretching to the west. We had spent all our lives thus far in a country
+where all the clearing had to be made with an axe, and such a broad
+field was to us an entirely new feature. We laid our course westward and
+tramped on. The houses were very far apart, and we tried at every one of
+them for a chance to work, but could get none, not even if we would work
+for our board. The people all seemed to be new settlers, and very poor,
+compelled to do their own work until a better day could be reached. The
+coarse meals we got were very reasonable, generally only ten cents, but
+sometimes a little more.
+
+As we travelled westward the prairies seemed smaller with now and then
+some oak openings between. Some of the farms seemed to be three or four
+years old, and what had been laid out as towns consisted of from three
+to six houses, small and cheap, with plenty of vacant lots. The soil
+looked rich, as though it might be very productive. We passed several
+small lakes that had nice fish in them, and plenty of ducks on the
+surface.
+
+Walking began to get pretty tiresome. Great blisters would come on our
+feet, and, tender as they were, it was a great relief to take off our
+boots and go barefoot for a while when the ground was favorable. We
+crossed a wide prairie and came down to the Rock river where there were
+a few houses on the east side but no signs of habitation on the west
+bank. We crossed the river in a canoe and then walked seven miles before
+we came to a house where we staid all night and inquired for work. None
+was to be had and so we tramped on again. The next day we met a real
+live Yankee with a one-horse wagon, peddling tin ware in regular Eastern
+style, We inquired of him about the road and prospects, and he gave us
+an encouraging idea--said all was good. He told us where to stop the
+next night at a small town called Sugar Creek. It had but a few houses
+and was being built up as a mining town, for some lead ore had been
+found there. There were as many Irish as English miners here, a rough
+class of people. We put up at the house where we had been directed, a
+low log cabin, rough and dirty, kept by Bridget & Co. Supper was had
+after dark and the light on the table was just the right one for the
+place, a saucer of grease, with a rag in it lighted and burning at the
+edge of the saucer. It at least served to made the darkness apparent and
+to prevent the dirt being visible. We had potatoes, beans and tea, and
+probably dirt too, if we could have seen it. When the meal was nearly
+done Bridget brought in and deposited on each plate a good thick pancake
+as a dessert. It smelled pretty good, but when I drew my knife across it
+to cut it in two, all the center was uncooked batter, which ran out upon
+my plate, and spoiled my supper.
+
+We went to bed and soon found it had other occupants beside ourselves,
+which, if they were small were lively and spoiled our sleeping. We left
+before breakfast, and a few miles out on the prairie we came to a house
+occupied by a woman and one child, and we were told we could have
+breakfast if we could wait to have it cooked. Everything looked cheap
+but cheery, and after waiting a little while outside we were called in
+to eat. The meal consisted of corn bread, bacon, potatoes and coffee. It
+was well cooked and looked better than things did at Bridget's. I
+enjoyed all but the coffee, which had a rich brown color, but when I
+sipped it there was such a bitter taste I surely thought there must be
+quinine in it, and it made me shiver. I tried two or three times to
+drink but it was too much for me and I left it. We shouldered our loads
+and went on again. I asked Henry what kind of a drink it was. "Coffee,"
+said he, but I had never seen any that tasted like that and never knew
+my father to buy any such coffee as that.
+
+We labored along and in time came to another small place called
+Hamilton's Diggings where some lead mines were being worked. We stopped
+at a long, low log house with a porch the entire length, and called for
+bread and milk, which was soon set before us. The lady was washing and
+the man was playing with a child on the porch. The little thing was
+trying to walk, the man would swear terribly at it--not in an angry way,
+but in a sort of careless, blasphemous style that was terribly shocking.
+I thought of the child being reared in the midst of such bad language
+and reflected on the kind of people we were meeting in this far away
+place. They seemed more wicked and profane the farther west we walked. I
+had always lived in a more moral and temperate atmosphere, and I was
+learning more of some things in the world than I had ever known before.
+I had little to say and much to see and listen to and my early precepts
+were not forgotten. No work was to be had here and we set out across the
+prairie toward Mineral Point, twenty miles away. When within four miles
+of that place we stopped at the house of Daniel Parkinson, a fine
+looking two-story building, and after the meal was over Mr. Henry hired
+out to him for $16 per month, and went to work that day. I heard of a
+job of cutting cordwood six miles away and went after it, for our money
+was getting very scarce, but when I reached the place I found a man had
+been there half an hour before and secured the job. The proprietor, Mr.
+Crow, gave me my dinner which I accepted with many thanks, for it saved
+my coin to pay for the next meal. I now went to Mineral Point, and
+searched the town over for work. My purse contained thirty-five cents
+only and I slept in an unoccupied out house without supper. I bought
+crackers and dried beef for ten cents in the morning and made my first
+meal since the day before, felt pretty low-spirited. I then went to
+Vivian's smelting furnace where they bought lead ore, smelted it, and
+run it into pigs of about 70 pounds each. He said he had a job for me if
+I could do it. The furnace was propelled by water and they had a small
+buzz saw for cutting four-foot wood into blocks about a foot long. These
+blocks they wanted split up in pieces about an inch square to mix in
+with charcoal in smelting ore. He said he would board me with the other
+men, and give me a dollar and a quarter a cord for splitting the wood. I
+felt awfully poor, and a stranger, and this was a beginning for me at
+any rate, so I went to work with a will and never lost a minute of
+daylight till I had split up all the wood and filled his woodhouse
+completely up. The board was very coarse--bacon, potatoes, and bread--a
+man cook, and bread mixed up with salt and water. The old log house
+where we lodged was well infested with troublesome insects which worked
+nights at any rate, whether they rested days or not, and the beds had a
+mild odor of pole cat. The house was long, low and without windows. In
+one end was a fireplace, and there were two tiers of bunks on each side,
+supplied with straw only. In the space between the bunks was a
+stationary table, with stools for seats. I was the only American who
+boarded there and I could not well become very familiar with the
+boarders.
+
+The country was rolling, and there were many beautiful brooks and clear
+springs of water, with fertile soil. The Cornish miners were in the
+majority and governed the locality politically. My health was excellent,
+and so long as I had my gun and ammunition I could kill game enough to
+live on, for prairie chickens and deer could be easily killed, and meat
+alone would sustain life, so I had no special fears of starvation. I was
+now paid off, and went back to see my companion, Mr. Henry. I did not
+hear of any more work, so I concluded I would start back toward my old
+home in Michigan, and shouldered my bundle and gun, turning my face
+eastward for a long tramp across the prairie. I knew I had a long tramp
+before me, but I thought best to head that way, for my capital was only
+ten dollars, and I might be compelled to walk the whole distance. I
+walked till about noon and then sat down in the shade of a tree to rest
+for this was June and pretty warm. I was now alone in a big territory,
+thinly settled, and thought of my father's home, the well set table, all
+happy and well fed at any rate, and here was my venture, a sort of
+forlorn hope. Prospects were surely very gloomy for me here away out
+west in Wisconsin Territory, without a relative, friend or acquaintance
+to call upon, and very small means to travel two hundred and fifty miles
+of lonely road--perhaps all the way on foot. There were no laborers
+required, hardly any money in sight, and no chance for business. I knew
+it would be a safe course to proceed toward home, for I had no fear of
+starving, the weather was warm and I could easily walk home long before
+winter should come again. Still the outlook was not very pleasing to one
+in my circumstances.
+
+I chose a route which led me some distance north of the one we travelled
+when we came west, but it was about the same. Every house was a new
+settler, and hardly one who had yet produced anything to live upon. In
+due time I came to the Rock River, and the only house in sight was upon
+the east bank. I could see a boat over there and so I called for it, and
+a young girl came over with a canoe for me. I took a paddle and helped
+her hold the boat against the current, and we made the landing safely. I
+paid her ten cents for ferriage and went on again. The country was now
+level, with burr-oak openings. Near sundown I came to a small prairie of
+about 500 acres surrounded by scattering burr-oak timber, with not a
+hill in sight, and it seemed to me to be the most beautiful spot on
+earth. This I found to belong to a man named Meachem, who had an octagon
+concrete house built on one side of the opening. The house had a hollow
+column in the center, and the roof was so constructed that all the rain
+water went down this central column into a cistern below for house use.
+The stairs wound around this central column, and the whole affair was
+quite different from the most of settlers' houses. I staid here all
+night, had supper and breakfast, and paid my bill of thirty-five cents.
+He had no work for me so I went on again. I crossed Heart Prairie,
+passed through a strip of woods, and out at Round Prairie. It was level
+as a floor with a slight rise in one corner, and on it were five or six
+settlers. Here fortune favored me, for here I found a man whom I knew,
+who once lived in Michigan, and was one of our neighbors there for some
+time. His name was Nelson Cornish. I rested here a few days, and made a
+bargain to work for him two or three days every week for my board as
+long as I wished to stay. As I got acquainted I found some work to do
+and many of my leisure hours I spent in the woods with my gun, killing
+some deer, some of the meat of which I sold. In haying and harvest I got
+some work at fifty cents to one dollar per day, and as I had no clothes
+to buy, I spent no money, saving up about fifty dollars by fall. I then
+got a letter from Henry saying that I could get work with him for the
+winter and I thought I would go back there again.
+
+Before thinking of going west again I had to go to Southport on the lake
+and get our clothes we had left in our box when we passed in the spring.
+So I started one morning at break of day, with a long cane in each hand
+to help me along, for I had nothing to carry, not even wearing a coat.
+This was a new road, thinly settled, and a few log houses building. I
+got a bowl of bread and milk at noon and then hurried on again. The last
+twenty miles was clear prairie, and houses were very far apart, but
+little more thickly settled as I neared Lake Michigan. I arrived at the
+town just after dark, and went to a tavern and inquired about the
+things. I was told that the warehouse had been broken into and robbed,
+and the proprietor had fled for parts unknown. This robbed me of all my
+good clothes, and I could now go back as lightly loaded as when I came.
+I found I had walked sixty miles in that one day, and also found myself
+very stiff and sore so that I did not start back next day, and I took
+three days for the return trip--a very unprofitable journey.
+
+I was now ready to go west, and coming across a pet deer which I had
+tamed, I knew if I left it it would wander away with the first wild ones
+that came along, and so I killed it and made my friends a present of
+some venison. I chose still a new route this time, that I could see all
+that was possible of this big territory when I could do it so easily. I
+was always a great admirer of Nature and things which remained as they
+were created, and to the extent of my observation, I thought this the
+most beautiful and perfect country I had seen between Vermont and the
+Mississippi River. The country was nearly level, the land rich, the
+prairies small with oak openings surrounding them, very little marsh
+land and streams of clear water. Rock River was the largest of these,
+running south. Next west was Sugar River, then the Picatonica. Through
+the mining region the country was rolling and abundantly watered with
+babbling brooks and health-giving springs.
+
+In point of health it seemed to me to be far better than Michigan. In
+Mr. Henry's letter to me he had said that he had taken a timber claim in
+"Kentuck Grove," and had all the four-foot wood engaged to cut at
+thirty-seven cents a cord. He said we could board ourselves and save a
+little money and that in the spring he would go back to Michigan with
+me. This had decided me to go back to Mineral Point. I stopped a week or
+two with a man named Webb, hunting with him, and sold game enough to
+bring me in some six or seven dollars, and then resumed my journey.
+
+On my way I found a log house ten miles from a neighbor just before I
+got to the Picatonica River. It belonged to a Mr. Shook who, with his
+wife and three children, lived on the edge of a small prairie, and had a
+good crop of corn. He invited me to stay with him a few days, and as I
+was tired I accepted his offer and we went out together and brought in a
+deer. We had plenty of corn bread, venison and coffee, and lived well.
+After a few days he wanted to kill a steer and he led it to a proper
+place while I shot it in the head. We had no way to hang it up so he
+rolled the intestines out, and I sat down with my side against the steer
+and helped him to pull the tallow off.
+
+It was now getting nearly dark and while he was splitting the back bone
+with an axe, it slipped in his greasy hands and glancing, cut a gash in
+my leg six inches above the knee. I was now laid up for two or three
+weeks, but was well cared for at his house. Before I could resume my
+journey snow had fallen to the depth of about six inches, which made it
+rather unpleasant walking, but in a few days I reached Mr. Henry's camp
+in "Kentuck Grove," when after comparing notes, we both began swinging
+our axes and piling up cordwood, cooking potatoes, bread, bacon, coffee
+and flapjacks ourselves, which we enjoyed with a relish.
+
+I now went to work for Peter Parkinson, who paid me thirteen dollars per
+month, and I remained with him till spring. While with him a very sad
+affliction came to him in the loss of his wife. He was presented by her
+with his first heir, and during her illness she was cared for by her
+mother, Mrs. Cullany, who had come to live with them during the winter.
+When the little babe was two or three weeks old the mother was feeling
+in such good spirits that she was left alone a little while, as Mrs.
+Cullany was attending to some duties which called her elsewhere. When
+she returned she was surprised to see that both Mrs. Parkinson and the
+babe were gone. Everyone turned out to search for her. I ran to the
+smokehouse, the barn, the stable in quick order, and not finding her a
+search was made for tracks, and we soon discovered that she had passed
+over a few steps leading over a fence and down an incline toward the
+spring house, and there fallen, face downward, on the floor of the house
+which was covered only a few inches deep with water lay the unfortunate
+woman and her child, both dead. This was doubly distressing to Mr.
+Parkinson and saddened the whole community. Both were buried in one
+grave, not far from the house, and a more impressive funeral I never
+beheld.
+
+I now worked awhile again with Mr. Henry and we sold our wood to Bill
+Park, a collier, who made and sold charcoal to the smelters of lead ore.
+When the ice was gone in the streams, Henry and I shouldered our guns
+and bundles, and made our way to Milwaukee, where we arrived in the
+course of a few days. The town was small and cheaply built, and had no
+wharf, so that when the steamboat came we had to go out to it in a small
+boat. The stream which came in here was too shallow for the steamer to
+enter. When near the lower end of the lake we stopped at an island to
+take on food and several cords of white birch wood. The next stopping
+place was at Michilamackanac, afterward called Mackinaw. Here was a
+short wharf, and a little way back a hill, which seemed to me to be a
+thousand feet high, on which a fort had been built. On the wharf was a
+mixed lot of people--Americans, Canadians, Irish, Indians, squaws and
+papooses. I saw there some of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen.
+They would weigh twenty pounds or more, and had bright red and yellow
+spots all over them. They called them trout, and they were beauties,
+really. At the shore near by the Indians were loading a large white
+birch bark canoe, putting their luggage along the middle lengthways, and
+the papooses on top. One man took a stern seat to steer, and four or
+five more had seats along the gunwale as paddlers and, as they moved
+away, their strokes were as even and regular as the motions of an
+engine, and their crafts danced as lightly on the water as an egg shell.
+They were starting for the Michigan shore some eight or ten miles away.
+This was the first birch bark canoe I had ever seen and was a great
+curiosity in my eyes.
+
+We crossed Lake Huron during the night, and through its outlet, so
+shallow that the wheels stirred up the mud from the bottom; then through
+Lake St. Clair and landed safety at Detroit next day. Here we took the
+cars on the Michigan Central Railroad, and on our way westward stopped
+at the very place where we had worked, helping to build the road, a year
+or more before. After getting off the train a walk of two and one half
+miles brought me to my father's house, where I had a right royal
+welcome, and the questions they asked me about the wild country I had
+traveled over, how it looked, and how I got along--were numbered by the
+thousand.
+
+I remained at home until fall, getting some work to do by which I saved
+some money, but in August was attacked with bilious fever, which held me
+down for several weeks, but nursed by a tender and loving mother with
+untiring care, I recovered, quite slowly, but surely. I felt that I had
+been close to death, and that this country was not to be compared to
+Wisconsin with its clear and bubbling springs of health-giving water.
+Feeling thus, I determined to go back there again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+With the idea of returning to Wisconsin I made plans for my movements. I
+purchased a good outfit of steel traps of several kinds and sizes,
+thirty or forty in all, made me a pine chest, with a false bottom to
+separate the traps from my clothing when it was packed in traveling
+order, the clothes at the top. My former experience had taught me not to
+expect to get work there during winter, but I was pretty sure something
+could be earned by trapping and hunting at this season, and in summer I
+was pretty sure of something to do. I had about forty dollars to travel
+on this time, and quite a stock of experience. The second parting from
+home was not so hard as the first one. I went to Huron, took the steamer
+to Chicago, then a small, cheaply built town, with rough sidewalks and
+terribly muddy streets, and the people seemed pretty rough, for sailors
+and lake captains were numerous, and knock downs quite frequent. The
+country for a long way west of town seemed a low, wet marsh or prairie.
+
+Finding a man going west with a wagon and two horses without a load, I
+hired him to take me and my baggage to my friend Nelson Cornish, at
+Round Prairie. They were glad to see me, and as I had not yet got strong
+from my fever, they persuaded me to stay a while with them and take some
+medicine, for he was a sort of a doctor. I think he must have given me a
+dose of calomel, for I had a terribly sore mouth and could not eat any
+for two or three weeks. As soon as I was able to travel I had myself and
+chest taken to the stage station on the line for the lake to Mineral
+Point. I think this place was called Geneva. On the stage I got along
+pretty fast, and part of the time on a new road. The first place of note
+was Madison the capital of the territory, situated on a block of land
+nearly surrounded by four lakes, all plainly seen from the big house.
+Further on at the Blue Mounds I left the stage, putting my chest in the
+landlord's keeping till I should come or send for it.
+
+I walked about ten miles to the house of a friend named A. Bennett, who
+was a hunter and lived on the bank of the Picatonica River with his wife
+and two children. I had to take many a rest on the way, for I was very
+weak.
+
+Resting the first few days, Mrs. Bennett's father, Mr. J.P. Dilly, took
+us out about six miles and left us to hunt and camp for a few days. We
+were quite successful, and killed five nice, fat deer, which we dressed
+and took to Mineral Point, selling them rapidly to the Cornish miners
+for twenty-five cents a quarter for the meat. We followed this business
+till about January first, when the game began to get poor, when we hung
+up our guns for a while. I had a little money left yet. The only money
+in circulation was American silver and British sovereigns. They would
+not sell lead ore for paper money nor on credit. During the spring I
+used my traps successfully, so that I saved something over board and
+expenses.
+
+In summer I worked in the mines with Edwin Buck of Bucksport, Maine, but
+only found lead ore enough to pay our expenses in getting it. Next
+winter I chopped wood for thirty-five cents per cord and boarded myself.
+This was poor business; poorer than hunting. In summer I found work at
+various things, but in the fall Mr. Buck and myself concluded that as we
+were both hunters and trappers, we would go northward toward Lake
+Superior on a hunting expedition, and, perhaps remain all winter. We
+replenished our outfit, and engaged Mr. Bennett to take us well up into
+the north country. We crossed the Wisconsin River near Muscoda, went
+then to Prairie du Chien, where we found a large stone fur trading
+house, owned by Mr. Brisbois, a Frenchman, from whom we obtained some
+information of the country further on. He assured us there was no danger
+from the Indians if we let them alone and treated them fairly.
+
+We bought fifty pounds of flour for each of us, and then started up the
+divide between the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. On one side flowed
+the Bad River, and on the other the Kickapoo. We traveled on this divide
+about three days, when Mr. Bennett became afraid to go any further, as
+he had to return alone and the Indians might capture him before he could
+get back to the settlement. We camped early one night and went out
+hunting to get some game for him. I killed a large, black bear and Mr.
+Bennett took what he wanted of it, including the skin, and started back
+next morning.
+
+We now cachéd our things in various places, scattering them well. Some
+went in hollow logs, and some under heaps of brush or other places,
+where the Indians could not find them. We then built a small cabin about
+six by eight feet in size and four feet high, in shape like a A. We were
+not thoroughly pleased with this location and started out to explore the
+country to the north of us, for we had an idea that it would be better
+hunting there.
+
+The first day we started north we killed a bear, and filled our stomachs
+with the fat, sweet meat. The next night we killed another bear after a
+little struggling. The dog made him climb a tree and we shot at him; he
+would fall to the ground as if dead, but would be on his feet again in
+an instant, when, after the dog had fastened to his ham, he would climb
+the tree again. In the third trial he lay in the fork and had a good
+chance to look square at his tormentor. I shot him in the head, and as
+he lay perfectly still, Buck said:--"Now you have done it--we can't get
+him." But in a moment he began to struggle, and soon came down,
+lifeless.
+
+Here we camped on the edge of the pine forest, ate all the fat bear meat
+we could, and in the morning took separate routes, agreeing to meet
+again a mile or so farther up a small brook. I soon saw a small bear
+walking on a log and shot him dead. His mate got away, but I set my dog
+on him and he soon had to climb a tree. When I came up to where the dog
+was barking I saw Mr. Bear and fired a ball in him that brought him
+down. Just then I heard Mr. Buck shoot close by, and I went to him and
+found he had killed another and larger bear. We stayed here another
+night, dressed our game and sunk the meat in the brook and fastened it
+down, thinking we might want to get some of it another time.
+
+We were so well pleased with this hunting ground that we took the bear
+skins and went back to camp. When we got there our clothes were pretty
+well saturated with bear's oil, and we jokingly said it must have soaked
+through our bodies, we had eaten so much bear meat. I began to feel
+quite sick, and had a bad headache. I felt as if something must be done,
+but we had no medicine. Mr. Buck went down by the creek and dug some
+roots he called Indian Physic, then steeped them until the infusion
+seemed as black as molasses, and, when cool told me to take a swallow
+every fifteen minutes for an hour, then half as much for another hour as
+long as I could keep it down. I followed directions and vomited freely
+and for a long time, but felt better afterward, and soon got well. It
+reminded me some of the feelings I had when I was seasick on Lake
+Michigan.
+
+It may be interesting to describe how we were dressed to enter on this
+winter campaign. We wore moccasins of our own make. I had a buckskin
+jumper, and leggins that came up to my hips. On my head a drab hat that
+fitted close and had a rim about two inches wide. In fair weather I went
+bare-headed, Indian fashion. I carried a tomahawk which I had made. The
+blade was two inches wide and three inches long--the poll two inches
+long and about as large round as a dime; handle eighteen or twenty
+inches long with a knob on the end so it would not easily slip from the
+hand. Oiled patches for our rifle balls on a string, a firing wire, a
+charger to measure the powder, and a small piece of leather with four
+nipples on it for caps--all on my breast, so that I could load very
+rapidly. My bed was a comfort I made myself, a little larger than usual.
+I lay down on one side of the bed and with my gun close to me, turned
+the blanket over me. When out of camp I never left my gun out of my
+reach. We had to be real Indians in custom and actions in order to be
+considered their equals. We got our food in the same way they did, and
+so they had nothing to ask us for. They considered themselves the real
+kings of the forest.
+
+We now determined to move camp, which proved quite a job as we had to
+pack everything on our backs; which we did for ten or fifteen miles to
+the bank of a small stream where there were three pine trees, the only
+ones to be found in many miles. We made us a canoe of one of them. While
+we were making the canoe three Indians came along, and after they had
+eaten some of our good venison, they left us. These were the first we
+had seen, and we began to be more cautious and keep everything well hid
+away from camp and make them think we were as poor as they were, so they
+might not be tempted to molest us.
+
+We soon had the canoe done and loaded, and embarked on the brook down
+stream. We found it rather difficult work, but the stream grew larger
+and we got along very well. We came to one place where otter signs
+seemed fresh, and stopped to set a trap for them. Our dog sat on the
+bank and watched the operation, and when we started on we could not get
+him to ride or follow. Soon we heard him cry and went back to find he
+had the trap on his fore foot. To get it off we had to put a forked
+stick over his neck and hold him down, he was so excited over his
+mishap. When he was released he left at full speed and was never seen by
+us after.
+
+When we got well into the pine woods we camped and cached our traps and
+provisions on an island, and made our camp further down the stream and
+some little distance from the shore. We soon found this was very near a
+logging camp, and as no one had been living there for a year, we moved
+camp down there and occupied one of the empty cabins. We began to set
+dead-fall traps in long lines in many different directions, blazing the
+trees so we could find them if the snow came on. West of this about ten
+miles, where we had killed some deer earlier, we made a A-shaped cabin
+and made dead falls many miles around to catch fishes, foxes, mink and
+raccoons. We made weekly journeys to the places and generally staid
+about two nights.
+
+One day when going over my trap lines I came to a trap which I had set
+where I had killed a deer, and saw by the snow that an eagle had been
+caught in the trap and had broken the chain and gone away. I followed on
+the trail he made and soon found him. He tried to fly but the trap was
+too heavy, and he could only go slowly and a little way. I fired and put
+a ball in him and he fell and rolled under a large log on the hillside.
+As I took the trap off I saw an Indian coming down the hill and brought
+my gun to bear on him. He stopped suddenly and made signs not to shoot,
+and I let him come up. He made signs that he wanted the feathers of the
+bird which I told him to take, and then he wanted to know where we
+slept. I pointed out the way and made him go ahead of me there, for I
+did not want him behind me. At camp he made signs for something to eat,
+but when I showed him meat he shook his head. However he took a leg of
+deer and started on, I following at a good distance till satisfied that
+he would not come back.
+
+We had not taken pains to keep track of the day of the week or month;
+the rising and setting of the sun and the changes of the moon were all
+the almanacs we had. Then snow came about a foot deep, and some days
+were so cold we could not leave our camp fire at all. As no Indians
+appeared we were quite successful and kept our bundle of furs in a
+hollow standing tree some distance from camp, and when we went that way
+we never stopped or left any sign that we had a deposit there.
+
+Some time after it was all frozen up solid, some men with two yoke of
+oxen came up to cut and put logs in the river to raft down when the ice
+went out. With them came a shingle weaver, with a pony and a small sled,
+and some Indians also. We now had to take up all of our steel traps, and
+rob all our dead-falls and quit business generally--even then they got
+some of our traps before we could get them gathered in. We were now
+comparatively idle.
+
+Until these loggers came we did not know exactly where we were situated,
+but they told us we were on the Lemonai river, a branch of the
+Wisconsin, and that we could get out by going west till we found the
+Mississippi river and then home. We hired the shengle man with his pony
+to take us to Black River, farther north which we reached in three days,
+and found a saw mill there in charge of a keeper. Up the river farther
+we found another mill looked after by Sam Ferguson. Both mills were
+frozen up. The Indians had been here all winter. They come from Lake
+Superior when the swamps froze up there, to hunt deer, till the weather
+gets warm, then they returned to the Lake to fish.
+
+Of course the presence of the Indians made game scarce, but the mill men
+told us if we would go up farther into the marten country they thought
+we would do well. We therefore made us a hand sled, put some provisions
+and traps on board, and started up the river on the ice. As we went the
+snow grew deeper and we had to cut hemlock boughs for a bed on top of
+the snow. It took about a half a cord of wood to last us all night, and
+it was a trouble to cut holes in the ice to water, for it was more than
+two feet thick. Our fire kindled on the snow, would be two or three feet
+below on the ground, by morning. This country was heavily timbered with
+cedar, or spruce and apparently very level.
+
+One day we saw two otters coming toward us on the ice. We shot one, but
+as the other gun missed fire, the other one escaped, for I could not
+overtake it in the woods. We kept on up the river till we began to hear
+the Indians' guns, and then we camped and did not fire a gun for two
+days, for we were afraid we might be discovered and robbed, and we knew
+we could not stay long after our grub was gone. All the game we could
+catch was the marten or sable, which the Indians called _Waubusash_. The
+males were snuff color and the female much darker. Mink were scarce, and
+the beaver, living in the river bank, could not be got at till the ice
+went out in the spring.
+
+We now began to make marten traps or dead-falls, and set them for this
+small game. There were many cedar and tamarack swamps, indeed that was
+the principal feature, but there were some ridges a little higher where
+some small pines and beech grew. Now our camp was one place where there
+was no large timber caused by the stream being dammed by the beaver.
+Here were some of the real Russian Balsam trees, the most beautiful in
+shape I had ever seen. They were very dark green, the boughs very thick,
+and the tree in shape like an inverted top. Our lines of trips led for
+miles in every direction marked by blazed trees. We made a trap of two
+poles, and chips which we split from the trees. These were set in the
+snow and covered with brush, We sometimes found a porcupine in the top
+of a pine tree. The only signs of his presence were the chips he made in
+gnawing the bark for food. They never came down to the ground as we saw.
+They were about all the game that was good to eat. I would kill one,
+skin it and drag the carcass after me all day as I set traps, cutting
+off bits for bait, and cooking the rest for ourselves to eat. We tried
+to eat the marten but it was pretty musky and it was only by putting on
+plenty of salt and pepper that we managed to eat them. We were really
+forced to do it if we remained here. We secured a good many of these
+little fellows which have about the the best fur that is found in
+America.
+
+We were here about three weeks, and our provisions giving out and the
+ice becoming tender in the swamp were two pretty strong reasons for our
+getting out, so we shouldered our packs of fur and our guns and, getting
+our course from a pocket-compass, we started out. As we pushed on we
+came to some old windfalls that were troublesome to get through. The
+dense timber seemed to be six feet deep, and we would sometimes climb
+over and sometimes crawl under, the fallen trees were so thickly mixed
+and tangled.
+
+Mr. Buck got so completely tired that he threw away his traps. We
+reached our starting place at O'Neil's saw-mill after many days of the
+hardest work, and nearly starved, for we had seen no game on our trip.
+We found our traps and furs all safe here and as this stream was one of
+the tributaries of the Mississippi, we decided to make us a boat and
+float down toward that noted stream. We secured four good boards and
+built the boat in which we started down the river setting traps and
+moving at our leisure. We found plenty of fine ducks, two bee trees, and
+caught some cat-fish with a hook and line we got at the mill. We also
+caught some otter, and, on a little branch of the river killed two
+bears, the skin of one of them weighing five pounds. We met a keel boat
+being poled up the river, and with the last cent of money we possessed
+bought a little flour of them.
+
+About the first of May we reached Prairie du Chien. Here we were met
+with some surprise, for Mr. Brisbois said he had heard we were killed or
+lost. He showed us through his warehouses and pointed out to us the many
+bales of different kinds of furs he had on hand. He told us we were the
+best fur handlers he had seen, and paid us two hundred dollars in
+American gold for what we had. We then stored our traps in the garret of
+one of his warehouses, which was of stone, two stories and an attic, as
+we thought of making another trip to this country if all went well.
+
+We now entered our skiff again and went on down the great river till we
+came to a place nearly opposite Mineral Point, when we gave our boat to
+a poor settler, and with guns and bundles on our backs took a straight
+shoot for home on foot. The second day about dark we came in the edge of
+the town and were seen by a lot of boys who eyed us closely and with
+much curiosity, for we were dressed in our trapping suits. They followed
+us, and as we went along the crowd increased so that when we got to
+Crum. Lloyd's tavern the door was full of boys' heads looking at us as
+if we were a circus. Here we were heartily welcomed, and every body was
+glad to see us, as they were about to start a company to go in search of
+their reported murdered friends. It seems a missionary got lost on his
+way to Prairie La Crosse and had come across our deserted cabin, and
+when he came in he reported us as no doubt murdered.
+
+I invested all of my hundred dollars in buying eighty acres of good
+Government land. This was the first $100 I ever had and I felt very
+proud to be a land owner. I felt a little more like a man now than I had
+ever felt before, for the money was hard earned and all mine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Mr. Buck and myself concluded we would try our luck at lead mining for
+the summer and purchased some mining tools for the purpose. We camped
+out and dug holes around all summer, getting just about enough to pay
+our expenses--not a very encouraging venture, for we had lived in a tent
+and had picked and shoveled and blasted and twisted a windlass hard
+enough to have earned a good bit of money.
+
+In the fall we concluded to try another trapping tour, and set out for
+Prairie du Chien. We knew it was a poor place to spend money up in the
+woods, and when we got our money it was all in a lump and seemed to
+amount to something. Mr. Brisbois said that the prospects were very poor
+indeed, for the price of fur was very low and no prospect of a better
+market. So we left our traps still on storage at his place and went back
+again. This was in 1847, and before Spring the war was being pushed in
+Mexico. I tried to enlist for this service, but there were so many ahead
+of me I could not get a chance.
+
+I still worked in the settlement and made a living, but had no chance to
+improve my land. The next winter I lived with Mr A. Bennett, hunted deer
+and sold them at Mineral Point, and in this way made and saved a few
+dollars.
+
+There had been from time to time rumors of a better country to the west
+of us and a sort of a pioneer, or western fever would break out among
+the people occasionally. Thus in 1845 I had a slight touch of the
+disease on account of the stories they told us about Oregon. It was
+reported that the Government would give a man a good farm if he would go
+and settle, and make some specified improvement. They said it was in a
+territory of rich soil, with plenty of timber, fish and game and some
+Indians, just to give a little spice of adventure to the whole thing.
+The climate was very mild in winter, as they reported, and I concluded
+it would suit me exactly. I began at once to think about an outfit and a
+journey, and I found that it would take me at least two years to get
+ready. A trip to California was not thought of in those days, for it did
+not belong to the United States.
+
+In the winter of 1848-49 news began to come that there was gold in
+California, but not generally believed till it came through a U.S.
+officer, and then, as the people were used to mines and mining, a
+regular gold fever spread as if by swift contagion. Mr. Bennett was
+aroused and sold his farm, and I felt a change in my Oregon desires and
+had dreams at might of digging up the yellow dust. Nothing would cure us
+then but a trip, and that was quickly decided on.
+
+As it would be some weeks yet before grass would start, I concluded to
+haul my canoe and a few traps over to a branch of the Wisconsin, and
+make my way to Prairie du Chien, do a little trapping, get me an Indian
+pony on which to ride to California. There were no ponies to be had at
+Mineral Point. Getting a ride up the river on a passing steamboat I
+reached Prairie La Crosse, where the only house was that of a Dutch
+trader from whom I bought a Winnebago pony, which he had wintered on a
+little brushy island, and I thought if he could winter on brush and
+rushes he must be tough enough to take me across the plains. He cost me
+$30, and I found him to be a poor, lazy little fellow. However, I
+thought that when he got some good grass, and a little fat on his ribs
+he might have more life, and so I hitched a rope to him and drove him
+ahead down the river. When I came to the Bad Axe river I found it
+swimming full, but had no trouble in crossing, as the pony was as good
+as a dog in the water.
+
+Before leaving Bennett's I had my gun altered over to a pill lock and
+secured ammunition to last for two years. I had tanned some nice
+buckskin and had a good outfit of clothes made of it, or rather cut and
+made it myself. Where I crossed the Bad Axe was a the battle ground
+where Gen. Dodge fought the Winnebago Indians. At Prairie du Chien I
+found a letter from Mr. Bennett, saying that the grass was so backward
+he would not start up for two or three weeks, and I had better come back
+and start with them; but as the letter bore no date I could only guess
+at the exact time. I had intended to strike directly west from here to
+Council Bluffs and meet them there, but now thought perhaps I had better
+go back to Mineral Point and start out with them there, or follow on
+rapidly after them if by any chance they had already started.
+
+On my way back I found the Kickapoo river too high to ford, so I pulled
+some basswood bark and made a raft of a couple of logs, on which to
+carry my gun and blanket; starting the pony across I followed after. He
+swam across quickly, but did not seem to like it on the other side, so
+before I got across, back he came again, not paying the least attention
+to my scolding. I went back with the raft, which drifted a good way down
+stream, and caught the rascal and started him over again, but when I got
+half way across he jumped and played the same joke on me again. I began
+to think of the old puzzle of the story of the man with the fox, the
+goose and a peck of corn, but I solved it by making a basswood rope to
+which I tied a stone and threw across, then sending the pony over with
+the other end. He staid this time, and after three days of swimming
+streams and pretty hard travel reached Mineral Point, to find Bennett
+had been gone two weeks and had taken my outfit with him as we first
+planned.
+
+I was a little troubled, but set out light loaded for Dubuque, crossed
+the river there and then alone across Iowa, over wet and muddy roads,
+till I fell in with some wagons west of the Desmoines River. They were
+from Milwaukee, owned by a Mr. Blodgett, and I camped with them a few
+nights, till we got to the Missouri River.
+
+I rushed ahead the last day or two and got there before them. There were
+a few California wagons here, and some campers, so I put my pony out to
+grass and looked around. I waded across the low bottom to a strip of dry
+land next to the river, where there was a post office, store, and a few
+cabins. I looked first for a letter, but there was none. Then I began to
+look over the cards in the trading places and saloons, and read the
+names written on the logs of the houses, and everywhere I thought there
+might be a trace of the friends I sought. No one had seen or knew them.
+After looking half a day I waded back again to the pony--pretty blue. I
+thought first I would go back and wait another year, but there was a
+small train near where I left the pony, and it was not considered very
+safe to go beyond there except with a pretty good train. I sat down in
+camp and turned the matter over in my mind, and talked with Chas. Dallas
+of Lynn, Iowa, who owned the train. Bennett had my outfit and gun, while
+I had his light gun, a small, light tent, a frying pan, a tin cup, one
+woolen shirt and the clothes on my back. Having no money to get another
+outfit, I about concluded to turn back when Dallas said that if I would
+drive one of his teams through, he would board me, and I could turn my
+pony in with his loose horses; I thought it over, and finally put my
+things in the wagon and took the ox whip to go on. Dallas intended to
+get provision here, but could not, so we went down to St. Jo, following
+the river near the bluff. We camped near town and walked in, finding a
+small train on the main emigrant road to the west. My team was one yoke
+of oxen and one yoke of cows. I knew how to drive, but had a little
+trouble with the strange animals till they found I was kind to them, and
+then they were all right.
+
+This was in a slave state, and here I saw the first negro auction. One
+side of the street had a platform such as we build for a political
+speaker. The auctioneer mounted this with a black boy about 18 years
+old, and after he had told all his good qualities and had the boy stand
+up bold and straight, he called for bids, and they started him at $500.
+He rattled away as if he were selling a steer, and when Mr. Rubideaux,
+the founder of St. Jo bid $800, he went no higher and the boy was sold.
+With my New England notions it made quite an impression on me.
+
+Here Dallas got his supplies, and when the flour and bacon was loaded up
+the ferryman wanted $50 to take the train across. This Dallas thought
+too high and went back up the river a day's drive, where he got across
+for $30. From this crossing we went across the country without much of a
+road till we struck the road from St. Jo, and were soon on the Platte
+bottom.
+
+We found some fine strawberries at one of the camps across the country.
+We found some hills, but now the country was all one vast prairie, not a
+tree in sight till we reached the Platte, there some cottonwood and
+willow. At the first camp on the Platte I rolled up in my blanket under
+the wagon and thought more than I slept, but I was in for it and no
+other way but to go on. I had heard that there were two forts, new Ft.
+Kearny and Ft. Laramie, on the south side of the river, which we must
+pass before we reached the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, and beyond
+there there would be no place to buy medicine or food. Our little train
+of five wagons, ten men, one woman and three children would not be a
+formidable force against the Indians if they were disposed to molest us,
+and it looked to me very hazardous, and that a larger train would be
+more safe, for Government troops were seldom molested on their marches.
+
+If I should not please Mr. Dallas and get turned off with only my gun
+and pony I should be in a pretty bad shape, but I decided to keep right
+on and take the chances on the savages, who would get only my hair and
+my gun as my contribution to them if they should be hostile. I must
+confess, however, that the trail ahead did not look either straight or
+bright to me, but hoped it might be better than I thought. So I yoked my
+oxen and cows to the wagon and drove on. All the other teams had two
+drivers each, who took turns, and thus had every other day off for
+hunting if they chose, but I had to carry the whip every day and leave
+my gun in the wagon.
+
+When we crossed Salt Creek the banks were high and we had to tie a
+strong rope to the wagons and with a few turns around a post, lower them
+down easily, while we had to double the teams to get them up the other
+side.
+
+Night came on before half the wagons were over, and though it did not
+rain the water rose before morning so it was ten feet deep. We made a
+boat of one of the wagon beds, and had a regular ferry, and when they
+pulled the wagons over they sank below the surface but came out all
+right. We came to Pawnee Village, on the Platte, a collection of mud
+huts, oval in shape, and an entrance low down to crawl in at. A ground
+owl and some prairie dogs were in one of them, and we suspected they
+might be winter quarters for the Indians.
+
+Dallas and his family rode in the two-horse wagon. Dick Field was cook,
+and the rest of us drove the oxen. We put out a small guard at night to
+watch for Indians and keep the stock together so there might be no delay
+in searching for them. When several miles from Ft. Kearney I think on
+July 3rd, we camped near the river where there was a slough and much
+cottonwood and willow. Just after sundown a horse came galloping from
+the west and went in with our horses that were feeding a little farther
+down. In the morning two soldiers came from the fort, inquiring after
+the stray horse, but Dallas said he had seen none, and they did not hunt
+around among the willows for the lost animal. Probably it would be the
+easiest way to report back to the fort--"Indians got him." When we
+hitched up in the morning he put the horse on the off side of his own,
+and when near the fort, he went ahead on foot and entertained the
+officers while the men drove by, and the horse was not discovered. I did
+not like this much, for if we were discovered, we might be roughly
+handled, and perhaps the property of the innocent even confiscated.
+Really my New England ideas of honesty were somewhat shocked.
+
+Reaching the South Platte, it took us all day to ford the sandy stream,
+as we had first to sound out a good crossing by wading through
+ourselves, and when we started our teams across we dare not stop a
+moment for fear the wagons would sink deep into the quicksands. We had
+no mishaps in crossing, and when well camped on the other side a
+solitary buffalo made his appearance about 200 yards away and all hands
+started after him, some on foot. The horsemen soon got ahead of him, but
+he did not seem inclined to get out of their way, so they opened fire on
+him. He still kept his feet and they went nearer, Mr. Rogers, being on a
+horse with a blind bridle, getting near enough to fire his Colt's
+revolver at him, when he turned, and the horse, being unable to see the
+animal quick enough to get out of the way, suffered the force of a
+sudden attack of the old fellow's horns, and came out with a gash in his
+thigh six inches long, while Rogers went on a flying expedition over the
+horse's head, and did some lively scrambling when he reached the ground.
+The rest of them worried him along for about half a mile, and finally,
+after about forty shots he lay down but held his head up defiantly,
+receiving shot after shot with an angry shake, till a side shot laid him
+out. This game gave us plenty of meat, which though tough, was a
+pleasant change from bacon. I took no part in this battle except as an
+observer. On examination it was found that the balls had been many of
+them stopped by the matted hair about the old fellow's head and none of
+them had reached the skull.
+
+A few days after this we were stopped entirely by a herd of buffaloes
+crossing our road. They came up from the river and were moving south.
+The smaller animals seemed to be in the lead, and the rear was brought
+up by the old cows and the shaggy, burly bulls. All were moving at a
+smart trot, with tongues hanging out, and seemed to take no notice of
+us, though we stood within a hundred yards of them. We had to stand by
+our teams and stock to prevent a stampede, for they all seemed to have a
+great wonder, and somewhat of fear at their relatives of the plains.
+After this we often saw large droves of them in the distance. Sometimes
+we could see what in the distance seemed a great patch of brush, but by
+watching closely we could see it was a great drove of these animals.
+Those who had leisure to go up to the bluffs often reported large droves
+in sight. Antelopes were also seen, but these occupied the higher
+ground, and it was very hard to get near enough to them to shoot
+successfully. Still we managed to get a good deal of game which was very
+acceptable as food.
+
+One prominent land mark along the route was what they called Court House
+Rock, standing to the south from the trail and much resembled an immense
+square building, standing high above surrounding country. The farther we
+went on the more plentiful became the large game, and also wolves and
+prairie dogs, the first of which seemed to follow the buffaloes closely.
+
+About this time we met a odd looking train going east, consisting of
+five or six Mormons from Salt Lake, all mounted on small Spanish mules.
+They were dressed in buckskin and moccasins, with long spurs jingling at
+their heels, the rowels fully four inches long, and each one carried a
+gun, a pistol and a big knife. They were rough looking fellows with
+long, matted hair, long beards, old slouch hats and a generally back
+woods get-up air in every way. They had an extra pack mule, but the
+baggage and provisions were very light. I had heard much about the
+Mormons, both at Nauvoo and Salt Lake, and some way or other I could not
+separate the idea of horse thieves from this party, and I am sure I
+would not like to meet them if I had a desirable mule that they wanted,
+or any money, or a good looking wife. We talked with them half an hour
+or so and then moved on.
+
+We occasionally passed by a grave along the road, and often a small head
+board would state that the poor unfortunate had died of cholera. Many of
+these had been torn open by wolves and the blanket encircling the corpse
+partly pulled away. Our route led a few miles north of Chimney Rock,
+standing on an elevated point like a tall column, so perfect and regular
+on all sides, that from our point it looked as if it might be the work
+of the stone cutters. Some of the party went to see it and reported
+there was no way to ascend it, and that as far as a man could reach, the
+rocks were inscribed with the names of visitors and travelers who passed
+that way.
+
+At Scott's Bluffs, the bluffs came close to the river, so there was
+considerable hill climbing to get along, the road in other places
+finding ample room in the bottom. Here we found a large camp of the
+Sioux Indians on the bank of a ravine, on both sides of which were some
+large cottonwood trees. Away up in the large limbs platforms had been
+made of poles, on which were laid the bodies of their dead, wrapped in
+blankets and fastened down to the platform by a sort of a network of
+smaller poles tightly lashed so that they could not be dragged away or
+disturbed by wild animals. This seemed a strange sort of cemetery, but
+when we saw the desecrated earth-made graves we felt that perhaps this
+was the best way, even if it was a savage custom.
+
+These Indians were fair-sized men, and pretty good looking for red men.
+Some of our men went over to their camp, and some of their youths came
+down to ours, and when we started on they seemed quite proud that they
+had learned a little of the English language, but the extent of their
+knowledge seemed to be a little learned of the ox-drivers, for they
+would swing their hands at the cattle and cry out "Whoa! haw, g--d
+d--n." Whether they knew what was meant, I have my doubts. They seemed
+pretty well provided for and begged very little, as they are apt to do
+when they are hard pressed.
+
+We saw also some bands of Pawnee Indians on the move across the
+prairies. They would hitch a long, light pole on each side of a pony,
+with the ends dragging behind on the ground, and on a little platform at
+the hind end the children sat and were dragged along.
+
+As we passed on beyond Scott's Bluff the game began to be perceptibly
+scarcer, and what we did find was back from the traveled road, from
+which it had apparently been driven by the passing hunters.
+
+In time we reached Ft. Laramie, a trading post, where there were some
+Indian lodges, and we noticed that some of the occupants had lighter
+complexions than any of the other Indians we had seen. They had cords of
+dried buffalo meat, and we purchased some. It was very fat, but was so
+perfectly cured that the clear tallow tasted as sweet as a nut. I
+thought it was the best dried meat I had ever tasted, but perhaps a good
+appetite had something to do with it.
+
+As we passed Ft. Laramie we fell in company with some U.S. soldiers who
+were going to Ft. Hall and thence to Oregon. We considered them pretty
+safe to travel with and kept with them for some time, though their rate
+of travel was less than ours. Among them were some Mormons, employed as
+teamsters, and in other ways, and they told us there were some
+Missourians on the road who would never live to see California. There
+had been some contests between the Missourians and the Mormons, and I
+felt rather glad that none of us hailed from Pike county.
+
+We turned into what they called the Black Hills, leaving the Platte to
+the north of us. The first night on this road we had the hardest rain I
+ever experienced, and the only one of any account on our journey. Our
+camp was on a level piece of ground on the bank of a dry creek, which
+soon became a very wet creek indeed, for by morning it was one hundred
+yards wide and absolutely impassible. It went down, however, as quickly
+as it rose, and by ten o'clock it was so low that we easily crossed and
+went on our way. We crossed one stream where there were great drifts or
+piles of hail which had been brought down by a heavy storm from higher
+up the hills. At one place we found some rounded boulders from six to
+eight inches in diameter, which were partly hollow, and broken open were
+found to contain most beautiful crystals of quartz, clear as purest ice.
+The inside was certainly very pretty, and it was a mystery how it came
+there. I have since learned that such stones are found at many points,
+and that they are called geodes.
+
+We came out at the river again at the mouth of Deer Creek, and as there
+was some pretty good coal there quite easy to get, we made camp one day
+to try to tighten our wagon tires, John Rogers acting as blacksmith.
+This was my first chance to reconnoiter, and so I took my gun and went
+up the creek, a wide, treeless bottom. In the ravines on the south side
+were beautiful groves of small fir trees and some thick brush, wild rose
+bushes I think. I found here a good many heads and horns of elk, and I
+could not decide whether they had been killed in winter during the deep
+snow, or had starved to death.
+
+There was a ferry here to cross the river and go up along north side.
+Mr. Dallas bought the whole outfit for a small sum and when we were
+safely over he took with him such ropes as he wanted and tied the boat
+to the bank The road on this side was very sandy and led over and among
+some rolling hills. In talking with the men of the U.S. troops in whose
+company we still were, I gathered much information concerning our road
+further west. They said we were entirely too late to get through to
+California, on account of crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains, which,
+they said would be covered with snow by November, or even earlier, and
+that we would be compelled to winter at Salt Lake. Some of the drivers
+overheard Mr. Dallas telling his family the same thing, and that if he
+should winter at Salt Lake, he would discharge his drivers as soon as he
+arrived, as he could not afford to board them all winter.
+
+This was bad news for me, for I had known of the history of them at
+Nauvoo and in Missouri, and the prospect of being thrown among them with
+no money to buy bread was a very sorry prospect for me. From all I could
+learn we could not get a chance to work, even for our board there, and
+the other drivers shared my fears and disappointment. In this dilemma we
+called a council, and invited the gentleman in to have an understanding.
+He came and our spokesman stated the case to him, and our fears, and
+asked him what he had to say to us about it. He flew quite angry at us,
+and talked some and swore a great deal more, and the burden of his
+speech was:--"This train belongs to me and I propose to do with it just
+as I have a mind to, and I don't care a d--n what you fellows do or say.
+I am not going to board you fellows all winter for nothing, and when we
+get to Salt Lake you can go where you please, for I shall not want you
+any longer." We talked a little to him and under the circumstances to
+talk was about all we could do. He gave us no satisfaction and left us
+apparently much offended that we had any care for ourselves.
+
+Then we had some talk among ourselves, at the time, and from day to day
+as we moved along. We began to think that the only way to get along at
+all in Salt Lake would be to turn Mormons, and none of us had any belief
+or desire that way and could not make up our minds to stop our journey
+and lose so much time, and if we were not very favored travelers our lot
+might be cast among the sinners for all time.
+
+We were now on the Sweetwater River, and began to see the snow on the
+Rocky Mountains ahead of us, another reminder that there was a winter
+coming and only a little more than half our journey was done. We did not
+feel very happy over it, and yet we had to laugh once in a while at some
+of the funny things that would happen.
+
+The Government party we were with had among them a German mule driver
+who had a deal of trouble with his team, but who had a very little
+knowledge of the English language. When the officers tried to instruct
+him a little he seemed to get out of patience and would say something
+very like _Sacramento_. We did not know exactly what this meant. We had
+heard there was a river of that name or something very near like that;
+and then again some said that was the Dutch for swearing. If this latter
+was the truth then he was a very profane mule driver when he got mad.
+
+The Captain of the company had a very nice looking lady with him, and
+they carried a fine wall tent which they occupied when they went into
+camp. The company cook served their meals to them in the privacy of
+their tent, and they seemed to enjoy themselves very nicely. Everybody
+thought the Captain was very lucky in having such an accomplished
+companion, and journey along quietly to the gold fields at government
+expense.
+
+There seemed to be just a little jealousy between the Captain and the
+Lieutenant, and one day I saw them both standing in angry attitude
+before the Captain's quarters, both mounted, with their carbines lying
+across their saddles before them. They had some pretty sharp, hot words,
+and it looked as if they both were pretty nearly warmed up to the
+shooting point. Once the Lieutenant moved his right hand a little, and
+the Captain was quick to see it, shouting;--"Let your gun alone or I
+will make a hole through you," at the same time grasping his own and
+pointing it straight at the other officer. During all this time the
+Captain's lady stood in the tent door, and when she saw her favorite had
+the drop on the Lieutenant she clapped her delicate, little hands in a
+gleeful manner:--"Just look at the Captain! Ain't he spunky?" and then
+she laughed long and loud to see her lord show so much military courage.
+She seemed more pleased at the affair than any one else. I don't know
+exactly what the others thought, but I never could believe that the lady
+and the Captain were ever married.
+
+The Lieutenant was no coward, but probably thinking that prudence was
+the better part of valor, refrained from handling his gun, and the two
+soon rode away in opposite directions.
+
+We passed a lone rock standing in the river bottom on the Sweetwater,
+which they named Independence Rock. It was covered with the names of
+thousands of people who had gone by on that road. Some were pretty
+neatly chiseled in, some very rudely scrawled, and some put on with
+paint. I spent all the time I could hunting Mr. Bennett's name, but I
+could not find it anywhere. To have found his name, and thus to know
+that he had safely passed this point would have been a little
+re-assuring in those rather doubtful days. Some had named the date of
+their passing, and some of them were probably pretty near the gold
+fields at this time.
+
+All along in this section we found alkali water near the road, some very
+strong and dangerous for man or beast to use. We traveled on up the
+Sweetwater for some time, and at last came to a place where the road
+left the river, and we had a long, hard hill to pull up. When we reached
+the top of this we were in the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, the
+backbone of the American continent. To the north of us were some very
+high peaks white with snow, and to the south were some lower hills and
+valleys. The summit of the mountains was not quite as imposing as I
+expected, but it was the summit, and we were soon surely moving down the
+western side, for at Pacific Springs the water ran to the westward,
+toward the Pacific coast. The next day we came to the nearly dry bed of
+the river--the Big Sandy. The country round about seemed volcanic, with
+no timber, but plenty of sage brush, in which we were able to shoot an
+occasional sage hen. The river bed itself was nothing but sand, and
+where there was water enough to wet it, it was very miry and hard
+traveling over it. There are two streams, the Big Sandy and Little
+Sandy, both tributaries to Green River, which we soon reached and
+crossed.
+
+It was a remarkable clear and rapid stream and was now low enough to
+ford. One of the Government teams set out to make the crossing at a
+point where it looked shallow enough, but before the lead mules reached
+the opposite shore, they lost their footing and were forced to swim. Of
+course the wagon stopped and the team swung round and tangled up in a
+bad shape. They were unhitched and the wagon pulled back, the load was
+somewhat dampened, for the water came into the wagon box about a foot.
+We camped here and laid by one day, having thus quite a little chance to
+look around.
+
+When we came to the first water that flowed toward the Pacific Coast at
+Pacific Springs, we drivers had quite a little talk about a new scheme.
+We put a great many "ifs" together and they amounted to about this:--If
+this stream were large enough; if we had a boat; if we knew the way: if
+there were no falls or bad places; if we had plenty of provisions; if we
+were bold enough set out on such a trip, etc., we might come out at some
+point or other on the Pacific Ocean. And now when we came to the first
+of the "ifs," a stream large enough to float a small boat; we began to
+think more strongly about the other "ifs".
+
+In the course of our rambles we actually did run across the second "if"
+in the shape of a small ferry boat filled up with sand upon a bar, and
+it did not take very long to dig it out and put it into shape to use,
+for it was just large enough to hold one wagon at a time. Our military
+escort intended to leave us at this point, as their route now bore off
+to the north of ours. I had a long talk with the surgeon who seemed well
+informed about the country, and asked him about the prospects. He did
+not give the Mormons a very good name. He said to me:--"If you go to
+Salt Lake City, do not let them know you are from Missouri, for I tell
+you that many of those from that State will never see California. You
+know they were driven from Missouri, and will get revenge if they can."
+Both the surgeon and the captain said the stream came out on the Pacific
+Coast and that we had no obstacles except cataracts, which they had
+heard were pretty bad. I then went to Dallas and told him what we
+proposed doing and to our surprise he did not offer any objections, and
+offered me $60 for my pony. He said he would sell us some flour and
+bacon for provisions also.
+
+We helped them in crossing the river, which was somewhat difficult,
+being swift, with boulders in the bottom but we got all safely over and
+then made the trade we had spoken of. Dallas paid me for my pony and we
+took what flour and bacon he would let go. He gave us some ropes for
+head and stern lines to our boat and a couple of axes, and we laid
+these, and our provisions in a pile by the roadside. Six of us then gave
+up our whips. Mr. S. McMahon, a driver, hesitated for some time, but
+being pressed by Dallas for a decision, at last threw down his whip and
+said:--"I will go with the boys." This left Dallas with only one driver,
+but he took a whip himself, and with the aid of the children and his
+wife who drove the two-horse wagon, they got along very well. I paid for
+such provisions as we had taken, as the rest of the fellows had almost
+no money.
+
+So we parted company, the little train slowly moving on its way
+westward. Our military captain, the soldier boys, and the gay young lady
+taking the route to Oregon, and we sitting on the bank of the river
+whose waters flowed to the great Pacific. Each company wished the other
+good luck, we took a few long breaths and then set to work in earnest to
+carry out our plans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+About the first thing we did was to organize and select a captain, and,
+very much against my wishes, I was chosen to this important position.
+Six of us had guns of some sort, Richard Field, Dallas's cook, was not
+armed at all. We had one regular axe and a large camp hatchet, which was
+about the same as an axe, and several very small hatchets owned by the
+men. All our worldly goods were piled up on the bank, and we were alone.
+
+An examination of the old ferry boat showed it to be in pretty good
+condition, the sand with which it had been filled keeping it very
+perfectly. We found two oars in the sand under the boat, and looked up
+some poles to assist us in navigation. Our cordage was rather scant but
+the best we could get and all we could muster. The boat was about twelve
+feet long and six or seven feet wide, not a very well proportioned
+craft, but having the ability to carry a pretty good load. We swung it
+up to the bank and loaded up our goods and then ourselves. It was not a
+heavy load for the craft, and it looked as if we were taking the most
+sensible way to get to the Pacific, and almost wondered that everybody
+was so blind as not to see it as we did.
+
+This party was composed of W.L. Manley, M.S. McMahon, Charles and Joseph
+Hazelrig, Richard Field, Alfred Walton and John Rogers. We untied the
+ropes, gave the boat a push and commenced to move down the river with
+ease and comfort, feeling much happier than we would had we been going
+toward Salt Lake with the prospect of wintering there.
+
+At the mouth of Ham's Fork we passed a camp of Indians, but we kept
+close to the opposite shore to avoid being boarded by them. They
+beckoned very urgently for us to come ashore, but I acted as if I did
+not understand them, and gave them the go-by.
+
+As we were floating down the rapid stream it became more and more a
+rapid, roaring river, and the bed contained many dangerous rocks that
+were difficult to shun. Each of us had a setting-pole, and we ranged
+ourselves along the sides of the boat and tried to keep ourselves clear
+from the rocks and dangers. The water was not very deep and made such a
+dashing noise as the current rushed among the rocks that one had to talk
+pretty loud to be heard. As we were gliding along quite swiftly, I set
+my pole on the bottom and gave the boat a sudden push to avoid a
+boulder, when the pole stuck in the crevice between two rocks, and
+instead of losing the pole by the sudden jerk I gave, I was the one who
+was very suddenly yanked from the boat by the spring of the pole, and
+landed in the middle of the river. I struck pretty squarely on my back,
+and so got thoroughly wet, but swam for shore amid the shouts of the
+boys, who waved their hats and hurrahed for the captain when they saw he
+was not hurt. I told them that was nothing as we were on our way to
+California by water any way, and such things must be expected.
+
+The next day after this I went on shore and sighted a couple of
+antelope, one of which I shot, which gave us good grub, and good
+appetites we already had. As near as we could estimate we floated about
+thirty miles a day, which beat the pace of tired oxen considerably. In
+one place there was a fringe of thick willows along the bank, and a
+little farther back a perpendicular bluff, while between the two was a
+strip of fine green grass. As we were passing this we scared up a band
+of elk in this grass meadow, and they all took a run down the river like
+a band of horses. One of them turned up a small ravine with walls so
+steep he could not get out, so we posted a guard at the entrance, and
+three of us went up the cañon after him, and after the others had each
+fired a shot, I fired the third and brought him down. This was about the
+finest piece of Rocky Mountain beef that one could see. We took the
+carcass on board and floated on again.
+
+Thus far we had a very pleasant time, each taking his turn in working
+the boat while the others rested or slept. About the fifth day when we
+were floating along in very gently running water, I had lay down to take
+a rest and a little sleep. The mountains here on both sides of the river
+were not very steep, but ran gradually for a mile or so. While I was
+sleeping the boat came around a small angle in the stream, and all at
+once there seemed to be a higher, steeper range of mountains right
+across the valley. The boys thought the river was coming to a rather
+sudden end and hastily awoke me, and for the life of me I could not say
+they were not right, for there was no way in sight for it to go to. I
+remembered while looking over a map the military men had I found a place
+named Brown's Hole, and I told the boys I guessed we were elected to go
+on foot to California after all, for I did not propose to follow the
+river down any sort of a hole into any mountain. We were floating
+directly toward a perpendicular cliff, and I could not see any hole any
+where, nor any other place where it could go. Just as we were within a
+stone's throw of the cliff, the river turned sharply to the right and
+went behind a high point of the mountain that seemed to stand squarely
+on edge. This was really an immense crack or crevice, certainly 2000
+feet deep and perhaps much more, and seemed much wider at the bottom
+than it did at the top, 2000 feet or more above our heads. Each wall
+seemed to lean in toward the water as it rose.
+
+We were now for some time between two rocky walls between which the
+river ran very rapidly, and we often had to get out and work our boat
+over the rocks, sometimes lifting it off when it caught. Fortunately we
+had a good tow line, and one would take this and follow along the edge
+when it was so he could walk. The mountains seemed to get higher and
+higher on both sides as we advanced, and in places we could see quite a
+number of trees overhanging the river, and away up on the rocks we could
+see the wild mountain sheep looking down at us. They were so high that
+they seemed a mile away, and consequently safe enough. This was their
+home, and they seemed very independent, as if they dared us fellows to
+come and see them. There was an old cottonwood tree on bank with marks
+of an axe on it, but this was all the sign we saw that any one had ever
+been here before us. We got no game while passing through this deep
+cañon and began to feel the need of some fresh provisions very sorely.
+
+We passed many deep, dark cañons coming into the main stream, and at one
+place, where the rock hung a little over the river and had a smooth
+wall, I climbed up above the high water mark which we could clearly see,
+and with a mixture of gunpowder and grease for paint, and a bit of cloth
+tied to a stick for a brush, I painted in fair sized letters on the
+rock, CAPT. W.L. MANLEY, U.S.A. We did not know whether we were within
+the bounds of the United States or not, and we put on all the majesty we
+could under the circumstances. I don't think the sun ever shone down to
+the bottom of the cañon, for the sides were literally sky-high, for the
+sky, and a very small portion of that was all we could see.
+
+Just before night we came to a place where some huge rocks as large as
+cabins had fallen down from the mountain, completely filling up the
+river bed, and making it completely impassible for our boat. We unloaded
+it and while the boys held the stern line, I took off my clothes and
+pushed the boat out into the torrent which ran around the rocks, letting
+them pay the line out slowly till it was just right. Then I sang out
+to--"Let go"--and away it dashed. I grasped the bow line, and at the
+first chance jumped overboard and got to shore, when I held the boat and
+brought it in below the obstructions. There was some deep water below
+the rocks; and we went into camp. While some loaded the boat, others
+with a hook and line caught some good fish, which resembled mackerel.
+
+While I was looking up toward the mountain top, and along down the rocky
+wall, I saw a smooth place about fifty feet above where the great rocks
+had broken out, and there, painted in large black letters, were the
+words "ASHLEY, 1824." This was the first real evidence we had of the
+presence of a white man in this wild place, and from this record it
+seems that twenty-five years before some venturesome man had here
+inscribed his name. I have since heard there were some persons in St.
+Louis of this name, and of some circumstances which may link them with
+this early traveler.
+
+When we came to look around we found that another big rock blocked the
+channel 300 yards below, and the water rushed around it with a terrible
+swirl. So we unloaded the boat again and made the attempt to get around
+it as we did the other rocks. We tried to get across the river but
+failed. We now, all but one, got on the great rock with our poles, and
+the one man was to ease the boat down with the rope as far as he could,
+then let go and we would stop it with our poles and push it out into the
+stream and let it go over, but the current was so strong that when the
+boat struck the rock we could not stop it, and the gunwale next to us
+rose, and the other went down, so that in a second the boat stood
+edgewise in the water and the bottom tight against the big rock, and the
+strong current pinned it there so tight that we could no more move it
+than we could move the rock itself.
+
+This seemed a very sudden ending to our voyage and there were some very
+rapid thoughts as to whether we would not safer among the Mormons than
+out in this wild country, afoot and alone. Our boat was surely lost
+beyond hope, and something must be done. I saw two pine trees, about two
+feet through, growing on a level place just below, and I said to them
+that we must decide between going afoot and making some canoes out of
+these pine trees. Canoes were decided on, and we never let the axes
+rest, night or day till we had them completed. While my working shift
+was off, I took an hour or two, for a little hunting, and on a low
+divide partly grown over with small pines and juniper I found signs, old
+and new, of many elk, and so concluded the country was well stocked with
+noble game. The two canoes, when completed were about fifteen feet long
+and two feet wide, and we lashed them together for greater security.
+When we tried them we found they were too small to carry our load and
+us, and we landed half a mile below, where there were two other pine
+trees--white pine--about two feet through, and much taller than the ones
+we had used. We set at work making a large canoe of these. I had to
+direct the work for I was the only one who had ever done such work. We
+worked night and day at these canoes, keeping a big fire at night and
+changing off to keep the axes busy. This canoe we made twenty-five or
+thirty feet long, and when completed they made me captain of it and into
+it loaded the most valuable things, such as provisions, ammunition, and
+cooking utensils. I had to take the lead for I was the only skillful
+canoeist in the party. We agreed upon signals to give when danger was
+seen, or game in sight, and leading off with my big canoe we set sail
+again, and went flying down stream.
+
+This rapid rate soon brought us out of the high mountains and into a
+narrow valley when the stream became more moderate in its speed and we
+floated along easily enough. In a little while after we struck this
+slack water, as we were rounding a point, I saw on a sand bar in the
+river, five or six elk, standing and looking at us with much curiosity.
+I signaled for those behind to go to shore, while I did the same, and
+two or three of us took our guns and went carefully down along the bank,
+the thick brush hiding us from them, till we were in fair range, then
+selecting our game we fired on them. A fine doe fell on the opposite
+bank, and a magnificent buck which Rogers and I selected, went below and
+crossed the river on our side. We followed him down along the bank which
+was here a flat meadow with thick bunches of willows, and soon came
+pretty near to Mr. Elk who started off on a high and lofty trot. As he
+passed an opening in the bushes I put a ball through his head and he
+fell. He was a monster. Rogers, who was a butcher, said it would weigh
+five hundred or six hundred pounds. The horns were fully six feet long,
+and by placing the horns on the ground, point downwards, one could walk
+under the skull between them. We packed the meat to our canoes, and
+staid up all night cutting the meat in strips and drying it, to reduce
+bulk and preserve it, and it made the finest kind of food, fit for an
+epicure.
+
+Starting on again, the river lost more and more of of its rapidity as it
+came out into a still wider valley, and became quite sluggish. We picked
+red berries that grew on bushes that overhung the water. They were sour
+and might have been high cranberries. One day I killed an otter, and
+afterward hearing a wild goose on shore, I went for the game and killed
+it on a small pond on which there were also some mallard duck. I killed
+two of these. When I fired, the ones not killed did not fly away, but
+rather swam toward me. I suppose they never before had seen a man or
+heard the report of a gun. On the shore around the place I saw a small
+bear track, but I did not have time to look for his bearship, and left,
+with the game already killed, and passed on down through this beautiful
+valley.
+
+We saw one place where a large band of horses had crossed, and as the
+men with them must have had a raft, we were pretty sure that the men in
+charge of them were white men. Another day we passed the mouth of a
+swollen stream which came in from the west side. The water was thick
+with mud, and the fish, about a foot long, came to the top, with their
+noses out of water. We tried to catch some, but could not hold them. One
+night we camped on an island, and I took my gun and went over toward the
+west side where I killed a deer. The boys hearing me shoot, came out,
+guns in hand, thinking I might need help, and I was very glad of their
+assistance. To make our flour go as far as possible we ate very freely
+of meat, and having excellent appetites it disappeared very fast.
+
+It took us two or three days to pass this beautiful valley, and then we
+began to get into a rougher country again, the cañons deeper and the
+water more tumultuous. McMahon and I had the lead always, in the big
+canoe. The mountains seemed to change into bare rocks and get higher and
+higher as we floated along. After the first day of this the river became
+so full of boulders that many times the only way we could do was to
+unload the canoes and haul them over, load up and go ahead, only to
+repeat the same tactics in a very short time again. At one place where
+the river was more than usually obstructed we found a deserted camp, a
+skiff and some heavy cooking utensils, with a notice posted up on an
+alder tree saying that they had found the river route impracticable, and
+being satisfied that the river was so full of rocks and boulders that it
+could not be safely navigated, they had abandoned the undertaking and
+were about to start overland to make their way to Salt Lake. I took down
+the names of the parties at the time in my diary, which has since been
+burned, but have now forgotten them entirely. They were all strangers to
+me. They had taken left such heavy articles as could not be carried on
+foot. This notice rather disconcerted us, but we thought we had better
+keep on and see for ourselves, so we did not follow them, but kept on
+down the rocky river. We found generally more boulders than water, and
+the down grade of the river bed was heavy.
+
+Some alders and willows grew upon the bank and up quite high on the
+mountains we could see a little timber. Some days we did not go more
+than four or five miles, and that was serious work, loading and
+unloading our canoes, and packing them over the boulders, with only
+small streams of water curling around between them. We went barefoot
+most of the time, for we were more than half of the time in the water
+which roared and dashed so loud that we could hardly heard each other
+speak. We kept getting more and more venturesome and skillful, and
+managed to run some very dangerous rapids in safety.
+
+On the high peaks above our heads we could see the Rocky Mountain sheep
+looking defiantly at us from their mountain fastnesses, so far away they
+looked no larger than jack rabbits. They were too far off to try to
+shoot at, and we had no time to try to steal up any nearer for at the
+rate we were making, food would be the one thing needful, for we were
+consuming it very fast. Sometimes we could ride a little ways, and then
+would come the rough-and-tumble with the rocks again.
+
+One afternoon we came to a sudden turn in the river, more than a right
+angle, and, just below, a fall of two feet or more. This I ran in
+safety, as did the rest who followed and we cheered at our pluck and
+skill. Just after this the river swung back the other way at a right
+angle or more, and I quickly saw there was danger below and signaled
+them to go on shore at once, and lead the canoes over the dangerous
+rapids. I ran my own canoe near shore and got by the rapid safely,
+waiting for the others to come also. They did not obey my signals but
+thought to run the rapid the same as I did. The channel here was
+straight for 200 yards, without a boulder in it, but the stream was so
+swift that it caused great, rolling waves in the center, of a kind I
+have never seen anywhere else. The boys were not skillful enough to
+navigate this stream, and the suction drew them to the center where the
+great waves rolled them over and over, bottom side up and every way. The
+occupants of our canoe let go and swam to shore. Fields had always been
+afraid of water and had worn a life preserver every day since we left
+the wagons. He threw up his hands and splashed and kicked at a terrible
+rate, for he could not swim, and at last made solid ground. One of the
+canoes came down into the eddy below, where it lodged close to the
+shore, bottom up. Alfred Walton in the other canoe could not swim, but
+held on to the gunwale with a death grip, and it went on down through
+the rapids. Sometimes we could see the man and sometimes not, and he and
+the canoe took turns in disappearing. Walton had very black hair, and as
+he clung fast to his canoe his black head looked like a crow on the end
+of a log. Sometimes he would be under so long that we thought he must be
+lost, when up he would come again still clinging manfully.
+
+McMahon and I threw everything out of the big canoe and pushed out after
+him. I told Mc. to kneel down so I could see over him to keep the craft
+off the rocks, and by changing his paddle from side to side as ordered,
+he enabled me to make quick moves and avoid being dashed to pieces. We
+fairly flew, the boys said, but I stood up in the stern and kept it
+clear of danger till we ran into a clear piece of river and overtook
+Walton clinging to the overturned boat; McMahon seized the boat and I
+paddled all to shore, but Walton was nearly dead and could hardly keep
+his grasp on the canoe. We took him to a sandy place and worked over him
+and warmed him in the sun till he came to life again, then built a fire
+and laid him up near to it to get dry and warm. If the canoe had gone on
+20 yards farther with him before we caught it, he would have gone into
+another long rapid and been drowned. We left Walton by the fire and
+crossing the river in the slack water, went up to where the other boys
+were standing, wet and sorry-looking, say-that all was gone and lost.
+Rogers put his hand in his pocket and pulled out three half dollars and
+said sadly:--"Boys, this is all I am worth in the world." All the
+clothes he had were a pair of overalls and a shirt. If he had been
+possessed of a thousand in gold he would have been no richer, for there
+was no one to buy from and nothing to buy. I said to them: "Boys, we
+can't help what has happened, we'll do the best we can. Right your
+canoe, get the water out, and we'll go down and see how Walton is." They
+did as I told them, and lo and behold when the canoe rolled right side
+up, there were their clothes and blankets safe and sound. These light
+things had floated in the canoe and were safe. We now tried by joining
+hands to reach out far enough to recover some of the guns, but by
+feeling with their feet they found the bottom smooth as glass and the
+property all swept on below, no one knew where. The current was so
+powerful that no one could stand in it where it came up above his knees.
+The eddy which enabled us to save the first canoe with the bedding and
+clothes was caused by a great boulder as large as a house which had
+fallen from above and partly blocked the stream. Everything that would
+sink was lost.
+
+We all got into the two canoes and went down to Walton, where we camped
+and staid all night for Walton's benefit. While we were waiting I took
+my gun and tried to climb up high enough to see how much longer this
+horrible cañon was going to last, but after many attempts, I could not
+get high enough to see in any direction. The mountain was all bare rocks
+in terraces, but it was impossible to climb from one to the other, and
+the benches were all filled with broken rocks that had fallen from
+above.
+
+By the time I got back to camp, Walton was dry and warm and could talk.
+He said he felt better, and pretty good over his rescue. When he was
+going under the water, it seemed sometimes as if he never would come to
+the top again, but he held on and eventually came out all right. He
+never knew how he got to shore, he was so nearly dead when rescued.
+
+The next morning Walton was so well we started on. We were now very
+poorly armed. My rifle and McMahon's shotgun were all the arms we had
+for seven of us, and we could make but a poor defence if attacked by man
+or beast, to say nothing of providing ourselves with food. The mountains
+on each side were very bare of timber, those on the east side
+particularly so, and very high and barren. Toward night we were floating
+along in a piece of slack water, the river below made a short turn
+around a high and rocky point almost perpendicular from the water. There
+was a terrace along the side of this point about fifty feet up, and the
+bench grew narrower as it approached the river. As I was coming down
+quite close under this bank I saw three mountain sheep on the bench
+above, and, motioning to the boys, I ran on shore and, with my gun in
+hand, crept down toward them, keeping a small pine tree between myself
+and the sheep. There were some cedar bushes on the point, and the pines
+grew about half way up the bank. I got in as good a range as possible
+and fired at one of them which staggered around and fell down to the
+bottom of the cliff. I loaded and took the next largest one which came
+down the same way. The third one tried to escape by going down the bend
+and then creeping up a crevice, but it could not get away and turned
+back, cautiously, which gave me time to load again and put a ball
+through it. I hit it a little too far back for instant death, but I
+followed it up and found it down and helpless, and soon secured it. I
+hauled this one down the mountain, and the other boys had the two others
+secure by this time. McMahon was so elated at my success that he said:
+"Manley, if I could shoot as you do I would never want any better
+business." And the other fellows said they guessed we were having better
+luck with one gun than with six, so we had a merry time after all. These
+animals were of a bluish color, with hair much finer than deer, and
+resembled a goat more than a sheep. These three were all females and
+their horns were quite straight, not curved like the big males. We cut
+the meat from the bones and broke them up, making a fine soup which
+tasted pretty good. They were in pretty good order, and the meat like
+very good mutton.
+
+We kept pushing on down the river. The rapids were still dangerous in
+many places, but not so frequent nor so bad as the part we had gone
+over, and we could see that the river gradually grew smoother as we
+progressed.
+
+After a day or two we began to get out of the cañons, but the mountains
+and hills on each side were barren and of a pale yellow caste, with no
+chance for us to climb up and take a look to see if there were any
+chances for us further along. We had now been obliged to follow the
+cañon for many miles, for the only way to get out was to get out
+endwise, climbing the banks being utterly out of the question. But these
+mountains soon came to an end, and there was some cottonwood and willows
+on the bank of the river, which was now so smooth we could ride along
+without the continual loading and unloading we had been forced to
+practice for so long. We had begun to get a little desperate at the lack
+of game, but the new valley, which grew wider all the time, gave us hope
+again, if it was quite barren everywhere except back of the willow
+trees.
+
+We were floating along very silently one day, for none of us felt very
+much in the mood for talking, when we heard a distant sound which we
+thought was very much like the firing of a gun. We kept still, and in a
+short time a similar sound was heard, plainer and evidently some ways
+down the stream. Again and again we heard it, and decided that it must
+be a gun shot, and yet we were puzzled to know how it could be. We were
+pretty sure there were no white people ahead of us, and we did not
+suppose the Indians in this far-off land had any firearms. It might be
+barely possible that we were coming now to some wagon train taking a
+southern course, for we had never heard that there were any settlements
+in this direction and the barren country would preclude any such thing,
+as we viewed it now. If it was a hostile band we could not do much with
+a rifle and a shot gun toward defending ourselves or taking the
+aggressive. Some of the boys spoke of our scalps ornamenting a spear
+handle, and indulged in such like cheerful talk which comforted us
+wonderfully.
+
+Finally we concluded we did not come out into that wild country to be
+afraid of a few gunshots, and determined to put on a bold front, fight
+if we had to, run away if we could not do any better, and take our
+chances on getting scalped or roasted. Just then we came in sight of
+three Indian lodges just a little back from the river, and now we knew
+for certain who had the guns. McMahon and I were in the lead as usual,
+and it was only a moment before one of the Indians appeared, gun in
+hand, and made motions for us to come on shore. A cottonwood tree lay
+nearly across the river, and I had gone so far that I had to go around
+it and land below, but the other boys behind were afraid to do otherwise
+than to land right there as the Indian kept his gun lying across his
+arm. I ran our canoe below to a patch of willows, where we landed and
+crawled through the brush till we came in sight of the other boys, where
+we stood and waited a moment to see how they fared, and whether our red
+men were friends or enemies. There were no suspicious movements on their
+part, so we came out and walked right up to them. There was some little
+talk, but I am sure we did not understand one another's language, and so
+we made motions and they made motions, and we got along better. We went
+with them down to the tepee, and there we heard the first word that was
+at all like English and that was "Mormonee," with a sort of questioning
+tone. Pretty soon one said "Buffalo," and then we concluded they were on
+a big hunt of some sort. They took us into their lodges and showed us
+blankets, knives, and guns, and then, with a suggestive motion, said all
+was "Mormonee," by which we understood they had got them from the
+Mormons. The Indian in the back part of the lodge looked very pleasant
+and his countenance showed a good deal of intelligence for a man of the
+mountains. I now told the boys that we were in a position where we were
+dependent on some one, and that I had seen enough to convince me that
+these Indians were perfectly friendly with the Mormons, and that for our
+own benefit we had better pass ourselves off for Mormons, also. So we
+put our right hand to our breast and said "Mormonee," with a cheerful
+countenance, and that act conveyed to them the belief that we were
+chosen disciples of the great and only Brigham and we became friends at
+once, as all acknowledged. The fine-looking Indian who sat as king in
+the lodge now, by motions and a word or two, made himself known as Chief
+Walker, and when I knew this I took great pains to cultivate his
+acquaintance.
+
+I was quite familiar with the sign language used by all the Indians, and
+found I could get along pretty well in making him understand and knowing
+what he said. I asked him first how many "sleeps" or days it was from
+there to "Mormonee." In answer he put out his left hand and then put two
+fingers of his right astride of it, making both go up and down with the
+same motion of a man riding a horse. Then he shut his eyes and laid his
+head on his hand three times, by which I understood that a man could
+ride to the Mormon settlement in three sleeps or four days. He then
+wanted to know where we were going, and I made signs that we were
+wishing to go toward the setting sun and to the big water, and I said
+"California." The country off to the west of us now seemed an open,
+barren plain, which grew wider as it extended west. The mountains on the
+north side seemed to get lower and smaller as they extended west, but on
+the south or east side they were all high and rough. It seemed as if we
+could see one hundred miles down the river, and up to the time we met
+the Indians we thought we had got through all our troublesome navigation
+and could now sail on, quietly and safely to the great Pacific Ocean and
+land of gold.
+
+When I told Chief Walker this he seemed very much astonished, as if
+wondering why we were going down the river when we wanted to get west
+across the country. I asked him how many sleeps it was to the big water,
+and he shook his head, pointed out across the country and then to the
+river and shook his head again; by which I understood that water was
+scarce, out the way he pointed. He then led me down to a smooth sand bar
+on the river and then, with a crooked stick, began to make a map in the
+sand. First he made a long crooked mark, ten feet long or so, and
+pointing to the river to let me know that the mark in the sand was made
+to represent it. He then made a straight mark across near the north end
+of the stream, and showed the other streams which came into the Green
+river which I saw at once was exactly correct. Then he laid some small
+stones on each side of the cross mark, and making a small hoop of a
+willow twig, he rolled it in the mark he had made across the river, then
+flourished his stick as if he were driving oxen. Thus he represented the
+emigrant road. He traced the branches off to the north where the
+soldiers had gone, and the road to California, which the emigrants took,
+all of which we could see was correct. Then he began to describe the
+river down which we had come. A short distance below the road he put
+some small stones on each side of the river to represent mountains. He
+then put down his hands, one on each side of the crooked mark and then
+raised them up again saying e-e-e-e-e-e as he raised them, to say that
+the mountains there were very high. Then he traced down the stream to a
+place below where we made our canoes; when he placed the stone back from
+the river farther, to show that there was a valley there; then he drew
+them in close again farther down, and piled them up again two or three
+tiers high, then placing both fists on them he raised them higher than
+the top of his head, saying e-e-e-e-e-e and looking still higher and
+shaking his head as if to say:--"Awful bad cañon", and thus he went on
+describing the river till we understood that we were near the place
+where we now were, and then pointed to his tepee, showing that I
+understood him all right. It was all correct, as I very well knew and
+assured me that he knew all about the country.
+
+I became much interested in my new found friend, and had him continue
+his map down the river. He showed two streams coming in on the east side
+and then he began piling up stones on each side of the river and then
+got longer ones and piled them higher and higher yet. Then he stood with
+one foot on each side of his river and put his hands on the stones and
+then raised them as high as he could, making a continued e-e-e-e-e-e as
+long as his breath would last, pointed to the canoe and made signs with
+his hands how it would roll and pitch in the rapids and finely capsize
+and throw us all out. He then made signs of death to show us that it was
+a fatal place. I understood perfectly plain from this that below the
+valley where we now were was a terrible cañon, much higher than any we
+had passed, and the rapids were not navigable with safety. Then Walker
+shook his head more than once and looked very sober, and said "Indiano"
+and reaching for his bow and arrows, he drew the bow back to its utmost
+length and put the arrow close to my breast, showing how I would get
+shot. Then he would draw his hand across his throat and shut his eyes as
+if in death to make us understand that this was a hostile country before
+us, as well as rough and dangerous.
+
+I now had a description of the country ahead and believed it to be
+reliable. As soon as I could conveniently after this, I had a council
+with the boys, who had looked on in silence while I was holding the
+silent confab with the chief. I told them where we were and what chances
+there were of getting to California by this route, and that for my part
+I had as soon be killed by Mormans as by savage Indians, and that I
+believed the best way for us to do was to make the best of our way to
+Salt Lake. "Now" I said, "Those of you who agree with me can follow--and
+I hope all will."
+
+McMahon said that we could not understand a word the old Indian said,
+and as to following his trails, I don't believe a word of it, and it
+don't seem right.
+
+He said he had a map of the country, and it looked just as safe to him
+to go on down the river as to go wandering across a dry and desolate
+country which we knew nothing of. I said to McMahon--"I know this sign
+language pretty well. It is used by almost all the Indians and is just
+as plain and certain to me as my talk is to you. Chief Walker and his
+forefathers were borne here and know the country as well as you know
+your father's farm, and for my part, I think I shall take one of his
+trails and go to Salt Lake and take the chances that way. I have no
+objections to you going some other way if you wish to and think it is
+best". McMahon and Fields concluded they would not follow me any
+farther.
+
+I then went to Chief Walker and had him point out the trail to
+"Mormonie" as well as he could. He told me where to enter the mountains
+leading north, and when we got part way he told me we would come to an
+Indian camp, when I must follow some horse tracks newly made; he made me
+know this by using his hands like horse's forefeet, and pointed the way.
+
+Some of the young men motioned for me to come out and shoot at a mark
+with them, and as I saw it would please them I did so and took good care
+to beat them every time too. Then they wanted to swap (narawaup) guns
+with me which I declined doing. After this the Chief came to me and
+wanted me to go and hunt buffalo with them. I told him I had no horse,
+and then he went and had a nice gray one brought up and told me I could
+ride him if I would go. He took his bow and arrow and showed me how he
+could shoot an arrow straight through a buffalo just back of his short
+ribs and that the arrow would go clear through and come out on the other
+side without touching a bone. Those fellows were in fine spirit, on a
+big hunt, and when Walker pointed out his route to me he swung his hand
+around to Salt Lake.
+
+They all spoke the word buffalo quite plainly. I took his strong bow and
+found I could hardly pull it half way out, but I have no doubt he could
+do as he said he could. I hardly knew how to refuse going with him. I
+asked him how long it would be before he would get around his long
+circuit and get to Salt Lake, to which he replied by pulverizing some
+leaves in his hands and scattering them in the air to represent snow,
+which would fall by the time he got to "Mormonee". I shivered as he said
+this and by his actions I saw that I understood him right.
+
+I told him I could not go with him for the other boys would depend on me
+to get them something to eat, and I put my finger into my open mouth to
+tell him this. I think if I had been alone I should have accepted his
+offer and should have had a good time. I gave them to understand that we
+would swap (narawaup) with them for some horses so he brought up a pair
+of nice two year-old colts for us. I offered him some money for them, he
+did not want that, but would take clothing of almost any kind. We let
+them have some that we could get along without, and some one let Walker
+have a coat. He put it on, and being more warmly dressed than ever
+before, the sweat ran down his face in streams. We let them have some
+needles and thread and some odd notions we had to spare. We saw that
+Walker had some three or four head of cattle with him which he could
+kill if they did not secure game at the time they expected.
+
+McMahon and Field still persisted they would not go with us and so we
+divided our little stock of flour and dried meat with them as fairly as
+possible and decided we would try the trail. When our plans were settled
+we felt in pretty good spirits again, and one of the boys got up a sort
+of corn-stalk fiddle which made a squeaking noise and in a little while
+there was a sort of mixed American and Indian dance going on in which
+the squaws joined in and we had a pretty jolly time till quite late at
+night. We were well pleased that these wild folks had proved themselves
+to be true friends to us.
+
+The morning we were to start I told the boys a dream I had in which I
+had seen that the course we had decided on was the correct one, but
+McMahon and Field thought we were foolish and said they had rather take
+the chances of going with the Indians, or going on down the river. He
+seemed to place great stress on the fact that he could not understand
+the Indians.
+
+Said he:--"This Indian may be all right, and maybe he will lead us all
+into a dreadful trap. They are treacherous and revengeful, and for some
+merely fancied wrong done by us, or by some one else of whom we have no
+control or knowledge, they may take our scalps, wipe us out of existence
+and no one will ever know what became of us. Now this map of mine don't
+show any bad places on this river, and I believe we can get down easily
+enough, and get to California some time. Field and I cannot make up our
+minds so easily as you fellows. I believe your chances are very poor."
+
+The boys now had our few things loaded on the two colts, for they had
+fully decided to go with me, and I was not in the least put back by
+McMahon's dire forebodings. We shook hands with quivering lips as we each
+hoped the other would meet good luck, and find enough to eat and all
+such sort of friendly talk, and then with my little party on the one
+side and McMahon and Field, whom we were to leave behind, on the other,
+we bowed to each other with bared heads, and then we started out of the
+little young cottonwoods into the broad plain that seemed to get wider
+and wider as we went west.
+
+The mountains on the northern side grew smaller and less steep as we
+went west, and on the other hand reached down the river as far as we
+could see. The plain itself was black and barren and for a hundred miles
+at least ahead of us it seemed to have no end. Walker had explained to
+us that we must follow some horse tracks and enter a cañon some miles to
+the northwest. He had made his hands work like horses' feet, placing
+then near the ground as if following a trail, We were not much more than
+a mile away when on looking back, we saw Chief Walker coming towards us
+on a horse at full speed; and motioning for us to stop. This we did,
+though some of the boys said we would surely be marched back and
+scalped. But it was not for that he came. He had been watching us and
+saw that we had failed to notice the tracks of the horses he told us
+about so he rode after us, and now took us off some little distance to
+the right, got off his horse and showed us the faint horse tracks which
+we were to follow and said "Mormonie". He pointed out to us the exact
+cañon we were to enter when we reached the hills; and said after three
+"sleeps" we would find an Indian camp on top of the mountain. He then
+bade us good bye again and galloped back to his own camp.
+
+We now resumed our journey, keeping watch of the tracks more closely,
+and as we came near the spurs of the mountain which projected out into
+the barren valley we crossed several well marked trails running along
+the foot hills, at right angles to our own. This we afterwards learned
+was the regular trail from Santa Fé to Los Angeles. At some big rocks
+further on we camped for the night, and found water in some pools or
+holes in the flat rocks which held the rain.
+
+Reading people of to-day, who know so well the geography of the American
+continent, may need to stop and think that in 1849 the whole region west
+of the Missouri River was very little known, the only men venturesome
+enough to dare to travel over it were hunters and trappers who, by a
+wild life had been used to all the privations of such a journey, and
+shrewd as the Indians themselves in the mysterious ways of the trail and
+the chase. Even these fellows had only investigated certain portions
+best suited to their purpose.
+
+The Indians here have the reputation of being blood thirsty savages who
+took delight in murder and torture, but here, in the very midst of this
+wild and desolate country we found a Chief and his tribe, Walker and his
+followers who were as humane and kind to white people as could be
+expected of any one. I have often wondered at the knowledge of this man
+respecting the country, of which he was able to make us a good map in
+the sand, point out to us the impassable cañon, locate the hostile
+indians, and many points which were not accurately known by our own
+explorers for many years afterward. He undoubtedly saved our little band
+from a watery grave, for without his advice we had gone on and on, far
+into the great Colorado cañon, from which escape would have been
+impossible and securing food another impossibility, while destruction by
+hostile indians was among the strong probabilities of the case. So in a
+threefold way I have for these more than forty years credited the lives
+of myself and comrades to the thoughtful interest and humane
+consideration of old Chief Walker.
+
+In another pool or pond near the one where we were camped I shot a small
+duck. Big sage was plenty here for fuel and we had duck for supper. Our
+party consisted of five men and two small ponies only two years old,
+with a stock of provisions very small including that the old chief had
+given us. We started on in the morning, following our faint trail till
+we came to the cañon we had in view, and up this we turned as we had
+been directed, finding in the bottom a little running stream. Timber
+began to appear as we ascended, and grass also. There were signs of deer
+and grouse but we had no time to stop to hunt, for I had the only gun
+and while I hunted the others must lie idly by. We reached the summit at
+a low pass, and just above, on the north side of the higher mountains
+were considerable banks of snow. Following the Chief's instructions we
+left the trail and followed some horse tracks over rolling hills, high
+on the mountain side. We found the Indian camp exactly as the Chief had
+described, consisting of two or three lodges. The men were all absent
+hunting, but the women were gathering and baking some sort of a root
+which looked like a carrot. They made a pile of several bushels and
+covered it with earth, then made a fire, treating the pile some as a
+charcoal burner does his pit of coal. When sufficiently cooked they beat
+them up and made the material into small cakes which were dried in the
+sun. The dried cakes were as black as coal and intended for winter use.
+These roots before roasting were unfit for food, as they contained a
+sort of acrid juice that would make the tongue smart and very sore but
+there was a very good rich taste when cooked. The woman pointed to our
+horses and said "Walker", so we knew they were aware that we got them of
+him, and might have taken us for horse thieves for aught I know. As it
+was not yet night when we came to the camp, we passed on and camped on a
+clear mountain brook where grew some pine trees. After a little some of
+the Indians belonging to the camp we had passed came in, bringing some
+venison, for which we traded by giving them some needles and a few other
+trinkets. I beat these fellows shooting at a mark, and then they wanted
+to trade guns, which I declined. This piece of meat helped us along
+considerably with our provisions, for game was very scarce and only some
+sage hens had come across our trail. One day I scared a hawk off the
+ground, and we took the sage hen he had caught and was eating, and made
+some soup of it.
+
+After being on this trail six or seven days we began to think of killing
+one of our colts for food, for we had put ourselves on two meals a day
+and the work was very hard; so that hunger was all the time increasing.
+We thought this was a pretty long road for Walker to ride over in three
+sleeps as he said he could, and we began also to think there might be
+some mistake somewhere, although it had otherwise turned out just as he
+said. On the eighth day our horse-tracks came out into a large trail
+which was on a down grade leading in a northward direction. On the ninth
+day we came into a large valley, and near night came in sight of a few
+covered wagons, a part of a train that intended going on a little later
+over the southern route to Los Angeles but were waiting for the weather
+to get a little cooler, for a large part of the route was over almost
+barren deserts. We were very glad to find these wagons, for they seemed
+to have plenty of food and the bountiful supper they treated us to was
+the very thing we needed. We camped here and told them of the hardships
+we had passed through. They had hired a guide, each wagon paying him ten
+dollars for his service. Our little party talked over the situation
+among ourselves, and concluded that as we were good walkers we must
+allow ourselves to be used in any way so that we had grub and concluded
+as many of us as possible would try to get some service to do for our
+board and walk along with the party. John Rogers had a dollar and a half
+and I had thirty dollars, which was all the money we had in our camp. We
+found out we were about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City. Some of the
+boys next day arranged to work for their board, and the others would be
+taken along if they would furnish themselves with flour and bacon. This
+part of the proposition fell to me and two others, and so Hazelrig and I
+took the two colts and started for the city, where they told us we could
+get all we needed with our little purse of money. We reached Hobble
+Creek before night, near Salt Lake where there was a Mormon fort, and
+were also a number of wagons belonging to some prospecting train. There
+seemed to be no men about and we were looking about among the wagons for
+some one to inquire of, when a woman came to the front of the last wagon
+and looked out at us, and to my surprise it was Mrs. Bennett, wife of
+the man I had been trying to overtake ever since my start on this long
+trip. Bennett had my entire outfit with him on this trip and was all the
+time wondering whether I would ever catch up with them. We stayed till
+the men came in with their cattle towards night, and Bennett was glad
+enough to see me, I assure you. We had a good substantial supper and
+then sat around the campfire nearly all night telling of our experience
+since leaving Wisconsin. I had missed Bennett at the Missouri River. I
+knew of no place where people crossed the river except Council Bluff,
+here I had searched faithfully, finding no trace of him, but it seems
+they had crossed farther up at a place called Kanesville, a Mormon
+crossing, and followed up the Platte river on the north side. Their only
+bad luck had been to lose a fine black horse, which was staked out, and
+when a herd of buffaloes came along he broke his rope and followed after
+them. He was looked for with other horses, but never found and doubtless
+became a prize for some enterprising Mr. Lo. who was fortunate enough to
+capture him. Hazelrig and I told of our experience on the south side of
+the Platte; why we went down Green River; what a rough time we had; how
+we were stopped by the Indians and how we had come across from the
+river, arriving the day before and were now on our way to Salt Lake to
+get some flour and bacon so we could go on with the train when it
+started as they had offered to haul our grub for our service if we could
+carry ourselves on foot.
+
+Mr. Bennett would not hear of my going on to Salt Lake City, for he said
+there must be provisions enough in the party and in the morning we were
+able to buy flour and bacon of John Philips of Mineral Point Wis. and of
+Wm. Philips his brother. I think we got a hundred pounds of flour and a
+quantity of bacon and some other things. I had some money which I had
+received for my horse sold to Dallas, but as the others had none I paid
+for it all, and told Hazelrig to take the ponies and go back to camp
+with a share of the provisions and do the best he could. I had now my
+own gun and ammunition, with some clothing and other items which I had
+prepared in Wisconsin before I started after my Winnebago pony, and I
+felt I ought to share the money I had with the other boys to help them
+as best I could. I felt that I was pretty well fixed and had nothing to
+fear.
+
+Mr. Bennett told me much of the trip on the north side of the Platte. He
+said they had some cholera, of which a few people died, and related how
+the outer if not the inner nature of the men changed as they left
+civilization, law and the courts behind them. Some who had been raised
+together, and lived together all their lives without discord or trouble,
+who were considered model men at home and just the right people to be
+connected with in such an expedition, seemed to change their character
+entirely out on these wild wastes. When anything excited their
+displeasure their blood boiled over, and only the interference of older
+and wiser heads on many occasions prevented bloodshed. Some dissolved
+the solemn contract they had made to travel together systematically and
+in order and to stand, by, even unto death, and when they reached the
+upper Platte, the journey only half over, talked of going back, or
+splitting up the outfit and join others they had taken a fancy to. Some
+who could not agree upon a just division of a joint outfit, thinking one
+party was trying to cheat, would not yield but would cut their wagons in
+two lengthwise just for spite so that no carts could be made and the
+whole vehicle spoiled for both parties. The ugly disagreements were many
+and the cloven foot was shown in many ways. Guns were often drawn and
+pointed but some one would generally interfere and prevent bloodshed.
+Others were honest and law abiding to the last degree beyond law and
+churches, and would act as harmoniously as at home, obeying their chosen
+captain in the smallest particular without any grumbling or dissension,
+doing to every one as they would be done by. These were the pride of the
+train. The trains were most of them organized, and all along the river
+bottom one was hardly ever out of sight of some of the wagons, all going
+west. Buffalo and antelope were plenty and in great droves, followed
+always by wolves great and small, who were on the lookout for crippled
+or dead animals with which to fill their hungry stomachs. Buffalo meat
+was plenty and much enjoyed while passing this section of the road and
+this opportunity of replenishing, enabled the stock to last them over
+more desolate regions where game was scarce.
+
+After Bennett had told his stories, and I had related more of our own
+close escapes I began to ask him why he went this way which seemed to be
+very circuitous and much longer than the way they had first intended to
+go. He said that it was too late in the season to go the straight-road
+safely, for there was yet 700 miles of bad country to cross and do the
+best they could it would be at the commencement of the rainy season
+before the Sierra Nevada mountains could be reached and in those
+mountains there was often a snow fall of 20 feet or more, and anyone
+caught in it would surely perish. If they tried to winter at the base of
+the mountains it was a long way to get provisions, and no assurance of
+wild game, and this course was considered very hazardous for any one to
+undertake. This they had learned after consulting mountaineers and
+others who knew about the regions, and as there was nothing doing among
+the Latter Day Saints to give employment to any one, it was decided best
+to keep moving and go the southern route by way of Los Angeles. No
+wagons were reported as ever getting through that way, but a trail had
+been traveled through that barren desert country for perhaps a hundred
+years, and the same could be easily broadened into a wagon road.
+
+After days of argument and camp-fire talks, this Southern route was
+agreed upon, and Capt. Hunt was chosen as guide. Capt. Hunt was a
+Mormon, and had more than one wife, but he had convinced them that he
+knew something about the road. Each agreed to give him ten dollars to
+pilot the train to San Bernardino where the Mormon Church had bought a
+Spanish grant of land, and no doubt they thought a wagon road to that
+place would benefit them greatly, and probably gave much encouragement
+for the parties to travel this way. It was undoubtedly safer than the
+northern mountain route at this season of the year. It seemed at least
+to be a new venture for west-bound emigrant trains, at least as to
+ultimate success, for we had no knowledge of any that had gone through
+safely.
+
+Some western people remembered the history of the Mormons in Illinois
+and Missouri, and their doings there, feared somewhat for their own
+safety now that they were so completely under their power, for they knew
+the Mormons to be revengeful and it was considered very unsafe for any
+traveler to acknowledge he was from Missouri. Many a one who had been
+born there, and lived there all his life, would promptly claim some
+other state as his native place. I heard one Mormon say that there were
+some Missourians on the plains that would never reach California. "They
+used us bad," said he, and his face took on a really murderous look.
+
+These Mormons at Salt Lake were situated as if on an island in the sea,
+and no enemy could reach any adjoining state or territory if Brigham
+Young's band of destroying angels were only warned to look after them.
+
+At a late hour that night we lay down to sleep, and morning came clear
+and bright. After breakfast Mr. Bennett said to me:--"Now Lewis I want
+you to go with me; I have two wagons and two drivers and four yoke of
+good oxen and plenty of provisions. I have your outfit yet, your gun and
+ammunition and your two good hickory shirts which are just in time for
+your present needs. You need not do any work. You just look around and
+kill what game you can for us, and this will help as much as anything,
+you can do." I was, of course glad to accept this offer, and thanks to
+Mr. Bennett's kind care of my outfit, was better fixed then any of the
+other boys.
+
+We inquired around among the other wagons as to their supply of flour
+and bacon; and succeeded to getting flour from Mr. Philips and bacon
+from some of the others, as much as we supposed the other boys would
+need, which I paid for, and when this was loaded on the two colts
+Hazelrig started back alone to the boys in camp. As I was so well
+provided for I gave him all my money for they might need some, and I did
+not.
+
+The wagons which composed the intended train were very much scattered
+about, having moved out from Salt Lake at pleasure, and it was said to
+be too early to make the start on the southern route, for the weather on
+the hot, barren desert was said to grow cooler a little later in the
+season, and it was only at this cool season that the south west part of
+the desert could be crossed in safety. The scattering members of the
+train began to congregate, and Capt. Hunt said it was necessary to have
+some sort of system about the move, and that before they moved they must
+organize and adopt rules and laws which must be obeyed. He said they
+must move like an army, and that he was to be a dictator in all things
+except that in case of necessity a majority of the train could rule
+otherwise. It was thought best to get together and try a march out one
+day, then go in camp and organize.
+
+This they did, and at the camp there was gathered one hundred and seven
+wagons, a big drove of horses and cattle, perhaps five hundred in all.
+The train was divided into seven divisions and each division was to
+elect its own captain. Division No. 1 should lead the march the first
+day, and their men should take charge of the stock and deliver them to
+the wagons in the morning, and then No. 1 should take the rear, with No.
+2 in the lead to break the road. The rear division would not turn a
+wheel before 10 o'clock the next day, and it would be about that time at
+night before they were in camp and unyoked. The numbers of animals
+cleaned out the feed for a mile or two each side of the camp and a
+general meeting was called for the organization of the whole. Mr. L.
+Granger got up so he could look over the audience and proceeded to
+explain the plan and to read a preamble and resolutions which had been
+prepared as the basis for government. I remember that it begun
+thus:--"This Organization shall be known and designated as the Sand
+Walking Company, and shall consist of seven divisions etc," detailing
+the manner of marching as we have recited. Capt J. Hunt was chosen
+commander and guide, and his orders must be obeyed. All possible trouble
+that we could imagine might come was provided against in our written
+agreement, and all promised to live up to it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+We moved off in good style from this camp. After a day or two and before
+we reached what is called Little Salt Lake, an attempt was made to make
+a short cut, to save distance. The train only went on this cut off a day
+or two when Capt. Hunt came back from the front and said they had better
+turn back to the old trail again, which all did. This was a bad move,
+the train much broken and not easy to get them into regular working
+order again. We were now approaching what they called the Rim of the
+Basin. Within the basin the water all ran to the north or toward Great
+Salt Lake, but when we crossed the rim, all was toward the Colorado
+River, through which it reached the Pacific Ocean. About this time we
+were overtaken by another train commanded by Capt. Smith. They had a map
+with them made by one Williams of Salt Lake a mountaineer who was
+represented to know all the routes through all the mountains of Utah,
+and this map showed a way to turn off from the southern route not far
+from the divide which separated the waters of the basin from those which
+flowed toward the Colorado, and pass over the mountains, coming out in
+what they called Tulare valley, much nearer than by Los Angeles.
+
+This map was quite frequently exhibited and the matter freely discussed
+in camp, indeed speeches were made in the interest of the cut-off route
+which was to be so much shorter. A clergyman, the Rev. J.W. Brier, was
+very enthusiastic about this matter and discoursed learnedly and
+plausibly about it. The more the matter was talked about the more there
+were who were converted to the belief that the short road would be the
+best. The map showed every camp on the road and showed where there was
+water and grass, and as to obstacles to the wagons it was thought they
+could easily be overcome. A general meeting was called for better
+consideration of the question. Capt. Hunt said: "You all know I was
+hired to go by way of Los Angeles, but if you all wish to go and follow
+Smith I will go also. But if even one wagon decides to go the original
+route, I shall feel bound to go with that wagon."
+
+A great many were anxious to get the opinion of Capt. Hunt on the
+feasibility of the new route for he was a mountain man and could
+probably give us some good advice. He finally consented to talk of it,
+and said he really knew no more then the others about this particular
+route, but he very much doubted if a white man ever went over it, and
+that he did not consider it at all safe for those who had wives and
+children in their company to take the unknown road. Young men who had no
+family could possibly get through, and save time even if the road was
+not as good as Los Angeles road. But said he "If you decide to follow
+Smith I will go will go with you, even if the road leads to Hell."
+
+On the route from near Salt Lake to this point we found the country to
+grow more barren as we progressed. The grass was thinner, and sage brush
+took the place of timber. Our road took us in sight of Sevier Lake, and
+also, while going through the low hills, passed Little Salt Lake, which
+was almost dry, with a beach around it almost as white as snow. It might
+have had a little more the dignity of a lake in wet weather, but it was
+a rather dry affair as we saw it.
+
+At one point on this route we came into a long narrow valley, well
+covered with sage brush, and before we had gone very far we discovered
+that this was a great place for long eared rabbits, we would call them
+Jack Rabbits now. Every one who had a gun put it into service on this
+occasion, and there was much popping and shooting on every side. Great
+clouds of smoke rolled up as the hunters advanced and the rabbits ran in
+every direction to get away. Many ran right among the horses, and under
+the feet of the cattle and under the wagons, so that the teamsters even
+killed some with a whip. At the end of the valley we went into camp, and
+on counting up the game found we had over 500, or about one for every
+person in camp. This gave us a feast of fresh meat not often found.
+
+It was on this trip that one of Mr. Bennett's ox drivers was taken with
+a serious bowel difficulty, and for many days we thought he would die,
+but he eventually recovered. His name was Silas Helmer.
+
+It was really a serious moment when the front of the train reached the
+Smith trail. Team after team turned to the right while now and then one
+would keep straight ahead as was at first intended. Capt. Hunt came over
+to the larger party after the division was made, and wished them all a
+hearty farewell and a pleasant happy journey. My friend Bennett whose
+fortune I shared was among the seceders who followed the Smith party.
+This point, when our paths diverged was very near the place afterward
+made notorious as Mountain Meadows, where the famous massacre took place
+under the direction of the Mormon generals. Our route from here up to
+the mountain was a very pleasant one, steadily up grade, over rolling
+hills, with wood, water and grass in plenty. We came at last to what
+seemed the summit of a great mountain, about three days journey on the
+new trail. Juniper trees grew about in bunches, and my experience with
+this timber taught me that we were on elevated ground.
+
+Immediately in front of us was a cañon, impassible for wagons, and down
+into this the trail descended. Men could go, horses and mules, perhaps,
+but wagons could no longer follow that trail, and we proposed to camp
+while explorers were sent out to search a pass across this steep and
+rocky cañon. Wood and bunch grass were plenty, but water was a long way
+down the trail and had to be packed up to the camp. Two days passed, and
+the parties sent out began to come in, all reporting no way to go
+farther with the wagons. Some said the trail on the west side of the
+cañon could be ascended on foot by both men and mules, but that it would
+take years to make it fit for wheels.
+
+The enthusiasm about the Smith cut-off had begun to die and now the talk
+began of going back to follow Hunt. On the third morning a lone traveler
+with a small wagon and one yoke of oxen, died. He seemed to be on this
+journey to seek to regain his health. He was from Kentucky, but I have
+forgotten his name. Some were very active about his wagon and, some
+thought too much attention was paid to a stranger. He was decently
+buried by the men of the company.
+
+This very morning a Mr. Rynierson called the attention of the crowd and
+made some remarks upon the situation. He said: "My family is near and
+dear to me. I can see by the growth of the timber that we are in a very
+elevated place. This is now the seventh of November, it being the fourth
+at the time of our turning off on this trail. We are evidently in a
+country where snow is liable to fall at any time in the winter season,
+and if we were to remain here and be caught in a severe storm we should
+all probably perish. I, for one, feel in duty bound to seek a safer way
+than this. I shall hitch up my oxen and return at once to the old trail.
+Boys (to his teamsters) get the cattle and we'll return." This was
+decisive, and Mr. Rynierson would tarry no longer. Many others now
+proceeded to get ready and follow, and as Mr. Rynierson drove out of
+camp quite a respectable train fell in behind him. As fast as the
+hunters came in and reported no road available, they also yoked up their
+oxen and rolled out. Some waited awhile for companions yet in the
+fields, and all were about ready to move, when a party came in with news
+that the pass was found and no trouble could be seen ahead. About
+twenty-seven wagons remained when this news came, and as their
+proprietors had brought good news they agreed to travel on westward and
+not go back to the old trail.
+
+Mr. Bennett had gone only a short distance out when he had the
+misfortune to break the axle of his wagon and he then went back to camp
+and took an axle out of the dead man's wagon and by night had it fitted
+into his own. He had to stay until morning, and there were still a few
+others who were late in getting a start, who camped there also. Among
+these were J.B. Arcane, wife and child; two Earhart brothers and sons
+and some two or three other wagons.
+
+When all was ready we followed the others who had gone ahead. The route
+led at first directly to the north and a pass was said to be in that
+direction. Of the Green River party only Rodgers and myself remained
+with this train. After the wagons straightened out nicely, a meeting was
+called to organize, so as to travel systematically. A feeling was very
+manifest that those without any families did not care to bind themselves
+to stand by and assist those who had wives and children in their party
+and there was considerable debate, which resulted in all the family
+wagons being left out of the arrangements.
+
+A party who called themselves "The Jayhawkers" passed us, and we
+followed along in the rear, over rolling hills covered with juniper
+timber, and small grassy valleys between where there was plenty of water
+and went well, for those before us had broken out the road so we could
+roll along very pleasantly.
+
+At the organization Jim Martin was chosen captain. Those who were
+rejected were Rev. J.W. Brier and, his family, J.B. Arcane and family,
+and Mr. A. Bennett and family, Mr. Brier would not stay put out, but
+forced himself in, and said he was going with the rest, and so he did.
+But the other families remained behind. I attended the meeting and heard
+what was said, but Mr. Bennett was my friend and had been faithful to me
+and my property when he knew not where I was, and so I decided to stand
+by him and his wife at all hazards.
+
+As I had no team to drive I took every opportunity to climb the
+mountains along the route, reaching the highest elevations even if they
+were several miles from the trail. I sometimes remained out all night. I
+took Mr. Arcane's field glass with me and was thus able to see all there
+was of the country. I soon became satisfied that going north was not
+taking us in the direction we ought to go. I frequently told them so,
+but they still persisted in following on. I went to the leaders and told
+them we were going back toward Salt Lake again, not making any headway
+toward California. They insisted they were following the directions of
+Williams, the mountaineer; and they had not yet got as far north as he
+indicated. I told them, and Mr. Bennett and others, that we must either
+turn west, or retrace our steps and get back into the regular Los
+Angeles road again. In the morning we held another consultation and
+decided to turn west here, and leave the track we had been following.
+
+Off we turned at nearly right angles to our former course, to the west
+now, over a piece of table land that gave us little trouble in breaking
+our own road. When we camped, the oxen seemed very fond of a white weed
+that was very plenty, and some borrowed a good deal of trouble thinking
+that perhaps it might be poison. I learned afterwards that this plant
+was the nutritious white sage, which cattle eat freely, with good
+results. We now crossed a low range and a small creek running south, and
+here were also some springs. Some corn had been grown here by the
+Indians. Pillars of sand stone, fifteen feet high and very slim were
+round about in several places and looked strange enough. The next piece
+of table land sloped to the east, and among the sage grew also a bunch
+grass a foot high, which had seeds like broom-corn seeds. The Indians
+had gathered the grass and made it in piles of one hundred pounds or so,
+and used it for food as I found by examining their camps.
+
+One day I climbed a high mountain where some pine grew, in order to get
+a view of the country. As I neared its base I came to a flat rock,
+perhaps fifty feet square. I heard some pounding noise as I came near,
+but what ever it was, it ceased on my approach. There were many signs of
+the rock being used as a camp, such as pine burrs, bones of various
+kinds of animals, and other remains of food which lay every where about
+and on the rock. Near the center was a small oblong stone fitted into a
+hole. I took it out and found it covered a fine well of water about
+three feet deep and was thus protected against any small animal being
+drowned in it. I went on up the mountain and from the top I saw that the
+land west of us looked more and more barren.
+
+The second night the brave Jayhawkers who had been so firm in going
+north hove in sight in our rear. They had at last concluded to accept my
+advice and had came over our road quite rapidly. We all camped together
+that night, and next morning they took the lead again. After crossing a
+small range they came to a basin which seemed to have no outlet, and was
+very barren. Some of the boys in advance of the teams had passed over
+this elevation and were going quite rapidly over the almost level plain
+which sloped into the basin, when they saw among the bunches of sage
+brush behind them a small party of Indians following their road, not
+very far off, but still out of bow and arrow range. The boys were
+suddenly able to take much longer steps than usual and a little more
+rapidly too, and swinging round toward the teams as soon as possible,
+for they already had some fears that an arrow might be sticking in their
+backs in an unpleasantly short space of time, for the Indians were good
+travelers. When they came in sight of the wagons, the Indians vanished
+as quickly as if they had gone into a hole, with no sign remaining,
+except a small dog which greatly resembled a prairie wolf, and kept a
+safe distance away. No one could imagine where the fellows went so
+suddenly.
+
+We drove to the west side of this basin and camped near the foot of a
+low mountain. The cattle were driven down into the basin where there was
+some grass, but at camp we had only the water in our kegs.
+
+Some of the boys climbed the mountain on the north but found no springs:
+Coming down a cañon they found some rain water in a basin in the rocks
+and all took a good drink. Lew West lay down and swallowed all he could
+and then told the boys to kill him for he never would feel so good
+again. They finished the pool, it was so small, before they left it. In
+going on down the cañon they saw an Indian dodge behind some big rocks,
+and searching, they found him in a cave as still as a dead man. They
+pulled him out and made him go with them, and tried every way to find
+out from him where they were and where Owen's Lake was, as they had been
+told the lake was on their route. But he proved to be no wiser than a
+man of mud, and they led him along to camp, put a red flannel shirt on
+him to cover his nakedness, and made him sleep between two white men so
+he could not get away easily. In the morning they were more successful,
+and he showed us a small ravine four miles away which had water in it,
+enough for our use, and we moved up and camped there, while the boys and
+the Indian started over a barren, rocky mountain, and when over on the
+western slope they were led to a water hole on a steep rocky cliff where
+no one but an Indian would ever think of looking for water. They took
+out their cups and had a good drink all around, then offered the Indian
+some, but he disdained the civilized way, and laying down his bow and
+arrows took a long drink directly out of the pool. He was so long in
+getting a good supply that the boys almost forgot him as they were
+gazing over the distant mountain and discussing prospects, till
+attracted by a slight noise they looked and saw Mr. Indian going down
+over the cliffs after the fashion of a mountain sheep, and in a few
+bounds he was out of sight. They could not have killed him if they had
+tried, the move so sudden and unlooked for. They had expected the fellow
+to show them the way to Owen's lake, but now their guide was gone, and
+left nothing to remember him by except his bow and arrows. So they
+returned to their wagons not much wiser than before.
+
+All kinds of game was now very scarce, and so seldom seen that the men
+got tired of carrying their guns, and grew fearless of enemies. A heavy
+rifle was indeed burdensome over so long a road when there was no
+frequent use for it. The party kept rolling along as fast as possible
+but the mountains and valleys grew more barren and water more scarce all
+the time. When found, the water would be in hole at the outlet of some
+cañon, or in little pools which had filled up with rain that had fallen
+on the higher ground. Not a drop of rain had fallen on us since we
+started on this cut-off, and every night was clear and warm. The
+elevated parts of the country seemed to be isolated buttes, with no
+running streams between them but instead, dry lakes with a smooth clay
+bed, very light in color and so hard that the track of an ox could not
+be seen on its glittering surface. At a distance those clay beds looked
+like water shining in the sun and were generally about three times as
+far as any one would judge, the air was so clear. This mirage, or
+resemblance to water was so perfect as often to deceive us, and almost
+to our ruin on one or two occasions.
+
+I took Arcane's field glass and took pains to ascend all the high buttes
+within a day's walk of the road, and this enabled me to get a good
+survey of the country north and west. I would sometimes be gone two or
+three days with no luggage but my canteen and gun. I was very cautious
+in regard to Indians, and tried to keep on the safe side of surprises. I
+would build a fire about dark and then travel on till I came to a small
+washed place and lie down and stay till morning, so if Mr. Indian did
+come to my fire he would not find any one to kill. One day I was going
+up a wide ravine leading to the summit, and before I reached the highest
+part I saw a smoke curl up before me. I took a side ravine and went
+cautiously, bowed down pretty low so no one could see me, and when near
+the top of the ridge and about one hundred yards of the fire I ventured
+to raise slowly up and take a look to see how many there were in camp: I
+could see but two and as I looked across the ravine an Indian woman
+seemed looking at me also, but I was so low she could only see the top
+of my head, and I sank down again out of sight. I crawled further up so
+as to get a better view, and when I straightened up again she got a full
+view of me. She instantly caught her infant off its little pallet made
+of a small piece of thin wood covered with a rabbit skin, and putting
+the baby under one arm, and giving a smart jerk to a small girl that was
+crying to the top of her voice, she bounded off and fairly flew up the
+gentle slope toward the summit, the girl following after very close. The
+woman's long black hair stood out as she rushed along, looking over her
+shoulder every instant as if she expected to be slain. The mother flying
+with her children, untrammeled with any of the arts of fashion was the
+best natural picture I ever looked upon, and wild in the extreme. No
+living artist could do justice to the scene as the lady of the desert,
+her little daughter and her babe, passed over the summit out of sight. I
+followed, but when I reached the highest summit, no living person could
+be seen. I looked the country over with my glass. The region to the
+north was black rocky, and very mountainous. I looked some time and then
+concluded I had better not go any further that way, for I might be
+waylaid and filled with arrows at some unsuspected moment. We saw Indian
+signs almost every day, but as none of them ever came to our camp it was
+safe to say they were not friendly. I now turned back and examined the
+Indian woman's camp. She had only fire enough to make a smoke. Her
+conical shaped basket left behind, contained a few poor arrows and some
+cactus leaves, from which the spines had been burned, and there lay the
+little pallet where the baby was sleeping. It was a bare looking kitchen
+for hungry folks.
+
+I now went to the top of a high butte and scanned the country very
+carefully, especially to the west and north, and found it very barren.
+There were no trees, no fertile valleys nor anything green. Away to the
+west some mountains stood out clear and plain, their summits covered
+white with snow. This I decided was our objective point: Very little
+snow could be seen elsewhere, and between me and the snowy mountains lay
+a low, black rocky range, and a wide level plain, that had no signs of
+water, as I had learned them in our trip thus far across the country.
+The black range seemed to run nearly north and south, and to the north
+and northwest the country looked volcanic, black and desolate.
+
+As I looked and thought, I believed that we were much farther from a
+fertile region then most of our party had any idea of. Such of them as
+had read Fremont's travels, and most of them going to California had
+fortified themselves before starting by reading Fremont; said that the
+mountains were near California and were fertile from their very summits
+down to the sea, but that to the east of the mountains it was a desert
+region for hundred of miles. As I explained it to them, and so they soon
+saw for themselves, they believed that the snowy range ahead of us was
+the last range to cross before we entered the long-sought California,
+and it seemed not far off, and prospect quite encouraging.
+
+Our road had been winding around among the buttes which looked like the
+Indian baskets turned upside down on the great barren plain. What water
+we found was in small pools in the wash-out places near the foothills at
+the edge of the valley, probably running down the ravines after some
+storm. There were dry lake beds scattered around over the plain, but it
+did not seem as if there had ever been volume of water enough lately to
+force itself out so far into the plain as these lakes were. All the
+lakes appeared about the same, the bed white and glistening in the sun,
+which made it very hard for the eyes, and so that a man in passing over
+it made no visible track. It looked as if it one time might have been a
+smooth bed of plastic mortar, and had hardened in the sun. It looked as
+if there must have been water there sometime, but we had not seen a
+drop, or a single cloud; every day was clear and sunny, and very warm,
+and at night no stars forgot to shine.
+
+Our oxen began to look bad, for they had poor food. Grass had been very
+scarce, and now when we unyoked them and turned them out they did not
+care to look around much for something to eat. They moved slowly and
+cropped disdainfully the dry scattering shrubs and bunches of grass from
+six inches to a foot high. Spending many nights and days on such dry
+food and without water they suffered fearfully, and though fat and sleek
+when we started from Salt Lake, they now looked gaunt and poor, and
+dragged themselves slowly along, poor faithful servants of mankind. No
+one knew how long before we might have to kill some of them to get food
+to save our own lives.
+
+We now traveled several days down the bed of a broad ravine, which led
+to a southwest direction. There seemed to be a continuous range of
+mountains on the south, but to the north was the level plain with
+scattered buttes, and what we had all along called dry lakes, for up to
+this time we had seen no water in any of them. I had carried my rifle
+with me every day since we took this route, and though I was an
+experienced hunter, a professional one if there be such a thing, I had
+killed only one rabbit, and where no game lived I got as hungry as other
+folks.
+
+Our line soon brought us in sight of a high butte which stood apparently
+about 20 miles south of our route, and I determined to visit and climb
+it to get a better view of things ahead. I walked steadily all day and
+reached the summit about dusk. I wandered around among the big rocks,
+and found a projecting cliff where I would be protected from enemies,
+wind or storm, and here I made my camp. While the light lasted I
+gathered a small stock of fuel, which consisted of a stunted growth of
+sage and other small shrubs, dry but not dead, and with this I built a
+little fire Indian fashion and sat down close to it. Here was a good
+chance for undisturbed meditation and someway I could not get around
+doing a little meditating as I added a new bit of fuel now and then to
+the small fire burning at my side. I thought it looked dark and
+troublesome before us. I took a stone for a pillow with my hat on it for
+a cushion, and lying down close under the shelving rock I went to sleep,
+for I was very tired, I woke soon from being cold, for the butte was
+pretty high, and so I busied myself the remainder of the night in adding
+little sticks to the fire, which gave me some warmth, and thus in
+solitude I spent the night. I was glad enough to see the day break over
+the eastern mountains, and light up the vast barren country I could see
+on every hand around me. When the sun was fairly up I took a good survey
+of the situation, and it seemed as if pretty near all creation was in
+sight. North and west was a level plain, fully one hundred miles wide it
+seemed, and from anything I could see it would not afford a traveler a
+single drink in the whole distance or give a poor ox many mouthfuls of
+grass. On the western edge it was bounded by a low, black and rocky
+range extending nearly north and south for a long distance and no pass
+though it which I could see, and beyond this range still another one
+apparently parallel to it. In a due west course from me was the high
+peak we had been looking at for a month, and lowest place was on the
+north side, which we had named Martin's Pass and had been trying so long
+to reach. This high peak, covered with snow, glistened to the morning
+sun, and as the air was clear from clouds or fog, and no dust or haze to
+obscure the view, it seemed very near.
+
+I had learned by experience that objects a day's walk distant seemed
+close by in such a light, and that when clear lakes appeared only a
+little distance in our front, we might search and search and never find
+them. We had to learn how to look for water in this peculiar way. In my
+Wisconsin travel I had learned that when I struck a ravine I must go
+down to look for living water, but here we must invariably travel upward
+for the water was only found in the high mountains.
+
+Prospects now seemed to me so hopeless, that I heartily wished I was not
+in duty bound to stand by the women and small children who could never
+reach a land of bread without assistance. If I was in the position that
+some of them were who had only themselves to look after, I could pick up
+my knapsack and gun and go off, feeling I had no dependent ones to leave
+behind. But as it was I felt I should be morally guilty of murder if I
+should forsake Mr. Bennett's wife and children, and the family of Mr.
+Arcane with whom I had been thus far associated. It was a dark line of
+thought but I always felt better when I got around to the determination,
+as I always did, to stand by my friends, their wives and children let
+come what might.
+
+I could see with my glass the train of wagons moving slowly over the
+plain toward what looked to me like a large lake. I made a guess of the
+point they would reach by night, and then took a straight course for it
+all day long in steady travel. It was some time after dark, and I was
+still a quarter of a mile from the camp fires, where in the bed of a
+cañon I stepped into some mud, which was a sign of water. I poked around
+in the dark for a while and soon found a little pool of it, and having
+been without a drop of it for two days I lay down and took a hasty
+drink. It did not seem to be very clear or clean, but it was certainly
+wet, which was the main thing just then. The next morning I went to the
+pond of water, and found the oxen had been watered there. They stirred
+up the mud a good deal and had drank off about all the clean part, which
+seemed to refresh them very much. I found the people in the camp on the
+edge of the lake I had seen from the mountain, and fortunately it
+contained about a quarter of an inch of water. They had dug some holes
+here, which filled up, and they were using this water in the camp.
+
+The ambitious mountain-climbers of our party had by this, time,
+abandoned that sort of work, and I was left alone to look about and try
+to ascertain the character of the road they were to follow. It was a
+great deal to do to look out for food for the oxen and for water for the
+camp, and besides all this it was plain there were Indians about even if
+we did not see them. There were many signs, and I had to be always on
+the lookout to outgeneral them. When the people found I was in camp this
+night they came around to our wagons to know what I had seen and found,
+and what the prospects were ahead. Above all they wanted to know how far
+it was, in my opinion to the end of our journey. I listened to all their
+inquiries and told them plainly what I had seen, and what I thought of
+the prospect. I did not like telling the whole truth about it for fear
+it might dampen their spirits, but being pressed for an opinion I told
+them in plain words that it would at least be another month before their
+journey would be ended. They seemed to think I ought to be pretty good
+authority, and if I was not mistaken, the oxen would get very poor and
+provisions very scarce before we could pull through so long. I was up at
+day break and found Mr. Bennett sitting by the fire. About the first
+thing he said:--"Lewis, if you please I don't want you hereafter to
+express your views so openly and emphatically as you did last night
+about our prospects. Last night when I went to bed I found Sarah (his
+wife) crying and when pressed for the cause, she said she had heard your
+remarks on the situation, and that if Lewis said so it must be correct,
+for he knows more about it than all of you. She felt that she and the
+children must starve."
+
+In the morning Jayhawkers, and others of the train that were not
+considered strictly of our own party, yoked up and started due west
+across the level plain which I had predicted as having no water, and I
+really thought they would never live to get across to the western
+border. Mr. Culverwell and Mr. Fish stayed with us, making another wagon
+in our train. We talked about the matter carefully, I did not think it
+possible to get across that plain in less than four or six days, and I
+did not believe there was a drop of water on the route. To the south of
+us was a mountain that now had considerable snow upon its summit, and
+some small pine trees also. Doubtless we could find plenty of water at
+the base, but being due south, it was quite off our course. The
+prospects for reaching water were so much better in that way that we
+finally decided to go there rather than follow the Jayhawkers on their
+desolate tramp over the dry plain.
+
+So we turned up a cañon leading toward the mountain and had a pretty
+heavy up grade and a rough bed for a road. Part way up we came to a high
+cliff and in its face were niches or cavities as large as a barrel or
+larger, and in some of them we found balls of a glistening substance
+looking something like pieces of varigated candy stuck together. The
+balls were as large as small pumpkins. It was evidently food of some
+sort, and we found it sweet but sickish, and those who were so hungry as
+to break up one of the balls and divide it among the others, making a
+good meal of it, were a little troubled with nausea afterwards. I
+considered it bad policy to rob the Indians of any of their food, for
+they must be pretty smart people to live in this desolate country and
+find enough to keep them alive, and I was pretty sure we might count
+them as hostiles as they never came near our camp. Like other Indians
+they were probably revengeful, and might seek to have revenge on us for
+the injury. We considered it prudent to keep careful watch for them, so
+they might not surprise us with a volley of arrows.
+
+The second night we camped near the head of the cañon we had been
+following, but thus far there had been no water, and only some stunted
+sage brush for the oxen, which they did not like, and only ate it when
+near the point of starvation. They stood around the camp looking as
+sorry as oxen can. During the night a stray and crazy looking cloud
+passed over us and left its moisture on the mountain to the shape of a
+coat of snow several inches deep. When daylight came the oxen crowded
+around the wagons, shivering with cold, and licking up the snow to
+quench their thirst. We took pattern after them and melted snow to get
+water for ourselves.
+
+By the looks of our cattle it did not seem as if they could pull much,
+and light loads were advisable on this up grade. Mr. Bennett was a
+carpenter and had brought along some good tools in his wagon. These he
+reluctantly unloaded, and almost everything else except bedding and
+provisions, and leaving them upon the ground, we rolled up the hills
+slowly, with loads as light as possible.
+
+Rogers and I went ahead with our guns to look out the way and find a
+good camping place. After a few miles we got out of the snow and out
+upon an incline, and in the bright clear morning air the foot of the
+snowy part of the mountain seemed near by and we were sure we could
+reach it before night. From here no guide was needed and Rogers and I,
+with our guns and canteens hurried on as fast as possible, when a camp
+was found we were to raise a signal smoke to tell them where it was. We
+were here, as before badly deceived as to the distance, and we marched
+steadily and swiftly till nearly night before we reached the foot of the
+mountain.
+
+Here was a flat place in a table land and on it a low brush hut, with a
+small smoke near by, which we could plainly see as we were in the shade
+of the mountain, and that place lighted up by the nearly setting sun. We
+looked carefully and satisfied ourselves there was but one hut, and
+consequently but few people could be expected. We approached carefully
+and cautiously, making a circuit around so as to get between the hut and
+the hill in case that the occupants should retreat in that direction. It
+was a long time before we could see any entrance to this wickiup, but we
+found it at last and approached directly in front, very cautiously
+indeed: We could see no one, and thought perhaps they were in ambush for
+us, but hardly probable, as we had kept closely out of sight. We
+consulted a moment and concluded to make an advance and if possible
+capture some one who could tell us about the country, as we felt we were
+completely lost. When within thirty yards a man poked out his head out
+of a doorway and drew it back again quick as a flash. We kept out our
+guns at full cock and ready for use, and told Rogers to look out for
+arrows, for they would come now if ever. But they did not pull a bow on
+us, and the red-man, almost naked came out and beckoned for us to come
+on which we did.
+
+We tried to talk with the fellow in the sign language but he could
+understand about as much as an oyster. I made a little basin in the
+ground and filled it with water from our canteens to represent a lake,
+then pointed in an inquiring way west and north, made signs of ducks and
+geese flying and squawking, but I did no seem to be able to get an idea
+into his head of what we wanted. I got thoroughly provoked at him and
+may have shown some signs of anger. During all this time a child or two
+in the hut squalled terribly, fearing I suppose they would all be
+murdered. We might have lost our scalps under some circumstances, but we
+appeared to be fully the strangest party, and had no fear, for the
+Indian had no weapon about him and we had both guns and knives. The poor
+fellow was shivering with cold, and with signs of friendship we fired
+off one of the guns which waked him up a little and he pointed to the
+gun and said "Walker," probably meaning the same good Chief Walker who
+had so fortunately stopped us in our journey down Green River. I
+understood from the Indian that he was not friendly to Walker, but to
+show that he was all right with us he went into the hut and brought out
+a handful of corn for us to eat. By the aid of a warm spring near by
+they had raised some corn here, and the dry stalks were standing around.
+
+As we were about to leave I told him we would come back, next day and
+bring him some clothes if we could find any to spare, and then we
+shouldered our guns and went back toward the wagons, looking over our
+shoulders occasionally to see if we were followed. We walked fast down
+the hill and reached the camp about dark to find it a most unhappy one
+indeed. Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane were in heart-rending distress. The
+four children were crying for water but there was not a drop to give
+them, and none could be reached before some time next day. The mothers
+were nearly crazy, for they expected the children would choke with
+thirst and die in their arms, and would rather perish themselves than
+suffer the agony of seeing their little ones gasp and slowly die. They
+reproached themselves as being the cause of all this trouble. For the
+love of gold they had left homes where hunger had never come, and often
+in sleep dreamed of the bounteous tables of their old homes only to be
+woefully disappointed in the morning. There was great gladness when John
+Rogers and I appeared in the camp and gave the mothers full canteens of
+water for themselves and little ones, and there was tears of joy and
+thankfulness upon their cheeks as they blessed us over and over again.
+
+The oxen fared very hard. The ground was made up of broken stone, and
+all that grew was a dry and stunted brush not more than six inches high,
+of which the poor animals took an occasional dainty bite, and seemed
+hardly able to drag along.
+
+It was only seven or eight miles to the warm spring and all felt better
+to know for a certainty that we would soon be safe again. We started
+early, even the women walked, so as to favor the poor oxen all we could.
+When within two miles of the water some of the oxen lay down and refused
+to rise again, so we had to leave them and a wagon, while the rest
+pushed on and reached the spring soon after noon. We took water and went
+back to the oxen left behind, and gave them some to drink. They were
+somewhat rested and got up, and we tried to drive them in without the
+wagons, but they were not inclined to travel without the yoke, so we put
+it on them and hitched to the wagon again. The yoke and the wagon seemed
+to brace them up a good deal, and they went along thus much better than
+when alone and scattered about, with nothing to lean upon.
+
+The warm spring was quite large and ran a hundred yards or more before
+the water sank down into the dry and thirsty desert. The dry cornstalks
+of last years crop, some small willows, sagebrush, weeds and grass
+suited our animals very well, and they ate better than for a long time,
+and we thought it best to remain two or three days to give them a chance
+to get rest. The Indian we left here the evening before had gone and
+left nothing behind but a chunk of crystallized rock salt. He seemed to
+be afraid of his friends.
+
+The range we had been traveling nearly parallel with seemed to come to
+an end here where this snow peak stood, and immediately north and south
+of this peak there seemed to be a lower pass. The continuous range north
+was too low to hold snow. In the morning I concluded to go to the summit
+of that pass and with my glass have an extensive view. Two other boys
+started with me, and as we moved along the snow line we saw tracks of
+our runaway Indian in the snow, passing over a low ridge. As we went on
+up hill our boys began to fall behind, and long before night I could see
+nothing of them. The ground was quite soft, and I saw many tracks of
+Indians which put me on my guard. I reached the summit and as the shade
+of its mountain began to make it a little dark, I built a fire of sage
+brush, ate my grub, and when it was fairly dark, renewed the fire and
+passed on a mile, where in a small ravine with banks two feet high I lay
+down sheltered from the wind and slept till morning. I did this to beat
+the Indian in his own cunning.
+
+Next morning I reached the summit about nine o'clock, and had the
+grandest view I ever saw. I could see north and south almost forever.
+The surrounding region seemed lower, but much of it black, mountainous
+and barren. On the west the snow peak shut out the view in that
+direction. To the south the mountains seemed to descend for more than
+twenty miles, and near the base, perhaps ten miles away, were several
+smokes, apparently from camp fires, and as I could see no animals or
+camp wagons anywhere I presumed them to be Indians. A few miles to the
+north and east of where I stood, and somewhat higher, was the roughest
+piece of ground I ever saw. It stood in sharp peaks and was of many
+colors, some of them so red that the mountain looked red hot, I imagined
+it to be a true volcanic point, and had never been so near one before,
+and the most wonderful picture of grand desolation one could ever see.
+
+Toward the north I could see the desert the Jayhawkers and their
+comrades had under taken to cross, and if their journey was as
+troublesome as ours and very much longer, they might by this time be all
+dead of thirst. I remained on this summit an hour or so bringing my
+glass to bear on all points within my view, and scanning closely for
+everything that might help us or prove an obstacle to our progress. The
+more I looked the more I satisfied myself that we were yet a long way
+from California and the serious question of our ever living to get there
+presented itself to me as I tramped along down the grade to camp. I put
+down at least another month of heavy weary travel before we could hope
+to make the land of gold, and our stock of strength and provisions were
+both pretty small for so great a tax upon them. I thought so little
+about anything else that the Indians might have captured me easily, for
+I jogged along without a thought of them. I thought of the bounteous
+stock of bread and beans upon my father's table, to say nothing about
+all the other good things, and here was I, the oldest son, away out in
+the center of the Great American Desert, with an empty stomach and a dry
+and parched throat, and clothes fast wearing out with constant wear. And
+perhaps I had not yet seen the worst of it. I might be forced to see
+men, and the women and children of our party, choke and die, powerless
+to help them. It was a darker, gloomier day than I had ever known could
+be, and alone I wept aloud, for I believed I could see the future, and
+the results were bitter to contemplate. I hope no reader of this history
+may ever be placed in a position to be thus tried for I am not ashamed
+to say that I have a weak point to show under such circumstances. It is
+not in my power to tell how much I suffered in my lonely trips, lasting
+sometimes days and nights that I might give the best advice to those of
+my party. I believed that I could escape at any time myself, but all
+must be brought through or perish, and with this all I knew I must not
+discourage the others. I could tell them the truth, but I must keep my
+worst apprehensions to myself lest they loose heart and hope and faith
+needlessly.
+
+I reached the camp on the third day where I found the boys who went part
+way with me and whom I had out-walked. I related to the whole camp what
+I had seen, and when all was told it appeared that the route from the
+mountains westerly was the only route that could be taken, they told me
+of a discovery they had made of a pile of squashes probably raised upon
+the place, and sufficient in number so that every person could have one.
+I did not approve of this for we had no title to this produce, and might
+be depriving the rightful owner of the means of life. I told them not
+only was it wrong to rob them of their food, but they could easily
+revenge themselves on us by shooting our cattle, or scalp us, by
+gathering a company of their own people together. They had no experience
+with red men and were slow to see the results I spoke of as possible.
+
+During my absence an ox had been killed, for some were nearly out of
+provisions, and flesh was the only means to prevent starvation. The meat
+was distributed amongst the entire camp, with the understanding that
+when it became necessary to kill another it should be divided in the
+same way. Some one of the wagons would have to be left for lack of
+animals to draw it. Our animals were so poor that one would not last
+long as food. No fat could be found on the entire carcass, and the
+marrow of the great bones was a thick liquid, streaked with blood
+resembling corruption.
+
+Our road led us around the base of the mountain; There were many large
+rocks in our way, some as large as houses, but we wound around among
+them in a very crooked way and managed to get along. The feet of the
+oxen became so sore that we made moccasins for them from the hide of the
+ox that was killed, and with this protection they got along very well.
+Our trains now consisted of seven wagons. Bennett had two; Arcane two;
+Earhart Bros. one. Culverwell, Fish and others one; and there was one
+other, the owners of which I have forgotten. The second night we had a
+fair camp with water and pretty fair grass and brush for the oxen. We
+were not very far from the snow line and this had some effect on the
+country. When Bennett retired that night he put on a camp kettle of the
+fresh beef and so arranged the fire that it would cook slowly and be
+done by daylight for breakfast. After an hour or so Mr. Bennett went out
+to replenish the fire and see how the cooking was coming on, and when I
+went to put more water in the kettle, he found that to his
+disappointment, the most of the meat was gone. I was rolled up in my
+blanket under his wagon and awoke when he came to the fire and saw him
+stand and look around as if to fasten the crime on the right party if
+possible, but soon he came to me, and in a whisper said: "Did you see
+anyone around the fire after we went to bed?" I assured him I did not,
+and then he told me some one had taken his meat. "Do you think," said he
+"that any one is so near out of food as to be starving?" "I know the
+meat is poor, and who ever took it must be nearly starving." After a
+whispered conversation we went to bed, but we both rose at daylight and,
+as we sat by the fire, kept watch of those who got up and came around.
+We thought we knew the right man, but were not sure, and could not
+imagine what might happen if stealing grub should begin and continue. It
+is a sort of unwritten law that in parties such as ours, he who steals
+provisions forfeits his life. We knew we must keep watch and if the
+offense was repeated the guilty one might be compelled to suffer.
+Bennett watched closely and for a few days I kept closely with the
+wagons for fear there might be trouble. It was really the most critical
+point in our experience. After three or four days all hope of detecting
+the criminal had passed, and all danger was over out of any difficulty.
+
+One night we had a fair camp, as we were close to the base of the snow
+butte, and found a hole of clear or what seemed to be living water.
+There were a few minnows in it not much more than an inch long. This was
+among a big pile of rocks, and around these the oxen found some grass.
+
+There now appeared to be a pass away to the south as a sort of outlet to
+the great plain which lay to the north of us, but immediately west and
+across the desert waste, extending to the foot of a low black range of
+mountains, through which there seemed to be no pass, the distant snowy
+peak lay still farther on, with Martin's pass over it still a long way
+off though we had been steering toward it for a month. Now as we were
+compelled to go west this impassable barrier was in our way and if no
+pass could be found in it we would be compelled to go south and make no
+progress in a westerly direction.
+
+Our trail was now descending to the bottom of what seemed to be the
+narrowest part of the plain, the same one the Jayhawkers had started
+across, further north, ten days before. When we reached the lowest part
+of this valley we came to a running stream, and, as dead grass could be
+seen in the bed where the water ran very slowly, I concluded it only had
+water in it after hard rains in the mountains, perhaps a hundred miles,
+to the north. This water was not pure; it had a bitter taste, and no
+doubt in dry weather was a rank poison. Those who partook of it were
+affected about as if they had taken a big dose of salts.
+
+A short distance above this we found the trail of the Jayhawkers going
+west, and thus we knew they had got safely across the great plain and
+then turned southward. I hurried along their trail for several miles and
+looked the country over with field glass becoming fully satisfied we
+should find no water till we reached the summit, of the next range, and
+then fearing the party had not taken the precaution to bring along some
+water I went back to them and found they had none. I told them they
+would not see a drop for the next forty miles, and they unloaded the
+lightest wagon and drove back with everything they had which would hold
+water, to get a good supply.
+
+I turned back again on the Jayhawker's road, and followed it so rapidly
+that well toward night I was pretty near the summit, where a pass
+through this rocky range had been found and on this mountain not a tree
+a shrub or spear of grass could be found--desolation beyond conception.
+I carried my gun along every day, but for the want of a chance to kill
+any game a single load would remain in my gun for a month. Very seldom a
+rabbit could be seen, but not a bird of any kind, not even a hawk
+buzzard or crow made their appearance here.
+
+When near the steep part of the mountain, I found a dead ox the
+Jayhawkers had left, as no camp could be made here for lack of water and
+grass, the meat could not be saved. I found the body of the animal badly
+shrunken, but in condition, as far as putrefaction was concerned, as
+perfect as when alive. A big gash had been cut in the ham clear to the
+bone and the sun had dried the flesh in this. I was so awful hungry that
+I took my sheath knife and cut a big steak which I devoured as I walked
+along, without cooking or salt. Some may say they would starve before
+eating such meat, but if they have ever experienced hunger till it
+begins to draw down the life itself, they will find the impulse of self
+preservation something not to be controlled by mere reason. It is an
+instinct that takes possession of one in spite of himself.
+
+I went down a narrow, dark cañon high on both sides and perpendicular,
+and quite so in many places. In one of the perpendicular portions it
+seemed to be a varigated clay formation, and a little water seeped down
+its face. Here the Indians had made a clay bowl and fastened it to the
+wall so that it would collect and retain about a quart of water, and I
+had a good drink of water, the first one since leaving the running
+stream. Near here I staid all night, for fear of Indians who I firmly
+believe would have taken my scalp had a good opportunity offered. I
+slept without a fire, and my supply of meat just obtained drove hunger
+away.
+
+In the morning I started down the cañon which descended rapidly and had
+a bed of sharp, volcanic, broken rock. I could sometimes see an Indian
+track, and kept a sharp lookout at every turn, for fear of revenge on
+account of the store of squashes which had been taken. I felt I was in
+constant danger, but could do nothing else but go on and keep eyes open
+trusting to circumstances to get out of any sudden emergency that might
+arise.
+
+As I recollect this was Christmas day and about dusk I came upon the
+camp of one man with his wife and family, the Rev. J.W. Brier, Mrs.
+Brier and two sons. I inquired for others of his party and he told me
+they were somewhere ahead. When I arrived at his camp I found the
+reverend gentleman very cooly delivering a lecture to his boys on
+education. It seemed very strange to me to hear a solemn discourse on
+the benefits of early education when, it seemed to me, starvation was
+staring us all in the face, and the barren desolation all around gave
+small promise of the need of any education higher than the natural
+impulses of nature. None of us knew exactly where we were, nor when the
+journey would be ended, nor when substantial relief would come.
+Provisions were wasting away, and some had been reduced to the last
+alternative of subsisting on the oxen alone. I slept by the fire that
+night, without a blanket, as I had done on many nights before and after
+they hitched up and drove on in the morning I searched the camp
+carefully, finding some bacon rinds they had thrown away. As I chewed
+these and could taste the rich grease they contained, I thought they
+were the sweetest morsels I ever tasted.
+
+Here on the north side of the cañon were some rolling hills and some
+small weak springs, the water of which when gathered together made a
+small stream which ran a few yards down the cañon before it lost itself
+in the rocks and sand. On the side there stood what seemed to be one
+half of a butte, with the perpendicular face toward the cañon. Away on
+the summit of the butte I saw an Indian, so far away he looked no taller
+than my finger, and when he went out of sight I knew pretty well he was
+the very fellow who grew the squashes. I thought it might be he, at any
+rate.
+
+I now turned back to meet the teams and found them seven or eight miles
+up the cañon, and although it was a down grade the oxen were barely able
+to walk slowly with their loads which were light, as wagons were almost
+empty except the women and children. When night came on it seemed to be
+cloudy and we could hear the cries of the wild geese passing east. We
+regarded this as a very good sign and no doubt Owen's Lake, which we
+expected to pass on this route, was not very far off. Around in those
+small hills and damp places was some coarse grass and other growths, but
+those who had gone before devoured the best, so our oxen had a hard time
+to get anything to eat.
+
+Next morning I shouldered my gun and followed down the cañon keeping the
+wagon road, and when half a mile down, at the sink of the sickly stream,
+I killed a wild goose. This had undoubtedly been attracted here the
+night before by the light of our camp fire. When I got near the lower
+end of the cañon, there was a cliff on the north or right hand side
+which was perpendicular or perhaps a little overhanging, and at the base
+a cave which had the appearance of being continuously occupied by
+Indians. As I went on down I saw a very strange looking track upon the
+ground. There were hand and foot prints as if a human being had crawled
+upon all fours. As this track reached the valley where the sand had been
+clean swept by the wind, the tracks became more plain, and the sand had
+been blown into small hills not over three or four feet high. I followed
+the track till it led to the top of one of these small hills where a
+small well-like hole had been dug and in this excavation was a kind of
+Indian mummy curled up like a dog. He was not dead for I could see him
+move as he breathed, but his skin looked very much like the surface of a
+well dried venison ham. I should think by his looks he must be 200 or
+300 years old, indeed he might be Adam's brother and not look any older
+than he did. He was evidently crippled. A climate which would preserve
+for many days or weeks the carcass of an ox so that an eatable round
+stake could be cut from it, might perhaps preserve a live man for a
+longer period than would be believed.
+
+I took a good long look at the wild creature and during all the time he
+never moved a muscle, though he must have known some one was in the well
+looking down at him. He was probably practicing on one of the directions
+for a successful political career looking wise and saying nothing. At
+any rate he was not going to let his talk get him into any trouble. He
+probably had a friend around somewhere who supplied his wants. I now
+left him and went farther out into the lowest part of the valley. I
+could look to the north for fifty miles and it seemed to rise gradually
+in that direction. To the south the view was equally extended, and down
+that way a lake could be seen. The valley was here quite narrow, and the
+lofty snow-capped peak we had tried so hard to reach for the past two
+months now stood before me. Its east side was almost perpendicular and
+seemed to reach the sky, and the snow was drifting over it, while here
+the day sun was shining uncomfortably hot. I believe this mountain was
+really miles from its base to its summit, and that nothing could climb
+it on the eastern side except a bird and the only bird I had seen for
+two months was the goose I shot. I looked every day for some sort of
+game but had not seen any.
+
+As I reached the lower part of the valley I walked over what seemed to
+be boulders of various sizes, and as I stepped from one to another the
+tops were covered with dirt and they grew larger as I went along. I
+could see behind them and they looked clear like ice, but on closer
+inspection proved to be immense blocks of rock salt while the water
+which stood at their bases was the strongest brine. After this discovery
+I took my way back to the road made by the Jayhawkers and found it quite
+level, but sandy. Following this I came to a campfire soon after dark at
+which E. Doty and mess were camped. As I was better acquainted I camped
+with them. They said the water there was brackish and I soon found out
+the same thing for myself. It was a poor camp; no grass, poor water and
+scattering, bitter sage brush for food for the cattle. It would not do
+to wait long here, and so they hurried on.
+
+I inquired of them about Martin's Pass, as they were now quite near it,
+and they said it was no pass at all, only the mountain was a little
+lower than the one holding the snow. No wagon could get over it, and the
+party had made up their minds to go on foot, and were actually burning
+their wagons as fuel with which to dry the meat of some of the oxen
+which they had killed. They selected those which were weakest and least
+likely to stand the journey, and by drying it the food was much
+concentrated. They were to divide the provisions equally and it was
+agreed thereafter every one must lookout for himself and not expect any
+help from anyone. If he used up his own provisions, he had no right to
+expect anyone else to divide with him. Rice, tea and coffee were
+measured out by the spoonful and the small amount of flour and bacon
+which remained was divided out as evenly as possible. Everything was to
+be left behind but blankets and provisions for the men were too weak to
+carry heavy packs and the oxen could not be relied on as beasts of
+burden and it was thought best not to load them so as to needlessly
+break them down.
+
+When these fellows started out they were full of spirit, and the frolic
+and fun along the Platte river was something worth laughing at but now
+they were very melancholy and talked in the lowest kind of low spirits.
+One fellow said he knew this was the Creator's dumping place where he
+had left the worthless dregs after making a world, and the devil had
+scraped these together a little. Another said this must be the very
+place where Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, and the pillar
+been broken up and spread around the country. He said if a man was to
+die he would never decay on account of the salt. Thus the talk went on,
+and it seemed as if there were not bad words enough in the language to
+properly express their contempt and bad opinion of such a country as
+this. They treated me to some of their meat, a little better than mine,
+and before daylight in the morning I was headed back on the trail to
+report the bad news I had learned of the Jayhawkers.
+
+About noon I met two of our camp companions with packs on their backs
+following the wagon trail, and we stopped and had a short talk. They
+were oldish men perhaps 50 years old, one a Mr. Fish of Indiana and
+another named Gould. They said they could perhaps do as well on foot as
+to follow the slow ox teams, but when I told them what those ahead of
+them were doing, and how they must go, they did not seem to be entirely
+satisfied, as what they had on their backs would need to be replenished,
+and no such chance could be expected. They had an idea that the end of
+the journey was not as far off as I predicted. Mr. Fish had a long
+nicely made, whiplash wound around his waist, and when I asked him why
+he carried such a useless thing, which he could not eat, he said perhaps
+he could trade it off for something to eat. After we had set on a sand
+hill and talked for awhile, we rose and shook each other by the hand,
+and bade each other good bye with quivering lips. There was with me a
+sort of expression I could not repel that I should never see the middle
+aged men again.
+
+As my road was now out and away from the mountains, and level, I had no
+fear of being surprised by enemies, so walked on with eyes downcast,
+thinking over the situation, and wondering what would be the final
+outcome. If I were alone, with no one to expect me to help them, I would
+be out before any other man, but with women and children in the party,
+to go and leave them would be to pile everlasting infamy on my head. The
+thought almost made me crazy but I thought it would be better to stay
+and die with them, bravely struggling to escape than to forsake them in
+their weakness.
+
+It was almost night before I reached our camp, and sitting around our
+little fire I told, in the most easy way I could the unfavorable news of
+the party in advance. They seemed to look to me as a guide and adviser,
+I presume because I took much pains to inform myself on every point and
+my judgment was accepted with very little opposing opinion, they moved
+as I thought best. During my absence from camp for the two days the
+Indians had shot arrows into three of our oxen, and one still had an
+arrow in his side forward of the hip which was a dangerous place. To be
+sure and save him for ourselves we killed him. Some were a little afraid
+to eat the meat thinking perhaps the arrow might be poisoned, but I
+agreed that they wanted meat themselves and would not do that. I told
+them if they got a shot themselves it would be very likely to be a
+poisoned arrow and they must take the most instant measures to cut it
+out before it went into the blood. So we ventured to dry the meat and
+take it with us.
+
+Now I said to the whole camp "You can see how you have displeased the
+red men, taking their little squashes, and when we get into a place that
+suits them for that purpose, they may meet us with a superior force and
+massacre us, not only for revenge but to get our oxen and clothing." I
+told them we must ever be on guard against a surprise, as the chances
+were greatly against us.
+
+We pulled the arrows out of the other oxen, and they seemed to sustain
+no great injury from the wounds. This little faint stream where we
+camped has since been named as Furnace Creek and is still known as such.
+It was named in 1862 by some prospectors who built what was called an
+air furnace on a small scale to reduce some ore found near by, which
+they supposed to contain silver, but I believe it turned out to be lead
+and too far from transportations to be available.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Bennett and Arcane now concluded not to wait for me to go ahead and
+explore out a way for them to follow, as I had done for a long time, but
+to go ahead as it was evidently the best way to turn south and make our
+own road, and find the water and passes all for ourselves. So they
+hitched up and rolled down the cañon, and out into the valley and then
+turned due south. We had not gone long on this course before we saw that
+we must cross the valley and get over to the west side. To do this we
+must cross through some water, and for fear the ground might be miry, I
+went to a sand hill near by and got a mesquite stick about three feet
+long with which to sound out our way. I rolled up my pants pulled off my
+moccasins and waded in, having the teams stand still till I could find
+out whether it was safe for them to follow or not by ascertaining the
+depth of the water and the character of the bottom.
+
+The water was very clear and the bottom seemed uneven, there being some
+deep holes. Striking my stick on the bottom it seemed solid as a rock,
+and breaking off a small projecting point I found it to be solid rock
+salt. As the teams rolled along they scarcely roiled the water. It
+looked to me as if the whole valley which might be a hundred miles long
+might have been a solid bed of rock salt. Before we reached this water
+there were many solid blocks of salt lying around covered with a little
+dirt on the top.
+
+The second night we found a good spring of fresh water coming out from
+the bottom of the snow peak almost over our heads. The small flow from
+it spread out over the sand and sank in a very short distance and there
+was some quite good grass growing around.
+
+This was a temporary relief, but brought us face to face with stranger
+difficulties and a more hopeless outlook.
+
+There was no possible way to cross this high steep range of mountains
+anywhere to the north and the Jayhawkers had abandoned their wagons and
+burned them, and we could no longer follow on the trail they made. It
+seemed that there was no other alternative but for us to keep along the
+edge of the mountain to the south and search for another pass. Some who
+had read Fremont's travels said that the range immediately west of us
+must be the one he described, on the west side of which was a beautiful
+country, of rich soil and having plenty of cattle, and horses, and
+containing some settlers, but on the east all was barren, dry, rocky,
+sandy desert as far as could be seen. We knew this eastern side answered
+well the description and believed that this was really the range
+described, or at least it was close by.
+
+We had to look over the matter very carefully and consider all the
+conditions and circumstances of the case. We could see the mountains
+were lower to the south, but they held no snow and seemed only barren
+rocks piled up in lofty peaks, and as we looked it seemed the most
+God-forsaken country in the world.
+
+We had been in the region long enough to know the higher mountains
+contained most water, and that the valleys had bad water or none at all,
+so that while the lower altitudes to the south gave some promise of
+easier crossing it gave us no promise of water or grass, without which
+we must certainly perish. In a certain sense we were lost. The clear
+night and days furnished us with the mean of telling the points of
+compass as the sun rose and set, but not a sign of life in nature's wide
+domain had been seen for a month or more. A vest pocketful of powder and
+shot would last a good hunter till he starved to death for there was not
+a living thing to shoot great or small.
+
+We talked over our present position pretty freely, and every one was
+asked to speak his unbiased mind, for we knew not who might be right or
+who might be wrong, and some one might make a suggestion of the utmost
+value. We all felt pretty much downhearted. Our civilized provisions
+were getting so scarce that all must be saved for the women and
+children, and the men must get along some way on ox meat alone. It was
+decided not a scrap of anything that would sustain life must go to
+waste. The blood, hide and intestines were all prepared in some way for
+food. This meeting lasted till late at night. If some of them had lost
+their minds I should not have been surprised, for hunger swallows all
+other feelings. A man in a starving condition is a savage. He may be as
+blood-shed and selfish as a wild beast, as docile and gentle as a lamb,
+or as wild and crazy as a terrified animal, devoid of affection, reason
+or thought of justice. We were none of us as bad as this, and yet there
+was a strange look in the eyes of some of us sometimes, as I saw by
+looking round, and as others no doubt realized for I saw them making
+mysterious glances even in my direction.
+
+Morning came and all were silent. The dim prospect of the future seemed
+to check every tongue. When one left a water hole he went away as if in
+doubt whether he would ever enjoy the pleasure of another drop. Every
+camp was sad beyond description, and no one can guide the pen to make it
+tell the tale as it seemed to us. When our morning meal of soup and meat
+was finished, Bennett's two teams, and the two of Arcane's concluded
+their chances of life were better if they could take some provisions and
+strike out on foot, and so they were given what they could carry, and
+they arranged their packs and bade us a sorrowful good bye hoping to
+meet again on the Pacific Coast. There were genuine tears shed at the
+parting and I believe neither party ever expected to see each other in
+this life again.
+
+Bennett's two men were named Silas Helmer and S.S. or C.C. Abbott, but I
+have forgotten the names of Arcane's men. Mr. Abbott was from New York,
+a harness maker by trade, and he took his circular cutting knife with
+him, saying it was light to carry and the weapon he should need. One of
+them had a gun. They took the trail taken by the Jayhawkers. All the
+provisions they could carry besides their blankets could not last them
+to exceed 10 days, and I well knew they could hardly get off the desert
+in that time. Mr. Abbott was a man I loved fondly. He was good company
+in camp, and happy and sociable. He had shown no despondency at any time
+until the night of the last meeting and the morning of the parting. His
+chances seemed to me to be much poorer than my own, but I hardly think
+he realized it. When in bed I could not keep my thoughts back from the
+old home I had left, where good water and a bountiful spread were always
+ready at the proper hour. I know I dreamed of taking a draft of cool,
+sweet water from a full pitcher and then woke up with my mouth and
+throat as dry as dust. The good home I left behind was a favorite theme
+about the campfire, and many a one told of the dream pictures, natural
+as life, that came to him of the happy Eastern home with comfort and
+happiness surrounding it, even if wealth was lacking. The home of the
+poorest man on earth was preferable to this place. Wealth was of no
+value here. A hoard of twenty dollar gold pieces could now
+stand before us the whole day long with no temptation to touch a single
+coin, for its very weight would drag us nearer death. We could purchase
+nothing with it and we would have cared no more for it as a thing of
+value than we did the desert sands. We would have given much more for
+some of the snow which we could see drifting over the peak of the great
+snow mountains over our heads like a dusty cloud.
+
+Deeming it best to spare the strength as much as possible, I threw away
+everything I could, retaining only my glass, some ammunition, sheath
+knife and tin cup. No unnecessary burden could be put on any man or
+beast, lest he lie down under it, never to rise again. Life and strength
+were sought to be husbanded in every possible way.
+
+Leaving this camp where the water was appreciated we went over a road
+for perhaps 8 miles and came to the mouth of a rocky cañon leading up
+west to the summit of the range. This cañon was too rough for wagons to
+pass over. Out in the valley near its mouth was a mound about four feet
+high and in the top of this a little well that held about a pailful of
+water that was quite strong of sulphur. When stirred it would look quite
+black. About the mouth of the well was a wire grass that seemed to
+prevent it caving in. It seems the drifting sand had slowly built this
+little mound about the little well of water in a curious way. We spent
+the night here and kept a man at the well all night to keep the water
+dipped out as fast as it flowed, in order to get enough for ourselves
+and cattle. The oxen drank this water better than they did the brackish
+water of the former camp.
+
+The plain was thinly scattered with sage brush, and up near the base of
+the mountain some greasewood grew in little bunches like currant bushes.
+
+The men with wagons decided they would take this cañon and follow it up
+to try to get over the range, and not wait for me to go ahead and
+explore, as they said it took too much time and the provisions,
+consisting now of only ox meat were getting more precarious every day.
+To help them all I could and if possible to be forewarned a little of
+danger, I shouldered my gun and pushed on ahead as fast as I could. The
+bottom was of sharp broken rock, which would be very hard for the feet
+of the oxen, although we had rawhide moccasins for them for some time,
+and this was the kind of foot-gear I wore myself. I walked on as rapidly
+as I could, and after a time came to where the cañon spread out into a
+kind of basin enclosed on all sides but the entrance, with a wall of
+high, steep rock, possible to ascend on foot but which would apparently
+bar the further progress of the wagons, and I turned back utterly
+disappointed. I got on an elevation where I could look over the country
+east and south, and it looked as if there was not a drop of water in its
+whole extent, and there was no snow on the dark mountains that stretched
+away to the southward and it seemed to me as if difficulties beset me on
+every hand. I hurried back down the cañon, but it was nearly dark before
+I met the wagons. By a mishap I fell and broke the stock of my gun, over
+which I was very sorry, for it was an excellent one, the best I ever
+owned. I carried it in two pieces to the camp and told them the way was
+barred, at which they could hardly endure their disappointment. They
+turned in the morning, as the cattle had nothing to eat here and no
+water, and not much of any food since leaving the spring; they looked
+terribly bad, and the rough road coming up had nearly finished them.
+They were yoked up and the wagons turned about for the return. They went
+better down hill, but it was not long before one of Bennett's oxen lay
+down, and could not be persuaded to rise again. This was no place to
+tarry in the hot sun, so the ox was killed and the carcass distributed
+among the wagons. So little draft was required that the remaining oxen
+took the wagon down. When within two or three miles of the water hole
+one of Arcane's oxen also failed and lay down, so they turned him out
+and when he had rested a little he came on again for a while, but soon
+lay down again.
+
+Arcane took a bucket of water back from camp and after drinking it and
+resting awhile the ox was driven down to the spring.
+
+This night we had another meeting to decide upon our course and
+determine what to do. At this meeting no one was wiser than another, for
+no one had explored the country and knew what to expect. The questions
+that now arose were "How long can we endure this work in this situation?
+How long will our oxen be able to endure the great hardship on the small
+nourishment they receive? How long can we provide ourselves with food?"
+
+We had a few small pieces of dry bread. This was kept for the children
+giving them a little now and then. Our only food was in the flesh of the
+oxen, and when they failed to carry themselves along we must begin to
+starve. It began to look as if the chances of leaving our bones to
+bleach upon the desert were the most prominent ones.
+
+One thing was certain we must move somewhere at once. If we stay here we
+can live as long as the oxen do, and no longer, and if we go on it is
+uncertain where to go, to get a better place. We had guns and ammunition
+to be sure, but of late we had seen no living creature in this desert
+wild. Finally Mr. Bennett spoke and said:--
+
+"Now I will make you a proposition. I propose that we select two of our
+youngest, strongest men and ask them to take some food and go ahead on
+foot to try to seek a settlement, and food, and we will go back to the
+good spring we have just left and wait for their return. It will surely
+not take them more than ten days for the trip, and when they get back we
+shall know all about the road and its character and how long it will
+take us to travel it. They can secure some other kind of food that will
+make us feel better, and when the oxen have rested a little at the
+spring we can get out with our wagons and animals and be safe. I think
+this is the best and safest way."
+
+"Now what do you all say?" After a little discussion all seemed to agree
+that this was the best, and now it remained to find the men to go. No
+one offered to accept the position of advance messengers. Finally Mr.
+Bennett said he knew one man well enough to know that he would come back
+if he lived, and he was sure he would push his way through. "I will take
+Lewis (myself) if he will consent to go." I consented, though I knew it
+was a hazardous journey, exposed to all sorts of things, Indians,
+climate and probable lack of water, but I thought I could do it and
+would not refuse. John Rogers a large strong Tennessee, man was then
+chosen as the other one and he consented also.
+
+Now preparations began, Mr. Arcane killed the ox which had so nearly
+failed, and all the men went to drying and preparing meat. Others made
+us some new mocassins out of rawhide, and the women made us each a
+knapsack.
+
+Our meat was closely packed, and one can form an idea how poor our
+cattle were from the fact that John and I actually packed seven-eighths
+of all the flesh of an ox into our knapsacks and carried it away. They
+put in a couple of spoonfuls of rice and about as much tea. This seemed
+like robbery to the children, but the good women said that in case of
+sickness even that little bit might save our lives. I wore no coat or
+vest, but took half of a light blanket, while Rogers wore a thin summer
+coat and took no blanket. We each had a small tin cup and a small camp
+kettle holding a quart. Bennett had me take his seven-shooter rifle, and
+Rogers had a good double barreled shot gun. We each had a sheath knife,
+and our hats were small brimmed, drab affairs fitting close to the head
+and not very conspicuous to an enemy as we might rise up from behind a
+hill into possible views. We tried on our packs and fitted the straps a
+little so they would carry easy. They collected all the money there was
+in camp and gave it to us. Mr. Arcane had about $30 and others threw in
+small amounts from forty cents upward. We received all sorts of advice.
+Capt. Culverwell was an old sea faring man and was going to tell us how
+to find our way back, but Mr. Bennett told the captain that he had known
+Lewis as a hunter for many years, and that if he went over a place in
+the daytime he could find his way back at night every time. Others
+cautioned us about the Indians and told us how to manage. Others told us
+not to get caught in deep snow which we might find on the mountains.
+
+This advice we received in all the kindness in which it was given, and
+then we bade them all good bye. Some turned away, too much
+affected to approach us and others, shook our hands with deep feeling,
+grasping them firmly and heartily hoping we would be successful and be
+able to pilot them out of this dreary place into a better land. Every
+one felt that a little food to make a change from the poor dried meat
+would be acceptable. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and J.B. Arcane and wife were
+the last to remain when the others had turned away. They had most faith
+in the plan and felt deeply. Mrs. Bennett was the last, and she asked
+God to bless us and bring some food to her starving children.
+
+We were so much affected that we could not speak and silently turned
+away and took our course again up the canyon we had descended the night
+before.
+
+After a while we looked back and when they saw us turn around, all the
+hats and bonnets waved us a final parting.
+
+Those left in the camp were Asabel, Bennett and Sarah his wife, with
+three children, George, Melissa, and Martha; J.B. Arcane and wife with
+son Charles. The youngest children were not more than two years old.
+There were also the two Earhart brothers, and a grown son, Capt.
+Culverwell, and some others I cannot recall; eleven grown people in all,
+besides a Mr. Wade, his wife and three children who did not mingle with
+our party, but usually camped a little distance off, followed our trail,
+but seemed to shun company. We soon passed round a bend of the cañon,
+and then walked on in silence.
+
+We both of us meditated some over the homes of our fathers, but took new
+courage in view of the importance of our mission and passed on as fast
+as we could.
+
+By night we were far up the mountain, near the perpendicular rough peak,
+and far above us on a slope we could see some bunches of grass and sage
+brush. We went to this and found some small water holes. No water ran
+from them they were so small. Here we staid all night. It did not seem
+very far to the snowy peak to the north of us. Just where we were seemed
+the lowest pass, for to the south were higher peaks and the rocks looked
+as if they were too steep to be got over.
+
+Through this gap came a cold breeze, and we had to look round to get a
+sheltered place in which to sleep. We lay down close together, spoon
+fashion, and made the little blanket do as cover for the both of us. In
+the morning we filled our canteens, which we had made by binding two
+powder cans together with strips of cloth, and started for the summit
+near by. From this was the grandest sight we ever beheld. Looking east
+we could see the country we had been crawling over since November 4th.
+"Just look at the cursed country we have come over!" said Rogers as he
+pointed over it. To the north was the biggest mountain we ever saw,
+peaks on peaks and towering far above our heads, and covered with snow
+which was apparently everlasting.
+
+This mountain seemed to have very few trees on it, and in extent, as it
+reached away to the north seemed interminable. South was a nearly level
+plain, and to the west I thought I could dimly see a range of mountains
+that held a little snow upon their summits, but on the main range to the
+south there was none. It seemed to me the dim snowy mountains must be as
+far as 200 miles away, but of course I could not judge accurately. After
+looking at this grand, but worthless landscape long enough to take in
+its principal features we asked each other what we supposed the people
+we left behind would think to see mountains so far ahead. We knew that
+they had an idea that the coast range was not very far ahead, but we saw
+at once to go over all these mountains and return within the limits of
+fifteen days which had been agreed upon between us, would probably be
+impossible, but we must try as best we could, so down the rocky steep we
+clambered and hurried on our way. In places the way was so steep that we
+had to help each other down, and the hard work made us perspire freely
+so that the water was a prime necessity. In one place near here, we
+found a little water and filled our canteens, besides drinking a good
+present supply. There were two low, black rocky ranges directly ahead of
+us which we must cross.
+
+When part way down the mountain a valley or depression opened up in that
+direction up which it seemed as if we could look a hundred miles. Near
+by and a short distance north was a lake of water and when we reached
+the valley we crossed a clear stream of water flowing slowly toward the
+lake.
+
+Being in need of water, we rushed eagerly to it and prepared to take a
+big drink, but the tempting fluid was as salt as brine and made our
+thirst all the more intolerable. Nothing grew on the bank of this stream
+and the bed was of hard clay, which glistened in the sun.
+
+We now began the ascent of the next ridge, keeping a westernly course,
+and walked as fast as we could up the rough mountain side. We crossed
+the head of a cañon near the summit about dark, and here we found a
+trail, which from indications we knew to be that of the Jayhawkers, who
+had evidently been forced to the southward of the course they intended
+to take. They had camped here and had dug holes in the sand in search of
+water, but had found none.
+
+We staid all night here and dug around in some other places in the
+bottom of the cañon, in the hope to have better luck than they did, but
+we got no water anywhere.
+
+We seemed almost perishing for want of water, the hard exercise made us
+perspire so freely. In the morning we started on, and near the summit we
+came to the dead body of Mr. Fish, laying in the hot sun, as there was
+no material near here with which his friends could cover the remains.
+This Mr. Fish was the man who left camp some two weeks before in company
+with another and who carried the long whiplash wound about his body, in
+hope he could somewhere be able to trade it for bread. No doubt in this
+very place where he breathed his last, his bones still lie.
+
+As we came in sight of the next valley, we could see a lake of water
+some distance south of our western course.
+
+We had followed the Jayhawkers trail thus far, but as we found no water
+in small holes in the rocks as we were likely to do when we were the
+first to pass, we decided to take a new route in the hope to find a
+little water in this way, for we had no hope of finding it in any other.
+This valley we now crossed seemed to come to an end about ten miles to
+the north of us. To the south it widened out, enclosing the lake spoken
+of. This valley was very sandy and hard to walk over. When about halfway
+across we saw some ox tracks leading toward the lake, and in the hope we
+might find the water drinkable we turned off at right angles to our
+course and went that way also. Long before we reached the water of the
+lake, the bottom became a thin, slimy mud which was very hard on our
+mocassins. When we reached the water we found it to be of a wine color,
+and so strongly alkaline as to feel slippery to the touch, and under our
+feet.
+
+This side trip, had cost us much exertion and made us feel more thirsty
+than ever.
+
+We turned now west again, making for a cañon, up which we passed in the
+hope we should at some turn find a little basin of rain water in some
+rock. We traveled in it miles and miles, and our mouths became so dry we
+had to put a bullet or a small smooth stone in and chew it and turn it
+around with the tongue to induce a flow of saliva. If we saw a spear of
+green grass on the north side of a rock, it was quickly pulled and eaten
+to obtain the little moisture it contained.
+
+Thus we traveled along for hours, never speaking, for we found it much
+better for our thirst to keep our mouths closed as much as possible, and
+prevent the evaporation. The dry air of that region took up water as a
+sponge does. We passed the summit of this ridge without finding any
+water, and on our way down the western side we came to a flat place
+where there was an Indian hut made of small brush. We now thought there
+surely must be some water near and we began a thorough search. The great
+snow mountain did not seem far off, but to the south and southwest a
+level or inclined plain extended for a long distance. Our thirst began
+to be something terrible to endure, and in the warm weather and hard
+walking we had secured only two drinks since leaving camp.
+
+We were so sure that there must be water near here that we laid our
+knapsacks down by the little hut and looked around in every possible
+place we could think of. Soon it got dark and then we made a little fire
+as a guide and looked again. Soon the moon arose and helped us some, and
+we shouted frequently to each other so as not to get lost.
+
+We were so nearly worn out that we tried to eat a little meat, but after
+chewing a long time, the mouth would not moisten it enough so we could
+swallow, and we had to reject it. It seemed as if we were going to die
+with plenty of food in our hand, because we could not eat it.
+
+We tried to sleep but could not, but after a little rest we noticed a
+bright star two hours above the horizon, and from the course of the moon
+we saw the star must be pretty truly west of us. We talked a little, and
+the burden of it was a fear that we could not endure the terrible thirst
+a while longer. The thought of the women and children waiting for our
+return made us feel more desperate than if we were the only ones
+concerned. We thought we could fight to the death over a water hole if
+we could only secure a little of the precious fluid. No one who has ever
+felt the extreme of thirst can imagine the distress, the dispair, which
+it brings. I can find no words, no way to express it so others can
+understand.
+
+The moon gave us so much light that we decided we would start on our
+course, and get as far as we could before the hot sun came out, and so
+we went on slowly and carefully in the partial darkness, the only hope
+left to us being that our strength would hold out till we could get to
+the shining snow on the great mountain before us. We reached the foot of
+the range we were descending about sunrise. There was here a wide wash
+from the snow mountain, down which some water had sometime run after a
+big storm, and had divided into little rivulets only reaching out a
+little way before they had sunk into the sand.
+
+We had no idea we could now find any water till we at least got very
+near the snow, and as the best way to reach it we turned up the wash
+although the course was nearly to the north. The course was up a gentle
+grade and seemed quite sandy and not easy to travel. It looked as if
+there was an all day walk before us, and it was quite a question if we
+could live long enough to make the distance. There were quite strong
+indications that the water had run here not so very long ago, and we
+could trace the course of the little streams round among little sandy
+islands. A little stunted brush grew here but it was so brittle that the
+stems would break as easy as an icicle.
+
+In order to not miss a possible bit of water we separated and agreed
+upon a general course, and that if either one found water he should fire
+his gun as a signal. After about a mile or so had been gone over I heard
+Roger's gun and went in his direction. He had found a little ice that
+had frozen under the clear sky. It was not thicker than window glass.
+After putting a piece in our mouths we gathered all we could and put it
+into the little quart camp kettle to melt. We gathered just a kettle
+full, besides what we ate as we were gathering, and kindled a little
+fire and melted it.
+
+I can but think how providential it was that we started in the night for
+in an hour after the sun had risen that little sheet of ice would have
+melted and the water sank into the sand. Having quenched our thirst we
+could now eat, and found that we were nearly starved also. In making
+this meal we used up all our little store of water, but we felt
+refreshed and our lives renewed so that we had better courage to go on.
+
+We now took our course west again taking a bee line for a bluff that lay
+a little to the south of the big snow mountain. On and on we walked till
+the dark shadow of the great mountain in the setting sun was thrown
+about us, and still we did not seem more than half way to the bluff
+before us.
+
+All the way had been hill and very tiresome walking. There was
+considerable small brush scattered about, here and there, over this
+steeply inclined plain.
+
+We were still several miles from the base of this largest of the
+mountains and we could now see that it extended west for many miles. The
+buttes to the south were low, black and barren, and to the west as far
+as we could see there were no mountains with any snow. As the sun got
+further down we could see a small smoke curling up near the base of the
+mountain, and we thought it must be some signal made by the Indians, as
+we had often seen them signal in that way, but we stopped and talked the
+matter over, and as we were yet a long way from the bluff which had been
+our objective point, we concluded we would investigate the smoke signal
+a little closer. So we set off toward it in the dusk and darkness and
+when within about a mile we found we were in a tract that had been
+somewhat beaten. Feeling with my fingers I was quite sure I could
+distinguish ox tracks, and then was quite sure that we had overtaken the
+Jayhawkers, or at least were on their trail. And then I thought perhaps
+they had fallen among the Indians, who now might be feasting on their
+oxen and it became necessary to use great caution in approaching the
+little smoke.
+
+We took a circuitous route and soon saw that the persons were on a
+little bench above us and we kept very cautious and quiet, listening for
+any sounds that might tell us who they were.
+
+If they were Indians we should probably hear some of their dogs, but we
+heard none, and kept creeping closer and closer, till we were within
+fifty yards without hearing a sound to give us any idea of who they
+were.
+
+We decided to get our guns at full cock and then hail the camp, feeling
+that we had a little the advantage of position. We hailed and were
+answered in English. "Don't Shoot" said we and they assured us they had
+no idea of such a thing, and asked us to come in. We found here to our
+surprise, Ed Doty, Tom Shannon, L.D. Stevens, and others whom I do not
+recollect, the real Jayhawkers. They gave us some fresh meat for supper,
+and near the camp were some water holes that answered well for camp
+purposes.
+
+Here an ox had given out and they had stopped long enough to dry the
+meat, while the others had gone on a day ahead.
+
+Coming around the mountain from the north was quite a well defined
+trail, leading to the west and they said they were satisfied some one
+lived at the end of it, and they were going to follow it if it lead to
+Mexico or anywhere else. They said that Mr. Brier and his family were
+still on behind, and alone. Every one must look out for himself here,
+and we could not do much for another in any way.
+
+We inquired of them about the trail over which they had come, and where
+they had found water, and we told them of our experience in this
+respect. We then related how our train could not go over the mountains
+with wagons, how they had returned to the best spring, and that we
+started to go through to the settlements to obtain relief while they
+waited for our return. We explained to them how they must perish without
+assistance. If we failed to get through, they could probably live as
+long as the oxen lasted and would then perish of starvation. We told
+them how nearly we came to the point of perishing that very morning, of
+thirst, and how we were saved by finding a little patch of ice in an
+unexpected place, and were thus enabled to come on another days travel.
+
+These men were not as cheerful as they used to be and their situation
+and prospects constantly occupied their minds. They said to us that if
+the present trail bore away from the mountain and crossed the level
+plain, that there were some of them who could not possibly get along
+safely to the other side. Some were completely discouraged, and some
+were completely out of provisions and dependent on those who had either
+provisions or oxen yet on hand. An ox was frequently killed, they said,
+and no part of it was wasted. At a camp where there was no water, for
+stewing, a piece or hide would be prepared for eating by singeing off
+the hair and then roasting in the fire. The small intestines were drawn
+through the fingers to clean them, and these when roasted made very fair
+food.
+
+They said they had been without water for four or five days at a time
+and came near starving to death, for it was impossible to swallow food
+when one became so thirsty. They described the pangs of hunger as
+something terrible and not to be described. They were willing to give us
+any information we desired and we anxiously received all we could, for
+on our return we desired to take the best possible route, and we thus
+had the experience of two parties instead of one. They told us about the
+death of Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham, and where we would find their bodies if
+we went over their trail.
+
+In the morning we shouldered our packs again and took the trail leading
+to the west, and by night we had overtaken the advance party of the
+Jayhawkers, camped in a cañon where there was a little water, barely
+sufficient for their use. We inquired why they did not take the trail
+leading more directly west at the forks, and they said they feared it
+would lead them into deep snow which would be impassible. They said they
+considered the trail they had taken as altogether the safest one.
+
+We met Bennett and Arcane's teamsters, and as we expected they were
+already out of grub and no way to get anymore. When the party killed an
+ox they had humbly begged for some of the poorest parts, and thus far
+were alive. They came to us and very pitifully told us they were
+entirely out, and although an ox had been killed that day they had not
+been able to get a mouthful. We divided up our meat and gave them some
+although we did not know how long it would be before we would ourselves
+be in the same situation.
+
+Thus far we had not seen anything to shoot, big or little although we
+kept a sharp lookout.
+
+The whole camp was silent, and all seemed to realize their situation.
+Before them was a level plain which had the appearance of being so broad
+as to take five or six days to cross. Judging by the look from the top
+of the mountain as we came over, there was little to hope for in the way
+of water. We thought it over very seriously. All the water we could
+carry would be our canteens full, perhaps two drinks apiece and the poor
+meat had so little nourishment that we were weak and unable to endure
+what we once could.
+
+We were alone, Rogers and I, in interest at any rate, even if there were
+other men about. For the time it really seemed as if there was very
+little hope for us and I have often repeated the following lines as very
+closely describing my own feelings at that time.
+
+
+    Oh hands, whose loving, gentle grasp I loosed.
+  When first this weary journey was begun.
+    If I could feel your touch as once I could.
+  How gladly would I wish my work undone.
+
+  _Harriet Keynon_.
+
+
+During the evening, I had a talk with Capt. Asa Haines, in which he said
+he left a good home in Illinois, where he had everything he could wish
+to eat, and every necessary comfort, and even some to spare, and now he
+felt so nearly worn out that he had many doubts whether he could live to
+reach the mountains, on the other side. He was so deeply impressed that
+he made me promise to let his wife and family know how I found him and
+how he died, for he felt sure he would never see the California mines. I
+said I might not get through myself, but he thought we were so young and
+strong that we would struggle through. He said if he could only be home
+once more he would be content to stay. This was the general tenor of the
+conversation. There was no mirth, no jokes, and every one seemed to feel
+that he was very near the end of his life, and such a death as stood
+before them, choking, starving in a desert was the most dreary outlook I
+ever saw.
+
+This camp of trouble, of forlorn hope, on the edge of a desert
+stretching out before us like a small sea, with no hope for relief
+except at the end of a struggle which seemed almost hopeless, is more
+than any pen can paint, or at all describe. The writer had tried it
+often. Picture to yourself, dear reader the situation and let your own
+imagination do the rest. It can never come up to the reality.
+
+In the morning, as Rogers and I were about to start, several of the
+oldest men came to us with their addresses and wished us to forward them
+to their families if we ever got within the reach of mails. These men
+shed tears, and we did also as we parted. We turned silently away and
+again took up our march.
+
+As we went down the cañon we came to one place where it was so narrow,
+that a man or a poor ox could barely squeeze through between the rocks,
+and in a few miles more reached the open level plain. When three or four
+miles out on the trail and not far from the hills we came to a bunch of
+quite tall willows. The center of the bunch had been cut out and the
+branches woven in so as to make a sort of corral. In the center of this
+was a spring of good water and some good grass growing around. This was
+pretty good evidence that some one had been here before. We took a good
+drink and filled our canteens anew, for we did not expect to get another
+drink for two or three days at least.
+
+We took the trail again and hurried on as the good water made us feel
+quite fresh. After a few miles we began to find the bones of animals,
+some badly decayed and some well preserved. All the heads were those of
+horses, and it puzzled us to know where they came from. As we passed
+along we noticed the trail was on a slight up grade and somewhat
+crooked. If we stepped off from it the foot sank in about two inches in
+dirt finer than the finest flour. The bones were scattered all along,
+sometimes the bones of several animals together. Was it the long drive,
+poison water, or what? It was evident they had not been killed but had
+dropped along the way.
+
+It was a dreary trail at best, and these evidences of death did not help
+to brighten it in the least. We wondered often where it led to and what
+new things would be our experience. After walking fast all day we came
+to quite an elevation, where we could stand and look in all directions.
+The low black range where we left the Jayhawkers was in sight, and this
+spur of the great snowy mountains extended a long way to the south, and
+seemed to get lower and lower, finally ending in low rocky buttes, a
+hundred miles away. Some may think this distance very far to see, but
+those who have ever seen the clear atmosphere of that region will bear
+me out in these magnificent distances. Generally a mountain or other
+object seen at a distance would be three or four times as far off as one
+would judge at first sight, so deceptive are appearances there. The
+broad south end of the great mountain which we first saw the next
+morning after we left the wagons, was now plain in sight, and peak after
+peak extending away to the north, all of them white with snow. Standing
+thus out in the plain we could see the breadth of the mountain east and
+west, and it seemed as though it must have been nearly a hundred miles.
+The south end was very abrupt and sank as one into a great plain in
+which we stood, twenty miles from the mountain's base.
+
+To the northwest we could see a clay lake, or at least that was what we
+called it, and a line of low hills seemed to be an extension of the
+mountain in a direction swinging around to the south to enclose this
+thirsty, barren plain before us, which was bounded by mountains or hills
+on these sides. To the south this range seemed to get higher, and we
+could see some snow capped mountains to the south of our westerly
+course. The low mountains as those seen in the northwest direction is
+the same place now crossed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and known
+as the Tehachipi pass, the noted loop, in which the railroad crosses
+itself, being on the west slope and Ft. Tejon being on the same range a
+little further south where the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Coast
+Range join. The first mountain bearing snow, south of our course was
+probably what is known as Wilson's peak, and the high mountains still
+farther south, the San Bernardino mountains. There were no names there
+known to us nor did we know anything of the topography of the country
+except that we supposed a range of mountains was all that separated us
+from California.
+
+We were yet in the desert, and if we kept our due west course, we must
+cross some of the snow before us which if steep gave us some doubts
+whether we could get through or not.
+
+We did not know exactly what the people left behind would do if we were
+gone longer than we intended, but if they started on it was quite plain
+to us they would be lost, and as seven days had already passed we were
+in serious trouble for fear we could not complete the trip in the time
+allotted to us. We surveyed the plain and mountains to learn its
+situation and then started, on following our trail. As we went on we
+seemed to be coming to lower ground, and near our road stood a tree of a
+kind we had not seen before. The trunk was about six or eight inches
+through and six or eight feet high with arms at the top quite as large
+as the body, and at the end of the arms a bunch of long, stiff bayonet
+shaped leaves.
+
+It was a brave little tree to live in such a barren country. As we
+walked on these trees were more plenty and some were much larger than
+the first. As we came to the lowest part of the valley there seemed to
+be little faint water ways running around little clouds of stunted
+shrubs, but there was no signs that very much water ever run in them. We
+thought that these were the outlet of the big sandy lake which might get
+full of water and overflow through these channels after some great
+storm.
+
+As this low ground was quite wide we lost our trail in crossing it, and
+we separated as we went along, looking to find it again, till nearly
+dark when we looked for a camping place. Fortunately we found a little
+pond of rain water, and some of our strange trees that were dead gave us
+good material for a fire, so that we were very comfortable indeed,
+having both drink and fire.
+
+Starting on again our course was now ascending slightly, and we came
+across more and more of the trees, and larger ones than at first. We saw
+some that seemed to have broken down with their own weight. The bayonet
+shaped leaves seemed to fall off when old and the stalk looked so much
+like an old overgrown cabbage stump that we name them "Cabbage trees,"
+but afterward learned they were a species of Yucca. We were much worried
+at loosing our trail and felt that it would be quite unsafe to try to
+cross the mountain without finding it again, so we separated, Rogers
+going northwest, and I southwest, agreeing to swing round so as to meet
+again about noon, but when we met, neither of us had found a trail, and
+we were still about 10 miles from the foothills. Rogers said he had
+heard some of the people say that the trail leading from Salt Lake to
+Los Angeles crossed such a mountain in a low pass, with very high
+mountains on each side, and he supposed that the high mountain to the
+south must be the one where the trail crossed, but as this would take us
+fully fifty miles south of our course as we supposed it was we hesitated
+about going there, and concluded we would try the lowest place in the
+mountain first, and if we failed we could then go and try Roger's route,
+more to the south.
+
+So we pushed on, still keeping a distance apart to look out for the
+trail, and before night, in the rolling hills, we saw here and there
+faint traces of it, which grew plainer as we went along, and about
+sundown we reached some water holes and from some old skulls of oxen
+lying around the ground showing that it had at some previous time been a
+camping ground. We found some good large sage brush which made a pretty
+good fire, and if we could have had a little fresh meat to roast we
+thought we were in a good position for supper. But that poor meat was
+pretty dry food. However it kept us alive, and we curled up together and
+slept, for the night was cool, and we had to make the little blanket do
+its best. We thought we ought to find a little game, but we had not seen
+any to shoot since we started.
+
+In the morning the trail led us toward the snow, and as we went along, a
+brave old crow surprised us by lighting on a bush near the trail, and we
+surprised him by killing him with a charge of shot. "Here's your fresh
+meat," said Rogers as he put it into his knapsack to cook for supper,
+and marched on. As we approached the summit we could see, on the high
+mountains south of us, some trees, and when we came near the highest
+part of our road there were some juniper trees near it, which was very
+encouraging. We crossed over several miles of hard snow, but it
+moistened up our moccassins and made them soft and uncomfortable. After
+we had turned down the western slope we killed a small hawk. "Here's
+your meat" said I, as the poor thin fellow was stowed away for future
+grub, to cook with the crow.
+
+When we got out of the snow we had lost the trail again but the hills on
+the sides were covered with large brush, and on a higher part of the
+mountain south, were some big trees, and we began to think the country
+would change for the better pretty soon. We followed down the ravine for
+many miles, and when this came out into a larger one, we were greatly
+pleased at the prospect, for down the latter came a beautiful little
+running brook of clear pure water, singing as it danced over the stones,
+a happy song and telling us to drink and drink again, and you may be
+sure we did drink, for it had been months and months since we had had
+such water, pure, sweet, free from the terrible alkali and stagnant
+taste that had been in almost every drop we had seen. Rogers leveled his
+shot gun at some birds and killed a beautiful one with a top knot on his
+head, and colors bright all down his neck. It was a California quail. We
+said birds always lived where human beings did, and we had great hopes
+born to us of a better land. I told John that if the folks were only
+there now I could kill game enough for them.
+
+We dressed our three birds and got them boiling in the camp kettle, and
+while they were cooking talked over the outlook which was so flattering
+that our tongues got loose and we rattled away in strange contrast to
+the ominous silence of a week ago. While eating our stew of crow and
+hawk, we could see willows alders and big sage brush around and we had
+noticed what seemed to be cottonwoods farther down the cañon, and green
+trees on the slope of the mountain. We were sure we were on the edge of
+the promised land and were quite light hearted, till we began to tell of
+plans to get the good people out who were waiting for us beside the
+little spring in the desert. We talked of going back at once, but our
+meat was too near gone, and we must take them something to encourage
+them a little and make them strong for the fearful trip. As to these
+birds--the quail was as superb a morsel as ever a man did eat; the hawk
+was pretty fair and quite good eating; but that abominable crow! His
+flesh was about as black as his feathers and full of tough and bony
+sinews. We concluded we did not want any more of that kind of bird, and
+ever since that day, when I have heard people talk of "eating crow" as a
+bitter pill, I think I know all about it from experience.
+
+There seemed to be no other way for us but to push on in the morning and
+try to obtain some relief for the poor women and children and then get
+back to them as fast as ever we could, so we shouldered our packs and
+went on down the cañon as fast as we could. We came soon to evergreen
+oaks and tall cottonwoods, and the creek bottom widened out to two
+hundred yards. There were trees on the south side and the brush kept
+getting larger and larger. There was a trail down this cañon, but as it
+passed under fallen trees we knew it could not have been the same one we
+had been following on the other side of the summit, and when we
+discovered a bear track in a soft place we knew very well it was not a
+trail intended for human beings, and we might be ordered out almost any
+moment.
+
+On the high bold grassy point about four hundred yards we saw two horses
+that held their heads aloft and gave a snort, then galloped away out of
+sight. About 10 o'clock I felt a sudden pain in my left knee, keen and
+sharp, and as we went along it kept growing worse. I had to stop often
+to rest, and it was quite plain that if this increased or continued I
+was sure enough disabled, and would be kept from helping those whom we
+had left. Nerved with the idea we must get help to them, and that right
+soon, I hobbled along as well as I could, but soon had to say to Rogers
+that he had better go on ahead and get help and let me come on as best I
+could, for every moment of delay was a danger of death to our party who
+trusted us to get them help. Rogers refused to do this, he said he would
+stay with me and see me out, and that he could not do much alone, and
+had better wait till I got better. So we worked along through the
+tangled brush, being many times compelled to wade the stream to get
+along, and this made our moccasins soft and very uncomfortable to wear.
+I endured the pain all day, and we must have advanced quite a little
+distance in spite of my lameness, but I was glad when night came and we
+camped in the dark brushy cañon, having a big fire which made me quite
+comfortable all night, though it was quite cold, and we had to keep
+close together so as to use the blanket. I felt a little better in the
+morning and after eating some of our poor dried meat, which was about as
+poor as crow, and I don't know but a little worse, we continued on our
+way.
+
+The tangle got worse and worse as we descended, and at times we walked
+in the bed of the stream in order to make more headway, but my lameness
+increased and we had to go very slow indeed. About noon we came to what
+looked like an excavation, a hole four feet square or more it looked to
+be, and on the dirt thrown out some cottonwood trees had grown, and one
+of the largest of these had been cut down sometime before. This was the
+first sign of white men we had seen and it was evidently an attempt at
+mining, no one knows how long ago. It encouraged us at any rate, and we
+pushed on through brush and briers, tangles of wild rose bushes and
+bushes of every sort, till all of a sudden we came out into an open
+sandy valley, well covered with sage brush and perhaps a hundred yards
+wide; probably more.
+
+The hills on the south side had on them some oak trees and grassy spots,
+but the north side was thickly covered with brush. Our beautiful little
+brook that had kept us company soon sank into the dry sand out of sight,
+and we moved rather slowly along every little while we spoke of the
+chances of wagons ever getting through the road we had come, and the
+hope that my lameness might not continue to retard our progress in
+getting back to the place of our starting, that the poor waiting people
+might begin to get out of the terrible country they were in and enjoy as
+we had done, the beautiful running stream of this side of the mountain.
+If I did not get better the chances were that they would perish, for
+they never could come through alone, as the distance had proved much
+greater than we had anticipated, and long dry stretches of the desert
+were more than they would be prepared for. As it was we feared greatly
+that we had consumed so much time they would get impatient and start out
+and be lost.
+
+I continued to hobble along down the barren valley as well as I could
+and here and there some tracks of animals were discovered, but we could
+not make out whether they were those of domestic cattle or elk. Soon, on
+the side of a hill, rather high up a pack of prairie wolves were
+snarling around the carcass of some dead animal, and this was regarded
+as another sign that more and better meat could be found, for these
+animals only live where some sort of game can be found, and they knew
+better than we that it was not for their health to go into the barren
+desert.
+
+Before us now was a spur from the hills that reached nearly across our
+little valley and shut out further sight in that direction and when we
+came to it we climbed up over it to shorten the distance. When the
+summit was reached a most pleasing sight filled our sick hearts with a
+most indescribable joy. I shall never have the ability to adequately
+describe the beauty of the scene as it appeared to us, and so long as I
+live that landscape will be impressed upon the canvas of my memory as
+the most cheering in the world. There before us was a beautiful meadow
+of a thousand acres, green as a thick carpet of grass could make it, and
+shaded with oaks, wide branching and symmetrical, equal to those of an
+old English park, while all over the low mountains that bordered it on
+the south and over the broad acres of luxuriant grass was a herd of
+cattle numbering many hundreds if not thousands. They were of all colors
+shades and sizes. Some were calmly lying down in happy rumination,
+others rapidly cropping the sweet grass, while the gay calves worked off
+their superfluous life and spirit in vigorous exercise or drew rich
+nourishment in the abundant mother's milk. All seemed happy and content,
+and such a scene of abundance and rich plenty and comfort bursting thus
+upon our eyes which for months had seen only the desolation and sadness
+of the desert, was like getting a glimpse of Paradise, and tears of joy
+ran down our faces. If ever a poor mortal escapes from this world where
+so many trials come, and joys of a happy Heaven are opened up to him,
+the change cannot be much more that this which was suddenly opened to us
+on that bright day which was either one of the very last of December
+1849 or the first of January 1850, I am inclined to think it was the
+very day of the new year, but in our troubles, the accuracy of the
+calendar was among the least of our troubles. If it was, as I believe
+the beginning of the year, it was certainly a most auspicious one and
+one of the most hopeful of my life.
+
+And _now if the others were only here_, was the burden of our thought,
+and a serious awakening from the dream of beauty and rich plenty spread
+out before us. This ring-streaked and speckled herd might be descended
+directly from Jacob's famous herd, blessed of the Lord, and while we
+could not keep our thoughts from some sad doubts as to the fate of those
+whom we had left behind, we tried to be generally hopeful and courageous
+and brightened up our steps to prepare for a relief and return to the
+hot dry plain beyond the mountains where they were awaiting us, no doubt
+with much tribulation.
+
+I now thought of myself and my failing knee and we sat down under the
+shade of an oak to rest, and after a little, better feeling seemed to
+come. Down by a deep gully cut by the rains a yearling steer was
+feeding, and I took the rifle and crawled down near him and put first
+one ball through him, and then another, before he fell dead on the other
+side of the wash, when we sprang with all the agility of a deer. We
+quickly got some good meat and had it roasted and eaten almost quicker
+than can be told. We hardly realized how near starved we were till we
+had plenty before us again. We ate till we were satisfied for once, and
+for the first time in many long dreary weeks. We kindled a fire and
+commenced drying the meat, one sleeping while the other kept the fire,
+and changing off every few hours. What a rest that was! One who has
+never been nearly worn out and starved, down nearly to the point of
+death can never know what it is to rest in comfort. No one can tell. It
+was like a dream, a sweet, restful dream where troubles would drown
+themselves in sleep. How we felt the strength come back to us with that
+food and the long draughts of pure clear water.
+
+The miserable dried meat in our knapsacks was put away and this splendid
+jerked beef put in its place. The wolves came to our camp and howled in
+dreadful disappointment at not getting a meal. Rogers wanted me to shoot
+the miserable howlers, but I let them have their concert out, and
+thought going without their breakfast must be punishment enough for
+them. As our moccasins were worn out we carefully prepared some sinews
+from the steer and made new foot gear from the green hide which placed
+us in shape for two or three week's walking.
+
+The morning was clear and pleasant. We had our knapsacks filled with
+good food we had prepared, and were enjoying the cool breeze which came
+up the valley, when we heard faintly the bark of a dog, or at least we
+thought we did. If this were true there must be some one living not very
+far away and we felt better. I was still very lame and as we started
+along the walking seemed to make it worse again, so that it was all I
+could do to follow John on the trail down the valley. As we went along a
+man and woman passed us some distance on the left, and they did not seem
+to notice us, though we were in plain sight. They were curiously
+dressed. The woman had no hoops nor shoes, and a shawl wound about her
+neck and one end thrown over her head, was a substitute bonnet. The man
+had sandals on his feet, with white cotton pants, a calico shirt, and a
+wide rimmed, comical, snuff-colored hat. We at once put them down as
+Spaniards, or then descendants of Mexico, and if what we had read about
+them in books was true, we were in a set of land pirates, and blood
+thirsty men whom we might have occasion to be aware of. We had never
+heard a word of Spanish spoken, except perhaps a word or two upon the
+plains which some fellow knew, and how we could make ourselves known and
+explain who we were was a puzzle to us.
+
+Difficulties began to arise in our minds now we were in an apparent land
+of plenty, but in spite of all we went along as fast as my lame knee
+would permit me to do. A house on higher ground soon appeared in sight.
+It was low, of one story with a flat roof, gray in color, and of a
+different style of architecture from any we had ever seen before. There
+was no fence around it, and no animals or wagons in sight, nor person to
+be seen. As we walked up the hill toward it I told John our moccasins
+made of green hide would betray us as having recently killed an animal,
+and as these people might be the owners and detain us by having us
+arrested for the crime, and this would be especially bad for us just
+now. We determined to face the people, and let the fact of our close
+necessities be a sufficient excuse for us, if we could make them
+understand our circumstances.
+
+As we came near the house no person was seen, but a mule tied to a post
+told us there was some one about, and a man soon made an appearance,
+dressed about the same style as the one we had passed a short time
+before. As we came near we saluted him, bidding him good morning, and he
+in turn touched his hat politely, saying something in reply which we
+were not able to understand. I showed him that I was lame, and taking
+out some money pointed to the mule, but he only shook his head and said
+something I could not comprehend. Rogers now began looking around the
+house, which was built of sun-dried bricks about one by two feet in
+size, and one end was used as a storehouse. As he looked in, a man came
+to him and wanted a black, patent leather belt which Rogers wore, having
+a watch-pocket attached to it. He offered a quart or more of coarse corn
+meal, and Rogers made the trade.
+
+We tried to inquire where we were or where ought to go, but could get no
+satisfactory answer from the man, although when we spoke San Francisco
+he pointed to the north. This was not very satisfactory to us and we
+seemed as badly lost as ever, and where or which way to go we did not
+seem very successful in finding out. So we concluded to go on a little
+way at least, and I hobbled off in the direction he pointed, which was
+down the hill and past a small, poorly fenced field which was sometimes
+cultivated, and across the stream which followed down the valley.
+Passing on a mile or two we stopped on a big patch of sand to rest.
+
+I told Rogers I did not think this course would lead us to any place in
+a month, and just now a delay was ruinous to us and to those who were
+waiting for us, and it would not do for us to go off to the north to
+find a settlement. While I was expressing my opinion on matters and
+things, Rogers had wet up a part of his meal with water and put it to
+bake on the cover of his camp kettle. There was a fair sized cake for
+each of us, and it was the first bread of any kind we had eaten for
+months, being a very acceptable change from an exclusively meat diet.
+Looking up the valley we could see a cloud of dust, thick and high, and
+soon several men on horseback who came at a rushing gallop. I told
+Rogers they were after us, and believed them to be a murderous set who
+might make trouble for us. I hastily buried our little store of money in
+the sand, telling him that if they got us, they would not get our money.
+Putting our guns across our laps in an easy position we had them cocked
+and ready for business, and our knives where we could get them handy,
+and awaited their arrival.
+
+They came on with a rush until within a short distance and halted for
+consultation just across the creek, after which one of them advanced
+toward us and as he came near us we could see he was a white man, who
+wished us good evening in our own language. We answered him rather
+cooly, still sitting in the sand and he no doubt saw that we were a
+little suspicious of the crowd. He asked us where we were from, and we
+told him our circumstances and condition and that we would like to
+secure some means of relief for the people we had left in the desert,
+but our means were very limited and we wanted to do the best we could.
+He said we were about 500 miles from San Francisco, not far from 100
+miles from the coast and thirty miles from Los Angeles. We were much
+afraid we would not be able to get anything here, but he told us to go
+across the valley to a large live oak tree which he pointed out, and
+said we would find an American there, and we should wait there till
+morning. He said he would go back and stay at the house we had passed,
+and would do what he could to assist us to go to Los Angeles where we
+could get some supplies. Then he rode away, and as we talked it over we
+saw no way but to follow the directions of our newfound friend.
+
+It seemed now that my lameness had indeed been a blessing. If I had been
+able to walk we would now have been well on toward the seashore, where
+we could have found no such friend as this who had appeared to us. The
+way seemed clearer to us, but the time for our return was almost up and
+there was no way of getting back in fifteen days as we had agreed upon,
+so there was great danger to our people yet. It seemed very likely to
+take us twenty four or thirty days at best, and while they probably had
+oxen enough to provide them food for so long a time they might take a
+notion to move on, which would be fatal.
+
+At the big live oak tree we found an American camper, who was on his way
+to the gold mines. He was going a new route and said the mines could be
+reached much quicker than by going up the coast by way of San Francisco.
+A new company with wagons was soon to start out to break the road, and
+when they crossed the east end of the valley he would follow them. I
+think this man's name was Springer. He had come by way of the Santa Fe
+route, and the people of Los Angeles had told him this route was an easy
+one being often traveled by saddle horses, and if the company could make
+it possible for wagons they could have all the cattle they wanted to
+kill along the road as their pay for doing the work. Our new friend lay
+down early, and as he saw we were scant in blankets he brought some to
+us for our use, which were most thankfully received.
+
+As soon as we were alone Rogers mixed up some more of the meal which we
+baked in our friend's frying pan, and we baked and ate and baked and ate
+again, for our appetites were ravenous, and the demand of our stomachs
+got the better of the judgment of our brains.
+
+It was hard to find time to sleep, we were so full of the plans about
+the way, which we must manage to get relief for the people. We had many
+doubts if animals could ever come over the route we had come over, from
+deliberation we decided that by selecting a route with that idea in our
+minds, we could get mules and perhaps horses over the country. We
+perhaps could go more to the north and take the Jayhawkers trail, but
+this would take us fully a hundred miles farther and four or five days
+longer, at the best, and every moment of delay was to be carefully
+avoided as a moment of danger to our friends.
+
+Thus again, our sleep was troubled from another cause. Being so long
+unaccustomed to vegetable food, and helped on, no doubt, by our poor
+judgment in gauging the quantity of our food, we were attacked by severe
+pains in the stomach and bowels, from which we suffered intensely. We
+arose very early and with a very light breakfast, for the sickness
+admonished us, we started back for the house we had first passed, at
+which our friend on horseback, said he would spend the night and where
+we were to meet him this morning. He said he could talk Spanish all
+right and would do all he could to help us.
+
+Our suffering and trouble caused us to move very slowly, so that it was
+nine or ten o'clock before we reached the house, and we found they had
+two horses all ready for us to go to Los Angeles. There were no saddles
+for us, but we thought this would be a good way to cure my lameness. The
+people seemed to be friends to us in every way. We mounted, having our
+packs on our backs, and our guns before us, and with a friendly parting
+to the people who did not go, all four of us started on a trip of thirty
+miles to the town of Los Angeles.
+
+When we reached the foot of the mountain which was very steep but not
+rocky, John and I dismounted and led our animals to the top, where we
+could see a long way west, and south, and it looked supremely beautiful.
+We could not help comparing it to the long wide, desert we had crossed,
+and John and myself said many times how we wished the folks were here to
+enjoy the pleasant sight, the beautiful fertile picture.
+
+There appeared to be one quite large house in sight, and not far off,
+which the man told us was the Mission of San Fernando, a Roman Catholic
+Church and residence for priests and followers. The downward slope of
+the mountain was as steep as the other side and larger, and John and I
+did not attempt to mount till we were well down on the level ground
+again, but the other two men rode up and down without any trouble. We
+would let our leaders get half a mile or so ahead of us and then mount
+and put our horses to a gallop till we overtook them again. We had
+walked so long that riding was very tiresome to us, and for comfort
+alone we would have preferred the way on foot, but we could get along a
+little faster, and the frequent dismounting kept us from becoming too
+lame from riding.
+
+We passed the Mission about noon or a little after, and a few miles
+beyond met a man on horseback who lived up to the north about a hundred
+miles. His name was French and he had a cattle range at a place called
+Tejon (Tahone). Our friends told him who we were, and what assistance we
+needed. Mr. French said he was well acquainted in Los Angeles and had
+been there some time, and that all the travelers who would take the
+Coast route had gone, those who had come by way of Salt Lake had got in
+from two to four weeks before, and a small train which had come the
+Santa Fe Route was still upon the road. He said Los Angeles was so clear
+of emigrants that he did not think we could get any help there at the
+present time.
+
+"Now," said Mr. French--"You boys can't talk Spanish and it is not very
+likely you will be able to get any help. Now I say, you boys turn back
+and go with me and I will give you the best I have, I will let you have
+a yoke of gentle oxen, or more if you need them, and plenty of beans,
+which are good food for I live on them; besides this I can give an
+Indian guide to help you back. Will that do?" After a moment we said we
+doubted if oxen could be got over the road, and if they were fat now
+they would soon get poor, and perhaps not stand it as well as the oxen
+which had became used to that kind of life, and of those they had in
+camp all they needed. We wanted to get something for the women and
+children to ride, for we knew they must abandon the wagons, and could
+not walk so far over that dry, rough country. "Well," said Mr.
+French:--"I will stop at the place you were this morning--I know them
+well--and they are good folks, and I am sure when I tell them what you
+want they will help you if they possibly can. This looks to me to be the
+most sensible course." After talking an hour our two companions advised
+us that the proposition of Mr. French seemed the most reasonable one
+that appeared. But for us to go clear back to his range would take up so
+much valuable time that we were almost afraid of the delay which might
+mean the destruction of our friends. French said he had a pack saddle,
+with him taking it home, and we could put it on one of our horses, and
+when we came back to Los Angeles could leave it at a certain saloon or
+place he named and tell them it belonged to him and to keep it for him.
+I have forgotten the name of the man who kept the saloon. We agreed to
+this, and bidding our two companions farewell, we turned back again with
+Mr. French.
+
+When night came we were again at the Mission we had passed on the way
+down. We were kindly treated here, for I believe Mr. French told them
+about us. They sent an Indian to take our horses, and we sat down beside
+the great house. There were many smaller houses, and quite a large piece
+of ground fenced in by an adobe wall. The roof of the buildings was like
+that of our own buildings in having eaves on both, sides, but the
+covering was of semi circular tiles made and burned like brick. Rows of
+these were placed close together, the hollow sides up, and then another
+course over the joints, placed with the round side up, which made a roof
+that was perfectly waterproof, but must have been very heavy. These
+tiles were about two feet long. All the surroundings, and general make
+up of the place were new to us and very wonderful. They gave us good
+dried meat to eat and let us sleep in the big house on the floor, which
+was as hard as granite, and we turned over a great many times before
+daylight, and were glad when morning came. We offered to pay them, but
+they would take nothing from us, and we left leading our horses over the
+steep mountain, and reaching the house again late in the day. They
+turned our horses loose and seemed disposed to be very friendly and
+disposed to do for us what they could.
+
+We were very tired and sat down by the side of the house and rested,
+wondering how we would come out with our preparations. They were talking
+together, but we could not understand a word. A dark woman came out and
+gave each of us a piece of cooked squash. It seemed to have been roasted
+in the ashes and was very sweet and good. These were all signs of
+friendship and we were glad of the good feeling. We were given a place
+to sleep in the house, in a store room on a floor which was not soft.
+This was the second house we had slept in since leaving Wisconsin, and
+it seemed rather pent-up to us.
+
+In the morning we were shown a kind of mill like a coffee mill, and by
+putting in a handful of wheat from a pile and giving the mill a few
+turns we were given to understand we should grind some flour for
+ourselves. We went to work with a will, but found it, hard, slow work.
+
+After a little, our dark woman came and gave us each a pancake and a
+piece of meat, also another piece of roasted squash, for our breakfast,
+and this, we thought, was the best meal we had ever eaten. The lady
+tried to talk to us but we could not understand the words, and I could
+convey ideas to her better by the sign language than any other way. She
+pointed out the way from which we came and wanted to know how many day's
+travel it might be away, and I answered by putting my hand to my head
+and closing my eyes, which was repeated as many times as there had been
+nights on our journey, at which she was much surprised that the folks
+were so far away. She then place her hand upon her breast and then held
+it up, to ask how many women there were, and I answered her by holding
+up three fingers, at which she shrugged her shoulders and shook her
+head. Then pointing to a child by her side, four or five years old, and
+in the same way asked how many children, I answered by holding up four
+fingers, and she almost cried, opening her mouth in great surprise, and
+turned away.
+
+I said to Rogers that she was a kind, well meaning woman, and that Mr.
+French had no doubt told her something of our story. Aside from her dark
+complexion her features reminded me of my mother, and at first sight of
+her I thought of the best woman on earth my own far off mother, who
+little knew the hardships we had endured. We went to work again at the
+mill and after a while the woman came again and tried to talk and to
+teach us some words of her own language. She place her finger on me and
+said _ombre_ and I took out my little book and wrote down _ombre_ as
+meaning man, and in the same way she taught me that _mujer_, was woman;
+_trigo_, wheat; _frijoles_, beans; _carne_, meat; _calazasa_, pumpkin;
+_caballo_, horse; _vaca_, cow; _muchacho_, boy, and several other words
+in this way.
+
+I got hold of many words thus to study, so that if I ever came back I
+could talk a little and make myself understood as to some of the common
+objects and things of necessary use. Such friendly, human acts shown to
+us strangers, were evidences of the kindest disposition. I shall never
+forget the kindness of those original Californians. When in Walker's
+camp and finding he was friendly to Mormonism we could claim that we
+were also Mormons, but the good people though well known Catholics, did
+not so much as mention the fact nor inquire whether we favored that sect
+or not. We were human beings in distress and we represented others who
+were worse even than we, and those kind acts and great good will, were
+given freely because we were fellow human beings.
+
+The provisions we prepared were, a sack of small yellow beans; a small
+sack of wheat, a quantity of good dried meat, and some of the coarse,
+unbolted flour we had made at the mills. They showed us how to properly
+pack the horse, which was a kind of work we had not been use to, and we
+were soon ready for a start. I took what money we had and put it on a
+block, making signs for them to take what the things were worth. They
+took $30, and we were quite surprised to get two horses, provisions,
+pack-saddles and ropes, some of the latter made of rawhide and some of
+hair, so cheaply, but we afterward learned that the mares furnished were
+not considered of much value, and we had really paid a good fair price
+for everything. To make it easy for us they had also fixed our knapsacks
+on the horses.
+
+The good lady with the child, came out with four oranges and pointed to
+her own child and then to the East, put them in the pack meaning we
+should carry them to the children. With a hearty good bye from them, and
+a polite lifting of our hats to them we started on our return, down
+toward the gentle decline of the creek bottom, and then up the valley,
+the way we came. Toward night we came to a wagon road crossing the
+valley, and as we well knew we could not go up the tangled creek bed
+with horses we took this road to the north, which took a dry ravine for
+its direction, and in which there was a pack trail, and this the wagons
+were following. We kept on the trail for a few miles, and overtook them
+in their camp, and camped with them over night. We told them we
+considered our outfit entirely too small for the purpose intended, which
+was to bring two women and four children out of the desert, but that
+being the best we could get, we were taking this help to them and hoped
+to save their lives. Our mission became well known and one man offered
+to sell us a poor little one-eyed mule, its back all bare of covering
+from the effect of a great saddle sore that had very recently healed. He
+had picked it up somewhere in Arizona where it had been turned out to
+die, but it seemed the beast had enough of the good Santa Ana stock in
+it to bring it through and it had no notion of dying at the present
+time, though it was scarcely more than a good fair skeleton, even then.
+The beast became mine at the price of $15, and the people expressed
+great sympathy with us and the dear friends we were going to try to
+save.
+
+Another man offered a little snow-white mare, as fat as butter, for $15,
+which I paid, though it took the last cent of money I had. This little
+beauty of a beast was broken to lead at halter, but had not been broken
+in any other way. Rogers said he would ride her where he could, and
+before she got to the wagons she would be as gentle as a lamb. He got a
+bridle and tried her at once, and then there was a scene of rearing,
+jumping and kicking that would have made a good Buffalo Bill circus in
+these days. No use, the man could not be thrown off, and the crowd
+cheered and shouted to Rogers to--"Hold her level."
+
+After some bucking and backing on the part of the mare and a good deal
+of whipping and kicking on the part of the man, and a good many furious
+clashes in lively, but very awkward ways, the little beast yielded the
+point, and carried her load without further trouble.
+
+The people gave us a good supper and breakfast, and one man came and
+presented us with 25 pounds of unbolted wheat flour. They were of great
+assistance to us in showing us how to pack and sack our load, which was
+not heavy and could be easily carried by our two animals which we had at
+first. However we arranged a pack on the mule and this gave me a horse
+to ride and a mule to lead, while Rogers rode his milk-white steed and
+led the other horse. Thus we went along and following the trail soon
+reached the summit from which we could see off to the East a wonderful
+distance, probably 200 miles, of the dry and barren desert of hill and
+desolate valley over which we had come.
+
+The trail bearing still to the north from this point, we left and turned
+due east across the country, and soon came to a beautiful lake of sweet
+fresh water situated well up toward the top of the mountain. This lake
+is now called Elizabeth Lake. Here we watered our animals and filled our
+canteens, then steered a little south of east among the Cabbage trees,
+aiming to strike the rain water hole where we had camped as we came
+over. We reached the water hole about noon and here found the Jayhawkers
+trail, which we took. They had evidently followed us and passed down the
+same brushy cañon while we having taken a circuitous route to the north,
+had gone around there. Getting water here for ourselves and horses, we
+went back to the trail and pushed on as fast as the animals could walk,
+and as we now knew where we could get water, we kept on till after dark,
+one of us walking to keep the trail, and some time in the night reached
+the Willow corral I have spoken of before. There was good water here,
+but the Jayhawker's oxen had eaten all the grass that grew in the little
+moist place around, and our animals were short of feed. One of us agreed
+to stand guard the fore part of the night and the other later, so that
+we might not be surprised by Indians and lose our animals. I took the
+first watch and let the blaze of the fire go out so as not to attract
+attention and as I sat by the dull coals and hot ashes I fell asleep.
+Rogers happened to wake and see the situation, and arose and waked me
+again saying that we must be more careful or the Indians would get our
+horses. You may be sure I kept awake the rest of my watch.
+
+Next day we passed the water holes at the place where we had so
+stealthily crawled up to Doty's camp when coming out. These holes held
+about two pails of water each, but no stream run away from them. Our
+horses seemed to want water badly for when they drank they put their
+head in up to their eyes and drank ravenously.
+
+Thirty miles from here to the next water, Doty had told us, and night
+overtook us before we could reach it, so a dry camp was made. Our horses
+began now to walk with drooping heads and slow, tired steps, so we
+divided the load among them all and walked ourselves. The water, when
+reached proved so salt the horses would not drink it, and as Doty had
+told us the most water was over the mountain ahead of us, we still
+followed their trail which went up a very rocky cañon in which it was
+hard work for the horses to travel. The horses were all very gentle now
+and needed some urging to make them go. Roger's fat horse no longer
+tried to unseat its rider or its pack, but seemed to be the most
+downhearted of the train. The little mule was the liveliest, sharpest
+witted animal of the whole. She had probably traveled on the desert
+before and knew better how to get along. She had learned to crop every
+spear of grass she came to, and every bit of sage brush that offered a
+green leaf was given a nip. She would sometimes leave the trail and go
+out to one side to get a little bunch of dry grass, and come back and
+take her place again as if she knew her duty. The other animals never
+tried to do this. The mule was evidently better versed in the art of
+getting a living than the horses.
+
+Above the rough bed of the cañon the bottom was gravelly and narrow, and
+the walls on each side nearly perpendicular. Our horses now poked slowly
+along and as we passed the steep wall of the cañon the white animal left
+the trail and walked with full force, head first, against the solid
+rock. She seemed to be blind, and though we went quickly to her and took
+off the load she carried, she had stopped breathing by the time we had
+it done. Not knowing how far it was to water, nor how soon some of our
+other horses might fall, we did not tarry, but pushed on as well as we
+could, finding no water. We reached the summit and turned down a ravine,
+following the trail, and about dark came to the water they had told us
+about, a faint running stream which came out of a rocky ravine and sank
+almost immediately in the dry sand. There was water enough for us, but
+no grass. It seemed as if the horses were not strong enough to carry a
+load, and as we wanted to get them through if possible, we concluded to
+bury the wheat and get it on our return. We dug a hole and lined it
+with fine sticks, then put in the little bag and covered it with dry
+brush, and sand making the surface as smooth as if it had never been
+touched, then made our bed on it. The whole work was done after dark so
+the deposit could not be seen by the red men and we thought we had done
+it pretty carefully.
+
+Next morning the little mule carried all the remaining load, the horses
+bearing only their saddles, and seemed hardly strong enough for that.
+There was now seven or eight miles of clean loose sand to go over,
+across a little valley which came to an end about ten miles north of us,
+and extended south to the lake where we went for water on our outward
+journey and found it red alkali. Near the Eastern edge of the valley we
+turned aside to visit the grave of Mr. Isham, which they had told us of.
+They had covered his remains with their hands as best they could, piling
+up a little mound of sand over it. Our next camp was to be on the summit
+of the range just before us, and we passed the dead body of Mr. Fish, we
+had seen before, and go on a little to a level sandy spot in the ravine
+just large enough to sleep on. This whole range is a black mass rocky
+piece of earth, so barren that not a spear of grass can grow, and not a
+drop of water in any place. We tied our horses to rocks and there they
+staid all night, for if turned loose there was not a mouthful of food
+for them to get.
+
+In the morning an important question was to be decided, and that was
+whether we should continue to follow the Jayhawker's trail which led far
+to the north to cross the mountain, which stood before us, a mass of
+piled-up rocks so steep that it seemed as if a dog could hardly climb
+it. Our wagons were nearly due east from this point over the range, and
+not more than fifty miles away, while to go around to the north was
+fully a hundred miles, and would take us four or five days to make. As
+we had already gone so long we expected to meet them any day trying to
+get out, and if we went around we might miss them. They might have all
+been killed by Indians or they might have already gone. We had great
+fears on their account. If they had gone north they might have perished
+in the snow.
+
+The range was before us, and we must get to the other side in some way.
+We could see the range for a hundred miles to the north and along the
+base some lakes of water that must be salt. To the south it got some
+lower, but very barren and ending in black, dry buttes. The horses must
+have food and water by night or we must leave them to die, and all
+things considered it seemed to be the quickest way to camp to try and
+get up a rough looking cañon which was nearly opposite us on the other
+side. So we loaded the mule and made our way down the rocky road to the
+ridge, and then left the Jayhawker's trail, taking our course more south
+so as to get around a salt lake which lay directly before us. On our way
+we had to go close to a steep bluff, and cross a piece of ground that
+looked like a well dried mortar bed, hard and smooth as ice, and thus
+got around the head of a small stream of clear water, salt as brine. We
+now went directly to the mouth of the cañon we had decided to take, and
+traveled up its gravelly bed. The horses now had to be urged along
+constantly to keep them moving and they held their heads low down as
+they crept along seemingly so discouraged that they would much rather
+lie down and rest forever than take another step. We knew they would do
+this soon in spite of all our urging, if we could not get water for
+them. The cañon was rough enough where we entered it, and a heavy up
+grade too, and this grew more and more difficult as we advanced, and the
+rough yellowish, rocky walls closed in nearer and nearer together as we
+ascended.
+
+A perpendicular wall, or rather rise, in the rocks was approached, and
+there was a great difficulty to persuade the horses to take exertion to
+get up and over the small obstruction, but the little mule skipped over
+as nimbly as a well-fed goat, and rather seemed to enjoy a little
+variety in the proceedings. After some coaxing and urging the horses
+took courage to try the extra step and succeeded all right, when we all
+moved on again, over a path that grew more and more narrow, more and
+more rocky under foot at every moment. We wound around among and between
+the great rocks, and had not advanced very far before another
+obstruction, that would have been a fall of about three feet had water
+been flowing in the cañon, opposed our way. A small pile of lone rocks
+enabled the mule to go over all right, and she went on looking for every
+spear of grass, and smelling eagerly for water, but all our efforts were
+not enough to get the horses along another foot. It was getting nearly
+night and every minute without water seemed an age. We had to leave the
+horses and go on. We had deemed them indispensable to us, or rather to
+the extrication of the women and children, and yet the hope came to us
+that the oxen might help some of them out as a last resort. We were sure
+the wagons must be abandoned, and such a thing as women riding on the
+backs of oxen we had never seen, still it occurred to us as not
+impossible and although leaving the horses here was like deciding to
+abandon all for the feeble ones, we saw we must do it, and the new hope
+arose to sustain us for farther effort. We removed the saddles and
+placed them on a rock, and after a few moments hesitation, moments in
+which were crowded torrents of wild ideas, and desperate thoughts, that
+were enough to drive reason from its throne, we left the poor animals to
+their fate and moved along. Just as we were passing out of sight the
+poor creatures neighed pitifully after us, and one who has never heard
+the last despairing, pleading neigh of a horse left to die can form no
+idea of its almost human appeal. We both burst into tears, but it was no
+use, to try to save them we must run the danger of sacrificing
+ourselves, and the little party we were trying so hard to save.
+
+We found the little mule stopped by a still higher precipice or
+perpendicular rise of fully ten feet. Our hearts sank within us and we
+said that we should return to our friends as we went away, with our
+knapsacks on our backs, and the hope grew very small. The little mule
+was nipping some stray blades of grass and as we came in sight she
+looked around to us and then up the steep rocks before her with such a
+knowing, intelligent look of confidence, that it gave us new courage. It
+was a strange wild place. The north wall of the cañon leaned far over
+the channel, overhanging considerably, while the south wall sloped back
+about the same, making the wall nearly parallel, and like a huge crevice
+descending into the mountain from above in a sloping direction.
+
+We decided to try to get the confident little mule over this
+obstruction, Gathering all the loose rocks we could we piled them up
+against the south wall, beginning some distance below, putting up all
+those in the bed of the stream and throwing down others from narrow
+shelves above we built a sort of inclined plane along the walls
+gradually rising till we were nearly as high as the crest of the fall.
+Here was a narrow shelf scarcely four inches wide and a space of from
+twelve to fifteen feet to cross to reach the level of the crest. It was
+all I could do to cross this space, and there was no foundation to
+enable us to widen it so as to make a path for an animal. It was forlorn
+hope but we made the most of it. We unpacked the mule and getting all
+our ropes together, made a leading line of it. Then we loosened and
+threw down all the projecting points of rocks we could above the narrow
+shelf, and every piece that was likely to come loose in the shelf
+itself. We fastened the leading line to her and with one above and one
+below we thought we could help her to keep her balance, and if she did
+not make a misstep on that narrow way she might get over safely. Without
+a moments hesitation the brave animal tried the pass. Carefully and
+steadily she went along, selecting a place before putting down a foot,
+and when she came to the narrow ledge leaned gently on the rope, never
+making a sudden start or jump, but cautiously as a cat moved slowly
+along. There was now no turning back for her. She must cross this narrow
+place over which I had to creep on hands and knees, or be dashed down
+fifty feet to a certain death. When the worst place was reached she
+stopped and hesitated, looking back as well as she could. I was ahead
+with the rope, and I called encouragingly to her and talked to her a
+little. Rogers wanted to get all ready and he said, "holler" at her as
+loud as he could and frighten her across, but I thought the best way to
+talk to her gently and let her move steadily.
+
+I tell you, friends, it was a trying moment. It seemed to be weighed
+down with all the trails and hardships of many months. It seemed to be
+the time when helpless women and innocent children hung on the trembling
+balance between life and death. Our own lives we could save by going
+back, and sometimes it seemed as if we would perhaps save ourselves the
+additional sorrow of finding them all dead to do so at once. I was so
+nearly in despair that I could not help bursting in tears, and I was not
+ashamed of the weakness. Finally Rogers said, "Come Lewis" and I gently
+pulled the rope, calling the little animal, to make a trial. She smelled
+all around and looked over every inch of the strong ledge, then took one
+careful step after another over the dangerous place. Looking back I saw
+Rogers with a very large stone in his hand, ready to "holler" and
+perhaps kill the poor beast if she stopped. But she crept along trusting
+to the rope to balance, till she was half way across, then another step
+or two, when calculating the distance closely she made a spring and
+landed on a smooth bit of sloping rock below, that led up to the highest
+crest of the precipice, and safely climbed to the top, safe and sound
+above the falls. The mule had no shoes and it was wonderful how her
+little hoofs clung to the smooth rock. We felt relieved. We would push
+on and carry food to the people; we would get them through some way;
+there could be no more hopeless moment than the one just past, and we
+would save them all.
+
+It was the work of a little while to transfer the load up the precipice,
+and pack the mule again, when we proceeded. Around behind some rocks
+only a little distance beyond this place we found a small willow bush
+and enough good water for a camp. This was a strange cañon. The sun
+never shown down to the bottom in the fearful place where the little
+mule climbed up, and the rocks had a peculiar yellow color. In getting
+our provisions up the precipice, Rogers went below and fastened the rope
+while I pulled them up. Rogers wished many times we had the horses up
+safely where the mule was, but a dog could hardly cross the narrow path
+and there was no hope. Poor brutes, they had been faithful servants, and
+we felt sorrowful enough at their terrible fate.
+
+We had walked two days without water, and we were wonderfully refreshed
+as we found it here. The way up this cañon was very rough and the bed
+full of sharp broken rocks in loose pieces which cut through the bottoms
+of our moccasins and left us with bare feet upon the acute points and
+edges. I took off one of my buckskin leggins, and gave it to Rogers, and
+with the other one for myself we fixed the moccasins with them as well
+as we could, which enabled us to go ahead, but I think if our feet had
+been shod with steel those sharp rocks would have cut through.
+
+Starting early we made the summit about noon, and from here we could see
+the place where we found a water hole and camped the first night after
+we left the wagons. Down the steep cañon we turned, the same one in
+which we had turned back with the wagons, and over the sharp broken
+pieces of volcanic rock that formed our only footing we hobbled along
+with sore and tender feet. We had to watch for the smoothest place for
+every step, and then moved only with the greatest difficulty. The
+Indians could have caught us easily if they had been around for we must
+keep our eyes on the ground constantly and stop if we looked up and
+around. But we at last got down and camped on some spot where we had set
+out twenty-five days before to seek the settlements. Here was the same
+little water hole in the sand plain, and the same strong sulphur water
+which we had to drink the day we left. The mule was turned loose
+dragging the same piece of rawhide she had attached to her when we
+purchased her, and she ranged and searched faithfully for food finding
+little except the very scattering bunches of sage brush. She was
+industrious and walked around rapidly picking here and there, but at
+dark came into camp and lay down close to us to sleep.
+
+There was no sign that any one had been here during our absence, and if
+the people had gone to hunt a way out, they must either have followed
+the Jayhawker's trail or some other one. We were much afraid that they
+might have fallen victims to the Indians. Remaining in camp so long it
+was quite likely they had been discovered by them and it was quite
+likely they had been murdered for the sake of the oxen and camp
+equipage. It might be that we should find the hostiles waiting for us
+when we reached the appointed camping place, and it was small show for
+two against a party. Our mule and her load would be a great capture for
+them. We talked a great deal and said a great many things at that camp
+fire for we knew we were in great danger, and we had many doubts about
+the safety of our people, that would soon be decided, and whether for
+joy or sorrow we could not tell.
+
+From this place, as we walked along, we had a wagon road to follow, in
+soft sand, but not a sign of a human footstep could we see, as we
+marched toward this, the camp of the last hope. We had the greatest
+fears the people had given up our return and started out for themselves
+and that we should follow on, only to find them dead or dying. My pen
+fails me as I try to tell the feelings and thoughts of this trying hour.
+I can never hope to do so, but if the reader can place himself in my
+place, his imagination cannot form a picture that shall go beyond
+reality.
+
+We were some seven or eight miles along the road when I stopped to fix
+my moccasin while Rogers went slowly along. The little mule went on
+ahead of both of us, searching all around for little bunches of dry
+grass, but always came back to the trail again and gave us no trouble.
+When I had started up again I saw Rogers ahead leaning on his gun and
+waiting for me, apparently looking at something on the ground. As I came
+near enough to speak I asked what he had found and he said--"Here is
+Capt. Culverwell, dead." He did not look much like a dead man. He lay
+upon his back with arms extended wide, and his little canteen, made of
+two powder flasks, lying by his side. This looked indeed as if some of
+our saddest forebodings were coming true. How many more bodies should we
+find? Or should we find the camp deserted, and never find a trace of the
+former occupants.
+
+We marched toward camp like two Indians, silent and alert, looking out
+for dead bodies and live Indians, for really we more expected to find
+the camp devastated by those rascals than to find that it still
+contained our friends. To the east we could plainly see what seemed to
+be a large salt lake with a bed that looked as if of the finest, whitest
+sand, but really a wonder of salt crystal. We put the dreary steps
+steadily one forward of another, the little mule the only unconcerned
+one of the party, ever looking for an odd blade of grass, dried in the
+hot dry wind, but yet retaining nourishment, which she preferred.
+
+About noon we came in sight of the wagons, still a long way off, but in
+the clear air we could make them out, and tell what they were, without
+being able to see anything more. Half a mile was the distance between us
+and the camp before we could see very plainly, as they were in a little
+depression. We could see the covers had been taken off, and this was an
+ominous sort of circumstance to us, for we feared the depredations of
+the Indians in retaliation for the capture of their squashes. They had
+shot our oxen before we left and they have slain them this time and the
+people too.
+
+We surely left seven wagons. Now we could see only four and nowhere the
+sign of an ox. They must have gone ahead with a small train, and left
+these four standing, after dismantling them.
+
+No signs of life were anywhere about, and the thought of our hard
+struggles between life and death to go out and return, with the
+fruitless results that now seemed apparent was almost more than human
+heart could bear. When should we know their fate? When should we find
+their remains, and how learn of their sad history if we ourselves should
+live to get back again to settlements and life? If ever two men were
+troubled, Rogers and I surely passed through the furnace.
+
+We kept as low and as much out of sight as possible, trusting very much
+to the little mule that was ahead, for we felt sure she would detect
+danger in the air sooner than we, and we watched her closely to see how
+she acted. She slowly walked along looking out for food, and we followed
+a little way behind, but still no decisive sign to settle the awful
+suspense in which we lived and suffered. We became more and more
+convinced that they had taken the trail of the Jayhawkers, and we had
+missed them on the road, or they had perished before reaching the place
+where we turned from their trail.
+
+One hundred yards now to the wagons and still no sign of life, no
+positive sign of death, though we looked carefully for both. We fear
+that perhaps there are Indians in ambush, and with nervous irregular
+breathing we counsel what to do. Finally Rogers suggested that he had
+two charges in his shot gun and I seven in the Coll's rifle, and that I
+fire one of mine and await results before we ventured any nearer, and if
+there are any of the red devils there we can kill some of them before
+they get to us. And now both closely watching the wagons I fired the
+shot. Still as death and not a move for a moment, and then as if by
+magic a man came out from under a wagon and stood up looking all around,
+for he did not see us. Then he threw up his arms high over his head and
+shouted--"The boys have come. The boys have come!" Then other bare heads
+appeared, and Mr. Bennett and wife and Mr. Arcane came toward us as fast
+as ever they could. The great suspense was over and our hearts were
+first in our mouths, and then the blood all went away and left us almost
+fainting as we stood and tried to step. Some were safe perhaps all of
+those nearest us, and the dark shadow of death that had hovered over us,
+and cast what seemed a pall upon every thought and action, was lifted
+and fell away a heavy oppression gone. Bennett and Arcane caught us in
+their arms and embraced us with all their strength, and Mrs. Bennett
+when she came fell down on her knees and clung to me like a maniac in
+the great emotion that came to her, and not a word was spoken. If they
+had been strong enough they would have carried us to camp upon their
+shoulders. As it was they stopped two or three times, and turned as if
+to speak, but there was too much feeling for words, convulsive weeping
+would choke the voice.
+
+All were a little calmer soon, and Bennett soon found voice to say:--"I
+know you have found some place, for you have a mule," and Mrs. Bennett
+through her tears, looked staringly at us as she could hardly believe
+our coming back was a reality, and then exclaimed:--"Good boys! O, you
+have saved us all! God bless you forever! Such boys should never die!"
+It was some time before they could talk without weeping. Hope almost
+died within them, and now when the first bright ray came it almost
+turned reason from its throne. A brighter happier look came to them than
+we had seen, and then they plied us with questions the first of which
+was:--"Where were you?"
+
+We told them it must be 250 miles yet to any part of California where we
+could live. Then came the question;--"Can we take our wagons?" "You will
+have to walk," was our answer, for no wagons could go over that unbroken
+road that we had traveled. As rapidly and carefully as we could we told
+them of our journey, and the long distance between the water holes; that
+we had lost no time and yet had been twenty six days on the road; that
+for a long distance the country was about as dry and desolate as the
+region we had crossed east of this camp. We told them of the scarcity of
+grass, and all the reasons that had kept us so long away from them.
+
+We inquired after the others whom we had left in camp when we went away,
+and we were told all they knew about them. Hardly were we gone before
+they began to talk about the state of affairs which existed. They said
+that as they had nothing to live on but their oxen it would be certain
+death to wait here and eat them up, and that it would be much better to
+move on a little every day and get nearer and nearer the goal before the
+food failed. Bennett told them they would know surely about the way when
+the boys returned, and knowing the road would know how to manage and
+what to expect and work for, and could get out successfully. But the
+general opinion of all but Mr. Bennett and Mr. Arcane and their families
+was, as expressed by one of them:--"If those boys ever get out of this
+cussed hole, they are d----d fools if they ever come back to help
+anybody."
+
+Some did not stay more than a week after we were gone, but took their
+oxen and blankets and started on. They could not be content to stay idly
+in camp with nothing to occupy their minds or bodies. They could see
+that an ox when killed would feed them only a few days, and that they
+could not live long on them, and it stood them in hand to get nearer the
+western shore as the less distance the more hope while the meat lasted.
+Bennett implored them to stay as he was sure we would come back, and if
+the most of them deserted him he would be exposed to the danger of the
+Indians, with no hope of a successful resistance against them.
+
+But the most seemed to think that to stay was to die, and it would be
+better to die trying to escape than to set idly down to perish. These
+men seemed to think their first duty was to save themselves, and if
+fortunate, help others afterward, so they packed their oxen and left in
+separate parties, the last some two weeks before. They said that Capt.
+Culverwell went with the last party. I afterward learned that he could
+not keep up with them and turned to go back to the wagons again, and
+perished, stretched out upon the sand as we saw him, dying all alone,
+with no one to transmit his last words to family or friends. Not a
+morsel to eat, and the little canteen by his side empty. A sad and
+lonely death indeed!
+
+There was no end to the questions about the road we had to answer, for
+this was uppermost on their minds, and we tried to tell them and show
+them how we must get along on our return. We told them of the great snow
+mountains we had seen all to the north of our road, and how deep the
+snow appeared to be, and how far west it extended. We told them of the
+black and desolate ranges and buttes to the south, and of the great dry
+plains in the same direction. We told them of the Jayhawkers trail; of
+Fish's dead body; of the salt lake and slippery alkali water to which we
+walked, only to turn away in disappointment; of the little sheets of ice
+which saved our lives; of Doty's camp and what we knew of those gone
+before; of the discouraged ones who gave us their names to send back to
+friends; of the hawk and crow diet; of my lameness; of the final coming
+out into a beautiful valley, in the midst of fat cattle and green
+meadows, and the trouble to get the help arranged on account of not
+knowing the language to tell the people what we needed. They were deeply
+impressed that my lameness had been a blessing in disguise, or we would
+have gone on to the coast and consumed more time than we did in walking
+slowly to favor the cripple knee. Our sad adventures and loss of the
+horses in returning was sorrowfully told and we spoke of the provisions
+we had been able to bring on the little mule which had clambered over
+the rocks like a cat; that we had a little flour and beans, and some
+good dried meat with fat on it which we hoped would help to eke out the
+poorer fare and get them through at last. They were so full of
+compliments that we really began to think we had been brought into the
+world on purpose to assist some one, and the one who could forecast all
+things had directed us, and all our ways, so that we should save those
+people and bring them to a better part of God's footstool, where plenty
+might be enjoyed, and the sorrows of the desert forgotten. It was
+midnight before we could get them all satisfied with their knowledge of
+our experience.
+
+[Illustation: Leaving Death Valley.--The Manly Party on Foot After
+Leaving Their Wagons.]
+
+It was quite a treat to us to sleep again between good blankets,
+arranged by a woman's hand, and it was much better resting than the
+curled up, cramped position we had slept in while away, with only the
+poor protection of the half blanket for both of us, in nights that were
+pretty chilly.
+
+We had plenty of water here, and there being no fear of the mule going
+astray we turned her loose. As the party had seen no Indians during our
+absence we did not concern ourselves much about them. At breakfast we
+cautioned them about eating too much bread, remembering, our own
+experience in that way.
+
+They said they had about given up our coming back a week before, and had
+set about getting ready to try to move on themselves. Bennett said he
+was satisfied that they never could have got through alone after what we
+had told them of the route and its dangers. He said he knew it now that
+not one of them would have lived if they had undertaken the journey
+alone without knowledge of the way.
+
+They had taken off the covers of the wagons to make them into houses for
+the oxen, so they could be used as pack animals. The strong cloth had
+been cut into narrow strips and well made into breast straps and
+breeching, for the cattle were so poor and their hide so loose it was
+almost impossible to keep anything on their backs. They had emptied the
+feathers out of the beds to get the cloth to use, and had tried to do
+everything that seemed best to do to get along without wagons. The oxen
+came up for water, and the mule with them. They looked better than when
+we left, but were still poor. They had rested for some time and might
+feel able to go along willingly for a few days at least. I was handy
+with the needle, and helped them to complete the harness for the oxen,
+while Bennett and John went to the lake to get a supply of salt to take
+along, a most necessary article with our fresh meat. I looked around a
+little at our surroundings, and could see the snow still drifting over
+the peak of the snowy mountain as we had seen it farther east, where we
+were ourselves under the burning sun. This was now pretty near February
+first, or midwinter. The eastern side of this great mountain was too
+steep to be ascended, and no sign of a tree could be seen on the whole
+eastern slope. The range of mountains on the east side of this narrow
+valley were nearly all the volcanic, barren in the extreme, and the
+roughest of all the mountains we had ever seen. I had now looked pretty
+thoroughly, and found it to be pretty nearly a hundred miles long, and
+this was the only camp I had seen where water could be had.
+
+When Mrs. Bennet was ready to show me what to do on the cloth harness,
+we took a seat under the wagon, the only shady place and began work. The
+great mountain, I have spoken of as the snow mountain has since been
+known as Telescope Peak, reported to be 11,000 feet high. It is in the
+range running north and south and has no other peak so high. Mrs.
+Bennett questioned me closely about the trip, and particularly if I had
+left anything out which I did not want her to know. She said she saw her
+chance to ride was very slim, and she spoke particularly of the
+children, and that it was impossible for them to walk. She said little
+Martha had been very sick since we had been gone, and that for many days
+they had expected her to die. They had no medicine to relieve her and
+the best they could do was to select the best of the ox meat, and make a
+little soup of it and feed her, they had watched her carefully for many
+days and nights, expecting they would have to part with her any time and
+bury her little body in the sands. Sometimes it seemed as if her breath
+would stop, but they had never failed in their attentions, and were at
+last rewarded by seeing her improve slowly, and even to relish a little
+food, so that if no relapse set in they had hopes to bring her through.
+They brought the little one and showed her to me, and she seemed so
+different from what she was when we went away. Then she could run about
+camp climb out and in the wagons, and move about so spry that she
+reminded one of a quail. Now she was strangely misshapen. Her limbs had
+lost all the flesh and seemed nothing but skin and bones, while her body
+had grown corpulent and distended, and her face had a starved pinched
+and suffering look, with no healthy color in it.
+
+She told me of their sufferings while we were gone, and said she often
+dreamed she saw us suffering fearfully for water, and lack of food and
+could only picture to herself as their own fate, that they must leave
+the children by the trail side, dead, and one by one drop out themselves
+in the same way. She said she dreamed often of her old home where bread
+was plenty, and then to awake to find her husband and children starving
+was a severe trial indeed, and the contrast terrible. She was anxious to
+get me to express an opinion as to whether I thought we could get the
+oxen down the falls where we had so much trouble.
+
+I talked to her as encouragingly as I could, but she did not cheer up
+much and sobbed and wept over her work most all the time. It was not
+possible to encourage her much, the outlook seemed so dark. Mrs. Arcane
+sat under another wagon and said nothing, but she probably heard all we
+had to say, and did not look as if her hopes were any brighter. Bennett
+and Rogers soon returned with a supply of salt and said the whole shore
+of the lake was a winrow of it, that could be shoveled up in enormous
+quantities.
+
+We now in a counsel of the whole, talked over the matter, and the way
+which seemed most promising. If we went by the Jayhawkers trail, there
+was a week of solid travel to get over the range and back south again as
+far as a point directly opposite our camp, and this had taken us only
+three days to come over as we had come. The only obstacle in the way was
+the falls, and when we explained that there was some sand at the bottom
+of them, Bennett said he thought we could get them over without killing
+them, and that, as we knew exactly where the water was, this was the
+best trail to take. Arcane was quite of the same opinion, the saving of
+a week of hard and tiresome travel being in each case the deciding
+reason. They then explained to me what they had decided on doing if we
+had not come back. They had selected two oxen for the women to ride one
+to carry water and one to carry the four children. There were no saddles
+but blankets enough to make a soft seat, and they proposed to put a band
+or belt around the animals for them to hold on by, and the blankets
+would be retained in place by breast and breeching straps which we had
+made. They had found out that it was very difficult to keep a load of
+any kind upon an ox, and had devised all this harness to meet the
+trouble.
+
+Bennett had one old bridle ox called Old Crump, which had been selected
+to carry the children, because he was slow and steady. How in the world
+do you expect it to keep the children on?--said I. "Well"--said Bennett,
+with a sort of comical air, about the first relief from the sad line of
+thought that had possessed us all--"We have taken two strong hickory
+shirts, turned the sleeves inside, sewed up the necks, then sewed the
+two shirts together by the tail, and when these are placed on the ox
+they will make two pockets for the youngest children, and we think the
+two others will be able to cling to his back with the help of a band
+around the body of the ox to which they can cling to, with their hands."
+Now if Old Crump went steady and did not kick up and scatter things, he
+thought this plan would operate first rate. Now as to the mule they
+proposed as we knew how to pack the animal, that we should use her to
+pack our provisions so they would go safe.
+
+From a piece of hide yet remaining John and I made ourselves some new
+moccasins, and were all ready to try the trip over our old trail for now
+the third time, and the last, we hoped.
+
+Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane had taken our advice, and in cooking had
+not put too much of the flour or beans into the soup for the children
+and they had gotten along nicely, and even began to smile a little with
+satisfaction after a full meal. They got along better than John and I
+did when we got hold of the first nutritions after our arrival on the
+other side.
+
+We must leave everything here we can get along without. No clothing
+except that on our backs. Only a camp kettle in which to make soup, a
+tin cup for each one, and some knives and spoons which each happen to
+have. Each one had some sort of a canteen for water, which we must fill
+up at every opportunity, and we decided to carry a shovel along, so we
+might bury the body of Capt. Culverwell, and shovel up a pile of sand at
+the falls to enable us to get the oxen over. Every ox had a cloth halter
+on his head, so he might be led, or tied up at night when we had a dry
+camp, and they would most assuredly wander off if not secured. Old Crump
+was chosen to lead the train, and Rogers was to lead him. We had made an
+extra halter for this old fellow, and quite a long strip of bed ticking
+sewed into a strap to lead him by.
+
+This packing business was a new idea, and a hard matter to get anything
+firmly fixed on their backs.
+
+We had made shoulder straps, hip straps, breast straps and breeching as
+the correct idea for a harness. The only way we could fasten the band
+around the animals was for one to get on each side and pull it as tight
+as possible then tie a knot, as we had no buckles or ring in our
+harness.
+
+The loads of the oxen consisted of blankets and bedding and a small,
+light tent of their sheeting about four by six feet in size. We rose
+early and worked hard till about the middle of the forenoon getting all
+things ready. They had been in a state of masterly inactivity so long in
+this one camp that they were anxious to leave it now forever. Only in
+progress was there hope, and this was our last and only chance. We must
+succeed or perish. We loaded the animals from the wagons, and some of
+the oxen seemed quite afraid at this new way of carrying loads. Old
+Crump was pretty steady, and so was the one with the two water kegs one
+on each side but the other oxen did not seem to think they needed any
+blankets on these warm days.
+
+Mrs. Arcane was from a city, and had fondly conveyed thus far some
+articles of finery, of considerable value and much prized. She could not
+be persuaded to leave them here to deck the red man's wife, and have her
+go flirting over the mountains with, and as they had little weight she
+concluded she would wear them and this perhaps would preserve them. So
+she got out her best hat and trimmed it up with extra ribbon leaving
+some with quite long ends to stream out behind. Arcane brought up his ox
+Old Brigham, for he had been purchased at Salt Lake and named in honor
+of the great Mormon Saint.
+
+Mrs. Arcane also dressed her little boy Charlie up In his best suit of
+clothes, for she thought they might as well wear them out as to throw
+them away. She made one think of a fairy in gay and flying apparel. In
+the same way all selected their best and most serviceable garments, for
+it was not considered prudent to carry any load, and poor clothes were
+good enough to leave for Indians. We set it down as a principle that we
+must save ourselves all we could, for it would be a close contested
+struggle with us and death, at the very best, and we wanted to get all
+the advantage for ourselves we could. As we were making the preparations
+the women grew more hopeful, as it seemed as if something was really
+going to be accomplished.
+
+Bennett and Arcane were emphatic in their belief and expressions that we
+would succeed, "I know it--Don't you Sally?" said Bennett very
+cheerfully, but after all Mrs. Bennett could not answer quite as
+positively, but said "I hope so."--Mrs. Bennett's maiden name was Sarah
+Dilley, which I mention here as I may otherwise forget it afterward. She
+realized that hers was no easy place to ride, that they would have hard
+fare at best, and that it must be nearly or quite a month before they
+could reach a fertile spot on which to place her feet. One could easily
+see that the future looked quite a little dark to her, on account of her
+children, as a mother naturally would.
+
+High overhead was the sun, and very warm indeed on that day in the fore
+part of February 1850, when the two children were put on Old Crump to
+see if he would let them ride. The two small children were placed in the
+pockets on each side, face outward, and they could stand or sit as they
+should choose. George and Melissa were placed on top and given hold of
+the strap that was to steady them in their place. I now led up Mrs.
+Bennett's ox and Mr. Bennett helped his wife to mount the animal, on
+whose back as soft a seat as possible had been constructed. Mrs. Arcane
+in her ribbons was now helped to her seat on the back of Old Brigham and
+she carefully adjusted herself to position, and arranged her dress and
+ornaments to suit, then took hold of the strap that served to hold on by
+as there were no bridles on these two.
+
+Rogers led the march with his ox; Bennett and I started the others
+along, and Arcane followed with Old Crump and the children. Bennett and
+Arcane took off their hats and bade the old camp good bye. The whole
+procession moved, and we were once more going toward our journey's end
+we hoped. The road was sandy and soft, the grade practically level, and
+everything went well for about four miles, when the pack on one of the
+oxen near the lead got loose and and turned over to one side, which he
+no sooner saw thus out of position, then he tried to get away from it by
+moving sidewise. Not getting clear of the objectionable load in this way
+he tried to kick it off, and thus really got his foot in it, making
+matters worse instead of better. Then he began a regular waltz and
+bawled at the top of his voice in terror. Rogers tried to catch him but
+his own animal was so frisky that he could not hold him and do much
+else, and the spirit of fear soon began to be communicated to the others
+and soon the whole train seemed to be taken crazy.
+
+They would jump up high and then come down, sticking their fore feet as
+far as possible into the sand after which, with elevated tails, and
+terrible plunges would kick and thrash and run till the packs came off,
+when they stopped apparently quite satisfied. Mrs. Bennett slipped off
+her ox as quick as she could, grabbed her baby from the pocket on Old
+Crump, and shouting to Melissa and George to jump, got her family into
+safe position in pretty short order. Arcane took his Charley from the
+other pocket and laid him on the ground, while he devoted his own
+attention to the animals. Mrs. Arcane's ox followed suit, and waltzed
+around in the sand, bawled at every turn, fully as bad as any of the
+others, but Mrs. Arcane proved to be a good rider, and hard to unseat,
+clinging desperately to her strap as she was tossed up and down, and
+whirled about at a rate enough to to make any one dizzy. Her many fine
+ribbons flew out behind like the streamers from a mast-head, and the
+many fancy fixin's she had donned fluttered in the air in gayest
+mockery. Eventually she was thrown however, but without the least injury
+to herself, but somewhat disordered in raiment. When I saw Bennett he
+was standing half bent over laughing in almost hysterical convulsion at
+the entirely impromptu circus which had so suddenly performed an act not
+on the program. Arcane was much pleased and laughed heartily when he saw
+no one was hurt. We did not think the cattle had so much life and so
+little sense as to waste their energies so uselessly. The little mule
+stepped out one side and looked on in amazement, with out disarranging
+any article of her load.
+
+Mrs. Bennett, carrying her baby and walking around to keep out of the
+way, got very much exhausted, and sat down on the sand, her face as red
+as if the blood were about to burst through the skin, and perspiring
+freely. We carried a blanket and spread down for her while we gathered
+in the scattered baggage. Then the oxen were got together again, and
+submitted to being loaded up again as quietly as if nothing had
+happened. Myself and the women had to mend the harness considerably, and
+Arcane and his ox went back for some water, while Rogers and Bennett
+took the shovel and went ahead about a mile to cover up the body of
+Capt. Culverwell, for some of the party feared the cattle might be
+terrified at seeing it. All this took so much time that we had to make a
+camp of it right here.
+
+We put the camp kettle on two stones, built a fire, put in some beans
+and dried meat cut very fine, which cooked till Arcane came with more
+water, which was added, and thickened with a little of the unbolted
+flour, making a pretty good and nutritious soup which we all enjoyed. We
+had to secure the animals, for there was neither grass nor water for
+them, and we thought they might not be in so good spirits another day.
+
+We had little trouble in packing up again in the morning, and concluded
+to take a nearer route to the summit, so as to more quickly reach the
+water holes where Rogers and I camped on our first trip over the
+country. This would be a hard rocky road on its course leading up a
+small rocky cañon, hard on the feet of the oxen, so they had to be
+constantly urged on, as they seemed very tender footed. They showed no
+disposition to go on a spree again and so far as keeping the loads on,
+behaved very well indeed. The women did not attempt to ride but followed
+on, close after Old Crump and the children who required almost constant
+attention, for in their cramped position they made many cries and
+complaints. To think of it, two children cramped up in narrow pockets,
+in which they could not turn around, jolted and pitched around over the
+rough road, made them objects of great suffering to themselves and
+anxiety and labor on the part of the mothers.
+
+Mrs. Bennett said she would carry her baby if she could, but her own
+body was so heavy for her strength that she could not do it. Bennett,
+Rogers and myself hurried the oxen all we could, so that we could reach
+the water, and let Bennett go back with some to meet the rest and
+refresh them for the end of the day's march, and he could take poor
+little Martha from the pocket and carry her in his arms, which would be
+a great relief to her. Arcane also took his child when he met them,
+throwing away his double barrel gun, saying:--"I have no use for you."
+
+When the women reached camp we had blankets already spread down for
+them, on which they cast themselves, so tired as to be nearly dead. They
+were so tired and discouraged they were ready to die, for they felt they
+could not endure many days like this.
+
+We told them this was the first day and they were not used to exercise
+therefore more easily tired than after they became a little used to it.
+We told them not to be discouraged, for we knew every water hole, and
+all the road over which we would pilot them safely. They would not
+consent to try riding again, after their circus experience, and Mrs.
+Arcane said her limbs ached so much she did not think she could even go
+on the next day. They had climbed over the rocks all day, and were lame
+and sore, and truly thought they could not endure such another day. The
+trail had been more like stairs than a road in its steep ascent, and our
+camp was at a narrow pass in the range. The sky was clear and cloudless,
+as it had been for so long for thus far upon this route no rain had
+fallen, and only once a little snow, that came to us like manna in the
+desert. For many days we had been obliged to go without water both we
+and our cattle, and over the route we had come we had not seen any signs
+of a white man's presence older than our own. I have no doubt we were
+the first to cross the valley in this location, a visible sink hole in
+the desert.
+
+The women did not recover sufficient energy to remove their clothing,
+but slept as they were, and sat up and looked around with uncombed hair
+in the morning, perfect pictures of dejection. We let them rest as long
+as we could, for their swollen eyes and stiffened joints told how sadly
+unprepared they were to go forward at once. The sun came out early and
+made it comfortable, while a cool and tonic breeze, came down from the
+great snow mountain the very thing to brace them up after a thorough
+rest.
+
+The slope to the east was soon met by a high ridge and between this and
+the main mountain was a gentle slope scattered over with sage brush, and
+a few little stools of bunch grass here and there between. This gave our
+oxen a little food and by dipping out the water from the holes and
+letting them fill up again we managed to get water for camp use and to
+give the animals nearly all they wanted.
+
+While waiting for the women Bennett and Arcane wanted to go out and get
+a good view of the great snowy mountain I had told them so much about.
+The best point of view was near our camp, perhaps three or four hundred
+yards away, and I went with them. This place where we now stood was
+lower than the mountains either north or south, but were difficult to
+climb, and gave a good view in almost every direction, and there, on the
+back bone of the ridge we had a grand outlook, but some parts of it
+brought back doleful recollections. They said they had traveled in sight
+of that mountain for months and seen many strange formations, but never
+one like this, as developed from this point. It looked to be
+seventy-five miles to its base, and to the north and west there was a
+succession of snowy peaks that seemed to have no end. Bennett and Arcane
+said they never before supposed America contained mountains so grand
+with peaks that so nearly seemed to pierce the sky. Nothing except a
+bird could ever cross such steep ranges as that one.
+
+West and south it seemed level, and low, dark and barren buttes rose
+from the plain, but never high enough to carry snow, even at this season
+of the year. I pointed out to them the route we were to follow, noting
+the prominent points, and it could be traced for fully one hundred and
+twenty-five miles from the point on which we stood. This plain, with its
+barren ranges and buttes is now known as the Mojave Desert. This part of
+the view they seemed to study over, as if to fix every point and water
+hole upon their memory. We turned to go to camp, but no one looked back
+on the country we had come over since we first made out the distant snow
+peak, now so near us, on November 4th 1849. The only butte in this
+direction that carried snow was the one where we captured the Indian and
+where the squashes were found.
+
+The range next east of us across the low valley was barren to look upon
+as a naked, single rock. There were peaks of various heights and colors,
+yellow, blue firery red and nearly black. It looked as if it might
+sometime have been the center of a mammoth furnace. I believe this range
+is known as the Coffin's Mountains. It would be difficult to find earth
+enough in the whole of it to cover a coffin.
+
+Just as we were ready to leave and return to camp we took off our hats,
+and then overlooking the scene of so much trial, suffering and death
+spoke the thought uppermost saying:--"_Good bye Death Valley!"_ then
+faced away and made our steps toward camp. Even after this in speaking
+of this long and narrow valley over which we had crossed into its nearly
+central part, and on the edge of which the lone camp was made, for so
+many days, it was called Death Valley.
+
+Many accounts have been given to the world as to the origin of the name
+and by whom it was thus designated but ours were the first visible
+footsteps, and we the party which named it the saddest and most dreadful
+name that came to us first from its memories.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Out of Death Valley we surely were. To Rogers and I, the case seemed
+hopeful, for we had confidence in the road and believed all would have
+power to weather difficulties, but the poor women--it is hard to say
+what complaints and sorrows were not theirs. They seemed to think they
+stood at death's door, and would about as soon enter, as to take up a
+farther march over the black, desolate mountains and dry plains before
+them, which they considered only a dreary vestibule to the dark door
+after all. They even had an idea that the road was longer than we told
+them, and they never could live to march so far over the sandy, rocky
+roads. The first day nearly satisfied them that it was no use to try,
+Rogers and I counted up the camps we ought to reach each day and in this
+way could pretty near convince them of time that would be consumed in
+the trip. We encouraged them in every way we could; told them we had
+better get along a little every day and make ourselves a little nearer
+the promised land, and the very exercise would soon make them stronger
+and able to make a full day's march.
+
+John and I told them we felt in much better spirits now than we did when
+we set out alone, and now that nothing but the arrows of an Indian could
+stop us. We said to them. "We are not going to leave you two ladies out
+here to die for there is not a sign of a grave to put you in,--" and it
+was a pretty tough place to think of making one. We told them of the
+beautiful flowery hillsides over the other side and begged them to go
+over there to die, as it would be so much better and easier to perform
+the last sad rites there instead of here on the top of the dismal
+mountain. It seemed quite like a grim joke, but it produced a reaction
+that turned the tide of thoughts and brought more courage. We only laid
+out the march for this day as far as the falls and after a little
+prepared to move. The cattle seemed to have quit their foolishness, and
+they were loaded without trouble. The children fitted into the pockets
+better than usual, and the mothers with full canteens strapped across
+their shoulders picked out soft places on which to place their poor
+blistered feet at every step. They walked as if they were troubled with
+corns on every toe and on their heels into the bargain, and each foot
+was so badly affected, that they did not know on which one to limp. But
+still they moved, and we were once more on our way westward. They often
+stopped to rest, and Arcane waited for them with Old Crump, while they
+breathed and complained awhile and then passed on again.
+
+[Illustration: The Oxen Get Frisky.]
+
+The route was first along the foot of the high peak, over bare rocks and
+we soon turned south somewhat so as to enter the cañon leading down to
+the falls. The bottom of this was thick with broken rock, and the oxen
+limped and picked out soft places about as bad as the women did. A pair
+of moccasins would not last long in such rocks and we hoped to get out
+of them very soon. Rogers and I hurried along, assisting Arcane and his
+party as much as we could, while Bennett staid behind and assisted the
+women as much as possible, taking their arms, and by this means they
+also reached camp an hour behind the rest.
+
+A kettle of hot steaming soup, and blankets all spread out on which to
+rest, was the work Rogers and I had done to prepare for them, and they
+sank down on the beds completely exhausted. The children cried some but
+were soon pacified and were contented to lie still. A good supper of hot
+soup made them feel much better all around.
+
+The first thing Bennett and Arcane did was to look round and see the
+situation at the falls, and see if the obstacle was enough to stop our
+progress, or if we must turn back and look for a better way. They were
+in some doubt about it, but concluded to try and get the animals over
+rather than to take the time to seek another pass, which might take a
+week of time. We men all went down to the foot of the fall, and threw
+out all the large rocks, then piled up all the sand we could scrape
+together with the shovel, till we had quite a pile of material that
+would tend to break a fall. We arranged everything possible for a forced
+passage in the morning, and the animals found a few willows to browse
+and a few bunches of grass here and there, which gave them a little
+food, while the spring supplied them with enough water to keep them from
+suffering with thirst.
+
+Early in the morning we took our soup hastily and with ropes lowered our
+luggage over the small precipice, then the children, and finally all the
+ropes were combined to make a single strong one about thirty feet long.
+They urged one of the oxen up to the edge of the falls, put the rope
+around his horns, and threw down the end to me, whom they had stationed
+below. I was told to pull hard when he started so that he might not
+light on his head and break his neck. We felt this was a desperate
+undertaking, and we fully expected to lose some of our animals, but our
+case was critical and we must take some chances. Bennett stood on one
+side of the ox, and Arcane on the other, while big Rogers was placed in
+the rear to give a regular Tennessee boost when the word was given. "Now
+for it," said Bennett, and as I braced out on the rope those above gave
+a push and the ox came over, sprawling, but landed safely, cut only a
+little by some angular stones in the sand pile. "Good enough," said some
+one and I threw the rope back for another ox. "We'll get 'em all over
+safely" said Arcane, "if Lewis down there, will keep them from getting
+their necks broken." Lewis pulled hard every time, and not a neck was
+broken. The sand pile was renewed every time and made as high and soft
+as possible, and very soon all our animals were below the falls. The
+little mule gave a jump when they pushed her and lighted squarely on her
+feet all right. With the exception of one or two slight cuts, which bled
+some, the oxen were all right and we began loading them at once.
+
+Bennett and Arcane assisted their wives down along the little narrow
+ledge which we used in getting up, keeping their faces toward the rocky
+wall, and feeling carefully for every footstep. Thus they worked along
+and landed safely by the time we had the animals ready for a march. We
+had passed without disaster, the obstacle we most feared, and started
+down the rough cañon, hope revived, and we felt we should get through.
+After winding around among the great boulders for a little while we came
+to the two horses we had left behind, both dead and near together. We
+pointed to the carcasses, and told them those were the horses we brought
+for the women to ride, and that is the way they were cheated out of
+their passage. The bodies of the animals had not been touched by bird or
+beast. The cañon was too deep and dark for either wolves or buzzards to
+enter, and nothing alive had been seen by us in the shape of wild game
+of any sort. Firearms were useless here except for defence against
+Indians, and we expected no real trouble from them.
+
+From what we could see, it was my opinion that no general rain ever fell
+in that region. There was some evidence that water had at times flowed
+down them freely after cloud bursts, or some sudden tempest, but the
+gravel was so little worn that it gave no evidence of much of a stream.
+
+We hurried on as rapidly as possible so as to get into the Jayhawker's
+beaten trail which would be a little easier to follow. When we reached
+the lowest part of the valley we had to turn south to get around a
+little, slow running stream of salt water, that moved north and emptied
+into a Salt Lake. No source of the stream could be seen from this point,
+but when we reached a point where we could cross, we had a smooth, hard
+clay bed to march over. It seemed to have been, some day, a bed of
+mortar, but now baked hard, and the hoofs of the oxen dented into it no
+more than half an inch. On our left hand was a perpendicular cliff,
+along which we traveled for quite a little way. The range of mountains
+now before us to cross was black, nothing but rocks, and extremely
+barren, having no water in it that we knew of, so when we reached the
+summit we camped, tied all our animals to rocks, where they lay down and
+did not rise till morning. The women were so tired they were over two
+hours late, and we had the fire built, the soup cooked and the beds
+made. As we did not stop at noon all were very hungry, and ate with a
+relish. The poor animals had to go without either grass or water. When
+Old Crump and the party came in the men were carrying the babies, and
+their wives were clinging to their arms, scarcely able to stand. When
+they reached the beds they fell at full length on them, saying their
+feet and limbs ached like the tooth ache. It seemed to be best for them
+to rest a little before eating. Mrs. Bennett said that the only
+consolation was that the road was getting shorter every day, but were it
+not for the children she would sooner die than follow the trail any
+farther. Their soup was carried to them in the bed, and they were
+covered up as they lay, and slept till morning. This day's walk was the
+hardest one yet, and probably the longest one of the whole journey, but
+there was no other place where we could find a place large enough to
+make a camp and free enough of rocks so that a bed could be made.
+
+Rogers and I had the kettle boiling early, and put in the last of the
+meat, and nearly all that was left of the flour. At the next camp an ox
+must be killed. Just as it was fairly light I went about 200 yards south
+where the dead body of Mr. Fish lay, just as he died more than a month
+before. The body had not been disturbed and looked quite natural. He was
+from Oscaloosa, Iowa.
+
+The folks arose very reluctantly this morning, and appeared with swollen
+eyes and uncombed hair, for there was no means of making a toilet,
+without a drop of water, except what we had used in getting breakfast.
+We set the soup kettle near the foot of the bed so the women could feed
+the children and themselves. Now as we loaded the oxen, it was agreed
+that Rogers and I should go ahead with all but Old Crump, and get in
+camp as soon as possible, and they were to follow on as best they could.
+There was a little water left in the canteens of Bennett and Arcane, to
+be given only to the children, who would cry when thirsty, the very
+thing to make them feel the worst.
+
+We were to kill an ox when we reached camp, and as each of the men had
+an equal number on the start each was to furnish one alternately and no
+disputing about whose were better or stronger, in any emergency.
+
+Our road now led down the western slope of the mountain, and loose,
+hard, broken rocks were harder on the feet of our animals than coming
+up, and our own moccasins were wearing through. The cattle needed shoes
+as well as we. Any one who has never tried it can imagine how hard it is
+to walk with tender feet over broken rock. It was very slow getting
+along at the best, and the oxen stumbled dreadfully in trying to protect
+their sore feet. At the foot of the mountain we had several miles of
+soft and sandy road. The sun shone very hot, and with no water we
+suffered fearfully. A short way out in the sandy valley we pass again
+the grave of Mr. Isham, where he had been buried by his friends. He was
+from Rochester, N.Y. He was a cheerful, pleasant man, and during the
+forepart of the journey used his fiddle at the evening camps to increase
+the merriment of his jolly companions. In those days we got no rain, see
+no living animals of any kind except those of our train, see not a bird
+nor insect, see nothing green except a very stunted sage, and some dwarf
+bushes. We now know that the winter of 1849-50 was one of the wettest
+ever seen in California, but for some reason or other none of the wet
+clouds ever came to this portion of the State to deposit the most
+scattering drops of moisture.
+
+Quite a long way from the expected camp the oxen snuffed the moisture,
+and began to hurry towards it with increased speed. A little while
+before it did not seem as if they had ambition enough left to make a
+quick move, but as we approached the water those which had no packs
+fairly trotted in their haste to get a drink. This stream was a very
+small one, seeping out from a great pile of rocks, and maintaining
+itself till it reached the sands, where it disappeared completely. A few
+tufts of grass grew along the banks, otherwise everything surrounding
+was desolate in the extreme.
+
+As soon as we could get the harness off the oxen, we went to look for
+our little buried sack of wheat, which we were compelled to leave and
+hide on our way out. We had hidden it so completely, that it took us
+quite a little while to strike its bed but after scratching with our
+hands awhile, we hit the spot, and found it untouched. Although the sand
+in which it was buried seemed quite dry, yet the grain had absorbed so
+much moisture from it, that the sack was nearly bursting. It was emptied
+on a blanket, and proved to be still sound and sweet.
+
+Our first work now was to kill an ox and get some meat to cook for those
+who were coming later. We got the kettle over boiling with some of the
+wheat in it, for the beans were all gone. We killed the ox saving the
+blood to cook. Cutting the meat all off the bones, we had it drying over
+a fire as soon as possible, except what we needed for this meal and the
+next. Then we made a smooth place in the soft sand on which to spread
+the blankets, the first good place we had found to sleep since leaving
+Death Valley.
+
+The next job was to make moccassins for ourselves and for the oxen, for
+it was plain they could not go on another day barefooted. We kept busy
+indeed, attending the fires under the meat and under the kettle, besides
+our shoemaking, and were getting along nicely about sundown, when Old
+Christian Crump appeared in sight followed by the women and the rest of
+the party. The women were just as tired as ever and dropped down on the
+blankets the first thing. "How many such days as this can we
+endure?"--they said. We had them count the days gone by, and look around
+to see the roughest part of the road was now behind them. They said that
+only five days had passed, and that two thirds of the distance still
+remained untraveled, and they knew they could never endure even another
+five day's work like the last. We told them to be brave, and be
+encouraged, for we had been over the road and knew what it was, and that
+we felt sure of being able to do it nicely. They were fed in bed as
+usual, and there they lay till morning. We men went to making moccasins
+from the green hide, and when we had cut out those for the men and women
+the balance of the hide was used in preparing some also for the oxen,
+particularly the worst ones, for if I remember correctly there was not
+enough to go round.
+
+The morning came, bright and pleasant, as all of them were, and just
+warm enough for comfort in the part of the day. The women were as usual,
+and their appearance would remind one quite strongly of half-drowned
+hens which had not been long out of trouble. Hair snarled, eyes red,
+nose swollen, and out of fix generally. They did not sleep well so much
+fatigued, for they said they lived over their hard days in dreams at
+night, and when they would close their eyes and try to go to sleep, the
+visions would seem to come to them half waking and they could not rest.
+
+There was now before us a particularly bad stretch of the country as it
+would probably take us four or five days to get over it, and there was
+only one water hole in the entire distance. This one was quite salt, so
+much so that on our return trip the horses refused to drink it, and the
+little white one died next day. Only water for one day's camp could be
+carried with us, and that was for ourselves alone and not for the
+animals.
+
+When the moccasins were finished in the morning we began to get our
+cattle together when it was discovered that Old Brigham was gone, and
+the general belief was that the Indians had made a quiet raid on us and
+got away with the old fellow. We circled around till we found his track
+and then Arcane followed it while we made ready the others. Arcane came
+in with the stray namesake of the polygamous saint about this time
+shouting:--"I've got him--No Indians." The ox had got into the wash
+ravine below camp and passed out of sight behind, in a short time. He
+had been as easily tracked as if he walked in snow. There was larger
+sage brush in the wash than elsewhere, and no doubt Brigham had thought
+this a good place to seek for some extra blades of grass.
+
+Immediately south of this camp now known as Providence Springs, is the
+salt lake to which Rogers and I went on the first trip and were so sadly
+disappointed in finding the water unfit to use.
+
+As soon as ready we started up the cañon, following the trail made by
+the Jayhawkers who had proceeded us, and by night had reached the
+summit, but passed beyond, a short distance down the western slope,
+where we camped in a valley that gave us good large sage brush for our
+fires, and quite a range for the oxen without their getting out of
+sight. This being at quite a high elevation we could see the foot as
+well as the top, of the great snow mountain, and had a general good view
+of the country.
+
+This proved to be the easiest day's march we had experienced, and the
+women complained less than on any other night since our departure. Their
+path had been comparatively smooth, and with the new moccasins their
+feet had been well protected, they had come through pretty nicely. We
+told them they looked better, and if they would only keep up good
+courage they would succeed and come out all right to the land where
+there was plenty of bread and water, and when safely out, they might
+make good resolutions never to get in such a trap again. Mrs. Bennett
+said such a trip could never be done over again, and but for the fact
+that Rogers and I had been over the road, and that she believed all we
+had said about it; she never would have had the courage to come thus
+far. Now, for the children's sake, she wished to live, and would put
+forth any effort to come through all right.
+
+The next day we had a long cañon to go down, and in it passed the dead
+body of the beautiful white mare Rogers had taken such a fancy to. The
+body had not decomposed, nor had it been disturbed by any bird or beast.
+Below this point the bed of the cañon was filled with great boulders,
+over which it was very difficult to get the oxen along. Some of them had
+lost their moccasins and had to suffer terribly over the rocks.
+
+Camp was made at the salt water hole, and our wheat and meat boiled in
+it did not soften and get tender as it did in fresh water. There was
+plenty of salt grass above; but the oxen did not eat it any more than
+the horses did, and wandered around cropping a bite of the bitter brush
+once in awhile, and looking very sorry. This was near the place where
+Rogers and I found the piece of ice which saved our lives. The women did
+not seriously complain when we reached this camp, but little Charley
+Arcane broke out with a bad looking rash all over his body and as he
+cried most of the time it no doubt smarted and pained him like a mild
+burn. Neither his mother nor any one else could do anything for him to
+give him any relief. We had no medicines, and if he or any one should
+die, all we could do would be to roll the body in a blanket and cover it
+with a light covering of sand.
+
+From this camp to the next water holes at the base of the great snow
+mountain, it was at least 30 miles, level as to surface, and with a
+light ascending grade. The Jayhawkers had made a well marked trail, and
+it it was quite good walking. The next camp was a dry one, both for
+ourselves and the oxen, nothing but dry brush for them, and a little
+dried meat for ourselves, but for all this the women did not complain so
+very much. They were getting use to the work and grew stronger with the
+exercise. They had followed Old Crump and the children every day with
+the canteens of water and a little dried meat to give them if they cried
+too much with hunger, and Arcane had led his ox day after day with a
+patience that was remarkable, and there was no bad temper shown by any
+one. This was the way to do, for if there were any differences, there
+was no tribunal to settle them by.
+
+In all this desert travel I did not hear any discontent and serious
+complaint, except in one case, and that was at the Jayhawker's camp,
+where they burned their wagons at the end of the wagon road, in Death
+Valley. Some could not say words bad enough to express their contempt,
+and laid all the trouble of salt water to Lot's wife. Perhaps she was in
+a better position to stand the cursing than any of the party present.
+
+The next day we reached the water holes at the place where Rogers and I
+stole up to camp fire in the evening, supposing it to be Indians, but
+finding there Capt. Doty and his mess, a part of the Jayhawker's band.
+By dipping carefully from these holes they filled again, and thus,
+although there was no flow from them we gradually secured what water we
+needed for the camp, which was a small amount after so long a time
+without. There was some low brush here called greasewood, which grew
+about as high as currant bushes, and some distance up the mountain the
+oxen could find some scattery bunch grass, which, on the whole, made
+this camp a pretty good one. The women, however, were pretty nearly
+exhausted, and little Charley Arcane cried bitterly all day and almost
+all night. All began to talk more and feel more hopeful of getting
+through. The women began to say that every step brought them so much
+nearer to the house we had told them about on the other side and often
+said the work was not so very hard after all. Really it was not so bad
+travelling as we had at first. We were now nine days from the wagons.
+"Are we half way?" was the question they began to ask. We had to answer
+them that more than one half the hard days were over, if one half the
+distance had not been traveled, and with the better walking and getting
+hardened to the work, they would get over the last half better than the
+first. One thing was a little hard. All of our beans and flour had been
+used up, and now the wheat was about gone also. We had cooked it, and it
+seemed best, trying to build up our strength, where it was most needed
+for the greatest trials, and now we thought they would be able to get
+along on the meat. We had reached the base of the great snow mountain.
+It seems strange with the mass of snow resting above, and which must be
+continually thawing more or less, no ravines or large streams of water
+were produced flowing down this side. It seemed dry all around its base,
+which is is very singular, with the snow so near.
+
+We had now our barren cañon to go down, and right here was the big trail
+coming down from the north, which we took and followed. We said all
+these good things about the road, and encouraged the people all we could
+to keep in good spirits and keep moving. We told them we thought we knew
+how to manage to get them safe over the road if they only fully
+endeavored to do it. We were all quite young, and not in the decline of
+life as were most of them who had perished by the way. No reader can
+fully realize how much we had to say and do to keep up courage, and it
+is to this more than anything else that we did which kept up the lagging
+energies and inspired the best exertion. I don't know but we painted
+some things a little brighter than they were, and tried to hide some of
+the most disheartening points of the prospects ahead, for we found the
+mind had most to do with it after all. We have no doubt that if we had
+not done all we could to keep up good courage, the women would have
+pined away and died before reaching this far. Whenever we stopped
+talking encouragingly, they seemed to get melancholy and blue.
+
+There was some pretty good management to be exercised still. The oxen
+were gradually growing weaker, and we had to kill the weakest one every
+time, for if the transportation of our food failed, we should yet be
+open to the danger of starvation. As it was, the meat on their frames
+was very scarce, and we had to use the greatest economy to make it last
+and waste nothing. We should now have to kill one of our oxen every few
+days, as our other means of subsistence had been so completely used up.
+The women contracted a strange dislike to this region and said they
+never wanted to see any part of it again.
+
+As the sun showed its face over the great sea of mountains away to the
+east of Death Valley, and it seemed to rise very early for winter season
+we packed up and started west on the big trail. Rogers and I took the
+oxen and mule and went on, leaving the others to accompany Old Crump and
+his little charges. Arcane had found it best to carry Charley on his
+back, as it relieved the burning sensation, caused by the eruption on
+his skin, which was aggravated by the close quarters of the pockets.
+Thus leaving the pockets unbalanced, Bennett had to carry his baby also.
+This made it harder for them, but every one tried to be just as
+accommodating as they could and each one would put himself to trouble to
+accommodate or relieve others.
+
+Rogers and I made camp when we reached the proper place which was some
+distance from the mountain, on a perfectly level plain where there was
+no water, no grass, nothing but sage brush would grow on the dry and
+worthless soil. We let the oxen go and eat as much of this as they
+chose, which was very little and only enough to keep them from absolute
+starvation. The great trail had a branch near here that turned north,
+and went up a ravine that would seem to reach the snow in a little
+while. This was believed to be impassable at this time of year. This
+route is known as Walker's Pass, leading over a comparatively low ridge,
+and coming out the south fork of the Kern River.
+
+We made our camp here because it was as long a march as the women could
+make, and, for a dry one, was as good a location as we could find. The
+cool breeze came down from the snow to the north of us, not so very many
+miles away, and after a little it became uncomfortably cold. We gathered
+greasewood bushes and piled them up to make a wind-break for our heads.
+The oxen, even, would come and stand around the fire, seeming greatly to
+enjoy the warm smoke, which came from burning the greasewood brush,
+which by the way, burns about the best of any green wood. When we were
+ready to lie down we tied the animals to bunches of brush, and they lay
+contentedly till morning.
+
+To the north of us, a few miles away we could see some standing, columns
+of rock, much reminding one of the great stone chimney of the boiler
+house at Stanford Jr., University; not quite so trim and regular in
+exterior appearance, but something in that order. We reckon the only
+students in the vicinity would be lizards.
+
+When the women arrived in camp they were very tired, but encouraged
+themselves that they were much nearer the promised land than they were
+in the morning. Mrs. Bennett said she was very careful never to take a
+step backward, and to make every forward one count as much as possible.
+"That's a good resolution, Sally," said Mr Bennett. "Stick to it and we
+will come out by and bye."
+
+From near this camp we have a low range of mountains to cross, a sort of
+spur or offshoot of the great snow mountain that reaches out twenty
+miles or more to the southeast, and its extremity divides away into what
+seems from our point of view a level plain. We had attained quite an
+elevation without realizing it, so gradual had been the ascent, and our
+course was now down a steep hillside and into a deep cañon. In its very
+bottom we found a small stream of water only a few yards long, and then
+it sank into the sands. Not a spear of grass grew there, and if any had
+grown it had been eaten by the cattle which had gone before. This was
+the same place, where Rogers and I had overtaken the advance portion of
+the Jayhawkers when we were on our outward trip in search of relief, and
+where some of the older men were so discouraged that they gave us their
+home addresses in Illinois so that we could notify their friends of
+their precarious situation, and if they were never otherwise heard from
+they could be pretty sure they had perished from thirst and starvation
+when almost at their journey's end.
+
+The scenes of this camp on that occasion made so strong an impression on
+my memory that I can never forget it. There were poor dependent fellows
+without a morsel to eat except such bits of poor meat as they could beg
+from those who were fortunate enough to own oxen. Their tearful
+pleadings would soften a heart of stone. We shared with some of them
+even when we did not know the little store upon our backs would last us
+through. Our oxen here had water to drink, but nothing more. It might be
+a little more comfortable to drink and starve, than both choke and
+starve, but these are no very pleasant prospects in either one.
+
+Both ourselves and the oxen were getting barefoot and our feet very
+tender. The hill we had just come down was very rough and rocky and our
+progress very slow, every step made in a selected spot. We could not
+stop here to kill an ox and let the remainder of them starve, but must
+push on to where the living ones could get a little food. We fastened
+the oxen and the mule to keep them from wandering, and slept as best we
+could. The women and children looked worse than for some time, and could
+not help complaining. One of the women held up her foot and the sole was
+bare and blistered. She said they ached like toothache. The women had
+left their combs in the wagons, and their hair was getting seriously
+tangled. Their dresses were getting worn off pretty nearly to their
+knees, and showed the contact with the ground that sometimes could not
+be avoided. They were in a sad condition so far as toilet and raiment
+were concerned. Life was in the balance, however, and instead of talking
+over sad things, we talked of the time when we would reach the little
+babbling brook where Rogers and I took such long draughts of clear,
+sweet water and the waiter at our dinner gave us the choice of _Crow_,
+_Hawk_ or _Quail_, and where we took a little of all three.
+
+[Illustation: Pulling the Oxen Down the Precipice.]
+
+In the morning we were off again down the cañon, limping some as we trod
+its coarse gravelly bed with our tender feet and stiffened joints, but
+getting limbered up a little after a bit, and enduring it pretty well.
+We set out to try to reach the bunch of willows out on the level plain,
+where the cattle could get some water and grass, but night overtook us
+at the mouth of the cañon, and we were forced to go into camp. This
+cañon is now called Red Cañon. This was on an elevated plain, with a
+lake near by, but as we had been so often deceived by going to the lake
+for water, and finding them salt in every instance, or poison on account
+of strong alkali, we did not take the trouble to go and try this one.
+
+Near us was some coarse grass and wet ground where we found water enough
+for our moderate use, and the oxen, by perseverance, could get something
+to eat and drink. After supper we were out of meat and we would have to
+kill an ox to get some food for breakfast. In the night a storm came on,
+much to our surprise, for we had seen none since the night on the
+mountain east of Death Valley more than two months before. We tried to
+fix up a shelter to protect the children and ourselves, but were not
+very successful. We tried to use our guns for tent poles, but could not
+keep them in place. We laid down as close as pigs in cold weather, and
+covered up as best we could, but did not keep dry, and morning found us
+wet to the skin, cold and shivering. We gathered big sage brush for a
+fire in the morning, and the tracks of our nearly bare feet could be
+plainly seen in the snow which lay like a blanket awhile over the
+ground, about two inches deep. Some lay in bed and we warmed blankets
+before the fire and put over them to keep them comfortable till the sun
+should rise and warm the air. We selected an ox and brought him up
+before the fire where I shot him, and soon there was meat roasting over
+the fire and blood cooking in the camp kettle. We had nothing to season
+the blood pudding with but salt, and it was not very good, but answered
+to sustain life. We ate a hasty meal, then packed our animals and
+started for the willow patch about four miles away. The snow was about
+gone.
+
+I staid in camp to keep it till they could get through to the willows
+and some one to come back with the mule to carry forward the portion of
+meat that could not be taken at first. We intended to dry it at the
+willows, and then we could carry it along as daily food over the wide
+plain we had yet to cross. Having carried the meat forward, we made a
+rack of willows and dried it over the fire, making up a lot of moccasins
+for the barefooted ones while we waited. We were over most of the rocky
+road, we calculated that our shoemaking would last us through. This was
+a very pleasant camp. The tired ones were taking a rest. No one needed
+it more than our women and children, who were tired nearly out. They
+were in much better condition to endure their daily hardships than when
+they started out, and a little rest would make them feel quite fresh
+again. They understood that this was almost on the western edge of this
+desert country and this gave them good hope and courage.
+
+This wonderful spot in the level plain, with a spring of pure water
+making an oasis of green willows and grass has been previously spoken of
+as:--"A spring of good water, and a little willow patch in a level
+desert away from any hill." In all our wanderings we had never seen the
+like before. No mountaineer would ever think of looking here for water,
+much less ever dream of finding a lone spring away out in the desert,
+several miles from the mountain's base. Where the range we just came
+through leaves the mother mountain stands a peak, seemingly alone, and
+built up of many colored rocks, in belts, and the whole looks as if
+tipped with steel.
+
+Arcane's boy Charley still suffered from his bogus measles or whatever
+else his disorder might be, and Bennett's little Martha grew more quiet
+and improved considerably in health, though still unable to walk, and
+still abdominally corpulent. The other two children George and Melissa
+seemed to bear up well and loved to get off and walk in places where the
+trail was smooth and level. Bennett, Arcane and Old Crump usually
+traveled with the same party as the women, and as each of them had a
+small canteen to carry water, they could attend to the wants of the
+children and keep them from worrying and getting sick from fretfulness.
+They often carried the two younger ones on their backs to relieve and
+rest them from their cramped position on the ox.
+
+Arcane used to say he expected the boys--meaning Rogers and I--would try
+to surprise the party by letting them get very near the house before
+they knew how near they were. "Be patient Mr. Arcane," said we, "we can
+tell you just how many camps there must be before we reach it, and we
+won't fool you or surprise you in any way." "Well," said he. "I was
+almost in hopes you would, for I like to be disappointed in that way."
+"What do you think the folks will say when we tell them that our little
+mule packed most of the meat of an ox four miles from one camp to
+another?" "What will they say when we tell them that the oxen were so
+poor that there was no marrow in the great thigh bones?" Instead of
+marrow there was a thick dark liquid something like molasses in
+consistency, but streaked with different colors which made it look very
+unwholesome. Arcane said the whole story was so incredible, that he
+never should fight anyone, even if he should tell him he lied when he
+related the strange sad truth. He said he had no doubt many a one would
+doubt their story, it was so much beyond what people had ever seen or
+heard of before, and they might be accused of very strong romancing in
+the matter.
+
+They all felt more like talking; for we were thus far safe and sound,
+and though there was a desperate struggle of seventy-five miles or more,
+from this place to the next water in the foot-hills. Possibly the snow
+storms had left a little in some of the pools, but we made no
+calculations on any. The promised land we had so steadily been
+approaching, and now comparatively so near, gave us great hope, which
+was better than food and drink to give us strength.
+
+There were surely two camps between this and the little pond John and I
+found, among the Cabbage trees, and not more than six by ten feet
+square. As we worked away at our foot-wear we talked more in an hour
+than we had in a whole day before. We were slowly leaving Death Valley
+behind us with its sad memories and sufferings. We were leaving behind
+the dead bodies of several who had traveled with us and been just as
+strong and hopeful as we. We had left behind us all in our possession in
+that terrible spot, and simply with our lives we hoped to escape, and
+trust to Providence and humanity on the other side. Arcane now admitted
+that they could not have got along half as well, if we had not gone
+ahead and looked out the land. It was such a gain to know exactly where
+the next water hole was, so it could be steered for and struggled
+toward. He even went so far as to say they would have no chance alone,
+and that as he now saw the road, he was sure they have would all
+perished even before reaching as far as this. We had strong hopes of the
+morrow, when we would be all rested, all were shod, and would make every
+footstep count in our western progress.
+
+It seems quite a strange occurrence that the only two storms we had had
+since we turned westward on this route, Nov. 4th, were snow storms, and
+that both had come while we were asleep, so that all our days were
+cloudless. Sometimes the sun was uncomfortably warm even in the heart of
+the winter. One would have naturally expected that the great rainfall
+all over the California coast in the winter of 1849-50, and the deep
+snows that came in the Sierra Nevada mountains the same winter, would
+have extended southerly the few hundred miles that separated the two
+places. Modern science has shown the tracks of the storms and partially
+explains the reasons for this dry and barren nature of this region. When
+rains do come they are so out of the regular order, that they are called
+cloud-bursts or waterspouts, and the washes in the cañons and their
+mouths show how great has been the volume of water that sometimes rushed
+down the slope. If clouds at a warm or moderate temperature float
+against these snow peaks all the water they contain is suddenly
+precipitated. The country is an arid one and unless wealth should appear
+in the shape of mines, the country can never be inhabited. We considered
+ourselves very fortunate in finding the little pools and holes of water
+which kept us alive. It was not very good drinking water, but to us
+thirsty folks it was a blessing and we never passed it by on account of
+any little stagnant bitter taste. Salt water we could not drink of
+course, though we sometimes used it to cook with.
+
+We were as well prepared next morning as possible for a move, and the
+long walk before us, the last one between us and the fertile land. They
+all talked of how delighted they would be to see once more a running
+brook, green grass and trees, and such signs of life as they had seen
+and been used to in the good land they had left behind. The women said
+they could endure the march of four or five days, if when all over, they
+could sleep off the terrible fatigue and for once drink all the pure
+sweet water they could desire. No more forced marches. No more grey
+road, stretching out its dusty miles as far as the eye could reach. The
+ladies thought the oxen would be as happy as themselves, and the little
+mule, the most patient one of the whole train deserved a life of ease
+for her valuable services. This little black, one-eyed lady wandered
+here and there at will seeking for grass, but never going astray or
+getting far enough from the track to alarm us in the least. She seldom
+drank much water, was always ready, never got foot-sore, and seemed made
+expressly for such a life and for such a desert.
+
+A good kettleful of soup for breakfast, dried meat fixed in packages,
+kegs and canteens filled with water, and we were ready for an advance.
+
+There is one less ox to lead, and very little load for those we have,
+still the load is all such poor weak fellows ought to bear. Old Crump
+was not thus favored by a gradually lightened load. He bore the same
+four children every day, faithfully, carefully, with never a stumble nor
+fall, as though fully aware of the precious nature of his burden.
+
+In this new march John and I took the oxen and pushed on as usual,
+leaving the families to follow on, at a slower pace, the trail we made.
+The trail was slightly inclined. The bushes stunted at the best, getting
+smaller as we proceeded, and the horse bones, new and ancient are now
+thickly scattered along the way. The soil is different from that we have
+had. We can see the trail, winding gently here and there, swept clean by
+the wind, and the surface is hard and good; but when the mule gets the
+least bit off of it she sinks six inches deep into the soft sand, and
+the labor of walking is immense. I stepped out to examine the peculiar
+soil, and found it finer than superfine flour. It was evident that a
+strong wind would lift it in vast clouds which might even darken the
+sky, but we were fortunate in this respect, for during all the time we
+were on this peculiar soil, there was no wind at all, and we escaped a
+sand-storm, a sort of storm as peculiar to this region as are blizzards
+to some of the states of the great west.
+
+Our first night's camp was out on the barren waterless plain, now known
+as the Mojave Desert. There were no shrubs large enough to make a fire
+of, and nothing to tie our cattle to, so we fastened all our animals
+together to keep them from scattering and getting lost. We ate a little
+dry meat and drank sparingly of the water, for our scanty stock was to
+last us another day, when we might reach prospective water holes.
+Starting early, John and I took all but Old Crump and the other
+travelers, and hurried on to try and find the water holes as early as
+possible. We, as well as the oxen were very dry, for we left all the
+water we had with the party, for the children, for they cannot endure
+the thirst as the older people can. We reached the camping place before
+night. Quite a time before we reached it, the cattle seemed to scent the
+water and quickened their pace, so we were confident it had not dried
+up. We got ahead of the oxen and kept there until we reached the little
+pond and then guarded it to keep them from wading into it, in their
+eagerness to reach some drink. They all satisfied their thirst, and then
+we removed the harness, built a fire of the dead cabbage trees which we
+found round about, laid down the beds and arranged them neatly, and had
+all nicely done before the rear guard came up, in charge of Captain
+Crump. The party was eager for water and all secured it. It was rain
+water and no doubt did not quench thirst as readily as water from some
+living spring or brook. There was evidence that there had been a recent
+shower or snow to fill this depression up for our benefit. The
+Jayhawkers had passed not more than a half mile north of this spot, but
+no sign appeared that they had found it, and it was left to sustain the
+lives of the women and children.
+
+It often occurs to me that many may read incredulously when I speak of
+our party eating the entire flesh of an ox in four or five days. To such
+I will say that one cannot form an idea how poor an ox will get when
+nearly starved so long. Months had passed since they had eaten a
+stomachful of good nutritious food. The animals walked slowly with heads
+down nearly tripping themselves up with their long, swinging legs. The
+skin loosely covered the bones, but all the flesh and muscles had shrunk
+down to the smallest space. The meat was tough and stringy as basswood
+bark, and tasted strongly of bitter sage brush the cattle had eaten at
+almost every camp. At a dry camp the oxen would lie down and grate their
+teeth, but they had no cud to chew. It looked almost merciless to shoot
+one down for food, but there was no alternative. We killed our poor
+brute servants to save ourselves. Our cattle found a few bunches out
+among the trees at this camp and looked some better in the morning. They
+had secured plenty of water and some grass.
+
+Young Charlie Arcane seemed to grow worse rather than better. His whole
+body was red as fire, and he screamed with the pain and torment of the
+severe itching. Nothing could be done to relieve him, and if his
+strength lasted till we could get better air, water and food he might
+recover, but his chances were very poor.
+
+Not much rest at this camp for in the morning we aimed to start early
+and reach the water in the foothills. We thought we could do it if we
+started early, walked rapidly and took no resting spell at noon. Such a
+poor soil as this we were anxious to get away from, and walk once more
+on a soil that would grow something besides stunted sage brush. From all
+appearances the Jayhawkers were here in about the same predicament
+Rogers and I were when we lost the trail. By their tracks we could see
+they had scattered wide and there was no road left for us to follow, and
+they had evidently tried to follow our former tracks. Having no trail to
+follow we passed on as best we could and came to a wide piece of land on
+which were growing a great many cabbage trees. The soil was of the
+finest dust with no grit in it, and not long before a light shower had
+fallen, making it very soft and hard to get along in with the moccasins.
+The women had to stop to rest frequently, so our progress was very slow.
+Rogers and I had feet about as hard as those of the oxen, so we removed
+our moccasins and went barefoot, finding we could get along much easier
+in that way, but the others had such tender feet they could not endure
+the rough contact with the brush and mud. Only a few miles had been made
+before the women were so completely tired out that we had to stop and
+eat our little bit of dried meat and wait till morning. The little mule
+now carried all our stock of food, and the precious burden lightened
+every day. This delay was not expected, but we had to endure it and bear
+it patiently, for there was a limit to strength of the feeble ones of
+our party. We had therefore to make another barren camp. Relief seemed
+so near at hand we kept good courage and talked freely of the happy
+ending which would soon come. If we had any way to set a good table we
+would feast and be merry like the prodigal son, but at any rate we shall
+be safe if we can reach the fertile shore.
+
+When the sun went down we tied the mule and oxen to cabbage trees, and
+shortly after dusk lay down ourselves, for we had enjoyed a good fire
+made of the trunks of cabbage trees, the first really comfortable one in
+a long time. The air was cooler here, for we were on higher ground, and
+there was some snow on the range of mountains before us, which sent
+these cool breezes down to us, a change of climate quite pleasing.
+
+For breakfast in the morning we had only dried meat roasted before the
+fire, without water, and when we started each one put a piece in his or
+her pocket to chew on during the day as we walked along. As we went
+ahead the ground grew dryer and the walking much improved. The morning
+overhead was perfectly lovely, as away east, across the desert the sun
+early showed his face to us. Not a cloud anywhere, not even over the
+tops of the high peaks where great white masses sometimes cluster but
+dissolve as soon as they float away, and there was not wind enough to be
+perceptible. We remarked the same lack of animal life which we had
+noticed on our first passage over this section, seeing not a rabbit,
+bird, or living thing we could use for food. Bennett had the same load
+in his gun he put there when we left the wagons, and all the powder I
+had burned was that used in killing the oxen we had slain whenever it
+became necessary to provide for our barren kitchen.
+
+As we approached the low foot-hills the trail became better travelled
+and better to walk in, for the Jayhawkers who had scattered, every one
+for himself apparently, in crossing the plain, seemed here to have drawn
+together and their path was quite a beaten one. We saw from this that
+they followed the tracks made by Rogers and myself as we made our first
+trip westward in search of bread. Quite a little before the sun went out
+of sight in the west we reached our camping place in the lower hills at
+the eastern slope of a range we must soon cross. Here was some standing
+water in several large holes, that proved enough for our oxen, and they
+found some large sage brush and small bushes round about, on which they
+browsed and among which they found a few bunches of grass. Lying about
+were some old skulls of cattle which had sometime been killed, or died.
+These were the first signs of the sort we had seen along this route.
+They might have been killed by Indians who doubtless used this trail.
+
+The next day in crossing the range before us, we reached the edge of the
+snow, which the sun had softened, and we dare not attempt to cross.
+Early in the morning, when it was frozen hard the cattle could travel it
+very well. The snow belt was five or six miles wide, and the snow two or
+three feet deep. This was a very good camping place except that we had
+to melt snow for all our water, but this being coarse and icy it was not
+a great job as we found enough dry juniper trees and twigs to make a
+very good fire. Here we also had to kill another ox. This one in its
+turn was Arcane's, and left him only two, and Bennett three, but we
+think that if we have no accident we shall get them along with us till
+we can get other food, as they have very light loads to pack. When the
+ox is killed and the meat prepared the mule has, for a time, a larger
+load than all the oxen have, but seems content and nips a bite of food
+whenever it can see a chance anywhere along the road, giving us no more
+trouble than a dog. And by the way, I think I have not mentioned our
+faithful camp dog, a worthy member of our party who stood watch always
+and gave us a sure alarm if anything unusual happened anywhere about. He
+was perhaps only one of a hundred that tried to cross the plains and had
+to be abandoned when they reached the upper Platte, where the alkali
+dust made their feet so sore they could not travel, and as they could
+not be hauled on wagons they were left behind. But this dog Cuff did not
+propose to be left behind to starve, and crippled along after us, we
+doing all we could for him, and proved as tough as the best of us.
+Bennett and I had trained him as a hunting dog in the East, and he was
+very knowing and handy in every particular.
+
+We were out of this camp at daylight. Very little rest for some of us,
+but we must make the best of the cool morning while the snow is hard,
+and so move on as soon as we can see the way. As it gets lighter and the
+sun comes up red and hot out of the desert we have a grand view of the
+great spread of the country to south and of the great snow mountain to
+the north and east, the peak standing over the place where we left our
+wagons nineteen days before, on the edge of Death Valley. The glare of
+the snow on the sun makes us nearly blind, but we hurry on to try to
+cross it before it becomes so soft as to slump under our feet. It is two
+or three feet in the deepest places, and probably has been three times
+as deep when freshly fallen, but it is now solid and icy. Our rawhide
+moccasins protect our feet from cold, and both we and the animals got
+along fairly well, the oxen breaking through occasionally as the snow
+softened up, but generally walking on the top as we did ourselves. The
+snow field reached much farther down the western slope than we had
+hoped, much farther than on the eastern side. Before we got out of it,
+we saw the track of some animal which had crossed our route, but as it
+had been made some days before and now could be seen only as some holes
+in the surface, we could not determine what sort of an animal it was.
+
+A mile or two down the hill we were at last out of the snow, and a
+little farther on we came to the little babbling brook Rogers and I had
+so long painted in the most refreshing colors to the tired women, with
+water, wood and grass on every hand, the three greatest blessings of a
+camper's life. Here was where Rogers and I had cooked and eaten our meat
+of crow, quail and hawk, pretty hard food, but then, the blessed water!
+
+There it danced and jumped over the rocks singing the merriest song one
+ever heard, as it said--Drink, drink ye thirsty ones your fill--the
+happiest sweetest music to the poor starved, thirsty souls, wasted down
+almost to haggard skeletons. O! if some poet of wildest imagination
+could only place himself in the position of those poor tired travelers
+to whom water in thick muddy pools had been a blessing, who had eagerly
+drank the fluid even when so salt and bitter us to be repulsive, and now
+to see the clear, pure liquid, distilled from the crystal snow,
+abundant, free, filled with life and health--and write it in words--the
+song of that joyous brook and set it to the music that it made as it
+echoed in gentle waves from the rocks and lofty walls, and with the
+gentle accompaniment of rustling trees--a soft singing hush, telling of
+rest, and peace, and happiness.
+
+New life seemed to come to the dear women. "O! What a beautiful stream!"
+say they, and they dip in a tin cup and drink, then watch in dreaming
+admiration the water as it goes hurrying down; then dip and drink again,
+and again watch the jolly rollicking brook as if it were the most
+entertaining thing in the whole wide earth. "Why can't such a stream as
+that run out of the great Snow Mountain in the dry Death Valley?" say
+they--"so we could get water on the way."
+
+The men have felt as glad as any of them, but have gathered wood and
+made a fire, and now a camp kettle of cut up meat is boiling for our
+supper. It was not yet night, but we must camp in so beautiful a place
+as this, and though the food was poor, we were better off than we had
+been before.
+
+Bennett proposed that I take the mule and go back to where we saw the
+track of the animal in the snow and follow it in hope that we might get
+some game for we had an idea it might be an elk or bear or some large
+game, good to kill and give us better meat: So I saddled the mule and
+took the trail back till I came to the track, then followed it as best I
+could, for it was very dull and gave me no idea what it was. I traced
+out of the snow and then in a blind way through bushes as high as the
+mule's back--Chaparral we called it now--among which I made my way with
+difficulty. I could now see that the track was made by an ox or
+cow--perhaps an elk--I could not tell for sure it was so faint. This
+chaparral covered a large piece of table land, and I made my way through
+it, following the track for a mile or two, till I came to the
+top of a steep hill sloping down into a deep cañon and a creek, on the
+bank of which grew sycamore and alder trees, with large willows. I
+stopped here some minutes to see if I could see or hear the movement of
+of anything. Across the creek I could see a small piece of perhaps half
+an acre of natural meadow, and in it some small bunches of sycamore
+trees. After a little I discovered some sort of a horned animal there,
+and I reckoned this was good enough game for me to try and capture, so
+led the mule out to one side and down the hill near the creek, then tied
+her, and crept along the bank, about four feet high, toward the little
+meadow. When about right, as I thought, I climbed up behind a bunch of
+sycamores, and when I slowly and cautiously raised up I was within fifty
+yards of a cow or steer of some sort which I could dimly see. I put a
+ball square in its forehead and it fell without a struggle. I loaded
+again quick as possible, and there saw two other smaller cattle stepping
+very high as though terrified, but not aware of the nature or location
+of the danger. I gave a low whistle and one of them looked toward me
+long enough for me to put a ball in it. The third one was now behind a
+clump of sycamores, and I soon saw its face through a little opening not
+more than three inches wide. I made a shot, and wounded it, and then
+rushed up and gave it a fatal one.
+
+I examined my game and found the first one was a poor old cow, but the
+others were yearlings, one of them very fat and nice, and I soon had the
+hind quarters skinned out, and all the fat I could find, which made a
+big load for the mule. It was now almost dark, and the next problem was
+to get back to camp again. The brushy hills would be terrible to cross
+with a load of meat, and by the way the ground lay I concluded our camp
+was on this same creek farther down.
+
+The only way that seemed at all feasible was to follow the course of the
+stream if possible, rather than return the course over which I had come.
+There were so many bushes and trees along the bank that I had to take to
+the bed and follow in the water, and as it was rocky and rough, and so
+dark I could not see well how to step, I stumbled into holes and pools
+up to my waist, wet as a rat. Coming to a small open place I decided I
+had better camp for the night and not attempt further progress in the
+darkness, and the decision was hastened by dark clouds, which began to
+gather and a few sprinkles of rain began to come. There was a good patch
+of grass for the mule, but all was uncomfortable for me, with the
+prospect for a rainy night, but as wood was plenty I decided to make a
+fire and take the chances. I looked for matches and scratched one. No
+go--they were damp, and scratch as careful and quickly as I could, there
+was no answering spark or flame, and darkness reigned supreme. A camp
+without a fire in this wet place was not to be thought of, so I
+concluded I might as well be slowly working my way down along the
+stream, through thick brush and cold water, as to sit here in the cold
+and wait.
+
+So the little mule and I started on, wading the creek in thick darkness,
+getting only the most dim reflected light from the sky through now and
+then an opening in the trees. I did not know then how easy it was for a
+grizzly to capture myself, the mule and meat and have quite a variety
+for supper. But the grizzly stayed at home and we followed on through
+brambles and hard brush, through which it was almost impossible to force
+one's way. As it turned out, I was not in the track of the storm and did
+not suffer much from it. Soon the cañon grew wider, and I could make out
+on the right hand a piece of table land covered with brush that seemed
+easier to get through than the creek bed.
+
+The hill up to the table land was very steep, but not more than fifty
+yards high, and when the mule tried to get up she got along very well
+till near the top, when she slipped in the wet earth and never stopped
+till she reached the bottom and lay down. She was helped up to her feet
+again and we tried it in another place, I holding her from slipping when
+she stopped to rest, and at last we reached the top. The mule started
+on, seeming to follow a trail, but I could not see whether there was a
+trail or not, so thick was the darkness, but there was evidently
+something of the kind, for the brush was two or three feet high and very
+thick.
+
+After proceeding some distance the mule stopped and did not seem to wish
+to go any farther. I was pretty sure there was something in front of her
+that blocked the way, and so worked my way through the brush and
+carefully past her. I could partly see and partly hear something just
+ahead, and in a moment found it was our good faithful Cuff, and no
+frightful spook at all. The good fellow had discovered our approach and
+came out to meet us, and I am sure the mule was as glad as I was to see
+him. He crawled through the brush and smelled at the mule's load and
+then went forward in the trail, which we followed. It was a long time
+after midnight when we reached camp. There was a good fire burning, but
+all were asleep till I led the mule up to the fire and called out--"Wake
+Up," when they were most of them on their feet in a minute without
+stopping to dress, for all had slept a long time without taking off
+their clothes.
+
+John took charge of the mule and unloaded it, telling me to get into his
+warm bed. I took off my wet clothes and told him to dry them, and then
+got between the dry, warm blankets in greatest comfort. Daylight came
+very quickly, it seemed to me, and before I finally rose, the sun had
+been up some hours before me. Before I fell asleep I could hear the
+women say, as they cut off the pieces of meat to roast--"See the fat!
+Only see how nice it is!" Quickly roasted on the coals they ate the
+delicate morsels with a relish and, most of all, praised the sweet fat.
+"We like to have it all fat," said they, showing how their system craved
+the nourishment the poor starved beef could not give. No one went to bed
+after I came, but all sat and roasted meat and ate till they were
+satisfied.
+
+This sporting trip was quite different from deer hunting in Wisconsin,
+and nothing like looking for game in Death Valley where nothing lived.
+It was the hardest night's work that ever came to me in many a day, and
+not the wild sport I generally looked for when on the chase. I felt
+pretty well when I got up, and a chunk of my last night's prize which
+had been toasted for me was eaten with a relish, for it was the best of
+meat and I, of course, had a first class appetite. I had to tell them my
+last hunting story, and was much praised as a lucky boy.
+
+We would not be compelled to kill any more of our poor oxen in order to
+live. So far we had killed six of them, and there were five left. Our
+present situation was much appreciated, compared with that of a few days
+ago when we were crawling slowly over the desert, hungry, sore-footed
+and dry, when to lie was far easier than to take steps forward. We felt
+like rejoicing at our deliverance and there was no mourning now for us.
+The surrounding hills and higher mountains seemed more beautiful to us.
+They were covered with green trees and brush, not a desert place in
+sight. The clear little singing brook ran merrily on its way, the
+happiest, brightest stream in all my memory. Wild birds came near us
+without fear, and seemed very friendly. All was calm, and the bright
+sunshine exactly warm enough so that no one could complain of heat or
+cold.
+
+When ready to move it was announced that I had lost my saddle blanket in
+my adventure, so they substituted another one and I took the back track
+to the place where the mule slipped down the bank, and there I found it.
+I soon overtook them again just as they were going to camp on Mrs.
+Bennett's account, as she had been suddenly taken sick with severe pain
+and vomiting, something as Rogers and I had been after eating our first
+California corn meal. The rich, fat meat was too strong for her weak
+stomach.
+
+Arcane all along had an idea that Rogers and I meant to surprise them by
+leading them to believe the house we had visited was quite a distance
+off, and then to so manage it that it should appear upon their sight
+suddenly. We assured them it would take two or more camps before we
+could get there, and if Mrs. Bennett did not soon recover, even more
+than that. Our camp here was under a great live oak, the ground deep
+covered with dry leaves, and near by a beautiful meadow where our cattle
+and mule ate, drank and rested, the oxen chewing their cud with such an
+air of comfort as had not come to them since leaving their far-off
+eastern pastures. They seemed as much pleased as any one. They would lie
+down and rest and eat at the same time in perfectly enjoyable laziness.
+
+Here we all rested and washed such clothes as we could do without long
+enough to dry, and washed our faces and hands over and over again to
+remove the dirt which had been burned and sweated in so completely as
+not to come off readily. We sat on the bank of the brook with our feet
+dangling in the water, a most refreshing bath, and they too began to
+look clean again. We often saw tracks of the grizzly bear about, but in
+our ignorance had no fear of them, for we did not know they were a
+dangerous animal. An owl came and hooted in the night, but that was the
+only challenge any wild beast or bird gave to our peaceful and restful
+camp. We were out of the dreadful sands and shadows of Death Valley, its
+exhausting phantoms, its salty columns, bitter lakes and wild, dreary
+sunken desolation. If the waves of the sea could flow in and cover its
+barren nakedness, as we now know they might if a few sandy barriers were
+swept away, it would be indeed, a blessing, for in it there is naught of
+good, comfort or satisfaction, but ever in the minds of those who braved
+its heat and sands, a thought of a horrid Charnel house, a corner of the
+earth so dreary that it requires an exercise of strongest faith to
+believe that the great Creator ever smiled upon it as a portion of his
+work and pronounced it "Very good." We had crossed the great North
+American Continent, from a land of plenty, over great barren hills and
+plains, to another mild and beautiful region, where, though still in
+winter months, we were basking in the warmth and luxuriance of early
+summer. We thought not of the gold we had come to win. We were dead
+almost, and now we lived. We were parched with thirst, and now the
+brightest of crystal streams invited us to stoop and drink. We were
+starved so that we had looked at each other with maniac thoughts, and
+now we placed in our mouth the very fat of the land. We had seen our
+cattle almost perishing; seen them grow gaunt and tottering; seen them
+slowly plod along with hanging heads and only the supremacy of human
+will over animal instinct had kept them from lying down never to rise
+again. Now they were in pastures of sweet grass, chewing the cud of
+content and satisfaction. Life which had been a burden grew sweet to us,
+and though it may be that our words of praise to Him, whose will was to
+deliver us out of the jaws of death, were not set nor formal, yet His
+all-seeing eye saw the truth in our hearts, and saw there the fullest
+expression of our gratitude and thankfulness. Who shall say the thanks
+that arose were less acceptable, because not given on bended knees
+before gilded altars?
+
+Though across the desert and evidently in the long promised land our
+troubles and trials were not through by any means, but evidently we were
+out of danger. Our lives seemed to be secure, and we were soon to meet
+with settlers who would no doubt extend to us the hand of human
+sympathy. Many long miles yet remained between us and the rivers in
+whose sands were hidden the tiny grains of gold we came to seek.
+
+The rest in the lovely camp had answered to cause Mrs. Bennett to feel
+quite well again by the next morning, and we made ready to proceed. We
+had the trail of the Jayhawkers to follow, so the vines, brambles and
+tangles which had perplexed Rogers and myself in our first passage were
+now somewhat broken down, and we could get along very well without
+further clearing of the road until the hills came down so close on both
+sides that there was no room except in the very bed of the stream. There
+was no other way, so we waded among after the oxen as best we could.
+Sometimes the women fell down, for a rawhide moccasin soaked soft in
+water was not a very comfortable or convenient shoe, however it might be
+adapted to hot, dry sands. The creek was shaded and the water quite
+cool. The trail, such as it was, crossed the creek often and generally
+was nothing else than the stream itself. The constant wading, and wet,
+cold clothing caused the women to give out soon and we selected the
+first dry suitable place which offered food for the oxen, as a place to
+camp.
+
+Wood was plenty and dry, so a good fire was soon burning, and the poor
+women, wet to the waist and even higher, were standing before it,
+turning round and round to get warm and dry. Someone remarked that they
+resembled geese hanging before the fire to roast, as they slowly
+revolved, and it was all owing to their fatigue that the suggester did
+not receive merited punishment then and there at their hands. As they
+got a little dry and comfortable they remarked that even an excess of
+water like this was better than the desert where there was none at all,
+and as to their looks, there were no society people about to point their
+fingers at them, and when they reached a settled country they hoped to
+have a chance to change their clothes, and get two dresses apiece, and
+that these would be long enough to hide their knees which these poor
+tatters quite failed to do. One remarked that she was sure she had been
+down in the brook a dozen times and that she did not consider cold water
+baths so frequently repeated were good for the health.
+
+Young Charley Arcane had been getting better for some days. No medicine
+had been given him, and it was no doubt the change of air and water that
+had begun to effect a cure. Arcane had a hard time of it to keep the
+brush from pulling George and Melissa off of Old Crump into the water.
+It was indeed one of the hardest day's work of the whole journey, but no
+one was low spirited, and all felt very well. The camping place was in a
+deep cañon, surrounded by thick brush, so that no wind came in to chill
+us. Everybody was cook and nobody was boss. Not a cent of money among
+us, nor any chance to use any if we had possessed it. We had nice,
+sweet, fat meat, cooked rare or well done as each one preferred, and no
+complaints about the waiters. The conditions were so favorable, compared
+with the terrible Death Valley and its surroundings that every one
+remarked about it, and no one felt in the least like finding fault with
+the little inconveniences we were forced to put up with. It might cure
+an inveterate fault-finder to take a course of training in the desert.
+
+The next day we did not wade half as much, and after a few hours of
+travel we suddenly emerged from the brush into a creek bottom which was
+much wider, with not a tree to obstruct our way. The soil was sandy and
+covered more or less with sage brush, and the stream which had been
+strong and deep enough to make us very wet now sank entirely out of
+sight in the sandy bottom. The hills were thinly timbered on the left
+side but quite brushy on the right, and we could see the track of cattle
+in the sand. No signs of other animals, but some small birds came near,
+and meadow larks whistled their tune, quite familiar to us, but still
+sounding slightly different from the song of the same bird in the East.
+High in the air could be seen a large sailing hawk or buzzard.
+
+We stopped to rest at noon and noticed that the water ran a little in
+the creek bed; but, by the time we were ready to start we found none
+with which to fill our canteens. No doubt this water was poured into the
+cañon somewhere near the place where we killed the three cattle, and we
+had got out of it before the flood came down. It was astonishing to see
+how the thirsty sand drank up the quite abundant flow.
+
+The next day we came down to the point of hill that nearly crossed the
+valley, and we crossed the low ridge rather than make a longer trip to
+get around by way of the valley. As we reached the summit there appeared
+before us as beautiful a rural picture as one ever looked upon. A large
+green meadow, of a thousand acres, more or less; its southwest side
+bounded by low mountains, at the base of which oak trees were plenty,
+but no brush or undergrowth. It was like a grand old park, such as we
+read of in English tales. All over the meadow cattle of all sorts and
+sizes grazed, the "Ring-streaked and speckled" of old Jacob's breed
+being very prominent. Some lazily cropped the grass; some still more
+lazily reclined and chewed their cud; while frisky calves exercised
+their muscles in swift races and then secured their dinner from anxious
+mothers. We camped at once and took the loads from all the animals that
+they might feed in comfort on the sweet grass that lay before them.
+
+We tarried here perhaps two hours, till the cattle stopped eating, and
+amply enjoyed the scene. Never again would any one of the party go back
+over that dreary desert, they said, and everyone wondered why all places
+could not be as green and beautiful as this one. I cannot half tell how
+we felt and acted, nor what we said in our delight over this picture of
+plenty. The strong contrasts created strong impressions, and the tongues
+so long silent in our dry and dreary trouble were loosened to say
+everything the heart inspired. Think as much as you can; you cannot
+think it all.
+
+We felt much better after our rest, and the oxen seemed stronger and
+better able, as well as more willing to carry their loads, so we soon
+prepared to move on down the valley, toward the house we had spoken of
+as the goal we were to reach. It was now the 7th day of March 1850, and
+this date, as well as the 4th day of November 1849 will always remain an
+important one in memory. On the last named day we left the trail to take
+the unfortunate cut-off, and for four long months we had wandered and
+struggled in terrible hardship. Every point of that terrible journey is
+indelibly fixed upon my memory and though seventy-three years of age on
+April 6th 1893 I can locate every camp, and if strong enough could
+follow that weary trail from Death Valley to Los Angeles with unerring
+accuracy. The brushy cañon we have just described is now occupied by the
+Southern Pacific Railroad, and the steep and narrow ridge pierced by a
+tunnel, through which the trains pass. The beautiful meadow we so much
+admired has now upon its border a railroad station, Newhall, and at the
+proper season some portion of it is covered with thousands of trays of
+golden apricots, grown in the luxuriant orchards just beyond the hills
+toward the coast, and here drying in the bright summer sun. The cattle
+in the parti-colored coats are gone, but one who knows the ground can
+see our picture.
+
+Loaded up again we start down the beautiful grassy valley, the women
+each with a staff in hand, and everything is new and strange to us.
+Rogers and I know that we will soon meet people who are strangers to us;
+who speak a strange language of which we know nothing, and how we,
+without a dollar, are to proceed to get our food and things we need, are
+questions we cannot answer nor devise any easy way to overcome. The
+mines are yet five hundred miles away, and we know not of any work for
+us to do nearer. Our lives have been given back to us, and now comes the
+problem of how to sustain them manfully and independently as soon as
+possible. If worse comes to worst we can walk to San Francisco, probably
+kill enough game on the way and possibly reach the gold mines at last,
+but the way was not clear. We must trust much to luck and fortune and
+the ever faithful Providence which rarely fails those who truly try to
+help themselves.
+
+We began to think some very independent thoughts. We had a mule to carry
+our camp kettle and meat. Our cattle were now beginning to improve and
+would soon get fat; these could carry our blankets and odd loads, while
+Old Crump the christian could still carry the children; Bennett and I
+knew how to hunt, and had good rifles; so we could still proceed, and we
+determined that, come what may, _we will be victorious_.
+
+These were some of the plans we talked over at our camps and resting
+places, and as we walked along. If we could get the two families fixed
+in some way so they could do without Rogers and I, we could strike for
+the mines quite rapidly and no doubt soon get ourselves on good footing.
+We were younger than the rest and could endure more hardship. We decide
+to remain together till we get to Los Angeles, and then see what is
+best.
+
+We reached our camping place at the foot of the hill, about a hundred
+yards from the house we have so long striven to reach. Here we unloaded
+in the shade of a large willow tree, and scarcely had we removed the
+harness from the oxen when the good lady of the house and her little
+child came down to see us. She stood for a moment and looked around her
+and at the two small children on the blankets, and we could hear her
+murmur _mucha pobre_ (very poor.) She could see our ragged clothes and
+dirty faces and everything told her of our extreme destitution. After
+seeing our oxen and mule which were so poor she said to herself "_flaco,
+flaco_" (so thin.) She then turned to us, Rogers and I, whom she had
+seen before, and as her lively little youngster clung to her dress, as
+if in fear of such queer looking people as we were, she took an orange
+from her pocket and pointing to the children of our party, wanted to
+know if we had given them the four oranges she sent to them by us. We
+made signs that we had done as she requested, when she smiled and said
+"_Buenos Muchachos_" (good boys.) In all this talk neither could say a
+word the other could understand, and the conversation was carried on by
+signs.
+
+Arcane said to her--"Me Catholic" which she seemed partly to comprehend
+and seemed more friendly. About this time two men rode up and took a
+look at us. Arcane, who was a mason, gave the masonic sign, as he told
+me afterward, but neither of them recognized it. We used such words of
+Spanish as I had taken down in my pass book and committed to memory and
+by motions in addition to these made them understand something of the
+state of affairs and that Mr. French who had assisted us before had told
+us we could get some meat (_carne_) from them. These men were finely
+mounted, wore long leggins made of hide, dressed with the hair on, which
+reached to their hips, stiff hats with a broad rim, and great spurs at
+their heels. Each had a coil of braided rawhide rope on the pommel of
+the saddle, and all these arrangements together made a very dashing
+outfit.
+
+They seemed to understand what we had said to them, for they rode off
+with a rush and came back in a short time, leading a fine, fat
+two-year-old heifer. When near our camp the rider who was behind threw
+his _riata_ and caught both hind feet of the animal when by a sudden
+movement of the horses the heifer was thrown. One of them dismounted,
+and at the command the horse backed up and kept the rope tight while the
+man went up to the prostrate beast and cut its throat. As soon as it had
+ceased struggling, they loosened their ropes and coiled them up: they
+came to us and pointed to the dead heifer in a way which said--"Help
+yourselves."
+
+We were much gratified at the generosity of the people, and at once
+dressed the animal as it lay, cutting off some good fat pieces which we
+roasted over the fire and ate with a relish. It seemed as if meat never
+tasted so good as that did sweet, fragrant, and juicy. If some French
+cook could only cook a steak that would smell and taste to his customers
+as that meal tasted to us, his art would be perfect. We separated a hind
+quarter and hung it to a tree, and when the lady came back we told her
+that the piece we had selected was enough for our present use, so she
+caused the remainder with the hide to be taken to the house. Toward
+night they drove up a lot of cows and calves and other cattle into their
+cattle yard or corral, as it is called all over California, a stockade
+of strong oak posts set deep in the ground and close together, enclosing
+a space of about half an acre. The horsemen now rode in and began to
+catch the calves with their ropes. It seemed as if they were able to
+throw a rope over a calf's head or around either leg they desired, with
+better aim, and at as great a distance as one could shoot a Colt's
+revolver, and we saw at once that a good raw-hide rope, in the hands of
+an experienced man and well-trained horse, was a weapon in many respects
+superior to firearms of any kind. A man near the gate loosened the ropes
+and pushed the calves into a separate corral till they had as many as
+they desired.
+
+Rogers watched the circus till it was over and then returned to camp,
+meeting on the way Bennett and Arcane, with their wives and children,
+carrying some blankets, for the good lady had invited them to come up to
+the house and sleep. They said we could go down and keep camp if old dog
+Cuff was willing, for they had left him guarding the property. He was
+pleased enough to have us come and keep him company, and we slept
+nicely, disturbed only a little by the barking of the house dogs and the
+hooting of an owl that came to visit our tree.
+
+The people came back to camp in the morning and had their experience to
+relate. Their hosts first baked some kind of flapjacks and divided them
+among their guests; then gave them beans seasoned hot with pepper: also
+great pieces of squash cooked before the fire, which they said was
+delicious and sweet--more than good. Then came a dish of dried meat
+pounded fine, mixed with green peppers and well fried in beef tallow.
+This seemed to be the favorite dish of the proprietors, but was a little
+too hot for our people. They called it _chili cum carne_--meat with
+pepper--and we soon found this to be one of the best dishes cooked by
+the Californians. The children were carefully waited on and given
+special attention to by these good people, and it was nearly ten o'clock
+before the feast was over: then the household had evening worship by
+meeting in silence, except a few set words repeated by some in turn, the
+ceremony lasting half an hour or more. Then they came and wished them
+_buenos noches_ in the most polite manner and left them to arrange their
+blankets on the floor and go to sleep.
+
+The unaccustomed shelter of a roof and the restless worrying of the
+children, who required much attention, for the change of diet had about
+the same effect on them as on Rogers and myself when we first partook of
+the California food, gave them little sleep, but still they rested and
+were truly grateful for the most perfect hospitality of these kind
+hearted people.
+
+In the morning the two horsemen and two Indians went to the corral, when
+the riders would catch a cow with their ropes and draw her head up to a
+post, binding it fast, while an Indian took a short piece of rope and
+closely tied the hind legs together above the gambrel joint, making the
+tail fast also. They had a large bucket and several gourds. The Indians
+then milked the cows they had made fast, getting from a pint to two
+quarts from each one, milking into a gourd and pouring into the bucket
+till they had all they desired. The calves were separated the night
+before so they could secure some milk. Cows were not trained to stand
+and be milked as they were at home. Setting down the bucket of milk
+before us, with some small gourds for dippers, we were invited to drink
+all we wished. This was a regular banquet to us, for our famished
+condition and good appetites made food relish wonderfully.
+
+When we made a sign of wishing to pay them for their great kindness they
+shook their heads and utterly refused. It was genuine sympathy and
+hospitality on their part, and none of us ever forgot it; the sight of a
+native Californian has always brought out thoughts of these good people,
+and respect and thankfulness to the race. This rancho, at which we were
+so kindly entertained was called San Francisquito, or Little San
+Francisco Rancho.
+
+This morning Mr. Arcane, with our assistance, made an arrangement with
+these people to give them his two oxen; and they were to take him and
+his wife and child, to the sea-shore, at a place called San Pedro, from
+which place he hoped, in some way, to get passage to San Francisco in a
+sailing vessel. He had no money, and no property to sell, except perhaps
+his spy-glass, worth about ten dollars. With this poor prospect before
+him he started for the sea. He bade Bennett's folks good-bye, then came
+to me and put a light gold ring on my finger, saying that it and his
+interest in the little mule were mine. Then he gave his silver watch to
+Rogers and said it was all he had to give him, but if he had a million
+dollars, he would divide, and still think it a small compensation for
+the faithful services we had rendered him. "I can never repay you," said
+he, "for I owe you a debt that is beyond compensation. You have saved
+our lives, and have done it when you knew you could get nothing for it.
+I hope we will meet again, and when we do you will be welcome. If you
+hear of me anywhere, come and see me, for I want to tell my friends who
+Manly and Rogers are, and how you helped us. Good Bye!" There were tears
+in his eyes, voice full of emotion, and the firm clasp of his hand told
+how earnest he was, and that he felt more than he could speak.
+
+He helped Mrs. Arcane on her horse, then gave Charlie to her, and, amid
+waving hands and many _adios_ from our new-found friends, with repeated
+"good byes" from the old ones, they rode away. Mrs. Arcane could hardly
+speak when she bade us farewell, she was so much affected. They had
+about sixty miles to ride to reach the sea, and as she rode on a man's
+saddle, and was unused to riding, I knew she would be sadly wearied
+before she reached the coast.
+
+Our little train now seemed much smaller. Three oxen and a mule were all
+our animals, and the adults must still walk, as they had done on our
+desert route. But we were comparatively happy, for we had plenty of good
+meat to eat, plenty of sweet water to drink, and our animals were
+contented and improving every day; grass and water seemed plenty
+everywhere. We put our luggage on the oxen and the mule, loaded the
+children on Old Crump as we had done before, and were ready to move
+again. Our good friends stood around and smiled good-naturedly at our
+queer arrangements, and we, not knowing how to say what our hearts would
+prompt us to, shook their hands and said good bye in answer to their
+"_adios amigos_" as we moved away, waving hands to each other.
+
+The men then detained me a little while to ask me more about the road we
+had come over, how far it was, and how bad the Indians were, and other
+particulars. I told him by signs that we had been twenty-two days on the
+road, and that the _Indianos_, as they called them, had not troubled us,
+but that there was very little grass or water in all that land. He made
+a sort of map on the ground and made me understand he would like to go
+back and try to bring out the wagons we had left behind, and he wanted
+me to go back with him and help him. I explained to him by the map he
+had made, and one which I made myself, that I considered it impossible
+to bring them over. He seemed much disappointed, and with a shrug of his
+shoulders said "_mucho malo_" (very bad) and seemed to abandon the idea
+of getting a Yankee wagon. They very much admired an American wagon, for
+their own vehicles were rude affairs, as I shall bye-and-bye describe.
+We bade each other many _adios_, and I went on my way, soon catching up
+with the little party. We had been informed that it was ten leagues, or
+thirty miles to Los Angeles, whither we were now headed.
+
+We had now been a whole year on the road between Wisconsin and
+California, much of the time with the ground for a bed, and though our
+meals had been sometimes scanty and long between, very few of us had
+missed one on account of sickness. Some, less strong than we, had lain
+down to perish, and had been left behind, without coffin or grave; but
+we were here, and so far had found food to nourish us in some degree
+with prospects now of game in the future if nothing better offered. We
+still talked of going to the gold mines on foot, for with good food and
+rest our courage had returned, and we wanted to succeed.
+
+Our camp this night was in a nice watering place, where dry oak wood was
+plenty and grass abundant. It was at the foot of the San Fernando
+Mountain, not rocky, as we had found our road some time before, but
+smooth and covered with grass. It was rather steep to climb, but an
+infant compared with the great mountains so rough and barren, we had
+climbed on our way from Death Valley. Our present condition and state of
+mind was an anomalous one. We were happy, encouraged, grateful and quite
+contented in the plenty which surrounded us, and still there was a sort
+of puzzling uncertainty as to our future, the way to which seemed very
+obscure. In the past we had pushed on our very best and a kind
+Providence had kept us. This we did now, but still revolved the best
+plans and the most fortunate possibilities in our minds. We talked of
+the time when we should be able to show hospitality to our friends, and
+to strangers who might need our open hand as we had needed the favors
+which strangers had shown us in the last few days.
+
+We ate our supper of good meat, with a dessert of good beans our kind
+friends had given us, and enjoyed it greatly. As we sat in silence a
+flock of the prettiest, most graceful birds came marching along, and
+halted as if to get a better view of our party. We admired them so much
+that we made not a move, but waited, and they fearlessly walked on
+again. We could see that there were two which were larger than the rest,
+and from twelve to twenty smaller ones. The little top-knot on the head
+and their symmetrical forms made them specially attractive, and Mrs.
+Bennett and the children were much pleased. The beauty of the California
+quail is especially striking to one who sees them for the first time.
+
+In the morning we began to climb the hill, getting along very well
+indeed, for our raw-hide moccasins were now dry and hard and fitted the
+foot perfectly. We did not try to make great speed, but kept steadily
+on, and as we were used to climbing, we reached the summit easily. From
+this elevation we could get a fine view of the big grassy plain that
+seemed to extend as far as the eye could reach and, not far from us, the
+buildings and gardens of the San Fernando Mission. If we could shut out
+the mountains the landscape would remind us of a great Western prairie.
+We never could get over comparing this country with the desolate Death
+Valley, for it seemed as if such strange and striking opposites could
+hardly exist.
+
+We rested here a little while and then wound our way down the hill to
+the level land. A few miles brought us to the mission houses and the
+church of San Fernando. There was not much life about them, in fact they
+seemed comparatively deserted, for we saw only one man and a few
+Indians. The man brought some oranges and gave the children one each.
+After a little rest we moved on over our road which was now quite smooth
+and gently descending. Night overtook us in a place where there was no
+water, but we camped and suffered no inconvenience. A stream was passed
+next day, and a house near by unoccupied. The road now began to enter
+gently rolling hills covered with big grass and clover, which indicated
+rich soil, and we never get tired of talking about it.
+
+At the top of these hills we had another beautiful view as far south and
+west as the eye could reach. Small objects, probably horses and cattle,
+were scattered about the plain, grazing in the midst of plenty. Our own
+animals were given frequent opportunities to eat, and again and again we
+rejoiced over the beauty. Of course it was not such a surprise and
+wonder as it was when such a view first burst upon our sight, but it
+pleased and delighted us ever. On the east was a snow-capped peak, and
+here we were in the midst of green fields of grass and wild flowers, in
+the softest climate of an early spring. These strong contrasts beat
+anything we had ever seen. Perhaps the contrast between the great snow
+mountain and the hot Death Valley was greater in point of temperature,
+but there the heat brought only barrenness, and of the two the snow
+seemed the more cheerful. Here the vegetation of all sorts was in full
+balance with the balmy air, and in comparison the snow seemed a strange
+neighbor. It was quite a contrast to our cold, windy March in Wisconsin,
+and we wonder if it is always summer here. We were satisfied that even
+if we could get no further we could live in such a land as this. The
+broad prairie doubtless belonged to the United States, and we could have
+our share and own a little piece of it on very easy terms, and raise our
+own cattle and corn. If the people were all as kind as those we had met
+we were sure at least of neighborly treatment. I have endeavored to
+write this just as it seemed to us then and not clothe the impressions
+with the cover of later experience. The impressions we then daily
+received and the sights we saw were stranger than the wildest fiction,
+and if it so strikes you, my friendly reader, do not wonder.
+
+As we came over the hills we could see a village near the southern base
+and it seemed quite near us. It was a new and strange sight to us as we
+approached. The houses were only one story high and seemed built of mud
+of a gray color, the roofs flat, and the streets almost deserted.
+Occasionally a man could be seen, sometimes a dog, and now and then an
+Indian, sitting with his back to the house. The whole view indicated a
+thinly populated place, and the entire absence of wagons or animals was
+a rather strange circumstance to us. It occurred to us at first that if
+all the emigrants were gone our reception might be a cool one in this
+city of mud. One thing was in its favor and that was its buildings were
+about fire proof for they had earthen floors and flat roofs.
+
+We rested half an hour or so just outside, and then ventured down the
+hill into the street. We met an American almost the first man, and when
+we asked about a suitable camping place, he pointed out the way and we
+marched on. Our strange appearance attracted the attention of the
+children and they kept coming out of the houses to see the curious
+little train with Old Crump carrying the children and our poor selves
+following along, dirty and ragged. Mrs. Bennett's dress hardly reached
+below her knees, and although her skirts were fringed about the bottom
+it was of a kind that had not been adopted as yet in general circle of
+either Spanish-American or good United States society. The shortness of
+the dress made the curious raw-hide moccasins only the more prominent,
+and the whole make-up of the party was a curious sight.
+
+We went down the hill a little further to the lower bottom to camp,
+while the barefooted, bareheaded urchins followed after to get a further
+look at the strangers. Before we selected a suitable place, we saw two
+tents and some wagons which looked like those of overland travelers, and
+we went toward them. When within fifty yards two men suddenly came to
+their feet and looked at our little party approaching as if in wonder,
+but at twenty steps they recognized Bennett and came rushing forward.
+"My God! It's Bennett" said they, and they clasped hands in silence
+while one greeted Mrs. Bennett warmly. The meeting was so unexpected
+they shed tears and quietly led the way back to camp. This was the camp
+of R.G. Moody and H.C. Skinner, with their families. They had traveled
+together on the Platte and became well acquainted, the warmest of
+friends, and knowing that Bennett had taken the cut off, they more than
+suspected he and his party had been lost, as no sight of them had come
+to their eyes. They had been waiting here six weeks in order to get some
+reliable news, and now Mr. Bennet answered for himself. Rogers and I,
+belonging to another party, were of course strangers.
+
+Leaving them to compare notes, Rogers and I took charge of Old Crump,
+the oxen, and the mule, unpacked them, and arranged camp under a
+monstrous willow tree. Bennett and his wife were taken into Mr. Moody's
+tent, and an hour or so later when Mrs. Bennett appeared again, she had
+her face washed clean, her hair combed, and a new clean dress. It was
+the first time we had found soap, and the improvement in her looks and
+feelings was surprising. Bennett looked considerably cleaned up too, and
+appeared bright and fresh. The children had also been taken in hand and
+appeared in new clothes selected from the wardrobe of the other
+children, and the old dirty clothes were put in process of washing as
+soon as possible.
+
+Supper came, and it was so inviting. There was real bread and it looked
+so nice we smiled when it was offered to us. Mrs. Bennett broke pieces
+for the children and cautioned them not to eat too much. It did seem so
+good to be among friends we could talk with and be understood. After
+supper was over and the things cleared away we all sat down in a circle
+and Bennett told the story of where he had been these many days on the
+cut off that was to shorten the trail. Mr. Moody said he had about given
+the party up and intended to start up the coast to-morrow. The story was
+so long that they talked till they were sleepy and then began again
+after breakfast, keeping it up till they had a good outline of all our
+travels and tribulations. This Mr. R.G. Moody, his wife and daughter,
+Mrs. Quinby, and son Charles, all lived in San Jose and are now dead.
+H.C. Skinner was a brother-in-law of Moody and also lived a long time in
+San Jose, but himself, son and one daughter, are now dead.
+
+Rogers and I now took the pack-saddle we had borrowed of Mr. French to
+use on our trip to Death Valley and return, and carried it to the saloon
+on the east side of the plaza, where we were to place it if we got back
+safely, and delivered it to the man in charge, with many thanks to Mr.
+French for his favors to us, and sent him word that we would always
+remember him and be ready to do him a similar or equal favor if ever we
+were able. We considered him a good benevolent man, and such he proved
+to be when he offered us fat oxen, good beans, and any other thing we
+needed. He told the people in the house who we were, which no doubt
+influenced them kindly in our favor when we arrived.
+
+At the saloon there was a large room with tables in it and gambling
+going on actively. Money changed hands very rapidly, drinks at the bar
+were frequent, and the whole affair moved forward with the same
+regularity as any mercantile business. The door stood wide open and any
+one could come and go at his pleasure. Quite a number of black-eyed,
+fair looking women circulated among the crowd, and this, to us, seemed
+quite out of place, for we had never seen women in saloons before. We
+watched the game awhile to see some losing and some gaining, the result
+being quite exciting; but as neither of us had any money, we could not
+have joined in the game had we been so disposed; so we looked on awhile
+and then took a seat on the ground outside of the house.
+
+Here we talked over our chances of getting to the mines. All the clothes
+we had were on our backs and feet and those were the poorest of the
+poor. We had no money. I had the little black-eyed mule, and Rogers had
+the watch Arcane had given him. Mr. Moody had said it was 500 miles to
+San Francisco, and 150 miles further to the mines, so that after the
+hard travel of a year we were still a long way off from the place we
+started for.
+
+We could not see any way to make a living here. There was no land
+cultivated, not a fence, nothing to require labor of any kind. The
+valley was rich enough and produced great crops of grass, and the cattle
+and horses we had seen grazing seemed to be about all the use they put
+it to. It looked as if the people must live principally on meat. I
+thought if we could manage to get a little provision together, such as
+flour and beans, that I could pack there on the mule, and I was pretty
+sure I could find game that would be better meat than we had lived on
+during the last two months on the desert.
+
+We looked around to see if we could find something to do to earn a
+little for a start, but were not successful. In our walk about this city
+of mud we saw many things that seemed strange to us. There were more
+women than men, and more children than grown-up people, while the dogs
+were plenty. At the edge of the town, near the river were some grape
+vines fenced in with living willows, interlaced in some places with dry
+vines. The Indians moved very moderately around and no doubt had plenty
+of beef to eat, with very few wants to provide for. We noticed some few
+people paying for small things at the stores with small money. The women
+all dressed much alike. The dress was of some cheap material, sandals on
+feet, and a kind of long shawl worn over the head and thrown over the
+shoulder. There seemed to be neither hoops nor corsets in their
+fashions. The men wore trousers of white cotton or linen, with a calico
+shirt, sandals, and a broad rimmed snuff colored hat. The Indians and
+their wives went bareheaded.
+
+Near the end of the street we came to a boarding house and went in and
+sat down in the empty room. Soon a man came in, better dressed than
+ourselves, and much to our surprise it was one of the old Death Valley
+travelers, the Rev. J.W. Brier whom I last saw in his lone camp in the
+desert, discoursing to his young sons on the benefits of an early
+education. I know the situation struck me very strangely, with death
+staring them in the face and he preaching!
+
+We had a long talk about the hard journey we had each experienced. As
+his party had not waited they had come through ahead of us. He said
+himself and Mr. Granger had started a boarding house when they arrived,
+and had been doing a good business. He said that as long as the
+emigrants continued to come he could get along very well. We asked him
+if there was any chance for us to work and get money to get some
+provisions to help us on the way to the mines. He said he could give
+work to one of us hauling water for the house with oxen and cart, and
+the one who could manage oxen was the man. I was an ox driver and so
+told him I would take his team and cart and set out with the work. He
+said he could pay fifty dollars a month, and I accepted the offer
+quickly as I saw it was a good chance to build up my exhausted strength
+and flesh.
+
+I turned the little mule out in the hills near by, and began my work. It
+was not hard, for the boarders were thinning out. The natives did not
+patronize this hotel very much, but grub disappeared pretty fast at my
+corner of the table, for my appetite began to be ravenous. There was not
+much variety to the food and very few luxuries or delicacies, which were
+hard to obtain on such a bare market, but all seemed satisfied with the
+food, and to me it tasted extra good.
+
+Rogers went back to the old camp and helped them there, and I often went
+over after dark, when my work was done. Moody and Skinner had been
+active in trying to get Mr. Bennett ready to go up the coast with them.
+Bennett had sold his repeating rifle and with the proceeds and the help
+of his friends had got another ox, making two yoke for him. They fixed
+up a wagon for him, and yokes enough could be found where people had
+traded off their oxen for horses. Provisions enough had been gathered by
+Moody and Skinner for them all, and Rogers would go along with the party
+to help them with the teams.
+
+I was left alone after they started, and it was my idea to quit when I
+had worked a month, and if my mule staid with me, to start for the mines
+even if I went alone. The majority of the male inhabitants of this town
+had gone to the mines, and this accounted for the unusual proportion of
+women. We learned that they would return in November, and then the
+gambling houses would start up in full blast, for these native
+Californians seemed to have a great natural desire to indulge in games
+of chance, and while playing their favorite game of monte would lay down
+their last reale (12-1/2 cents) in the hope of winning the money in
+sight before them on the table.
+
+As the boarding house business got dull I was taken over to a vineyard
+and set to work, in place of hauling water. The entire patch was as
+green as a meadow with weeds, and I was expected to clean them out. I
+inquired of Brier how he came to get hold of this nice property, and he
+said that during the war the soldiers had taken possession of this piece
+of ground, and had their camp here, so he considered it was government
+land, and therefore had squatted on it and was going to hold it, and pay
+for it as regular government land, and that he already considered it his
+own, for said he, "I am an American, and this is a part of the public
+domain." "All right," said I, "I will kill weeds for you, if you wish,
+when I have time to spare, and you don't want the oxen worked at any
+other work ".
+
+I could see every day that I was improving in health and weight and
+would soon become myself again, able to take the road to the mines. When
+about two weeks of my time had expired two oldish men came to the house
+to stop for a few days and reported themselves as from Sacramento,
+buying up some horses for that market. Thus far they had purchased only
+six or eight, as they had found the price too high to buy and then drive
+so far to a market to sell again. They had about decided to go back with
+what they had and undertake some other kind of business. I thought this
+would be a pretty good chance for me to go, as I would have company, and
+so went to Brier and Granger and told them what I would like to do, and
+that with their permission I would quit and go on with them. They
+readily consented, for their money was coming in rather slow, and they
+paid me twenty five dollars for half a month's work. This made me feel
+pretty rich and I thought this would give me food enough to reach the
+mines.
+
+Having two or three days to get ready in, I began doing the best I
+could. I found an old saddle tree which had been thrown away, and
+managed to fix it up so I could use it. I also found an old gun some
+traveler had left, and with a little work I fitted the breech of that to
+my own gun which was broken, and had been roughly tied together with
+strips of raw-hide. I now had a good sound gun if it was not very
+handsome. I bought a Spanish blanket, not so wide as ours, but coarse
+and strong, and having a hole in the center through which to put the
+head and wear it as a garment in case of storm, or at night. I went to a
+native store and bought a supply of carné seca (dried beef) and some
+crackers, put some salt in my pocket and was now provisioned for another
+trip. I found my mule in the hills back of town, not far from where I
+left her, and the rest and good feed had made her look better and feel
+better, as well as myself.
+
+The drovers had found two other men who wanted to go with them and help
+drive the horses for their board. I put my blanket on under the saddle,
+packed my little sack of meat and crackers on behind, and when I was in
+the saddle with my gun before me I considered I was pretty well fixed
+and able to make my way against almost anything. I said to myself that
+the only way now to keep me from getting to the gold mines was to kill
+me. I felt that there was not a mountain so high I could not climb, and
+no desert so wide and dry that I could not cross it. I had walked and
+starved and choked and lived through it, and now I felt so strong and
+brave I could do it again--any way to reach the gold mines and get some
+of the "dust."
+
+I had not much idea how the gold from the mines looked. Everybody called
+it gold dust, and that conveyed an idea to me that it was fine as flour,
+but how to catch it I did not know. I knew other people found a way to
+get it, and I knew I could learn if any body could. It was a great
+longing that came to me to see some of the yellow dust in its native
+state, before it had been through the mint.
+
+At the last meal I took at the house there were only a few at the table.
+Among them was a well dressed Californian who evidently did not greatly
+fancy American cooking, but got along very well till Mrs. Brier brought
+around the dessert, a sort of duff. This the Californian tasted a few
+times and then laid down his spoon saying it was no bueno, and some
+other words I did not then understand, but afterward learned that they
+meant "too much grease." The fellow left the table not well pleased with
+what we generally consider the best end of a Yankee dinner, the last
+plate.
+
+While here I had slept in a small store room, where I made my pallet out
+of old rags and blankets. While I was looking round for material to make
+my bed I came across a bag partly full of sugar, brought from Chili. It
+was in very coarse crystals, some as large as corn. There were some
+other treasures end luxuries there that perhaps I was expected guard. I
+however had a sweet tooth and a handful or so of the sweet crystals
+found their way into my pocket.
+
+I bade Mr. Brier and the rest good bye and rode away to join my company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Leaving the little party whose wanderings we have followed so closely,
+safely arrived in Los Angeles, their further history in California will
+be taken up later on, and this narrative will go back to points when the
+original party was broken up and trace the little bands in their varied
+experience. It will be remembered that the author and his friends, after
+a perilous voyage down Green River, halted at the camp of the Indian
+chief, Walker, and there separated, the Author and four companions
+striking for Salt Lake, while McMahon and Field remained behind, fully
+determined to go on down the river.
+
+The story of these two men is told by McMahon in the following
+interesting letter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dear Manley:--
+
+Yours requesting me to give you a synopsis of the history of incidents,
+experience, and observations of our mutual friend, Richard Field and
+myself, from the time you, John Rogers, Alfred Walton, and the Hazelrig
+brothers left us at the camp of the generous old chief Walker on the
+west bank of the river near the mouth of the "great seven days cañon" is
+at hand.
+
+You no doubt distinctly, and with pleasure, remember that unbroken
+friendship which existed among us up to the time of our separation and
+that we parted warm and tried friends.
+
+Well, after you and your companions had left us we set to work to
+prepare the canvas for the continuation of the voyage down the river. We
+drilled holes through the sides of the "Pilot"--you, I have no doubt
+remember which that was, yours and mine, in which we took so many
+fearful risks, and "No. 2," so that we might in case of necessity lash
+the two together. After a day or two Field lost courage and finally
+determined to go no further down the river. Walker in the meantime had
+repeated his friendly warnings appertaining to the great danger in going
+further down the river. You will remember what he had told us about it
+before you left us.
+
+You know that I was the biggest coward of the whole seven; but I assumed
+courage and told Field that I would go down the river alone; and, for a
+time, I thought I would do so; but after some reflection I concluded
+that, perhaps, discretion was the better part of valor, and reluctantly
+gave it up. We now decided to follow you, or to take some other unknown
+route and try to make our escape out of this most perilous condition.
+
+We then set about, as you had done, to trade with Walker for a pony or
+two, and after much dickering Field succeeded in getting the, afterwards
+famous, big, old, sore-backed mule. You may not remember him, but I do;
+and, notwithstanding his sore back, he made pretty good beef. I, with
+pins, needles, thread, a pocket-knife, a handkerchief, etc., succeeded
+in getting a very nice, round, three-year-old, iron-gray pony.
+
+After making pack-saddles, and getting almost ready to start, we were,
+through Walker's kindness and persuasiveness, overcome, and consented to
+go with him, feeling confident that we would not starve to death while
+with him. We did not now have Manley with his long experience, and his
+old rusty, but always trusty, rifle as a sure defence against possible
+hunger and starvation.
+
+The old chief, and, in fact, the whole tribe, seemed pleased when we
+consented to go with them. Preparations were now made, and all except
+the horses and four head of cattle, was conveyed across the river in the
+two canoes which were lashed together, while the horses and cattle were
+forced to swim to the other side where we camped for the night. Next
+morning the clever old chief had two good horses fitted up in good style
+for Field and I, which we rode all of the nine days that we remained
+with the band, while our own run with the herd. Our baggage was carried
+on some of the chief's pack-horses. We were, in fact, his honored
+guests, as will hereafter appear.
+
+All were soon mounted and off to the buffalo fields, Walker having
+informed us that he intended going up into the buffalo country on the
+head-waters of Grand River where he would remain until snow fell, when
+he would go to Salt Lake City, or vicinity.
+
+Leaving the river, we set out across a not entirely barren plain, for
+there was much sage-brush, and several varieties of cactus. Towards
+evening we came close up to the foot of a range of rugged, rocky
+mountains, where we found water and camped for the night. Field and I
+usually pitched our little muslin tent somewhere near our friends where
+we could sleep without fear of man or beast, for I think some one of the
+reds was always on guard.
+
+All went well for four or five days, when we all got entirely out of
+food except a few ounces of flour which we had hidden away for a
+possible emergency. During the following two days and nights all were
+entirely without food except the two little children, whom you no doubt
+remember. We gave their mother a little flour now and then which she
+mixed with a little milk which one of the cows afforded, for the little
+ones. These Indians did not seem to suffer for want of food; even when
+we were starving, they appeared happy and contented; and one young
+fellow would sing all day long while we were starving. Daring the second
+day of starvation and hard traveling over hot and barren deserts, the
+Indians killed a wild-cat and two small rabbits. We got nothing. You
+will remember that all the arms of the seven men were lost in the river
+when the canoes were sunk, except your rifle and my double barreled
+shot-gun and revolver, so that Field and I had only the one gun, and
+neither of us knew anything about hunting. When we camped, one of the
+boys brought over to our tent a quarter of the cat, which was more than
+a fair share of the whole supply, as twenty-two of them had only the two
+little rabbits and three quarters of the unfortunate cat. We boiled and
+boiled and boiled that cat's hind leg, but never got it done. We waited
+as long as we possibly could, gave up in despair and put a little flour
+into the broth to thicken it, and drank it. It was not good, but much
+better the meat of the cat. That cat and the rabbits were all the
+twenty-four of us had to eat, after fasting two days, until late in the
+evening of the next day.
+
+My people were religious, and when I was young the family was wont to
+observe fast days, but never did we have any such long fasts as these
+were. In the afternoon of the next day the old chief left the caravan
+and went on ahead of the train toward a chain of mountains, first giving
+some directions to the band, and taking one son with him. When we
+arrived in a small cañon in the edge of the mountains we found them with
+a fine mountain sheep which they had killed and brought down to the dim,
+little-used trail where we camped; and after we had set up our little
+tent as usual, a short distance away from our friends, one of the young
+men brought to us about one fourth of the sheep, while the twenty-two
+Indians had the rest.
+
+You know that a good-sized mountain sheep would make a fair supper for
+twenty-four people, even though they had been starving three or four
+days; but this was a small one, and I think Field and I ate about half
+of the quarter. The twenty-two Indians soon devoured the three-fourths
+and all of the soft viscera, including the stomach and intestines, after
+which some of the boys came to our tent while we were stuffing our, what
+had been for several days empty, stomachs. We offered them part of our
+bounteous supply of mutton, having much more than we could eat; but no,
+they would not touch it until we were filled full, when they accepted
+what was left, and soon stowed it away. All were now pretty well filled
+up once more.
+
+The next day was spent without food, traveling over rough mountains.
+Within a pass, late in the afternoon, we crossed the fresh trail of some
+other band of roving red-skins, and Walker suspected who they were, and
+went into camp early. The Indians had killed nothing that day, but I had
+killed a small rabbit which, unfortunately for it, came in my way during
+the day. This we offered to the women for themselves and the little
+children; but they positively refused to accept it, insisting that they
+did not want it or need it, and that the small supply of milk from the
+cow was quite sufficient for the little ones, and the others spurned the
+offer to divide so little a thing, so we had it all to ourselves.
+
+It appeared that these people were accustomed to go for long periods
+without food, and with little apparent inconvenience; but Field and I
+began to feel as I suppose Dr. Tanner felt after a few days' fasting,
+and began to wish that the old chief would get hungry and kill one of
+his large, fat steers, but he still held them in reserve.
+
+Early the next morning, now nine days from the time we had left the
+river, the old chief took two of the young men and left camp, as we
+afterwards learned, to go in search of the Indians whose trail we had
+crossed the evening before. Some time in the early part of the night,
+one of the young men returned and informed us that they had found the
+wandering tribe, and that we were to go back to their trail and follow
+it to their camp up in a Southeast direction, Walker and one of the
+young men having remained with their new-found friends.
+
+Field and I both felt greatly disappointed in not being able to proceed
+north; and in the meantime we had become very tired of the society of
+these people, notwithstanding the fact that they were exceedingly
+clever; but we were almost starved to death, and had about come to the
+conclusion that we would be obliged to make some change. We were still
+on the east side of, and considerable distance from the river, and
+probably not more than one hundred, or one hundred and twenty miles from
+the place where we parted from you.
+
+The chief had sent particular instructions for us to go with the tribe;
+but, after canvassing the whole situation, we decided to part company
+with our good friends, proceed northward, and try to reach Fort Bridger
+or some other settlement in the northwest, and so informed them, and
+requested the boys to bring in our mule and horse, which they did after
+failing to induce us to go with them.
+
+Bright and early the next morning, they all, even the polygamous wives
+and little children, in apparent sorrow, bade us good-bye, and were off,
+leaving us alone with our two poor, lonely, four-footed companions, who
+were very anxious to follow the band of horses. After the rather
+melancholy parting we arranged our packs, and about ten o'clock started
+out on what then seemed, and afterwards proved, to be a perilous voyage
+through deserts, and over rough mountains. To avoid a high range of
+mountains, our course was for a time northeast but, after passing that
+range we bore to the northwest.
+
+The days were quite warm, but the nights were cold. During the first day
+we killed and ate one small rabbit, and this, with a few seed buds
+gathered from wild rose bushes, constituted two days' rations. On the
+third we did not have even the rabbit or rose seed buds, but late in the
+afternoon we found some small red berries, similar in appearance to what
+I, in my childhood, knew and relished as Solomon's seal berries. I being
+a natural coward, and fearing that they might poison me, did not eat any
+of them, but generously allowed my good friend to eat them all.
+
+We had now been almost entirely without water for two days and nights.
+When night came on we picketed our animals in a grass plot and lay down
+near them to see that they did not get tangled in the ropes and hurt, or
+that some red skin, not having the fear of the Lord in his heart, did
+not come and take them away. About ten o'clock my companion began to
+complain of pain in his stomach and bowels, and was soon vomiting at a
+fearful rate; so violently, indeed, that I was apprehensive that he
+might die. If I had had an emetic I would have given it to him to have
+assisted nature in pumping those devilish little red berries out of him,
+for I felt quite sure that they were the cause of his illness. Perhaps
+it was fortunate that there was no medecine at hand, for if there had
+been I might have killed him with it.
+
+He suffered most intensely, and soon became very thirsty, and, there
+being no water within many miles of us, he appealed to me to bleed one
+of the animals and let him drink the blood; I refused: he insisted; I
+again refused: he commanded; I still refused. He swore, and called me
+almost everything except a good Christian; he even expressed the wish
+that I, his friend, might be sent to a certain place where the heat is
+most intense, and the fire is never quenched.
+
+At about eleven o'clock, when his pains were most severe, a dark cloud,
+the first we had seen for months, came over us, and a little rain began
+to fall, when I at once opened our little camp kettle and turned the lid
+upside down, and into both kettle and lid there fell perhaps two or
+three teaspoonfuls of pure water, every drop of which I gave to the
+sufferer, whereupon he expressed thanks for another God-send, and at
+once apologized for bestowing unmerited abuse on me. He afterwards often
+asserted that he believed that the little rain-cloud was sent by God for
+his special benefit, and that the water caught from that cloud was the
+sweetest and best that he had ever tasted. I did not doubt the latter
+half of the above statement, but I did have some doubt about the truth
+of the former half when I called to mind the scene which followed my
+refusal to bleed the horse. Whether the small quantity of water gave him
+much relief, or not, I do not know, but I do know that he soon became
+better and slept some while I watched. He was quite feeble next morning
+when I put him on the old sore-backed mule, where he rode most of the
+time for the next four days, while the little horse carried our baggage,
+and I led the way as usual, on foot.
+
+For four days from the time Field ate the little red berries we did not
+have a drop of water except the two or three teaspoonfuls which the
+stingy cloud left to save the life of the "berry-eater." We were still
+on the desert, or in the mountains east of the river, traveling hard
+during the day, and burning up with fever in the night. There was plenty
+of drying grass in places, but our poor animals could not eat it any
+longer, for they, too, were burning up for want of water. Oh, how much I
+did wish that we had some camels from Arabia, which could have gone so
+much longer without water, and traveled so much faster.
+
+On the morning of the third day of starvation, we determined to change
+our course, and, if possible, reach the river once more. Bearing to the
+left over a high, barren range of rocky mountains, and down into a plain
+of sand, sage brush, and cactus. During the afternoon I shot a small
+rabbit, not much larger than a rat, which we carried until night, then
+broiled and tried to eat it, not because our appetites craved it, but
+hoping that it might strengthen and sustain us, at least a little while
+longer. We were, however, so nearly burned up that there was not a
+sufficient flow of saliva to moisten the little bits of broiled meat in
+the mouth. Late that afternoon we fancied that our fast failing brute
+companions scented water, or that they instinctively knew that it was
+not far away. They would raise their heads, and extend their noses as if
+smelling, while their physical force and energy seemed renewed, and they
+certainly traveled faster.
+
+That night we ate the little, as before stated, more as a duty than as a
+pleasure. There was some green grass round about where we camped, or,
+more properly speaking, where we lay, for we did not erect our little
+tent,--but the poor starving animals did not eat a bite of it, but stood
+over us as if in sympathy with us in our deplorable condition. We rose
+before the sun, being somewhat rested and refreshed, for the night had
+been cool, and took up our line of march, I, as usual, in the lead, then
+came the old mule guided by its precious owner, and lastly, the faithful
+little horse with the pack on his still quite round back;--on over the
+still dry and barren plain we went, without a Moses, cloud, or pillar of
+fire to lead us.
+
+About ten o'clock, through the hot glimmer of the down-pouring rays of
+the sun, we saw what appeared, and afterwards proved, to be a clump of
+cottonwood trees. Our hopes and courage were renewed, for we well knew
+the cottonwood usually grows near flowing water. There was no beaten
+pathway, no signs of animal life, no quails, no manna in that desert;
+but on we went, almost without a halt, and at one o'clock reached the
+cottonwood grove, immediately on the bank of the great river down which
+we had floated in our canoes more than a month before. On reaching the
+bank of the river we recognized objects which we had seen while on our
+way down.
+
+We remembered that both men and horses might be water-foundered, and
+that self-preservation is said to be the first law of nature; but it was
+difficult to prevent the famishing brutes from plunging into the river.
+We allowed them to take only a small quantity at first, and each of us
+took only a small cupful; then after a little time all took more, and
+the thirst was soon quenched. We were surprised to find how little water
+it took to satisfy the raging thirst of four days of continued fasting.
+The animals, after taking comparatively small quantities, seemed
+satisfied, and went off in search of grass.
+
+We now had an abundance of water, but we well knew that water alone
+would not sustain life very long: therefore our next, and most serious
+business was to determine how to prolong our lives. According to our
+map, our recollections of different objects, and present appearances we
+were now a little above the mouth of the Uinta river which comes in from
+the northwest, all of which proved true. Our little map pictured Fort
+Uinta on the Uinta river about one hundred miles from where we were; but
+whether or not there were any human beings there, we did not know, and
+in order to determine we must cross this great river and travel a
+hundred miles, and this seemed a perilous undertaking for us in our
+present starving condition; but after being refreshed by plenty of good
+water we determined to undertake it, hoping that good fortune might
+attend us.
+
+After a little rest, the animals with grass, we packed up, and after
+Field had put on his, once serviceable, life preserver he mounted the
+old mule behind the small pack and started to swim across the river. He
+took the lead in this instance for three reasons: first, we thought that
+the mule, being much older than the horse, had probably had more
+experience and therefore might be a much better swimmer; then Field had
+the advantage in having the life preserver; but the last, and most
+potent, reason was my fear of getting drowned. It was understood that I
+was to remain on shore and be ready to assist him if necessary, or until
+he had safely landed on the other side.
+
+In he went, and the trusty old mule was swimming faithfully, and had
+reached the middle of the river, when Field, as he afterwards told me,
+to hurry the mule, gave a gentle jerk on the bridle, when, to his utter
+astonishment, the mule made a complete somerset backwards plunging
+Field, the pack, and himself entirely under the water, except his heels
+which appeared above the water as his head went under. In a moment Field
+popped up and, after shaking his head as a swimmer will do after taking
+a plunge, cast about to take his bearings, or to determine just where he
+was, and began to paddle with his hands, much as he did when the canoes
+were upset on the river, or somewhat after the style of a swimming dog.
+On coming to the surface, the mule cast a glance at the still living,
+but unloaded portion of his cargo, then made a bee line for the shore
+which he had so recently left. While Field continued to paddle and float
+down the river, I dismounted and followed along the bank, trying to
+encourage him to renewed efforts to float ashore. Finally he passed
+behind a clump of willows out of sight; but soon I heard him call for
+help and on going a little further down, found him stuck fast in the
+mud. I waded waist deep into that mud, and literally dragged him out,
+almost a mile below his starting point.
+
+As we were struggling in this muddy swamp, Field said he wondered why
+some of this superfluous water was not distributed over those dry
+deserts from which we had so recently come. I told him, politely, that I
+thought that a man of his age, ability, opportunities, and nationality,
+(you know he was quite proud of being an Englishman) ought to know why
+the moisture was not so distributed, and that I was too illiterate to
+enlighten him on that point, but that, when opportunity offered, he
+might consult some one who knew more of natural science than I did. I
+informed him that I had an idea that if any considerable portion of the
+water of that river had been distributed over that desert that we would
+not have had the experience of the last fifteen days, whereupon he very
+plainly intimated that I did not have much sense, or, in other words, he
+called me a d--d fool.
+
+After reaching solid ground and resting for a little while, we returned
+to the place from which he had started out on his perilous voyage, and
+where I had hastily left my horse. We found the horse and mule quietly
+grazing with their packs on their backs. The faithful old mule had the
+appearance of having been wet, but was now almost dry, yet not so dry,
+internally, as he had been several days before.
+
+What shall we do now? We are perhaps two hundred or more miles from any
+white settlement. We do not know that Fort Uinta is occupied. Shall we
+make another attempt to cross the river? I asked my brave friend if he
+was willing to again mount the mule and make another attempt, when he
+again exclaimed, "You must be a d--d fool!" I then, pretending to have a
+little courage, asked him if he would follow provided I would lead,
+whereupon he declared most emphatically that under no conditions would
+he again attempt to swim across that river. I had not had his
+experience, but fear of being drowned was quite sufficient to prevent me
+from undertaking the perilous task, more especially after witnessing his
+failure.
+
+Well, what next? We could not depend upon fishing and hunting, for we
+had no fish-hooks, nor means of catching fish, and not more than a dozen
+loads of shot, and a little powder; so the matter of slaying one of our
+animal friends was now seriously debated, and, after thoroughly
+canvassing the whole situation, it was most reluctantly determined that,
+however hard, this must be done. No doubt our starving condition at that
+particular time had some weight in making this decision.
+
+Then the question was, which of the animals shall be sacrificed? The
+mule was quite thin, and probably tough, while the little horse was
+young, and, notwithstanding the many days it had, with all of us,
+starved and traveled without water, was still quite plump and round, and
+probably tender, or, at the worst, not so tough as the poor old docile
+mule; so, at length we decided to kill the innocent little creature,
+jerk his flesh, pack it on the mule, and thereby try to save our own
+lives, for a time at least, and endeavor to reach some place of safety.
+
+The matter of slaying the horse was determined by casting lots, neither
+being willing to perform that melancholy, but now absolutely necessary,
+act. It fell to my lot, and that was one of, if not the most revolting
+act in my whole life's experience, for I had, probably, become as
+strongly attached to that little horse as man ever becomes attached to
+animal. I most reluctantly took the bridle in my left hand, my revolver
+in my right, stood directly in front of the poor, unsuspecting, innocent
+creature with the murderous pistol close to, and a little above a line
+extending from eye to eye, and fired. When the smoke of the powder had
+cleared off a little, I saw at my feet the quivering, dying body. I
+staggered off a few steps and sat down, sick at heart.
+
+Field walked several steps away, and turned his back upon the scene
+until after the fatal shot had been fired; then, after some little time,
+he entered upon his share of the enforced duty, and, after having
+removed a portion of the skin, cut off some slices of flesh and brought
+them to a fire I had started. We broiled and ate a little of it, not
+through desire or relish for it, but from a sense of duty, knowing that
+our lives depended upon it.
+
+It is said that for many years Dr. Franklin refrained from eating flesh,
+having an idea that it was wrong to slay and eat the flesh of other
+creatures; but that he changed his mind, and his diet, too, after having
+seen large fish devour small ones. I strongly suspect that if the doctor
+had been with us, or in a like condition, even before his conversion, he
+would, more than likely have taken a little flesh, even though it had
+been a piece of his own favorite horse.
+
+I said we only ate a little at first: I only ate a little for two
+reason; first, I did not relish the food; second, I had heard of persons
+being killed by eating too much after fasting for a long time, and I had
+no desire to commit suicide just then. Field ate too much. Night came
+on, work was suspended, and we retired. The poor old lone, and, no
+doubt, now lonely, mule, having filled himself with grass, came up near
+the now terribly-mutilated remains of his late companion, and looked on
+as Field continued his bloody work. Field, with an expression of sorrow,
+said, "If that mule could reason and look forward to the time when his
+body might be in a like condition as that of this horse, he would, no
+doubt, take to his heels, bid us a final farewell, and seek other
+society." But, fortunately for us, he did not know that he was to be
+held in reserve for our future security. He was securely tied up every
+night from that time until the day he was slain for our salvation.
+
+Early in the night following that eventful day, my companion began to
+complain much as he had done on the night after he had eaten the little
+red berries; but there was no lack of water now, no need of a special
+rain-cloud. I got up, heated water in our little camp kettle, applied
+hot cloths to his aching belly, and did everything else that either of
+us could think of for his relief. The pain was intense, and we feared
+that he would surely die, and earnestly prayed all the rest of the night
+that he might be relieved, and get well. Towards morning most violent
+vomiting came on, which continued for thirty hours, or more. He was not
+able to walk for three days, and during that time I nursed him, finished
+jerking the meat, and built a raft of some partly rotten logs, which I
+found in the vicinity, on which we floated across the river, on the
+fourth day after our arrival here. I also looked to the welfare of the
+mule, and prepared some bags in which to carry our jerk. Manley, I am
+sure that you know the meaning of the term "jerk" so that a definition
+of the word is not at all necessary.
+
+The old logs of which the raft was made were remnants of log cabins, a
+number of which had been built and occupied more than half a century
+before, but by whom I do not know. Field remarked that the finding of
+these old rotting logs there was another "God send," as we then had
+neither ax, hammer, nor any tool of iron with which to cut down a tree.
+I bound these logs together with long strips cut from the hide of the
+dead horse. Paddles and poles were also provided. The mule was with
+difficulty driven across the river.
+
+When the raft was landed on the west bank, the mule packed, and all
+about ready to start, I took the long strip of raw-hide from the raft
+and tied one end of it around the mule's neck, mounted Field on the mule
+behind the large pack, which made the whole outfit look quite comical
+indeed. Before leaving the other side of the river I had discovered that
+the saddle girth was not very strong, so I cut a wide belt from the hide
+of the lately slaughtered horse and fitted it to the saddle as a girth,
+knowing that the pack, now containing all of our goods and a supply of
+more than a bushel of jerk, would be quite bulky, if not heavy, and more
+difficult to keep on the back of a mule than it is for the camel to
+maintain his hump on his back. This girth afterwards made us two or
+three pretty substantial meals, as did also the long strip of green, wet
+hide, one end of which I had tied round the mule's neck, allowing it to
+drag for a long distance through the hot dry sand.
+
+All being ready, I, as usual, took the lead with my shot gun, which I
+always carried, but with which I seldom killed anything, on my shoulder.
+The old mule followed with his high, towering pack, and Field almost
+hidden behind. It was noon, but we did not stop for dinner, but simply
+reached into one of the great bulging sacks, took out a piece of jerk
+and ate it as we went marching on; no more trouble now about cooking.
+Late in the afternoon we reached Uinta river, and, as my two-legged
+companion had grown very tired of the back of the four-legged one, we
+went into camp early. Our objective point was Fort Uinta, where we hoped
+to find military. We could not risk turning the mule loose at night, and
+the long strip of raw-hide was designed and used to secure him, and yet
+to afford him liberty to graze while we slept. As you will see a little
+further on, both girth and lariat were used for a purpose not
+anticipated.
+
+The second, third, fourth, and fifth days came and went, and we were
+trudging on, up the Uinta, through a mostly very barren country, with
+some little rich and fertile land. We saw signs of Indians often, but no
+Indians. There was much cottonwood, but little other timber. We saw some
+fish in the river which we coveted, but could not get. The main course
+of this river is from north-west to south-east. We traveled most of the
+way to the fort on Indian trails, some of which were much worn, but
+mostly at some much earlier period. Of course we had plenty of good
+water, and food, such as it was. Field did not walk two miles during
+those five days, but seemed to be fattening fast. I sometimes thought he
+might be just a little lazy, but I never told him so, for I realized
+that he had recently had a severe tussle with death.
+
+Early in the morning of the sixth day we arrived at the abandoned old
+fort. There were only three log buildings, and they were in the shape of
+three sides of a hollow square, with port-holes on the outer faces of
+the buildings, and doors entering each of them from the hollow square or
+court. Facing the vacant side of the court, the port-hole from which I
+shot the wolf on the night after we had killed the mule, would be on
+right hand side. We were unable to determine whether this fort had been
+constructed and occupied by Americans or Mexicans, but, from its
+apparent age, we were inclined to the opinion that it was Mexicans. It
+had not been occupied for, probably, three or four years. Some little
+farming had been done immediately around the fort. Surrounding the fort
+is a large body of fine, fertile land which I have no doubt has long
+since been occupied by mormons, or other enterprising people.
+
+Having no means of subsistence here we soon decided to push on towards
+Fort Bridger, and, after resting a few hours set out following the
+larger fork of the river which comes almost directly from the north. We
+now believed that we were almost, if not exactly, due south of Fort
+Bridger. The river is small, and very crooked; we crossed it many times
+within three days, and, at the end of that time, found ourselves in the
+mouth of a rocky cañon, and after struggling for one whole day, we came
+to where the steep, high, stone walls closed the little river in on both
+sides, rendering it impossible for us to proceed any further.
+
+We were now nearly out of food; the jerk was almost gone. A council was
+held, and it was decided that we should return to the fort and take
+chances of being rescued, or scalped by some roving band of reds, or
+starving to death. We at once set out on our return, full of
+disappointment and melancholy forebodings.
+
+The next day found us without food: and now came into use the long,
+narrow strip of raw-hide which first bound together the old, rotting
+logs of which the raft was made, then to secure the mule of nights. It
+was now almost as hard as bone, and nearly round, having been dragged
+through the hot sand while it was yet green and wet, closed up like a
+hollow tube with sand inside. Two or three yards of it at a time, was
+cut into pieces about five inches long, the hair singed off, the sand
+scratched out, and these pieces were dropped into our camp kettle and
+cooked until the whole formed one mass of jelly or gluten which was, to
+us, quite palatable. When the lasso had all been thus prepared and
+eaten, the broad girth which had served so well in holding the
+pack-saddle on the mule's back, was cleaned, cooked, and eaten. These
+substitutes for jerk sustained us very well till we again arrived at the
+fort.
+
+Another consultation was now held, and the question was--what shall we
+do now? We were again, apparently, at the starting point of another
+long, enforced fast. Our path seemed hedged in. The prospect was,
+indeed, very gloomy. Our only reasonable hope for even the temporary
+prolongation of our lives was centered in our ever faithful, and always
+reliable old mule. We revolted at the idea of killing and eating him,
+but the last bit of the girth was gone. After canvassing the whole
+situation over and over, again and again, we finally, but most
+reluctantly decided to kill the mule, and preserve all the soft parts,
+even the skin with all of its old scars, and then gather in whatever
+else we could find, and stay here until spring, or until good fortune
+might afford us some means escape; till some Moses might come and lead
+us out of this wilderness, notwithstanding the fact that we had not
+borrowed any jewelry which we had failed to return.
+
+There were signs of wolves in that vicinity, and it was decided that the
+mule be slain about ten paces distant and directly in front of one of
+the port-holes of the fort, with the idea that wolves might smell the
+blood and come there and subject themselves to being shot, and thereby
+afford us a chance to increase our stock of winter supplies in the form
+of wolf steak, or jerk. Accordingly the victim was lead to the spot
+indicated, and there slain in the same manner, and with quite as much
+reluctance on the part of the slayer, as on the occasion of the
+sacrifice of the little horse, more than three weeks before. The body
+was skinned, cut up, and all taken within the building, nothing being
+left except the blood which had been spilled on the ground, and which
+was intended to attract wolves or, possibly, bears or other animals.
+
+My now only living associate ridiculed the idea of killing wolves, and
+insisted that the flesh could not be eaten, stating the fact that even
+hogs would not eat the dead body of a dog, and insisted that a dog was
+only a tamed wolf. I reminded him of a cat which had been eaten. He
+finally agreed that, if I killed a wolf, he would get up and dress it,
+but said most emphatically that he would not sit up and watch for it; so
+he went to bed, that is, rolled himself up in a blanket on the ground in
+front of a good fire inside of the fort, and went to sleep, while I sat
+with my rather untrustworthy double barreled shot-gun protruding through
+the port-hole in full view of the spot before indicated. The night was
+clear, and the moon was shining in full splendor. It was probably eleven
+o'clock; Field had been snoring for a long time, when I heard something
+in the tall, dry grass, and soon a large, brownish-gray wolf came into
+full view, with head up, apparently sniffing, or smelling, and
+cautiously approaching the fatal spot. When he reached it, and began to
+lick up the blood which was still on the surface of the ground, standing
+with his left side toward the fort, and in full view, I took deliberate
+aim, and fired, and he fell upon the ground without making any
+considerable noise.
+
+The tired, sleeping man was aroused by the report of the gun, and rushed
+into the room where I was in great excitement, thinking, perhaps, that
+some enemy had appeared, and had just then commenced to bombard the
+fort; but when I explained to him that I had simply killed a wolf, he
+ran out towards it, and, arriving close to it, the wounded creature rose
+up on its hind feet and growled quite vigorously, which seemed to
+frighten Field as much as did the noise of the gun. He dashed back to
+the fort, and, after having time to recover from his speechless
+condition, abused me most fearfully for having told him that I had
+killed a wolf. I then went out and put a load of shot into the wolf's
+head, and found that my first charge had passed through and broke both
+of its fore legs near the body. Field was so thoroughly frightened that
+I could not induce him to approach the dead animal for some time, and I
+do believe that that wolf haunted him as long as I knew him, for he
+seemed never to forget it. After dressing it by the light of the moon
+assisted by a torch, we retired. On viewing the plump body next morning
+Field exclaimed, "That's another God-send!" and notwithstanding his
+opinion that wolf could not be eaten, he found that wolf to be the best
+food we had eaten since we had assisted Walker and his tribe in eating
+the mountain sheep.
+
+The French may eat their horses, but I do not want more horse flesh. The
+old mule made fair but quite coarse beef. While out on this little
+pleasure excursion we ate horse, mule, wolf, wild-cat, mountain
+sheep, rose seed buds, raw-hide, a squirrel, fatty matter from the
+sockets of the mule's eyes and the marrow from his bones; but that ham
+of wild-cat was certainly the most detestable thing that I ever
+undertook to eat. The marrow from the mule's bones was a real luxury.
+
+We now had a pretty good stock of food, such as it was, but not enough
+to carry us through the winter on full rations; therefore we determined
+to try to add to it by hunting. One was to go out and hunt while the
+other would remain at home: we now had undisputed possession of the fort
+and it was our home. Field took the first day's outing while I occupied
+my time in drying and smoking meat. Late in the evening he returned,
+tired and worn out, having seen nothing worth shooting.
+
+Next day came my turn to hunt. I took a lunch, as he had done,
+consisting of jerked mule. I did not tell him so, but I had determined
+to make an excursion up the river to a point where we had seen some
+fresh trails and deer tracks some days before. When I was putting up my
+lunch my friend intimated that I was taking a very large amount for one
+lunch, but I told him that I might stay out late and that I did not
+intend to starve. I went, stayed all day, all night, and part of the
+next day, and returned as he had done, tired and discouraged, not having
+seen anything worth bringing in. In the evening of the first day out I
+found a trail which appeared to have been used daily by deer going to
+and from the river.
+
+It occurred to me that they might go out early in the morning, so I
+secreted myself within gun shot of the trail behind an old, moss-covered
+log where I slept comfortably; and when it was light enough in the
+morning to see a deer, I leveled my gun across the log in a position
+commanding the trail and waited and watched until nine o'clock, but
+nothing came upon that pathway that morning. After getting tired of
+watching and waiting I went down to the trail where, to my astonishment,
+I found the fresh tracks of a large bear which must have passed by that
+way while I was sleeping. As a rule I do not like to be treated
+discourteously, but in this instance I felt glad that this stranger had
+passed me by.
+
+On arriving at the fort late in the evening I found my friend in a
+terrible state of mental excitement. He said that he had not slept a
+minute during the whole of the night before. He had filled the door of
+his room with rails, and sharpened one end of a long stick, which he
+intended to use if necessary as a weapon of defence. When I arrived he
+was again filling the door with rails. I had the gun, pistol and big
+knife with me so this was his only means of defence. He said he would
+not stay alone another night for all the gold in California.
+
+I was much discouraged by our failures in hunting, and after a lengthy
+discussion we decided to make another attempt to cross the mountains and
+escape from what then seemed to us certain starvation. This was Thursday
+night and we set Monday as the time for starting. By Saturday night
+everything was in readiness for the start and Sunday we devoted to Bible
+reading, for we each still had a pocket Bible. As much of the flesh of
+the wolf and the lamented mule as we thought we could carry had been
+thoroughly jerked, and finding that we would not be overburdened by it,
+we economized by roasting and eating little scraps of flesh, the marrow
+from the bones, and even the head of the mule was roasted, the fragments
+of flesh scraped off and eaten, and Field found a rich fatty substance
+in behind the eyes, which he ate.
+
+We had a canteen in which our powder was carried, but the powder was
+nearly all gone so we emptied it and used the canteen to carry water in.
+Early Monday morning we loaded ourselves, mostly with jerked mule and
+wolf, leaving many useful things behind, bid adieu to Fort Uinta and
+took up our line of march rather reluctantly.
+
+My companion was not strong and we soon found it expedient for me to
+take on part of his burden. We rested often and yet long before night he
+became so tired that we had to go into camp. Most of the day we had
+traveled on an old deserted trail. The nights being cold we were under
+the necessity of keeping up a fire as we had left our blankets at the
+fort. The next morning we made an early start and rested often. At about
+noon we found good shade and water, and the sun being quite hot we
+stopped and rested in the shade for more than three hours, then trudged
+on till nearly night when we found water, and plenty of old dry timber
+for fuel and camped. Field expressed a wish that he had his old mule
+again, and I reminded him that he had a portion of it left in his
+knapsack, and that turn about was fair play: as the mule had carried him
+for a long time when he was unable to walk he should not object to
+carrying a portion of the mule now; whereupon he again plainly intimated
+that he thought I was a d--- d fool. I kept up the fire and he slept
+until morning.
+
+Another day was passed without any unusual occurrence; we traveled and
+ate at the same time as usual. Another day of pretty hard travel over
+sandy plains and rocky hills brought us to the foot of the mountain
+where we had plenty of good water and an abundance of fuel. A little
+sprinkle of rain early in the evening was the first we had seen since
+the memorable night after Field had eaten the little red berries.
+
+Early Saturday morning we filled our canteen with water and started up
+the mountain. I had been carrying most of the jerk, but the stock was
+running down quite rapidly. My companions bag now being almost empty,
+and as he had little else to carry while I had the gun and some other
+things, including his heavy overcoat, I divided the jerk, putting about
+half of it into his sack. All day long we were climbing the mountain.
+Late in the afternoon I was several rods ahead of Field when he called
+to me to stop: I did so and when he came up he appeared to be a little
+cross and insisted that we were not traveling in the direction formerly
+agreed upon. I requested him to let me see the little compass which he
+had in his pocket, and on examining it he found that he was mistaken;
+whereupon he muttered something which I thought was "swear words," and
+then we went marching on. In a little while we were within the old snow
+limits where we found large bodies of old icy looking snow in places
+shaded by trees and rocks, and a little before dark went into camp. We
+gathered some old dry timber and made a large fire, then some green fir
+limbs for a bed. When I began to prepare our bed on one side of the
+flaming logs, to my surprise Field began to prepare one on the other
+side of the fire. Neither had spoken since the occurrence of the little
+unpleasantness in the afternoon about the course of travel. Mutely each
+took his side of the fire.
+
+We had always slept together except when he was sick and the night I had
+left him alone at the fort. Some time in the night I became thirsty and
+got up and procured some snow, put it in our only tin cup and set it on
+some live coals to melt and went to sleep. The snow melted, the water
+evaporated, the solder melted and left the tin. While I slept, my dumb
+friend woke up thirsty, took the tin cup, filled it with snow and put it
+on coals. The snow melted and the water run out on the coals; his tongue
+let loose and he then denounced me as a knave, an ass, a fool, an
+unregenerate heathen, and what else I don't want to remember. I woke up
+alarmed and did not at first fully understand what had created the
+storm, but after having the bottomless cup dashed at my head I realized
+the situation, and began to try to apologize and explain the unavoidable
+and unfortunate circumstance; but no explanation would satisfy his now
+thoroughly "Johnny Bull" temper. After this little nocturnal disturbance
+had subsided, I, on my bed of fir branches with my feet towards the
+fire, soon fell into a sound sleep and knew nothing more of the world
+until the sun was shining. Whether or not my friend had cooled off I did
+not inquire; but I do know that there was an unusual coldness between
+us, for neither spoke to the other until about twelve o'clock and then,
+as will appear, our conversation was very short.
+
+As we did not rise until late no delay was made, but when each had his
+bag on his back and a nugget of jerk in his hand we started up the side
+of the mountain as quiet as two deaf mutes. There was no water to be
+had; our camp kettle had been left at the fort, and through my stupidity
+the cup had become useless, therefore we were obliged to eat the icy
+snow or endure the thirst. No new snow had yet fallen in this high
+altitude although it was now nearing the end of October. These mountains
+were then heavily covered with pine and fir but the timber was not
+large. In some places where the snow had melted away, short green grass
+was found quite close to great banks of snow.
+
+At about twelve o'clock we reached the summit of the great Uinta range,
+and I, being a little in advance of my still mute companion, halted to
+take a survey of the field before me. The top of the range here is bare
+of timber and there was no snow. When Field came up I broke the silence
+which had lasted since the little unpleasantness of the night before, by
+suggesting that we attempt to cross the snow-covered range of mountains
+which now appeared north of us and probably fifty miles away, through
+what appeared to be a gap or low place in the great range of mountains.
+He replied, "You may go that way if you want to, but I am going this
+way," pointing in another direction and quickly started off at an angle
+of about 45 degrees to the right, or directly north-east. I also started
+immediately, and when we were a few rods apart I said, "Good-by; we may
+not meet again very soon." He replied "Good-by," and within a few
+minutes we were out of sight, and in a very short time beyond hailing
+distance.
+
+This was the last I saw or heard of him until after each of us had
+undergone many more hardships, so I will now drop my friend but will
+hereafter devote a chapter to him, and give you an account of his
+experience as he afterwards gave it to me, detailing an account of many
+most interesting incidents. Fortunately we had divided the jerk, for
+nothing was said at this sudden and unexpected parting about anything
+which either had in his possession. I had an idea when I bade him
+good-by that he would soon turn about and follow me.
+
+After the unceremonious parting I immediately began to descend the north
+side of the mountain which was very rough, rocky and steep; but down,
+down, down I went into a deep, dark cañon where I slept on the leaves
+under a fir tree, after having taken some landmarks. When it was light
+enough to see the objects I had noted to guide me, I set out and spent
+the day in crossing over hills and through deep cañons. In the evening I
+arrived at the foot of the range of mountains which I had seen from the
+point of our parting. The sun disappeared, dark clouds began to float
+over the mountains and it was evident that a storm was approaching.
+
+While it was yet light enough I took some landmarks or guiding points;
+and it was well I did so, for on the following morning when I woke I
+found it snowing quietly but heavily, and before it was light enough for
+me to see my guiding objects there must have been six or more inches of
+new snow on the ground beyond my snug retreat under a sheltering pine.
+When it was light enough I rose from my comfortable bed, took my
+bearings as best I could without a compass and started up the mountain
+through the rapidly accumulating bed of snow. The snow continued to fall
+nearly all day, and before night it was more than a foot deep.
+
+All day long I struggled through a dense forest. Some time in the
+forenoon I crossed the fresh trail of a large herd of elk which forcibly
+reminded me that my sack was almost empty, and I vainly wished that one
+of these wild creatures might come in my way, but I did not dare to
+follow the herd with the uncertainty of killing one, and the certainty
+of losing my way this dark, snowy day. In order to maintain my course
+during such dark days I was under the necessity of looking ahead and
+observing trees or other objects in my line of travel.
+
+That night I, as usual, slept under a pine tree where there was no snow.
+I saw no sign of fire in either of these ranges of mountains, nor did I
+see any signs of Indians on my trip over these two ranges. The next day
+as I approached the top of the mountain I found the timber much smaller,
+and mostly pine. There is much fertile land in some of the valleys
+between the two great ranges of mountains.
+
+Early on the following morning I arrived at the bald, snow-covered
+summit. On my right and on my left were high, untimbered, snow-covered
+peaks. From this point I could overlook a vast territory extending over
+many hills, valleys, and smaller mountains where there was no snow; in
+fact, the snow only extended a few miles down the steep sides of the
+great range. As a rule there is more timber on the north than on the
+south side of mountains west of the Rockies; but it was the reverse
+here, for there was little timber on the north side of this range.
+
+One more day's tramping brought me down into a large barren plain where
+I gathered some dry weeds for a bed, and slept, without food or water;
+the last bit of the mule or wolf, I know not which, I had eaten during
+the afternoon. I had had very little jerk for the last two or three
+days, and began to wish that I had another horse, mule, or even a wolf.
+For many days I had seen no living thing except when I looked into a
+small glass which I carried in my pocket, and then only saw a familiar
+shadow.
+
+I spent another day without food, but had plenty of water; another night
+on a bed of green brush beside a good fire. The next day was bright and
+sunny, quite a contrast to the gloomy days I had spent in the mountains.
+For want of food I was becoming quite weak and was not able to travel as
+fast as usual. During the early part of the day I saw some tracks of an
+unshod horse, which renewed my courage and hope of redemption; and at
+about two o'clock in the afternoon I saw some dark spots on the plain a
+long distance away, but almost in the direction I was going. Hoping that
+these objects might be living creatures, I hurried on for a time, then
+sat down and after having watched them for a time I found that they
+changed positions and that satisfied me to a moral certainty that they
+were living creatures, but what I could not tell. They might be horses,
+cattle, elk, deer, antelope or buffalo; but no matter what, I must hurry
+on and try to reach them before night.
+
+Late in the evening I determined that they were horses but could not yet
+tell whether they belonged to whites or Indians, or were wild. As I
+approached them they stopped grazing and started toward me, but soon
+disappeared in a deep gulch between us which I had not noticed before.
+On arriving at the edge of the gulch or narrow valley I saw the horses
+in the vicinity of about fifteen or twenty wigwams which were all in a
+row on the bank of a little creek that ran through the gulch. Many
+Indians were sitting outside of their lodges, the weather being warm.
+
+On first sight of the village, being not more than 200 yards away, my
+heart fluttered just a little, not knowing whether the savages would
+scalp me or not; but, notwithstanding my natural cowardice, I at once
+determined to "beard the lion in his den," and walked as boldly as I
+could up to the lower end of the row of wigwams. Within a few feet of
+the nearest one three young bucks met me and seemed to be anxious to
+know whence I came and whither I was going; whether right down from
+Heaven, and if so what was my mission. They seemed as much surprised at
+my sudden appearance as I was on coming so suddenly upon them. My first
+and most important business was to determine whether they would give me
+something to eat, or eat me.
+
+As the men, women, and children began to gather around me I heard some
+one half way up the line of lodges call out saying something which I did
+not understand, but on looking that way saw a man beckoning to me, as I
+thought, when the young men motioned for me to move on up the line. On
+arriving at the place indicated I found myself in the presence of one
+whom I then suspected, and afterwards found to be the chief, who
+extended to his royal right hand and greeted me in a most courteous and
+polite manner, and then with a graceful wave of his hand and a slight
+bow indicated that I should precede him at the low open door into his
+Royal Palace where he very politely introduced me to his wife who proved
+to be a sensible, clever, courteous woman. She soon prepared some thing
+for me to eat, and after I had finished my supper an Indian brought in
+two pistols and wanted me to take the cap tube from one and put it into
+the other, which I soon accomplished. He was much pleased, went out, and
+soon returned with ten or more pounds of elk meat which he tendered to
+me as compensation for my work, but the chief objected, and insisted, as
+I understood him, that he had plenty and that I was his guest, but
+finally consented for me to accept part of the meat. I gave him to
+understand that I wanted to go to Fort Bridger.
+
+A case of nice new blankets was opened, as it appeared to me, for my
+especial benefit. The chief, his lady, two sons almost grown, two or
+three wolfish looking dogs which forcibly reminded me of Field's
+terrible scare, and myself made up the number of lodgers in that mansion
+that night. Late that night some warriors who had been out on a campaign
+came home, and learning that there was a stranger within the gates came
+to the king's palace to see him, and also to report that they had
+discovered some white barbarians in the vicinity who had dared to enter
+his domain without a special permit, and that they had sent a message to
+his highness informing him that they had a good assortment of blankets,
+cutlery, pins, needles, beads, etc., which his people might need or
+desire, and also a limited amount of "fire-water," and that they would
+be pleased to receive his order for anything he might desire.
+
+The fact of the presence of these pale-faces in the vicinity was at once
+communicated to me, and early on the following morning I was informed
+that if it was my desire to cut short my stay at the palace, the king
+would take great pleasure in furnishing me means of conveyance, a proper
+escort, and a reliable guide who would safely conduct me to the camp of
+the accommodating merchants or Indian traders, (but, in fact, Indian
+robbers.) Notwithstanding my reluctance in leaving the society of the
+noble ruler and his people I most readily accepted his generous offer,
+and after breakfast, which consisted of elk meat and tobacco root in a
+combination stew which was very palatable, a fine steed with a good
+Mexican saddle and bridle was at the door. My escort, consisting of four
+mounted warriors, was ready, and after bidding my good friends farewell,
+I with some assistance mounted my charger and we were all off on a full
+run, up and down hill and across valley, at what seemed to me a fearful
+rate.
+
+In less than two hours we entered the camp of the traders at full speed,
+dismounted, and found one man, a long Jake from Illinois, who could
+speak English. He had two wives, (squaws,) and several children which he
+claimed, but some of them were quite dark. His name was John Smith; not
+a very uncommon one. He was a very clever man, about 35 years old, was
+not a Mormon, but had taken the women in order to become popular with
+the Indians and to improve his opportunities for trade.
+
+After getting something to eat, and learning something, through Smith,
+of my adventures, my escort made ready to return to their camp. Their
+trip, as Smith told me, was made solely for my accommodation and now I
+had nothing with which to compensate them; but as they were about to
+leave I took a large "bandanna," the only one I had left, and tied it
+around the neck of the chief's son, he being one of the clever escorts.
+He at first refused to accept it, but when Smith told him that I desired
+him to take it as a token of regard, he accepted it with an expression
+of thanks, and after I had bidden them all good-bye, they rode away as
+rapidly as we had come. I will always hold that chief and his people in
+kindly remembrance.
+
+All of the other white men with Smith were French, and all had plenty of
+wives (squaws) and numerous slaves. The wives were not slaves, but they
+had slaves all around them. The whole tribe traveled about and lived
+much as other tribes did, only much better, for they lived by trading
+while the others lived by hunting and fishing. In this camp I ate bread
+for the first time in many weeks. At the end of three days after my
+arrival here a caravan was ready to start for Fort Bridger for winter
+supplies for the traders. I was furnished with a good horse and saddle,
+and Smith, one of the Frenchmen, five slaves, 20 horses, and myself made
+up the caravan, and on the evening of the third day we reached the fort
+where I was very kindly received.
+
+Smith was a large man, had a good head, and some cultivation and
+apparent refinement, and treated his women and children well. He said he
+had been to his old home in Illinois since he had entered upon this kind
+of life, but was not contented there and soon returned to his Indian
+friends. He and those Frenchmen were as generous and hospitable as old
+Southern planters, and their kindness to me will not be forgotten while
+my memory lasts.
+
+I was well treated at the fort which is 116 miles from the point where
+the seven dug up the little flat-boat from its sandy bed on the fifth
+day of August, just three mouths before, since which I had undergone
+many hardships, took many fearful risks, and traveled more than a
+thousand miles, far enough to have taken me from Green River to San
+Francisco.
+
+On the morning of the seventh day of November I started with a
+Government train for Salt Lake City where I arrived on the fifteenth. I
+soon found a home with a prominent Mormon, a Scotchman named Archie
+Gardner, living in the fifth ward, on Mill Creek, one of the many small
+streams coming down from the mountains east of the city. Mr. Gardner was
+a clever gentleman about 45 years old, had a saw-mill up in, the
+mountains, and was then building a flour mill only a few rods from his
+dwelling. I assisted him in completing the little flour mill and in
+attending it during the winter. Mr. Gardner had three wives, all living
+in one house, but occupying separate rooms at night. I usually attended
+the little mill until midnight, and Gardner made it part of my duty to
+go to his house and call him. He usually told me where I could find him,
+but not always, so at times I was under the necessity of rapping at more
+than one door before I found him.
+
+He had the largest house in the ward, and the religious services were
+held there by Bishop Johnson who also acted as Justice of the Peace in
+that ward. Gardner's family all ate at the same table over which the
+first wife presided. She was, indeed, mistress of the house, the other
+wives treating her with great respect, and all were, to all outward
+appearance, quite friendly. Gardner bestowed much attention on his first
+wife, though I always suspected that he was just a little more fond of
+the youngest one, and I did not blame him much for she manifested strong
+affection for him even in the presence of the others, and yet there was
+no outward manifestation of jealousy.
+
+The second, or the one I will call the second because she was in age
+between the others, and was the mother of the third or youngest, a
+widowed mother and her daughter having been sealed to Gardner at the
+same time, the first wife having given her consent and standing with
+them at the triple matrimonial altar, and then and there joining in the
+sacred ceremony. As I was about to say, the second wife seemed to be
+pleased at the manifestation of affection for the common husband by the
+youngest wife, and No. 1 would in a good-humored way say:--"My, Annie,
+don't be so demonstrative in the presence of other people," when the
+husband would laugh and go and kiss No. 1.
+
+Gardner spent most of his leisure time, particularly during the day and
+evening, in his first wife's apartments with her and her children. He
+was a very religious man, and always had family prayers before retiring
+at night, and all persons about the house were expected to join, at
+least formally, in this service. The use of profane language was not
+allowed in or about the house.
+
+Many of the higher church officers were entertained at Gardner's house
+and table, among whom were Brigham Young, George A. Smith, Heber C.
+Kimble, George Taylor, and Parley P. Pratt, with all of whom I formed
+some acquaintance. Brigham was a dignified, clever gentleman, not
+austere but kind and affable. Kimble was also a nice, genteel, genial,
+redheaded gentleman. Smith was a heavy man with a very large abdomen,
+dark hair full beard, exceedingly jovial and apparently always happy.
+Pratt was a small, rather slim, quick and athletic man, rather austere,
+refined, active and energetic. Taylor was a large man, highly
+intellectual, and rather unsocial. Kimble was my favorite
+notwithstanding the fact that he had fifteen wives, mostly young and
+handsome, all in one house, and my impression is that none of them had
+any children. I think it was conceded that his was the finest harem in
+Utah. He called me his young Gentile, was very kind and affable, but he
+never invited me to inspect his harem.
+
+About the first of December, 1849, Field arrived in Salt Lake City, and
+I will allude to a little matter in which he was concerned, after which
+I will give you a short account of his trip from the time we parted
+company until he arrived in Salt Lake as he afterwards gave it to me.
+Soon after he arrived in the City of the Saints he heard of another who
+had recently arrived from the south and that he was located in the fifth
+ward on Mill creek at the house of one Gardner, and at which house he
+soon arrived.
+
+After staying with me for two or three days he found employment in the
+family of the Apostle John Taylor. The family consisted of seven wives
+living in seven different houses. How many children there were I never
+knew, but there was one wife who did not have any. She was a fine
+specimen of English beauty. Taylor's women were nearly all English. It
+was the business of my friend to cut wood, and do chores generally for
+the Taylor family living in seven different places at the same time.
+Taylor was in Europe that winter looking after the interest of the
+church, and possibly after a few more wives, and consequently could not,
+in person, attend to all of the necessities of the seven branches of his
+family. In his daily rounds looking after the seven wood-piles and other
+little matters appertaining to the comfort of the family in so many
+places Field happened to come in contact with the English beauty, and
+the result was, mutual love at first sight, notwithstanding the fact
+that this woman had passed, and taken all of the solemn vows of the Lym
+house with the Apostle and his six other wives.
+
+I do not think that my English friend had lost one iota of the fond
+recollection of his long since dead English wife, the picture of whom he
+still carried near his heart; but, nevertheless, he and this seventh
+wife of the noted Apostle fell heels over head in love. Field, as you
+know, was a well developed, good-looking, intelligent man of forty. The
+woman was well developed, good-looking, and as smart as a steel-trap,
+and both being English I was not at all surprised at their mutual
+admiration and infatuation, nor did I blame them much. I was entrusted
+with many closely-sealed envelopes which I carried from one to the
+other. With my feeble assistance they tried to devise some method by
+which they might escape from the city before the Apostle should return
+home; but the Danites were always on the alert, and they well knew that
+detection by the Danites of an attempt to get away together would lead
+to certain death to him, and if not to her she would certainly have been
+returned to her polygamous state of bondage. Spring came with little
+hope of escape, and they reluctantly parted with the mutual
+understanding that, if possible, she would make her escape and go to
+Sacramento where he promised to keep his address. Ten months after the
+parting they had not met yet, and if they ever did it was after I had
+lost all further knowledge of him.
+
+Mormon morals, exclusive of polygamy, are very good. I never saw a
+drunken man in Salt Lake City, and heard very little profane language
+there. The people were industrious and seemed happy. Their hospitality
+rivaled that of the old Southern planters, and their charity was equal
+to that of other Christians.
+
+I will now go back to the place where Field and I separated on the
+mountain top and give you a short statement as he gave it to me, and
+while some things may border on the miraculous, and seem somewhat
+incredible, I do not question the truth of his statements. When we
+parted so unexpectedly he had about half of the jerked wolf and mule
+combined. I went north while he bore off in a northeasterly direction,
+and after traveling for three days came to the river at a point above
+where we lost our flat-boat. He struggled on up the river without road
+or trail, and nothing to guide him except the little compass which he
+still carried in his pocket.
+
+Two days more and his last bit of jerk was gone, starvation began to
+stare him in the face once more. He saw signs of Indians having crossed
+his pathless course which gave him renewed courage. Soon after starting
+out next morning he was delighted to see a pony in the distance grazing,
+and on coming up to it found one of its front legs broken. This, he said
+was another God-send. The poor pony seemed to fear him. It was probably
+an Indian pony, had its leg broken and was left to die. He followed it
+for some time and finally got close to it and fired his revolver at its
+chest and wounded it, but it then left him with the blood flowing from
+its wound. After resting for a time he followed on and soon found it
+lying down, but not dead. He told me how innocent and helpless it
+appeared, and looked at him as if pleading with him not to inflict any
+more pain; but he felt that his life was in a balance with its, and
+after a little meditation he put the revolver to its forehead and ended
+its life and suffering. Then came the usual process of skinning, cutting
+up and jerking which took the balance of that day and part of the next.
+
+Eight days more and he was again starving. On the ninth he arrived at
+the spot where we had dug up the little ferry-boat which carried the
+seven adventurers far down the river more than three very long dreary
+months before. Snow now covered the entire country, and all emigrants
+had long since gone by. His strength was failing fast but it would not
+do to linger there, so he arose and was about to start when he saw a
+poor old ox slowly coming towards him, and when it had come up near to
+him he discovered a wolf not far behind which seemed to be following the
+ox, but it soon turned and went away. Night was coming on and he was
+very hungry. Something must be done. The last cartridge had been
+exploded in killing the poor, broken legged Indian pony, and the
+revolver was no longer of use. The ox, though feeble, was probably yet
+stronger than the starving man.
+
+Field feared that he was not able to catch the ox by the horns and hold
+it until he could cut its throat, so the next plan was to get hold of
+the animal's tail with one hand, and with the big knife in the other cut
+his hamstrings so as to disable him, and then cut his throat. The ox
+seemed fond of being rubbed and petted, so after a little time a firm
+hold on the tail was secured, and the big knife vigorously applied, but
+it was so very dull that he could not sever the tough old tendons. After
+sawing with the dull knife and being literally dragged for some
+distance, he became so much exhausted that he was obliged to relinquish
+his hold and see the excited old ox disappear.
+
+In almost complete despair Field spent the night beside a fire under one
+of those large cottonwoods which I have no doubt you will remember even
+though it is now more than forty years since you saw them. He rose early
+next morning and started out on the well beaten road towards the Golden
+West, but had only gone a few hundred yards when he was agreeably
+surprised to again behold the old ox approaching him, but so much
+exhausted that it could scarcely walk. The same, or some other, wolf was
+near by, and had probably followed the poor old ox all night. When the
+ox came close to Field the wolf growled and again turned away as on the
+evening before. After the wolf had left the ox seemed to be relieved.
+
+It then occurred to the starving emigrant that he had a sharp razor in
+his "kitt" with which he knew he could cut those tough tendons, provided
+he could get another hold on that tail. Field, as you probably remember,
+always kept his face cleanly shaved. Even while we were starving he
+would shave almost every day. The ox was tired and worn out and so was
+Field; but he got the razor ready and soon had hold of that tail again.
+Off went the ox, the keen razor was applied, soon the tendons parted and
+down went the ox. But only half the victory was won, for the ox would
+raise up on his front feet and show fight; but after resting awhile the
+would-be victor rushed up, caught the poor beast by the horns, pushed
+him over on his side, held him down and cut his throat.
+
+After a long, much needed rest he cut out a piece of the poor beef,
+broiled and ate it, and then spent the remainder of the day in hunting
+out the small, lean muscles that still remained between the skin and
+bones of the poor old ox. The poor beef was jerked and put into the sack
+which on the following morning was thrown upon the back of its owner,
+and from which he fed for the next six days, at the end of which he
+arrived at Fort Bridger. From there he soon obtained a passage for Salt
+Lake City, arriving there on the second day of December, seventeen days
+after I had reached there, and finding me as before stated.
+
+Some time in the winter we formed an acquaintance of a gentleman named
+Jesse Morgan, a Gentile, who had left Illinois in the spring of 1849 for
+California, but for some cause had been delayed and obliged to winter in
+the city of the Latter Day Saints. Morgan had a wife, a little child, a
+wagon and two yoke of oxen, but no food nor money. Field and I arranged
+to furnish food for all for the trip from there to Sacramento, and
+assist in camp duties, drive the team, &c. We made the trip together and
+arrived in Sacramento in good condition on the fourth day of July, 1850,
+and pitched our tent under a large oak tree where the State Capitol now
+stands.
+
+I spent five months with a wholesale grocery and miners supply firm,
+Elder and Smith, Fourth and J streets, Sacramento, and three months in
+the mines as a drummer, or solicitor and collector for the same firm. I
+returned to Sacramento and was almost ready to start home when the Scots
+River excitement broke out. I then went to the mines on Trinity River
+and associated myself in mining with Hiram Gould, a young Presbyterian
+clergyman who had laid aside the "cloth" for the time and engaged in
+mining. I remained in the mines until July fourth, 1851, exactly one
+year from the time I entered Sacramento, when I started home by way of
+Nicaragua. In due time, after an interesting trip, I arrived home and
+again entered upon the study of my chosen profession, graduated from an
+honorable college, and am now, as you know, practicing my profession on
+the sea shore.
+
+M.S. MCMAHON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+STORY OF THE JAYHAWKERS.
+
+
+In the foregoing chapters describing the trip across the deserts and
+mountains, the author has had occasion many times to refer to the
+"Jayhawkers." Their history is in many respects no less remarkable and
+intensely interesting than that of his own party. The author has
+therefore collected many notes and interviews with prominent members and
+presents herewith the only written history of their travels.
+
+The little train afterward known by this name was made up in the state
+of Illinois in 1849, of industrious, enterprising young men who were
+eager to see and explore the new country then promising gold to those
+who sought. The young men were from Knoxville, Galesburg and other
+towns. Not all were influenced by the desire for gold. It was said that
+California had a milder climate and that pleasant homes could there be
+made, and the long, cold winter avoided.
+
+They placed some of the best men in position to manage for the whole.
+The outfit was placed on a steam-boat and transported to Kanesville, on
+the Missouri River above Council Bluffs. Some of the company went with
+the goods while others bought teams and wagons in Western Missouri and
+drove to the appointed place. Kanesville was a small Mormon camp, while
+Council Bluffs was a trading post of a few log cabins on the river bank,
+inhabited mostly by Indians. There was no regular ferry at either place,
+and our party secured a log raft which they used to get their wagons and
+provisions across, making the oxen swim.
+
+They asked all the questions they could think of from everyone who
+pretended to know anything about the great country to the west of them,
+for it seemed a great undertaking to set out into the land they could
+see stretching out before them across the river. Other parties bound the
+same way, also arrived and joined them. They chose a guide who claimed
+to have been over the road before. When all were gathered together the
+guide told them that they were about to enter an Indian country, and
+that the dusky residents did not always fancy the idea of strangers
+richer than themselves passing through, and sometimes showed out some of
+the bad traits the Indians had been said to possess. It would therefore
+be better to organize and travel systematically. He would divide the
+company into divisions and have each division choose a captain, and the
+whole company unite in adopting some rules and laws which they would all
+agree to observe. This arrangement was satisfactorily accomplished, and
+they moved out in a sort of military style. And then they launched out
+on the almost endless western prairie, said then to be a thousand miles
+wide, containing few trees, and generally unknown.
+
+These Illinois boys were young and full of mirth and fun which was
+continually overflowing. They seemed to think they were to be on a sort
+of every day picnic and bound to make life as merry and happy as it
+could be. One of the boys was Ed Doty who was a sort of model traveler
+in this line. A camp life suited him; he could drive an ox team, cook a
+meal of victuals, turn a pan of flap-jacks with a flop, and possessed
+many other frontier accomplishments. One day when Doty was engaged in
+the duty of cooking flap-jacks another frolicsome fellow came up and
+took off the cook's hat and commenced going through the motions of a
+barber giving his customer a vigorous shampoo, saying:--"_I am going to
+make a Jayhawker out of you, old boy_." Now it happened at the election
+for captain in this division that Ed Doty was chosen captain, and no
+sooner was the choice declared than the boys took the newly elected
+captain on their shoulders and carried him around the camp introducing
+him as the _King Bird of the Jayhawkers_. So their division was
+afterwards known as The Jayhawkers, but whether the word originated with
+them, and John Brown forgot to give them credit, or whether it was some
+old frontier word used in sport on the occasion is more than I will
+undertake to say; however the boys felt proud of their title and the
+organization has been kept up to this day by the survivors, as will be
+related further on.
+
+The first few days they got along finely and began to lose all feeling
+of danger and to become rather careless in their guard duty. When the
+cattle had eaten enough and lain down, the guards would sometimes come
+into camp and go to sleep, always finding the stock all right in the
+morning and no enemy or suspicious persons in sight. But one bright
+morning no cattle were in sight, which was rather strange as the country
+was all prairie. They went out to look, making a big circuit and found
+no traces till they came to the river, when they found tracks upon the
+bank and saw some camps across the river, a mile or so away. Doty had a
+small spy glass and by rigging up a tripod of small sticks to hold it
+steady they scanned the camps pretty closely and decided that there were
+too many oxen for the wagons in sight.
+
+Some of the smartest of them stripped off their clothes and started to
+swim the stream, but landed on the same side they started from. Captain
+Doty studied the matter a little and then set out himself, being a good
+swimmer, and by a little shrewd management and swimming up stream when
+the current was strongest, soon got across to where he could touch
+bottom and shouted to the others to do the same. Soon all the swimmers
+were across.
+
+They could now see that there were two trains on that side and that the
+farther one had already begun to move and was about a mile in advance of
+the nearest one, Doty said something must be done, and although they
+only were clothed in undershirts they approached the nearest camp and
+were handed some overalls for temporary use. The men in this camp on
+hearing about the missing oxen said the fellows in the forward train
+went over and got them, for, as they said there were no wagons in sight
+and they must be strays. He said the forward train was from Tennessee,
+and that they had some occasion to doubt their honesty and had refused
+to travel with them any further. They said they were all old
+Missourians, and did not want other people's property and if the boys
+found their cattle with the Tenneseans, and wanted any help to get them
+back again to call on them, and putting in some good strong swear words
+for emphasis.
+
+The boys, barefooted and with only overalls and shirts, started after
+the moving train which they called to a halt when overtaken. The coarse
+grass was pretty hard to hurry through, clothed as they were. The train
+men were pretty gruff and wanted to know what was wanted. Capt. Doty
+very emphatically told them he could see some of his oxen in their
+train, and others in the herd, and he proposed to have them all back
+again. The Jayhawker boys were unarmed but were in a fighting mood and
+determined to have the stock at all hazards, and if not peaceably, war
+might commence. The boys saw that the two trains were of about equal
+strength, and if worse came to worst they could go back and get their
+guns and men and come over in full force after their property, and they
+were assured the Missourians would help them and a combination of forces
+would give them a majority and they could not be beaten by the Tennessee
+crowd. There was a good deal of talk, but finally when Doty demanded
+that their cattle be unyoked and the others separated from the herd,
+they yielded and gave them all their stock, some seventy head.
+
+The Missourians had come up and heard the talk, and some of them went
+back and helped drive the cattle to the river, and deal out some double
+shotted thunder against the biggest scamps they had come across. It was
+quite a job to get the cattle across the river. They would go in a
+little way and then circle round and round like a circus, making no
+progress. They finally put a rope on one of them and a man led him as
+far as he could, which was more than half way, and although they landed
+a good ways down stream, they got them all across safely, left their
+borrowed overalls in the hands of their friends, with a thousand thanks
+for valuable assistance, and plunged into the swift running Platte, and
+swam back again to the northern side. They drove the straggling oxen
+back to camp with a sense of great satisfaction, and in turn received
+the praise of their friends who said that Ed Doty was the best Jayhawker
+of the border.
+
+This was the first unpleasantness and they were afterwards more cautious
+and stood guard all night, watching closely all the time, both night and
+day, for for any signs of danger. Thus in time they reached Salt Lake,
+rather late in the season, but safe and sound, having escaped cholera or
+other disease, and in good spirits to surmount any further difficulties
+which might be met.
+
+When the Jayhawkers reached Salt Lake it was found that it was not safe
+to try to go the regular northern route to California, as they were
+advised by those who seemed to know, as they might be snowed in on the
+Sierra Nevada Mountains and perish. The Mormons told them that the snow
+often fell there twenty feet deep, and some other stories likely to
+deter them from making the attempt. They also told them of a route
+farther south by which they could come into California at Los Angeles,
+or they could remain in Salt Lake until May when it would be safe to try
+the mountain route again. After listening to the talk of the
+mountaineers who claimed to have been over the route and to know all
+about it, and camping some time to rest and learn all they could, they
+finally decided on taking the southern route. One Mormon told them of a
+place where they could make a cut-off and save five hundred miles, and,
+if they would follow his instructions, they would find the route fully
+as good as the one usually traveled which was not much better than a
+trail. The cut-off was so instilled into their minds that they had great
+confidence in the report and talked very favorably of taking it.
+
+The man Williams made for them a map of the proposed route and explained
+it to them and others who had gathered at Salt Lake, and from the map
+they could see how much was to be gained in time and distance by taking
+that route. A month or two of travel was indeed something to gain, and
+as the roads seemed similar in quality the reasoning was very plausible
+The map explained all the watering places and favorable things but said
+nothing about a desert, and as there was no one to tell them any
+unfavorable side to this plan there were many who quite concluded to go
+this way, and among those who did so were the Jayhawkers, and the
+"Williams Short Route" was freely talked about as a settled thing by
+them.
+
+They now set about preparing to move. They sold, traded, and bought oxen
+till they had the best and fattest teams in Salt Lake Valley; selected
+good provisions, and plenty of them so as to be safe in case of delay,
+and contended that nothing could stop them in a country where but little
+snow could be, and water was as plentiful as shown on the map. They
+wanted to reach the gold mines and this was the shortest route and even
+if it was still considerably longer than the northern way they said they
+would rather be moving along and thus gain time than to so long in camp
+with nothing to do by which they could earn a cent. There were here in
+Salt Lake ten times as many men as could find employment, and Brigham's
+saints would be pretty sure to get all of the odd jobs to the exclusion
+of the heretics.
+
+To bring the matter to a determination a paper was drawn up for those to
+sign who wanted to go the southern route and it was pretty generally
+signed. The Mormon elder, John Hunt, was consulted, and as he seemed to
+know the general southern route better than any one else, he was
+prevailed upon to guide the train through on the old Spanish Trail. This
+had never been used as a wagon road, but he thought it could be without
+much difficulty, and he said if they could secure him a fair sized train
+he would go and conduct them through for ten dollars a wagon. This
+proposition was accepted after some consideration, and all who wished to
+do so were given permission to join the train. In a few days there were
+one hundred and seven wagons enlisted for this route, including seven
+Mormons bound for San Bernardino.
+
+Preparations for the trip now began in good earnest, and the Saints were
+liberally patronized in purchase of flour and meat which were the
+principal things they had to sell. As their several wagons were loaded
+they moved out in small lots to the south to keep in good fresh feed for
+their animals, and to move on slowly till all were ready, when they
+would join in one large body and proceed. The guide was in no special
+haste as he said he wanted to wait a little later so the weather in the
+south would be cooler than they would be likely to find it if they
+pressed on at once. He said that in summer it was so hot that no white
+man could endure the heat. He said they could work slowly along the
+trail, and when the right time came he would move out himself, and that
+they might be assured that it would then be the coolest and best time in
+which to travel down there. So the company dallied along, and it was
+October before the whole train was made up at a point about a hundred
+miles south of Salt Lake.
+
+The complete organization was divided into seven divisions, each with
+its captain, and division No. 1 was to lead the march the first day and
+then fall to the rear while No. 2 took the advance, and so continued
+till all had taken their turn. The leading party was to guard and care
+for the cattle and deliver them in the morning. The regulations were
+read aloud to the captains, and this rather large army of men, women and
+children, with about five hundred head of stock, moved out very
+systematically. It would sometimes be fully ten o'clock before the rear
+division could make a start, and correspondingly late before they could
+get up with the main camp at night. They got along very well, but
+cleaned the country of grass for some distance each side of the trail,
+as they swept along.
+
+About the first of November Capt. Smith overtook us with the pack train,
+and camped with us at night. He formed many acquaintances and told them
+he was going to take a shorter route and save five hundred miles, rather
+than take the long route by way of Los Angeles. He had a map of his
+proposed route, and it was very much like the one we had. He also stated
+that it could probably be as easily traveled as the one by way of Los
+Angeles, and as a consequence of his talk, cut-off fever began to rage
+in camp again. Some got very enthusiastic in the matter and spoke
+publicly in favor of following Capt. Smith when he should come to the
+place when his short route turned away from the other trail. His plan
+grew so much in favor that when the place was reached a hundred wagons
+turned out into the Smith trail, leaving Capt. Hunt only the seven
+Mormon wagon bound for San Bernardino, Hunt stood at the forks of the
+road as the wagons went by and said to them;--"Good-bye, friends. I
+cannot, according to my agreement go with you, for I was hired for this
+road, and no other was mentioned. I am in duty bound to go even if only
+one wagon decides to go." When the last wagon had passed him he still
+stood talking with several who had chosen the new way and told them they
+were taking a big risk, for they did not know very much about the route,
+and he had been thinking that they might find it pretty rough and hard
+to get over the first time. He said that if all decided to go that way
+he would go and help them, even if they went to h-ll, but as it was he
+could not. He wished them luck and the two trains parted company.
+
+At the end of three days of travel on the Smith trail they came to the
+top of a long steep hill. The trail went down and down, and they see no
+way of crossing the terribly deep cañon that was before them. So they
+went into camp and sent explorers out to investigate and find a crossing
+if possible.
+
+On the second day the explorers began to return with very unfavorable
+reports, and many who found their progress thus blocked turned about and
+started to follow Hunt. Most of the wagons which remained had each one
+or more of their men out exploring and could not turn back until their
+return. Several of the Jayhawkers having once started on this route were
+very anxious to get through on it if a way could be found for them to do
+it, and therefore searched farther and with greater determination than
+the others. When they returned they reported they had found a way around
+the head of the cañon and they believed it to be the right way. The map
+Williams had given them did not show this cañon and they believed it to
+be correct, and that the real road led around at the place which they
+had found, and no further trouble would be met.
+
+Acting on this report about twenty wagons, including the Jayhawkers,
+concluded to go ahead. "We can beat the other fellows a month," said
+they, and so they hitched up and pulled out in a northerly direction,
+feeling in good spirits and hopeful of success.
+
+They named this place Mt. Misery. While camped here a lone and seemingly
+friendless man died and was buried. None seem now to remember his name,
+but think he was from Kentucky. He was low with consumption and not
+strong enough to endure the hardships of the journey.
+
+About the third night the Jayhawkers were overtaken by seven more wagons
+owned by A. Bennett and friends, J.B. Arcane and family, two men named
+Earhart and a son of one of them, and one or two other wagons.
+
+The Jayhawker's train was made up of men from many states, but seemed
+well united and was as complete as when they first started. The Author
+was with the party that came up in the rear, which had started later but
+traveled faster on account of having a road broken for them. He visited
+the leaders in camp when they were discussing the necessity of forming a
+new travelling compact to help and protect each other on the road. Those
+who had no families were objecting to being bound to those who had women
+and children with them. They argued that the road would be hard and
+difficult and those wagons with women and children would require more
+assistance than they would be able to render in return. They said they
+could go back and follow Hunt who was on a better road and they could
+proceed with more safely.
+
+Among those with this train was Rev. J.W. Brier, his wife and three
+children. He objected to being turned back and said he did not want to
+be assisted, but would go with them and do his part and take care of
+himself. The Author listened to the various speeches without speaking
+and became satisfied that it would end in every one looking out for
+himself in case of hard times. He went over to their camp again the next
+night and wished to ask them why they were steering so nearly due north.
+He said to them that they were going toward Salt Lake rather than
+California, and that the Bennet party did not feel inclined to follow
+them any farther in that direction. They replied that their map told
+them to go north a day or more and then they would find the route as
+represented. They would then turn west and reach Owen's Lake and from
+there there would be no more trouble. The Jayhawker crowd seemed to
+think they could go anywhere and no difficulty could happen which they
+couldn't overcome. Bennett's little train turned west from this point
+and the Jayhawkers went on north, but before night they changed their
+minds and came following on after Bennett whom they overtook and passed,
+again taking the lead.
+
+Thus far the country had been well watered and furnished plenty of
+grass, and most of them talked and believed that this kind of rolling
+country would last all the way through. The men at leisure scattered
+around over the hills on each side of the route taken by the train, and
+in advance of it, hunting camping places and making a regular picnic of
+it. There were no hardships, and one man had a fiddle which he tuned up
+evenings and gave plenty of fine music. Joy and happiness seemed the
+rule, and all of the train were certainly having a good time of it.
+
+But gradually there came a change as the wagon wheels rolled westward.
+The valleys seemed to have no streams in them, and the mountain ranges
+grew more and more broken, and in the lower ground a dry lake could be
+found, and water and grass grew scarce--so much so that both men and
+oxen suffered. These dry lake beds deceived them many times. They seemed
+as if containing plenty of water, and off the men would go to explore.
+They usually found the distance to them about three times as far as they
+at first supposed, and when at last they reached them they found no
+water, but a dry, shining bed, smooth as glass, but just clay, hard as a
+rock. Most of these dry lakes showed no outlet, nor any inlet for that
+matter, though at some period in the past they must have been full of
+water. Nothing grew in the shape of vegetables or plants except a small,
+stunted, bitter brush.
+
+Away to the west and north there was much broken country, the mountain
+ranges higher and rougher and more barren, and from almost every sightly
+elevation there appeared one or more of these dry lake beds. One night
+after about three days of travel the whole of the train of twenty seven
+wagons was camped along the bank of one of these lakes, this one with a
+very little water in it not more than one fourth or one half an inch in
+depth, and yet spread out to the width of a mile or more. It was truly
+providential, for by digging holes along the border the water would run
+into them and prove abundant for all, both oxen and men. If it had
+proved dry, as so many before had proved, or if we had been a few days
+earlier or later we might not have found a drop. This proved to be the
+last time the whole twenty seven wagons were gathered in one camp
+together.
+
+The Author came into camp about nine o'clock in the evening after
+climbing many peaks and taking a survey of the surrounding country with
+a field glass. Men from nearly every mess came to him to inquire what he
+had seen. They asked all sorts of questions and wanted an opinion as to
+the advisability of trailing across the prairie directly west, which
+then seemed easy. They were told that from what could be seen from the
+summit of buttes both north and south of the camp, ranging a hundred or
+so miles in almost every direction, it was believed no water could be
+found, between the present camp and a range of mountains which could be
+seen crossing the route far to the west. "Well," said Capt. Doty of the
+Jayhawkers, "I don't like to hear such discouraging talk from Manley,
+but I think we will have to steer straight ahead. The prospect for water
+seems to be about the same, west or south, and I cannot see that we
+would better ourselves, by going north." When morning came Capt. Doty
+and his party yoked up and set out straight across the desert, leaving
+seven wagons of the Bennett party still in camp.
+
+For some time all of us had seen in the range ahead an appearance of a
+pass, or lower place in the mountain, and we had got to calling it
+Martin's Pass, naming it after Jim Martin. There was a snow-capped peak
+just to the south of it and the pass, now apparently exactly west of the
+lake camp, seemed to the Jayhawkers easy to reach. Their wills were
+strong enough and they were running over with determination and energy
+enough to carry them over any plain, no matter how dry or barren, or
+over any mountain no matter how rugged and steep.
+
+Five days they traveled, without finding water, and small supply they
+took along had been consumed. For lack of water they could not eat or
+sleep. The oxen gathered round the little fire and seemed to beg for
+water, they had no cud to chew unless it was the cud of disappointment.
+The range of mountains they had been aiming for still seemed far away
+and the possible show for reaching it seemed very poor indeed, and the
+prospect of any water hole between them and the mountains poorer yet.
+Hope was pretty near gone. Martins mess unyoked their oxen from the
+wagons, put some small packs on their own backs, and loaded some upon
+the backs of the oxen, and turned south toward the nearest snowy
+mountain they could see, the same one towards which the Bennett party
+steered from the lake camp.
+
+The Doty party kept their courage longer and kept on straight ahead for
+another day, and then camped, almost without hope. No rest came to them,
+nor sleep. Towards morning as they stood around the fire a stray cloud
+appeared and hid the stars, and shortly after began to unload a cargo of
+snow it carried. They spread out every blanket, and brushed up every bit
+they could from the smooth places, kindled a little fire of brush under
+the camp kettles and melted all the snow all of them could gather,
+besides filling their mouths as fast as ever they could, hoping that it
+would full in sufficient quantities to satisfy themselves and the oxen,
+and quench their dreadful thirst. Slowly the cloud moved scattering the
+snowflakes till they felt relieved. The last time the Author conversed
+with a member of this party was in 1892, and it was conceded that this
+storm saved the lives of both man and beast in that little band of
+Jayhawkers. It was like manna falling from Heaven, and as surely saved
+their lives as did the manna of the Bible save the lives of the tribes
+of Israel. They had no reason to expect a storm of rain or snow, but
+came to them just as they were perishing. A little further on they came
+to a small stream of water, and as the bed showed only a recent flow it
+must also have come from the little local storm further up the mountain.
+They used this water freely, even though it was not very good, and it
+acted on them very much like a solution of Glanber Salts.
+
+They decided at first that they had better follow the stream southward,
+but after a little time, feeling the sickness caused by the water, they
+saw it was no advantage and turned west again, bearing to the north
+toward a sort of pass they could now see in the mountains in that
+direction. This stream is now known as the Amargosa, or bitter, river.
+
+The new direction in which they marched gave them an up-hill route for
+thirty or forty miles, rough and barren, with no water or grass. There
+was no road or trail to follow, the oxen were as weak as their owners
+from drinking the bitter water, and the road needed some clearing and
+breaking in places before the wagons could pass. They moved quite slowly
+and reached the summit on the second night with the loss of a single ox.
+The Author would say here that this was the last ox which was allowed to
+die without using the flesh for food, and it was from this same one he
+cut a steak to eat on Christmas eve, 1849.
+
+From the summit they took a way down a dark, deep cañon having a steep
+slope, and very rocky and bad, but down which the oxen drew their loads
+much easier than when they came up, reaching water on the third day,
+where there were many springs, and a sort of coarse grass for the oxen.
+The place is now known as Furnace Creek. The Jayhawkers passed on, and
+here at these very springs was where the Author overtook the Rev. J.W.
+Brier delivering a lecture to his children on the benefits of an early
+education, as referred to in his narrative.
+
+As the Jayhawkers drove out of this Furnace Creek Cañon the valley into
+which they came was very narrow, the high, snow-capped mountain before
+them seemed steeper and rougher than ever, so steep in fact that it
+could not be ascended by a man on foot. A short distance below could be
+seen a lake containing water, and the pass toward which they had been
+directing their course seemed to the north of them. They therefore
+turned their course in that direction. The road was sandy, and the brush
+that grew on it was only a few inches high. On their way they came to an
+abandoned Indian camp occupied by one poor old blind red man. He would
+hold his mouth open like a young bird begging for something to eat. One
+man dropped kernels of parched corn into his mouth, but instead of
+eating them he quickly spit them out; it seemed that he had been left to
+die and could not or would not. His hair was white as snow. His skin
+looked about the color of a smoked ham, and so crippled was he that he
+crawled about like a beast, on all fours. It was barely possible that he
+had been left to watch, and that his great infirmities were only
+pretended, but they seemed genuine enough, and were doubtless true. They
+left him in peaceable possession of the spot and traveled on.
+
+They approached the base of the mountain in front of what they had all
+along supposed to be a pass, and found, as they had lately begun to
+suspect, that there was no pass that their wagons could be taken
+through, and they must be abandoned. The camp was poor. What little
+water there was had a salty taste, and they could only find here and
+there a bunch of the poorest grass. The oxen stood around as if utterly
+dispirited, and would sometimes make a faint effort to pick up and eat
+some of the dry brush that grew around the desolate camp. This camp is
+now known to be in the northern part of Death Valley, but then they knew
+no names for anything, but if dreariness and absence of life, and
+threatened danger all around were any indication, they might well have
+named it Death Valley as was afterwards done by the party with whom the
+Author traveled.
+
+The party had been brave till now, but when they realized that they must
+make pack animals of themselves, and trudge on, they knew not where,
+perhaps to only a lingering death, the keen edge of disappointment cut
+close, and they realized how desolate they were. They felt much inclined
+to attribute all their troubles to the advice of the Mormons. Some said
+that the plan was thus to wipe so many more hated Gentiles out of the
+way, and wishes were deep and loud that the Mormons might all be buried
+out of sight in the Great Salt Lake. They thought Lot's wife must have
+been turned to salt in the neighborhood, everything was so impregnated
+with saline substances, and the same result might come to them. But the
+inherent manhood of the little band came to their relief and they
+determined not to die without a struggle for escape and life.
+
+They killed some of their oxen, and took the wood of their wagons and
+kindled fires to dry and smoke the flesh so it would be light and easy
+to carry with them. They scattered all surplus baggage around the
+ground, carefully storing and saving the bit of bread that yet remained
+and dividing it equally among the party. They also divided the tea,
+coffee, rice and some such things, and each one agreed that he could not
+ask aught of his neighbor more. Knapsacks were improvised from parts of
+the wagon canvas, and long strips of canvas were made into a sort of
+pack harness for the oxen. It was a sad sight to see the strong and
+vigorous young men of a few days ago reduced to such straits; almost
+skeletons now, with no hope of nourishment to invigorate them. They made
+canteens by sewing a couple of small powder cans in cloth, with a band
+to go over the shoulders.
+
+The Jayhawkers were still making their preparations when the Martin
+party and Rev. J.W. Brier and family came up to their camp, having taken
+a circuit around farther to the south. The Martin party was already in
+marching order and this camp was so poor that they did not wait, but
+gave all their oxen they had left to Mr. Brier and said they could get
+on faster without them. They took a straight course over the hills and
+up the mountain, saying they believed they had provisions enough upon
+their backs to last them through, and that nothing should check their
+progress till they reached the other side, where they said were fertile
+valleys and plenty of chance to live.
+
+The Doty party, or Jayhawkers, when they were ready started first a
+northerly course to find a more favorable place to cross the range and
+drove their oxen with them, each with a small pack. They soon came to
+some good water, and after refreshing themselves turned westward to
+cross the great mountain before them. Both men and oxen were shod with
+moccasins made of raw-hide to protect the feet against sharp rocks. They
+could see no trail but merely picked out the best way to go. While
+climbing the steep mountain side they came across a dead ox left by some
+party that had gone before them. They cut out the tongue and some of the
+best meat and ate it to eke out their own small stock, and carried some
+pieces with them, but soon threw it all away but enough for a roast for
+supper.
+
+When it was getting dark they were almost at the summit, but there was
+no good camping place, and they saw a small fire light at a little
+distance and went to it, finding a poor lone camper taking care of
+himself. They camped here also. It seemed as if there were many men from
+the various parties scattered all around the country, each one seeking
+out the path which seemed to suit best his tender feet or present fancy,
+steering west as well as mountains and cañon would permit, some farther
+north, some farther south and generally demoralized, each thinking that
+as a last resort he would be able to save his own life. It seemed to be
+a question of will and endurance, strong hearts and keeping the body in
+motion. The weak and faint must fail, and the strong said to the
+weak;--"Stand up; be a man; don't fall down;" and so the strong spurred
+on the weak and kept them up as best they could.
+
+Down the mountain they went, on the west side and instead of Los
+Angeles, which some of them expected to see, they saw only a salt lake
+in the midst of a barren desert valley and their route lay directly
+across it. They traveled in several directions as they went across. One
+went across the valley on a strip of dried mud between two small lakes.
+Others followed down along the east side of the lake near the foot of
+the mountain, where they found some good water and an old Indian camp.
+They found some mosquite beans, which they did not know were of much
+use, but really, if they had known how to fix them up a little they
+would have been good food.
+
+Capt. Doty's mess crossed between the lakes on the strip of dry mud
+while others went on where it was still soft and left marks of their
+foot-steps. Both parties turned up a small cañon on the west side and
+began the ascent of a black and barren range, containing no water, but
+in the bed of the ravine near the summit they found some damp sand and
+tried to dig with their hands to find some of the precious fluid. But no
+water came, and in the morning one of their number Mr. Fish died and was
+left unburied on the barren rocks. No doubt his bones could be found
+there to-day.
+
+Turning west again, they had a down grade over a most barren and rocky
+road for many miles. The prospect from this point was any thing but
+cheering. To the left a large lake could be seen, and from their
+previous experience they concluded it to be salt, and the valley they
+were coming to was very sandy, and the hardest sort of footing for men
+and animals as weak as those of the party were. It must be crossed
+before there was any possibility of water, and when across it was quite
+uncertain whether they could obtain any. One of their number had already
+died of thirst and fatigue and all were suffering terribly.
+
+The valley seemed about eight miles across, and before they were half
+way over Mr. Ischam, one of their party sat down, perfectly exhausted,
+and said he could not take another step. No one was able to assist him
+or give him a drink of water, and they could not tarry to see if rest
+would refresh him. They could only look sadly at him and pass on in
+silence, for he seemed fast wasting away. The thought came to everyone
+that perhaps it would be his turn next to sit down and see the others
+pass on. In fact the probability of any more of them living another day
+was very poor, for they all grew weaker and weaker with every hour, and
+no one knew how many hours must pass before they could hope for water.
+There was not moisture enough in their poor bodies to make tears, and no
+one dare open his mouth, lest all the moisture suddenly evaporate and
+respiration cease.
+
+Those who had no cattle took different courses to reach the hills and
+mountains on the west side of this valley, hoping there to find water
+and signal to the others if they were successful. All except the two men
+managed to get across, and finding no water the packs were taken from
+the oxen and they were driven to the lake which appeared on the left.
+Reaching the lake they found the water red in color and so strong of
+alkali that no man or beast could take a single swallow. They drove the
+cattle back again with sad hearts, and almost despondent, for in the
+rough, dry rocks of the mountains there seemed no signs of water. But
+they were saved again. Those who bore farthest to the right in their
+course to the mountains, steering toward a pile of tremendous rocks,
+found a little stream of good water which flowed only a short distance
+and then sank into the sand. This good news spread rapidly, and all soon
+gathered at the little streamlet. It was slow work getting water for
+them all, but by being patient they were all filled up. Some took two
+canteens of water and hurried back to Mr. Ischam, whom they found still
+alive but his mouth and throat so dry and parched, and his strength so
+small that he was unable to swallow a single drop, and while they waited
+he breathed his last. With their hands and feet they dug away the sand
+for a shallow grave, placed the body in it, covered it with his
+blankets, and then scraped the sand back over again to make a little
+mound over their dead comrade. Perhaps if he could have walked a mile
+farther he might have lived, and but for the little trickling stream of
+water from the rocks they might all be dead, so slight were the
+circumstances that turned the scale to balance toward life or death.
+
+There was so little feed for oxen that they could gain no strength, but
+were much refreshed by the water and could still travel. One was killed
+here, and the meat, poor as it was, gave the men new strength. They all
+guessed it to be at least fifty miles to the base of the great snow
+mountain before them, and what there was between no one could tell, for
+there were hills and valleys between. Leaving the little spring their
+course led first up a small cañon, and when they reached the summit of
+the ridge a small valley covered with sage brush was before them, the
+most fertile spot they had seen for a long time. The descent to this
+valley was through another cañon which was filled with large boulders
+for much of the way, and over these it seemed almost impossible to get
+the cattle. They had seen no water since leaving the little stream, and
+the plain they were now approaching seemed thirty miles wide, with no
+signs of streams or springs. However just at the foot of the cañon they
+found a small water hole, but the water was so salt that even the oxen
+refused to drink it.
+
+They decided to make a push across the plain and endeavor to reach the
+other side in two days, and they knew there could be no water on its
+even expanse. The plain seemed quite an up grade from where they were to
+the base of the mountain.
+
+On the second day they all reached the point they were aiming for except
+Rev. J.W. Brier and family, and they came in one day behind. Every one
+looked out for himself and had no time nor strength to spare to help
+others. Here on a small bench overlooking the country to the south and
+east but still a long distance from the snow, they found some holes of
+water, and some bunch grass a little farther up the hill. Here was a
+large trail coming from the north and leading from this point westward.
+There were no signs of recent use, but there were many indications that
+it was quite ancient and had been considerably traveled in time past.
+This was quite encouraging to many of them and they declared they would
+follow this trail which would surely lead to some place well known, in a
+better country. They cared not whether it led to California, Mexico, or
+Texas, only that they might get out of this country which seemed
+accursed. Any place where they could get something to eat and drink
+would be better than this.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Brier had some pretty hard struggles to get along, and
+everyone of this party has ever been loud in praise of the energy and
+determination of the brave little woman of the Brier mess. All agreed
+that she was by far the best man of the party. She was the one who put
+the packs on the oxen in the morning. She it was who took them off at
+night, built the fires, cooked the food, helped the children, and did
+all sorts of work when the father of the family was too tired, which was
+almost all of the time. They all said that he, like other ministers, had
+fallen out with any work but that of the tongue, and seemed perfectly
+willing for some one else to do the work. Mrs. Brier had the sympathy of
+everyone, and many would have helped her if they could. She waited on
+her big husband with untiring zeal, and still had time to care for the
+children with all of a mother's love. It seemed almost impossible that
+one little woman could do so much. It was entirely to her untiring
+devotion that her husband and children lived. Mr. Brier had but little
+sympathy or help from any one but her. Some were quite sarcastic in
+their remarks about the invalid preacher who never earned his bread by
+the sweat of his brow, and by their actions showed that they did not
+care very much whether he ever got through or not. They thought he ought
+to have asserted his manliness and taken the burden on himself, and not
+lean upon his delicate and trusting wife as he seemed to do. All are
+sure that it is to his faithful wife the Rev. J.W. Brier owed his succor
+from the sands of that desert.
+
+Looking back on the scenes of that day, the way the selfish dispositions
+of people were made manifest is almost incredible. Every one seemed to
+think only of saving his own life, and every spark of human sympathy and
+kindness seemed extinguished. A man would drink the last cup of water
+even if his neighbor choked.
+
+This camp was the same one which the Author mentions in his narrative,
+to which Rogers and himself crept so silently and carefully at night to
+ascertain whether the occupants were friends or foes. They were much
+pleased to find it was Capt. Doty of the Jayhawkers and his mess who had
+remained behind to dry the flesh of an ox they had killed when it could
+travel no longer. The others had gone on ahead, following the trail,
+leaving these to follow. They staid here two days, and it was while
+waiting here that the Rev. J.W. Brier came up as before related, and
+they all went on together when they moved.
+
+Nearly every man had carried a gun in the early days of the expedition,
+hoping to kill game, and to be well armed in case of attack by Indians
+or enemies, but they began to find that they were useless encumbrances,
+and first one and then another would throw away his fire-arms as a
+burden too great for a weary man to bear. There was no game, and the
+poor weak men hardly deemed their own lives worth defending against an
+enemy when a day or two of lack of water would end the matter of life at
+any rate.
+
+As they slept they dreamed the most tantalizing dreams of clear,
+rippling brooks of water; of wading knee deep in the most beautiful of
+ponds; of hoisting the old moss-covered bucket from some deep old well;
+of breaking and eating great white loaves of bread; of surrounding the
+home table with its load of steaming beans and bacon, fragrant coffee
+and delicious fried cakes. With such dreams of comfort, they awoke to
+realize more fully the terrors of their dry and swollen throats, the
+discomfort of empty stomachs. Water and food were the great riches of
+life to them then. Had piles of twenty-dollars pieces been on the one
+hand and a bucket of cold water on the other there is no doubt of the
+choice that would have been made.
+
+Seven or eight miles from this place were two branches to the trail. One
+led into the mountains toward the snow, and the other still bore
+southerly. They could see that some other party who had no oxen to drive
+had taken the more northerly route, which seemed to lead more directly
+in the direction of the mines of California. Those who came later, with
+animals thought it would be folly to try to cross the deep snow they
+could see on the mountains before them and concluded that it would be
+safer to the south of the snow line, braving the danger of scarcity of
+water, rather than to perish in the snow. Capt. Doty was willing to
+attempt the northern branch of the trail if the others so decided, but
+the general feeling was in favor of the more plain and open trail which
+led away from the snows. It is known that this Northern branch led over
+what is known as Walker's Pass, coming out at the Kern River.
+
+Taking then the southern branch, the party passed through a range of low
+mountains, and then the country before them seemed quite level for a
+hundred miles.
+
+They expected they would find much difficulty on account of water, as
+their experience had taught them that it was very scarce in such
+locations, but this trail when they came to follow it led them for eight
+or ten miles over a level piece of high land that looked as if it might
+have slid down from the high mountain at some day long past, and this
+easily traveled road brought them at last to the top of a steep hill,
+down which they went and found near the bottom, a small weak stream of
+water, but no grass, and but little fuel of any kind. (This was the same
+camp at which Rogers and the Author overtook the advance party.) Here
+they killed an ox, which made a good meal for all, and not much remained
+over, for many had no oxen and were getting out of all sorts of
+provisions. They depended much on the generosity of their fellow
+travelers. Many of them stood back, and waited till those who owned the
+food were satisfied, and were very grateful when they were invited to
+take even the poorest morsels.
+
+They could count the oxen and make a pretty close guess of how many days
+they could live in this way, even with the best probable fortune
+favoring them, and to the best of them there was but little hope, and to
+those who were dependent it seemed as if the fate of Fish and Ischam
+might be theirs almost any day. When the Author conversed with them at
+this camp he found them the first really heart-broken men he had ever
+seen. Some were men of middle age who had left good farms that gave them
+every need, and these they had left to seek a yellow phantom, and now
+there were yellow phantoms of a different sort rearing their dreadful
+forms all about them. They called themselves foolish gold hunters to
+forsake a land of plenty for a chance to leave their bones in a hot
+desert. More eyes than one filled with tears, and hopes in more than one
+breast vanished to almost nothing. More than one would gladly have
+placed himself back where he could have been assured of the poorest fare
+he ever saw upon his farm, for bread and water would have been an
+assurance of life, of which there seemed to be really but little
+expectation here.
+
+When they left this camp in the cañon the trail was between two high
+rocks, rising like walls on each side. In one place they were so near
+together that an ox could hardly squeeze through. In a very short time
+they came to a bunch of willows growing out in the open ground. The
+little bunch or grove was forty or fifty feet in diameter, and in the
+center was a spring of water. The center of the clump had been cleared
+out, making a sort of corral of bushes, enclosing the spring. On the
+outside there was quite a little growth of grass, which was a fortunate
+thing for their poor beasts.
+
+Away in the distance, rising up a little against the western sky they
+could see mountains with snow on them, and it seemed as if it were a
+journey of five or six days to reach them, but the good water and the
+grass bolstered up their spirits wonderfully for there was present
+relief and rather better prospects ahead. They were pretty sure that the
+wide plain held no water. Everything that would hold the precious drink
+was filled, and the best preparations made for what they believed was to
+be the final struggle for life. They rested one day and prepared for the
+very worst that might before them. Early in the morning when they could
+see plainest, they looked across the expanse before them and really it
+did not seem quite so barren, hot and desolate as the region they had
+passed, and they talked and hoped that this would be the last desert
+they must cross and that Los Angeles lay just beyond the sunny ridge
+they could dimly see ahead. There were some tears that more than one
+would not live to answer roll call on the other side, but it was the
+last hope, and worth an earnest, active trial.
+
+Early in the morning, much refreshed, they started on again with rather
+sober faces. That night one man insisted on sleeping with his clothes
+and boots all on, for he said if he died he wanted to die in full dress.
+Another day and some thought they could see trees on the mountains ahead
+of them, and this renewed their courage greatly. In the middle of the
+day they suffered greatly with the heat and the dry air seemed to drink
+up every bit of moisture from everybody. When they killed an ox they
+saved the blood and ate it. The intestines, cleaned with the fingers,
+made food when roasted on the fire, and pieces of hide, singed and
+roasted, helped to sustain life. The water was nearly all gone. Only
+power of will and strength of body had kept any. Capt. Asa Haines sat
+down one day and said he could go no farther, but his comrade, L.D.
+Stephens, who had kept a little rice, a little tea, and a dry crust of
+bread for time of need, took a little water in a cup and made some soup
+which he forced his friend to eat and soon he revived and was able to
+move on again. That was true friendship.
+
+The next night Stevens himself awoke and seemed perishing with thirst.
+He crawled over to Doty's bed and begged for just one sup of water, Doty
+in the goodness of his heart, took his canteen from under his head
+divided the last few drops with him and the death which threatened him
+was held off. Capt. Doty found it necessary to talk very seriously to
+those who mourned and talked of failing. He never gave up in the least.
+He encouraged all to make every step they could and know no such word as
+fail. When they said that death would be easier than life, he told them
+so, but that life was possible if they only willed it, and a better life
+than had been theirs. And so he kept them encouraged and kept them
+putting one foot before the other, pointing out the ever lessening
+distance to the mountain before them. He appealed to their manhood. "Be
+men," said he, "Be brave and courageous, and you have more strength than
+you believe." Thus by example and words he proved to be a true captain
+to his little band.
+
+Their water was all gone, every drop, and still the foot-hills seemed
+far away. The supply of meat ran out. Tom Shannon killed an ox, and when
+those who had cattle had taken some, the others who had none were told
+to divide the rest. There was no water to dress or cook it, but it
+helped to sustain life. Entrails, bones, sinews, bits of hide and
+everything was used. One man was seen with an ox horn, burning the end
+in the fire and gnawing away at the softened portion. It was something
+terrible to see human beings eating what the dogs would cast aside. One
+man saw some moist looking earth on the shady side of a bunch of brush
+and he dug down and got a handful of it, from which he tried to suck the
+moisture. He failed, and the bad taste of the earth made him suffer more
+than before. Many bones of horses and cattle now appeared along the
+trail. They seemed to have been there a long time, and some were partly
+decayed. On this waterless stretch one of their number, a Frenchman,
+wandered off, searching for water in little hollows or puddles, and
+never came back to camp. He was supposed to be dead, but ten years
+afterward some surveyors found him in a Digger Indian camp.
+
+An idea how selfish men will get under such circumstances may be gained
+by relating that on one occasion when an ox was killed the liver was
+carried to the brave little Mrs. Brier for herself and children, and she
+laid it aside for a few moments till she could attend to some other
+duties before cooking it. Darkness coming on meanwhile, some
+unprincipled, ungallant thief stole it, and only bits of offal and
+almost uneatable pieces were left to sustain their lives. That any one
+could steal the last morsel from a woman and her children surpasses
+belief, but yet it was plain that there was at least one man in the
+party who could do it. No one can fully understand or describe such
+scenes as this unless he has looked into just such hungry looking,
+haggard eyes and faces, a mixture of determination and despair, the
+human expression almost vanishing, and the face of a starving wolf or
+jackal taking its place, There are no words to paint such a state of
+things to him who has never seen and known.
+
+But there were true men, true, charitable hearts in that little band.
+Though death stared them in the face they never forgot their fellow men.
+As they slowly crawled along many would wander here and there beside the
+trail and fall behind, especially the weaker ones, and many were the
+predictions that such and such a one would never come up again, or reach
+the camp. Then it was that these noble souls, tired almost beyond
+recovery themselves, would take water and go back to seek the wandering
+ones and give them drink and help them on. More than one would thus have
+perished in the sands but for the little canteen of water carried back
+by some friend. Only a swallow or two would often revive their failing
+strength and courage, and with slow step they would move on again. How
+much good a crust of bread would have done such a poor creature. Bread
+there was none--nothing but the flesh of their poor oxen, wasted and
+consumed by days of travel and lack of food till it had no goodness in
+it. Even the poor oxen, every night seemed to be the end of their
+walking; every morning it was feared that that would be the last time
+they would be able to rise upon their feet.
+
+Already five or six days had passed since they left the camp at the
+willows where they had their last supply of water, and still they were
+on the desert. The journey was longer than they had expected, partly
+owing to the slow progress they had made for there were frequent stops
+to rest or they could not move at all. The mountains seemed nearer every
+day, and the trees were outlined more plainly each morning as they
+started out. Capt. Doty used every circumstance to encourage them. He
+would remark upon the favorable signs of water in the hills before them,
+and the hope that there might be some game to provide better meat than
+that of starving oxen. Thus he renewed their hope and kept alive their
+courage. He must have had a great deal of fortitude to hide his own sad
+feelings, for they must as surely have come to him as to any one, and to
+keep up always an air of hope, courage, and determination to succeed. If
+he had been a man of less spirit and good judgment it is very probable
+that many more would have been left by the wayside to die.
+
+About this point the trail which had been growing fainter and fainter,
+seemed to vanish entirely. One could move in almost any direction to
+right or left as he chose, and because of this, previous travel had
+doubtless scattered and thus left no trail. It was thought best that
+this company should spread out and approach the mountains in as broad a
+front as possible so as to multiply the chances of finding water, and so
+they started out in pairs, some to the right and some to the left, each
+selecting the point where water seemed most probable.
+
+Tom Shannon and a companion were one of these pairs. Tom was one of the
+few who still stuck to his gun, for he felt that it might save his life
+sometime. He and his companion separated about a mile, each looking at
+all points that showed the least sign of water. Suddenly a jack rabbit
+started from a bush, the first game Shannon had seen for more than a
+month. He pulled the rifle on him as he was making some big bound and
+had the good luck to nearly split his head open. Rushing up to his game
+he put his mouth to the wound and sucked the warm blood as it flowed,
+for it was the first liquid he had seen; but instead of allaying his
+fearful thirst it seemed to make it worse and he seemed delirious. A
+little way up the gulch he saw a rock and a green bush and steered for
+it, but found no water. He sat down with his back to the rock, his rifle
+leaning up near by, pulled his old worn hat over his eyes, and suffered
+an agony of sickness. He realized that life was leaving his body, and
+there he sat with no power to move and no desire to make an effort. It
+seemed as if he could see plain before him all the trail from where he
+sat, back over all the deserts, mountains and rivers to the old place in
+Illinois. He entirely forgot the present, and seemed unconscious of
+everything but the pictures of the past. The mind seemed growing freer
+from its attachment to the body and at liberty to take in his whole past
+life, and bright scenes that had gone before. How long he sat thus he
+knows not. His companion was fortunate in finding water, and when he had
+refreshed himself he set out to find poor Tom of whom he could see
+nothing. Going toward where he heard the shot he followed on till he saw
+him at the rock, almost doubled up, with his face concealed by his hat.
+"O! Tom!" said he, but there came no answering motion, and going nearer
+he called again and still no answer and no sign. Poor Tom had surely
+passed on to the better land, thought he, and salvation was so near. He
+approached and lifted the hat rim. There was a movement of the eyes, a
+quivering of the muscles of the face, and a sort of semi-unconscious
+stare such as precedes approaching dissolution.
+
+Quickly holding back his head he poured water between his lips from his
+canteen and it was swallowed. Then a little more, and then some more,
+and life seemed coming back again into a troublesome world, bringing
+pain with it, and the consciousness of a suffering body. After a time he
+felt better and was helped to his feet, and together they went to the
+water hole where they made a fire and cooked the rabbit which was the
+first savory meat they had tasted for a long time. Tom felt better and
+told his companion how he felt after tasting the warm rabbit's blood,
+and how he had nearly gone off into the sleep of death.
+
+"If you had been a little longer finding me," said Tom, "I should soon
+have been out of this sad world." They fired a signal gun, looked down
+at the bones of the rabbit, drank more water, and gradually felt new
+life coming to them. The mountains seemed more fertile, and there was
+brush and grass near by, timber farther up, and still higher a cap of
+snow extending far along the range, both north and south. Towards night
+on this eventful day the scattered travelers began to come slowly into
+camp attracted by the guns and the smoke of the fire made by those who
+first found the water. Some were nearly as far gone as Tom Shannon was,
+and great caution had to used in giving them water on their empty
+stomach. One man named Robinson became so weak before he got near camp
+that his companions placed him on the back of one of the animals and a
+man walked on either side to catch him if he fell off. When they got
+within a mile of the water he insisted that he was strong enough to take
+care of himself and not be watched every minute, and they relaxed their
+vigilance. He soon fell off, and when they went to him he refused to be
+put back on the animal again or to walk any farther. "Just spread my
+blankets down," said he, "and I will lie down and rest a little and
+after a while I will come along into camp." So they left him and pushed
+on to water, and when they were a little refreshed went back to him with
+water, and to help him to come in, but when they came to him they found
+him dead. He did not seem to have moved after he had lain down. He did
+not seem so bad off as Shannon was when he lay down, and probably a few
+swallows of water at that time would have saved his life. It seemed sad
+indeed, after so much suffering and striving to get along, that he
+should die within a mile of water that would have saved his life. If he
+had possessed a little more strength so that the spark of life could
+have remained a little longer, the cooling moisture from the canteen
+would have revived it, and a little rest would have placed him on his
+feet again. They had no tools to dig a grave, not even a knife for they
+had left every weight in camp, so they covered him closely in his
+blankets and sadly returned to their friends. They had all along hoped
+that the Frenchman who had wandered away would come in, but he never
+came. There were several water holes scattered around at this point
+which seemed to be a sort of sunken place in the hills, and quite large
+brush could be obtained for fire, and grass for the oxen. Those who had
+been good hunters and had thrown away their rifles as useless burdens,
+now began to look at hills before them and think that game might be
+found in them, as well as water. There were only one or two guns in the
+whole party, They thought that this must surely be the edge of the great
+desert they had crossed, and only the snow range before them could be
+the obstacle that separated them from Los Angeles.
+
+One day from here would bring them to the edge of the snow, and they
+debated as to the best course to pursue. Some of them were fearful they
+could not cross the snow with the oxen, for it seemed to be quite deep.
+The best place to cross seemed directly west of them. South was a higher
+peak, and to the north it was surely impassible. There seemed to be a
+faint sign of a trail from this point towards the lowest point in the
+snow mountains. There were some bones of cattle around the springs which
+they thought was an indication that in years gone by there had been some
+traveling on this trail. There surely would be water in the snow which
+could be got by melting it, and on the whole it seemed best to make the
+attempt to cross at the lowest place. There were no signs of travel
+except the trail which had not been used in years, not signs of
+civilization except the bones.
+
+Starting from the water holes which showed no signs of having been used
+for several years, their next camp was, as they had calculated, on the
+edge of the snow where they found plenty of dry juniper trees for fire.
+and of course plenty of water. Here they killed an ox and fed the hungry
+so that they were pretty well refreshed. This was an elevated place and
+they could look back over the trail across the desert for, what seemed
+to them, a hundred miles, and the great dangers of their journey were
+discussed. Said one of them to Tom Shannon:--"Tom, you killed the first
+game we have come across in two months. Even the buzzards and coyotes
+knew better than to go out in into the country where the cursed Mormon
+saint sent us numbskulls." Another said that while they had been seeking
+a heaven on earth they had passed through purgatory, or perhaps a worse
+place still nearer the one from which sulphurous fumes arise, and now
+they hoped that there might be a somewhat more heavenly place beyond the
+snow. One who had been silent seemed awakened by inspiration and spoke
+in impromptu lines somewhat as follows, as he pointed out to the dim
+distance:--
+
+
+  "Yonder in mountains' gray beauty,
+      Wealth and fame decay.
+  Yonder, the sands of the desert,
+  Yonder, the salt of the sea,
+  Yonder, a fiery furnace,
+  Yonder, the bones of our friends,
+  Yonder the old and the young
+     Lie scattered along the way."
+
+
+Some even confessed the desperate thoughts that had come to their minds
+when they were choking and starving. We have mentioned four of the train
+who had perished beside the trail and it will be remembered that one
+party of eleven started out on foot before the wagons were abandoned by
+the rest of the party. Nothing was heard of these for seven years, but
+long afterward nine skeletons were found at the remains of a camp, and
+the other two were afterward seen in the gold fields. When spoken to
+about this party, they burst into tears and could not talk of it. So it
+is known that at least thirteen men perished in the country which has
+well been named Death Valley.
+
+People who have always been well fed, and have never suffered from
+thirst till every drop of moisture seemed gone from the body, so they
+dare not open their mouth lest they dry up and cease to breathe, can
+never understand, nor is there language to convey the horrors of such a
+situation. The story of these parties may seem like fairy fables, but to
+those who experienced it all, the strongest statements come far short of
+the reality. No one could believe how some men, when they are starving
+take on the wild aspect of savage beasts, and that one could never feel
+safe in their presence. Some proved true and kind and charitable even
+with death staring them in the face, and never forgot their fellow men.
+Some that seemed weakest proved strongest in the final struggle for
+existence.
+
+Early next morning before the sun rose they started to cross the snow,
+leaving their comrade Robinson behind, rolled up in his blankets, taking
+his everlasting sleep so far as the troubles of this world are
+concerned. What the day would bring forth very few could have any idea.
+Go on they must, and this direction seemed most promising. If the snow
+should prove hard enough to hold up the oxen they could probably cross
+before night, but if compelled to camp in the snow it was a doubtful
+case for them.
+
+The snow held them as they advanced on it, but grew a little softer as
+the sun got higher. The tracks of both men and animals were stained with
+blood from their worn-out feet. When they turned the summit they found
+more timber and the ravine they followed was so shaded that the force of
+the sun was broken, and they really did not suffer very much from
+slumping through the snow, and so got safely over. Not far below the
+snow they found a running brook of clear, sweet water, with willows
+along the banks and trees on the hills, the first really good water for
+a month or two. This is the same camp where Rogers and his companion ate
+their meal of quail, hawk and crow a few days before, and these
+travelers knew by the remains of the little camp fire that they were
+following on the trail of the two men who had gone before.
+
+This place was so great an improvement on the camps of the past that all
+hands began to talk and act more rational as hope dawned more brightly
+on them. Those who had guns branched off to search for game, but found
+they were too weak for that kind of work, and had to sit down very often
+to rest. When they tried to run they stumbled down and made very poor
+progress.
+
+Capt. Doty, Tom Shannon and Bill Rude sat down to rest on a bold point
+above the creek. While there three wild horses came along within easy
+range, and thinking they would form better meat than the oxen each man
+picked his animal and all fired simultaneously, bringing them all to the
+ground. This seemed a piece of glorious luck, and all rushed in like
+wolves lifter a wounded animal. It was not very long before each had a
+chunk of meat in his hand, and many a one did not stop from eating
+because it was not cooked. Such declared they never ate anything so
+delicious in all their lives before, and wondered why horses were not
+used as food instead of hogs and cattle. As they satisfied their
+ravenous appetites they ate more like beasts than like men, so nearly
+were they starved, and so nearly had their starving condition made them
+fall from their lofty estate.
+
+As they passed on down this cañon they found it very brushy and on the
+dry leaves under the wide-spreading trees they saw signs of bear and
+perhaps other animals. There were some swampy places where it was
+grassy, and into these the cattle rushed with great eagerness for the
+food they had so long suffered for. Some of Mr. Brier's cattle went in,
+and in tramping around for food sank deep into the mud and could not be
+coaxed out again. Mrs. Brier threw clubs at them but they did not seem
+inclined to pay much attention to her attacks so she was forced to go in
+after them herself, and in so doing also sank into the mud and could not
+get out without assistance. All this time her reverend husband sat
+outside on the hard ground at a safe distance, but did not offer any
+help. Probably if an extended and learned lecture on the effects of
+gravitation would have done any good he would have been ready with
+prompt and extended service to one whom he had promised to love and
+cherish.
+
+About this time L.D. Stevens came along and seeing the condition of the
+unfortunate woman, at once went to her assistance and helped her to dry
+land. Brier himself never made a move nor said a word. Stevens looked
+terribly cross at him and remarked to his companions that if the
+preacher himself had been the one stuck in the mud he would have been
+quite inclined to leave him there for all of helping him.
+
+The cañon grew narrow as they descended, and the brush thicker, so that
+to follow the bed of the stream was the only way to get along. The
+cattle seemed to scent a bear and stampeded in terror through the brush
+in various directions, all except one which was being led by a rope.
+They tried to follow the animals in a desperate effort to recover them
+and a few blankets they had upon their backs, but could only make slow
+progress. Tom Shannon and two others found a fresh bear track and
+determined to follow it awhile in the hope of having revenge on the
+cause of their mishap with the oxen. They took their blankets and kept
+the trail till night when they camped, but were at so great an elevation
+that a snowstorm came with six inches of snow so they could no longer
+follow the track.
+
+They were very hungry and on the way back came across some wild cherries
+which had dried perfectly dry as they hung on the bushes. These they
+picked and ate, cracking the seeds with their teeth, and declaring them
+to be the best of fruit. Good appetites made almost anything taste good
+then. They got back to the creek next day pretty nearly starved, and
+with neither a bear nor runaway oxen to reward them for their two days'
+hard work.
+
+Wood and water were plenty, but grass was scarce and their ox had to
+live on brush and leaves, but this was infinitely better than the
+stunted and bitter shrubs of the desert. They came out of the brush at
+last into the open bottom land where the brook sank out of sight in the
+sand, and sage brush appeared all about. From this on, over the elevated
+point which projected out nearly across the valley, their experience and
+emotions in coming in sight of vast herds of cattle feeding on rolling
+grassy hills, or reclining under great oak trees scattered over the more
+level lands, were much the same as came to the Author and his party when
+the same scene was suddenly opened to them. Signs of civilization and of
+plenty so suddenly appearing after so many weeks of suffering and
+desolation was almost enough to turn their heads, and more than one of
+the stout-hearted pioneers shed tears of joy. Only a few days before and
+they could scarcely have believed it possible to find a spot so lovely.
+
+But to hungry, more than half starved men, points of artistic beauty and
+sober reflections over the terrors of the past found little place, and
+their first thought was to satisfy the cravings of hunger which were
+assuredly none the less when they beheld the numerous fat cattle all
+around them. There was no one to ask or to buy from and to kill and eat
+without permission might be wrong and might get them into difficulty,
+but one might as well ask a starving wolf to get permission to slay and
+eat when a fat lamb came across his path as to expect these men to take
+very much time to hunt up owners. When life or death are the questions
+that present themselves men are not so apt to discuss the right or wrong
+of any matter.
+
+Tom Shannon and a couple of others did not wait long at any rate, but
+crawled down the creek bed till they were opposite a few fine animals
+and then crept up the bank very near to them. Two or three shots rang
+out and as many fine cattle were brought down. The live cattle ran away
+and the hungry men soon had the field to themselves. Much quicker than
+can be told the men had fat pieces of meat in their hands which they
+devoured without cooking. The men acted like crazy creatures at a
+barbacue--each one cut for himself with very little respect for anyone.
+The boldest got in first and the more retiring came in later, but all
+had enough and gradually resumed more human actions and appearance.
+
+They had hardly finished their bloody feast when they saw a small squad
+of men on horseback advancing toward them, and as they came near it was
+quite plain that they were all armed in some way. All had lassoes at
+their saddles, some had old-fashioned blunderbusses, and nearly every
+one had a _macheta_ or long bladed Spanish knife. As the horsemen drew
+near they formed into something like military order and advanced slowly
+and carefully. It was pretty evident they thought they were about to
+encounter a band of thieving Indians, but as they came closer they
+recognized the strangers as Americans and passed the compliments with
+them in a rather friendly manner.
+
+Some of the Jayhawkers had been in the Mexican War and understood a few
+words of Spanish, and by a liberal use of signs were able to communicate
+with the armed party and tell them who they were, where they were going,
+and the unfortunate condition in which they found themselves. The men
+did not seem angry at losing so few of their cattle, and doubtless
+considered themselves fortunate in not suffering to the extent of some
+hundreds as they did sometimes by Indian raids, and invited the whole
+party down to the ranch house of the San Francisquito Rancho of which
+this was a part. Arrived at the house the ranch men brought in a good
+fat steer which they killed and told the poor Americans to help
+themselves and be welcome. This was on the fourth day of February, 1850.
+
+The whole party remained here to rest themselves and their oxen for
+several days, and were royally entertained by the people at the ranch.
+They talked over the plans for the future, and considered the best
+course to pursue. They thought it would be wise to keep their oxen for
+these would now improve in flesh, and as they had no money with which to
+buy food they might still rely on them in further travels. The best oxen
+had survived, for the failing ones were selected to be killed when they
+were forced to have food. The weaker of their comrades had perished in
+the desert, and the remainder of the train consisted of the strongest
+men and the strongest oxen, and there seemed to be no question but that
+they could all live in this country where grass and water were both
+abundant, and every sign of more or less wild game.
+
+Those of the company who had no cattle made their way directly to Los
+Angeles, and from thence to the coast from which most of them reached
+San Francisco by sailing vessel. Those who had no money were given a
+passage on credit, and it is believed that all such debts were
+afterwards honestly paid.
+
+Capt. Doty made a proposition to buy out the oxen of some who had only
+one or two, giving his note for them payable in San Francisco or
+anywhere up north they might chance to meet, and many of them accepted
+and went to the coast. In this way Doty secured oxen enough to supply
+one for each of those who decided to go with him. They decided to use
+them for pack animals to carry their blankets, and to proceed slowly
+toward the mines, killing game, if possible, and permitting their
+animals to graze and improve in condition as they moved.
+
+There must have been from twenty-five to forty people gathered at the
+ranch. Among them was the Rev. J.W. Brier who seemed to want to impress
+it on the new California friends that he was the man of all others to be
+honored. The ranchman was a good Catholic, and Brier tried to make him
+understand that he, also, was very devout. He said, and repeated to him
+very often--"Me preacher," but he did not succeed very well in
+impressing the good Californian with the dignity of his profession, for
+he could talk no Spanish and was not highly gifted in sign language.
+
+When they went away they had no way to reward their good friends who had
+been friends indeed to them. They could only look their thanks and
+express themselves in a very few words of Spanish. "_Adios Amigos_,"
+said they to the scantily clothed travelers as they set out on their way
+to the mines.
+
+They followed down the course of the river that flowed through the
+valley, the Santa Clara River, and knew that it would take them to the
+sea at last. Before they reached the mission of San Buena Ventura, near
+the sea, they ran out of meat again, for they had failed to find game as
+they had expected, and Capt. Asa Haynes took the chances of killing a
+Spanish cow that looked nice and fat. They camped around the carcass and
+ate, and smoked the meat that was left. While thus engaged two horsemen
+approached, and after taking a good look at the proceedings, galloped
+off again. When the party arrived at the Mission they were arrested and
+taken before the alcalde to give an account of their misdeeds. They
+realized that they were now in a bad fix, and either horn of the dilemma
+was bad enough. They could not talk Spanish; they had no money; they had
+killed somebody's cow; they were very hungry; they might be willing to
+pay, but had no way of doing it; they did not want to languish in jail,
+and how to get out of it they could not understand. Luck came to them,
+however, in the shape of a man who could speak both English and Spanish,
+to whom they told their story and who repeated it to the alcalde,
+telling him of their misfortunes and unfortunate condition, and when
+that officer found out all the circumstances he promptly released them
+as he did not consider them as criminals. The cow was probably worth no
+more than ten dollars.
+
+At Santa Barbara they found a chance to trade off some of their oxen for
+mares, which were not considered worth much, and managed the barter so
+well that they came out with a horse apiece and a few dollars besides,
+with which to buy grub along the road. They depended mostly on their
+guns for supplying them with food. They supposed they were about three
+hundred miles from San Francisco, and expected to meet with but few
+people except at the Missions, of which they had learned there were a
+few along the road. At these there was not much to be had except dried
+beef. However, they managed to use the guns with fair success, and at
+last arrived safely at Stockton where they sold some of their horses for
+more than double what they cost, and with a small number of horses they
+packed on to the gold mines.
+
+Those of the party who went to Los Angeles managed in one way or another
+to get through on schooners, and many of them, after a year or two of
+hard work, made some money and returned to their homes in Illinois. It
+is hardly necessary to add that they did not return via Death Valley.
+
+Some years afterward the members of this party who had returned to their
+Eastern homes formed themselves into an organization which they called
+the Jayhawkers' Union, appointed a chairman and secretary, and each year
+every one whose name and residence could be obtained was notified to be
+present at some designated place on the fourth day of February which was
+the date on which they considered they passed from impending death into
+a richly promising life. They always had as good a dinner as Illinois
+could produce, cooked by the wives and daughters of the pioneers, and
+the old tales were told over again.
+
+One part of the program was the calling of the roll, and such reports
+and letters as had come to hand. The following is a list of the members
+of the party so far as can be ascertained, as gathered from
+recollections and from the reports of the meetings of the reunions.
+
+LIST OF JAYHAWKERS.
+
+The following named were living, so far as known, in 1893:--John B.
+Colton and Alonzo C. Clay, of Galesburg, Ill., Luther A. Richards, of
+Woodhull, Ill., Chas. B. Mecum, of Ripley, Iowa, John W. Plummer, of
+Tulon, Ill., Edward Bartholomew, Urban P. Davidson, John Crosscup and L.
+Dow Stephens, of San Jose, California, Harrison Frans and Thomas
+Shannon, of Los Gatos, Cal., J.W. Brier and wife, Lodi, Cal., three
+children of Mr. Brier.
+
+The following are supposed to be dead:--Ann Haines, Knoxville, Ill.,
+Sidney P. Edgerton, formerly of Blair, Nebraska, Thomas McGrew, John
+Cole, Wm. B. Rude, Wm. Robinson and Alex. Palmer, of Knoxville, Ill.,
+Marshall B. Edgerton, late of Galesburg, Ill. Wm. Ischam, of Rochester,
+N.Y., Mr. ---- Fish, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, John L. West, Aaron Larkin,
+Capt. Edwin Doty and Brien Byram, of Knoxville, Ill., Mr. ---- Carter,
+of Wisconsin, Geo. Allen, Leander Woolsey and Chas. Clark, of Henderson,
+Ill., Mr. ---- Gretzinger, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and a Frenchman whose
+name is unknown.
+
+There were some others connected more or less with the party at some
+part of the trip, but not coming in with the Jayhawker organization. So
+far as learned, their names are as follows:--John Galler, Jim Woods and
+Jim Martin of Miss., Ed Croker of N.Y., David Funk, Mr. Town, Henry
+Wade, wife and three children, Nat Ward, John D. Martin, of Texas, Old
+Francis, a Frenchman, Fred Carr and Negro "Joe," from Miss.
+
+There were a great many reports about finding rich mines about this
+time, and these stories have been magnified and told in all sorts of
+ways since then, and parties have returned to try to find the great
+riches.
+
+Among the Jayhawkers were two Germans who could speak but little English
+and probably for this reason, kept apart from the remainder of the
+party.
+
+One day, after the wagons were abandoned these German fellows were
+marching along alone with their packs on their backs in the warm sun,
+suffering very much for want of water and food, when one of them sat
+down on a hill-side in pretty nearly absolute despair, while the other
+man went down into a ravine hoping to find a puddle of water in the
+rocky bottom somewhere, though it was almost a forlorn hope. All at once
+he called out to his partner on the hill--"John, come down here and get
+some of this gold. There is a lot of it." To this poor John Galler only
+replied:--"No, I won't come. I don't want any gold, but I would like
+very much to have some water and some bread." And so they left the
+valuable find and slowly walked on, pulling through at last with the
+rest of them, and reaching Los Angeles.
+
+The man who found the gold went to the Mission of San Luis Rey and
+started a small clothing store, and some time afterward was killed. John
+Galler settled in Los Angeles and established a wagon shop in which he
+did a successful business. He was an honest, industrious man and the
+people had great confidence in him. He often told them about what his
+partner had said about finding the gold in the desert, and the people
+gave him an outfit on two or three occasions to go back and re-locate
+the find, but he did not seem to have much idea of location, and when he
+got back into the desert again things looked so different to him that he
+was not able to identify the place, or to be really certain they were on
+the same trail where his companion found the gold.
+
+The Author saw him in 1862 and heard what he had to say about it, and is
+convinced that it was not gold at all which they saw. I told him that I
+more than suspected that what he saw was mica instead of gold and that
+both he and his partner had been deceived, for more than one man not
+used to gold had been deceived before now. "No sir!" said he, "I saw
+lots of gold in Germany, and when I saw that I knew what it was." The
+Author went back over that trail in 1862 and sought out the German on
+purpose to get information about the gold. He could not give the name of
+a single man who was in the party at that time, but insisted that it was
+gold he saw and that he knew the trail.
+
+The Author was able to identify with reasonable certainty the trails
+followed by the different parties, but found no signs of gold formation
+except some barren quartz, and this after an experience of several years
+in both placer and quartz mines. So honest John Galler's famous placer
+mine still remains in the great list of lost mines, like the Gunsight
+Lead and other noted mines for which men have since prospected in vain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+Alexander Combs Erkson was one of the pioneers of 1849, having left the
+state of Iowa in the month of May, when he assisted in organizing a
+company known as the "Badger Company" at Kanesville, the object being
+mutual assistance and protection. This company joined the Bennett party
+mentioned so prominently in this history, at the Missouri, and traveled
+with them or near them to the rendezvous near Salt Lake where the new
+company was organized for the southern trip taken by the Death Valley
+party, the Jayhawkers and others. As the experience of Mr. Erkson was in
+some respects different to that of the parties mentioned, he having
+taken a different route for a part of the way, it was thought best to
+embody it in this history. The following was dictated to the editor of
+this book, and as Mr. Erkson died before the written account could be
+revised by him, it is the best that can possibly be obtained.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MR. ERKSON'S STATEMENT.
+
+"We arrived at the Mormon camp near Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, in the
+month of August. Several of us went to work getting out lumber for
+Brigham Young while we were waiting and resting. The mormons all advised
+us not to undertake to go on by the northern route, and as the travelers
+gathered at this point they canvassed the situation. We used our teams
+when we were at work for Brigham and assisted in building a dam across a
+cañon where he intended to build a woolen mill. I earned about a hundred
+dollars by my work, which was paid to me in ten-dollar pieces of a gold
+coin made by the Mormons. They were not like the U.S. coins. I remember
+one side had an eye and the words--'Holiness to the Lord.'
+
+We entered into an agreement with Capt. Hunt, a Mormon, to pilot us
+through, and turned all our gold into that company, thus bringing none
+of the Mormon gold with us. We went on with the company as has been
+related in the foregoing pages, till we arrived at Mt. Misery, so named
+by us, when we took the back track, while Mr. Manley and the others went
+on as they have related. We had meetings by the light of a greenwood
+fire, and the matter was talked up in little knots of people, and then
+some one would get up and speak. One J.W. Brier, a preacher, was the
+principal blower. 'You are going wrong!' said he, We should go west, and
+in six weeks we will be loaded with gold!'
+
+Hunt got a little confused at a place called Beaver Meadows, or Mountain
+Meadows, and thought perhaps he could find a new road. Several men were
+sent out to look, and some of us in camp played ball for amusement while
+we were waiting. Hunt's men came back and said there were no prospects
+of a new road, and he said he knew the southern route and believed it
+would be safe to go that way.
+
+He told us that we must decide the next day. When we came to the road
+where we were to separate he filed off on his road and the others filed
+off on their road and then came back with their whips in their hands. I
+had filed in after Hunt, and they tried to convince me that I was very
+wrong. A Mr. Norton of Adrian, Mich., promised Mrs. Erkson a horse to
+ride if she would go, and so I left Hunt and turned in on the other
+road, the hindmost wagon. This is going back a little with the history
+and bringing it up to Mt. Misery. On my way back from Mt. Misery I
+climbed up on a big rock and inscribed the date--Nov. 10, 1849.
+
+In our journey we came to what is called 'The rim of the Basin,' and
+traveled along on that a distance till we came to the Santa Clara River
+and saw where the Indians had raised corn and melons. We followed on
+down that stream and found our teams gradually failing. Noting this we
+decided to overhaul our loads and reject a lot of things not strictly
+necessary to preserve life. I know I threw out a good many valuable and
+pretty things by the roadside. I remember six volumes of Rollin's
+Ancient History, nicely bound, with my name on the back, that were piled
+up and left. We followed along near the Santa Clara River till it
+emptied into the Virgin River. It was somewhere along here that we first
+saw some Yucca trees. The boys often set fire to them to see them burn.
+
+The Virgin River was a small stream running on about the course we
+wanted to travel, and we followed this course for thirty or forty miles.
+We found plenty of wood and water and mesquite. After awhile the river
+turned off to the left, while we wanted to keep to the right, so we
+parted company there. We heard of a river beyond which they called the
+'Big Muddy' and we went up a little arroyo, then over a divide to some
+table land that led us down to the Big Muddy. We made our wagons as
+light as possible, taking off all the boards and stakes we could
+possibly get along without. Wm. Philipps and others were placed on short
+allowance. They had an idea that I had more provisions in my wagon than
+I ought to have, but I told them that it was clothing that we used to
+sleep on. I divided among them once or twice. When we reached the Muddy
+we stopped two or three days for there was plenty of feed. It was a
+narrow stream that seemed as if it must come from springs. It was narrow
+between banks, but ran pretty deep, and a streak of fog marked its
+course in the morning. We understood it was not very far from where we
+left the Virgin River to the Colorado, some said not more than fourteen
+miles and that the Colorado turned sharply to the south at that point.
+Mr. Rhynierson and wife had a child born to them on the Virgin River,
+and it was named Virginia.
+
+It was a gloomy trip the whole time on the Muddy. I lost three or four
+head of cattle, all within a day and a night. Mrs. Erkson walked to
+lighten the load, and would pick all the bunches of grass she saw and
+put them on the wagon to feed the oxen when we stopped. I let them pass
+me and stopped and fed the cattle, and slept ourselves. It was said that
+we ran great risks from Indians, but we did not see any. I had at this
+time only two yoke of oxen left.
+
+We overtook the party next morning at nine o'clock, having met some of
+them who were coming back after us. All were rejoiced that we had come
+on safely. Here I met Elisha Bennett and told him my story. He said he
+could sell me a yoke of oxen. He had a yoke in J.A. Philipps' team and
+was going to take them out. He said nothing in particular as to price. I
+said that I wanted to see Mr. Philipps and talk with him about the
+matter, for he had said Bennett should not have the cattle. I went over
+to see him and spoke to him about Bennett's cattle and he told me they
+had quarreled and I could have them, and so we made a bargain. I gave
+twenty dollars for the cattle, the last money I had, and as much
+provisions as he could carry on his back. They were making up a party to
+reach the settlements at the Williams ranch, and I made arrangements for
+them to send back provisions for us. About thirty started that
+way--young men and men with no families with them.
+
+I got along very well with my new team after that. It was about forty
+miles from water to water, and I think we camped three times. At one
+place we found that provisions had been left, with a notice that the
+material was for us, but the red-skins got the provisions. We struck a
+spring called-----, a small spring of water, and a child of some of the
+party died there and was buried.
+
+We then went more nearly south to find the Mojave River, for we hoped to
+find water there. It was very scarce with us then, We had one pretty
+cold day, but generally fine weather, and to get along we traveled at
+night and a party struck the Mojave. Here there was some grass, and the
+mustard was beginning to start up and some elder bushes to put forth
+leaves. I picked some of the mustard and chewed it to try to get back my
+natural taste. Here the party divided, a part going to the left to San
+Bernardino and the remainder to the right to Cucamunga. I was with the
+latter party and we got there before night.
+
+Rhynierson said to one of the party--'Charlie, you had better hurry on
+ahead and try to get some meat before the crowd comes up.' Charlie went
+on ahead and we drove along at the regular gait which was not very fast
+about these times. We saw nothing of Charlie and so I went to the house
+to look for him and found him dead drunk on wine. He had not said a word
+to them about provisions. That wine wrecked us all. All had a little
+touch of scurvy, and it seemed to be just what we craved. I bought a big
+tumbler of it for two bits and carried it to my wife. She lasted it at
+first rather gingerly, then took a little larger sup of it, and then put
+it to her lips and never slopped drinking till the last drop was gone. I
+looked a little bit surprised and she looked at me and innocently
+asked--'Why! Haven't you had any?' I was afraid she would be the next
+one to be dead drunk, but it never affected her in that way at all. We
+bought a cow here to kill, and used the meat either fresh or dried, and
+then went on to the Williams, or Chino ranch. Col. Williams was glad to
+see us, and said we could have everything we wanted. We wanted to get
+wheat, for we had lived so long on meat that we craved such food. He
+told us about the journey before us and where we would find places to
+camp. Here we found one of the Gruwells. We camped here a week, meeting
+many emigrants who came by way of Santa Fe.
+
+We went on from here to San Gabriel where we staid six weeks to rest and
+recuperate the cattle. In the good grass we found here they all became
+about as fat as ever in a little while. Here the party all broke up and
+no sort of an organization was kept up beyond here. Some went to Los
+Angeles, some went on north, trading off their cattle for horses, and
+some went directly to the coast. We went to the Mission of San Fernando
+where we got some oranges which were very good for us. There is a long,
+tedious hill there to get over. We made up ten wagons. By the time we
+reached the San Francisquito Ranch I had lost my cattle. I went down to
+this ranch and there met Mr. and Mrs. Arcane getting ready to go to San
+Pedro. We came north by way of Tejon pass and the Kern River, not far
+from quite a large lake, and reached the mines at last. I remember we
+killed a very fat bear and tried out the grease, and with this grease
+and some flour and dried apples Mrs. Erkson made some pretty good pies
+which the miners were glad to get at a dollar and even two dollars
+apiece."
+
+Mr. Erkson followed mining for about a year and then went into other
+business until he came to Santa Clara Valley and began farming near
+Alviso. He has been a highly respected citizen and progressive man, He
+died in San Jose in the spring of 1893.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE EXPERIENCE OF EDWARD COKER.
+
+Edward Coker was one of a party of twenty-one men who left their wagons,
+being impatient of the slow progress made by the ox train, and organized
+a pack train in which they were themselves the burden carriers. They
+discarded everything not absolutely necessary to sustain life, packed
+all their provisions into knapsacks, bravely shouldered them and started
+off on foot from the desert to reach California by the shortest way.
+
+Among those whom Mr. Coker can recollect are Capt. Nat. Ward, Jim Woods,
+Jim Martin of Missouri, John D. Martin of Texas, "Old Francis," a French
+Canadian, Fred Carr, Negro "Joe" and some others from Coffeeville,
+Miss., with others from other states.
+
+Mr. Coker related his experience to the Author somewhat as follows:--
+
+"One other of the party was a colored man who joined us at the camp when
+we left the families, he being the only remaining member of a small
+party who had followed our wagon tracks after we had tried to proceed
+south. This party was made up of a Mr. Culverwell who had formerly been
+a writer in a Government office at Washington, D.C., a man named Fish
+claiming to be a relative of Hamilton Fish of New York, and another man
+whose name I never knew. He, poor fellow, arrived at our camp in a
+starving condition and died before our departure. The other two
+unfortunates ones died on the desert, and the colored man reported that
+he simply covered their remains with their blankets.
+
+I well remember that last night in camp before we started with our
+knapsacks and left the families, for it was plain the women and children
+must go very slow, and we felt we could go over rougher and shorter
+roads on foot and get through sooner by going straight across the Sierra
+Nevada Mountains. Our condition was certainly appalling. We were without
+water, all on the verge of starvation, and the three poor cattle which
+yet remained alive were objects of pity. It seemed almost a crime to
+kill the poor beasts, so little real food was there left on their
+skeleton frames. They had been so faithful and had plodded along when
+there seemed no hope for them. They might still serve to keep the party
+from starvation.
+
+It was at this camp that Mr. Ischam died. The night before our departure
+he came wandering into camp and presented such an awful appearance,
+simply a living skeleton of a once grand and powerful man. He must have
+suffered untold agony as he struggled on to overtake the party, starving
+and alone, with the knowledge that two of his companions had perished
+miserably of starvation in that unknown wilderness of rocks and alkali.
+
+Our journey on foot through the mountains was full of adventure and
+suffering. On our arrival at the shores of Owen's Lake not a man of the
+party had a mouthful of food left in his pack, and to add to our
+difficulties we had several encounters with the hostile Indians. There
+was a fearful snow storm falling at Owen's Lake on the evening that we
+arrived there, and we could make no fire. The Indians gathered around us
+and we did not know exactly what to make of them, nor could we determine
+whether their intentions were good or bad. We examined the lake and
+determined to try to ford it, and thus set out by the light of the moon
+that occasionally peeped out from behind the clouds, while the red
+devils stood howling on the shore.
+
+The following morning we found what was then known as the Fremont Trail,
+and by the advice of some friendly Indians who came into our camp, we
+kept the "big trail" for three days and came to Walker's Pass. While on
+this trail we were followed at night by a number of wild Indians, but we
+prudently avoided any collisions with them and kept moving on. Going on
+through the pass we followed the right hand branch of the trail, the
+left hand branch leading more to the south and across a wide plain. We
+soon came to a fair-sized stream, now known to be the south fork of the
+Kern River, which we followed until we came to its junction with a
+larger river, the two making the Kern River. Here we were taken across
+by some friendly Indians who left the Missions farther west during the
+Mexican war and took to their own village located at the foot of the
+Sierra Nevada Mountains. At this village we were on exhibition for
+several hours with an audience of five hundred people or more, of the
+red men, and on the following morning we commenced the ascent of the
+mountains again, the Indians furnishing us with a guide in the person of
+an old Pi-Ute. He brought us over the range, through the snow and over
+the bleak ridges, in the month of December, 1849, and we made our first
+camp at an Indian village in Tulare Valley, a few miles south of where
+Porterville now stands.
+
+From this Indian village we walked on until we arrived at the present
+site of Millerton on the south bank of the San Joaquin River. Our
+sufferings were terrible from hunger, cold, and wet, for the rains were
+almost continual at this elevation, and we had been forced several times
+to swim. The sudden change from the dried-up desert to a rainy region
+was pretty severe on us. On our arrival at the San Joaquin River we
+found a camp of wealthy Mexicans who gave us a small amount of food, and
+seemed to want us to pass on that they might be rid of us. I can well
+believe that a company of twenty-one starving men was the cause of some
+disquietude to them. They gave us some hides taken from some of the
+cattle they had recently slain, and from these we constructed a boat and
+ferry rope in which we crossed the river, and then continued our journey
+to the mining camp on Aqua Frio, in Mariposa county.
+
+It is very strange to think that since that time I have never met a
+single man of that party of twenty-one. I had kept quite full notes of
+the whole trip from the state of New York to the mines, and including my
+early mining experience up to the year 1851. Unfortunately this
+manuscript was burned at the Russ House fire in Fresno, where I also
+lost many personal effects."
+
+In the year 1892 Mr. Coker was living in Fresno, or near that city, in
+fairly comfortable health, and it is to be hoped that the evening of his
+days, to which all the old pioneers are rapidly approaching, may be to
+him all that his brightest hopes pictured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+Having followed the various little parties into which the great train
+had resolved itself when it began to feel the pressure of suffering and
+trouble which came with contact with the desert, followed them in their
+various ways till they came through to the Pacific Slope, the travels
+and experiences of the Author are again resumed.
+
+It will be remembered that he had rested at Los Angeles, working for Mr.
+Brier who had temporarily turned boarding house keeper, and finally made
+arrangements with some drovers to assist in taking a small stock of
+horses north to the mines. His story is thus continued:--
+
+We followed the wagon road which the companies that had gone on before
+had made, and got along very well. At night I acted
+independently--staked out my mule and ate my meal of dried meat and
+crackers--then joined the others around a large fire, and all seemed to
+enjoy the company. After a few days the two men who owned the horses
+proposed to me to let my mule carry the provisions, and they wanted me
+to ride one of their horses that was not carrying a pack, as they said
+it would keep it more gentle to ride it.
+
+To please the old gentleman from Sacramento I agreed to the proposition,
+for I thought perhaps by being accommodating I could get along more
+pleasantly.
+
+Thus we traveled on, over rolling hills covered with grass and wild
+flowers, and I was much pleased with all that I could see. For the first
+two days we did not pass a house, which shows how thinly settled the
+country was. Cattle were often seen, and sometimes horses, but people
+were very scarce. In time we went down a long, steep hill, then across a
+wide valley that supported a rank growth of vegetation, and came to a
+Mission called San Buena Ventura (good luck.) Here the men seemed
+scarce, but Indians and dogs plenty. The houses were of the same sort as
+at Los Angeles, except the church, all made of dried mud, and never more
+than one story high.
+
+As we journeyed along we came to the sea shore, the grandest sight in
+the world to me, for I had never before seen the ocean. What a wide
+piece of water it was! Far out I could see small waves coming toward the
+shore, and the nearer they came the faster they seemed to rush and at
+last turned into great rollers and breakers which dashed upon the rocks
+or washed far up the sandy shore with a force that made the ground
+tremble. There was no wind and I could not see what it could be that so
+strangely agitated the water. Here the waves kept coming, one after
+another, with as much regularity as the slow strokes of a clock. This
+was the first puzzle the great sea propounded to me, and there under the
+clear blue sky and soft air I studied over the ceaseless, restless
+motion and the great power that was always beating on the shore. I
+tasted the water and found it exceedingly salt, and I did not see how
+anything could live in it and not become in the condition of pickled
+pork or fish. Where was the salt to make this mighty brine pond, and why
+did it keep so when the great rivers kept pouring in their torrents of
+fresh waters? I did not understand, and these are some of the thoughts
+that came to the boy who had been raised upon the prairie, and to whom
+the great ocean was indeed an unknown sea.
+
+We followed along the road and in time came to another village and
+Mission called Santa Barbara. The village was near the shore, and the
+church farther back upon an elevated piece of ground near the foot of
+the mountain, overlooking the town and sea and much of the country to
+the south, west and east. The mountain was high and rough, and a point
+ran out into the sea making a sort of harbor. This town was built much
+as the others had been except perhaps the Mission which seemed better.
+The roofs were as flat as the floors and were covered with a sort of tar
+which made them water-proof. The material of the houses was sun-dried
+bricks, two feet long by one foot wide and four to six inches thick.
+There was no lime in the mortar of this mason work, and the openings in
+the walls had iron bars across them instead of sash and glass. Dried
+hides were spread upon the floors, and there was a large earthen jar for
+water, but not a table, bedstead or chair could be seen in the rooms we
+saw. A man came along, rode right in at the door, turned around and rode
+out again. The floor was so hard that the horse's feet made no
+impression on it. Very few men, quite a number of Indians, more women,
+and a still larger quantity of dogs made up the inhabitants.
+
+Leaving here the road led back from the sea shore and over quite a level
+table land, covered with a big growth of grass and some timber, and then
+down to the sandy shore again where the mountain comes so close that we
+were crowded down to the very water's edge. Here the never-tiring waves
+were still following each other to the shore and dashing themselves to
+pieces with such a noise that I felt awed to silence. What a strange
+difference in two parts of the earth so little distance from each other!
+Here was a waste of waters, there was a waste of sands that may some
+time have been the bottom of just such a dashing, rolling sea as this.
+And here, between the two, was a fertile region covered with trees,
+grass and flowers, and watered with brooks of fresh, sweet water.
+Paradise and Desolation! They surely were not far apart. Here I saw some
+of the queer things that wash on shore, for we camped close to the
+beach.
+
+It was a circumstance of great interest to me to see the sun slowly go
+down into the great ocean. Slowly and steadily it went, getting redder
+and redder as it went down, then it just touched the distant water and
+the waves dashed over more and more of its face till all was covered.
+Were it not for the strong, bright rays that still shot up across the
+sky one might think it was drowned forever, but in the morning it came
+up over the mountain top, having apparently made half the circuit of the
+globe.
+
+Soon after this the road left the shore and turned into the mountains.
+Another Mission was on this road, Santa Ynez, situated in a beautiful
+place but apparently in decay, for the men had gone to the mines,
+leaving the Indians, women, and dogs as in other places. San Luis Obispo
+was another Mission similarly inhabited, but the surroundings did not
+seem so pleasant as those we had seen before, although it bore signs
+that considerable had been done. From here our road bore still more
+north and we had a long mountain to work over, very rocky, and in some
+places barren.
+
+San Miguel was a Mission situated on the bank of a dry stream that
+evidently had seen plenty of water earlier in the season. The
+surrounding country was covered with scattering timber. Soledad was
+another place where there were some improvements, located on a small
+river, but nearly deserted like the other places. Prospects at the gold
+mines were so favorable that every man felt an irresistible desire to
+enrich himself, and so they left their families at the Missions and in
+the towns and rushed off to the mines. Nearly all of them expected to
+return by winter.
+
+I think I must stop right here and tell about the California carriages
+of which I had seen several at Los Angeles and at the Missions along our
+road. The first time I saw one it was a great curiosity, I assure you.
+The wheels were cut off the end of a sycamore log a little over two feet
+in diameter and each section about a foot long. The axle was a piece of
+wood eight inches square with a tongue fastened to it long enough to be
+used with a yoke of oxen, and the ends of the axle were roughly rounded,
+leaving something of a shoulder. The wheels were retained in place by a
+big lynch-pin. On the axle and tongue was a strong frame of square hewed
+timbers answering for bed pieces, and the bottom was of raw-hide tightly
+stretched, which covered the whole frame. Tall stakes at each corner of
+the frame held up an awning in hot weather. The yoke was fastened to the
+horns of the oxen by strong, narrow strips of raw-hide, and the tongue
+was fastened to the yoke in the same way. The driver was generally an
+Indian, armed with a small pole six or eight feet long, who marched on
+before, the oxen following after. I saw many a wagon like this, the
+platform well filled up with women and children, and a pack of dogs
+following along behind, slowly rolling over the country, and this is the
+way they traveled when they went visiting friends who lived a few miles
+in the country. Sometimes the wheels gave perfectly agonizing shrieks as
+they revolved, and when they made so much noise that their strong
+Spanish nerves could stand it no longer, if there was any green grass to
+be found the drivers would crowd in a quantity around the axle, and
+there was generally room for a good lot of it, to answer for a
+lubricator.
+
+We passed on from Soledad and shortly rose into the table land we had
+seen for some time before us. From here we could look north for a long
+way with no hill or mountain in sight; but our road led along on the
+east side of this treeless plain, so thickly covered with grass that we
+recalled some of the old tales of the grassy plains. We passed a
+landholder's house on the road, then crossed a range of low mountains
+and came to the Mission of San Juan (St. John) situated near the
+foot-hills, overlooking a level, rich appearing extent of valley land
+with a big vegetable growth all over it; in some places wild mustard
+which stood thickly and was from four to ten feet high. I thought what a
+splendid place it would be for the Yankees who are fond of greens.
+
+This was the first place since we left Los Angeles where we could buy
+any kind of breadstuff, and we were here enabled to get a change of
+diet, including greens. This seemed to be one end or side of another
+valley, and as we went along it seemed to widen away to the east; but
+our course was to the north, and we followed the road. The architecture
+of all the buildings except the churches was all the same, being built
+of the sun dried adobes or bricks made by mixing up a clay mud with
+tough grass and letting it get dry and hard. We saw the same kind of
+roof material as before, a sort of mineral tar which I supposed they
+must find somewhere about.
+
+I could imagine why the houses were built in this way, for when the
+Jesuit missionaries first came in they found the country occupied by
+Indians who used their arrows to good effect, as they were jealous of
+all outside occupation. The early settlers evidently made the walls of
+their dwellings thick and strong enough to resist all kinds of weapons
+used by Indians. They could not set fire to them for they were fire
+proof and arrow proof, and the hostile Indian could dance on the roof
+without being able to get in or do any injury. Thus the poor Indian was
+fairly beat and eventually became a better Indian.
+
+The Indians of what is now Nevada and Arizona used to come over into
+these rich valleys and clandestinely capture a band of a hundred or more
+head of cattle or horses and make their escape. They were often followed
+by the herders, but if they did not overtake the thieves before they got
+into the deep cañons of the mountains, they would usually turn back and
+let them go rather than be led into ambush in some strange narrow place
+where escape would be impossible and they might be filled with arrows.
+No doubt the trail we had followed across the plains, where there were
+so many horses' bones, was one of these trails along which the thieving
+Indians took their booty which died upon the trip.
+
+Our road from here was near the foot-hills on the west side of a level,
+grassy, thinly timbered valley, and as we advanced we noticed that the
+timber grew more plentiful and the trees larger, without much
+underbrush. We also noticed that the vegetation was ranker and no doubt
+the soil was very rich. We then came to a point where the mountain
+reaches out almost across the valley to meet the mountain on the east
+side. Here we found a gravelly creek with but little water, but as soon
+as we passed this point we saw the valley suddenly widening out, and
+beautiful groves of live oak trees scattered all around. The vegetation
+here was very rank, the mustard ten feet high in places, making it
+difficult to see out of the road. This was perhaps the strongest
+contrast to the arid desert that we had seen.
+
+As we went on down the valley the hills seemed to stand farther and
+farther back as if to make more room for those who would soon settle in
+this fertile place, and we soon came in sight of the village or pueblo
+of San Jose (St. Joseph) where we camped. Here we learned that the two
+owners of the horses intended to go to San Francisco instead of
+Sacramento, and as we considered the former place a very poor one for a
+penniless person to go we concluded to break up the company camp and
+each do the best he could for himself, for our objective point was the
+gold mines, and the sooner we reached them the better.
+
+The drovers who had been anxious to have us go with them and help them
+now began to talk about a settlement with us, as if they had done us
+great favors, and called on the other fellows to help pay for their
+board upon the way. When they came to me they said my share would be an
+ounce. This struck me hard, but they said I had ridden their horse all
+the way and the charge was very low. I told them I had furnished the
+most of the provisions I had eaten, and my mule had packed a good load
+all the way, which I considered worth as much as the use of the horse.
+But they refused to allow me anything for the use of the mule and became
+very urgent in their demand for money.
+
+These men were evidently of the tribe of Skinflint, who had no souls, or
+they would not have attempted to rob an almost penniless emigrant in
+this way of the last few dollars he had, and all the hope he had of
+reaching the mines. I did not desire to give up to such narrow
+principles as this and hesitated, but they were bound to have the money
+or make a quarrel, and talked pretty loud of the way they collected
+debts in Sacramento, so that to avoid trouble and get out of the
+clutches of such mean scoundrels as these I counted out sixteen dollars,
+almost every cent I had, and reluctantly gave them to my enemy. I
+immediately mounted my mule, and without stopping to say goodbye rode
+off. I may have quoted a part of the speech Capt Hunt made when the
+party wanted to leave the trail and take the cut-off, especially that
+part where he alluded to their going to h--l. I very much fear the
+little piety my mother taught me was badly strained on that occasion,
+and I thought of a good many swear words if I did not say them, which I
+suppose is about as bad. I could see how cunningly they had managed to
+get me to ride their horse that it might serve as the foundation for a
+claim on me for about all the money I had in the world.
+
+I hitched my mule in the edge of the town and went in to look at the
+place. The houses were situated very much as in other places we had come
+through--scattered around over much ground and built low, but had a
+different style of roof, a peaked or sloping one, and covered with half
+round tile two feet or more long and an inch thick. One course of these
+would be laid with the hollow side up, and then a course with the hollow
+side down, covering the joints of the lower course. This allowed the air
+to circulate freely and was proof against rain. I saw no flat roofs such
+as I had seen down along the coast. I saw one gambling house and about
+all the men in town were gathered there, and some women, too. This was
+the busiest place in town and situated near the plaza. This was the
+largest town I had yet been in. There seemed to be plenty of women and
+lots of dogs, but the men were as scarce as they had been in any of the
+towns--gone to the gold mines to make a stake. I took in the sights
+pretty well, and there were a great many new things for me to see, and
+when pretty well satisfied concluded I would go back to my mule and camp
+in some place just out of town for the night.
+
+Before I reached my animal whom should I meet but my old traveling
+companion John Rogers whom I thought to be a hundred miles away by this
+time. We shook hands heartily and he told me that Bennett, Moody and
+Skinner were camped not far off, and he was still with them. He wore a
+pair of blue overalls, a blue woolen shirt and the same little narrow
+rimmed hat he had worn so long. I observed, too, that he was barefoot,
+and told him I had a dollar or two which he could take and get some
+shoes. He said it was no use for there was not a pair of shoes in the
+town to buy, and he had not found any material of which he could make
+himself a pair of moccasins. I told him how I had been swindled coming
+up, and he was about as angry as I had been. I think if I had known that
+my friend John Rogers had been so near I should have bidden the rascals
+an unceremonious good-bye and we would have been able to hold our own on
+a claim for the services of myself and mule.
+
+We went up to the place where our people were camped, perhaps a mile
+above town on the bank of a river, nearly dry, but where plenty of wood,
+water and grass were at hand; such a place as we had looked for in vain
+for many a weary day upon the desert. This was as far above Death Valley
+as a king above a pauper, and we hoped never to see such a country
+again.
+
+In camp we talked about moving on to the mines. Rogers said he was going
+to start next day, and in answer to exclamations of surprise that he
+should start off alone, he said that some fellows camped a little way
+down the river were going to start and he had made arrangements to go
+with them, as the Bennett party would not go yet for a week. In the
+morning he shook hands and bade us good-bye and good luck, and started
+off down the river bank, lost to us, as it proved, for many years.
+
+The next day as we were all sitting on the ground I felt a sort of
+moving of the earth under me and heard a rumbling sound that seemed very
+queer. It seemed there was a motion also to the trees around us. We all
+started and looked a little frightened, and Skinner said he believed it
+was an earthquake, for he said he could see the motion in a sort of
+wave. It was gone in half a minute. Moody said:--"How do you like
+California now?" I said I thought this part of it was a pretty good
+place for there was plenty of wood, water and grass, and that was better
+than we had seen in some places.
+
+He then went on to say that he had heard Mr. Bennett's story of their
+sufferings and narrow escape from death, and it was the most wonderful
+story he had ever heard. He said the idea of Mrs. Bennett walking over
+such a country for twenty-two days was almost beyond belief, for he
+would not have thought her able to walk one-third the distance. He never
+knew before how much women could do when they were called to do it, and
+they proved in emergencies to be as tough as any body. He said if he
+ever got back home he should move to give them all the rights and
+privileges of men for sure.
+
+One day I mounted my mule for a ride to the eastern foothills, and sat
+down on a little incline and overlooked the valley, a beautiful
+landscape, while my mule cropped the rich grasses in a circle described
+by the rope which confined him. I was always a great admirer of nature,
+and as I sat there alone I could see miles on miles of mammoth mustard
+waving in the strong breeze which came down over the San Francisco Bay
+just visible to the northward, and on the mountain summits to the west
+could see tall timber reaching up into the deep blue of the sky. It was
+a real contented comfort to be thus in the midst of luxuriance and
+beauty, and I enjoyed it, coming as it did at the end of the long and
+dreary road I had been traveling for the past twelve months. Up the
+Platte; across the Rockies; down the Green River cañons in my canoe;
+across the mountains to Salt Lake; out over the "Rim of the Basin," and
+across the desert, guided only by the fact that we knew the Pacific
+Ocean was to the west of us, and choosing our road as best we could in
+view of the lofty, snow-clad, impassible mountains; seeing thirteen of
+our comrades lie down never to rise again, and, when hope and strength
+were almost gone, to suddenly come out into a fertile region on the
+seventh of March, 1850. How I wished the fellows who slept in Death
+Valley could have seen this view. The change from all that barrenness
+and desolation to this beautiful, fertile country, covered with wild
+flowers and luxuriant live oaks, was as strong a contrast as one could
+imagine a sudden coming from purgatory to paradise in the space of a
+single hour.
+
+I waked up from my dreamy thoughts, mounted my mule and rode to camp. As
+I rode along the nimble ground squirrel, with his keen black eye, would
+climb to the top of the high mustard stalks to get a better view and,
+suspicious of an enemy within his almost undisputed territory, disappear
+in a wink to his safe underground fortress. Fat cattle and horses would
+appear before me a moment, and then, with a wild look and high heads,
+dash through the tall mustard out of sight.
+
+Next day my trip was toward the western hills, and before I came to them
+was confronted with an extensive stretch of chaparral brush, absolutely
+impenetrable, which I must go around or stop my progress in this
+direction. These thickets were a regular paradise for grizzly bears, for
+within the protection of this matted and thorny growth he is as safe as
+is the soldier in the rocky fort of Gibraltar. I soon found a way around
+the brush and rose high enough so that a backward look over the valley
+was charming, quite as much so as the eastern side. I wandered over the
+grassy hills covered with great scattering oaks, and came to a grove of
+mammoth trees, six feet or more in diameter, with tops reaching two
+hundred or three hundred feet toward the blue sky. They seemed to me to
+be a kind of cedar, and were far larger and taller than any trees I had
+ever seen in the forests of Vermont, Michigan or Wisconsin, and in my
+long journey from the East the route had been principally through a
+country devoid of good timber. A stranger in a strange land, everything
+was new and wonderful. After satisfying my inquiring mind I returned to
+camp again, and soon learned that my newly discovered trees were the
+famous redwoods, so greatly prized for their valuable qualities.
+
+Taking the most direct course to camp I came, when within two or three
+miles of San Jose, to a large extent of willows so thick, and so thickly
+woven together with wild blackberry vines, wild roses and other thorny
+plants, that it appeared at first as if I never could get through. But I
+found a winding trail made by the cattle through the bushes and mustard,
+and this I followed, being nearly scared occasionally by some wild
+steers as they rushed off through the thickets. I got through safely,
+though it would have been difficult to escape a wild, enraged steer, or
+a grizzly had I met him face to face even with a rifle in hand. I could
+see nowhere but by looking straight up, for the willows were in places
+fifty feet high and a foot in diameter. The willows where I came from
+were mere bushes, and these astonished me. This bit of brush is still
+locally known as "The Willows," but the trees are all gone, and the
+ground thickly covered with orchards and fine residences, the land
+selling at from one thousand to two thousand dollars per acre.
+
+The sun rose without a cloud, and a little later the sea breeze from the
+bay blew gently over the valley, making the climate perfectly delightful
+in its temperate coolness, a true paradise on earth it seemed to me, if
+I was able to judge or set a value upon so beautiful a spot; and surely
+I had seen all sorts, good and poor, desert and valley, mountain and
+plain.
+
+But I was poor in purse, and resolved I would seek first the gold mines
+and secure gold enough to buy a piece of this valley afterward.
+
+When I had seen what was to be seen about San Jose I had a talk with my
+friends and found that Mr. Bennett favored going on to the mines at once
+and that Moody and Skinner thought they would remain a little while at
+least.
+
+I went along in company with Bennett, and when we got a little way from
+San Jose, on the road to the Mission, the road seemed walled in on both
+sides with growing mustard ten or twelve feet high and all in blossom.
+How so much mustard could grow, and grow so large, I could not
+understand. I had seen a few plants in the gardens or fields which
+people used for greens, and here seemed to be enough to feed the nation,
+if they liked mustard greens.
+
+The second day out we passed the big church at Mission San Jose and soon
+left the valley and turned into the mountains and when part way over we
+came to a stream which we followed up and came out into Livermore
+valley, where we found a road to follow. Houses were scarce, and we
+camped a mile or so before we got to the Livermore ranch buildings.
+There was very little sign of life about the place, and we soon went out
+of the valley and into the mountains again.
+
+The first sign of settlement we saw when part way through the mountains
+was a stone corral, but no house or other improvements. The next place
+was a small house made of willow poles set in the ground and plastered
+over with mud. This rejoiced in the name of "Mountain House." This
+wayside inn looked like a horse thief's glory; only one or two men, a
+quarter of an elk hanging on a pole, and no accommodations for man or
+beast. There was very little water, nothing to sell as well as nothing
+wanted. On the summits of the mountains as we passed through we saw,
+standing like guards, many large buck elks.
+
+It was now fifteen miles to the San Joaquin river, and a level plain lay
+before us. When our road turned into the river bottom we found the water
+too deep to get through safely, so we concluded to go on and try to find
+some place where we could cross. On our way droves of antelopes could be
+seen frolicking over the broad plains, while in the distance were herds
+of elk winding their way from the mountains towards the river for water.
+When far away their horns were the first things visible, and they much
+resembled the dry tops of dead pine trees, but a nearer view showed them
+to us as the proud monarchs of the plain.
+
+When we came up opposite the mouth of the Merced river we concluded to
+try again to cross. The river here, as below, was out of its banks, and
+the overflowed part was quite wide which we had to pass through before
+we could reach the river proper.
+
+I waded in ahead of the team and sounded the depth of the river so as
+not to get in too deep water, and avoid if possible such accidents as
+might otherwise occur. Sometimes the water was up to the wagon bed and
+it looked a little doubtful of our getting through in safety, but we
+made it at last.
+
+We found a narrow strip of dry land along the river bank. A town was on
+the east side of the San Joaquin. river, just below where the Merced
+river came in. I think this place was called Merced City. This so-called
+city contained but one residence, a tent occupied by the ferryman. We
+crossed the sluggish stream and for the privilege paid the ferryman, ten
+dollars for toll. The road was not much used and the ferry business
+seemed lonesome.
+
+Here we camped for the night. The mosquitoes soon found us, and they
+were all very hungry and had good teeth. They annoyed me so that I moved
+my lodgings to the ferryboat, but here they quickly found me and
+troubled me all night. These insects were the first I had seen since I
+left the lower Platte river, and I thought them as bad as on the
+Mississippi.
+
+From here the road led up the Merced river near the bottom, and as we
+came near groves of willows, big, stately elk would start out and trot
+off proudly into the open plains to avoid danger. These proud,
+big-horned monarchs of the plains could be seen in bunches scattered
+over the broad meadows, as well as an equal amount of antelope. They all
+seemed to fear us, which was wise on their part, and kept out of rifle
+shot. As were not starving as we were once, I did not follow them out on
+the open plain, for I thought I could get meat when we were more in
+need.
+
+We followed up the river bottom and saw not a single house until we
+reached the road leading from Stockton to the Mariposa mines, where we
+found a ferry and a small store. Here we learned that some men were
+mining a few miles up the river, so we drove on until we found a little
+work being done in a dry gulch near the river bank. We made our camp at
+this spot and had plenty of wood, water and grass. We found there was
+something to be learned in the art of gold mining. We had no tools nor
+money, and had never seen a speck of native gold and did not know how to
+separate it from the dirt nor where to search for it. We were poor,
+ignorant emigrants. There were two or three men camped here. One of them
+was more social than the rest and we soon got acquainted. His name was
+Williams, from Missouri. He came down to the river with a pan of dirt,
+and seeing me in my ignorance trying to wash some as well, he took the
+pan from me and very kindly showed me how to work so as to let the dirt
+go and save the gold. When he had the pan finished a few small, bright
+scales remained. These to me were curious little follows and I examined
+them closely and concluded there was a vast difference between gold and
+lead mining. Williams became more friendly and we told him something
+about our journey across the plains, and he seemed to think that we
+deserved a good claim. He went to a dry gulch where a Spaniard was
+working and told him that all of California, now that the war was over,
+belonged to Americans and he must leave. Williams had his gun in his
+hand and war might follow, so Mr. Spaniard left and his claim was
+presented to Bennett and myself.
+
+Williams had been twice to Santa Fe from Missouri and had learned the
+Spanish language and could swear at them by note if necessary. We now
+began work almost without tools, but our ground we had to work was quite
+shallow and Williams helped us out by loaning us some of his tools at
+times. We soon succeeded in scratching together some of the yellow stuff
+and I went down to the store and bought a pan for five dollars, a shovel
+for ten dollars, and a poor pick cost me ten dollars more. This took
+about two ounces of my money.
+
+We now worked harder than ever for about three weeks, but we could not
+save much and pay such high prices as were charged. Our gulch claim was
+soon worked out, and as the river had fallen some we tried the bar, but
+we could only make four or five dollars a day, and the gold was very
+fine and hard to save. We bought a hind quarter of an elk and hung it up
+in a tree and it kept fresh till all of it was eaten.
+
+Some others came and took up claims on the bar, and as the prospects
+were not as good as was wished, three of us concluded to go and try to
+find a better place. The next day was Sunday and all lay in bed late.
+Before I rose I felt something crawling on my breast, and when I looked
+I found it to be an insect, slow in motion, resembling a louse, but
+larger. He was a new emigrant to me and I wondered what he was. I now
+took off my pants and found many of his kind in the seams. I murdered
+all I could find, and when I got up I told Williams what I had found. He
+said they hurt nobody and were called _piojos_, more commonly known as
+body lice.
+
+We started on our prospecting tour and went northeast to a place now
+called Big Oak Flat. This was at the head of a small stream and there
+were several small gulches that emptied into it that paid well. This
+flat was all taken up and a ditch was cut through to drain it. A ship
+load of gold was expected to be found when it was worked. A small town
+of tents had been pitched on both sides of the flat. One side was
+occupied by gamblers, and many games were constantly carried on and were
+well patronized. On the opposite side of the flat were many small tents,
+and around on the hillside some mules and jacks were feeding. One of the
+little long-eared donkeys came down among the tents and went in one and
+commenced eating flour from the sack. The owner of the flour ran to the
+tent, took his shot gun and fired a load of buck-shot into the donkey's
+hams. The animal reeled and seemed shot fatally. I now looked for a
+battle to commence, but the parties were more reasonable. The price of
+the animal was fully paid, and no blood shed as I expected there surely
+would be.
+
+We now prospected further east, but nothing good enough was found. The
+place we looked over was where the town of Garota now stands. We
+concluded to go back, have a council, and go somewhere else. On our way
+back we stopped to get dinner. While I was around the fire, barefooted,
+I felt something crawl up my instep, and it proved to be another of
+those _piojos_ of Williams'. I now thought these torments must be all
+over this country.
+
+Gold dust was used to transact all business; all the coin was in the
+hands of the gentlemen gamblers. Most miners found it necessary to have
+a small pair of scales in the breast pocket to weigh the dust so as not
+to have to trust some one who carried lead weights and often got more
+than his just dues. Gold dust was valued at sixteen dollars an ounce.
+
+We now thought it would be best for two of us to take our mules and go
+down in the small hills and try to get some elk meat to take with us, as
+our route would be mostly through the unsettled part of the country, and
+no provisions could likely be procured, so Mr. Bradford of New Orleans
+and myself took our mules and went down where the hills were low and the
+game plenty. We camped in a low ravine, staked out our mules and staid
+all night without a fire, believing that when we woke in the early
+morning some of the many herd of elk then in sight would be near us at
+daylight, and we could easily kill all we wanted without leaving camp;
+but we were disappointed. Hundreds of the big-horned fellows were in
+sight, but none in rifle shot, and there was no chance for us to get any
+nearer to them. We got near a couple of antelope and Mr. Bradford, who
+was a brag shot and had the best gun, proposed to kill them as we stood.
+The larger of the two was on his side and much nearer than the smaller
+one, but we fired together just as we stood. Bradford's antelope ran off
+unhurt: mine fell dead in its tracks. Bradford bragged no more about his
+fine gun and superior marksmanship.
+
+We went back to camp with the little we had killed and soon got ready to
+start north. Bennett was to go with his team to Sacramento and wait
+there until he heard from us.
+
+Four of us, mounted on mules, now started on our journey along the
+foothills without a road. We struck the Tuolumne river at a ferry. The
+stream was high and rapid and could not be forded, so we had to
+patronize the ferryman, and give him half an ounce apiece. We thought
+such charges on poor and almost penniless emigrants were unjust.
+
+The point we were seeking to reach was a new discovery called Gold Lake
+on Feather River, where many rich gulches that emptied into it had been
+worked, and the lake was believed to have at least a ship load of gold
+in it. It was located high in the mountains and could be easily drained
+and a fortune soon obtained if we got there in time and said nothing to
+anyone we might meet on the road. We might succeed in getting a claim
+before they were all taken up. We followed along the foothills without a
+road, and when we came to the Stanislaus River we had to patronize a
+ferry and pay half an ounce each again. We thought their scale weights
+were rather heavy and their ferrymen well paid.
+
+We continued along the foothills without any trail until we struck the
+road from Sacramento to Hangtown. This sounded like a bad name for a
+good village, but we found it was fittingly named after some ugly devils
+who were hanged there. The first house that we came to on this road was
+the Mormon Tavern. Here were some men playing cards for money, and two
+boys, twelve or fourteen years old, playing poker for the same and
+trying in every way to ape the older gamblers and bet their money as
+freely and swear as loud as the old sports. All I saw was new and
+strange to me and became indelibly fixed on my mind. I had never before
+seen such wicked boys, and the men paid no attention to these fast
+American boys. I began to wonder if all the people in California were
+like these, bad and wicked.
+
+Here we learned that Gold Lake was not as rich as reported, so we
+concluded to take the road and go to Coloma, the place where gold was
+first found on the American River.
+
+We camped at Coloma all night. Mr. Bradford got his mule shod and paid
+sixteen dollars, or in the mining phrase, an ounce of gold dust. I
+visited the small town and found that the only lively business place in
+it was a large gambling house, and I saw money (gold dust) liberally
+used--sometimes hundreds of dollars bet on a single card. When a few
+hundred or thousand were lost more would be brought on. The purse would
+be set in the center of the table and the owners would take perhaps
+twenty silver dollars or checks, and when they were lost the deposited
+purse would be handed to the barkeeper, the amount weighed out and the
+purse returned. When the purse was empty a friend of the better would
+bring another, and so the game went on almost in silence. The game
+called Monte seemed to be the favorite. How long these sacks of gold
+lasted or who eventually got the whole I never knew. This was a new
+country with new people, and many seemed to be engaged in a business
+that was new, strange and hazardous. The final result of all this was
+what puzzled me.
+
+We now followed the road up the mountain to Georgetown. Here was a small
+village on the summit of the ridge and it seemed to be in a prosperous
+mining section. After some inquiry about a good place to work we
+concluded to go down a couple of miles northeast of town on Cañon creek
+and go to work if vacant ground could be found. There was a piece of
+creek bottom here that had not been much worked. Georgia Flat above had
+been worked and paid well, and the Illinois and Oregon cañons that
+emptied into the bottom here were rich, so we concluded to locate in the
+bottom. Claims here in the flat were only fifteen feet square. I located
+one and my notice told others that I would go to work on it as soon my
+partner came from Sacramento. I sent my partner, Mr. Bennett a note
+telling him to come up.
+
+While waiting for Mr. Bennett I took my pan and butcher knife and went
+into a dry gulch out of sight of the other campers and began work. As
+the ground was mostly bare bed rock by scratching around I succeeded in
+getting three or four pans of dirt a day. The few days I had to wait for
+Bennett I made eight dollars a day until my claim was worked out.
+
+I then went to Georgetown to meet Bennett and family, and soon after my
+arrival they came well and safe. All of them, even to the faithful camp
+dog, Cuff, were glad to see me. Old Cuff followed me all around town,
+but when we got ready to start for camp the dog was gone and could not
+be found. Some one had hidden him away knowing he could not be gotten
+any other way, for six ounces would not have bought him. We had raised
+him in Wisconsin, made him a good deer dog, and with us he had crossed
+the dry and sandy deserts. He had been a great protection to Bennett's
+children on the plains, and company for us all.
+
+We now located claims on the creek bottom. The channel of the creek was
+claimed by Holman of Alabama and the Helms brothers of Missouri. They
+had turned the stream into a ditch in order to work the bed of the
+stream, believing that their claims had all the gold in them. Our claims
+joined theirs.
+
+Mr. W.M. Stockton, who left his family in Los Angeles, came with Mr.
+Bennett and went to work with us. As everything here was very high we
+concluded to let Mr. Stockton take the team and go to Sacramento for
+provisions for our own use. Flour and meat were each fifty cents a
+pound, potatoes twenty-five cents a pound and onions one dollar and
+twenty-five cents each. Onions and potatoes eaten raw were considered
+very necessary to prevent and cure scurvy, which was quite a common
+complaint. Whiskey, if not watered, cost one dollar a drink.
+
+Our claims were about ten feet deep. The bottom was wet and a pump
+needed, so we went to a whip saw-mill and got four narrow strips one by
+three and one by five and twelve feet long, paying for them by weight,
+the price being twelve cents a pound. Out of these strips we made a good
+pump by fixing a valve at the end and nailing a piece of green rawhide
+on a pole, which answered for a plunger, and with the pump set at
+forty-five degrees it worked easily and well. One man could easily keep
+the water out and we made fair wages.
+
+In the creek bottom Mr. Bush of Missouri had a saloon. The building was
+made mainly of brush, with a split piece for a counter, and another one
+for a shelf for his whiskey keg, a box of cigars, a few decks of cards
+and half a dozen glasses, which made up the entire stock of trade for
+the shop. In front was a table made of two puncheons with a blanket
+thrown over all, and a few rough seats around. There was no roof except
+the brush, and through the dry season none was needed except for shade.
+
+There was also at this place five brothers by the name of Helms, also
+from Missouri. Their names were Jim, Davenport, Wade, Chet and Daunt.
+These men, with Mr. Holman, owned the bed of the stream, and their
+ground proved to be quite wet and disagreeable to work. Mr. Holman could
+not well stand to work in the cold water, so he asked the privilege of
+putting in a hired man in his place, which was agreed to. He then took
+up a claim for himself outside of the other claims, and this proved to
+be on higher bed rock and dry, and paid even better than the low claims
+where the Helms brothers were at work. This was not what the Helms boys
+considered exactly fair, as Holman seemed to be getting rich the
+fastest, and as there was no law to govern them they held a free country
+court of their own, and decided the case to suit themselves; so they
+ordered Holman to come back and do his own work. No fault was found with
+the hired man but what he did his work well enough, but they were
+jealous and would not be bound by their agreement.
+
+But this decision did not satisfy all parties, and it was agreed to
+submit the case to three men, and I was chosen one of them. We held
+Court on the ground and heard both sides of the story, after which we
+retired to the shade of a bunch of willows to hold council over the
+matter with the result that we soon came to a decision in favor of Mr.
+Holman. About this time one of the Helms boys began to quarrel with
+Holman and grew terribly mad, swearing all kinds of vengeance, and
+making the cañon ring with the loudest kind of Missouri oaths. Finally
+he picked up a rock to kill Holman, but the latter was quick with his
+pistol, a single shot duelling piece, and as they were not more than ten
+feet apart Helms would have had a hole in him large enough for daylight
+to shine through if the pistol had not missed fire. We stopped the
+quarrel and made known our decision, whereupon Helms went off muttering
+vengeance.
+
+We now went back to our work again at our claims, mine being between
+Helms' cabin and the saloon. Holman stopped to talk a little while on my
+claim, while I was down below at work, and soon Helms came back again in
+a terrible rage, stopping on the opposite side of the hole from Holman,
+swearing long and loud, and flourishing a big pistol with which he
+threatened to blow Holman into purgatory. He was so much enraged that he
+fairly frothed at the mouth like a rabid dog. The men were about twenty
+feet apart, and I at the bottom of the hole ten feet below, but exactly
+between them. It seemed to me that I was in some little danger for Helms
+had his big pistol at full cock, and as it pointed at me quite as often
+as it did at anybody, I expect I dodged around a little to keep out of
+range. Helms was terribly nervous, and trembled as he cursed, but Holman
+was cool and drew his weapon deliberately, daring Helms to raise his
+hand or he would kill him on the instant. Helms now began to back off,
+but carefully kept his eye on Holman and continued his abuse as he went
+on to the saloon to get something to replenish his courage. Holman,
+during the whole affair, talked very calmly and put considerable
+emphasis into his words when he dared Helms to make a hostile motion. He
+was a true Alabamian and could be neither scared nor driven. He soon
+sold out, however, and went to a more congenial camp for he said these
+people were cowardly enough to waylay and kill him unawares.
+
+Soon after this unpleasantness a man and wife who lived in Georgetown
+came into notice, and while the man made some money mining his wife did
+a good stroke of business washing for the boys who paid her a dollar a
+shirt as laundry fees. As she began to make considerable money the
+bigger, if not better, half of this couple began to feel quite rich and
+went off on a drunk, and when his own money was spent he went to his
+wife for more, but she refused him, and he, in his drunken rage, picked
+up a gun near by and shot her dead.
+
+All of a sudden the Helms boys and others gathered at the saloon, took
+drinks all around, and did a good deal of swearing, which was the
+biggest portion of the proceedings of the meeting; and then they all
+started off toward town, swearing and yelling as they struggled up the
+steep mountain side--a pack of reckless, back-woods Missourians who
+seemed to smell something bloody.
+
+It was near night when they all came back and gathered around the saloon
+again. They were all in unusual good humor as they related the
+adventures of the afternoon, and bragged of their bravery and skill in
+performing the little job they had just completed, which consisted in
+taking the murderer out to the first convenient oak tree, and with the
+assistance of some sailors in handling the ropes, hoisting the fellow
+from the ground with a noose around his neck, and to the "Heave, yo
+heave" of the sailor boys, pulling the rope that had been passed over an
+elevated limb. They watched the suspended body till the last spark of
+life went out, and then went back to town leaving the corpse hanging for
+somebody else to cut down and bury. They whooped and yelled at the top
+of their voices as they came down along the mountain trail, and at the
+saloon they related to the crowd that had gathered there how they had
+helped to hang the ---- who had killed his wife. They said justice must
+be done if there was no law, and that no man could kill a woman and live
+in California. They imagined they were very important individuals, and
+veritable lords of Creation.
+
+These miners, many of them, were inveterate gamblers and played every
+night till near day-light, with no roof over them, and their only
+clothes a woolen shirt and overalls which must have been a little scanty
+in the cool nights which settled down over the mountain camp; but they
+bore it all in their great desire for card playing.
+
+Near by there were three men who worked and slept together, every night
+dividing the dust which each put into a purse at the head of his bed.
+One day the news came to the saloon that one of the purses had been
+stolen. The Helms boys talked it over and concluded that as one of the
+men had gone to town, he might know something about the lost dust; so
+they went to town and there, after a little search, found their man in a
+gambling house. After a little while they invited him to return to camp
+with them, and all started together down the mountain; but when about
+half way down they halted suddenly under an oak tree and accused their
+man of knowing where his partner's money was. This he strongly denied,
+and was very positive in his denial till he felt the surprise of a rope
+around his neck, with the end over a limb, and beginning to haul pretty
+taut in a direction that would soon elevate his body from the ground,
+when he weakened at their earnestness and asked them to hold on a
+minute. As the rope slackened he owned up he had the dust and would give
+it up if they would not send the news to his folks in Missouri. This was
+agreed to and the thief was advised to leave at once for some distant
+camp, or they might yet expose him. He was not seen afterward.
+
+The boys bragged a good deal of their detective ability after this, and
+said that a little hanging would make a ---- thief tell the truth even
+if it did not make an honest man of him, and that a thief would be lucky
+if he got through with them and saved his life. Their law was "Hanging
+for stealing."
+
+The Helms brothers were said to be from western Missouri, and in early
+days were somewhat of the border ruffian order, and of course preferred
+to live on the frontier rather than in any well regulated society. As
+the country became settled and improved around them they moved on. A
+school house was an indication that the country was getting too far
+advanced for them.
+
+They crossed the plains in 1849 and began mining operations near
+Georgetown in Placer county. It was well known that they were foremost
+in all gambling, and in taking a hand in any excitement that came up,
+and as a better class of miners came in they moved on, keeping ahead
+with the prospectors, and just out of reach of law and order. If anyone
+else committed a crime they were always quite eager to be on the
+vigilance committee, and were remarkably happy when punishing a
+wrong-doer. When any of their number was suspected it was generally the
+case that they moved quickly on and so escaped. It was reported,
+however, that one of their number was in the hands of the vigilance
+committee and hanged in Montana.
+
+After a time, it is said, they went down to southern California and
+settled on the border of the Colorado desert, about seventy-five miles
+east of San Diego, in a mountainous and desert region. Here they found a
+small tribe of Indians, and by each marrying a squaw they secured rights
+equal to any of them in the occupation of the land. This was considered
+pretty sharp practice, but it suited them and they became big chiefs and
+midecine men, and numerous dusky descendants grew up around them.
+
+It is said that their property consists of extensive pasture lands on
+which they raise cattle, and that they always go well armed with pistol,
+rifle and riata. It is said that some of the Indians undertook to claim
+that the Helms brothers were intruders, but that in some mysterious way
+accidents happened to most of them and they were left without any
+serious opposition.
+
+They are very hospitable and entertaining to people who visit them,
+provided they do not know too much about the men or their former deeds
+or history. In this case ignorance is bliss and it is folly, if not
+dangerous, to be too wise. They have made no improvements, but live in
+about the same style as the Indians and about on a level with them
+morally and intellectually.
+
+There may be those who know them well, but the writer only knows them by
+hearsay and introduces them as a certain type of character found in the
+early days.
+
+As I was now about barefoot I went to town to look for boots or shoes.
+There were no shoes, and a pair of the cheapest boots I found hanging at
+the door were priced to me at two ounces. This seemed a wonderful sum
+for a pair of coarse cow-hide boots that would sell in the state for two
+dollars and fifty cents; but I had to buy them at the price or go
+barefoot.
+
+While rambling around town I went into a round tent used as a gambling
+saloon. The occupants were mostly men, and one or two nice appearing
+ladies, but perhaps of doubtful reputation. The men were of all
+classes--lawyer, doctors, preachers and such others as wanted to make
+money without work. The miners, especially sailors, were eager to try to
+beat the games. While I was here the table was only occupied by a sailor
+lying upon it and covered with a green blanket. All at once the fellow
+noticed a large _piojo_ walking slowly across the table, and drawing his
+sheath knife made a desperate stab at him, saying "You kind of a deck
+hand can't play at this game."
+
+Our claims, by this time were nearly worked out, and I thought that I
+had upward of two thousand dollars in gold, and the pile looked pretty
+big to me. It seemed to me that these mines were very shallow and would
+soon be worked out, at least in a year or two. I could not see that the
+land would be good for much for farming when no irrigation could be
+easily got, and the Spanish people seemed to own all the best land as
+well as the water; so that a poor fellow like myself would never get
+rich at farming here.
+
+Seeing the matter in this light I thought it would be best to take my
+money and go back to Wisconsin where government land was good and
+plenty, and with even my little pile I could soon be master of a good
+farm in a healthy country, and I would there be rich enough. Thus
+reasoning I decided to return to Wisconsin, for I could not see how a
+man could ever be a successful farmer in a country where there were only
+two seasons, one wet and the other long and dry.
+
+I went out and hunted up my mule which I had turned out to pasture for
+herself, and found her entirely alone. After a little coaxing I caught
+her and brought her with me to camp, where I offered her for sale. She
+was sleek and fat and looked so well that Helms said that if I could
+beat him shooting he would buy both mule and gun; so three or four of us
+tried our skill. My opponents boasted a good deal of their superior
+marksmanship, but on the trial, which began at short range, I beat them
+all pretty badly. Helms was as good as his word and offered me twelve
+ounces for my gun and mule, which I took. I thought a great deal of my
+fat little one-eyed mule, and I thought then, as I think now, how well
+she did her part on the fearful road to and from Death Valley.
+
+Helms was now going to the valley to have a winter's hunt, for here the
+snow would fall four feet deep and no mining work could be done till
+spring, when he would return and work his claim again.
+
+I now had all in my pocket, and when I got ready to go Mrs. Bennett was
+much affected at knowing that I would now leave them, perhaps never to
+return to them again. She clasped me in her arms, embraced me as she
+would her own son, and said "Good luck to you--God bless you, for I know
+that you saved all our lives. I don't suppose you will ever come back,
+but we may come back to Wisconsin sometime and we will try to find a
+better road than the one we came over. Give my best regards to all who
+inquire after us." She shook my hand again and again with earnest
+pressure, and cried and sobbed bitterly. As I climbed the mountain she
+stood and watched me so long as I was in sight, and with her
+handkerchief waved a final adieu. I was myself much affected at this
+parting, for with Mr. and Mrs. Bennett had been really a home to me; she
+had been to me as a mother, and it was like leaving a home fireside to
+go away from them. I was now starting out among strangers, and those I
+should meet might be the same good friends as those whom I had left
+behind. Mr. Bennett and I had for many years been hunting companions; I
+had lived at his house in the East, and we never disagreed but had
+always been good friends. I had now a traveling companion whose home was
+in Iowa Co., Wis., where I had lived for several years, and we went
+along together by way of Greenwood where there was a small mining town
+built of tents, many of which were used as gambling places. These places
+were occupied by gentlemen, some of whom wore white shirts to
+distinguish them, I presume, from the common herd of miners from whom
+they won their dust.
+
+We crossed the American River at Salmon Falls, and walked thence on to
+Sacramento City, which was the largest town we had seen on the coast.
+The houses were all small wooden ones, but business seemed to be brisk,
+and whiskey shops and gambling houses plenty. One game played with three
+cards, called three card Monte, was played openly on the streets, with
+goods boxes for tables. Every one who came along was urged to bet by the
+dealer who would lay out his cards face up so all could see them, then
+turn them over and shuffle them and say "I'll bet six ounces that no one
+can put his finger on the queen." I watched this a while and saw that
+the dealer won much oftener than he lost, and it seemed to be a simple
+and easy way to make a living when money was plenty.
+
+We strolled around town looking at the sights, and the different
+business places, the most lively of which had plenty of music inside,
+lots of tables with plenty of money on them, and many questionable lady
+occupants. These business places were liberally patronized and every
+department flourishing, especially the bar. Oaths and vulgar language
+were the favorite style of speech, and very many of the people had all
+the whiskey down them that they could conveniently carry.
+
+We got through the town safely and at the river we found a steamboat
+bound for San Francisco and the fare was two ounces. The runners were
+calling loudly for passengers, and we were told we could never make the
+trip any cheaper for they had received a telegram from below saying that
+no boat would come up again for two days. I said to him "I can't see
+your telegram. Where is it?" At this he turned and left us. He had
+thought, no doubt, that miners were green enough to believe anything. In
+the course of an hour the smoke of a steamer was seen down the river,
+and this beat out the runners who now offered passage for half an ounce.
+
+At this time there was no telegraph and the delay was a lucky one for
+us. We took passage and went to San Francisco that night, where we put
+up at a cheap tavern near where the Custom House now stands.
+
+Here we learned that we would have to wait two days before a ship would
+sail for Panama, and during this time we surveyed the town from the
+hill-tops and walked all over the principal streets. It was really a
+small, poorly built, dirty looking place, with few wharves, poor, cheap
+hotels, and very rough inhabitants. There were lots of gambling houses
+full of tables holding money, and the rooms filled with pretty rough
+looking people, except the card dealers, most of whom wore white shirts,
+and a few sported plug hats. There was also a "right smart sprinkling"
+of ladies present who were well dressed and adorned with rich jewelry,
+and their position seemed to be that of paying teller at the gambling
+tables.
+
+The buildings seemed to be rather cheap, although material was very
+expensive, as well as labor, mechanics of all sorts getting as much as
+ten or twelve dollars per day for work. Coin seemed to be scarce, and a
+great deal of the money needed on the gambling tables was represented by
+iron washers, each of which represented an ounce of gold.
+
+I noticed some places in the streets where it was muddy and a narrow
+walk had been made out of boxes of tobacco, and sometimes even bacon was
+used for the same purpose. Transportation from the city to the mines was
+very slow and made by schooner. Ship loads of merchandise had arrived
+and been unloaded, and the sailors having run away to the mines,
+everything except whiskey and cards was neglected. Whiskey sold at this
+place for fifty cents a drink.
+
+A man at the tavern where we stopped tried hard to sell me a fifty-vara
+lot there in the edge of the mud (near where the Custom House now
+stands) for six hundred dollars. I thought this a pretty high price and
+besides such a lot was no use to me, for I had never lived in town and
+could not so easily see the uses to which such property could be put. It
+seemed very doubtful to me that this place would ever be much larger or
+amount to much, for it evidently depended on the mines for a support,
+and these were so shallow that it looked as if they would be worked out
+in a short time and the country and town both be deserted. And I was not
+alone in thinking that the country would soon be deserted, for
+accustomed as we all had been to a showery summer, these dry seasons
+would seem entirely to prevent extensive farming. Some cursed the
+country and said they were on their way to "good old Missouri, God's own
+country." Hearing so much I concluded it would be wise not to invest,
+but to get me back to Wisconsin again.
+
+The steamer we took passage in was the Northerner, advertised to sail on
+the twenty-ninth day of November, 1850. The cabin room was all engaged,
+and they charged us nine ounces for steerage passage; but I did not care
+as much about their good rooms and clean sheets as I would have done at
+one time, for I had been a long time without either and did not care to
+pay the difference. When we were at the ship's office we had to take our
+turns to get tickets. One man weighed out the dust, and another filled
+out certificates. When the callers began to get a little scarce I looked
+under the counter where I saw a whole panful of dust to which they added
+mine to make the pile a little higher. They gave out no berths with
+these tickets, but such little things as that did not trouble us in the
+least. It was far better fare than we used to have in and about Death
+Valley, and we thought we could live through anything that promised
+better than the desert.
+
+The passenger list footed up four hundred and forty, and when all got on
+board, at about ten o'clock in the morning, there was hardly room for
+all to stand up comfortably. It seemed to me to be a very much
+over-crowded boat in which to put to sea, but we floated out into the
+current, with all the faces toward the shore, and hats and handkerchiefs
+waving goodbye to those who had come down to see the home-goers safely
+off.
+
+As we passed out through the wonderful Golden Gate and the out going
+current met the solid sea, each seemed wrestling for the mastery, and
+the waves beat and dashed themselves into foam all around us, while the
+spray came over the bows quite lively, frightening some who did not
+expect such treatment. When we had passed this scene of watery commotion
+and got out into the deeper water, the sea smoothed down a great deal;
+but sea-sickness began to claim its victims, at first a few, then more
+and more, till the greater part were quite badly affected. I had a touch
+of it myself, but managed to keep my feet by bracing out pretty wide,
+and hugging everything I could get hold of that seemed to offer a steady
+support, and I did not lie down until after I had thrown my breakfast
+overboard.
+
+By the time dark came nearly every one was on his back, mostly on deck,
+and no one asleep. All were retching and moaning bitterly. Some who had
+a few hours before cursed California now cursed the sea, and declared
+that if they could induce the Captain to turn about and put them back on
+shore again, they would rather creep on their hands and knees clear back
+to old Missouri over rocks and sand, than to ride any further on such a
+miserable old boat as this one was.
+
+Next morning the decks looked pretty filthy, and about all the food the
+passengers had eaten was now spread about the decks in a half digested
+condition. Most of the passengers were very sick. With the early
+daylight the sailors coupled the hose to the big steam pump, and began
+the work of washing and scrubbing off the decks, and though many begged
+hard to be left alone as they were, with all the filth, a good flood of
+salt water was the only answer they received to their pleading, and they
+were compelled to move, for the sailors said they could not change their
+orders without the Captain, and he would not be out of bed till ten
+o'clock or later. So the cursing and swearing went for naught, and the
+decks were clean again. There were no deaths to report, but there were
+very few to do duty at the tables in eating the food prepared for them.
+After a few days the tables filled up again, and now it took them so
+long to eat that there had to be an order for only two meals a day or
+there would not have been a chance for all to get something. They were
+terribly hungry now, and every one seemed to try his best to take in
+provisions enough to last him for at least twelve hours.
+
+As the fellows began to get their sea legs on, they began to talk as if
+they were still in California, and could easily manage any little boat
+like this, and could run things as they did when they crossed the
+plains, where no sheriff, court or judge had anything to say about
+matters, and all law was left behind. They began to act as if they were
+lords over all they could see, and as many of them were from the
+Southern states, they seemed to take an especial pride in boasting of
+how they did as they pleased, about like the Helms brothers. They talked
+as if they could run the world, or the universe even, themselves without
+assistance.
+
+One morning at breakfast, when the table was full and the waiters
+scarce, some of these fellows swore and talked pretty rough, and as a
+waiter was passing a blue-blood from New Orleans rose in his seat and
+called for sugar, holding the empty bowl in his hand, but the waiter
+passed on and paid no attention, and when a mulatto waiter came along
+behind him the angry man damned him the worst he could, ordering him to
+bring a bowl of sugar, quick. This waiter did not stop and the Louisiana
+man threw the bowl at the waiter's head, but missed it, and the bowl
+went crashing against the side of the ship. I expected surely the
+Captain and his men would come and put the unruly fellow in irons, and
+there might be a fight or a riot, so I cut my meal short and went on
+deck about as soon as I could do so, thinking that would be a safer
+place. But the Captain seemed to know about how to manage such fellows,
+and never left his stateroom, which I think was a wise move. The darky
+did not make his appearance at table afterwards, and the man who threw
+the bowl said that colored folks had to mind a gentleman when he spoke
+to them, or fare worse.
+
+The Captain now got out his passenger list, and we all had to pass
+through a narrow space near the wheel-house and every one answer to his
+name and show his ticket. This made work for about one day. Some
+stowaways were found and put down into the hole to heave coal. One day
+the Captain and mate were out taking an observation on the sun when a
+young Missourian stepped up to see what was being done, and said to the
+Captain:--"Captain, don't you think I could learn how to do that kind of
+business?" The Captain took the young man's hand and looked at his nails
+which were very rough and dirty and said:--"No my lad; boys with such
+finger nails can't learn navigation." This made a big laugh at the brave
+lubber's expense.
+
+Many of the sea-sick ones did not get up so soon, and some died of that,
+or something else, and their bodies were sewed up in blankets with a
+bushel of coal at their feet to sink them, and thrown overboard. The
+bodies were laid out on a plank at the ship's side, the Captain would
+read a very brief service, and the sailors would, at the appropriate
+time, raise the end of the plank so that the body slid off and went down
+out of sight in a moment.
+
+In due time we went into the harbor of Acapulco for water and coal. Here
+nearly every one went on shore, and as there was no wharf for the vessel
+to lie to, the native canoes had many passengers at a dollar apiece for
+passage money. Out back of town there was a small stream of clear water
+which was warm and nice to bathe in, and some places three or four feet
+deep, so that a great many stripped off for a good wash which was said
+to be very healthful in this climate. Many native women were on hand
+with soap and towels ready to give any one a good scrubbing for _dos
+reales_, (twenty-five cents) and those who employed them said they did a
+good, satisfactory job.
+
+As I returned to town the streets seemed to be deserted, and I saw one
+man come out on an adjoining street, and after running a few steps, fall
+down on his face. Hearing the report of a gun at the same time, I
+hurried on to get out of danger, but I afterward learned that the man
+was a travelling gambler who had come across the country from Mexico,
+and that he was killed as he fell. No one seemed to care for him.
+
+Near the beach were some large trees, and under them dancing was going
+on to the music of the guitar. There were plenty of pretty Spanish girls
+for partners, and these and our boys made up an interesting party. The
+girls did not seem at all bashful or afraid of the boys, and though they
+could not talk together very much they got along with the sign language,
+and the ladies seemed very fond of the _Americanos_.
+
+There was a fort here, a regular moss-backed old concern, and the
+soldiers were bare footed and did not need much clothing.
+
+The cattle that were taken on board here were made to swim out to the
+ship, and then, with a rope around their horns, hoisted on deck, a
+distance of perhaps forty feet above the water. The maddened brutes were
+put into a secure stall ready for the ship's butcher. The small boys
+came around the ship in canoes, and begged the passengers to throw them
+out a dime, and when the coin struck the water they would dive for it,
+never losing a single one. One man dropped a bright bullet and the boy
+who dove for it was so enraged that he called him a d----d Gringo
+(Englishman.) None of these boys wore any clothes.
+
+This town, like all Spanish towns, was composed of one-story houses,
+with dry mud, fire-proof walls. The country around looked very
+mountainous and barren, and comfortably warm.
+
+After two days we were called on board, and soon set sail for sea again;
+and now, as we approached the equator, it became uncomfortably warm and
+an awning was put over the upper deck. All heavy clothing was laid
+aside, and anyone who had any amount of money on his person was unable
+to conceal it; but no one seemed to have any fear of theft, for a thief
+could not conceal anything he should steal, and no one reported anything
+lost. There was occasionally a dead body to be consigned to a watery
+grave.
+
+A few days out from here and we were again mustered as before to show
+our tickets, which were carefully examined.
+
+It seemed strange to me that the water was the poorest fare we had. It
+was sickish tasting stuff, and so warm it would do very well for
+dish-water.
+
+There were many interesting things to see. Sometimes it would be
+spouting whales; sometimes great black masses rolling on the water,
+looking like a ship bottom upward, which some said were black-fish. Some
+fish seemed to be at play, and would jump ten feet or more out of the
+water. The flying fish would skim over the waves as the ship's wheels
+seemed to frighten them; and we went through a hundred acres of
+porpoises, all going the same way. The ship plowed right through them,
+but none seemed to get hurt by the wheels. Perhaps they were emigrants
+like ourselves in search of a better place.
+
+It now became terribly hot, and the sun was nearly overhead at noon.
+Sometimes a shark could be seen along-side, and though he seemed to make
+no effort, easily kept up with the moving ship. Occasionally we saw a
+sea snake navigating the ocean all by himself. I did not understand how
+these fellows went to sea and lived so far from land. The flying fish
+seemed to be more plentiful as we went along, and would leave the water
+and scud along before us.
+
+We had evening concerts on the forecastle, managed by the sailors. Their
+songs were not sacred songs by any means, and many of them hardly fit to
+be heard by delicate ears. We again had to run the gauntlet of the
+narrow passage and have our tickets looked over, and this time a new
+stowaway was found, and he straightway made application for a job. "Go
+below, sir" was all the Captain said. Several died and had their sea
+burial, and some who had been so sick all the way as not to get out of
+bed, proved tough enough to stand the climate pretty well.
+
+As we were nearing Panama the doctor posted a notice to the mast
+cautioning us against eating much fruit while on shore, as it was very
+dangerous when eaten to excess. We anchored some little distance from
+the shore and had to land in small boats managed by the natives. I went
+in one, and when the boat grounded at the beach the boatman took me on
+his back and set me on shore, demanding two dollars for the job, which I
+paid, and he served the whole crowd in the same way. The water here was
+blood warm, and they told me the tide ran very high.
+
+This was a strange old town to me, walled in on all sides, a small plaza
+in the center with a Catholic church on one side, and the other houses
+were mostly two story. On the side next to the beach was a high, thick
+wall which contained cells that were used for a jail, and on top were
+some dismounted cannon, long and old fashioned.
+
+The soldiers were poor, lazy fellows, barefooted, and had very poor
+looking guns. Going out and in all had to pass through a large gateway,
+but they asked no questions. The streets were very narrow and dirty and
+the sleeping rooms in the second story of the houses seemed to be
+inhabited by cats. For bed clothes was needed only a single sheet. On
+the roofs all around sat turkey buzzards, and anything that fell in the
+streets that was possible for them to eat, was gobbled up very quickly.
+They were as tame as chickens, and walked around as fearless and lordly
+as tame turkeys. In consideration of their cleaning up the streets
+without pay, they were protected by law. One of the passengers could not
+resist the temptation to shoot one, and a small squad of soldiers were
+soon after him, and came into a room where there were fifty of us, but
+could not find their man. He would have been sent to jail if he had been
+caught. We had to pay one dollar a night for beds in these rooms, and
+they counted money at the rate of eight dimes to the dollar.
+
+The old town of Panama lies a little south in the edge of the sea, and
+was destroyed by an earthquake long ago I was told. To me, raised in the
+north, everything was very new and strange in way of living, style of
+building and kind of produce. There were donkeys, parrots and all kinds
+of monkeys in plenty. Most of the women were of very dark complexion,
+and not dressed very stylishly, while the younger population did not
+have even a fig leaf, or anything to take its place. The adults dressed
+very economically, for the days are summer days all the year round, and
+the clothing is scanty and cheap for either sex.
+
+The cattle were small, pale red creatures, and not inclined to be very
+fat, and the birds mostly of the parrot kind. The market plaza is
+outside the walls, and a small stream runs through it, with the banks
+pretty thickly occupied by washerwomen. All the washing was done without
+the aid of a fire.
+
+On the plaza there were plenty of donkeys loaded with truck of all
+sorts, from wood, green grass, cocoa-nuts and sugar-cane to parrots,
+monkeys and all kinds of tropical fruits. Outside the walls the houses
+were made of stakes interwoven with palm leaves, and everything was
+green as well as the grass and trees. Very little of the ground seemed
+to be cultivated, and the people were lazy and idle, for they could live
+so easily on the wild products of the country. A white man here would
+soon sweat out all his ambition and enterprise, and would be almost
+certain to catch the Panama yellow fever. The common class of the people
+here, I should say, were Spanish and negro mixed, and they seem to get
+along pretty well; but the country is not suitable for white people. It
+seems to have been made on purpose for donkeys, parrots and long-heeled
+negroes.
+
+The cabin passengers engaged all the horses and mules the country
+afforded on which to ride across the Chagres River, so it fell to the
+lot of myself and companion to transfer ourselves on foot, which was
+pretty hard work in the hot and sultry weather. My gold dust began to
+grow pretty heavy as I went along, and though I had only about two
+thousand dollars, weighing about ten pounds, it seemed to me that it
+weighed fifty pounds by the way that it bore down upon my shoulders and
+wore sore places on them. It really was burdensome. I had worn it on my
+person night and day ever since leaving the mines, and I had some little
+fear of being robbed when off the ship.
+
+Our road had been some day paved with cobble stones. At the outskirts of
+the town we met a native coming in with a big green lizard, about two
+feet long, which he was hauling and driving along with a string around
+its neck. I wondered if this was not a Panama butcher bringing in a
+fresh supply of meat.
+
+When we reached the hills on our way from Panama, the paved road ended
+and we had only a mule trail to follow. The whole country was so densely
+timbered that no man could go very far without a cleared road. In some
+places we passed over hills of solid rock, but it was of a soft nature
+so that the trail was worn down very deep, and we had to take the same
+regular steps that the mules did, for their tracks were worn down a foot
+or more. On the road we would occasionally meet a native with a heavy
+pack on his back, a long staff in each hand, and a solid half-length
+sword by his side. He, like the burro, grunted every step he took. They
+seemed to carry unreasonably heavy loads on their backs, such as boxes
+and trunks, but there was no other way of getting either freight or
+baggage across the isthmus at that time.
+
+It looked to me as if this trail might be just such a one as one would
+expect robbers to frequent, for it would of course be expected that
+Californians would carry considerable money with them, and we might
+reasonably look out for this sort of gentry at any turn of the trail. We
+were generally without weapons, and we should have to deliver on demand,
+and if any one was killed the body could easily be concealed in the
+thick brush on either side of the trail, and no special search for
+anyone missing would occur.
+
+About noon one day we came to a native hut, and saw growing on a tree
+near by something that looked like oranges, and we made very straight
+tracks with the idea of picking some and having a feast, but some of the
+people in the shanty called out to us and made motions for us not to
+pick them for they were no good; so we missed our treat of oranges and
+contented ourselves with a big drink of water and walked on.
+
+After a little more travel we came to another shanty made of poles and
+palm leaves, occupied by an American. He was a tall, raw-boned,
+cadaverous looking way-side renegade who looked as if the blood had all
+been pumped out of his veins, and he claimed to be sick. He said he was
+one of the Texas royal sons. We applied for some dinner and he lazily
+told us there were flour, tea and bacon and that we could help
+ourselves. I wet up some flour and baked some cakes, made some poor tea,
+and fried some bacon. We all got a sort of dinner out of his pantry
+stuff, and left him a dollar apiece for the accommodation. As we walked
+on my companion gave out and could carry his bundle no longer, so I took
+it, along with my own, and we got on as fast as we could, but darkness
+came on us before we reached the Chagres River and we had to stay all
+night at a native hut. We had some supper consisting of some very poor
+coffee, crackers, and a couple of eggs apiece, and had to sleep out
+under a tree where we knew we might find lizards, snakes, and other
+poisonous reptiles, and perhaps a thieving monkey might pick our pockets
+while we slept.
+
+Before it was entirely dark many who rode horses came along, many of
+them ladies, and following the custom of the country, they all rode
+astride. Among this crowd was one middle-aged and somewhat corpulent old
+fellow, by profession a sea-captain, who put on many airs. The old
+fellow put on his cool white coat--in fact, a white suit throughout--and
+in this tropical climate he looked very comfortable, indeed, thus
+attired. He filled his breast pocket with fine cigars, and put in the
+other pocket a flask with some medicine in it which was good for snake
+bites, and also tending to produce courage in case the man, not used to
+horse-back riding, should find his natural spirits failing. The rest of
+his luggage was placed on pack animals, and in fact the only way luggage
+was carried in those days was either on the backs of donkeys or men.
+
+All was ready for a start, and the captain in his snow-white suit was
+mounted on a mule so small that his feet nearly touched the ground. The
+little animal had a mind of his own, and at first did not seem inclined
+to start out readily, but after a bit concluded to follow his fellow
+animals, and all went well.
+
+The rider was much amused at what he saw; sometimes a very lively
+monkey, sometimes a flock: of paroquets or a high-colored lizard--and so
+he rode along with a very happy air, holding his head up, and smoking a
+fragrant Havana with much grace. The road was rough and rocky, with a
+mud-hole now and then of rather uncertain depth. At every one of these
+mud-holes the Captain's mule would stop, put down his head, blow his
+nose and look wise, and then carefully sound the miniature sea with his
+fore-feet, being altogether too cautious to suit his rider who had never
+been accustomed to a craft that was afraid of water.
+
+At one of these performances the mule evidently concluded the sea before
+him was not safe, for when the captain tried to persuade him to cross
+his persuasions had no effect. Then he coaxed him with voice gentle,
+soft and low, with the result that the little animal took a few very
+short steps and then came to anchor again. Then the captain began to get
+slightly roiled in temper, and the voice was not so gentle, sweet and
+low, but it had no greater effect upon his craft. He began to get
+anxious, for the others had gone on, and he thought perhaps he might be
+left.
+
+Now, this sea-faring man had armed his heels with the large Spanish
+spurs so common in the country, and bringing them in contact with the
+force due to considerable impatience, Mr. Mule was quite suddenly and
+painfully aware of the result. This was harsher treatment than he could
+peaceably submit to, and at the second application of the spurs a pair
+of small hoofs were very high in the air and the captain very low on his
+back in the mud and water, having been blown from the hurricane deck of
+his craft in a very sudden and lively style. The philosophical mule
+stood very still and looked on while the white coat and pantaloons were
+changing to a dirty brown, and watched the captain as he waded out, to
+the accompaniment of some very vigorous swear words.
+
+Both the man and beast looked very doubtful of each other's future
+actions, but the man shook the water off and bestowed some lively kicks
+on his muleship which made him bounce into and through the mud-hole, and
+the captain, still holding the bridle, followed after. Once across the
+pool the captain set his marine eye on the only craft that had been too
+much for his navigation and said "Vengeance should be mine," and in this
+doubtful state of mind he cautiously mounted his beast again and fully
+resolved to stick to the deck, hereafter, at all hazards, he hurried on
+and soon overtook the train again, looking quite like a half drowned
+rooster. The others laughed at him and told him they could find better
+water a little way ahead, at the river, and they would see him safely
+in. The captain was over his pet, and made as much fun as any of them,
+declaring that he could not navigate such a bloody craft as that in such
+limited sea room, for it was dangerous even when there was no gale to
+speak of.
+
+The ladies did not blush at the new and convenient costumes which they
+saw in this country, and laughed a good deal over the way of traveling
+they had to adopt. Any who were sick were carried in a kind of chair
+strapped to the back of a native. Passengers were strung along the road
+for miles, going and coming. We would occasionally sit down awhile and
+let the sweat run off while a party of them passed us. Some were mounted
+on horses, some on mules, and some on donkeys, and they had to pay
+twelve dollars for the use of an animal for the trip.
+
+Our night at this wayside deadfall was not much better than some of the
+nights about Death Valley, but as I was used to low fare, I did not
+complain as some did. This seemed a wonderful country to a northern
+raised boy. The trail was lined on both sides with all kinds of palms
+and various other kinds of trees and shrubs, and they were woven
+together in a compact mass with trailing and running vines. The trees
+were not tall, and the bark was as smooth as a young hickory. The roots
+would start out of the tree three feet above the ground and stand out at
+an angle, and looked like big planks placed edgewise.
+
+It seemed as if there were too many plants for the ground to support,
+and so they grew on the big limbs of the trees all around, the same as
+the mistletoe on the oak, only there were ever so many different kinds.
+
+The weather was very clear, and the sun so hot that many of the
+travelers began to wilt and sit down by the roadside to rest. Many
+walked along very slowly and wore long faces. The road from Panama to
+Crucez, on the Chagres River, was eighteen miles long, and all were glad
+when they were on the last end of it. The climate here seems to take all
+the starch and energy out of a man's body, and in this condition he must
+be very cautious or some disease will overtake him and he will be left
+to die without burial for his body if he has no personal friends with
+him.
+
+We started on the next morning, and on our way stepped over a large ship
+anchor that lay across the trail. I suppose the natives had undertaken
+to pack it across the isthmus and found it too heavy for them. Perhaps
+it was for Capt. Kidd, the great pirate, for it is said that he often
+visited Panama in the course of his cruising about in search of
+treasures.
+
+Passing along a sandy place in the trail, a snake crossed and left his
+track, big as a stovepipe it seemed to be, and after this we kept a
+sharp watch for big snakes that might be in waiting to waylay us for
+game.
+
+There were plenty of monkeys and parrots climbing and chattering around
+in the trees. The forest is here so dense that the wind never blows, and
+consequently it never gets cool. The sun, ever since we got down near
+the equator, was nearly overhead, and the moon seemed to be even north
+of us.
+
+When we reached the Chagres River we hired a boat of an Irishman for the
+trip down. I wondered if there was a place on earth so desolate that the
+"Paddy" would not find it. The boat for the journey cost two hundred
+dollars, and would hold passengers enough so that it would cost us ten
+dollars each, at any rate, and perhaps a little more. Two natives had
+charge of the boat and did the navigating. There were two ladies among
+the passengers, and when the two natives, who I suppose were the captain
+and mate of the craft, came on board, clad very coolly in Panama hats,
+the ladies looked at them a little out of the corners of their eyes and
+made the best of it. Our two navigators took the oars and pulled slowly
+down the stream.
+
+Nothing but water and evergreen trees could we see, for the shore on
+either hand was completely hidden by the dense growth that hung over and
+touched the water. On a mud bar that we passed a huge alligator lay,
+taking a sun bath, and though many shots were fired at him he moved away
+very leisurely. No one could get on shore without first clearing a road
+through the thick brushes and vines along the bank. On the way one of
+our boatmen lost his hat, his only garment, into the river, and
+overboard he went, like a dog, and soon had it and climbed on board
+again. I wondered why some of the big alligators did not make a snap at
+him.
+
+The water in the run looked very roily and dirty, and no doubt had fever
+in it. The only animals we saw were monkeys and alligators, and there
+were parrots in the trees. The farther we went down the stream the wider
+it became, and the current slacker so that we moved more slowly with the
+same amount of rowing. At a place called Dos Hermanos (two brothers) we
+could see a little cleared spot near the bank, which seemed to be three
+or four feet above the water. There were no mountains nor hills in
+sight, and the whole country seemed to be an extensive swamp. It was
+near night that we came to a small native village of palm huts, and here
+our boatmen landed and hid themselves, and not being able to find them
+we were compelled to stay all night, for we dare not go on alone. The
+place looked like a regular robbers' roost, and being forced to sleep
+outside the huts, we considered it safest to sleep with one eye open. We
+would have gone on with the boat only that we were afraid the river
+might have more than one outlet, and if we should take the wrong one we
+might be too late for the steamer, which even now we were afraid would
+not wait for us, and getting left would be a very serious matter in this
+country.
+
+We had very little to eat, and all we could buy was sugar cane, bananas,
+monkeys and parrots. We kept a sharp eye out for robbers, keeping
+together as much as we could, for we knew that all returning
+Californians would be suspected of having money. Most all of them were
+ready for war except myself who had no weapon of any kind. All of these
+people had a bad name, and every one of them carried a long bladed knife
+called a Macheta, with which they could kill a man at a single blow. But
+with all our fears we got through the night safely, and in the morning
+found our boatmen who had hidden away. We waited not for breakfast, but
+sailed away as soon as we could, and reached Chagres, near the mouth of
+the river, before night.
+
+The river banks here are not more than three feet high, and farther back
+the land fell off again into a wet swamp of timber and dense vegetable
+growth. The town was small and poorly built, on the immediate bank, and
+the houses were little brush and palm affairs except the boarding house
+which was "T" shaped, the front two stories high, with a long dining
+room running back, having holes for windows, but no glass in them.
+
+Before the bell rung for meals a long string of hungry men would form in
+line, and at the first tap would make a rush for the table like a flock
+of sheep. After all were seated a waiter came around and collected a
+dollar from each one, and we thought this paid pretty well for the very
+poor grub they served afterwards.
+
+No ship had as yet been in sight to take us away from this lowest,
+dirtiest, most unhealthful place on earth, and the prospect of remaining
+here had nothing very charming about it. The river was full of
+alligators, so the bathing was dangerous, and the whole country was
+about fit for its inhabitants, which were snakes, alligators, monkeys,
+parrots and lazy negroes. It could not have been more filthy if the
+dregs of the whole earth had been dumped here, and cholera and yellow
+fever were easy for a decent man to catch.
+
+My companion and I went out on the beach a mile or two to get the salt
+water breeze, and leave the stinking malaria for those who chose to stay
+in the hot, suffocating village, and here we would stay until nearly
+night. Across a small neck of water was what was called a fort. It could
+hardly be seen it was so covered with moss and vines, but near the top
+could be seen something that looked like old walls. There was no sign of
+life about it, and I should judge it was built at some very early day.
+Surely there was nothing here to protect, for the whole country did not
+seem able to support even a few barefooted soldiers.
+
+Some men who wandered along up the river bank, following a path, said
+they had seen some dead human bodies thrown into the swamp and left,
+probably because it was easier than putting them under ground.
+
+For a bedroom I hired a little platform which a store keeper had placed
+before his store, where I slept, and paid a dollar for the privilege.
+Some one walked around near me all night, and I dared not close more
+than one eye at a time for fear of losing a little bag of gold dust.
+This little bag of gold was getting to be a great burden to me in this
+sickly climate, and the vigilant guard I had to keep over so small a
+treasure was very tiresome.
+
+The second night no steamer came, but on the third morning the steamer
+was riding at anchor three or four miles out, and soon after a ship came
+in from the Atlantic end of the Nicaragua route with one thousand
+passengers, there being no steamer there for them to take a passage home
+on, and so they had to come here for a start. This filled the little
+town to overflowing, but as the ship that had arrived was the Georga,
+one of the largest afloat, all could go if they only could endure the
+fare.
+
+We now had to go in small boats from the shore to the ship, and the trip
+cost two dollars and a half. I waited till I had seen some of the boats
+make a trip or two, and then choosing one that had a sober skipper, I
+made the venture. It was said that one drunken boatman allowed his boat
+to drift into some breakers and all were lost.
+
+I tell you I was over anxious to get out of this country, for I well
+knew that if I stayed very long I should stay forever, for one like
+myself raised in a healthful climate, could not remain long without
+taking some of the fatal diseases the country was full of.
+
+We made the trip to the vessel safely, and as our boat lay under the
+ship's quarter, the men holding the ropes, I looked up, and when I saw
+the swinging rope ladder on which I was expected to climb up to the
+ship's deck, it seemed a pretty dangerous job; but I mustered up courage
+and made the attempt. The sea was pretty rough out here for the small
+boats, and the ship rolled some, so that when persons tried to get hold
+of the ladder they were thrown down and sometimes hurt a little. A man
+held on to the lower end of the ladder so that the one who was climbing
+might not get banged against the side of the ship and have his breath
+knocked out of him, I mounted the ladder safely and climbed away like a
+monkey, reaching the deck all right. Ladies and weak people were hauled
+up in a sort of chair with a block and rope.
+
+It took the most of two days to get the people on board, and when they
+were counted up there were one thousand four hundred and forty, all
+told. This steamer had a very long upper deck and a comparatively short
+keel, and rolled very badly; and as for me, I had swallowed so much of
+the deadly malaria of the isthmus that I soon got very seasick, and the
+first day or two were very unpleasant. I went to the bar and paid two
+bits for a glass of wine to help my appetite, but it staid with me no
+longer than time enough to reach the ship's side. When night came the
+decks were covered with sleepy men, and if the weather had been rough
+and all sick, as was the case when we left San Francisco, we should have
+had more filthy decks than we had even on that occasion.
+
+Approaching the harbor at Havana, Cuba, we seemed to be going head
+foremost against a wall of solid rock, but when within speaking distance
+an officer came in sight on the fort right before us, and shouted
+through his speaking trumpet, saying:--"Why don't you salute us?" Our
+officer said, "You know us well enough without." Our ship had a small
+cannon on the forecastle, but did not choose to use it, and I suppose
+the Cuban officer felt slighted. We now turned short to the right and
+entered the beautiful harbor, which is perfectly landlocked and as still
+as a pond. The city is all on the right side of the bay and our coal
+yard was on the left at a short wharf at which we landed.
+
+A lot of armed soldiers were placed a short distance back on the high
+ground and no one was allowed to go beyond them. We now had a port
+officer on board who had entire charge of the ship, and if anyone wanted
+to go to the city, across the bay two or three miles, he had to pay a
+dollar for a pass. This pass business made the blue bloods terribly
+angry, and they swore long and loud, and the longer they talked the
+madder they got, and more bitter in their feelings, so that they were
+ready to fight (not with sugar-bowls this time.)
+
+The weather here was very warm and the heat powerful, and as these
+fellows saw there was only one course to be pursued if they wanted to
+get on shore, they slowly took passes good for all day and paid their
+dollar for them, and also another dollar each to the canoe men to take
+them to the city. Myself and companion also took passes and went over.
+
+Arriving at the city we walked a short distance and came to the plaza,
+which is not a very large one. Here was a single grave nicely fenced in,
+and across the plaza were some large two-story houses in front of which
+was stationed a squad of cavalry standing as motionless as if every man
+of them was a marble statue. We kept on the opposite side of the street,
+and chancing to meet a man whom we rightly supposed to be an Englishman,
+we inquired about the grave on the plaza and were informed that it was
+that of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America.
+
+Just then we noticed the cavalry moving up the street at a slow gallop,
+and so formed that a close carriage was in the center of the squad. As
+they rushed by and we gazed at them with purely American curiousity, our
+new English friend raised our hats for us and held them till the
+cavalcade had passed, merely remarking that the Governor General was
+within the carriage. We spoke perhaps a bit unpleasantly when we asked
+him why he was so ungentlemanly in his treatment of us as to remove our
+hats, but he said:--"My friends, if I had not taken off your hats for
+you as a friend, some of those other fellows would have knocked them
+off, so I did for you an act of greatest kindness, for every one removes
+his hat when the Governor General passes." He also informed us that the
+special occasion for this rather pompous parade was the execution of
+some criminals at a park or prison not far away, and that this was done
+by beheading them.
+
+Our friend proposed that we also walk out in that direction, and we went
+with him to the edge of the city, but when he turned into a by path that
+did not seem much frequented, we declined to follow farther, and turned
+back along the open road. The path looked to us a sort of robber's
+route, and not exactly safe for unarmed men like us in a strange
+country.
+
+The man followed us back and took us into a large, airy saloon, in the
+center of which a big fountain was playing, and the great basin in which
+the water fell was filled with beautiful fish. Our friend called for an
+iced drink for each of us, and as we sat at the table we tasted it and
+found it rather intoxicating. For this they charged us one dollar each,
+but we noticed that our friend paid nothing, and we set him down as a
+sort of capper, after the style we had seen at the gold mines. We sat a
+few minutes and then so coolly bade our friend good-bye that he had not
+the face to follow us further, and continued our walk about the streets
+which seemed to us very narrow, and the houses generally two stories
+high.
+
+A chaise passed us, containing two young ladies with complexions white
+and fair, and eyes and hair black, in striking contrast. The carriage
+was drawn by two horses tandem, the horse in the shafts being mounted by
+a big negro of very dignified appearance, dressed in livery and having
+top boots that came to his knees. This was the only vehicle of the kind
+we saw on the streets.
+
+We did not dare to go very far alone, for with our ignorance of the
+Spanish language we might go astray and not get back to the ship within
+the lifetime of our passes, and not knowing how much trouble that might
+cause us, we were naturally a little timid; so we took a boat back to
+the ship, and when on board again we felt safe. We had only about four
+dollars cash left.
+
+A big gang of darkies were coaling the ship. Each one carried a large
+tub full of coal upon his head and poured it down into the ship's hold.
+All the clothes these fellows wore was a strip of cloth about their
+middle. When they were let off for dinner they skimmed off all they
+could get from the ship's slop barrel which stood on the wharf
+alongside, to help out their very scanty food. The overseer stood by
+them all the time with a big whip and made them hurry up as fast as
+possible, talking Spanish pretty vigorously, and though we could not
+understand, we made up our minds that a good part of it was swearing.
+
+The next morning the steamship Prometheus came in and tied up near us,
+and soon word was brought that she would take the New Orleans passengers
+on board and sail immediately for that port. It now occurred to me that
+I could get nearer home by going up the Mississippi River than by way of
+New York, so I went on board the Prometheus, and we soon sailed out of
+the harbor, passing under the gate of the fortress called, I think, San
+Juan de Ulloa.
+
+Nothing special occurred during our passage till we were near the mouth
+of the Mississippi River, when, in the absence of a pilot boat or tug,
+our Captain thought he would try to get in alone, and as a consequence
+we were soon fast in the mud. The Captain now made all the passengers go
+aft, and worked the engine hard but could not move her at all. The tide
+was now low, and there was a prospect that we should have to wait full
+six hours to get away. We worked on, however, and after a few hours a
+tug came to our assistance and pulled us out of the mud and towed us
+into the right channel, up which we steamed on our way to New Orleans,
+one-hundred-twenty miles away.
+
+The country on both sides of us was an immense marsh--no hills in sight,
+no timber, nothing but the same level marsh or prairie. When we were
+nearer the Crescent City some houses came in sight; then we passed
+General Jackson's battle-field, and in due time reached the city.
+
+On board this ship I became acquainted with Dick Evans who lived in the
+same county that I used to in Wisconsin, near Mineral Point, so the
+three of us now concluded to travel together.
+
+New Orleans seemed to be a very large city. Near the levee a large
+government building was in course of construction for a Custom House. It
+was all of stone, and the walls were up about two stories. We put up at
+a private boarding house, and the first business was to try and sell our
+gold dust. So we went to the mint and were told we would have to wait
+ten days to run it through the mill, and we did not like to wait so
+long. We were shown all through the mint and saw all the wonders of coin
+making. Every thing seemed perfect here. Beautiful machinery was in
+operation making all sizes of gold coins, from a twenty dollar piece
+down. Strips of gold bands about six feet long and of the proper
+thickness for twenty dollar pieces are run through a machine which cuts
+out the pieces, and when these are cut they can stamp out the pieces as
+fast as one can count.
+
+This was the most ingenious work I ever saw, and very wonderful and
+astonishing to a backwoodsman like myself, for I supposed that money was
+run in moulds like bullets.
+
+As we could not wait we went to a bank and sold our dust, getting only
+sixteen dollars per ounce, the same price they paid in California. We
+now took the cars and rode out to Lake Ponchartrain--most of the way
+over a trestle work. We found a wharf and warehouse at the lake, and a
+steamer lay there all ready to go across to the other side. The country
+all about looked low, with no hills in sight.
+
+When we returned to the city we looked all about, and in the course of
+our travels came to a slave market. Here there were all sorts of black
+folks for sale; big and little, old and young and all sorts. They all
+seemed good-natured, and were clean, and seemed to think they were worth
+a good deal of money. Looking at them a few minutes sent my mind back to
+St. Joseph, Missouri, where I saw a black sold at auction. From my
+standpoint of education I did not approve of this way of trading in
+colored people.
+
+We continued our stroll about the city, coming to a cemetery, where I
+looked into a newly dug grave to find it half full of water. On one side
+were many brick vaults above ground. The ground here is very low and
+wet, and seemed to be all swamp. The drainage was in surface gutters,
+and in them the water stood nearly still. It seemed to me such water
+must have yellow fever in it.
+
+For a long way along the levee the steamboats lay thick and close
+together, unloading cotton, hemp, sugar, hoop poles, bacon and other
+products, mostly the product of negro labor.
+
+Here our friend Evans was taken sick, and as he got no better after a
+day or two, we called a doctor to examine him. He pronounced it a mild
+case of yellow fever. His skin was yellow in places, and he looked very
+badly. The doctor advised us to go on up the river, saying it was very
+dangerous staying here with him. Evans gave me most of his money and all
+of his gold specimens to take to his wife, and when he got well he would
+follow us. We bade him good-bye, and with many wishes for his speedy
+recovery, we took passage on a steamer for St. Louis. This steamer, the
+Atlantic, proved to be a real floating palace in all respects. The table
+was supplied with everything the country afforded, and polite and
+well-dressed darkies were numerous as table waiters. This was the most
+pleasant trip I had ever taken, and I could not help comparing the
+luxuriance of my coming home to the hardships of the outward journey
+across the plains, and our starvation fare.
+
+Our boat was rather large for the stage of water this time of year, and
+we proceeded rather slowly, but I cared little for speed as bed and
+board were extra good, and a first cabin passage in the company of
+friends, many of whom were going to the same part of Wisconsin as
+myself, was not a tedious affair by any means.
+
+At night gambling was carried on very extensively, and money changed
+hands freely as the result of sundry games of poker, which was the
+popular game.
+
+We reached St. Louis in time, and here was the end of our boat's run.
+The river had some ice floating on its surface, and this plainly told us
+that we were likely to meet more ice and colder weather as we went
+north. We concluded to take the Illinois River boat from here to Peoria,
+and paid our passage and stepped on board. We were no more than half way
+through this trip when the ice began to form on the surface of the
+water, and soon became so thick and strong that the boat finally came to
+a perfect standstill, frozen in solid.
+
+We now engaged a farm wagon to take us to Peoria, from which place we
+took regular stages for Galena. Our driver was inclined to be very
+merciful to his horses, so we were two days in reaching that town, but
+perhaps it was best, for the roads were icy and slippery, and the
+weather of the real winter sort. From here we hired a team to take four
+of us to Plattville, and then an eighteen-mile walk brought me to
+Mineral Point, the place from which I started with my Winnebago pony in
+1849. I had now finished my circle and brought both ends of the long
+belt together.
+
+I now went to a drug store and weighed Mr. Evans' specimens, wrapping
+each in a separate piece of paper, with the value marked on each, and
+took them to his wife, to whom I told the news about her husband. In two
+week's time he came home sound and well.
+
+I was quite disappointed in regard to the looks and business appearance
+of the country. It looked thinly settled, people scarce, and business
+dull. I could not get a day's work to do, and I could not go much
+farther on foot, for the snow was eight or ten inches deep, and I was
+still several hundred miles from my parents in Michigan. So my journey
+farther east was delayed until spring. The hunting season was over, and
+when I came into Mineral Point without a gun, and wore good clothes,
+making a better appearance than I used to, they seemed to think I must
+be rich and showed me marked attention, and made many inquiries about
+their neighbors who started for California about the same time I did.
+The young ladies smiled pleasantly when near me, and put on their best
+white aprons, looking very tidy and bright, far superior to any of the
+ladies I had seen in my crooked route from San Francisco through
+Acapulco, Panama, the West Indies and along the Mississippi.
+
+After a few days in town I went out into the neighborhood where I used
+to live and stopped with Mr. E.A. Hall, who used to be a neighbor of Mr.
+Bennett, as he had invited me to stay with himself and wife, who were
+the only occupants of a good house, and all was pleasant. But
+notwithstanding all the comfort in which I was placed, I grew lonesome,
+for the enforced idleness, on account of the stormy weather, was a new
+feature in my life, and grew terribly monotonous.
+
+After some delay I concluded to write to my parents in Michigan and give
+them a long letter with something of a history of my travels, and to
+refresh my memory I got out my memorandum I had kept through all my
+journey.
+
+As my letter was liable to be quite lengthy I bought a quantity of
+foolscap paper and begun. I took my diary as my guide, and filled out
+the ideas suggested in it so they would understand them. I soon ran
+through with my paper and bought more, and kept on writing. The weather
+was cold and stormy, and I found it the best occupation I could have to
+prevent my being lonesome; so I worked away, day after day, for about a
+month, and I was really quite tired of this sort of work before I had
+all the facts recorded which I found noted down in my diary. My notes
+began in March, 1849, in Wisconsin, and ended in February, 1852, on my
+return to Mineral Point. I found, as the result of my elaboration, over
+three hundred pages of closely written foolscap paper, and I felt very
+much relieved when it was done. By the aid of my notes I could very
+easily remember everything that had taken place during my absence, and
+it was recorded in regular form, with day and date, not an incident of
+any importance left out, and every word as true as gospel. I had neither
+exaggerated nor detracted from any event so far as I could recollect.
+
+I now loaned Mr. Hall, with whom I lived, six hundred dollars to enable
+him to cross the plains to California and try to make his fortune. To
+secure this I took a mortgage on his eighty-acre farm, and he set out to
+make the journey. I had another eighty acres of land near here which I
+bought at government price before going to California, but I could not
+now sell it for what it cost me. When I went away I had left my chest
+and contents with my friend Samuel Zollinger, and he had kept it safely,
+so I now made him my lawful agent. I placed my narrative and some other
+papers in the chest and gave the key into his charge, while I went
+north, across the Wisconsin River, to visit my old hunting and trapping
+friend, Robert McCloud. Here I made a very pleasant visit of perhaps a
+week, and the common prospects of the country were freely talked over.
+It seemed to us as if the good times were still far off; every day was
+like Sunday so far as anything going on; no money in circulation, many
+places abandoned, and, like myself, many had gone to California to seek
+gold instead of lead. (The mines at Mineral Point are mostly of lead,
+with some copper.)
+
+Looking at matters in this light it did not need a great deal of
+McCloud's persuasion to induce me to go back with him to California, all
+the more so as my little pile seemed to look smaller every day, while
+three or four years ago it would have seemed quite large. Deciding to
+go, I wrote to Mr. Zollinger to send the account I had written to my
+parents in Michigan, reading it first himself, and admonishing him not
+to lend it. I also wrote to my parents telling them what they might look
+for in the mails, and cautioning them never to have it printed, for the
+writing was so ungrammatical and the spelling so incorrect that it would
+be no credit to me.
+
+I afterward learned that in time they received the bundle of paper and
+read it through and through, and circulated it around the neighborhood
+till it was badly worn, and laid it away for future perusal when their
+minds should incline that way. But the farm house soon after took fire
+and burned, my labor going up in smoke.
+
+When the news of this reached me I resolved to try to forget all the
+trials, troubles and hardships I had gone through, and which I had
+almost lived over again as I wrote them down, and I said to myself that
+I would not talk about them more than I could help, the sooner to have
+them vanish, and never write them down again, but a few years ago an
+accident befell me so that I could not work, and I back-slid from my
+determination when I was persuaded so earnestly by many friends to write
+the account which appeared a few years ago in the Santa Clara Valley now
+the Pacific Tree and Vine, edited by H.A. Brainard, at San Jose,
+California. The diary was lost, and from memory alone the facts have
+been rehearsed, and it is but fair to tell the reader that the hardest
+and worst of it has never been told nor will it ever be.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+McCloud and I now took his skiff, and for two days floated down the
+Wisconsin River till we reached the Mississippi, boarded the first
+steamboat we could hail, and let our own little craft adrift. In due
+time we reached St. Louis and boarded another steamer for New Orleans.
+
+At a wood-yard, about dark, a lot of negroes, little and big, came on
+board to sell brooms. The boat's clerk seemed to know negro character
+pretty well, so he got out his violin and played for them. For a while
+the young colored gentry listened in silence, but pretty soon he struck
+a tune that suited them, and they began to dance in their own wild
+style.
+
+In seven days from St. Louis we landed in New Orleans, and found the
+government steamer, Falcon, advertised to sail in two days. We went
+together to one of the slave warehouses. Outside and in all was neat end
+clean, and any day you could see men, women and children standing under
+the shed as a sign of what they had within, and the painted signs "For
+Sale" displayed conspicuously. We were very civilly treated, and invited
+to examine the goods offered for sale. There were those of all ages and
+all colors, for some were nearly white and some intensely black, with
+all the shades between. All were to be sold, separately, or in families,
+or in groups as buyers might desire. All were made to keep themselves
+clean and neatly dressed, and to behave well, with a smile to all the
+visitors whether they felt like smiling or not. Some seemed really
+anxious to get a good master, and when a kind, pleasant looking man came
+along they would do their utmost to be agreeable to him and inquire if
+he did not want to buy them. We talked it over some between ourselves,
+and when we thought of the market and the human chattels for sale there,
+McCloud spoke up and said:--"I am almost persuaded to be an
+abolitionist."
+
+I now went on board the steamer Falcon, in command of a government
+officer, to try to learn something about the family of Capt. Culverwell
+who perished alone in Death Valley. He told me he had once belonged to
+the Navy and had his life insured, and as I was an important witness for
+his family I wanted to learn where they lived. The Captain looked over a
+list of officers, but Culverwell's name was not there. I then wrote a
+letter to Washington stating the facts of his death, and my own address
+in Sacramento, California. I also stated that I would assist the widow
+if I could, but I never received an answer.
+
+We soon started down the river, having on board about one hundred
+passengers, men going to work on the Panama Railroad. At Chagres we
+found a small stern wheeled river steamer and took passage on it for
+Gorgona, as far as the steamer could well go up the river. While going
+up we met a similar boat coming down, and being near a short bend they
+crashed together, breaking down our guards severely, but fortunately
+with no damage to our wheel. A few miles above this a dark passing cloud
+gave us rain in streams, and we had to drift in near shore to wait for
+the storm to pass. I never before saw water fall so fast, and yet in
+half an hour the sun was out and burning hot.
+
+Before we reached Gorgona we got acquainted with a man named John Briggs
+from Wisconsin, and Lyman Ross from Rhode Island, and concluded to
+travel in company. Our fare thus far was ten dollars, and two horses to
+Panama for which we paid twelve dollars each. We now rode and walked
+turn about, and when we inquired about the road we were told that being
+once in it we could not possibly get out except at the other end, and
+would need no guide, and at the end of a very disagreeable day's work we
+reached the big gate at Panama and entered the ancient city.
+
+We waited but little here before taking the steamer Southerner, bound
+for San Francisco. Three days after we sailed away one of our passengers
+went overboard, a corpse, and three or four more died and were buried
+alongside before we reached Acapulco.
+
+Here we took on water and coal and were soon at sea again. McCloud soon
+had to take his place in the sick ward, and I attended him most of the
+time, but was not allowed to give him anything without a permit from the
+doctor, and the long delays between the administrations of medicine made
+the sickness hard to endure. The sick could see the dead sewed up in
+blankets with a bucket of coal for a weight; then resting on a plank
+with sailors on each side, the mate would read the brief services
+appropriate to a burial at sea, the plank was tilted, and the lifeless
+body slid down into the depths. Such scenes were no benefit to the
+suffering, for each might think his turn was next, when a bright hope
+and prospect would be better for his recovery.
+
+One forenoon the fire gong rang out sharply, and all was in confusion,
+supposing the ship to be on fire, but nothing could be seen but a dense
+fog, except as a gentle wind lifted it a little and there, dead ahead,
+was a rocky island, against which it seemed we must dash to destruction,
+for there was no beach and very little chance for any one to be saved.
+Ten minutes more in this direction and we were lost, but the officers
+quickly changed the course, and we passed the pile of rocks scarcely a
+rifle shot away. Whose fault it was, this danger so miraculously
+avoided, we did not know, the captain's or the imperfect chart, and
+opinions were freely given both ways.
+
+About those days the air felt cooler the fog less dense, and the foggy
+rain-bows we had seen so much when the sun tried to shine, were scarce,
+while a more northern wind created a coolness that made sick folks feel
+refreshed and hopeful. It gave me a chance to cheer up my sick friend
+who was still in bed, and tell him it would continue to be cooler as we
+went.
+
+On the Fourth of July the officers produced the ship's full supply of
+flags, and the sailors climbed high and low, fastening them to every
+rope till we had a very gay Independence day appearance. In this gay
+dress we steamed into San Diego harbor to leave the mail for a few
+soldiers stationed there, and get their letters in return.
+
+I could see no town in San Diego, but a beautiful harbor, and some poor
+looking mustard wigwams some way off seemed to contain the good people
+of that place.
+
+A boat with a small crew pulled out and came alongside to get the mail
+and deliver theirs, and then we turned to sea again. The country all
+around this beautiful little harbor looked mountainous and extremely
+barren, and no one wanted to go on shore.
+
+About dark we had made sufficient offing and turned northward, plowing
+through large fields of kelp. The next morning the forward watch
+announced land ahead, which could dimly be seen as the fog rose. The
+officers rushed on deck and could see not far ahead a sandy beach, and a
+moment more showed that we were headed directly for it, and that it was
+not more than a quarter of a mile away. Quickly the helmsman was given
+orders to steer almost west instead of the north course he had been
+following. He was asked why he kept on his north course when he saw
+danger ahead, and answered:--"It is my business to steer according to
+orders, even if the ship goes ashore, and I can not change course unless
+ordered to." The Captain now examined his chart and decided he was in
+San Pedro harbor, off Los Angeles.
+
+The sun came out bright and clear a little later, and I got McCloud out
+of his bed and gave him a seat at the ship's side where he could see the
+green grassy hills near the beach, and larger hills and mountains
+farther back. We could see cattle feeding in the nearest pastures, and
+the whole scene was a pleasant one; and as we sat on the eastern side of
+the ship and snuffed the cool breeze which came from the north, we
+thought we were comparatively happy people, and hoped that, if no
+accident befell, we would soon be at the end of our voyage.
+
+On the seventh day of July, 1851, we entered the Golden Gate, this being
+my second arrival in California. On our trip from Panama seven or more
+had died and been buried at sea, but the remainder of us were quite safe
+and sound. We found the heart of the city still smoking, for a fire had
+broken out on July fourth and burned extensively, and these broad,
+blackened ruins were the result. Some said the work had been done by the
+Sidney "ducks" and their numerous helpers, who were really the rulers of
+the city. The place now looked much worse than it did when I left in
+November before. These Sidney "ducks" were English convicts from
+Australia, and other thieves and robbers joined them as agreeable
+companion, making a large class that seemed to glory in destruction and
+a chance for booty.
+
+I walked around over the hills where I could see the burned district and
+the destruction of so much valuable property, and when I thought the
+civil law was not strong enough to govern, it seemed to me it would be a
+good place for such men as the Helms brothers of Georgetown to come down
+and do a little hanging business, for they could here find plenty to do,
+and they could carry out their plan of letting no guilty man escape.
+
+About four o'clock one afternoon we went aboard the Sacramento steamer,
+Antelope, paying our passage with half an ounce apiece, and were soon on
+our way past the islands and up the bay. When we were beyond Benicia,
+where the river banks were close, McCloud sat watching the shore, and
+remarked that the boat ran like a greyhound, and it seemed to him, beat
+the old ocean steamer pretty bad.
+
+He seemed to be nearly well again, and complimented me as the best
+doctor he ever saw. Since he had been sick I had paid him all the
+attention I could, and he gave me all the praise I deserved, now that he
+was getting to feel himself again.
+
+At Sacramento we changed to another boat bound for Marysville, which
+place we reached without special incident. Here we invested in a
+four-ounce donkey, that is, we paid four ounces of gold for him, just an
+ounce apiece for four of us--W.L. Manley, Robert McCloud, Lyman Ross and
+John Briggs. We piled our blankets in a pack upon the gentle, four-ounce
+donkey, and added a little tea and coffee, dried beef and bread, then
+started for the Yuba River, ourselves on foot. We crossed the river at
+Park's Bar, then went up the ridge by way of Nigger Tent, came down to
+the river again at Goodyear Bar, then up the stream to Downieville. This
+town was named after John Downie, a worthless drunkard. I remember that
+he once reformed, but again back-slid and died a drunkard's death.
+
+We found this a lively mining town about sixty miles above Marysville,
+on the north fork of the Yuba River, and only reached by a pack trail,
+but everything was flush here, even four aces. The location was a
+veritable Hole-in-the-Ground, for the mountains around were very high,
+and some of them wore their caps of snow all summer, particularly those
+on the east. The gold dust we found here was coarser than it was where I
+worked before, down south on the Merced River. Before I came to
+California I always supposed that gold dust was really dust, and about
+as fine as flour.
+
+We went up the North Fork about a mile or two above town and camped on
+Wisconsin Flat to begin our mining operations. Our luck was poor at
+first, and all except myself were out of money, and more or less in debt
+to me. We made expenses, however, and a little more, and as soon as Mr.
+Ross got his small debt paid he said he was discouraged mining, and with
+blankets on his shoulders started up the trail towards Galloway's ranch,
+on the summit south of town. Mr. Ross said the work was too hard for
+him, for he was not strong enough to handle pick and shovel, and he
+believed he could go down to Sacramento and make more by his wits than
+he could here. I went with him to town and saw him start off with a fair
+load on his back, and watched him as he toiled up the steep mountain
+trail for about two miles, when he went out of sight.
+
+The rest of us kept on mining. Our luck was not very good, but we
+persevered, for there was nothing to be gained by fainting by the way. I
+went into an old abandoned shaft about ten feet deep and found the
+bottom filled with a big quartz boulder, and as I had been a lead miner
+in Wisconsin, I began drifting, and soon found bed rock, when I picked
+up a piece of pure gold that weighed four ounces. This was what I called
+a pretty big find, and not exactly what I called gold dust. It was quite
+a surprise to me, for the gravel on the bed rock was only about three or
+four inches thick.
+
+We kept on drifting for some time, sometimes making good wages, and on
+the whole so satisfactory that we concluded to stay. We now located some
+claims back in the flat where the ground would be thirty feet deep, and
+would have to be drifted. These we managed to hold until winter, and in
+the meantime we worked along the river and could make something all the
+time.
+
+We put in a flume between two falls on the Middle Fork, but made only
+wages, and I got my arm nearly broken, and had to work with one hand for
+nearly a month.
+
+One afternoon I went crevicing up the river, and found a crevice at the
+water's edge about half an inch wide, and the next day we worked it out
+getting forty ounces, and many of the pieces were about an inch long and
+as large around as a pipe-stem.
+
+Winter was now near by, and we set to work to build a cabin and lay in a
+stock of grub, which cost quite a good deal, for the self-raising flour
+which we bought was worth twenty cents a pound, and all kinds of hog
+meat fifty cents, with other supplies in proportion. Our new claims now
+paid very well. Snow came down to the depth of about four feet around
+our cabin, but as our work was under ground, we had a comfortable place
+all winter.
+
+In the spring McCloud and I went to Sacramento and sold our chunks of
+gold (it was all very coarse) to Page, Bacon & Co. who were themselves
+surprised at the coarseness of the whole lot. When our savings were
+weighed up we found we had made half an ounce a day, clear of all
+expenses, for the entire year.
+
+We now took a little run down to San Francisco, also to Santa Clara
+where we staid a night or two with Mr. McCloud's friend, Mr. Otterson,
+and then went back to our claims again. In taking care of our money we
+had to be our own bankers, and the usual way was to put the slugs we
+received for pay into a gallon pickle jar, and bury this in some place
+known only to our particular selves, and these vaults we considered
+perfectly safe. The slugs were fifty dollar pieces, coined for
+convenience, and were eight-sided, heavy pieces. In the western counties
+the people called them "Adobies," but among the miners they were
+universally known as "Slugs."
+
+The winter proved a little lonesome, the miners mostly staid at home and
+worked. During the year we had been here I had not seen a respectable
+woman in this mining country. There were few females here, and they were
+said to be of very doubtful character. As a general thing people were
+very patient with their wickedness, but not always.
+
+Twice only in the history of California were women made the victims of
+mob violence, once at Los Angeles and once at Downieville. The affair at
+the last-named place occurred in 1851, and the victim was a pretty
+little Spanish woman named Juanita. She and her husband, like many
+another couple at that time, kept a monte game for the delectation of
+the miners who had more money than sense, but beyond this fact
+absolutely nothing was said against her character.
+
+There was an English miner named Cannon living in town, who was very
+popular among a large number of gamblers and others. He got drunk one
+night and about midnight went to the house occupied by the Spanish woman
+and her husband and kicked the door down. Early the following morning he
+told his comrades that he was going to apologize to the woman for what
+he had done. He went alone to the house, and, while talking with the
+husband and wife, the woman suddenly drew a knife and stabbed Cannon to
+the heart. What had been said that provoked the deed was never known,
+further than that Juanita claimed she had been grossly insulted.
+
+She was given a mock trial, but the facts of the case were not brought
+out, as the men who were with Cannon were too drunk to remember what had
+happened the previous night. It was a foregone conclusion that the poor
+woman was to be hanged, and the leaders of the mob would brook no
+interference. A physician examined Juanita and announced to the mob that
+she was in a condition that demanded the highest sympathy of every man,
+but he was forced to flee from town to save his life. A prominent
+citizen made an appeal for mercy, but he was driven down the main street
+and across the river by a mob with drawn revolvers, and with threats of
+instant death. The well-known John B. Weller was in town at the time,
+and was asked to reason with the mob, but refused to do so.
+
+The execution was promptly carried out. A plank was put across the
+supports of the bridge over the Yuba, and a rope fastened to a beam
+overhead. Juanita went calmly to her death. She wore a Panama hat, and
+after mounting the platform she removed it, tossed it to a friend in the
+crowd, whose nickname was "Oregon," with the remark, "Adios amigo." Then
+she adjusted the noose to her own neck, raising her long, loose tresses
+carefully in order to fix the rope firmly in its place, and then, with a
+smile and wave of her hand to the bloodthirsty crowd present, she
+stepped calmly from the plank into eternity. Singular enough, her body
+rests side by side, in the cemetery on the hill, with that of the man
+whose life she had taken.
+
+On Sundays Downieville was full of men, none very old, and none very
+young, but almost every one of middle age. Nearly every man was coarsely
+dressed, with beard unshaved and many with long hair, but on any
+occasion of excitement it was not at all strange to see the coarsest,
+roughest looking one of all the party mount a stump and deliver as
+eloquent an address as one could wish to hear. On Sunday it was not at
+all unusual for some preacher to address the moving crowd, while a few
+feet behind him would be a saloon in full blast, and drinking, gambling,
+swearing and vulgar language could be plainly seen and heard at the same
+time, and this class of people seemed to respect the Sunday preacher
+very little. The big saloon was owned by John Craycroft, formerly a mate
+on a Mississippi River steamboat, who gained most of his money by
+marrying a Spanish woman and making her a silent partner.
+
+One enterprising man who was anxious to make money easily, took a notion
+to try his luck in trade, so, as rats and mice were troublesome in shops
+and stores, he went down to the valley and brought up a cargo of cats
+which he disposed of at prices varying from fifty to one hundred dollars
+each, according to the buyer's fancy.
+
+During the summer Kelley the fiddler came up in the mines to make a
+raise, and Craycroft made him a pulpit about ten feet above the floor in
+his saloon, having him to play nights and Sundays at twenty dollars per
+day. He was a big uneducated Irishman, who could neither read nor write,
+but he played and sang and talked the rich Irish brogue, all of which
+brought many customers to the bar. In the saloon could be seen all sorts
+of people dealing different games, and some were said to be preachers.
+Kelley staid here as long as he could live on his salary, and left town
+much in debt, for whiskey and cards got all his money.
+
+One of the grocers kept out a sign, "CHEAP JOHN, THE PACKER," and kept a
+mule to deliver goods, which no other merchant did, and in this way
+gained many friends, and many now may praise the enterprise of Cheap
+John, the Packer. Prices were pretty high in those days. Sharpening
+picks cost fifty cents, a drink of whiskey one dollar, and all kinds of
+pork, fifty cents per pound. You could get meals at the McNutty house
+for one dollar. The faro and monte banks absorbed so much of the small
+change that on one occasion I had to pay five dollars for a two dollar
+pair of pants in order to get a fifty dollar slug changed.
+
+No white shirts were worn by honest men, and if any man appeared in such
+a garment he was at once set down as a gambler, and with very little
+chance of a mistake. One Langdon had the only express office, and
+brought letters and packages from Sacramento. I paid one dollar simply
+to get my name on his letter list, and when a letter came I had to pay
+one dollar for bringing it up, as there was no Post Office at
+Downieville.
+
+Newspapers were eagerly sought for, such was the hunger for reading. The
+Western folks bought the St. Louis papers, while Eastern people found
+the New York Tribune a favorite. One dollar each for such papers was the
+regular price. It may seem strange, but aside from the news we got from
+an occasional newspaper, I did not hear a word from the East during the
+two years I remained on Yuba river. Our evenings were spent in playing
+cards for amusement, for no reading could be got. The snow between
+Marysville and Downieville was deep and impassable in winter, but we
+could work our drifting claims very comfortably, having laid in a stock
+of provisions early in the season, before snowfall. The nights seemed
+tediously long and lonesome, for when the snow was deep no one came to
+visit us, and we could go nowhere, being completely hemmed in. All the
+miners who did not have claims they could work underground, went down
+below the winter snow-line to find work, and when the snow went off came
+back again and took possession of the old claims they had left.
+
+After the snow went off three German sailors came up and took a river
+claim a short distance above us on a north fork of the north fork of the
+stream, where one side of the cañon was perpendicular and the other
+sloped back only slightly. Here they put logs across the river, laid
+stringers on these, and covered the bottom with fir boughs. Then they
+put stakes at the sides and rigged a canvas flume over their bridge
+through which they turned the whole current of the river, leaving a
+nearly dry bed beneath. This we called pretty good engineering and
+management on the part of the sailor boys, for no lumber was to be had,
+and they had made themselves masters of the situation with the material
+on hand.
+
+They went to work under their log aqueduct, and found the claim very
+rich in coarse gold. They went to town every Saturday night with good
+big bags of dust, and as they were open-hearted fellows, believing that
+a sailor always has the best of luck, they played cards freely, always
+betting on the Jack and Queen, and spent their money more easily than
+they earned it. They were quite partial to the ladies, and patronizing
+the bar and card tables as liberally as they did, usually returned to
+camp on Monday or Tuesday with a mule load of grub and whiskey as all
+the visible proceeds of a week's successful mining; but when Saturday
+night came around again we were pretty sure to see the jolly sailors
+going past with heavy bags of gold. They left one nearly pure piece of
+gold at Langdon's Express office that weighed five pounds, and another
+as large as a man's hand, of the shape of a prickly pear leaf.
+
+They worked their claim with good success until the snow water came down
+and forced them out. I went one day to see them, and they took a pan of
+dirt from behind a big rock and washed it out, getting as much as two
+teacupfuls of nuggets, worth perhaps a thousand dollars. When they went
+away they said they would go to Germany to see their poor relatives and
+friends, and one of them really went home, but the other two had spent
+all their money before they were ready to leave San Francisco. These men
+were, without doubt, the inventors of the canvas flume which was
+afterward used so successfully in various places.
+
+While I was still here the now famous Downieville Butte quartz mine was
+discovered, but there was no way then of working quartz successfully,
+and just at that time very little was done with it, but afterward, when
+it was learned how to work it, and the proper machinery introduced, it
+yielded large sums of bullion.
+
+The miners had a queer way of calling every man by some nickname or
+other instead of his true name, and no one seemed offended at it, but
+answered to his new name as readily as to any.
+
+It was nearly fall when we found we had worked our claims out, and there
+were no new ones we could locate here, so we concluded to go prospecting
+for a new locality. I bought a donkey in town of a Mr. Hawley, a
+merchant, for which I paid sixty dollars, and gave the little fellow his
+old master's name. We now had two animals, and we packed on them our
+worldly goods, and started south up the mountain trail by way of the
+city of six, where some half dozen men had located claims, but the
+ground was dry and deep, so we went on.
+
+We still went south, down toward the middle Yuba River and when about
+half way down the mountain side came to a sort of level bench where some
+miners were at work, but hardly any water could be had. They called this
+Minnesota. We stayed here a day or two, but as there seemed to be no
+possible further development of water, concluded to go on further.
+Across the river we could see a little flat, very similar to the one we
+were on, and a little prospecting seemed to have been done on the side
+of the mountain. We had a terribly steep cañon to cross, and a river
+also, with no trail to follow, but our donkeys were as good climbers as
+any of us, so we started down the mountain in the morning, and arrived
+at the river about noon. Here we rested an hour or two and then began
+climbing the brushy mountain side. The hill was very steep, and the sun
+beat down on us with all his heat, so that with our hard labor and the
+absence of any wind we found it a pretty hot place.
+
+It was pretty risky traveling in some places, and we had to help the
+donkeys to keep them from rolling down the hill, pack and all. It took
+us four hours to make a mile and a half or two miles in that dense
+brush, and we were nearly choked when we reached the little flat. Here
+we found some water, but no one lived here. From here we could see a
+large flat across a deep cañon to the west, and made up our minds to try
+to go to it. We went around the head of the cañon, and worked through
+the brush and fallen timber, reaching our objective point just as night
+was coming on. This flat, like the one we had left, was quite level, and
+contained, perhaps, nearly one hundred acres. Here we found two men at
+work with a "long tom"--a Mr. Fernay and a Mr. Bloat. They had brought
+the water of a small spring to their claim and were making five or six
+dollars per day. We now prospected around the edge of this flat, and
+getting pretty fair prospects concluded we would locate here if we could
+get water.
+
+We then began our search for water and found a spring about three
+quarters of a mile away, to which we laid claim, and with a triangle
+level began to survey out a route for our ditch. The survey was
+satisfactory, and we found we could bring the water out high on the
+flat, so we set to work digging at it, and turned the water in. The
+ground was so very dry that all the water soaked up within two hundred
+yards of the spring.
+
+By this time we were out of grub, and some one must go for a new supply,
+and as we knew the trail to Downieville was terribly rough, I was chosen
+as the one to try to find Nevada City, which we thought would be nearer
+and more easily reached. So I started south with the donkeys, up the
+mountain toward the ridge which lies between the middle and south Yuba
+Rivers, and when I got well on the ridge I found a trail used some by
+wagons, which I followed till I came to a place where the ridge was only
+wide enough for a wagon, and at the west end a faint trail turned off
+south into the rolling hills. I thought this went about the course I
+wanted to go, so I followed it, and after two or three miles came to the
+south Yuba river. This seemed to be an Indian trail, no other signs on
+it. I climbed the mountain here, and when I reached the top I found a
+large tent made of blue drilling, and here I found I was four or five
+miles from Nevada City with a good trail to follow. The rolling hills I
+then passed through are now called North Bloomfield, and at one time
+were known as "Humbug."
+
+I started along the trail and soon reached the city where I drove my
+donkeys up to a store which had out the sign "Davis & Co.." I entered
+and inquiring the prices of various sorts of provisions such as flour,
+bacon, beans, butter, etc., soon had selected enough for two donkey
+loads. They assisted me in putting them in pack, and when it was ready I
+asked the amount of my bill, which was one hundred and fifty dollars.
+This I paid at once, and they gave me some crackers and dried beef for
+lunch on the way. Davis said--"That is the quickest sale I ever made,
+and here the man is ready to go. I defy any one to beat it." Before sun
+down I was two or three miles on my way back where I found some grass
+and camped for the night, picketed the animals, ate some of Mr. Davis'
+grub for supper, and arranged a bed of saddle blankets. I arrived at
+camp the next day about sun down.
+
+Next day I went on up the divide and found a house on the trail leading
+farther east, where two men lived, but they seemed to be doing nothing.
+There were no mines and miners near there, and there seemed to be very
+little travel on the trail. The fellows looked rough, and I suspected
+they might be bad characters. The stream they lived near was afterward
+called Bloody Run, and there were stories current that blood had been
+shed there.
+
+Here was a section of comparatively level land, for the mountain divide,
+and a fine spring of good cold water, all surrounded by several hundred
+acres of the most magnificent sugar pines California ever raised, very
+large, straight as a candle, and one hundred feet or more to the lowest
+limbs. This place was afterward called Snow Tent, and S.W. Churchill
+built a sawmill at the spring, and had all this fine timber at the mercy
+of his ax and saw, without anyone to dispute his right. He furnished
+lumber to the miners at fifty dollars or more per thousand feet. Bloody
+Run no doubt well deserves its name, for there was much talk of killing
+done there.
+
+I, however, went up and talked to the men and told them I wished to hire
+a cross cut saw for a few days to get out stuff for a cabin, and agreed
+to pay two dollars a day for the use of it till it came back.
+
+We cut down a large sugar pine, cut off four six feet cuts, one twelve
+feet, and one sixteen feet cut, and from these we split out a lot of
+boards which we used to make a V-shaped flume which we placed in our
+ditch, and thus got the water through. We split the longer cuts into two
+inch plank for sluice boxes, and made a small reservoir, so that we
+succeeded in working the ground. We paid wages to the two men who
+worked, and two other men who were with us went and built a cabin.
+
+I now went and got another load of provisions, and as the snow could be
+seen on the high mountains to the east, I thought the deer must be
+crowded down to our country, so I went out hunting and killed a big fat
+buck, and the next day three more, so fresh meat was plenty.
+
+About this time a man came down the mountain with his oxen and wagon,
+wife and three or four children, the eldest a young lady of fifteen
+years. The man's name was H. M. Moore. We had posted notices, according
+to custom, to make mining laws, and had quite a discussion about a name
+for the place. Some of the fellows wanted to name it after the young
+lady, "Minda's Flat," but we finally chose "Moore's Flat" instead, which
+I believe is the name it still goes by. Our laws were soon completed,
+and a recorder chosen to record claims. We gave Mr. Moore the honor of
+having a prospecting town named after him because he was the first man
+to be on hand with a wife.
+
+I became satisfied after a little that this place would be a very snowy
+place, and that from all appearances it would fall from two to four feet
+deep, and not a very pleasant place to winter in. An honest acquaintance
+of mine came along, Samuel Tyler and to him I let my claim to work on
+shares and made McCloud my agent, verbally, while I took my blankets and
+started for the valley.
+
+The first town I passed through was a newly discovered mining town
+called French Corral. Here I found an old Wisconsin friend Wm. Sublet,
+the foster father of the accomplishen wife of Mayor S.W. Boring of San
+Jose. From here I went to Marysville. The storm had been raging high in
+the mountains for some days, and the Yuba river rising fast, overflowing
+its banks as I walked into town, and the next day the merchants were
+very busy piling their goods above high water mark. I went to a hotel
+and called for a bed. "Yes," says the landlord "Is your name John or
+Peter?" I told him William, which he set down in his book and we went up
+stairs to the best room which was fitted up with berths three tiers high
+on each side, and only one or two empty ones. He looked around for
+covers, but none could be found unoccupied, but one fellow who was sound
+asleep and snoring awfully, so he took the blanket off from him saying:
+"He wont know a thing about it till morning, be jabers, so don't say a
+word."
+
+Next morning the river was booming, its surface covered with all sorts
+of mining outfit such as flume timber, rockers, various qualities of
+lumber, pieces of trees as well as whole ones, water wheels and other
+traps. The river between Downieville and here must have been swept clean
+of all material that would float, including "long Toms." The water
+continued to rise till it covered the Plaza, and in two days a steamer
+came up and sailed across the public square. This looked like a wet
+season to me, and when the boat was ready to go down the river I went on
+board, bound for Sacramento. Here it was also getting terrible wet and
+muddy, and the rain kept pouring down. In the morning I worked my way up
+J street and saw a six-mule team wading up the streets the driver on
+foot, tramping through the sloppy mud, occasionally stepping in a hole
+and falling his whole length in the mud. On the street where so much
+trouble was met by the teamsters, a lot of idlers stood on the sidewalk,
+and when a driver would fall and go nearly out of sight, they would,
+like a set of loafers, laugh at him and blackguard him with much noise,
+and as they were numerous they feared nothing.
+
+Suddenly a miner, who had lately arrived from the mountains, raised his
+room window in the second story of a house, put out one leg and then his
+body, as far as he could, and having nothing on but his night clothes,
+shouted to the noisy crowd below:--"Say can't you d----d farmers plow
+now?" At this he dodged back quickly into his window as if he expected
+something might be thrown at him. The rain continued, and the water rose
+gradually till it began to run slowly through the streets, and all the
+business stopped except gambling and drinking whisky, which were freely
+carried on in the saloons day and night.
+
+While here in Sacramento I was sufficiently prompted by curiosity to go
+around to the place on J street where the Legislature was in session. I
+stood sometime outside the enclosure listening to the members who were
+in earnest debate over a question concerning the size of mining claims.
+They wanted them uniform in size all over the state, but there was some
+opposition, and the debate on this occasion was between the members from
+the mining counties on one side and the "cow" counties on the other. The
+miners took the ground that the claims were of different richness in the
+different mining localities and that the miners themselves were the best
+judges of the proper size of claims, and were abundantly able to make
+their own laws as they had done under the present mining customs, and
+their laws had always been respected, making any further legislative
+action unnecessary.
+
+While this wrangle was going on. Capt. Hunt, of San Bernardino (our
+guide from Salt Lake in 1849), came along and stopped where I stood,
+shaking me heartily by the hand, inquiring where I was from, and when I
+told him I was from the mines he said he thought the cow county fellows
+were trying to make the miners some trouble. I told him the present
+mining regulations suited us very well, and after he had talked with me
+a little he went inside and whispered to some of the silent members that
+the miners wanted no change, for he had just consulted a miner to that
+effect. When occasion offered he called for a vote which resulted in the
+defeat of the cow counties and a postponement of the measure
+indefinitely.
+
+My next move was to try to find a dryer place so I took a boat for
+Benicia, then for Stockton, where I found a sea of mud, so that a man
+needed stilts or a boat to cross the street.
+
+Here in a livery stable I found my old Platte River boss, Chas. Dallas,
+for whom I drove in 1849, but he did not seem to know me and took no
+notice of me, but talked "horse" and horse-racing to the bystanders very
+loudly. I suppose that Dallas had made money and did not care for a poor
+ox driver, and on my part I did not care very much for his friendship,
+so I walked away and left him without a word.
+
+Every way I looked was a sea of black, sticky mud; dogs mired in the
+streets and died, and teams and animals had forsaken the usual route of
+travel. The gambling houses and saloons were crowded, gum boots in
+demand, and the only way to get out of town was by water. I took this
+way out, and on the same boat by which I came, going to San Francisco.
+This was high and dry enough to be above the highest floods of Yuba,
+Sacramento or San Joaquin, but all business except the saloons was dull.
+Fronting on Portsmouth Square was the Hall of Corruption. Inside was a
+magnificently furnished bar, more than one keeper and various gambling
+tables, most of them with soiled doves in attendance. The room was
+thronged with players and spectators, and coin and dust were plenty. The
+dealers drew off their cards carefully, and seemed to have the largest
+pile of coin on their side.
+
+I climbed Russian Hill and to take a look over the city. It seemed
+poorly built, but the portion that had been burned in July 1852, had
+been built up again. The business part was near the beach and north of
+Market street.
+
+I had never lived in a town and did not know its ways, so I strolled
+around alone, for without acquaintance I did not know where to go nor
+what to look for. I therefore thought I would see some other part of the
+country. I found that a schooner was about to sail for San Pedro, near
+Los Angeles. I took hold of a rope to help myself on board, when it gave
+way and I found myself floundering in the water. They helped me out and
+the Captain gave me a dry suit to put on, I was profoundly grateful for
+the favor, and found him a generous man.
+
+We sailed away and stopped at Monterey for 24 hours which gave me a good
+chance for a good look at the old Capitol houses, which were of adobe,
+and to find that this city was also liberally supplied with gambling,
+card and billiard tables. The majority of the people were Spanish and
+fond of gaming, and the general appearance of the place was old and
+without good improvements, though there were more two-story houses than
+in most places in California.
+
+Some houses were of stone, but more of adobe, and there seemed to be no
+fertile country round, and the hills about had small pines on them.
+
+Some of the sailors went out and gathered a large bag of mussels and
+clams, from which they made a liberal allowance of chowder for the
+table. After seven or eight days we arrived in San Pedro, and found the
+town to consist of one long adobe house. The beach was low and sandy,
+and we were wet somewhat in wading through a light surf to get on shore.
+We had on board a Mr. Baylis, who we afterward learned came down with
+Capt. Lackey on a big speculation which was to capture all the wild
+goats they could on Catalina Island, and take them to San Francisco for
+slaughtering.
+
+The goats were easily captured and taken on board the schooner, and
+thence to shore but many were drowned in the transit, and when driven to
+San Francisco the dead were scattered all along the route. Although wild
+they seemed to lack the vitality that tame goats possess. The
+speculation proved a disappointment to the projectors.
+
+At the adobe house, kept by a Spaniard we had breakfast, then shouldered
+our packs for the march of ten leagues to Los Angeles for there was no
+chance to ride. It was night before we reached the City of Angels, and
+here I staid a day to take a look at the first city I saw in California
+in March 1850.
+
+I inquired for my mining companion, W.M. Stockton who worked with
+Bennett and myself near Georgetown in 1850, and found he lived near the
+old mission of San Gabriel nine miles away, whither I walked and found
+him and family well and glad to see me. He had jumped an old pear
+orchard which was not claimed by the Mission Fathers, although it was
+only three-fourths of a mile away. The trees were all seedlings and very
+large, probably 50 or more years old. Some of the Mission buildings were
+falling down since they had been abandoned, and the Americans would go
+to these houses and remove the tile flooring from the porches and from
+the pillars that supported them. These tiles were of hard burned clay,
+in pieces about a foot square, and were very convenient to make fire
+places and pavements before the doors of their new houses. Out-side the
+enclosed orange and fig orchard at this place were some large olive and
+fig trees, apparently as old as the mission, being a foot or more in
+diameter and about 50 feet high. I had never seen olives, and when I saw
+these trees covered with plenty of fruit about the size of damson plums
+I took the liberty of tasting it and found it very disagreeable, and
+wondered of what use such fruit could be.
+
+Mr. Stockton fenced his orchard by setting posts and tying sycamore
+poles to them to keep the stock away, built an adobe house on the claim
+and called the property his. I went to work for him at once, pruning the
+trees, which improved their appearance, and then turned on a little
+stream of water which ran through the place, and on down to the mission.
+With this treatment the trees did well without cultivation.
+
+I bought one half the stock consisting of some Spanish cows, one yoke of
+oxen and some horses, worked enough to pay my board, watched the stock
+and still had plenty of time to ride around over the adjoining country.
+
+When the pears were ripe the Spanish men, women and children eagerly
+bought them at 25 cents per dozen and some Sundays the receipts for
+fruit sold would be as high as $100. That taken to town would bring from
+$5. to $8. per box, the boxes being a little larger than those in
+present use. An Indian woman, widow of a Mr. Reed, claimed a vineyard
+near the orchard, and laid claim to the whole property, so Stockton gave
+her $1000 for a quit claim deed.
+
+Near by was a small artificial lake made by a dam of cobble stones, laid
+in cement across a ravine, which was built perhaps 50 years before, and
+yet the tracks of a child who had walked across before the cement was
+dry, were plainly seen.
+
+Stockton and I visited Mr. Roland, an old settler who lived south of San
+Gabriel river, and staid all night with him, finding him very sociable
+and hospitable. All his work was done by Indians who lived near by, and
+had been there as long as he. He had a small vineyard, and raised corn,
+squashes, melons and all that are necessary for his table, having also a
+small mill near by for grinding corn and wheat without bolting. The
+Indians made his wine by tramping the grapes with their feet in a
+rawhide vat hung between four poles set in the ground. The workmen were
+paid off every Saturday night, and during Sunday he would generally sell
+them wine enough to get about all the money back again. This had been
+his practice for many years, and no doubt suited Mr. Roland as well as
+the red men.
+
+Roland was an old Rocky Mountain trapper who came to California long
+before gold was discovered, and during the evening the talk naturally
+ran to the subject of early days.
+
+Mr. Roland related that while his party were in camp in the upper
+Colorado they were visited by a small band of Indians who professed
+friendship and seated themselves around the fire. Suddenly they made an
+attack and each trapper had an Indian to contend with, except Mr. Roland
+who was left to be dispatched afterwards. But as he ran, a squaw among
+them followed him, and after a while overtook him and showed friendship.
+He had neither gun or knife and so concluded to put faith in the woman
+who safely guided him in a long tramp across the desert where they both
+came near starving, but finally reached Los Angeles Valley, when the
+brave squaw mingled with her own people and he lost sight of her
+forever.
+
+No white man could alone have traversed that desert waste and found food
+enough to last him half the journey.
+
+He gradually learned to speak Spanish, and was granted the piece of land
+he applied for, and where he then lived; married a Spanish girl, with
+whom he had a happy home and raised a large family, and grew rich, for
+they were both industrious and economical. The first wife died, and he
+was persuaded to marry a Texas widow, and now had to buy the first
+carriage he ever owned, and furnish a fine turn-out and driver for the
+lady, who wore much jewelry and fine clothes, and spent money freely.
+Roland was not a society man, his thoughts and habits were different
+from his wife, and he staid at home, better contented there.
+
+There were many other pioneers in the neighborhood, Dan Sexton, Col.
+Williams, of Chino ranch, Workman, B.D. Wilson, Abel Stearns, Temple,
+Wolfskill and many others, Scott and Granger were lawyers. Granger was
+the same man who read the preamble and resolutions that were to govern
+our big train as we were about to start from Utah Lake.
+
+Scott was quite a noted member of the bar, and when Gen. Winfield Scott
+ran for President, some wide awake politicians caused the uneducated
+Spaniards to vote for their favorite lawyer instead of the redoubtable
+general, and they did this with a good will for they thought the famous
+avocado was the best man, and thus the manipulators lost many votes to
+the real candidate. Scott was afterward retained by many of the
+Spaniards to present their claims for their land to the U.S. Government
+and was considered a very able man.
+
+Mr. Stockton related that when he left his family here to go to the
+mines he rented one half a house of Michael Blanco who had a Spanish
+wife and children, and these and his own were of course constant
+playmates. When he returned in the fall he found his children had
+learned to speak Spanish and nearly forgotten English, so that he had to
+coax them a great deal to get them to talk to him at all, and he could
+not understand a word they said.
+
+I now tried to learn the language myself. I had money to loan, and the
+borrowers were Spanish who gave good security and paid from 5 to 25 per
+cent interest per month, on short time. Mrs. Stockton assisted me very
+much as an interpreter.
+
+I bought young steers for $8. each and gradually added to my herd. I got
+along well until next spring when the beef eating population began to
+steal my fat cattle, and seemed determined I should get no richer. The
+country was over-stocked with desperate and lawless renegades in Los
+Angeles and from one to four dead men was about the number picked up in
+the streets each morning. They were of low class, and there was no
+investigation, simply a burial at public expense.
+
+The permanent Spanish population seemed honest and benevolent, but there
+were many bad ones from Chili, Sonora, Mexico, Texas, Utah and Europe,
+who seemed always on an errand of mischief a murder, thieving or
+robbery.
+
+Three or four suspicious looking men came on horseback and made their
+camp near the Mission under an oak tree, where they staid sometime. They
+always left someone in camp while the others went away every day on
+their horses, and acted so strangely that the report soon became current
+that they were stealing horses and running them off to some safe place
+in the mountains till a quantity could be accumulated to take to the
+mines to sell. On this information the Vigilance Committee arrested the
+man in camp and brought him to a private room, where he was tried by
+twelve men, who found him guilty of horse stealing, and sentenced to be
+hung at once, for horse stealing was a capital offence in those days.
+
+To carry out the sentence they procured a cart, put a box on it for a
+seat, and with a rope around his neck and seated on the box, the
+condemned man was dragged off by hand to an oak tree not far away,
+whither he was followed by all the men, women and children of the place,
+who where nearly all natives. While preparations were being made under
+the tree some one called out that men were riding rapidly from the
+direction of Los Angeles, and from the dust they raised seemed to be
+more than usually in haste. So it was proposed to wait till they came
+up. It was soon known that an Indian had been sent to Los Angeles to
+give news to the man's friends there, and they had come with all the
+speed of their horses to try to save his life. They talked and inquired
+around a little and then proposed the question whether to hang him or to
+turn him over to the lawful authorities for regular trial. This was put
+to a vote and it was decided to spare him now. So the rope was taken off
+his neck, and he was turned over to Mr. Mallard the Mission Justice of
+the Peace, much to the relief of the fellow who saw death staring him in
+the face.
+
+The Santa Anita ranch, now owned by E.J. Baldwin, was owned by Henry
+Dalton, an Englishman, who came with a stock of goods worth $75,000,
+years before, but now had only the ranch left. The Azuza, a short
+distance south was occupied by his brother.
+
+I became well acquainted with many of these old California natives, and
+found them honest in their dealings, good to the needy and in all my
+travels never found more willing hands to bestow upon relatives, friends
+or strangers ready relief than I saw among these simple natives. Their
+kindness to our party when we came starving on the desert in 1850, can
+never be praised enough, and as long as I shall live my best wishes
+shall go with them.
+
+I was one day riding with Vincent Duarte down toward Anaheim when he
+suddenly dismounted to kill a large tarantula by pelting him with
+stones. It was the first one I had seen, and seemed an over-grown
+spider. I asked him if the thing was harmful, and he replied with
+considerable warmth, "Mucho malo por Christianos" and I wondered if the
+insect knew saints from sinners.
+
+This spring we concluded to go to the Mormon settlement at San
+Bernardino and secure some American bulls to improve our stock, and
+starting late one day I rode as far as the Azuza Rancho where I staid
+all night with Mr. Dalton, reaching the holy city, a branch of Brigham
+Young's harem next day. Here I found a town of log houses in a circle,
+enclosing a plaza. There was a passage between the houses. I stopped at
+the principal hotel kept by a vigorous and enthusiastic Mormon woman,
+who delighted to preach the doctrine.
+
+Walking around on the outside of the fortifications I came across Capt.
+Hunt, the man who was hired in the fall of 1849 to bring the big train
+from Salt Lake to San Bernardino.
+
+I told him who I was, and what I wanted, and he seemed to know me,
+inviting me in the most friendly and social manner to take supper with
+him, which I did. He sat at the head of the table and introduced me to
+his three wives. The furnishing of the house was cheap and common, but
+the table was fairly provided for. He said he would help me to find the
+animals I wanted, and in the morning showed me two which he had, that
+were young and suitable, and a larger one which he said I could have if
+I could drive him.
+
+I soon found out that I had better move or sell my cattle, for with all
+my watching I could do they gradually disappeared, and hungry thieves
+who could live on beef alone, visited my little band of cattle too often
+and took what they wanted, and I could not detect them. I soon sold to
+four buyers from the north, L.D. Stevens, David Grant, Sam Craig and Mr.
+Wilson, and hired out with my two horses to help them drive the band
+north, at a salary of $100 per month.
+
+Disposing most of my money with Palmer, Cook & Co., I went to see my
+mine at Moore's Flat. There were two boats leaving at about the same
+time, one for Stockton, and one for Sacramento, the latter of which I
+took, and Rogers the other. Both landed at Benecia, and when we swung
+away from that wharf Rogers and I saluted each other with raised and
+swinging hats, shouted a good bye, and I have never seen him since.
+
+At Moore's Flat I found my mine well and profitably worked by Mr. Tyler
+and as his lease was not out I returned to San Jose, as I had learned
+from Rogers that Mr. A. Bennett was at Watsonville, and Mr. Arcane at
+Santa Cruz, and I desired to visit them. I rode back across the country
+and found Mr. Bennett and family at the point where the Salinas river
+enters Monterey Bay. They were all well, and were glad to see me for
+they did not know I was in California. Mrs. Bennett was greatly affected
+at our meeting and shed tears of joy as she shook hands.
+
+Bennett had a nice Whitehall boat and we had a genuine happy time
+hunting, fishing and gathering clams, and also in social visits among
+the neighbors and old acquaintances, among them one Jacob Rhodehouse of
+Wisconsin.
+
+While here I rode my horse around to Monterey and to Carmel Mission,
+where I staid two or three days, with Mr. Gourley, a brother of Mrs.
+William M. Stockton, who was here engaged in raising potatoes. I walked
+along the beach near some rocky islands near the shore, and on these
+rocks were more sea lions and seals than I supposed the whole ocean
+contained--the most wonderful show of sea life on the California coast.
+Returning I staid all night at the crossing of the Salinas with a
+colored family who gave me good accommodations for self and horse. I
+heard afterward that this family was attacked by robbers and all but one
+murdered.
+
+Mrs. Bennett's father D.J. Dilley lived near here also, and I had not
+seen him since the time in Wisconsin, when he hauled my canoe over to
+the river in 1849. One day while fishing on the beach we found the body
+of a man, which we carried above the tide and buried in the sand.
+
+I gave one of my horses to Geo. Bennett, and went over to Santa Cruz,
+where I found Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Arcane and son Charles in a comfortable
+home, well situated, and overjoyed to see me.
+
+He knew everyone in town, and as we went about he never missed to
+introduce me to every one we met, as the man who helped himself and
+family out of Death Valley, and saved their lives. Arcane was a very
+polite Frenchman and knew how to manage such things very gracefully, but
+with all his grace and heartiness it made me feel quite a little
+embarrassed to be made so much of publicly and among strangers. He took
+me in his buggy and we drove along the beach, and to the lime-kiln of
+Cowel & Jordan, also to the court house when court was in session.
+
+Upon the hill I met Judge Watson, the father of Watsonville, and a Mr.
+Graham, an old settler and land owner, and on this occasion he pulled a
+sheet of ancient, smoky looking paper from beneath his arm, pointed to a
+dozen or so of written lines in Spanish and then with a flourish of the
+precious document in Watson's face dared him to beat that, or get him
+off his land. I must say that never in my life was I better entertained
+than here.
+
+From Santa Cruz I crossed the mountain on a lonely and romantic trail to
+San Jose again, finding very few houses on the road. Here I went to work
+for R. G. Moody building a gristmill on the banks of the Coyote Creek,
+to be run by water from artesian wells. When the mill was done I went
+for my horse, and on my return I ran very unexpectedly upon Davenport
+Helms, to whom I had sold my little black mule in 1850. Our talk was
+short but he told me he had killed a man in Georgetown, and the sheriff
+was looking for him. He was now venturing to town for tobacco, and would
+hurry back to the hills again where he was herding cattle.
+
+He said he kept them off at one time by getting in a piece of chaparral
+and presenting his gun to them when they came near, they dare not
+advance on him. Then he laughed and said--"And all the time my gun was
+empty, for I did not have a d----d thing to put into it." "I tell you
+they don't catch old Davenport. Now don't you tell on me. Good-bye." I
+saw him no more after that.
+
+The town of San Jose was now more of a town than it was a few years
+before. The "Forty Thieves," and others, commenced building a city hall
+of brick on the top of old adobe walls, and this was the principal
+improvement, except the Moody mill near the Sutter house, one street
+north of Julian.
+
+After finishing work on the mill I drew my money from the bank in San
+Francisco and started for the mines on horseback. Near French Camp, on
+the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, many cattle were feeding on the
+plains, and among them, much to my surprise I found "Old Crump," the ox
+that brought Bennett's and Arcane's children safe through from Death
+Valley in February, 1850. He was now fat and sleek and as kind and
+gentle as when so poor upon the terrible journey. I got off my horse and
+went up to him, and patted my old friend. I was glad to find him so
+contented and happy, and I doubt not that he too was glad. I met a man
+near by and asked him about the ox, and he said that the owner would not
+sell him nor allow him to be worked, for he knew of the faithful part he
+performed in the world, and respected him for it.
+
+At Sacramento I deposited my money with Page, Bacon & Co., a branch of
+the St. Louis firm of the same name, considered the safest bank in the
+United States. Their bills were taken in payment of Government land.
+Some rascals had some counterfeit bills on their bank, and traded them
+off for gold with the Missourians who were going home, and the poor
+fellows found themselves poor on arrival.
+
+Going to my mine, where I left only a cabin or two, I found quite a
+village with two hotels and a post office.
+
+News soon came that the banks had closed their door, and Page and Bacon
+also, so I concluded that I was broke. The "Pikers" said Page and Bacon
+could not, nor would not fail, but news was against them. The boys now
+tried to persuade me to go to Sacramento, and try to get my money and if
+I succeeded, to bring up a good stock of goods and they would buy of me
+in preference to any one else. On this showing I went down, and finding
+my old friend Lyman Ross (well known in San Jose) who was keeping a
+fruit store. I told him my business and he took me to L.A. Booth, Carrol
+& Co., and I stated to him the facts about my money in the bank and the
+doors closed. I told him if he would assist me I would buy $2000 worth
+of his goods, and send them to Moore's Flat. I endorsed the certificate
+over to him, and in half an hour he came back with the coin. How he got
+it I never knew, but he did me a great favor, and we have been good
+friends ever since. I was no merchant, nor had I any mercantile
+education, so I took lessons from Mr. Booth, and allowed him to make out
+for me a bill of goods such as he well knew I needed. With these we
+loaded up two 6 mule teams, and started for the mountain.
+
+I had about $700 left besides paying for the goods, but I felt a very
+little troubled as to my prospect for success, for it was a new business
+to me. Mr. Booth in a business way was a true father to me, and the much
+needed points in trade which he gave me were stored away for the use I
+knew I would make of them. Of all those whom I bear in grateful
+remembrance none stand higher than this worthy man.
+
+I went first direct to Nevada City to take out a license that I might
+best protect myself against oppositions and from there I had a walk of
+18 miles over a rough mountain trail to my selected place of business.
+Climbing the great hill of the S. Yuba river I often tired and sat down
+to rest, and I used this time to study my bill of goods, and add the
+freight and profit to the cost, so as to be well posted, and able to
+answer all questions readily when I unloaded the stock. The new trade
+seemed quite a task to learn, but I felt that I was compelled to
+succeed, and I worked manfully at it.
+
+When I reached Moore's Flat I found that the boys had rented a store for
+me, and their welcome was very hearty when they found how lucky I had
+been in securing my money and starting out as their "grub supplier."
+
+Four of us now located some mining claims, and began a tunnel both to
+drain the ground, and to work through the bed-rock. This we named The
+Paradise, and we expected that three or four months would elapse before
+we made it pay, but there was in truth two years of solid rock-work
+before we got under the ground, but it paid well in the end.
+
+The largest nugget of gold ever found before this time was a quartz
+boulder from the Buckeye sluice, about 8 by 10 inches in size, and when
+cleaned up at the San Francisco mint the value was about $10,000.
+
+Two of my partners in the work, L.J. Hanchett, and Jas. Clark ran out of
+funds at the end of the first year, and I took as much of the expense as
+I could upon my own shoulders.
+
+About this time learning by a letter from her father that Mrs. Bennett
+was lying at the point of death at Mr. L.C. Bostic's in San Jose, I left
+H. Hanchett in charge of my business, and in four days I stood beside
+the bedside of my friend, endeared through the trials when death by
+thirst, starvation and the desert sands, stared us in the face with all
+its ghastliness.
+
+She reached out her arms and drew me down to her, and embraced me and
+said in a faint whisper--"God bless you:--you saved us all till now, and
+I hope you will always be happy and live long." She would have said
+more, but her voice was so weak she could not be heard. She was very low
+with consumption, and easily exhausted. I sat with her much of the time
+at her request and though for her sake I would have kept back the tears
+I could not always do it. Two doctors came, one of them Dr. Spencer, and
+as I sat with my face partly turned away I over heard Dr. S. say to his
+assistant--"He is a manly man."
+
+This presence and the circumstances brought back the trying Death Valley
+struggles, when this woman and her companions, and the poor children, so
+nearly starved they could not stand alone, were only prevented from
+sitting down to die in sheer despair by the encouraging words of Rogers
+and myself who had passed over the road, and used every way to sustain
+their courage.
+
+She died the following day; with Mr. Bennett, I followed her remains to
+Oak Hill cemetery, where she was buried near the foot of the hill, and a
+board marked in large letters, "S.B." (Sarah Bennett) placed to mark the
+mound. The grave cannot now be found, and no records being then kept it
+is probably lost.
+
+I went home with Mr. Bennett to his home near Watsonville, and spent
+several days, meeting several of our old Death Valley party, and Mr.
+D.J. Dilley, Mrs. Bennett's father. Mrs. Bennett left surviving her a
+young babe.
+
+I returned to Moore's Flat, and soon sold out my store, taking up the
+business of purchasing gold dust direct from the miners, which I
+followed for about two years, and in the fall of 1859 sold out the
+business to Marks & Powers. I looked about through Napa and Sonoma
+Counties, and finally came to San Jose, where I purchased the farm I now
+own, near Hillsdale, of Bodley & McCabe, for which I paid $4,000.
+
+In the fall of the same year my old friend W.M. Stockton of Los Angeles
+Co. persuaded me to come down and pay him a visit. His wife had died and
+he felt very lonely. I had been there but a few days when my old friend
+A. Bennett and his children also came to Stockton's. The children had
+grown so much I hardly knew them, but I was glad indeed to meet them.
+
+I found Mr. Bennett to be a poor man. He had been persuaded to go to
+Utah, being told that a fortune awaited his coming there, or could be
+accumulated in a short time. He gave away the little babe left by his
+wife to Mrs. Scott, of Scott's Valley, in Santa Cruz Co. and sold his
+farm near the mouth of the Salinas River. With what money he had
+accumulated he loaded two 4 mule teams with dry goods, put his four
+children into his wagon, and went to Cedar City, Utah.
+
+He gave a thrilling account of passing through Mountain Meadows, where
+he saw, here and there little groups of skeletons of the unhappy victims
+of the great massacre at that place of men, women and children, by J.D.
+Lee, and his Mormon followers and told me the terrible story, which I
+here omit.
+
+Smarting under the terrible taxation of one tenth of everything, Bennett
+grew poorer and poorer and at last resolved that he must go away, but
+his wife could not leave her own people, and so he set off with his
+children, somewhat afraid he might be shot down, but he reached Los
+Angeles Co. in safety. One daughter married a lawyer in San Bernardino,
+and died a few years afterwards. The other married a Capt. Johnson of
+Wilmington, and Bennett and two sons went to Idaho.
+
+A few years ago in passing from San Jose to the Coast, my wife and I
+spent Sunday at Scott's Valley. Mrs. Scott invited us to visit them in
+the evening at the house when all would be at home. Mrs. Scott was the
+lady to whom Bennett gave his girl baby when he started away for Utah,
+and I felt very anxious to see her now she was grown up. Mrs. Scott
+introduced us, and I sat and looked at the little woman quite a long
+time, but could not see that she resembled either father or mother. My
+mind ran back over the terrible road we came and I pictured to myself
+the woman as she then appeared.
+
+I studied over our early trials, crossing the plains over the deserts
+and our trying scenes out of Death Valley and turned all over in my mind
+for some time and finally all came to me like a flash and I could
+clearly see that the little lady was a true picture of her mother; I now
+began to ask questions about her folks, she said her father lived near
+Belmont, Nevada, and her grand-father died at the Monte, Los Angeles
+county Cal.. Our visit now became very interesting and we kept a late
+hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Since writing the connected story which has thus far appeared, I turn
+back to give some incidents of life in the mines, and some description
+of those pioneer gold days.
+
+I have spoken of Moore's Flat, Orleans Flat and Woolsey's Flat, all
+similarly situated on different points of the mountain, on the north
+side of the ridge between the South and Middle Yuba River, and all at
+about the same altitude. A very deep cañon lies between each of them,
+but a good mountain road was built around the head of each cañon,
+connecting the towns. When the snow got to be three or four feet deep
+the roads must be broken out and communication opened, and the boys used
+to turn out _en masse_ and each one would take his turn in leading the
+army of road breakers. When the leader got tired out some one would take
+his place, for it was terrible hard work to wade through snow up to
+one's hips, and the progress very slow. But the boys went at it as if
+they were going to a picnic, and a sort of picnic it was when they
+reached the next town, for whisky was free and grub plenty to such a
+party, and jollity and fun the uppermost thoughts. On one such occasion
+when the crowd came through Orleans Flat to Moore's Flat, Sid Hunt, the
+butcher, was in the lead as they came in sight of the latter place, and
+both he and his followers talked pretty loud and rough to the Moore's
+Flat fellows calling them "lazy pups" for not getting their road clear.
+Hunt's helper was a big stout, loud talking young man named Williams,
+and he shouted to the leader--"Sid Hunt, toot your horn if you don't
+sell a clam." This seemed to put both sides in good humor, and the
+Orleans fellows joined in a plenty to eat and drink, rested and went
+home. Next day, both camps joined forces and broke the road over to
+Woolsey's Flat, and the third day crowded on toward Nevada City, and
+when out and across Bloody Run, a stream called thus because some dead
+men had been found at the head of the stream by the early settlers, and
+it was suspected the guilty murderers lived not far off, they turned
+down into Humbug, a town now called Bloomfield, and as they went down
+the snow was not so deep. They soon met Sam Henry, the express man,
+working through with letters and papers, and all turned home again.
+
+A young doctor came to Moore's Flat and soon became quite popular, and
+after a little while purchased a small drug store at Orleans Flat. In
+this town there lived a man and his family and among them a little curly
+headed girl perhaps one or two years old. She was sick and died and
+buried while the ground was covered thick with snow. A little time
+after, it was discovered that the grave had been disturbed, and on
+examination no body was found in the grave.
+
+Then it was a searching party was organized, and threats of vengeance
+made against the grave robber if he should be caught. No tracks were
+found leading out of town so they began to look about inside, and there
+began to be some talk about this Dr. Kittridge as the culprit. He was
+the very man, and he went to his drug store and told his clerk to get a
+saddle horse and take the dead child's body in a sack to his cabin at
+Moore's Flat, and conceal it in a back room. The clerk obeyed, and with
+the little corpse before him on the horse started from the back door and
+rode furiously to Moore's Flat, and concealed the body as he had been
+directed.
+
+Some noticed that he had ridden unusually fast, and having a suspicion
+that all was not right, told their belief to the Orleans Flat people,
+who visited the Doctor at his store and accused him of the crime, and
+talked about hanging him on the spot without a trial. At this the Doctor
+began to be greatly frightened and begged piteously for them to spare
+his life, confessing to the deed, but pleading in extenuation that it
+was for the purpose of confirming a question in his profession, and
+wholly in the interest of science that he did it, and really to spare
+the feelings of the parents that he did it secretly. He argued that no
+real harm had been done, and some of his friends sided with him in this
+view. But the controversy grew warmer, and the house filled up with
+people. Some were bloodthirsty and needed no urging to proceed to buy a
+rope and use it. Others argued, and finally the Doctor said that the
+body had not been dissected, and if they would allow him, and appoint a
+committee to go with him, he would produce the body, and they could
+decently bury it again and there it might remain forever. This he
+promised to do, and all agreed to it, and he kept his word, thus ending
+the matter satisfactorily and the Doctor was released. But the feeling
+never died out. The Doctor's friends deserted him, and no one seemed to
+like to converse with him. At the saloon he would sit like a perfect
+stranger, no one noticing him, and he soon left for new fields.
+
+The first tunnel run at Moore's Flat was called the Paradise, and had to
+be started low on the side of the mountain in order to drain the ground,
+and had to be blasted through the bed rock for about 200 feet.
+
+Four of us secured ground enough by purchase so we could afford to
+undertake this expensive job and we worked on it day and night. Jerry
+Clark and Len Redfield worked the day shifts, and Sam King and Wm. Quirk
+the night shift. When the tunnel was completed about 100 feet, the night
+shift had driven forward the top of the tunnel as a heading, leaving the
+bottom, which was about a foot thick, or more, to be taken out by the
+day shift. They drilled a hole about two feet horizontally to blast out
+this bench. King would sit and hold the drill between his feet, while
+Quirk would strike with a heavy sledge. When the hole was loaded they
+tramped down the charge very hard so as to be sure it would not blow
+out, but lift the whole bench. One day when they were loading a hole,
+King told Quirk to come down pretty heavy on the tamping, so as to make
+all sure, and after a few blows given as directed, there was an
+explosion, and Quirk was forced some distance out of the tunnel, his
+eyes nearly put out with dirt blown into them, and his face and body cut
+with flying pieces of rock. He was at first completely stunned, but
+after awhile recovered so as to crawl out, and was slowly making his way
+up the hill on hands and knees when he was discovered and helped to his
+cabin where his wounds were washed and dressed.
+
+Then a party with lighted candles entered the tunnel to learn the fate
+of King, and they found him lying on the mass of rock the blast had
+lifted, dead. On a piece of board they bore the body to his cabin. There
+was hardly a whole bone remaining. A cut diagonally across his face,
+made by a sharp stone, had nearly cut his head in two. He had been
+thrown so violently against the roof of the tunnel, about 6 feet high,
+that he was completely mashed.
+
+He had a wife in Mass. and as I had often heard him talk of her, and of
+sending her money, I bought a $100 check and sent it in the same letter
+which bore the melancholy news. King had a claim at Chip's Flat which he
+believed would be very rich in time, so I kept his interest up in it
+till it amounted to $500 and then abandoned the claim and pocketed the
+loss.
+
+We made a pine box, and putting his body in it, laid it away with
+respect. I had often heard him say that if he suffered an accident, he
+wished to be killed outright and not be left a cripple, and his wish
+came true.
+
+After this accident the blacksmith working for the Paradise Co., was
+making some repairs about the surface of the air shaft, and among his
+tools was a bar of steel an inch square, and 8 or 10 feet long, which
+was thrown across the shaft, and while working at the whim wheel he
+slipped and struck this bar which fell to the bottom of the shaft, 100
+feet deep and the blacksmith followed. When the other workmen went down
+to his assistance they found that the bar of steel had stuck upright in
+the bottom of the shaft, and when the man came down it pierced his body
+from hip to neck, killing him instantly. He was a young man, and I have
+forgotten his name.
+
+Those who came to California these later years will not many of them see
+the old apparatus and appliances which were used in saving the gold in
+those primitive days. Among them was the old "Rocker." This had a bottom
+about 5 feet long and 16 inches wide, with the sides about 8 inches high
+for half the length, and then sloped off to two inches at the end. There
+was a bar about an inch high across the end to serve as a riffle, and on
+the higher end of this box is a stationary box 14 inches square, with
+sides 4 inches high and having a sheet iron bottom perforated with half
+inch holes. On the bottom of the box are fastened two rockers like those
+on the baby cradle, and the whole had a piece of board or other solid
+foundation to stand on, the whole being set at an angle to allow the
+gravel to work off at the lower end with the water. A cleat was fastened
+across the bottom to catch the gold, and this was frequently examined to
+see how the work was paying, and taking out such coarse pieces as could
+be readily seen. To work the rocker a pan of dirt would be placed in the
+square screen box, and then with one hand the miner would rock the
+cradle while he poured water with the other from a dipper to wash the
+earth. After he had poured on enough water and shaken the box
+sufficiently to pass all the small stuff through he would stir over what
+remained in the screen box, examining carefully for a nugget too large
+to pass through the half inch holes. If the miner found that the dirt
+did not pay he took his rocker on his back and went on in search of a
+better claim.
+
+Another way to work the dirt was to get a small head of water running in
+a ditch, and then run the water and gravel through a series of boxes a
+foot square and twelve feet long, using from one to ten boxes as
+circumstances seemed to indicate. At the lower end of these boxes was
+placed the "Long Tom" which was about two feet wide at the lower end,
+and having sides six inches high at the same point. The side pieces
+extend out about 3 feet longer than the wooden bottom, and are turned up
+to a point, some like a sled runner, and this turned up part has a
+bottom of sheet iron punched full of holes, the size of the sheet iron
+being about 3 feet by 16 inches.
+
+The miners shovel dirt into the upper end of the boxes slowly, and
+regulate the water so that it dissolves the lumps and chunks very
+thoroughly before it reaches the long tom where a man stands and stirs
+the gravel over, and if nothing yellow is seen throws the washed gravel
+away, and lets the rest go through the screen. Immediately below this
+screen was placed what was called a "riffle box," 2 by 4 feet in size
+with bars 4 inches high across the bottom and sides, and this box is set
+at the proper angle. Now when the water comes through the screen it
+falls perpendicularly in this box with force enough to keep the contents
+continually in motion, and as the gold is much heavier than any other
+mineral likely to be found in the dirt, it settles to the bottom, and
+all the lighter stuff is carried away by the water. The gold would be
+found behind the bars in the riffle box.
+
+These methods of working were very crude, and we gradually became aware
+that the finest dust was not saved, and many improvements were brought
+into use. In my own mine the tailings that we let go down the mountain
+side would lodge in large piles in different places, and after lying a
+year, more gold could be washed out of it than was first obtained, and
+some of it coarser, so that it was plainly seen that a better way of
+working would be more profitable. There was plenty of ground called poor
+ground that had much gold in it but could not be profitably worked with
+the rocker and long tom. The bed rock was nearly level and as the land
+had a gradual rise, the banks kept getting higher and higher as they dug
+farther in. Now it was really good ground only down close to the bed
+rock, but all the dirt had some gold in it, and if a way could be
+invented to work it fast enough, such ground would pay. So the plan of
+hydraulic mining was experimented upon.
+
+The water was brought in a ditch or flume to the top of a high bank, and
+then terminated in a tight box. To this box was attached a large hose
+made by hand out of canvas, and a pipe and nozzle attached to the lower
+end of the hose. Now as the bank was often 100 feet or more high the
+water at this head, when directed through the nozzle against the bank,
+fairly melted it away into liquid mud. Imagine us located a mile above
+the river on the side of a mountain. We dug at first sluices in the rock
+to carry off the mud and water, and after it had flowed in these a
+little way a sluice box was put in to pass it through. These were made
+on a slope of one in twelve, and the bottom paved with blocks, 3 inches
+thick, so laid as to make a cavity or pocket at the corner of the
+blocks. After passing the first sluice box the water and gravel would be
+run in a bed rock sluice again, and then into another sluice box and so
+on for a mile, passing through several sluice boxes on the way.
+Quicksilver was placed in the upper sluice boxes, and when the particles
+of gold were polished up by tumbling about in the gravel, they combined
+with the quicksilver making an amalgam.
+
+The most gold would be left in the first sluice boxes but some would go
+on down to the very last, where the water and dirt was run off into the
+river. They cleaned up the first sluices every week, a little farther
+down every month, while the lower ones would only be cleaned up at the
+end of the season.
+
+In cleaning up, the blocks would be taken out of the boxes, and every
+little crevice or pocket in the whole length of the sluice cleaned out,
+from the bottom to the top, using little hooks and iron spoons made for
+the purpose.
+
+The amalgam thus collected was heated in a retort which expelled the
+quicksilver in vapor, which was condensed and used again.
+
+When they first tried hydraulic work a tinsmith made a nozzle out of
+sheet iron, but when put in practice, instead of throwing a solid
+stream, it scattered like an shotgun, and up at Moore's Flat they called
+the claims where they used it the "shotgun" claims.
+
+From that time great improvements were made in hydraulic apparatus until
+the work done by them was really wonderful.
+
+In 1850 there lived at Orleans Flat and Moore's Flat, in Nevada County a
+few young, energetic and very stirring pioneers in the persons of lads
+from 10 to 15 years of age, always on the search for a few dimes to
+spend, or add to an already hoarded store, and the mountain air, with
+the wild surroundings, seemed to inspire them always with lively vigor,
+and especially when there was a prospect of a two-bit piece not far
+ahead.
+
+In winter when the deep snow cut off all communication with the valley,
+our busy tinner ran short of solder, and seeing a limited supply in the
+tin cans that lay thick about, he engaged the boys to gather in a supply
+and showed them how they could be melted down to secure the solder with
+which they had been fastened, and thus provide for his immediate wants.
+So the boys ransacked every spot where they had been thrown, under the
+saloon and houses, and in old dump holes everywhere, till they had
+gathered a pretty large pile which they fired as he had told them, and
+then panned out the ashes to secure the drops of metal which had melted
+down and cooled in small drops and bits below. This was re-melted and
+cast into a mould made in a pine block, and the solder made into regular
+form. About one-third was made up thus in good and honest shape.
+
+But the boys soon developed a shrewdness that if more fully expanded
+might make them millionaires, but in the present small way they hoped to
+put to account in getting a few extra dimes. They put a big chunk of
+iron in the mould and poured in the melted solder which enclosed it
+completely, so that when they presented the bright silvery bar to the
+old tinker he paid the price agreed upon and they divided the money
+between them, and then, in a secure place, they laughed till their sides
+ached at the good joke on the tinman.
+
+In due time the man found out the iron core in his bar of solder, and
+thought the joke such a good one that he told of it in the saloon, and
+had to spend at least $5 in drinks to ease off the laugh they had on him
+as the victim of the young California pioneers. And these young
+fellows--some have paddled their own canoe successfully into quiet
+waters and are now in the fullness of life, happy in their possessions,
+while some have been swamped on the great rushing stream of business,
+and dwell in memory on the happy times gone by.
+
+The older pioneers in these mining towns were, in many respects a
+peculiar class of men. Most of them were sober and industrious, fearless
+and venturesome, jolly and happy when good luck came to them, and in
+misfortune stood up with brave, strong, manly hearts, without a tear or
+murmur. They let the world roll merrily by, were ever ready with joke,
+mirth and fun to make their surroundings cheerful.
+
+Fortunes came and went; they made money easily, and spent it just as
+freely, and in their generosity and kindly charity the old
+expression--"He has a heart like an ox" fitted well the character of
+most of them.
+
+When luck turned against them they worked the harder, for the next turn
+might fill their big pockets with a fortune, and then the dream of
+capturing a wife and building up a home could be realized, and they
+would move out into the world on a wave of happiness and plenty. This
+kind of talk was freely carried on around the camp fire in the long
+evenings, and who knows how many of these royal good fellows realized
+those bright hopes and glorious anticipations? Who knows?
+
+The names come back in memory of some of them, and others have been
+forgotten. I recall Washington Work, H. J. Kingman, A. J. Henderson, L.
+J. Hanchett, Jack Hays, Seth Bishop, Burr Blakeslee, Jim Tyler, who was
+the loudest laugher in the town, and as he lived at the Clifton House he
+was called "The Clifton House Calf." These and many others might be
+mentioned as typical good fellows of the mining days. The biggest kind
+of practical joke would be settled amicably at the saloon after the
+usual style.
+
+One day Jack Hays bought a pair of new boots, set them down in the store
+and went to turn off the miners supply of water. When he returned he
+found his boots well filled with refuse crackers and water. This he
+discovered when he took them up to go to dinner, and as he poured out
+the contents at the door, a half dozen boys across the street raised a
+big laugh at him, and hooted at his discomfiture. Jack scowled an awful
+scowl, and if he called them "pukes" with a few swear words added, it
+was a mild way of pouring out his anger. But after dinner the boys
+surrounded him and fairly laughed him into a good humor, so that he set
+up drinks for the crowd.
+
+Foot races were a great Sunday sport, and dog fights were not uncommon.
+One dog in our camp was champion of the ridge, and though other camps
+brought in their pet canines to eat him up, he was always the top dog at
+the end of the scrimmage, and he had a winning grip on the fore foot of
+his antagonist.
+
+A big "husky" who answered to the name of Cherokee Bob came our way and
+stopped awhile. He announced himself a foot racer, and a contest was
+soon arranged with Soda Bill of Nevada City, and each went into a course
+of training at his own camp. Bob found some way to get the best time
+that Bill could make, and comparing it with his own, said he could beat
+in that race. So when it came off our boys gathered up their money, and
+loaded down the stage, inside and out, departing with swinging hats and
+flying colors, and screaming in wild delight at the sure prospect of
+doubling their dust. In a few days they all came back after the style of
+half drowned roosters.
+
+Bob had 'thrown' the race and skipped with his money before they could
+catch him. Had he been found he would have been urgently hoisted to the
+first projecting limb, but he was never seen again. The boys were sad
+and silent for a day or two, but a look of cheerful resignation soon
+came upon their faces as they handled pick and shovel, and the world
+rolled on as before.
+
+One fall we had a county election, and among the candidates for office
+was our townsman, H.M. Moore, from whom Moore's Flat secured its name.
+He was the Democratic nominee for County Judge, and on the other side
+was David Belden, he whom Santa Clara County felt proud to honor as its
+Superior Judge, and when death claimed him, never was man more sincerely
+mourned by every citizen.
+
+The votes were counted, and Belden was one ahead. Moore claimed another
+count, and this time a mistake was discovered in the former count, but
+unfortunately it gave Belden a larger majority than before, and his
+adversary was forced to abandon the political fight.
+
+In the fifties I traveled from the North Yuba River to San Bernardino on
+different roads, and made many acquaintances and friends. I can truly
+say that I found many of these early comers who were the most noble men
+and women of the earth. They were brave else they had never taken the
+journey through unknown deserts, and through lands where wild Indians
+had their homes. They were just and true to friends, and to real
+enemies, terribly bitter and uncompromising. Money was borrowed and
+loaned without a note or written obligation, and there was no mention
+made of statute laws as a rule of action. When a real murderer or
+horsethief was caught no lawyers were needed nor employed, but if the
+community was satisfied as to the guilt and identity of the prisoner,
+the punishment was speedily meted out, and the nearest tree was soon
+ornamented with his swinging carcass.
+
+Many of these worthy men broke the trail on the rough way that led to
+the Pacific Coast, drove away all dangers, and made it safer for those
+who dared not at first risk life and fortune in the journey, but,
+encouraged by the success of the earliest pioneers, ventured later on
+the eventful trip to the new gold fields. I cannot praise these noble
+men too much; they deserve all I can say, and much more, too; and if a
+word I can say shall teach our new citizens to regard with reverent
+respect the early pioneers who laid the foundations of the glory,
+prosperity and beauty of the California of to-day, I shall have done all
+I hope to, and the historian of another half century may do them
+justice, and give to them their full need of praise.
+
+As long as I have lived in California I have never carried a weapon of
+defense, and never could see much danger. I tried to follow the right
+trail so as to shun bad men, and never found much difficulty in doing
+so. We hear much of the Vigilance Committee of early days. It was an
+actual necessity of former times. The gold fields not only attracted the
+good and brave, but also the worst and most lawless desperadoes of the
+world at large. England's banished convicts came here from the penal
+colonies of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. They had wonderful ideas of
+freedom. In their own land the stern laws and numerous constabulary had
+not been able to keep them from crime. A colony of criminals did not
+improve in moral tone, and when the most reckless and daring of all
+these were turned loose in a country like California, where the
+machinery of laws and officers to execute them was not yet in order,
+these lawless "Sidney Ducks," as they were called, felt free to rob and
+murder, and human life or blood was not allowed to stand between them
+and their desires. Others of the same general stripe came from Mexico
+and Chili, and Texas and Western Missouri furnished another class almost
+as bad.
+
+The Vigilance Committee of San Francisco was composed of the best men in
+the world. They endured all that was heaped upon them by these lawless
+men, and the law of self protection forced them to organize for the
+swift apprehension and punishment of crime, and the preservation of
+their property and lives. No one was punished unjustly, but there was no
+delay, and the evil-doer met his fate swiftly and surely. Justice was
+strict, and the circumstances were generally unfavorable to thoughts of
+mercy. I was in San Francisco the day after Casey and Cory were hung by
+the Vigilance Committee. Things looked quite military. Fort Gunny-bags
+seemed well protected, and no innocent man in any danger. I was then a
+customer of G.W. Badger and Lindenberger, clothiers, and was present one
+day in their store when some of the clerks came in from general duty,
+and their comrades shouldered the same guns and took their places on
+guard. The Committee was so truly vigilant that these fire-bugs, robbers
+and cut-throats had to hide for safety.
+
+Those who came early to this coast were, mostly, brave, venturesome,
+enduring fellows, who felt they could outlive any hardship and overcome
+all difficulties; they were of no ordinary type of character or habits.
+They thought they saw success before them, and were determined to win it
+at almost any cost. They had pictured in their minds the size of the
+"pile" that would satisfy them, and brought their buckskin bags with
+them, in various sizes, to hold the snug sum they hoped to win in the
+wonderful gold fields of the then unknown California.
+
+These California pioneers were restless fellows, but those who came by
+the overland trail were not without education and refinement; they were,
+indeed, many of them, the very cream of Americans. The new scenes and
+associations, the escape from the influence of home and friends, of wife
+and children, led some off the dim track, and their restlessness could
+not well be put down. Reasonable men could not expect all persons under
+these circumstances to be models of virtue. Then the Missouri River
+seemed to be the western boundary of all civilization, and as these gold
+hunters launched out on the almost trackless prairies that lay westward
+of that mighty stream, many considered themselves as entering a country
+of peculiar freedom, and it was often said that "Law and morality never
+crossed the Missouri River." Passing this great stream was like the
+crossing of the Rubicon in earlier history, a step that could not be
+retraced, a launching to victory or death. Under this state of feeling
+many showed the cloven foot, and tried to make trouble, but in any
+emergency good and honest men seemed always in the majority, and those
+who had thoughts or desires of evil were compelled to submit to
+honorable and just conclusions.
+
+There were some strange developments of character among these travelers.
+Some who had in long attendance at school and church, listened all their
+lives to teachings of morality and justice, and at home seemed to be
+fairly wedded to ideas of even rights between man and man, seemed to
+experience a change of character as they neared the Pacific Coast.
+Amiable dispositions became soured, moral ideas sadly blunted, and their
+whole make-up seemed changed, while others who at home seemed to be of
+rougher mould, developed principles of justice and humanity, affection
+almost unbounded, and were true men in every trial and in all places. A
+majority of all were thus fair-minded and true.
+
+Men from every state from New Hampshire to Texas gathered on the banks
+of the Missouri to set out together across the plains. These men reared
+in different climates, amid different ways and customs, taught by
+different teachers in schools of religion and politics, made up a
+strange mass when thus thrown together; but the good and true came to
+the surface, and the turbulent and bad were always in a hopeless
+minority. Laws seemed to grow out of the very circumstances, and though
+not in print, flagrant violations would be surely punished.
+
+Some left civilization with all the luxuries money could buy--fine,
+well-equipped trains of their own, and riding a fat and prancing steed,
+which they guided with gloved hands, and seemed to think that water and
+grass and pleasant camping places would always be found wherever they
+wished to stop for rest, and that the great El Dorado would be a grand
+pleasure excursion, ending in a pile of gold large enough to fill their
+big leather purse. But the sleek, fat horse grew poor; the gloves with
+embroidered gauntlet wrists were cast aside; the trains grew small, and
+the luxuries vanished, and perhaps the plucky owner made the last few
+hundred miles on foot, with blistered soles and scanty pack, almost
+alone. Many of these gay trains never reached California, and many a
+pioneer who started with high hopes died upon the way, some rudely
+buried, some left where they fell upon the sands or rocks.
+
+Those who got through found a splendid climate and promising prospects
+before them of filling empty stomachs and empty pockets, and were soon
+searching eagerly for yellow treasure. When fortunate they recovered
+rapidly their exhausted bodies to health and strength, and gained new
+energy as they saw prosperity.
+
+Prospectors wandered through the mountains in search of new and suitable
+gold diggings, and when they came to a miner's cabin the door was always
+open, and whether the owner was present or absent they could go in, and
+if hungry, help themselves to anything they found in shape of food, and
+go away again without fear of offense, for under such circumstances the
+unwritten law said that grub was free.
+
+By the same unwritten law, stealing and robbery, as well as murder, were
+capital offences, and lawless characters were put down. Favors were
+freely granted, and written obligations were never asked or given, and
+business was governed by the rules of strictest honor. The great
+majority of these pioneers were the bone and sinew of the nation, and
+possessed a fair share of the brains. In a personal experience with them
+extending from early days to the present time I have found them always
+just and honorable, and I regret that it is not within my ability to
+give the praise they deserve. When a stranger and hungry I was never
+turned away without food, and my entertainment was free, and given
+without thought of compensation or reward.
+
+In the chambers of my mind are stored up the most pleasant recollections
+of these noble men whose good deeds in days gone by have earned for them
+the right to a crown of glory of greatest splendor.
+
+These noble souls who came here 40 years ago are fast passing away
+across the Mystic River, and those who trod on foot the hot and dusty
+trail are giving way to those who come in swiftly rolling palace cars,
+and who hardly seem to give a thought to the difference between then and
+now. Those who came early cleared the way and started the great stream
+of gold that has made America one of the richest nations of the world.
+
+I have a suggestion to make to the descendants of these noble pioneers,
+that to perpetuate the memory of their fathers, and do reverence to
+their good and noble deeds in the early history of this grand State,
+there should be erected upon the highest mountain top a memorial
+building wherein may be inscribed the names and histories of the brave
+pioneers, so they may never be blotted out.
+
+THE JAYHAWKERS.
+
+The most perfect organization of the pioneers who participated more or
+less in the scenes depicted in this volume, is that of the Jayhawkers,
+and, strange to say, this organization is in the East, and has its
+annual meetings there, although the living members are about equally
+divided between the East and the Pacific Coast. As related elsewhere,
+February 4th is the day of the annual meeting, for on that day they
+reached the Santa Clara Valley.
+
+It is greatly regretted that a more direct and complete account of the
+Death Valley experience of the Jayhawkers could not have been obtained
+for this work. To be sure it was from the lips of a living witness told
+in many conversations, but no doubt many striking incidents were left
+out. It is, however, a settled thing that these, and other individuals
+with whom he was immediately connected, were more intimately connected
+with the horrors of the sunken valley which was given its name by them,
+than were any other persons who ever crossed that desert region.
+
+It will be considered that this was the most favorable time of year
+possible, and that during the spring or summer not one would have lived
+to tell the tale.
+
+The Author, to his best, has done his duty to all, and concludes with
+the hope that this mite may authenticate one of the saddest chapters in
+the history of the Golden State.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+This story is not meant to be sensational, but a plain, unvarnished tale
+of truth--some parts hard and very sad. It is a narrative of my personal
+experience, and being in no sense a literary man or making any pretense
+as a writer, I hope the errors may be overlooked, for it has been to me
+a difficult story to tell, arousing as it did sad recollections of the
+past. I have told it in the plainest, briefest way, with nothing
+exaggerated or overdone. Those who traveled over the same or similar
+routes are capable of passing a just opinion of the story.
+
+Looking back over more than 40 years, I was then a great lover of
+liberty, as well as health and happiness, and I possessed a great desire
+to see a new country never yet trod by civilized man, so that I easily
+caught the gold fever of 1849, and naught but a trip to that land of
+fabled wealth could cure me.
+
+Geography has wonderfully changed since then. Where Omaha now stands
+there was not a house in 1849. Six hundred miles of treeless prairie
+without a house brought us to the adobe dwellings at Fort Laramie, and
+400, more or less, were the long miles to Mormondom, still more than 700
+miles from the Pacific Coast. Passing over this wilderness was like
+going to sea without a compass.
+
+Hence it will be seen that when we crossed a stream that was said to
+flow to the Pacific Ocean, myself and comrades were ready to adopt
+floating down its current as an easier road than the heated trail, and
+for three weeks, over rocks and rapids, we floated and tumbled down the
+deep cañon of Green River till we emerged into an open plain and were
+compelled to come on shore by the Indians there encamped. We had
+believed the Indians to be a war-like and cruel people, but when we made
+them understand where we wanted to go, they warned us of the great
+impassable Colorado Cañon only two days ahead of us, and pointed out the
+road to "Mormonie" with their advice to take it. This was Chief Walker,
+a good, well meaning red man, and to him we owed our lives.
+
+Out of this trouble we were once again on the safe road from Salt Lake
+to Los Angeles, and again made error in taking a cutoff route, and
+striking across a trackless country because it seemed to promise a
+shorter distance, and where thirteen of our party lie unburied on the
+sands of the terribly dry valley. Those who lived were saved by the
+little puddles of rain water that had fallen from the small rain clouds
+that had been forced over the great Sierra Nevada Mountains in one of
+the wettest winters ever known. In an ordinary year we should have all
+died of thirst, so that we were lucky in our misfortune.
+
+When we came out to the fertile coast near Los Angeles, we found good
+friends in the native Californians who, like good Samaritans, gave us
+food and took us in, poor, nearly starved creatures that we were,
+without money or property from which they could expect to be rewarded.
+Their deeds stand out whiter in our memories than all the rest,
+notwithstanding their skins were dark. It seems to me such people do not
+live in this age of the world which we are pleased to call advanced. I
+was much with these old Californians, and found them honest and
+truthful, willing to divide the last bit of food with a needy stranger
+or a friend. Their good deeds have never been praised enough, and I feel
+it in my heart to do them ample justice while I live.
+
+The work that was laid out for me to do, to tell when and where I went,
+is done. Perhaps in days to come it may be of even more interest than
+now, and I shall be glad I have turned over the scenes in my memory and
+recorded them, and on some rolling stone you may inscribe the name of
+WILLIAM LEWIS MANLEY, born near St. Albans, Vermont, April 20th, 1820,
+who went to Michigan while yet it was a territory, as an early pioneer;
+then onward to Wisconsin before it became a state, and for twelve long,
+weary months traveled across the wild western prairies, the lofty
+mountains and sunken deserts of Death Valley, to this land which is now
+so pleasant and so fair, wherein, after over 40 years of earnest toil, I
+rest in the midst of family and friends, and can truly say I am content.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Several variant spellings of, for example,
+"medecine" and "Mormon", have been retained from the original.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+<head>
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of DEATH VALLEY IN '49, by William Lewis Manly</title>
+<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8">
+<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg">
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Death Valley in '49
+
+Author: William Lewis Manly
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2004 [EBook #12236]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEATH VALLEY IN '49 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry Mittell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<p>[Transcriber's Note: Several variant spellings of, for example,
+"medecine" and "Mormon", have been retained from the original.]</p>
+
+		<div align=center>
+			<hr>
+			<h3><u>INDEX OF CHAPTERS</u></h3>
+			<table width="381" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0">
+				<tr>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-38985">I.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-43074">II.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="41" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-24444">III.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-16153">IV.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-14349">V.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-57841">VI.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-44899">VII.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-34642">VIII.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-12684">IX.</a></div>
+					</td>
+				</tr>
+				<tr>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-1376">X.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-1554">XI.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="41" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-4887">XII.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-47487">XIII.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-42598">XIV.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-37990">XV.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-27012">XVI.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center">
+							<a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-54752">XVII.</a></div>
+					</td>
+					<td width="40" height="30">
+						<div align="center"></div>
+					</td>
+				</tr>
+			</table>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<h3><u>INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS</u></h3>
+			<a href="#Anchor-24201">Leaving Death Valley&mdash;The Manly Party on the March After Leaving Their Wagons.<br>
+				<br>
+			</a><a href="#Anchor-43659">The Oxen Get Frisky.<br>
+				<br>
+			</a><a href="#Anchor-8071">Pulling the Oxen Down the Precipice.</a>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<hr>
+			<br>
+			<img height=688 alt="" src="images/frontispiece.png" width=500 border=0>
+			<hr>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<h1>DEATH VALLEY<br>
+			<br>
+				IN '49.</h1>
+				<br>
+			_____________________<br>
+			<br>
+			<font size="2">IMPORTANT CHAPTER OF</font><br>
+			<font size="5">California Pioneer History.</font><br>
+			_____________________
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<font size="2">&mdash;THE&mdash;<br>
+				<br>
+				AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PIONEER, DETAILING HIS LIFE FROM A<br>
+				HUMBLE HOME IN THE GREEN MOUNTAINS TO THE<br>
+				GOLD MINES OF CALIFORNIA; AND PARTICULARLY<br>
+				RECITING THE SUFFERINGS OF THE BAND<br>
+				OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO<br>
+				GAVE &quot;DEATH VALLEY&quot; ITS NAME.<br>
+				<br>
+				<br>
+				<br>
+			</font>_____________________<br>
+			<br>
+			BY WILLIAM LEWIS MANLY.<br>
+			_____________________<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<font size="2">SAN&nbsp;JOSE. CAL.:<br>
+				THE&nbsp;PACIFIC&nbsp;TREE&nbsp;AND&nbsp;VINE&nbsp;CO.<br>
+				1894. </font>
+			<br>
+			<hr>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<font size="2">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by<br>
+				WM. L. MANLEY,<br>
+				In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.</font><font size=-1><br>
+				<br>
+				<br>
+				<br>
+			</font>
+			<hr>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			TO<br>
+			THE PIONEERS OF CALIFORNIA,<br>
+			THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN,<br>
+			THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED,<br>
+			WITH THAT HIGH RESPECT AND REGARD<br>
+			SO OFTEN EXPRESSED IN ITS PAGES,<br>
+			BY THE AUTHOR.<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<hr>
+			<br>
+			<p><b><font size="4">CONTENTS. </font></b></p>
+		</div>
+		<br>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-38985">CHAPTER I</a></b>.<br>
+			Birth, Parentage.&mdash;Early Life in Vermont.&mdash;Sucking Cider through a Straw.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-43074">CHAPTER II.</a> </b><br>
+			The Western Fever.&mdash;On the Road to Ohio.&mdash;The Outfit.&mdash;The Erie Canal.&mdash;In the Maumee Swamp.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-24444">CHAPTER III.</a> </b><br>
+			At Detroit and Westward.&mdash;Government Land.&mdash;Killing Deer.&mdash;&quot;Fever 'N Agur.&quot;</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-16153">CHAPTER IV.</a> </b><br>
+			The Lost Filley Boy.&mdash;Never Was Found.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-14349">CHAPTER V.</a></b><br>
+			Sickness.&mdash;Rather Catch Chipmonks in the Rocky
+			Mountains than Live in Michigan.&mdash;Building the
+			Michigan Central R.R.&mdash;Building a
+			Boat.&mdash;Floating down Grand River.&mdash;Black
+			Bear.&mdash;Indians Catching Mullet.&mdash;Across the Lake
+			to Southport.&mdash;Lead Mining at Mineral
+			Point.&mdash;Decides to go Farther West.&mdash;Return to
+			Michigan.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-57841">CHAPTER VI.</a> </b><br>
+			Wisconsin.&mdash;Indian Physic.&mdash;Dressed for a Winter
+			Hunting Campaign.&mdash;Hunting and Trapping in the
+			Woods.&mdash;Catching Otter and Marten.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-44899">CHAPTER VII.</a> </b><br>
+			Lead Mining.&mdash;Hears about Gold in
+			California.&mdash;Gets the Gold Fever.&mdash;Nothing will
+			cure it but California.&mdash;Mr. Bennett and the Author
+			Prepare to Start.&mdash;The Winnebago Pony.&mdash;Agrees
+			to Meet Bennett at Missouri River.&mdash;Delayed and Fails
+			to Find Him.&mdash;Left with only a Gun and
+			Pony.&mdash;Goes as a Driver for Charles
+			Dallas.&mdash;Stopped by a Herd of
+			Buffaloes.&mdash;Buffalo Meat.&mdash;Indians.&mdash;U.S.
+			Troops.&mdash;The Captain and the Lieutenant.&mdash;Arrive
+			at South Pass.&mdash;The Waters Run toward the
+			Pacific.&mdash;They Find a Boat and Seven of them Decide
+			to Float down the Green River.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-34642">CHAPTER VIII.</a>
+		</b><br>
+			Floating down the River.&mdash;It begins to
+			roar.&mdash;Thirty Miles a Day.&mdash;Brown's
+			Hole.&mdash;Lose the Boat and make two
+			Canoes.&mdash;Elk.&mdash;The Ca&ntilde;ons get
+			Deeper.&mdash;Floundering in the Water.&mdash;The Indian
+			Camp.&mdash;Chief Walker proves a Friend.&mdash;Describes
+			the Terrible Ca&ntilde;on below Them.&mdash;Advises Them
+			to go no farther down.&mdash;Decide to go
+			Overland.&mdash;Dangerous Route to Salt Lake.&mdash;Meets
+			Bennett near there.&mdash;Organize the Sand Walking
+			Company.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-12684">CHAPTER IX.</a> </b><br>
+			The Southern Route.&mdash;Off in Fine Style.&mdash;A
+			Cut-off Proposed.&mdash;Most of Them Try it and
+			Fail.&mdash;The Jayhawkers.&mdash;A New
+			Organization.&mdash;Men with Families not
+			Admitted.&mdash;Capture an Indian Who Gives Them the
+			Slip.&mdash;An Indian Woman and Her Children.&mdash;Grass
+			Begins to Fail.&mdash;A High Peak to the West.&mdash;No
+			Water.&mdash;An Indian Hut.&mdash;Reach the Warm
+			Spring.&mdash;Desert Everywhere.&mdash;Some One Steals
+			Food.&mdash;The Water Acts Like a Dose of
+			Salts.&mdash;Christmas Day.&mdash;Rev. J.W. Brier Delivers
+			a Lecture to His Sons.&mdash;Nearly Starving and
+			Choking.&mdash;An Indian in a Mound.&mdash;Indians Shoot
+			the Oxen.&mdash;Camp at Furnace Creek.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-1376">CHAPTER X.</a> </b><br>
+			A Long, Narrow Valley.&mdash;Beds and Blocks of
+			Salt.&mdash;An Ox Killed.&mdash;Blood, Hide and Intestines
+			Eaten.&mdash;Crossing Death Valley.&mdash;The Wagons can
+			go no farther.&mdash;Manley and Rogers Volunteer to go for
+			Assistance.&mdash;They Set out on Foot.&mdash;Find the
+			Dead Body of Mr. Fish.&mdash;Mr. Isham Dies.&mdash;Bones
+			along the Road.&mdash;Cabbage Trees.&mdash;Eating Crow and
+			Hawk.&mdash;After Sore Trials They Reach a Fertile
+			Land.&mdash;Kindly Treated.&mdash;Returning with Food and
+			Animals.&mdash;The Little Mule Climbs a Precipice, the
+			Horses are Left Behind.&mdash;Finding the Body of Captain
+			Culverwell.&mdash;They Reach Their Friends just as all
+			Hope has Left Them.&mdash;Leaving the Wagons.&mdash;Packs
+			on the Oxen.&mdash;Sacks for the Children.&mdash;Old
+			Crump.&mdash;Old Brigham and Mrs. Arcane.&mdash;A Stampede
+			[<a href="#Anchor-43659">Illustrated.</a>]&mdash;Once more
+			Moving Westward.&mdash;&quot;Good-bye, Death
+			Valley.&quot;</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-1554">CHAPTER XI.</a> </b><br>
+			Struggling Along.&mdash;Pulling the Oxen Down the
+			Precipice [<a
+			href="#Anchor-8071">Illustrated.</a>]&mdash;Making
+			Raw-hide Moccasins.&mdash;Old Brigham Lost and
+			Found.&mdash;Dry Camps.&mdash;Nearly
+			Starving.&mdash;Melancholy and Blue.&mdash;The Feet of the
+			Women Bare and Blistered.&mdash;&quot;One Cannot form an
+			Idea How Poor an Ox Will Get.&quot;&mdash;Young Charlie
+			Arcane very Sick.&mdash;Skulls of Cattle.&mdash;Crossing
+			the Snow Belt.&mdash;Old Dog Cuff.&mdash;Water Dancing
+			over the Rocks.&mdash;Drink, Ye Thirsty
+			Ones.&mdash;Killing a Yearling.&mdash;See the
+			Fat.&mdash;Eating Makes Them Sick.&mdash;Going down
+			Soledad Ca&ntilde;on&mdash;A Beautiful
+			Meadow.&mdash;Hospitable Spanish People.&mdash;They
+			Furnish Shelter and Food.&mdash;The San Fernando
+			Mission.&mdash;Reaching Los Angeles.&mdash;They Meet Moody
+			and Skinner.&mdash;Soap and Water for the First Time in
+			Months.&mdash;Clean Dresses for the Women.&mdash;Real
+			Bread to Eat.&mdash;A Picture of Los
+			Angeles.&mdash;Black-eyed Women.&mdash;The Author Works in
+			a Boarding-house.&mdash;Bennett and Others go up the
+			Coast.&mdash;Life in Los Angeles.&mdash;The Author
+			Prepares to go North.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-4887">CHAPTER XII.</a> </b><br>
+			Dr. McMahon's Story.&mdash;McMahon and Field, Left behind
+			with Chief Walker, Determine to go down the
+			River.&mdash;Change Their Minds and go with the
+			Indians.&mdash;Change again and go by
+			themselves.&mdash;Eating Wolf Meat.&mdash;After much
+			Suffering they reach Salt Lake.&mdash;John Taylor's Pretty
+			Wife.&mdash;Field falls in Love with her.&mdash;They
+			Separate.&mdash;Incidents of Wonderful Escapes from
+			Death.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-47487">CHAPTER XIII.</a>
+		</b><br>
+			Story of the Jayhawkers.&mdash;Ceremonies of
+			Initiation&mdash;Rev. J.W. Brier.&mdash;His Wife the best
+			Man of the Two.&mdash;Story of the Road across Death
+			Valley.&mdash;Burning the Wagons.&mdash;Narrow Escape of
+			Tom Shannon.&mdash;Capt. Ed Doty was Brave and
+			True.&mdash;They reach the Sea by way of Santa Clara
+			River.&mdash;Capt. Haynes before the Alcalde.&mdash;List
+			of Jayhawkers.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-42598">CHAPTER XIV.</a> </b><br>
+			Alexander Erkson's Statement.&mdash;Works for Brigham
+			Young at Salt Lake.&mdash;Mormon Gold Coin.&mdash;Mt.
+			Misery.&mdash;The Virgin River and Yucca Trees.&mdash;A
+			Child Born to Mr, and Mrs. Rynierson.&mdash;Arrive at
+			Cucamonga.&mdash;Find some good Wine which is good for
+			Scurvy.&mdash;San Francisco and the Mines.&mdash;Settles
+			in San Jose.&mdash;Experience of Edward Coker.&mdash;Death
+			of Culverwell, Fish and Isham.&mdash;Goes through Walker's
+			Pass and down Kern River.&mdash;Living in Fresno in
+			1892.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-37990">CHAPTER XV.</a> </b><br>
+			The Author again takes up the History.&mdash;Working in a
+			Boarding House, but makes Arrangements to go
+			North.&mdash;Mission San Bueno Ventura.&mdash;First Sight
+			of the Pacific Ocean.&mdash;Santa Barbara in
+			1850.&mdash;Paradise and Desolation.&mdash;San Miguel,
+			Santa Ynez and San Luis Obispo.&mdash;California Carriages
+			and how they were used.&mdash;Arrives in San Jose and
+			Camps in the edge of Town.&mdash;Description of the
+			place.&mdash;Meets John Rogers, Bennett, Moody and
+			Skinner.&mdash;On the road to the Mines.&mdash;They find
+			some of the Yellow Stuff and go Prospecting for
+			more&mdash;Experience with <i>Piojos</i>&mdash;Life and
+			Times in the Mines&mdash;Sights and Scenes along the Road,
+			at Sea, on the Isthmus, Cuba, New Orleans, and up the
+			Mississippi&mdash;A few Months Amid Old Scenes, then away
+			to the Golden State again.</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-27012">CHAPTER XVI.</a></b><br>
+			St. Louis to New Orleans, New Orleans to San
+			Francisco&mdash;Off to the Mines Again&mdash;Life in the
+			Mines and Incidents of Mining Times and
+			Men&mdash;Vigilance Committee&mdash;Death of Mrs.
+			Bennett</p>
+		<p><b><a href="#Anchor-CHAPTE-54752">CHAPTER XVII.</a></b><br>
+			Mines and Mining&mdash;Adventures and Incidents of the
+			Early Days&mdash;The Pioneers, their Character and
+			Influence&mdash;Conclusion</p>
+		<br>
+		<hr>
+		<div align=center>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			<font size="5">DEATH VALLEY IN '49.</font><br>
+			<font size="4">THE</font><br>
+			<font size="5">AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A</font><br>
+			<font size="7">PIONEER<br>
+			</font><font size="3"><br>
+			</font>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-38985"></a>CHAPTER I.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>St. Albans, Vermont is near the eastern shore of Lake
+		Champlain, and only a short distance south of
+		&quot;Five-and-forty north degrees&quot; which separates the
+		United States from Canada, and some sixty or seventy miles
+		from the great St. Lawrence River and the city of Montreal.
+		Near here it was, on April 6th, 1820, I was born, so the
+		record says, and from this point with wondering eyes of
+		childhood I looked across the waters of the narrow lake to the
+		slopes of the Adirondack mountains in New York, green as the
+		hills of my own Green Mountain State.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The parents of my father were English people and lived near
+		Hartford, Connecticut, where he was born. While still a little
+		boy he came with his parents to Vermont. My mother's maiden
+		name was Phoebe Calkins, born near St. Albans of Welch
+		parents, and, being left an orphan while yet in very tender
+		years, she was given away to be reared by people who provided
+		food and clothes, but permitted her to grow up to womanhood
+		without knowing how to read or write. After her marriage she
+		learned to do both, and acquired the rudiments of an
+		education.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Grandfather and his boys, four in all, fairly carved a farm
+		out of the big forest that covered the cold rocky hills. Giant
+		work it was for them in such heavy timber&mdash;pine, hemlock,
+		maple, beech and birch&mdash;the clearing of a single acre
+		being a man's work for a year. The place where the maples were
+		thickest was reserved for a sugar grove, and from it was made
+		all of the sweet material they needed, and some besides.
+		Economy of the very strictest kind had to be used in every
+		direction. Main strength and muscle were the only things
+		dispensed in plenty. The crops raised consisted of a small
+		flint corn, rye oats, potatoes and turnips. Three cows, ten or
+		twelve sheep, a few pigs and a yoke of strong oxen comprised
+		the live stock&mdash;horses, they had none for many years. A
+		great ox-cart was the only wheeled vehicle on the place, and
+		this, in winter, gave place to a heavy sled, the runners cut
+		from a tree having a natural crook and roughly, but strongly,
+		made.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In summer there were plenty of strawberries, raspberries,
+		whortleberries and blackberries growing wild, but all the
+		cultivated fruit was apples. As these ripened many were peeled
+		by hand, cut in quarters, strung on long strings of twine and
+		dried before the kitchen fire for winter use. They had a way
+		of burying up some of the best keepers in the ground, and
+		opening the apple hole was quite an event of early spring.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The children were taught to work as soon as large enough. I
+		remember they furnished me with a little wooden fork to spread
+		the heavy swath of grass my father cut with easy swings of the
+		scythe, and when it was dry and being loaded on the great
+		ox-cart I followed closely with a rake gathering every
+		scattering spear. The barn was built so that every animal was
+		housed comfortably in winter, and the house was such as all
+		settlers built, not considered handsome, but capable of being
+		made very warm in winter and the great piles of hard wood in
+		the yard enough to last as fuel for a year, not only helped to
+		clear the land, but kept us comfortable. Mother and the girls
+		washed, carded, spun, and wove the wool from our own sheep
+		into good strong cloth. Flax was also raised, and I remember
+		how they pulled it, rotted it by spreading on the green
+		meadow, then broke and dressed it, and then the women made
+		linen cloth of various degrees of fineness, quality, and
+		beauty. Thus, by the labor of both men and women, we were
+		clothed. If an extra fine Sunday dress was desired, part of
+		the yarn was colored and from this they managed to get up a
+		very nice plaid goods for the purpose.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In clearing the land the hemlock bark was peeled and traded
+		off at the tannery for leather, or used to pay for tanning and
+		dressing the hide of an ox or cow which they managed to fat
+		and kill about every year. Stores for the family were either
+		made by a neighboring shoe-maker, or by a traveling one who
+		went from house to house, making up a supply for the
+		family&mdash;whipping the cat, they called it then. They paid
+		him in something or other produced upon the farm, and no money
+		was asked or expected.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Wood was one thing plenty, and the fireplace was made large
+		enough to take in sticks four feet long or more, for the more
+		they could burn the better, to get it out of the way. In an
+		outhouse, also provided with a fireplace and chimney, they
+		made shingles during the long winter evenings, the shavings
+		making plenty of fire and light by which to work. The shingles
+		sold for about a dollar a thousand. Just beside the fireplace
+		in the house was a large brick oven where mother baked great
+		loaves of bread, big pots of pork and beans, mince pies and
+		loaf cake, a big turkey or a young pig on grand occasions.
+		Many of the dishes used were of tin or pewter; the milk pans
+		were of earthenware, but most things about the house in the
+		line of furniture were of domestic manufacture.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The store bills were very light. A little tea for father
+		and mother, a few spices and odd luxuries were about all, and
+		they were paid for with surplus eggs. My father and my uncle
+		had a sawmill, and in winter they hauled logs to it, and could
+		sell timber for $8 per thousand feet.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The school was taught in winter by a man named Bowen, who
+		managed forty scholars and considered sixteen dollars a month,
+		boarding himself, was pretty fair pay. In summer some smart
+		girl would teach the small scholars and board round among the
+		families.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the proper time came the property holder would send
+		off to the collector an itemized list of all his property, and
+		at another the taxes fell due. A farmer who would value his
+		property at two thousand or three thousand dollars would find
+		he had to pay about six or seven dollars. All the money in use
+		then seemed to be silver, and not very much of that. The whole
+		plan seemed to be to have every family and farm
+		self-supporting as far as possible. I have heard of a note
+		being given payable in a good cow to be delivered at a certain
+		time, say October 1, and on that day it would pass from house
+		to house in payment of a debt, and at night only the last man
+		in the list would have a cow more than his neighbor. Yet those
+		were the days of real independence, after all. Every man
+		worked hard from early youth to a good old age. There were no
+		millionaires, no tramps, and the poorhouse had only a few
+		inmates.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I have very pleasant recollections of the neighborhood
+		cider mill. There were two rollers formed of logs carefully
+		rounded and four or five feet long, set closely together in an
+		upright position in a rough frame, a long crooked sweep coming
+		from one of them to which a horse was hitched and pulled it
+		round and round. One roller had mortices in it, and projecting
+		wooden teeth on the other fitted into these, so that, as they
+		both slowly turned together, the apples were crushed. A huge
+		box of coarse slats, notched and locked together at the
+		corners, held a vast pile of the crushed apples while clean
+		rye straw was added to strain the flowing juice and keep the
+		cheese from spreading too much; then the ponderous screw and
+		streams of delicious cider. Sucking cider through a long rye
+		straw inserted in the bung-hole of a barrel was just the best
+		of fun, and cider taken that way &quot;awful&quot; good while
+		it was new and sweet.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The winter ashes, made from burning so much fuel and
+		gathered from the brush-heaps and log-heaps, were carefully
+		saved and traded with the potash men for potash or sold for a
+		small price. Nearly every one went barefoot in summer, and in
+		winter wore heavy leather moccasins made by the Canadian
+		French who lived near by.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=200 alt="" src="images/ch_01.png" width=200 border=0><br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-43074"></a>CHAPTER II.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>About 1828 people began to talk about the far West. Ohio
+		was the place we heard most about, and the most we knew was,
+		that it was a long way off and no way to get there except over
+		a long and tedious road, with oxen or horses and a cart or
+		wagon. More than one got the Western fever, as they called it,
+		my uncle James Webster and my father among the rest, when they
+		heard some traveler tell about the fine country he had seen;
+		so they sold their farms and decided to go to Ohio, Uncle
+		James was to go ahead, in the fall of 1829 and get a farm to
+		rent, if he could, and father and his family were to come on
+		the next spring.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Uncle fitted out with two good horses and a wagon; goods
+		were packed in a large box made to fit, and under the wagon
+		seat was the commissary chest for food and bedding for daily
+		use, all snugly arranged. Father had, shortly before, bought a
+		fine Morgan mare and a light wagon which served as a family
+		carriage, having wooden axles and a seat arranged on wooden
+		springs, and they finally decided they would let me take the
+		horse and wagon and go on with uncle, and father and mother
+		would come by water, either by way of the St. Lawrence river
+		and the lakes or by way of the new canal recently built, which
+		would take them as far as Buffalo.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>So they loaded up the little wagon with some of the
+		mentioned things and articles in the house, among which I
+		remember a fine brass kettle, considered almost indispensable
+		in housekeeping. There was a good lot of bedding and blankets,
+		and a quilt nicely folded was placed on the spring seat as a
+		cushion.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As may be imagined I was the object of a great deal of
+		attention about this time, for a boy not yet ten years old
+		just setting out into a region almost unknown was a little
+		unusual. When I was ready they all gathered round to say good
+		bye and my good mother seemed most concerned. She
+		said&mdash;&quot;Now you must be a good boy till we come in
+		the spring. Mind uncle and aunt and take good care of the
+		horse, and remember us. May God protect you.&quot; She
+		embraced me and kissed me and held me till she was exhausted.
+		Then they lifted me up into the spring seat, put the lines in
+		my hand and handed me my little whip with a leather strip for
+		a lash. Just at the last moment father handed me a purse
+		containing about a dollar, all in copper cents&mdash;pennies
+		we called them then. Uncle had started on they had kept me so
+		long, but I started up and they all followed me along the road
+		for a mile or so before we finally separated and they turned
+		back. They waved hats and handkerchiefs till out of sight as
+		they returned, and I wondered if we should ever meet
+		again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was up with uncle very soon and we rolled down through
+		St. Albans and took our road southerly along in sight of Lake
+		Champlain. Uncle and aunt often looked back to talk to me,
+		&quot;See what a nice cornfield!&quot; or, &quot;What nice
+		apples on those trees,&quot; seeming to think they must do all
+		they could to cheer me up, that I might not think too much of
+		the playmates and home I was leaving behind.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I had never driven very far before, but I found the horse
+		knew more than I did how to get around the big stones and
+		stumps that were found in the road, so that as long as I held
+		the lines and the whip in hand I was an excellent driver.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had made plans and preparations to board ourselves on
+		the journey. We always stopped at the farm houses over night,
+		and they were so hospitable that they gave us all we wanted
+		free. Our supper was generally of bread and milk, the latter
+		always furnished gratuitously, and I do not recollect that we
+		were ever turned away from any house where we asked shelter.
+		There were no hotels, or taverns as they called them, outside
+		of the towns.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In due time we reached Whitehall, at the head of Lake
+		Champlain, and the big box in Uncle's wagon proved so heavy
+		over the muddy roads that he put it in a canal boat to be sent
+		on to Cleveland, and we found it much easier after this for
+		there were too many mud-holes, stumps and stones and log
+		bridges for so heavy a load as he had. Our road many times
+		after this led along near the canal, the Champlain or the
+		Erie, and I had a chance to see something of the canal boys'
+		life. The boy who drove the horses that drew the packet boat
+		was a well dressed fellow and always rode at a full trot or a
+		gallop, but the freight driver was generally ragged and
+		barefoot, and walked when it was too cold to ride, threw
+		stones or clubs at his team, and cursed and abused the
+		packet-boy who passed as long as he was in hearing. Reared as
+		I had been I thought it was a pretty wicked part of the world
+		we were coming to.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We passed one village of low cheap houses near the canal.
+		The men about were very vulgar and talked rough and loud,
+		nearly every one with a pipe, and poorly dressed, loafing
+		around the saloon, apparently the worse for whisky. The
+		children were barefoot, bare headed and scantly dressed, and
+		it seemed awfully dirty about the doors of the shanties. Pigs,
+		ducks and geese were at the very door, and the women I saw
+		wore dresses that did not come down very near the mud and big
+		brogan shoes, and their talk was saucy and different from what
+		I had ever heard women use before. They told me they were
+		Irish people&mdash;the first I had ever seen. It was along
+		here somewhere that I lost my little whip and to get another
+		one made sad inroads into the little purse of pennies my
+		father gave me. We traveled slowly on day after day. There was
+		no use to hurry for we could not do it. The roads were muddy,
+		the log ways very rough and the only way was to take a
+		moderate gait and keep it. We never traveled on Sunday. One
+		Saturday evening my uncle secured the privilege of staying at
+		a well-to do farmer's house until Monday. We had our own food
+		and bedding, but were glad to get some privileges in the
+		kitchen, and some fresh milk or vegetables. After all had
+		taken supper that night they all sat down and made themselves
+		quiet with their books, and the children were as still as mice
+		till an early bed time when all retired. When Sunday evening
+		came the women got out their work&mdash;their sewing and their
+		knitting, and the children romped and played and made as much
+		noise as they could, seeming as anxious to break the Sabbath
+		as they had been to have a pious Saturday night. I had never
+		seen that way before and asked my uncle who said he guessed
+		they were Seventh Day Baptists.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After many days of travel which became to me quite
+		monotonous we came to Cleveland, on Lake Erie, and here my
+		uncle found his box of goods, loaded it into the wagon again,
+		and traveled on through rain and mud, making very slow
+		headway, for two or three days after, when we stopped at a
+		four-corners in Medina county they told us we were only 21
+		miles from Cleveland. Here was a small town consisting of a
+		hotel, store, church, schoolhouse and blacksmith shop, and as
+		it was getting cold and bad, uncle decided to go no farther
+		now, and rented a room for himself and aunt, and found a place
+		for me to lodge with Daniel Stevens' boy close by. We got good
+		stables for our horses.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I went to the district school here, and studied reading,
+		spelling and Colburn's mental arithmetic, which I mastered. It
+		began very easy&mdash;&quot;How many thumbs on your right
+		hand?&quot; &quot;How many on your left?&quot; &quot;How many
+		altogether?&quot; but it grew harder further on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Uncle took employment at anything he could find to do.
+		Chopping was his principal occupation. When the snow began to
+		go off he looked around for a farm to rent for us and father
+		to live on when he came, but he found none such as he needed.
+		He now got a letter from father telling him that he had good
+		news from a friend named Cornish who said that good land
+		nearly clear of timber could be bought of the Government in
+		Michigan Territory, some sixty or seventy miles beyond
+		Detroit, and this being an opportunity to get land they needed
+		with their small capital, they would start for that place as
+		soon as the water-ways were thawed out, probably in April.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align="left">
+			<p>We then gave up the idea of staying here and prepared
+			to go to Michigan as soon as the frost was out of the
+			ground. Starting, we reached Huron River to find it
+			swollen and out of its bank, giving us much trouble to get
+			across, the road along the bottom lands being partly
+			covered with logs and rails, but once across we were in
+			the town and when we enquired about the road around to
+			Detroit, they said the country was all a swamp and 30
+			miles wide and in Spring impassible. They called it the
+			Maumee or Black Swamp. We were advised to go by water,
+			when a steamboat came up the river bound for Detroit we
+			put our wagons and horses on board, and camped on the
+			lower deck ourselves. We had our own food and were very
+			comfortable, and glad to have escaped the great
+			mudhole.</p>
+		</div>
+		<div align=center>
+			<br>
+			<img height=88 alt="" src="images/ch_03.png" width=93 border=0>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-24444"></a>CHAPTER III.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>We arrived in Detroit safely, and a few minutes answered to
+		land our wagons and goods, when we rolled outward in a
+		westerly direction. We found a very muddy roads, stumps and
+		log bridges plenty, making our rate of travel very slow. When
+		out upon our road about 30 miles, near Ypsilanti, the thick
+		forest we had been passing through grew thinner, and the trees
+		soon dwindled down into what they called oak openings, and the
+		road became more sandy. When we reached McCracken's Tavern we
+		began to enquire for Ebenezer Manley and family, and were soon
+		directed to a large house near by where he was stopping for a
+		time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We drove up to the door and they all came out to see who
+		the new comers were. Mother saw me first and ran to the wagon
+		and pulled me off and hugged and kissed me over and over
+		again, while the tears ran down her cheeks. Then she would
+		hold me off at arm's length, and look me in the eye and
+		say&mdash;&quot;I am so glad to have you again&quot;; and then
+		she embraced me again and again. &quot;You are our little
+		man,&quot; said she, &quot;You have come over this long road,
+		and brought us our good horse and our little wagon.&quot; My
+		sister Polly two years older than I, stood patiently by, and
+		when mother turned to speak to uncle and aunt, she locked arms
+		with me and took me away with her. We had never been separated
+		before in all our lives and we had loved each other as good
+		children should, who have been brought up in good and moral
+		principles. We loved each other and our home and respected our
+		good father and mother who had made it so happy for us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We all sat down by the side of the house and talked pretty
+		fast telling our experience on our long journey by land and
+		water, and when the sun went down we were called to supper,
+		and went hand in hand to surround the bountiful table as a
+		family again. During the conversation at supper father said to
+		me&mdash;&quot;Lewis, I have bought you a smooth bore rifle,
+		suitable for either ball or shot.&quot; This, I thought was
+		good enough for any one, and I thanked him heartily. We spent
+		the greater part of the night in talking over our adventures
+		since we left Vermont, and sleep was forgotten by young and
+		old.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next morning father and uncle took the horse and little
+		wagon and went out in search of Government land. They found an
+		old acquaintance in Jackson county and Government land all
+		around him, and, searching till they found the section corner,
+		they found the number of the lots they wanted to locate
+		on&mdash;200 acres in all. They then went to the Detroit land
+		office and secured the pieces they had chosen.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Father now bought a yoke of oxen, a wagon and a cow, and as
+		soon as we could get loaded up our little emigrant train
+		started west to our future home, where we arrived safely in a
+		few days and secured a house to live in about a mile away from
+		our land. We now worked with a will and built two log houses
+		and also hired 10 acres broken, which was done with three or
+		four yoke of oxen and a strong plow. The trees were scattered
+		over the ground and some small brush and old limbs, and logs
+		which we cleared away as we plowed. Our houses went up very
+		fast&mdash;all rough oak logs, with oak puncheons, or hewed
+		planks for a floor, and oak shakes for a roof, all of our own
+		make. The shakes were held down upon the roof by heavy poles,
+		for we had no nails, the door of split stuff hung with wooden
+		hinges, and the fire place of stone laid up with the logs, and
+		from the loft floor upward the chimney was built of split
+		stuff plastered heavily with mud. We have a small four-paned
+		window in the house. We then built a log barn for our oxen,
+		cow and horse and got pigs, sheep and chickens as fast as a
+		chance offered.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As fast as possible we fenced in the cultivated land,
+		father and uncle splitting out the rails, while a younger
+		brother and myself, by each getting hold of an end of one of
+		them managed to lay up a fence four rails high, all we small
+		men could do. Thus working on, we had a pretty well cultivated
+		farm in the course of two or three years, on which we produced
+		wheat, corn and potatoes, and had an excellent garden. We
+		found plenty of wild cranberries and whortleberries, which we
+		dried for winter use. The lakes were full of good fish, black
+		bass and pickerel, and the woods had deer, turkeys, pheasants,
+		pigeons, and other things, and I became quite an expert in the
+		capture of small game for the table with my new gun. Father
+		and uncle would occasionally kill a deer, and the Indians came
+		along and sold venison at times.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One fall after work was done and preparations were made for
+		the winter, father said to me:&mdash;&quot;Now Lewis, I want
+		you to hunt every day&mdash;come home nights&mdash;but keep on
+		till you kill a deer.&quot; So with his permission I started
+		with my gun on my shoulder, and with feelings of considerable
+		pride. Before night I started two deer in a brushy place, and
+		they leaped high over the oak bushes in the most affrighted
+		way. I brought my gun to my shoulder and fired at the bounding
+		animal when in most plain sight. Loading then quickly, I
+		hurried up the trail as fast as I could and soon came to my
+		deer, dead, with a bullet hole in its head. I was really
+		surprised myself, for I had fired so hastily at the almost
+		flying animal that it was little more than a random shot. As
+		the deer was not very heavy I dressed it and packed it home
+		myself, about as proud a boy as the State of Michigan
+		contained. I really began to think I was a capital hunter,
+		though I afterward knew it was a bit of good luck and not a
+		bit of skill about it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was some time after this before I made another lucky
+		shot. Father would once in a while ask me:&mdash;&quot;Well
+		can't you kill us another deer?&quot; I told him that when I
+		had crawled a long time toward a sleeping deer, that I got so
+		trembly that I could not hit an ox in short range.
+		&quot;O,&quot; said he, &quot;You get the buck
+		fever&mdash;don't be so timid&mdash;they won't attack
+		you.&quot; But after awhile this fever wore off, and I got so
+		steady that I could hit anything I could get in reach of.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were now quite contented and happy. Father could plainly
+		show us the difference between this country and Vermont and
+		the advantages we had here. There the land was poor and stony
+		and the winters terribly severe. Here there were no stones to
+		plow over, and the land was otherwise easy to till. We could
+		raise almost anything, and have nice wheat bread to eat, far
+		superior to the &quot;Rye-and-Indian&quot; we used to have.
+		The nice white bread was good enough to eat without butter,
+		and in comparison this country seemed a real paradise.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The supply of clothing we brought with us had lasted until
+		now&mdash;more than two years&mdash;and we had sowed some flax
+		and raised sheep so that we began to get material of our own
+		raising, from which to manufacture some more. Mother and
+		sister spun some nice yarn, both woolen and linen, and father
+		had a loom made on which mother wove it up into cloth, and we
+		were soon dressed up in bran new clothes again. Domestic
+		economy of this kind was as necessary here as it was in
+		Vermont, and we knew well how to practice it. About this time
+		the emigrants began to come in very fast, and every piece of
+		Government land any where about was taken. So much land was
+		ploughed, and so much vegetable matter turned under and
+		decaying that there came a regular epidemic of fever and ague
+		and bilious fever, and a large majority of the people were
+		sick. At our house father was the first one attacked, and when
+		the fever was at its height he was quite out of his head and
+		talked and acted like a crazy man. We had never seen any one
+		so sick before, and we thought he must surely die, but when
+		the doctor came he said:&mdash;&quot;Don't be alarmed. It is
+		only 'fever 'n' agur,' and no one was ever known to die of
+		that.&quot; Others of us were sick too, and most of the
+		neighbors, and it made us all feel rather sorrowful. The
+		doctor's medicines consisted of calomel, jalap and quinine,
+		all used pretty freely, by some with benefit, and by others to
+		no visible purpose, for they had to suffer until the cold
+		weather came and froze the disease out. At one time I was the
+		only one that remained well, and I had to nurse and cook,
+		besides all the out-door work that fell to me. My sister
+		married a man near by with a good farm and moved there with
+		him, a mile or two away. When she went away I lost my real
+		bosom companion and felt very lonesome, but I went to see her
+		once in a while, and that was pretty often, I think. There was
+		not much going on as a general thing. Some little neighborhood
+		society and news was about all. There was, however, one
+		incident which occurred in 1837, I never shall forget, and
+		which I will relate in the next chapter.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=169 alt="" src="images/ch_04.png" width=135 border=0><br>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-16153"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>About two miles west father's farm in Jackson county Mich.,
+		lived Ami Filley, who moved here from Connecticut and settled
+		about two and a half miles from the town of Jackson, then a
+		small village with plenty of stumps and mudholes in its
+		streets. Many of the roads leading thereto had been paved with
+		tamarac poles, making what is now known as corduroy roads. The
+		country was still new and the farm houses far between.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Filley secured Government land in the oak openings, and
+		settled there with his wife and two or three children, the
+		oldest of which was a boy named Willie. The children were
+		getting old enough to go to school, but there being none, Mr.
+		Filley hired one of the neighbor's daughters to come to his
+		house and teach the children there, so they might be prepared
+		for usefulness in life or ready to proceed further with their
+		education&mdash;to college, perhaps in some future day.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The young woman he engaged lived about a mile a half
+		away&mdash;Miss Mary Mount&mdash;and she came over and began
+		her duties as private school ma'am, not a very difficult task
+		in those days. One day after she had been teaching some time
+		Miss Mount desired to go to her father's on a visit, and as
+		she would pass a huckleberry swamp on the way she took a small
+		pail to fill with berries as she went, and by consent of
+		Willie's mother, the little boy went with her for company.
+		Reaching the berries she began to pick, and the little boy
+		found this dull business, got tired and homesick and wanted to
+		go home. They were about a mile from Mr. Filley's and as there
+		was a pretty good foot trail over which they had come, the
+		young woman took the boy to it, and turning him toward home
+		told him to follow it carefully and he would soon see his
+		mother. She then filled her pail with berries, went on to her
+		own home, and remained there till nearly sundown, when she set
+		out to return to Mr. Filley's, reaching there yet in the early
+		twilight. Not seeing Willie, she inquired for him and was told
+		that he had not returned, and that they supposed he was safe
+		with her. She then hastily related how it happened that he had
+		started back toward home, and that she supposed he had safely
+		arrived.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Filley then started back on the trail, keeping close
+		watch on each side of the way, for he expected he would soon
+		come across Master Willie fast asleep. He called his name
+		every few rods, but got no answer nor could he discover him,
+		and so returned home again, still calling and searching, but
+		no boy was discovered. Then he built a large fire and put
+		lighted candles in all the windows, then took his lantern and
+		wont out in the woods calling and looking for the boy.
+		Sometimes he thought he heard him, but on going where the
+		sound came from nothing could be found. So he looked and
+		called all night, along the trail and all about the woods,
+		with no success. Mr. Mount's home was situated not far from
+		the shore of Fitch's Lake, and the trail went along the
+		margin, and in some places the ground was quite a boggy marsh,
+		and the trail had been fixed up to make it passably good
+		walking.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next day the neighbors were notified, and asked to assist,
+		and although they were in the midst of wheat harvest, a great
+		many laid down the cradle and rake and went out to help
+		search. On the third day the whole county became excited and
+		quite an army of searchers turned out, coming from the whole
+		country miles around.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Filley was much excited and quite worn out an beside
+		himself with fatigue and loss of sleep. He could not eat.
+		Yielding to entreaty he would sit at the table, and suddenly
+		rise up, saying he heard Willie calling, and go out to search
+		for the supposed voice, but it was all fruitless, and the
+		whole people were sorry indeed for the poor father and
+		mother.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The people then formed a plan for a thorough search. They
+		were to form in a line so near each other that they could
+		touch hands and were to march thus turning out for nothing
+		except in passable lakes, and thus we marched, fairly sweeping
+		the county in search of a sign. I was with this party and we
+		marched south and kept close watch for a bit of clothing, a
+		foot print or even bones, or anything which would indicate
+		that he had been destroyed by some wild animal. Thus we
+		marched all day with no success, and the next went north in
+		the same careful manner, but with no better result. Most of
+		the people now abandoned the search, but some of the neighbors
+		kept it up for a long time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some expressed themselves quite strongly that Miss Mount
+		knew where the boy was, saying that she might have had some
+		trouble with him and in seeking to correct him had
+		accidentally killed him and then hidden the body
+		away&mdash;perhaps in the deep mire of the swamp or in the
+		muddy waters on the margin of the lake. Search was made with
+		this idea foremost, but nothing was discovered. Rain now set
+		in, and the grain, from neglect grew in the head as it stood,
+		and many a settler ate poor bread all winter in consequence of
+		his neighborly kindness in the midst of harvest. The bread
+		would not rise, and to make it into pancakes was the best way
+		it could be used.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Still no tidings ever came of the lost boy. Many things
+		were whispered, about Mr. Mount's dishonesty of character and
+		there were many suspicions about him, but no real facts could
+		be shown to account for the boy. The neighbors said he never
+		worked like the rest of them, and that his patch of cultivated
+		land was altogether too small to support his family, a wife
+		and two daughters, grown. He was a very smooth and affable
+		talker, and had lots of acquaintances. A few years afterwards
+		Mr. Mount was convicted of a crime which sent him to the
+		Jackson State Prison, where he died before his term expired. I
+		visited the Filley family in 1870, and from them heard the
+		facts anew and that no trace of the lost boy had ever been
+		discovered.<br>
+			<br>
+		</p>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-14349"></a>CHAPTER V.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>The second year of sickness and I was affected with the
+		rest, though it was not generally so bad as the first year. I
+		suffered a great deal and felt so miserable that I began to
+		think I had rather live on the top of the Rocky Mountains and
+		catch chipmuncks for a living than to live here and be sick,
+		and I began to have very serious thoughts of trying some other
+		country. In the winter of 1839 and 1840 I went to a
+		neighboring school for three months, where I studied reading,
+		writing and spelling, getting as far as Rule of Three in
+		Daboll's arithmetic. When school was out I chopped and split
+		rails for Wm. Hanna till I had paid my winter's board. After
+		this, myself and a young man named Orrin Henry, with whom I
+		had become acquainted, worked awhile scoring timber to be used
+		in building the Michigan Central Railroad which had just then
+		begun to be built. They laid down the ties first (sometimes a
+		mudsill under them) and then put down four by eight wooden
+		rails with a strips of band iron half an inch thick spiked on
+		top. I scored the timber and Henry used the broad axe after
+		me. It was pretty hard work and the hours as long as we could
+		see, our wages being $13 per month, half cash.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In thinking over our prospect it seemed more and more as if
+		I had better look out for my own fortune in some other place.
+		The farm was pretty small for all of us. There were three
+		brothers younger than I, and only 200 acres in the whole, and
+		as they were growing up to be men it seemed as if it would be
+		best for me, the oldest, to start out first and see what could
+		be done to make my own living. I talked to father and mother
+		about my plans, and they did not seriously object, but gave me
+		some good advice, which I remember to this
+		day&mdash;&quot;Weigh well every thing you do; shun bad
+		company; be honest and deal fair; be truthful and never fear
+		when you know you are right.&quot; But, said he, &quot;Our
+		little peach trees will bear this year, and if you go away you
+		must come back and help us eat them; they will be the first we
+		ever raised or ever saw.&quot; I could not promise.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Henry and I drew our pay for our work. I had five dollars
+		in cash and the rest in pay from the company's store. We
+		purchased three nice whitewood boards, eighteen inches wide,
+		from which we made us a boat and a good sized chest which we
+		filled with provisions and some clothing and quilts. This,
+		with our guns and ammunition, composed the cargo of our boat.
+		When all was ready, we put the boat on a wagon and were to
+		haul it to the river some eight miles away for embarkation.
+		After getting the wagon loaded, father said to
+		me;&mdash;&quot;Now my son, you are starting out in life
+		alone, no one to watch or look after you. You will have to
+		depend upon yourself in all things. You have a wide, wide
+		world to operate in&mdash;you will meet all kinds of people
+		and you must not expect to find them all honest or true
+		friends. You are limited in money, and all I can do for you in
+		that way is to let you have what ready money I have.&quot; He
+		handed me three dollars as he spoke, which added to my own
+		gave me seven dollars as my money capital with which to start
+		out into the world among perfect strangers, and no
+		acquaintances in prospect on our Western course.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When ready to start, mother and sister Poll came out to see
+		us off and to give us their best wishes, hoping we would have
+		good health, and find pleasant paths to follow. Mother said to
+		me:&mdash;&quot;You must be a good boy, honest and
+		law-abiding. Remember our advice, and honor us for we have
+		striven to make you a good and honest man, and you must follow
+		our teachings, and your conscience will be clear. Do nothing
+		to be ashamed of; be industrious, and you have no fear of
+		punishment.&quot; We were given a great many &quot;Good
+		byes&quot; and &quot;God bless you's&quot; as with hands, hats
+		and handkerchiefs they waved us off as far as we could see
+		them. In the course of an hour or so we were at the water's
+		edge, and on a beautiful morning in early spring of 1840 we
+		found ourselves floating down the Grand River below
+		Jackson.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The stream ran west, that we knew, and it was west we
+		thought we wanted to go, so all things suited us. The stream
+		was small with tall timber on both sides, and so many trees
+		had fallen into the river that our navigation was at times
+		seriously obstructed. When night came we hauled our boat on
+		shore, turned it partly over, so as to shelter us, built a
+		fire in front, and made a bed on a loose board which we
+		carried in the bottom of the boat. We talked till pretty late
+		and then lay down to sleep, but for my part my eyes would not
+		stay shut, and I lay till break of day and the little birds
+		began to sing faintly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I thought of many things that night which seemed so long. I
+		had left a good dear home, where I had good warm meals and a
+		soft and comfortable bed. Here I had reposed on a board with a
+		very hard pillow and none too many blankets, and I turned from
+		side to side on my hard bed, to which I had gone with all my
+		clothes on. It seemed the beginning of another chapter in my
+		pioneer life and a rather tough experience. I arose, kindled a
+		big fire and sat looking at the glowing coals in still further
+		meditation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Neither of us felt very gleeful as we got our breakfast and
+		made an early start down the river again. Neither of us talked
+		very much, and no doubt my companion had similar thoughts to
+		mine, and wondered what was before us. But I think that as a
+		pair we were at that moment pretty lonesome. Henry had rested
+		better than I but probably felt no less keenly the separation
+		from our homes and friends. We saw plenty of squirrels and
+		pigeons on the trees which overhung the river, and we shot and
+		picked up as many as we thought we could use for food. When we
+		fired our guns the echoes rolled up and down the river for
+		miles making the feeling of loneliness still more keen, as the
+		sound died faintly away. We floated along generally very
+		quietly. We could see the fish dart under our boat from their
+		feeding places along the bank, and now and then some tall
+		crane would spread his broad wings to get out of our way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We saw no houses for several days, and seldom went on
+		shore. The forest was all hard wood, such as oak, ash, walnut,
+		maple, elm and beech. Farther down we occasionally passed the
+		house of some pioneer hunter or trapper, with a small patch
+		cleared. At one of these a big green boy came down to the bank
+		to see who we were. We said &quot;How d'you do,&quot; to him,
+		and, getting no response, Henry asked him how far is was to
+		Michigan, at which a look of supreme disgust came over his
+		features as he replied&mdash;&quot;'Taint no far at
+		all.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The stream grew wider as we advanced along its downward
+		course, for smaller streams came pouring in to swell its tide.
+		The banks were still covered with heavy timber, and in some
+		places with quite thick undergrowth. One day we saw a black
+		bear in the river washing himself, but he went ashore before
+		we were near enough to get a sure shot at him. Many deer
+		tracks were seen along the shore, but as we saw very few of
+		the animals themselves, they were probably night visitors.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day we overtook some canoes containing Indians, men,
+		women and children. They were poling their craft around in all
+		directions spearing fish. They caught many large mullet and
+		then went on shore and made camp, and the red ladies began
+		scaling the fish. As soon as their lords and masters had
+		unloaded the canoes, a party started out with four of the
+		boats, two men in a boat, to try their luck again. They ranged
+		all abreast, and moved slowly down the stream in the still
+		deep water, continually beating the surface with their spear
+		handles, till they came to a place so shallow that they could
+		see the bottom easily, when they suddenly turned the canoes
+		head up stream, and while one held the craft steady by
+		sticking his spear handle down on the bottom, the other stood
+		erect, with a foot on either gunwale so he could see whatever
+		came down on either side. Soon the big fish would try to pass,
+		but Mr. Indian had too sharp an eye to let him escape
+		unobserved, and when he came within his reach he would turn
+		his spear and throw it like a dart, seldom missing his aim.
+		The poor fish would struggle desperately, but soon came to the
+		surface, when he would be drawn in and knocked in the head
+		with a tomahawk to quiet him, when the spear was cut out and
+		the process repeated. We watched them about an hour, and
+		during that time some one of the boats was continually hauling
+		in a fish. They were sturgeon and very large. This was the
+		first time we had ever seen the Indian's way of catching fish
+		and it was a new way of getting grub for us. When the canoes
+		had full loads they paddled up toward their camp, and we
+		drifted on again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we came to Grand Rapids we had to go on shore and tow
+		our boat carefully along over the many rocks to prevent
+		accident. Here was a small cheap looking town. On the west
+		bank of the river a water wheel was driving a drill boring for
+		salt water, it seemed through solid rock. Up to this time the
+		current was slow, and its course through a dense forest. We
+		occasionally saw an Indian gliding around in his canoe, but no
+		houses or clearings. Occasionally we saw some pine logs which
+		had been floated down some of the streams of the north. One of
+		these small rivers they called the &quot;Looking-glass,&quot;
+		and seemed to be the largest of them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Passing on we began to see some pine timber, and realized
+		that we were near the mouth of the river where it emptied into
+		Lake Michigan. There were some steam saw mills here, not then
+		in operation, and some houses for the mill hands to live in
+		when they were at work. This prospective city was called Grand
+		Haven. There was one schooner in the river loaded with lumber,
+		ready to sail for the west side of the lake as soon as the
+		wind should change and become favorable, and we engaged
+		passage for a dollar and a half each. While waiting for the
+		wind we visited the woods in search of game, but found none.
+		All the surface of the soil was clear lake sand, and some
+		quite large pine and hemlock trees were half buried in it. We
+		were not pleased with this place for it looked as if folks
+		must get their grub from somewhere else or live on fish.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next morning we were off early, as the wind had changed,
+		but the lake was very rough and a heavy choppy sea was
+		running. Before we were half way across the lake nearly all
+		were sea-sick, passengers and sailors. The poor fellow at the
+		helm stuck to his post casting up his accounts at the same
+		time, putting on an air of terrible misery.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This, I thought was pretty hard usage for a land-lubber
+		like myself who had never been on such rough water before. The
+		effect of this sea-sickness was to cure me of a slight fever
+		and ague, and in fact the cure was so thorough that I have
+		never had it since. As we neared the western shore a few
+		houses could be seen, and the captain said it was Southport.
+		As there was no wharf our schooner put out into the lake again
+		for an hour or so and then ran back again, lying off and on in
+		this manner all night. In the morning it was quite calm and we
+		went on shore in the schooner's yawl, landing on a sandy
+		beach. We left our chest of clothes and other things in a
+		warehouse and shouldered our packs and guns for a march across
+		what seemed an endless prairie stretching to the west. We had
+		spent all our lives thus far in a country where all the
+		clearing had to be made with an axe, and such a broad field
+		was to us an entirely new feature. We laid our course westward
+		and tramped on. The houses were very far apart, and we tried
+		at every one of them for a chance to work, but could get none,
+		not even if we would work for our board. The people all seemed
+		to be new settlers, and very poor, compelled to do their own
+		work until a better day could be reached. The coarse meals we
+		got were very reasonable, generally only ten cents, but
+		sometimes a little more.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we travelled westward the prairies seemed smaller with
+		now and then some oak openings between. Some of the farms
+		seemed to be three or four years old, and what had been laid
+		out as towns consisted of from three to six houses, small and
+		cheap, with plenty of vacant lots. The soil looked rich, as
+		though it might be very productive. We passed several small
+		lakes that had nice fish in them, and plenty of ducks on the
+		surface.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Walking began to get pretty tiresome. Great blisters would
+		come on our feet, and, tender as they were, it was a great
+		relief to take off our boots and go barefoot for a while when
+		the ground was favorable. We crossed a wide prairie and came
+		down to the Rock river where there were a few houses on the
+		east side but no signs of habitation on the west bank. We
+		crossed the river in a canoe and then walked seven miles
+		before we came to a house where we staid all night and
+		inquired for work. None was to be had and so we tramped on
+		again. The next day we met a real live Yankee with a one-horse
+		wagon, peddling tin ware in regular Eastern style. We inquired
+		of him about the road and prospects, and he gave us an
+		encouraging idea&mdash;said all was good. He told us where to
+		stop the next night at a small town called Sugar Creek. It had
+		but a few houses and was being built up as a mining town, for
+		some lead ore had been found there. There were as many Irish
+		as English miners here, a rough class of people. We put up at
+		the house where we had been directed, a low log cabin, rough
+		and dirty, kept by Bridget &amp; Co. Supper was had after dark
+		and the light on the table was just the right one for the
+		place, a saucer of grease, with a rag in it lighted and
+		burning at the edge of the saucer. It at least served to made
+		the darkness apparent and to prevent the dirt being visible.
+		We had potatoes, beans and tea, and probably dirt too, if we
+		could have seen it. When the meal was nearly done Bridget
+		brought in and deposited on each plate a good thick pancake as
+		a dessert. It smelled pretty good, but when I drew my knife
+		across it to cut it in two, all the center was uncooked
+		batter, which ran out upon my plate, and spoiled my
+		supper.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We went to bed and soon found it had other occupants beside
+		ourselves, which, if they were small were lively and spoiled
+		our sleeping. We left before breakfast, and a few miles out on
+		the prairie we came to a house occupied by a woman and one
+		child, and we were told we could have breakfast if we could
+		wait to have it cooked. Everything looked cheap but cheery,
+		and after waiting a little while outside we were called in to
+		eat. The meal consisted of corn bread, bacon, potatoes and
+		coffee. It was well cooked and looked better than things did
+		at Bridget's. I enjoyed all but the coffee, which had a rich
+		brown color, but when I sipped it there was such a bitter
+		taste I surely thought there must be quinine in it, and it
+		made me shiver. I tried two or three times to drink but it was
+		too much for me and I left it. We shouldered our loads and
+		went on again. I asked Henry what kind of a drink it was.
+		&quot;Coffee,&quot; said he, but I had never seen any that
+		tasted like that and never knew my father to buy any such
+		coffee as that.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We labored along and in time came to another small place
+		called Hamilton's Diggings where some lead mines were being
+		worked. We stopped at a long, low log house with a porch the
+		entire length, and called for bread and milk, which was soon
+		set before us. The lady was washing and the man was playing
+		with a child on the porch. The little thing was trying to
+		walk, the man would swear terribly at it&mdash;not in an angry
+		way, but in a sort of careless, blasphemous style that was
+		terribly shocking. I thought of the child being reared in the
+		midst of such bad language and reflected on the kind of people
+		we were meeting in this far away place. They seemed more
+		wicked and profane the farther west we walked. I had always
+		lived in a more moral and temperate atmosphere, and I was
+		learning more of some things in the world than I had ever
+		known before. I had little to say and much to see and listen
+		to and my early precepts were not forgotten. No work was to be
+		had here and we set out across the prairie toward Mineral
+		Point, twenty miles away. When within four miles of that place
+		we stopped at the house of Daniel Parkinson, a fine looking
+		two-story building, and after the meal was over Mr. Henry
+		hired out to him for $16 per month, and went to work that day.
+		I heard of a job of cutting cordwood six miles away and went
+		after it, for our money was getting very scarce, but when I
+		reached the place I found a man had been there half an hour
+		before and secured the job. The proprietor, Mr. Crow, gave me
+		my dinner which I accepted with many thanks, for it saved my
+		coin to pay for the next meal. I now went to Mineral Point,
+		and searched the town over for work. My purse contained
+		thirty-five cents only and I slept in an unoccupied out house
+		without supper. I bought crackers and dried beef for ten cents
+		in the morning and made my first meal since the day before,
+		felt pretty low-spirited. I then went to Vivian's smelting
+		furnace where they bought lead ore, smelted it, and run it
+		into pigs of about 70 pounds each. He said he had a job for me
+		if I could do it. The furnace was propelled by water and they
+		had a small buzz saw for cutting four-foot wood into blocks
+		about a foot long. These blocks they wanted split up in pieces
+		about an inch square to mix in with charcoal in smelting ore.
+		He said he would board me with the other men, and give me a
+		dollar and a quarter a cord for splitting the wood. I felt
+		awfully poor, and a stranger, and this was a beginning for me
+		at any rate, so I went to work with a will and never lost a
+		minute of daylight till I had split up all the wood and filled
+		his woodhouse completely up. The board was very
+		coarse&mdash;bacon, potatoes, and bread&mdash;a man cook, and
+		bread mixed up with salt and water. The old log house where we
+		lodged was well infested with troublesome insects which worked
+		nights at any rate, whether they rested days or not, and the
+		beds had a mild odor of pole cat. The house was long, low and
+		without windows. In one end was a fireplace, and there were
+		two tiers of bunks on each side, supplied with straw only. In
+		the space between the bunks was a stationary table, with
+		stools for seats. I was the only American who boarded there
+		and I could not well become very familiar with the
+		boarders.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The country was rolling, and there were many beautiful
+		brooks and clear springs of water, with fertile soil. The
+		Cornish miners were in the majority and governed the locality
+		politically. My health was excellent, and so long as I had my
+		gun and ammunition I could kill game enough to live on, for
+		prairie chickens and deer could be easily killed, and meat
+		alone would sustain life, so I had no special fears of
+		starvation. I was now paid off, and went back to see my
+		companion, Mr. Henry. I did not hear of any more work, so I
+		concluded I would start back toward my old home in Michigan,
+		and shouldered my bundle and gun, turning my face eastward for
+		a long tramp across the prairie. I knew I had a long tramp
+		before me, but I thought best to head that way, for my capital
+		was only ten dollars, and I might be compelled to walk the
+		whole distance. I walked till about noon and then sat down in
+		the shade of a tree to rest for this was June and pretty warm.
+		I was now alone in a big territory, thinly settled, and
+		thought of my father's home, the well set table, all happy and
+		well fed at any rate, and here was my venture, a sort of
+		forlorn hope. Prospects were surely very gloomy for me here
+		away out west in Wisconsin Territory, without a relative,
+		friend or acquaintance to call upon, and very small means to
+		travel two hundred and fifty miles of lonely
+		road&mdash;perhaps all the way on foot. There were no laborers
+		required, hardly any money in sight, and no chance for
+		business. I knew it would be a safe course to proceed toward
+		home, for I had no fear of starving, the weather was warm and
+		I could easily walk home long before winter should come again.
+		Still the outlook was not very pleasing to one in my
+		circumstances.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I chose a route which led me some distance north of the one
+		we travelled when we came west, but it was about the same.
+		Every house was a new settler, and hardly one who had yet
+		produced anything to live upon. In due time I came to the Rock
+		River, and the only house in sight was upon the east bank. I
+		could see a boat over there and so I called for it, and a
+		young girl came over with a canoe for me. I took a paddle and
+		helped her hold the boat against the current, and we made the
+		landing safely. I paid her ten cents for ferriage and went on
+		again. The country was now level, with burr-oak openings. Near
+		sundown I came to a small prairie of about 500 acres
+		surrounded by scattering burr-oak timber, with not a hill in
+		sight, and it seemed to me to be the most beautiful spot on
+		earth. This I found to belong to a man named Meachem, who had
+		an octagon concrete house built on one side of the opening.
+		The house had a hollow column in the center, and the roof was
+		so constructed that all the rain water went down this central
+		column into a cistern below for house use. The stairs wound
+		around this central column, and the whole affair was quite
+		different from the most of settlers' houses. I staid here all
+		night, had supper and breakfast, and paid my bill of
+		thirty-five cents. He had no work for me so I went on again. I
+		crossed Heart Prairie, passed through a strip of woods, and
+		out at Round Prairie. It was level as a floor with a slight
+		rise in one corner, and on it were five or six settlers. Here
+		fortune favored me, for here I found a man whom I knew, who
+		once lived in Michigan, and was one of our neighbors there for
+		some time. His name was Nelson Cornish. I rested here a few
+		days, and made a bargain to work for him two or three days
+		every week for my board as long as I wished to stay. As I got
+		acquainted I found some work to do and many of my leisure
+		hours I spent in the woods with my gun, killing some deer,
+		some of the meat of which I sold. In haying and harvest I got
+		some work at fifty cents to one dollar per day, and as I had
+		no clothes to buy, I spent no money, saving up about fifty
+		dollars by fall. I then got a letter from Henry saying that I
+		could get work with him for the winter and I thought I would
+		go back there again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Before thinking of going west again I had to go to
+		Southport on the lake and get our clothes we had left in our
+		box when we passed in the spring. So I started one morning at
+		break of day, with a long cane in each hand to help me along,
+		for I had nothing to carry, not even wearing a coat. This was
+		a new road, thinly settled, and a few log houses building. I
+		got a bowl of bread and milk at noon and then hurried on
+		again. The last twenty miles was clear prairie, and houses
+		were very far apart, but little more thickly settled as I
+		neared Lake Michigan. I arrived at the town just after dark,
+		and went to a tavern and inquired about the things. I was told
+		that the warehouse had been broken into and robbed, and the
+		proprietor had fled for parts unknown. This robbed me of all
+		my good clothes, and I could now go back as lightly loaded as
+		when I came. I found I had walked sixty miles in that one day,
+		and also found myself very stiff and sore so that I did not
+		start back next day, and I took three days for the return
+		trip&mdash;a very unprofitable journey.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was now ready to go west, and coming across a pet deer
+		which I had tamed, I knew if I left it it would wander away
+		with the first wild ones that came along, and so I killed it
+		and made my friends a present of some venison. I chose still a
+		new route this time, that I could see all that was possible of
+		this big territory when I could do it so easily. I was always
+		a great admirer of Nature and things which remained as they
+		were created, and to the extent of my observation, I thought
+		this the most beautiful and perfect country I had seen between
+		Vermont and the Mississippi River. The country was nearly
+		level, the land rich, the prairies small with oak openings
+		surrounding them, very little marsh land and streams of clear
+		water. Rock River was the largest of these, running south.
+		Next west was Sugar River, then the Picatonica. Through the
+		mining region the country was rolling and abundantly watered
+		with babbling brooks and health-giving springs.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In point of health it seemed to me to be far better than
+		Michigan. In Mr. Henry's letter to me he had said that he had
+		taken a timber claim in &quot;Kentuck Grove,&quot; and had all
+		the four-foot wood engaged to cut at thirty-seven cents a
+		cord. He said we could board ourselves and save a little money
+		and that in the spring he would go back to Michigan with me.
+		This had decided me to go back to Mineral Point. I stopped a
+		week or two with a man named Webb, hunting with him, and sold
+		game enough to bring me in some six or seven dollars, and then
+		resumed my journey.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On my way I found a log house ten miles from a neighbor
+		just before I got to the Picatonica River. It belonged to a
+		Mr. Shook who, with his wife and three children, lived on the
+		edge of a small prairie, and had a good crop of corn. He
+		invited me to stay with him a few days, and as I was tired I
+		accepted his offer and we went out together and brought in a
+		deer. We had plenty of corn bread, venison and coffee, and
+		lived well. After a few days he wanted to kill a steer and he
+		led it to a proper place while I shot it in the head. We had
+		no way to hang it up so he rolled the intestines out, and I
+		sat down with my side against the steer and helped him to pull
+		the tallow off.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was now getting nearly dark and while he was splitting
+		the back bone with an axe, it slipped in his greasy hands and
+		glancing, cut a gash in my leg six inches above the knee. I
+		was now laid up for two or three weeks, but was well cared for
+		at his house. Before I could resume my journey snow had fallen
+		to the depth of about six inches, which made it rather
+		unpleasant walking, but in a few days I reached Mr. Henry's
+		camp in &quot;Kentuck Grove,&quot; when after comparing notes,
+		we both began swinging our axes and piling up cordwood,
+		cooking potatoes, bread, bacon, coffee and flapjacks
+		ourselves, which we enjoyed with a relish.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now went to work for Peter Parkinson, who paid me
+		thirteen dollars per month, and I remained with him till
+		spring. While with him a very sad affliction came to him in
+		the loss of his wife. He was presented by her with his first
+		heir, and during her illness she was cared for by her mother,
+		Mrs. Cullany, who had come to live with them during the
+		winter. When the little babe was two or three weeks old the
+		mother was feeling in such good spirits that she was left
+		alone a little while, as Mrs. Cullany was attending to some
+		duties which called her elsewhere. When she returned she was
+		surprised to see that both Mrs. Parkinson and the babe were
+		gone. Everyone turned out to search for her. I ran to the
+		smokehouse, the barn, the stable in quick order, and not
+		finding her a search was made for tracks, and we soon
+		discovered that she had passed over a few steps leading over a
+		fence and down an incline toward the spring house, and there
+		fallen, face downward, on the floor of the house which was
+		covered only a few inches deep with water lay the unfortunate
+		woman and her child, both dead. This was doubly distressing to
+		Mr. Parkinson and saddened the whole community. Both were
+		buried in one grave, not far from the house, and a more
+		impressive funeral I never beheld.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now worked awhile again with Mr. Henry and we sold our
+		wood to Bill Park, a collier, who made and sold charcoal to
+		the smelters of lead ore. When the ice was gone in the
+		streams, Henry and I shouldered our guns and bundles, and made
+		our way to Milwaukee, where we arrived in the course of a few
+		days. The town was small and cheaply built, and had no wharf,
+		so that when the steamboat came we had to go out to it in a
+		small boat. The stream which came in here was too shallow for
+		the steamer to enter. When near the lower end of the lake we
+		stopped at an island to take on food and several cords of
+		white birch wood. The next stopping place was at
+		Michilamackanac, afterward called Mackinaw. Here was a short
+		wharf, and a little way back a hill, which seemed to me to be
+		a thousand feet high, on which a fort had been built. On the
+		wharf was a mixed lot of people&mdash;Americans, Canadians,
+		Irish, Indians, squaws and papooses. I saw there some of the
+		most beautiful fish I had ever seen. They would weigh twenty
+		pounds or more, and had bright red and yellow spots all over
+		them. They called them trout, and they were beauties, really.
+		At the shore near by the Indians were loading a large white
+		birch bark canoe, putting their luggage along the middle
+		lengthways, and the papooses on top. One man took a stern seat
+		to steer, and four or five more had seats along the gunwale as
+		paddlers and, as they moved away, their strokes were as even
+		and regular as the motions of an engine, and their crafts
+		danced as lightly on the water as an egg shell. They were
+		starting for the Michigan shore some eight or ten miles away.
+		This was the first birch bark canoe I had ever seen and was a
+		great curiosity in my eyes.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We crossed Lake Huron during the night, and through its
+		outlet, so shallow that the wheels stirred up the mud from the
+		bottom; then through Lake St. Clair and landed safety at
+		Detroit next day. Here we took the cars on the Michigan
+		Central Railroad, and on our way westward stopped at the very
+		place where we had worked, helping to build the road, a year
+		or more before. After getting off the train a walk of two and
+		one half miles brought me to my father's house, where I had a
+		right royal welcome, and the questions they asked me about the
+		wild country I had traveled over, how it looked, and how I got
+		along&mdash;were numbered by the thousand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I remained at home until fall, getting some work to do by
+		which I saved some money, but in August was attacked with
+		bilious fever, which held me down for several weeks, but
+		nursed by a tender and loving mother with untiring care, I
+		recovered, quite slowly, but surely. I felt that I had been
+		close to death, and that this country was not to be compared
+		to Wisconsin with its clear and bubbling springs of
+		health-giving water. Feeling thus, I determined to go back
+		there again.<br><br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=120 alt="" src="images/ch_05.png" width=122 border=0>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-57841"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>With the idea of returning to Wisconsin I made plans for my
+		movements. I purchased a good outfit of steel traps of several
+		kinds and sizes, thirty or forty in all, made me a pine chest,
+		with a false bottom to separate the traps from my clothing
+		when it was packed in traveling order, the clothes at the top.
+		My former experience had taught me not to expect to get work
+		there during winter, but I was pretty sure something could be
+		earned by trapping and hunting at this season, and in summer I
+		was pretty sure of something to do. I had about forty dollars
+		to travel on this time, and quite a stock of experience. The
+		second parting from home was not so hard as the first one. I
+		went to Huron, took the steamer to Chicago, then a small,
+		cheaply built town, with rough sidewalks and terribly muddy
+		streets, and the people seemed pretty rough, for sailors and
+		lake captains were numerous, and knock downs quite frequent.
+		The country for a long way west of town seemed a low, wet
+		marsh or prairie.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Finding a man going west with a wagon and two horses
+		without a load, I hired him to take me and my baggage to my
+		friend Nelson Cornish, at Round Prairie. They were glad to see
+		me, and as I had not yet got strong from my fever, they
+		persuaded me to stay a while with them and take some medicine,
+		for he was a sort of a doctor. I think he must have given me a
+		dose of calomel, for I had a terribly sore mouth and could not
+		eat any for two or three weeks. As soon as I was able to
+		travel I had myself and chest taken to the stage station on
+		the line for the lake to Mineral Point. I think this place was
+		called Geneva. On the stage I got along pretty fast, and part
+		of the time on a new road. The first place of note was Madison
+		the capital of the territory, situated on a block of land
+		nearly surrounded by four lakes, all plainly seen from the big
+		house. Further on at the Blue Mounds I left the stage, putting
+		my chest in the landlord's keeping till I should come or send
+		for it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I walked about ten miles to the house of a friend named A.
+		Bennett, who was a hunter and lived on the bank of the
+		Picatonica River with his wife and two children. I had to take
+		many a rest on the way, for I was very weak.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Resting the first few days, Mrs. Bennett's father, Mr. J.P.
+		Dilly, took us out about six miles and left us to hunt and
+		camp for a few days. We were quite successful, and killed five
+		nice, fat deer, which we dressed and took to Mineral Point,
+		selling them rapidly to the Cornish miners for twenty-five
+		cents a quarter for the meat. We followed this business till
+		about January first, when the game began to get poor, when we
+		hung up our guns for a while. I had a little money left yet.
+		The only money in circulation was American silver and British
+		sovereigns. They would not sell lead ore for paper money nor
+		on credit. During the spring I used my traps successfully, so
+		that I saved something over board and expenses.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In summer I worked in the mines with Edwin Buck of
+		Bucksport, Maine, but only found lead ore enough to pay our
+		expenses in getting it. Next winter I chopped wood for
+		thirty-five cents per cord and boarded myself. This was poor
+		business; poorer than hunting. In summer I found work at
+		various things, but in the fall Mr. Buck and myself concluded
+		that as we were both hunters and trappers, we would go
+		northward toward Lake Superior on a hunting expedition, and,
+		perhaps remain all winter. We replenished our outfit, and
+		engaged Mr. Bennett to take us well up into the north country.
+		We crossed the Wisconsin River near Muscoda, went then to
+		Prairie du Chien, where we found a large stone fur trading
+		house, owned by Mr. Brisbois, a Frenchman, from whom we
+		obtained some information of the country further on. He
+		assured us there was no danger from the Indians if we let them
+		alone and treated them fairly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We bought fifty pounds of flour for each of us, and then
+		started up the divide between the Wisconsin and Mississippi
+		Rivers. On one side flowed the Bad River, and on the other the
+		Kickapoo. We traveled on this divide about three days, when
+		Mr. Bennett became afraid to go any further, as he had to
+		return alone and the Indians might capture him before he could
+		get back to the settlement. We camped early one night and went
+		out hunting to get some game for him. I killed a large, black
+		bear and Mr. Bennett took what he wanted of it, including the
+		skin, and started back next morning.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now cach&eacute;d our things in various places,
+		scattering them well. Some went in hollow logs, and some under
+		heaps of brush or other places, where the Indians could not
+		find them. We then built a small cabin about six by eight feet
+		in size and four feet high, in shape like a A. We were not
+		thoroughly pleased with this location and started out to
+		explore the country to the north of us, for we had an idea
+		that it would be better hunting there.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The first day we started north we killed a bear, and filled
+		our stomachs with the fat, sweet meat. The next night we
+		killed another bear after a little struggling. The dog made
+		him climb a tree and we shot at him; he would fall to the
+		ground as if dead, but would be on his feet again in an
+		instant, when, after the dog had fastened to his ham, he would
+		climb the tree again. In the third trial he lay in the fork
+		and had a good chance to look square at his tormentor. I shot
+		him in the head, and as he lay perfectly still, Buck
+		said:&mdash;&quot;Now you have done it&mdash;we can't get
+		him.&quot; But in a moment he began to struggle, and soon came
+		down, lifeless.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here we camped on the edge of the pine forest, ate all the
+		fat bear meat we could, and in the morning took separate
+		routes, agreeing to meet again a mile or so farther up a small
+		brook. I soon saw a small bear walking on a log and shot him
+		dead. His mate got away, but I set my dog on him and he soon
+		had to climb a tree. When I came up to where the dog was
+		barking I saw Mr. Bear and fired a ball in him that brought
+		him down. Just then I heard Mr. Buck shoot close by, and I
+		went to him and found he had killed another and larger bear.
+		We stayed here another night, dressed our game and sunk the
+		meat in the brook and fastened it down, thinking we might want
+		to get some of it another time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were so well pleased with this hunting ground that we
+		took the bear skins and went back to camp. When we got there
+		our clothes were pretty well saturated with bear's oil, and we
+		jokingly said it must have soaked through our bodies, we had
+		eaten so much bear meat. I began to feel quite sick, and had a
+		bad headache. I felt as if something must be done, but we had
+		no medicine. Mr. Buck went down by the creek and dug some
+		roots he called Indian Physic, then steeped them until the
+		infusion seemed as black as molasses, and, when cool told me
+		to take a swallow every fifteen minutes for an hour, then half
+		as much for another hour as long as I could keep it down. I
+		followed directions and vomited freely and for a long time,
+		but felt better afterward, and soon got well. It reminded me
+		some of the feelings I had when I was seasick on Lake
+		Michigan.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It may be interesting to describe how we were dressed to
+		enter on this winter campaign. We wore moccasins of our own
+		make. I had a buckskin jumper, and leggins that came up to my
+		hips. On my head a drab hat that fitted close and had a rim
+		about two inches wide. In fair weather I went bare-headed,
+		Indian fashion. I carried a tomahawk which I had made. The
+		blade was two inches wide and three inches long&mdash;the poll
+		two inches long and about as large round as a dime; handle
+		eighteen or twenty inches long with a knob on the end so it
+		would not easily slip from the hand. Oiled patches for our
+		rifle balls on a string, a firing wire, a charger to measure
+		the powder, and a small piece of leather with four nipples on
+		it for caps&mdash;all on my breast, so that I could load very
+		rapidly. My bed was a comfort I made myself, a little larger
+		than usual. I lay down on one side of the bed and with my gun
+		close to me, turned the blanket over me. When out of camp I
+		never left my gun out of my reach. We had to be real Indians
+		in custom and actions in order to be considered their equals.
+		We got our food in the same way they did, and so they had
+		nothing to ask us for. They considered themselves the real
+		kings of the forest.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now determined to move camp, which proved quite a job as
+		we had to pack everything on our backs; which we did for ten
+		or fifteen miles to the bank of a small stream where there
+		were three pine trees, the only ones to be found in many
+		miles. We made us a canoe of one of them. While we were making
+		the canoe three Indians came along, and after they had eaten
+		some of our good venison, they left us. These were the first
+		we had seen, and we began to be more cautious and keep
+		everything well hid away from camp and make them think we were
+		as poor as they were, so they might not be tempted to molest
+		us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We soon had the canoe done and loaded, and embarked on the
+		brook down stream. We found it rather difficult work, but the
+		stream grew larger and we got along very well. We came to one
+		place where otter signs seemed fresh, and stopped to set a
+		trap for them. Our dog sat on the bank and watched the
+		operation, and when we started on we could not get him to ride
+		or follow. Soon we heard him cry and went back to find he had
+		the trap on his fore foot. To get it off we had to put a
+		forked stick over his neck and hold him down, he was so
+		excited over his mishap. When he was released he left at full
+		speed and was never seen by us after.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we got well into the pine woods we camped and cached
+		our traps and provisions on an island, and made our camp
+		further down the stream and some little distance from the
+		shore. We soon found this was very near a logging camp, and as
+		no one had been living there for a year, we moved camp down
+		there and occupied one of the empty cabins. We began to set
+		dead-fall traps in long lines in many different directions,
+		blazing the trees so we could find them if the snow came on.
+		West of this about ten miles, where we had killed some deer
+		earlier, we made a A-shaped cabin and made dead falls many
+		miles around to catch fishes, foxes, mink and raccoons. We
+		made weekly journeys to the places and generally staid about
+		two nights.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day when going over my trap lines I came to a trap
+		which I had set where I had killed a deer, and saw by the snow
+		that an eagle had been caught in the trap and had broken the
+		chain and gone away. I followed on the trail he made and soon
+		found him. He tried to fly but the trap was too heavy, and he
+		could only go slowly and a little way. I fired and put a ball
+		in him and he fell and rolled under a large log on the
+		hillside. As I took the trap off I saw an Indian coming down
+		the hill and brought my gun to bear on him. He stopped
+		suddenly and made signs not to shoot, and I let him come up.
+		He made signs that he wanted the feathers of the bird which I
+		told him to take, and then he wanted to know where we slept. I
+		pointed out the way and made him go ahead of me there, for I
+		did not want him behind me. At camp he made signs for
+		something to eat, but when I showed him meat he shook his
+		head. However he took a leg of deer and started on, I
+		following at a good distance till satisfied that he would not
+		come back.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had not taken pains to keep track of the day of the week
+		or month; the rising and setting of the sun and the changes of
+		the moon were all the almanacs we had. Then snow came about a
+		foot deep, and some days were so cold we could not leave our
+		camp fire at all. As no Indians appeared we were quite
+		successful and kept our bundle of furs in a hollow standing
+		tree some distance from camp, and when we went that way we
+		never stopped or left any sign that we had a deposit
+		there.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some time after it was all frozen up solid, some men with
+		two yoke of oxen came up to cut and put logs in the river to
+		raft down when the ice went out. With them came a shingle
+		weaver, with a pony and a small sled, and some Indians also.
+		We now had to take up all of our steel traps, and rob all our
+		dead-falls and quit business generally&mdash;even then they
+		got some of our traps before we could get them gathered in. We
+		were now comparatively idle.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Until these loggers came we did not know exactly where we
+		were situated, but they told us we were on the Lemonai river,
+		a branch of the Wisconsin, and that we could get out by going
+		west till we found the Mississippi river and then home. We
+		hired the shengle man with his pony to take us to Black River,
+		farther north which we reached in three days, and found a saw
+		mill there in charge of a keeper. Up the river farther we
+		found another mill looked after by Sam Ferguson. Both mills
+		were frozen up. The Indians had been here all winter. They
+		come from Lake Superior when the swamps froze up there, to
+		hunt deer, till the weather gets warm, then they returned to
+		the Lake to fish.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Of course the presence of the Indians made game scarce, but
+		the mill men told us if we would go up farther into the marten
+		country they thought we would do well. We therefore made us a
+		hand sled, put some provisions and traps on board, and started
+		up the river on the ice. As we went the snow grew deeper and
+		we had to cut hemlock boughs for a bed on top of the snow. It
+		took about a half a cord of wood to last us all night, and it
+		was a trouble to cut holes in the ice to water, for it was
+		more than two feet thick. Our fire kindled on the snow, would
+		be two or three feet below on the ground, by morning. This
+		country was heavily timbered with cedar, or spruce and
+		apparently very level.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day we saw two otters coming toward us on the ice. We
+		shot one, but as the other gun missed fire, the other one
+		escaped, for I could not overtake it in the woods. We kept on
+		up the river till we began to hear the Indians' guns, and then
+		we camped and did not fire a gun for two days, for we were
+		afraid we might be discovered and robbed, and we knew we could
+		not stay long after our grub was gone. All the game we could
+		catch was the marten or sable, which the Indians called
+		<i>Waubusash</i>. The males were snuff color and the female
+		much darker. Mink were scarce, and the beaver, living in the
+		river bank, could not be got at till the ice went out in the
+		spring.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now began to make marten traps or dead-falls, and set
+		them for this small game. There were many cedar and tamarack
+		swamps, indeed that was the principal feature, but there were
+		some ridges a little higher where some small pines and beech
+		grew. Now our camp was one place where there was no large
+		timber caused by the stream being dammed by the beaver. Here
+		were some of the real Russian Balsam trees, the most beautiful
+		in shape I had ever seen. They were very dark green, the
+		boughs very thick, and the tree in shape like an inverted top.
+		Our lines of trips led for miles in every direction marked by
+		blazed trees. We made a trap of two poles, and chips which we
+		split from the trees. These were set in the snow and covered
+		with brush. We sometimes found a porcupine in the top of a
+		pine tree. The only signs of his presence were the chips he
+		made in gnawing the bark for food. They never came down to the
+		ground as we saw. They were about all the game that was good
+		to eat. I would kill one, skin it and drag the carcass after
+		me all day as I set traps, cutting off bits for bait, and
+		cooking the rest for ourselves to eat. We tried to eat the
+		marten but it was pretty musky and it was only by putting on
+		plenty of salt and pepper that we managed to eat them. We were
+		really forced to do it if we remained here. We secured a good
+		many of these little fellows which have about the the best fur
+		that is found in America.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were here about three weeks, and our provisions giving
+		out and the ice becoming tender in the swamp were two pretty
+		strong reasons for our getting out, so we shouldered our packs
+		of fur and our guns and, getting our course from a
+		pocket-compass, we started out. As we pushed on we came to
+		some old windfalls that were troublesome to get through. The
+		dense timber seemed to be six feet deep, and we would
+		sometimes climb over and sometimes crawl under, the fallen
+		trees were so thickly mixed and tangled.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Buck got so completely tired that he threw away his
+		traps. We reached our starting place at O'Neil's saw-mill
+		after many days of the hardest work, and nearly starved, for
+		we had seen no game on our trip. We found our traps and furs
+		all safe here and as this stream was one of the tributaries of
+		the Mississippi, we decided to make us a boat and float down
+		toward that noted stream. We secured four good boards and
+		built the boat in which we started down the river setting
+		traps and moving at our leisure. We found plenty of fine
+		ducks, two bee trees, and caught some cat-fish with a hook and
+		line we got at the mill. We also caught some otter, and, on a
+		little branch of the river killed two bears, the skin of one
+		of them weighing five pounds. We met a keel boat being poled
+		up the river, and with the last cent of money we possessed
+		bought a little flour of them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About the first of May we reached Prairie du Chien. Here we
+		were met with some surprise, for Mr. Brisbois said he had
+		heard we were killed or lost. He showed us through his
+		warehouses and pointed out to us the many bales of different
+		kinds of furs he had on hand. He told us we were the best fur
+		handlers he had seen, and paid us two hundred dollars in
+		American gold for what we had. We then stored our traps in the
+		garret of one of his warehouses, which was of stone, two
+		stories and an attic, as we thought of making another trip to
+		this country if all went well.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now entered our skiff again and went on down the great
+		river till we came to a place nearly opposite Mineral Point,
+		when we gave our boat to a poor settler, and with guns and
+		bundles on our backs took a straight shoot for home on foot.
+		The second day about dark we came in the edge of the town and
+		were seen by a lot of boys who eyed us closely and with much
+		curiosity, for we were dressed in our trapping suits. They
+		followed us, and as we went along the crowd increased so that
+		when we got to Crum. Lloyd's tavern the door was full of boys'
+		heads looking at us as if we were a circus. Here we were
+		heartily welcomed, and every body was glad to see us, as they
+		were about to start a company to go in search of their
+		reported murdered friends. It seems a missionary got lost on
+		his way to Prairie La Crosse and had come across our deserted
+		cabin, and when he came in he reported us as no doubt
+		murdered.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I invested all of my hundred dollars in buying eighty acres
+		of good Government land. This was the first $100 I ever had
+		and I felt very proud to be a land owner. I felt a little more
+		like a man now than I had ever felt before, for the money was
+		hard earned and all mine.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=173 alt="" src="images/ch_06.png" width=185 border=0><br>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-44899"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>Mr. Buck and myself concluded we would try our luck at lead
+		mining for the summer and purchased some mining tools for the
+		purpose. We camped out and dug holes around all summer,
+		getting just about enough to pay our expenses&mdash;not a very
+		encouraging venture, for we had lived in a tent and had picked
+		and shoveled and blasted and twisted a windlass hard enough to
+		have earned a good bit of money.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the fall we concluded to try another trapping tour, and
+		set out for Prairie du Chien. We knew it was a poor place to
+		spend money up in the woods, and when we got our money it was
+		all in a lump and seemed to amount to something. Mr. Brisbois
+		said that the prospects were very poor indeed, for the price
+		of fur was very low and no prospect of a better market. So we
+		left our traps still on storage at his place and went back
+		again. This was in 1847, and before Spring the war was being
+		pushed in Mexico. I tried to enlist for this service, but
+		there were so many ahead of me I could not get a chance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I still worked in the settlement and made a living, but had
+		no chance to improve my land. The next winter I lived with Mr
+		A. Bennett, hunted deer and sold them at Mineral Point, and in
+		this way made and saved a few dollars.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There had been from time to time rumors of a better country
+		to the west of us and a sort of a pioneer, or western fever
+		would break out among the people occasionally. Thus in 1845 I
+		had a slight touch of the disease on account of the stories
+		they told us about Oregon. It was reported that the Government
+		would give a man a good farm if he would go and settle, and
+		make some specified improvement. They said it was in a
+		territory of rich soil, with plenty of timber, fish and game
+		and some Indians, just to give a little spice of adventure to
+		the whole thing. The climate was very mild in winter, as they
+		reported, and I concluded it would suit me exactly. I began at
+		once to think about an outfit and a journey, and I found that
+		it would take me at least two years to get ready. A trip to
+		California was not thought of in those days, for it did not
+		belong to the United States.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the winter of 1848-49 news began to come that there was
+		gold in California, but not generally believed till it came
+		through a U.S. officer, and then, as the people were used to
+		mines and mining, a regular gold fever spread as if by swift
+		contagion. Mr. Bennett was aroused and sold his farm, and I
+		felt a change in my Oregon desires and had dreams at might of
+		digging up the yellow dust. Nothing would cure us then but a
+		trip, and that was quickly decided on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As it would be some weeks yet before grass would start, I
+		concluded to haul my canoe and a few traps over to a branch of
+		the Wisconsin, and make my way to Prairie du Chien, do a
+		little trapping, get me an Indian pony on which to ride to
+		California. There were no ponies to be had at Mineral Point.
+		Getting a ride up the river on a passing steamboat I reached
+		Prairie La Crosse, where the only house was that of a Dutch
+		trader from whom I bought a Winnebago pony, which he had
+		wintered on a little brushy island, and I thought if he could
+		winter on brush and rushes he must be tough enough to take me
+		across the plains. He cost me $30, and I found him to be a
+		poor, lazy little fellow. However, I thought that when he got
+		some good grass, and a little fat on his ribs he might have
+		more life, and so I hitched a rope to him and drove him ahead
+		down the river. When I came to the Bad Axe river I found it
+		swimming full, but had no trouble in crossing, as the pony was
+		as good as a dog in the water.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Before leaving Bennett's I had my gun altered over to a
+		pill lock and secured ammunition to last for two years. I had
+		tanned some nice buckskin and had a good outfit of clothes
+		made of it, or rather cut and made it myself. Where I crossed
+		the Bad Axe was a the battle ground where Gen. Dodge fought
+		the Winnebago Indians. At Prairie du Chien I found a letter
+		from Mr. Bennett, saying that the grass was so backward he
+		would not start up for two or three weeks, and I had better
+		come back and start with them; but as the letter bore no date
+		I could only guess at the exact time. I had intended to strike
+		directly west from here to Council Bluffs and meet them there,
+		but now thought perhaps I had better go back to Mineral Point
+		and start out with them there, or follow on rapidly after them
+		if by any chance they had already started.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On my way back I found the Kickapoo river too high to ford,
+		so I pulled some basswood bark and made a raft of a couple of
+		logs, on which to carry my gun and blanket; starting the pony
+		across I followed after. He swam across quickly, but did not
+		seem to like it on the other side, so before I got across,
+		back he came again, not paying the least attention to my
+		scolding. I went back with the raft, which drifted a good way
+		down stream, and caught the rascal and started him over again,
+		but when I got half way across he jumped and played the same
+		joke on me again. I began to think of the old puzzle of the
+		story of the man with the fox, the goose and a peck of corn,
+		but I solved it by making a basswood rope to which I tied a
+		stone and threw across, then sending the pony over with the
+		other end. He staid this time, and after three days of
+		swimming streams and pretty hard travel reached Mineral Point,
+		to find Bennett had been gone two weeks and had taken my
+		outfit with him as we first planned.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was a little troubled, but set out light loaded for
+		Dubuque, crossed the river there and then alone across Iowa,
+		over wet and muddy roads, till I fell in with some wagons west
+		of the Desmoines River. They were from Milwaukee, owned by a
+		Mr. Blodgett, and I camped with them a few nights, till we got
+		to the Missouri River.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I rushed ahead the last day or two and got there before
+		them. There were a few California wagons here, and some
+		campers, so I put my pony out to grass and looked around. I
+		waded across the low bottom to a strip of dry land next to the
+		river, where there was a post office, store, and a few cabins.
+		I looked first for a letter, but there was none. Then I began
+		to look over the cards in the trading places and saloons, and
+		read the names written on the logs of the houses, and
+		everywhere I thought there might be a trace of the friends I
+		sought. No one had seen or knew them. After looking half a day
+		I waded back again to the pony&mdash;pretty blue. I thought
+		first I would go back and wait another year, but there was a
+		small train near where I left the pony, and it was not
+		considered very safe to go beyond there except with a pretty
+		good train. I sat down in camp and turned the matter over in
+		my mind, and talked with Chas. Dallas of Lynn, Iowa, who owned
+		the train. Bennett had my outfit and gun, while I had his
+		light gun, a small, light tent, a frying pan, a tin cup, one
+		woolen shirt and the clothes on my back. Having no money to
+		get another outfit, I about concluded to turn back when Dallas
+		said that if I would drive one of his teams through, he would
+		board me, and I could turn my pony in with his loose horses; I
+		thought it over, and finally put my things in the wagon and
+		took the ox whip to go on. Dallas intended to get provision
+		here, but could not, so we went down to St. Jo, following the
+		river near the bluff. We camped near town and walked in,
+		finding a small train on the main emigrant road to the west.
+		My team was one yoke of oxen and one yoke of cows. I knew how
+		to drive, but had a little trouble with the strange animals
+		till they found I was kind to them, and then they were all
+		right.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was in a slave state, and here I saw the first negro
+		auction. One side of the street had a platform such as we
+		build for a political speaker. The auctioneer mounted this
+		with a black boy about 18 years old, and after he had told all
+		his good qualities and had the boy stand up bold and straight,
+		he called for bids, and they started him at $500. He rattled
+		away as if he were selling a steer, and when Mr. Rubideaux,
+		the founder of St. Jo bid $800, he went no higher and the boy
+		was sold. With my New England notions it made quite an
+		impression on me.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here Dallas got his supplies, and when the flour and bacon
+		was loaded up the ferryman wanted $50 to take the train
+		across. This Dallas thought too high and went back up the
+		river a day's drive, where he got across for $30. From this
+		crossing we went across the country without much of a road
+		till we struck the road from St. Jo, and were soon on the
+		Platte bottom.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We found some fine strawberries at one of the camps across
+		the country. We found some hills, but now the country was all
+		one vast prairie, not a tree in sight till we reached the
+		Platte, there some cottonwood and willow. At the first camp on
+		the Platte I rolled up in my blanket under the wagon and
+		thought more than I slept, but I was in for it and no other
+		way but to go on. I had heard that there were two forts, new
+		Ft. Kearny and Ft. Laramie, on the south side of the river,
+		which we must pass before we reached the South Pass of the
+		Rocky Mountains, and beyond there there would be no place to
+		buy medicine or food. Our little train of five wagons, ten
+		men, one woman and three children would not be a formidable
+		force against the indians if they were disposed to molest us,
+		and it looked to me very hazardous, and that a larger train
+		would be more safe, for Government troops were seldom molested
+		on their marches.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>If I should not please Mr. Dallas and get turned off with
+		only my gun and pony I should be in a pretty bad shape, but I
+		decided to keep right on and take the chances on the savages,
+		who would get only my hair and my gun as my contribution to
+		them if they should be hostile. I must confess, however, that
+		the trail ahead did not look either straight or bright to me,
+		but hoped it might be better than I thought. So I yoked my
+		oxen and cows to the wagon and drove on. All the other teams
+		had two drivers each, who took turns, and thus had every other
+		day off for hunting if they chose, but I had to carry the whip
+		every day and leave my gun in the wagon.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we crossed Salt Creek the banks were high and we had
+		to tie a strong rope to the wagons and with a few turns around
+		a post, lower them down easily, while we had to double the
+		teams to get them up the other side.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Night came on before half the wagons were over, and though
+		it did not rain the water rose before morning so it was ten
+		feet deep. We made a boat of one of the wagon beds, and had a
+		regular ferry, and when they pulled the wagons over they sank
+		below the surface but came out all right. We came to Pawnee
+		Village, on the Platte, a collection of mud huts, oval in
+		shape, and an entrance low down to crawl in at. A ground owl
+		and some prairie dogs were in one of them, and we suspected
+		they might be winter quarters for the Indians.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Dallas and his family rode in the two-horse wagon. Dick
+		Field was cook, and the rest of us drove the oxen. We put out
+		a small guard at night to watch for Indians and keep the stock
+		together so there might be no delay in searching for them.
+		When several miles from Ft. Kearney I think on July 3rd, we
+		camped near the river where there was a slough and much
+		cottonwood and willow. Just after sundown a horse came
+		galloping from the west and went in with our horses that were
+		feeding a little farther down. In the morning two soldiers
+		came from the fort, inquiring after the stray horse, but
+		Dallas said he had seen none, and they did not hunt around
+		among the willows for the lost animal. Probably it would be
+		the easiest way to report back to the fort&mdash;&quot;Indians
+		got him.&quot; When we hitched up in the morning he put the
+		horse on the off side of his own, and when near the fort, he
+		went ahead on foot and entertained the officers while the men
+		drove by, and the horse was not discovered. I did not like
+		this much, for if we were discovered, we might be roughly
+		handled, and perhaps the property of the innocent even
+		confiscated. Really my New England ideas of honesty were
+		somewhat shocked.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Reaching the South Platte, it took us all day to ford the
+		sandy stream, as we had first to sound out a good crossing by
+		wading through ourselves, and when we started our teams across
+		we dare not stop a moment for fear the wagons would sink deep
+		into the quicksands. We had no mishaps in crossing, and when
+		well camped on the other side a solitary buffalo made his
+		appearance about 200 yards away and all hands started after
+		him, some on foot. The horsemen soon got ahead of him, but he
+		did not seem inclined to get out of their way, so they opened
+		fire on him. He still kept his feet and they went nearer, Mr.
+		Rogers, being on a horse with a blind bridle, getting near
+		enough to fire his Colt's revolver at him, when he turned, and
+		the horse, being unable to see the animal quick enough to get
+		out of the way, suffered the force of a sudden attack of the
+		old fellow's horns, and came out with a gash in his thigh six
+		inches long, while Rogers went on a flying expedition over the
+		horse's head, and did some lively scrambling when he reached
+		the ground. The rest of them worried him along for about half
+		a mile, and finally, after about forty shots he lay down but
+		held his head up defiantly, receiving shot after shot with an
+		angry shake, till a side shot laid him out. This game gave us
+		plenty of meat, which though tough, was a pleasant change from
+		bacon. I took no part in this battle except as an observer. On
+		examination it was found that the balls had been many of them
+		stopped by the matted hair about the old fellow's head and
+		none of them had reached the skull.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A few days after this we were stopped entirely by a herd of
+		buffaloes crossing our road. They came up from the river and
+		were moving south. The smaller animals seemed to be in the
+		lead, and the rear was brought up by the old cows and the
+		shaggy, burly bulls. All were moving at a smart trot, with
+		tongues hanging out, and seemed to take no notice of us,
+		though we stood within a hundred yards of them. We had to
+		stand by our teams and stock to prevent a stampede, for they
+		all seemed to have a great wonder, and somewhat of fear at
+		their relatives of the plains. After this we often saw large
+		droves of them in the distance. Sometimes we could see what in
+		the distance seemed a great patch of brush, but by watching
+		closely we could see it was a great drove of these animals.
+		Those who had leisure to go up to the bluffs often reported
+		large droves in sight. Antelopes were also seen, but these
+		occupied the higher ground, and it was very hard to get near
+		enough to them to shoot successfully. Still we managed to get
+		a good deal of game which was very acceptable as food.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One prominent land mark along the route was what they
+		called Court House Rock, standing to the south from the trail
+		and much resembled an immense square building, standing high
+		above surrounding country. The farther we went on the more
+		plentiful became the large game, and also wolves and prairie
+		dogs, the first of which seemed to follow the buffaloes
+		closely.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About this time we met a odd looking train going east,
+		consisting of five or six Mormons from Salt Lake, all mounted
+		on small Spanish mules. They were dressed in buckskin and
+		moccasins, with long spurs jingling at their heels, the rowels
+		fully four inches long, and each one carried a gun, a pistol
+		and a big knife. They were rough looking fellows with long,
+		matted hair, long beards, old slouch hats and a generally back
+		woods get-up air in every way. They had an extra pack mule,
+		but the baggage and provisions were very light. I had heard
+		much about the Mormons, both at Nauvoo and Salt Lake, and some
+		way or other I could not separate the idea of horse thieves
+		from this party, and I am sure I would not like to meet them
+		if I had a desirable mule that they wanted, or any money, or a
+		good looking wife. We talked with them half an hour or so and
+		then moved on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We occasionally passed by a grave along the road, and often
+		a small head board would state that the poor unfortunate had
+		died of cholera. Many of these had been torn open by wolves
+		and the blanket encircling the corpse partly pulled away. Our
+		route led a few miles north of Chimney Rock, standing on an
+		elevated point like a tall column, so perfect and regular on
+		all sides, that from our point it looked as if it might be the
+		work of the stone cutters. Some of the party went to see it
+		and reported there was no way to ascend it, and that as far as
+		a man could reach, the rocks were inscribed with the names of
+		visitors and travelers who passed that way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At Scott's Bluffs, the bluffs came close to the river, so
+		there was considerable hill climbing to get along, the road in
+		other places finding ample room in the bottom. Here we found a
+		large camp of the Sioux Indians on the bank of a ravine, on
+		both sides of which were some large cottonwood trees. Away up
+		in the large limbs platforms had been made of poles, on which
+		were laid the bodies of their dead, wrapped in blankets and
+		fastened down to the platform by a sort of a network of
+		smaller poles tightly lashed so that they could not be dragged
+		away or disturbed by wild animals. This seemed a strange sort
+		of cemetery, but when we saw the desecrated earth-made graves
+		we felt that perhaps this was the best way, even if it was a
+		savage custom.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These Indians were fair-sized men, and pretty good looking
+		for red men. Some of our men went over to their camp, and some
+		of their youths came down to ours, and when we started on they
+		seemed quite proud that they had learned a little of the
+		English language, but the extent of their knowledge seemed to
+		be a little learned of the ox-drivers, for they would swing
+		their hands at the cattle and cry out &quot;Whoa! haw, g-d
+		d--n.&quot; Whether they knew what was meant, I have my
+		doubts. They seemed pretty well provided for and begged very
+		little, as they are apt to do when they are hard pressed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We saw also some bands of Pawnee Indians on the move across
+		the prairies. They would hitch a long, light pole on each side
+		of a pony, with the ends dragging behind on the ground, and on
+		a little platform at the hind end the children sat and were
+		dragged along.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we passed on beyond Scott's Bluff the game began to be
+		perceptibly scarcer, and what we did find was back from the
+		traveled road, from which it had apparently been driven by the
+		passing hunters.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In time we reached Ft. Laramie, a trading post, where there
+		were some Indian lodges, and we noticed that some of the
+		occupants had lighter complexions than any of the other
+		Indians we had<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>seen. They had cords of dried buffalo meat, and we
+		purchased some. It was very fat, but was so perfectly cured
+		that the clear tallow tasted as sweet as a nut. I thought it
+		was the best dried meat I had ever tasted, but perhaps a good
+		appetite had something to do with it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we passed Ft. Laramie we fell in company with some U.S.
+		soldiers who were going to Ft. Hall and thence to Oregon. We
+		considered them pretty safe to travel with and kept with them
+		for some time, though their rate of travel was less than ours.
+		Among them were some Mormons, employed as teamsters, and in
+		other ways, and they told us there were some Missourians on
+		the road who would never live to see California. There had
+		been some contests between the Missourians and the Mormons,
+		and I felt rather glad that none of us hailed from Pike
+		county.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We turned into what they called the Black Hills, leaving
+		the Platte to the north of us. The first night on this road we
+		had the hardest rain I ever experienced, and the only one of
+		any account on our journey. Our camp was on a level piece of
+		ground on the bank of a dry creek, which soon became a very
+		wet creek indeed, for by morning it was one hundred yards wide
+		and absolutely impassible. It went down, however, as quickly
+		as it rose, and by ten o'clock it was so low that we easily
+		crossed and went on our way. We crossed one stream where there
+		were great drifts or piles of hail which had been brought down
+		by a heavy storm from higher up the hills. At one place we
+		found some rounded boulders from six to eight inches in
+		diameter, which were partly hollow, and broken open were found
+		to contain most beautiful crystals of quartz, clear as purest
+		ice. The inside was certainly very pretty, and it was a
+		mystery how it came there. I have since learned that such
+		stones are found at many points, and that they are called
+		geodes.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We came out at the river again at the mouth of Deer Creek,
+		and as there was some pretty good coal there quite easy to
+		get, we made camp one day to try to tighten our wagon tires,
+		John Rogers acting as blacksmith. This was my first chance to
+		reconnoitre, and so I took my gun and went up the creek, a
+		wide, treeless bottom. In the ravines on the south side were
+		beautiful groves of small fir trees and some thick brush, wild
+		rose bushes I think. I found here a good many heads and horns
+		of elk, and I could not decide whether they had been killed in
+		winter during the deep snow, or had starved to death.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was a ferry here to cross the river and go up along
+		north side. Mr. Dallas bought the whole outfit for a small sum
+		and when we were safely over he took with him such ropes as he
+		wanted and tied the boat to the bank The road on this side was
+		very sandy and led over and among some rolling hills. In
+		talking with the men of the U.S. troops in whose company we
+		still were, I gathered much information concerning our road
+		further west. They said we were entirely too late to get
+		through to California, on account of crossing the Sierra
+		Nevada mountains, which, they said would be covered with snow
+		by November, or even earlier, and that we would be compelled
+		to winter at Salt Lake. Some of the drivers overheard Mr.
+		Dallas telling his family the same thing, and that if he
+		should winter at Salt Lake, he would discharge his drivers as
+		soon as he arrived, as he could not afford to board them all
+		winter.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was bad news for me, for I had known of the history of
+		them at Nauvoo and in Missouri, and the prospect of being
+		thrown among them with no money to buy bread was a very sorry
+		prospect for me. From all I could learn we could not get a
+		chance to work, even for our board there, and the other
+		drivers shared my fears and disappointment. In this dilemma we
+		called a council, and invited the gentleman in to have an
+		understanding. He came and our spokesman stated the case to
+		him, and our fears, and asked him what he had to say to us
+		about it. He flew quite angry at us, and talked some and swore
+		a great deal more, and the burden of his speech
+		was:&mdash;&quot;This train belongs to me and I propose to do
+		with it just as I have a mind to, and I don't care a d--n what
+		you fellows do or say. I am not going to board you fellows all
+		winter for nothing, and when we get to Salt Lake you can go
+		where you please, for I shall not want you any longer.&quot;
+		We talked a little to him and under the circumstances to talk
+		was about all we could do. He gave us no satisfaction and left
+		us apparently much offended that we had any care for
+		ourselves.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Then we had some talk among ourselves, at the time, and
+		from day to day as we moved along. We began to think that the
+		only way to get along at all in Salt Lake would be to turn
+		Mormons, and none of us had any belief or desire that way and
+		could not make up our minds to stop our journey and lose so
+		much time, and if we were not very favored travelers our lot
+		might be cast among the sinners for all time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were now on the Sweetwater River, and began to see the
+		snow on the Rocky Mountains ahead of us, another reminder that
+		there was a winter coming and only a little more than half our
+		journey was done. We did not feel very happy over it, and yet
+		we had to laugh once in a while at some of the funny things
+		that would happen.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Government party we were with had among them a German
+		mule driver who had a deal of trouble with his team, but who
+		had a very little knowledge of the English language. When the
+		officers tried to instruct him a little he seemed to get out
+		of patience and would say something very like
+		<i>Sacramento</i>. We did not know exactly what this meant. We
+		had heard there was a river of that name or something very
+		near like that; and then again some said that was the Dutch
+		for swearing. If this latter was the truth then he was a very
+		profane mule driver when he got mad.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Captain of the company had a very nice looking lady
+		with him, and they carried a fine wall tent which they
+		occupied when they went into camp. The company cook served
+		their meals to them in the privacy of their tent, and they
+		seemed to enjoy themselves very nicely. Everybody thought the
+		Captain was very lucky in having such an accomplished
+		companion, and journey along quietly to the gold fields at
+		government expense.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There seemed to be just a little jealousy between the
+		Captain and the Lieutenant, and one day I saw them both
+		standing in angry attitude before the Captain's quarters, both
+		mounted, with their carbines lying across their saddles before
+		them. They had some pretty sharp, hot words, and it looked as
+		if they both were pretty nearly warmed up to the shooting
+		point. Once the Lieutenant moved his right hand a little, and
+		the Captain was quick to see it, shouting;&mdash;&quot;Let
+		your gun alone or I will make a hole through you,&quot; at the
+		same time grasping his own and pointing it straight at the
+		other officer. During all this time the Captain's lady stood
+		in the tent door, and when she saw her favorite had the drop
+		on the Lieutenant she clapped her delicate, little hands in a
+		gleeful manner:&mdash;&quot;Just look at the Captain! Ain't he
+		spunky?&quot; and then she laughed long and loud to see her
+		lord show so much military courage. She seemed more pleased at
+		the affair than any one else. I don't know exactly what the
+		others thought, but I never could believe that the lady and
+		the Captain were ever married.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Lieutenant was no coward, but probably thinking that
+		prudence was the better part of valor, refrained from handling
+		his gun, and the two soon rode away in opposite
+		directions.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We passed a lone rock standing in the river bottom on the
+		Sweetwater, which they named Independence Rock. It was covered
+		with the names of thousands of people who had gone by on that
+		road. Some were pretty neatly chiseled in, some very rudely
+		scrawled, and some put on with paint. I spent all the time I
+		could hunting Mr. Bennett's name, but I could not find it
+		anywhere. To have found his name, and thus to know that he had
+		safely passed this point would have been a little re-assuring
+		in those rather doubtful days. Some had named the date of
+		their passing, and some of them were probably pretty near the
+		gold fields at this time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All along in this section we found alkali water near the
+		road, some very strong and dangerous for man or beast to use.
+		We traveled on up the Sweetwater for some time, and at last
+		came to a place where the road left the river, and we had a
+		long, hard hill to pull up. When we reached the top of this we
+		were in the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, the backbone of
+		the American continent. To the north of us were some very high
+		peaks white with snow, and to the south were some lower hills
+		and valleys. The summit of the mountains was not quite as
+		imposing as I expected, but it was the summit, and we were
+		soon surely moving down the western side, for at Pacific
+		Springs the water ran to the westward, toward the Pacific
+		coast. The next day we came to the nearly dry bed of the
+		river&mdash;the Big Sandy. The country round about seemed
+		volcanic, with no timber, but plenty of sage brush, in which
+		we were able to shoot an occasional sage hen. The river bed
+		itself was nothing but sand, and where there was water enough
+		to wet it, it was very miry and hard traveling over it. There
+		are two streams, the Big Sandy and Little Sandy, both
+		tributaries to Green River, which we soon reached and
+		crossed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was a remarkable clear and rapid stream and was now low
+		enough to ford. One of the Government teams set out to make
+		the crossing at a point where it looked shallow enough, but
+		before the lead mules reached the opposite shore, they lost
+		their footing and were forced to swim. Of course the wagon
+		stopped and the team swung round and tangled up in a bad
+		shape. They were unhitched and the wagon pulled back, the load
+		was somewhat dampened, for the water came into the wagon box
+		about a foot. We camped here and laid by one day, having thus
+		quite a little chance to look around.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we came to the first water that flowed toward the
+		Pacific Coast at Pacific Springs, we drivers had quite a
+		little talk about a new scheme. We put a great many
+		&quot;ifs&quot; together and they amounted to about
+		this:&mdash;If this stream were large enough; if we had a
+		boat; if we knew the way: if there were no falls or bad
+		places; if we had plenty of provisions; if we were bold enough
+		set out on such a trip, etc., we might come out at some point
+		or other on the Pacific Ocean. And now when we came to the
+		first of the &quot;ifs,&quot; a stream large enough to float a
+		small boat; we began to think more strongly about the other
+		&quot;ifs&quot;.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the course of our rambles we actually did run across the
+		second &quot;if&quot; in the shape of a small ferry boat
+		filled up with sand upon a bar, and it did not take very long
+		to dig it out and put it into shape to use, for it was just
+		large enough to hold one wagon at a time. Our military escort
+		intended to leave us at this point, as their route now bore
+		off to the north of ours. I had a long talk with the surgeon
+		who seemed well informed about the country, and asked him
+		about the prospects. He did not give the Mormons a very good
+		name. He said to me:&mdash;&quot;If you go to Salt Lake City,
+		do not let them know you are from Missouri, for I tell you
+		that many of those from that State will never see California.
+		You know they were driven from Missouri, and will get revenge
+		if they can.&quot; Both the surgeon and the captain said the
+		stream came out on the Pacific Coast and that we had no
+		obstacles except cataracts, which they had heard were pretty
+		bad. I then went to Dallas and told him what we proposed doing
+		and to our surprise he did not offer any objections, and
+		offered me $60 for my pony. He said he would sell us some
+		flour and bacon for provisions also.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We helped them in crossing the river, which was somewhat
+		difficult, being swift, with boulders in the bottom but we got
+		all safely over and then made the trade we had spoken of.
+		Dallas paid me for my pony and we took what flour and bacon he
+		would let go. He gave us some ropes for head and stern lines
+		to our boat and a couple of axes, and we laid these, and our
+		provisions in a pile by the roadside. Six of us then gave up
+		our whips. Mr. S. McMahon, a driver, hesitated for some time,
+		but being pressed by Dallas for a decision, at last threw down
+		his whip and said:&mdash;&quot;I will go with the boys.&quot;
+		This left Dallas with only one driver, but he took a whip
+		himself, and with the aid of the children and his wife who
+		drove the two-horse wagon, they got along very well. I paid
+		for such provisions as we had taken, as the rest of the
+		fellows had almost no money.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>So we parted company, the little train slowly moving on its
+		way westward. Our military captain, the soldier boys, and the
+		gay young lady taking the route to Oregon, and we sitting on
+		the bank of the river whose waters flowed to the great
+		Pacific. Each company wished the other good luck, we took a
+		few long breaths and then set to work in earnest to carry out
+		our plans.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=478 alt="" src="images/ch_07.png" width=357 border=0><br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-34642"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>About the first thing we did was to organize and select a
+		captain, and, very much against my wishes, I was chosen to
+		this important position. Six of us had guns of some sort,
+		Richard Field, Dallas's cook, was not armed at all. We had one
+		regular axe and a large camp hatchet, which was about the same
+		as an axe, and several very small hatchets owned by the men.
+		All our worldly goods were piled up on the bank, and we were
+		alone.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>An examination of the old ferry boat showed it to be in
+		pretty good condition, the sand with which it had been filled
+		keeping it very perfectly. We found two oars in the sand under
+		the boat, and looked up some poles to assist us in navigation.
+		Our cordage was rather scant but the best we could get and all
+		we could muster. The boat was about twelve feet long and six
+		or seven feet wide, not a very well proportioned craft, but
+		having the ability to carry a pretty good load. We swung it up
+		to the bank and loaded up our goods and then ourselves. It was
+		not a heavy load for the craft, and it looked as if we were
+		taking the most sensible way to get to the Pacific, and almost
+		wondered that everybody was so blind as not to see it as we
+		did.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This party was composed of W.L. Manley, M.S. McMahon,
+		Charles and Joseph Hazelrig, Richard Field, Alfred Walton and
+		John Rogers. We untied the ropes, gave the boat a push and
+		commenced to move down the river with ease and comfort,
+		feeling much happier than we would had we been going toward
+		Salt Lake with the prospect of wintering there.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the mouth of Ham's Fork we passed a camp of Indians, but
+		we kept close to the opposite shore to avoid being boarded by
+		them. They beckoned very urgently for us to come ashore, but I
+		acted as if I did not understand them, and gave them the
+		go-by.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we were floating down the rapid stream it became more
+		and more a rapid, roaring river, and the bed contained many
+		dangerous rocks that were difficult to shun. Each of us had a
+		setting-pole, and we ranged ourselves along the sides of the
+		boat and tried to keep ourselves clear from the rocks and
+		dangers. The water was not very deep and made such a dashing
+		noise as the current rushed among the rocks that one had to
+		talk pretty loud to be heard. As we were gliding along quite
+		swiftly, I set my pole on the bottom and gave the boat a
+		sudden push to avoid a boulder, when the pole stuck in the
+		crevice between two rocks, and instead of losing the pole by
+		the sudden jerk I gave, I was the one who was very suddenly
+		yanked from the boat by the spring of the pole, and landed in
+		the middle of the river. I struck pretty squarely on my back,
+		and so got thoroughly wet, but swam for shore amid the shouts
+		of the boys, who waved their hats and hurrahed for the captain
+		when they saw he was not hurt. I told them that was nothing as
+		we were on our way to California by water any way, and such
+		things must be expected.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day after this I went on shore and sighted a
+		couple of antelope, one of which I shot, which gave us good
+		grub, and good appetites we already had. As near as we could
+		estimate we floated about thirty miles a day, which beat the
+		pace of tired oxen considerably. In one place there was a
+		fringe of thick willows along the bank, and a little farther
+		back a perpendicular bluff, while between the two was a strip
+		of fine green grass. As we were passing this we scared up a
+		band of elk in this grass meadow, and they all took a run down
+		the river like a band of horses. One of them turned up a small
+		ravine with walls so steep he could not get out, so we posted
+		a guard at the entrance, and three of us went up the
+		ca&ntilde;on after him, and after the others had each fired a
+		shot, I fired the third and brought him down. This was about
+		the finest piece of Rocky Mountain beef that one could see. We
+		took the carcass on board and floated on again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Thus far we had a very pleasant time, each taking his turn
+		in working the boat while the others rested or slept. About
+		the fifth day when we were floating along in very gently
+		running water, I had lay down to take a rest and a little
+		sleep. The mountains here on both sides of the river were not
+		very steep, but ran gradually for a mile or so. While I was
+		sleeping the boat came around a small angle in the stream, and
+		all at once there seemed to be a higher, steeper range of
+		mountains right across the valley. The boys thought the river
+		was coming to a rather sudden end and hastily awoke me, and
+		for the life of me I could not say they were not right, for
+		there was no way in sight for it to go to. I remembered while
+		looking over a map the military men had I found a place named
+		Brown's Hole, and I told the boys I guessed we were elected to
+		go on foot to California after all, for I did not propose to
+		follow the river down any sort of a hole into any mountain. We
+		were floating directly toward a perpendicular cliff, and I
+		could not see any hole any where, nor any other place where it
+		could go. Just as we were within a stone's throw of the cliff,
+		the river turned sharply to the right and went behind a high
+		point of the mountain that seemed to stand squarely on edge.
+		This was really an immense crack or crevice, certainly 2000
+		feet deep and perhaps much more, and seemed much wider at the
+		bottom than it did at the top, 2000 feet or more above our
+		heads. Each wall seemed to lean in toward the water as it
+		rose.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were now for some time between two rocky walls between
+		which the river ran very rapidly, and we often had to get out
+		and work our boat over the rocks, sometimes lifting it off
+		when it caught. Fortunately we had a good tow line, and one
+		would take this and follow along the edge when it was so he
+		could walk. The mountains seemed to get higher and higher on
+		both sides as we advanced, and in places we could see quite a
+		number of trees overhanging the river, and away up on the
+		rocks we could see the wild mountain sheep looking down at us.
+		They were so high that they seemed a mile away, and
+		consequently safe enough. This was their home, and they seemed
+		very independent, as if they dared us fellows to come and see
+		them. There was an old cottonwood tree on bank with marks of
+		an axe on it, but this was all the sign we saw that any one
+		had ever been here before us. We got no game while passing
+		through this deep ca&ntilde;on and began to feel the need of
+		some fresh provisions very sorely.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We passed many deep, dark ca&ntilde;ons coming into the
+		main stream, and at one place, where the rock hung a little
+		over the river and had a smooth wall, I climbed up above the
+		high water mark which we could clearly see, and with a mixture
+		of gunpowder and grease for paint, and a bit of cloth tied to
+		a stick for a brush, I painted in fair sized letters on the
+		rock, CAPT. W.L. MANLEY, U.S.A. We did not know whether we
+		were within the bounds of the United States or not, and we put
+		on all the majesty we could under the circumstances. I don't
+		think the sun ever shone down to the bottom of the
+		ca&ntilde;on, for the sides were literally sky-high, for the
+		sky, and a very small portion of that was all we could
+		see.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Just before night we came to a place where some huge rocks
+		as large as cabins had fallen down from the mountain,
+		completely filling up the river bed, and making it completely
+		impassible for our boat. We unloaded it and while the boys
+		held the stern line, I took off my clothes and pushed the boat
+		out into the torrent which ran around the rocks, letting them
+		pay the line out slowly till it was just right. Then I sang
+		out to&mdash;&quot;Let go&quot;&mdash;and away it dashed. I
+		grasped the bow line, and at the first chance jumped overboard
+		and got to shore, when I held the boat and brought it in below
+		the obstructions. There was some deep water below the rocks;
+		and we went into camp. While some loaded the boat, others with
+		a hook and line caught some good fish, which resembled
+		mackerel.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While I was looking up toward the mountain top, and along
+		down the rocky wall, I saw a smooth place about fifty feet
+		above where the great rocks had broken out, and there, painted
+		in large black letters, were the words &quot;ASHLEY,
+		1824.&quot; This was the first real evidence we had of the
+		presence of a white man in this wild place, and from this
+		record it seems that twenty-five years before some venturesome
+		man had here inscribed his name. I have since heard there were
+		some persons in St. Louis of this name, and of some
+		circumstances which may link them with this early
+		traveler.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we came to look around we found that another big rock
+		blocked the channel 300 yards below, and the water rushed
+		around it with a terrible swirl. So we unloaded the boat again
+		and made the attempt to get around it as we did the other
+		rocks. We tried to get across the river but failed. We now,
+		all but one, got on the great rock with our poles, and the one
+		man was to ease the boat down with the rope as far as he
+		could, then let go and we would stop it with our poles and
+		push it out into the stream and let it go over, but the
+		current was so strong that when the boat struck the rock we
+		could not stop it, and the gunwale next to us rose, and the
+		other went down, so that in a second the boat stood edgewise
+		in the water and the bottom tight against the big rock, and
+		the strong current pinned it there so tight that we could no
+		more move it than we could move the rock itself.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This seemed a very sudden ending to our voyage and there
+		were some very rapid thoughts as to whether we would not safer
+		among the Mormons than out in this wild country, afoot and
+		alone. Our boat was surely lost beyond hope, and something
+		must be done. I saw two pine trees, about two feet through,
+		growing on a level place just below, and I said to them that
+		we must decide between going afoot and making some canoes out
+		of these pine trees. Canoes were decided on, and we never let
+		the axes rest, night or day till we had them completed. While
+		my working shift was off, I took an hour or two, for a little
+		hunting, and on a low divide partly grown over with small
+		pines and juniper I found signs, old and new, of many elk, and
+		so concluded the country was well stocked with noble game. The
+		two canoes, when completed were about fifteen feet long and
+		two feet wide, and we lashed them together for greater
+		security. When we tried them we found they were too small to
+		carry our load and us, and we landed half a mile below, where
+		there were two other pine trees&mdash;white pine&mdash;about
+		two feet through, and much taller than the ones we had used.
+		We set at work making a large canoe of these. I had to direct
+		the work for I was the only one who had ever done such work.
+		We worked night and day at these canoes, keeping a big fire at
+		night and changing off to keep the axes busy. This canoe we
+		made twenty-five or thirty feet long, and when completed they
+		made me captain of it and into it loaded the most valuable
+		things, such as provisions, ammunition, and cooking utensils.
+		I had to take the lead for I was the only skillful canoeist in
+		the party. We agreed upon signals to give when danger was
+		seen, or game in sight, and leading off with my big canoe we
+		set sail again, and went flying down stream.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This rapid rate soon brought us out of the high mountains
+		and into a narrow valley when the stream became more moderate
+		in its speed and we floated along easily enough. In a little
+		while after we struck this slack water, as we were rounding a
+		point, I saw on a sand bar in the river, five or six elk,
+		standing and looking at us with much curiosity. I signaled for
+		those behind to go to shore, while I did the same, and two or
+		three of us took our guns and went carefully down along the
+		bank, the thick brush hiding us from them, till we were in
+		fair range, then selecting our game we fired on them. A fine
+		doe fell on the opposite bank, and a magnificent buck which
+		Rogers and I selected, went below and crossed the river on our
+		side. We followed him down along the bank which was here a
+		flat meadow with thick bunches of willows, and soon came
+		pretty near to Mr. Elk who started off on a high and lofty
+		trot. As he passed an opening in the bushes I put a ball
+		through his head and he fell. He was a monster. Rogers, who
+		was a butcher, said it would weigh five hundred or six hundred
+		pounds. The horns were fully six feet long, and by placing the
+		horns on the ground, point downwards, one could walk under the
+		skull between them. We packed the meat to our canoes, and
+		staid up all night cutting the meat in strips and drying it,
+		to reduce bulk and preserve it, and it made the finest kind of
+		food, fit for an epicure.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Starting on again, the river lost more and more of of its
+		rapidity as it came out into a still wider valley, and became
+		quite sluggish. We picked red berries that grew on bushes that
+		overhung the water. They were sour and might have been high
+		cranberries. One day I killed an otter, and afterward hearing
+		a wild goose on shore, I went for the game and killed it on a
+		small pond on which there were also some mallard duck. I
+		killed two of these. When I fired, the ones not killed did not
+		fly away, but rather swam toward me. I suppose they never
+		before had seen a man or heard the report of a gun. On the
+		shore around the place I saw a small bear track, but I did not
+		have time to look for his bearship, and left, with the game
+		already killed, and passed on down through this beautiful
+		valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We saw one place where a large band of horses had crossed,
+		and as the men with them must have had a raft, we were pretty
+		sure that the men in charge of them were white men. Another
+		day we passed the mouth of a swollen stream which came in from
+		the west side. The water was thick with mud, and the fish,
+		about a foot long, came to the top, with their noses out of
+		water. We tried to catch some, but could not hold them. One
+		night we camped on an island, and I took my gun and went over
+		toward the west side where I killed a deer. The boys hearing
+		me shoot, came out, guns in hand, thinking I might need help,
+		and I was very glad of their assistance. To make our flour go
+		as far as possible we ate very freely of meat, and having
+		excellent appetites it disappeared very fast.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It took us two or three days to pass this beautiful valley,
+		and then we began to get into a rougher country again, the
+		ca&ntilde;ons deeper and the water more tumultuous. McMahon
+		and I had the lead always, in the big canoe. The mountains
+		seemed to change into bare rocks and get higher and higher as
+		we floated along. After the first day of this the river became
+		so full of boulders that many times the only way we could do
+		was to unload the canoes and haul them over, load up and go
+		ahead, only to repeat the same tactics in a very short time
+		again. At one place where the river was more than usually
+		obstructed we found a deserted camp, a skiff and some heavy
+		cooking utensils, with a notice posted up on an alder tree
+		saying that they had found the river route impracticable, and
+		being satisfied that the river was so full of rocks and
+		boulders that it could not be safely navigated, they had
+		abandoned the undertaking and were about to start overland to
+		make their way to Salt Lake. I took down the names of the
+		parties at the time in my diary, which has since been burned,
+		but have now forgotten them entirely. They were all strangers
+		to me. They had taken left such heavy articles as could not be
+		carried on foot. This notice rather disconcerted us, but we
+		thought we had better keep on and see for ourselves, so we did
+		not follow them, but kept on down the rocky river. We found
+		generally more boulders than water, and the down grade of the
+		river bed was heavy.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some alders and willows grew upon the bank and up quite
+		high on the mountains we could see a little timber. Some days
+		we did not go more than four or five miles, and that was
+		serious work, loading and unloading our canoes, and packing
+		them over the boulders, with only small streams of water
+		curling around between them. We went barefoot most of the
+		time, for we were more than half of the time in the water
+		which roared and dashed so loud that we could hardly heard
+		each other speak. We kept getting more and more venturesome
+		and skillful, and managed to run some very dangerous rapids in
+		safety.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the high peaks above our heads we could see the Rocky
+		Mountain sheep looking defiantly at us from their mountain
+		fastnesses, so far away they looked no larger than jack
+		rabbits. They were too far off to try to shoot at, and we had
+		no time to try to steal up any nearer for at the rate we were
+		making, food would be the one thing needful, for we were
+		consuming it very fast. Sometimes we could ride a little ways,
+		and then would come the rough-and-tumble with the rocks
+		again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One afternoon we came to a sudden turn in the river, more
+		than a right angle, and, just below, a fall of two feet or
+		more. This I ran in safety, as did the rest who followed and
+		we cheered at our pluck and skill. Just after this the river
+		swung back the other way at a right angle or more, and I
+		quickly saw there was danger below and signaled them to go on
+		shore at once, and lead the canoes over the dangerous rapids.
+		I ran my own canoe near shore and got by the rapid safely,
+		waiting for the others to come also. They did not obey my
+		signals but thought to run the rapid the same as I did. The
+		channel here was straight for 200 yards, without a boulder in
+		it, but the stream was so swift that it caused great, rolling
+		waves in the center, of a kind I have never seen anywhere
+		else. The boys were not skillful enough to navigate this
+		stream, and the suction drew them to the center where the
+		great waves rolled them over and over, bottom side up and
+		every way. The occupants of our canoe let go and swam to
+		shore. Fields had always been afraid of water and had worn a
+		life preserver every day since we left the wagons. He threw up
+		his hands and splashed and kicked at a terrible rate, for he
+		could not swim, and at last made solid ground. One of the
+		canoes came down into the eddy below, where it lodged close to
+		the shore, bottom up. Alfred Walton in the other canoe could
+		not swim, but held on to the gunwale with a death grip, and it
+		went on down through the rapids. Sometimes we could see the
+		man and sometimes not, and he and the canoe took turns in
+		disappearing. Walton had very black hair, and as he clung fast
+		to his canoe his black head looked like a crow on the end of a
+		log. Sometimes he would be under so long that we thought he
+		must be lost, when up he would come again still clinging
+		manfully.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>McMahon and I threw everything out of the big canoe and
+		pushed out after him. I told Mc. to kneel down so I could see
+		over him to keep the craft off the rocks, and by changing his
+		paddle from side to side as ordered, he enabled me to make
+		quick moves and avoid being dashed to pieces. We fairly flew,
+		the boys said, but I stood up in the stern and kept it clear
+		of danger till we ran into a clear piece of river and overtook
+		Walton clinging to the overturned boat; McMahon seized the
+		boat and I paddled all to shore, but Walton was nearly dead
+		and could hardly keep his grasp on the canoe. We took him to a
+		sandy place and worked over him and warmed him in the sun till
+		he came to life again, then built a fire and laid him up near
+		to it to get dry and warm. If the canoe had gone on 20 yards
+		farther with him before we caught it, he would have gone into
+		another long rapid and been drowned. We left Walton by the
+		fire and crossing the river in the slack water, went up to
+		where the other boys were standing, wet and sorry-looking,
+		say-that all was gone and lost. Rogers put his hand in his
+		pocket and pulled out three half dollars and said
+		sadly:&mdash;&quot;Boys, this is all I am worth in the
+		world.&quot; All the clothes he had were a pair of overalls
+		and a shirt. If he had been possessed of a thousand in gold he
+		would have been no richer, for there was no one to buy from
+		and nothing to buy. I said to them: &quot;Boys, we can't help
+		what has happened, we'll do the best we can. Right your canoe,
+		get the water out, and we'll go down and see how Walton
+		is.&quot; They did as I told them, and lo and behold when the
+		canoe rolled right side up, there were their clothes and
+		blankets safe and sound. These light things had floated in the
+		canoe and were safe. We now tried by joining hands to reach
+		out far enough to recover some of the guns, but by feeling
+		with their feet they found the bottom smooth as glass and the
+		property all swept on below, no one knew where. The current
+		was so powerful that no one could stand in it where it came up
+		above his knees. The eddy which enabled us to save the first
+		canoe with the bedding and clothes was caused by a great
+		boulder as large as a house which had fallen from above and
+		partly blocked the stream. Everything that would sink was
+		lost.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We all got into the two canoes and went down to Walton,
+		where we camped and staid all night for Walton's benefit.
+		While we were waiting I took my gun and tried to climb up high
+		enough to see how much longer this horrible ca&ntilde;on was
+		going to last, but after many attempts, I could not get high
+		enough to see in any direction. The mountain was all bare
+		rocks in terraces, but it was impossible to climb from one to
+		the other, and the benches were all filled with broken rocks
+		that had fallen from above.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>By the time I got back to camp, Walton was dry and warm and
+		could talk. He said he felt better, and pretty good over his
+		rescue. When he was going under the water, it seemed sometimes
+		as if he never would come to the top again, but he held on and
+		eventually came out all right. He never knew how he got to
+		shore, he was so nearly dead when rescued.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next morning Walton was so well we started on. We were
+		now very poorly armed. My rifle and McMahon's shotgun were all
+		the arms we had for seven of us, and we could make but a poor
+		defence if attacked by man or beast, to say nothing of
+		providing ourselves with food. The mountains on each side were
+		very bare of timber, those on the east side particularly so,
+		and very high and barren. Toward night we were floating along
+		in a piece of slack water, the river below made a short turn
+		around a high and rocky point almost perpendicular from the
+		water. There was a terrace along the side of this point about
+		fifty feet up, and the bench grew narrower as it approached
+		the river. As I was coming down quite close under this bank I
+		saw three mountain sheep on the bench above, and, motioning to
+		the boys, I ran on shore and, with my gun in hand, crept down
+		toward them, keeping a small pine tree between myself and the
+		sheep. There were some cedar bushes on the point, and the
+		pines grew about half way up the bank. I got in as good a
+		range as possible and fired at one of them which staggered
+		around and fell down to the bottom of the cliff. I loaded and
+		took the next largest one which came down the same way. The
+		third one tried to escape by going down the bend and then
+		creeping up a crevice, but it could not get away and turned
+		back, cautiously, which gave me time to load again and put a
+		ball through it. I hit it a little too far back for instant
+		death, but I followed it up and found it down and helpless,
+		and soon secured it. I hauled this one down the mountain, and
+		the other boys had the two others secure by this time. McMahon
+		was so elated at my success that he said: &quot;Manley, if I
+		could shoot as you do I would never want any better
+		business.&quot; And the other fellows said they guessed we
+		were having better luck with one gun than with six, so we had
+		a merry time after all. These animals were of a bluish color,
+		with hair much finer than deer, and resembled a goat more than
+		a sheep. These three were all females and their horns were
+		quite straight, not curved like the big males. We cut the meat
+		from the bones and broke them up, making a fine soup which
+		tasted pretty good. They were in pretty good order, and the
+		meat like very good mutton.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We kept pushing on down the river. The rapids were still
+		dangerous in many places, but not so frequent nor so bad as
+		the part we had gone over, and we could see that the river
+		gradually grew smoother as we progressed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a day or two we began to get out of the
+		ca&ntilde;ons, but the mountains and hills on each side were
+		barren and of a pale yellow caste, with no chance for us to
+		climb up and take a look to see if there were any chances for
+		us further along. We had now been obliged to follow the
+		ca&ntilde;on for many miles, for the only way to get out was
+		to get out endwise, climbing the banks being utterly out of
+		the question. But these mountains soon came to an end, and
+		there was some cottonwood and willows on the bank of the
+		river, which was now so smooth we could ride along without the
+		continual loading and unloading we had been forced to practice
+		for so long. We had begun to get a little desperate at the
+		lack of game, but the new valley, which grew wider all the
+		time, gave us hope again, if it was quite barren everywhere
+		except back of the willow trees.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were floating along very silently one day, for none of
+		us felt very much in the mood for talking, when we heard a
+		distant sound which we thought was very much like the firing
+		of a gun. We kept still, and in a short time a similar sound
+		was heard, plainer and evidently some ways down the stream.
+		Again and again we heard it, and decided that it must be a gun
+		shot, and yet we were puzzled to know how it could be. We were
+		pretty sure there were no white people ahead of us, and we did
+		not suppose the Indians in this far-off land had any firearms.
+		It might be barely possible that we were coming now to some
+		wagon train taking a southern course, for we had never heard
+		that there were any settlements in this direction and the
+		barren country would preclude any such thing, as we viewed it
+		now. If it was a hostile band we could not do much with a
+		rifle and a shot gun toward defending ourselves or taking the
+		aggressive. Some of the boys spoke of our scalps ornamenting a
+		spear handle, and indulged in such like cheerful talk which
+		comforted us wonderfully.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Finally we concluded we did not come out into that wild
+		country to be afraid of a few gunshots, and determined to put
+		on a bold front, fight if we had to, run away if we could not
+		do any better, and take our chances on getting scalped or
+		roasted. Just then we came in sight of three Indian lodges
+		just a little back from the river, and now we knew for certain
+		who had the guns. McMahon and I were in the lead as usual, and
+		it was only a moment before one of the Indians appeared, gun
+		in hand, and made motions for us to come on shore. A
+		cottonwood tree lay nearly across the river, and I had gone so
+		far that I had to go around it and land below, but the other
+		boys behind were afraid to do otherwise than to land right
+		there as the Indian kept his gun lying across his arm. I ran
+		our canoe below to a patch of willows, where we landed and
+		crawled through the brush till we came in sight of the other
+		boys, where we stood and waited a moment to see how they
+		fared, and whether our red men were friends or enemies. There
+		were no suspicious movements on their part, so we came out and
+		walked right up to them. There was some little talk, but I am
+		sure we did not understand one another's language, and so we
+		made motions and they made motions, and we got along better.
+		We went with them down to the tepee, and there we heard the
+		first word that was at all like English and that was
+		&quot;Mormonee,&quot; with a sort of questioning tone. Pretty
+		soon one said &quot;Buffalo,&quot; and then we concluded they
+		were on a big hunt of some sort. They took us into their
+		lodges and showed us blankets, knives, and guns, and then,
+		with a suggestive motion, said all was &quot;Mormonee,&quot;
+		by which we understood they had got them from the Mormons. The
+		Indian in the back part of the lodge looked very pleasant and
+		his countenance showed a good deal of intelligence for a man
+		of the mountains. I now told the boys that we were in a
+		position where we were dependent on some one, and that I had
+		seen enough to convince me that these Indians were perfectly
+		friendly with the Mormons, and that for our own benefit we had
+		better pass ourselves off for Mormons, also. So we put our
+		right hand to our breast and said &quot;Mormonee,&quot; with a
+		cheerful countenance, and that act conveyed to them the belief
+		that we were chosen disciples of the great and only Brigham
+		and we became friends at once, as all acknowledged. The
+		fine-looking Indian who sat as king in the lodge now, by
+		motions and a word or two, made himself known as Chief Walker,
+		and when I knew this I took great pains to cultivate his
+		acquaintance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was quite familiar with the sign language used by all the
+		Indians, and found I could get along pretty well in making him
+		understand and knowing what he said. I asked him first how
+		many &quot;sleeps&quot;' or days it was from there to
+		&quot;Mormonee.&quot; In answer he put out his left hand and
+		then put two fingers of his right astride of it, making both
+		go up and down with the same motion of a man riding a horse.
+		Then he shut his eyes and laid his head on his hand three
+		times, by which I understood that a man could ride to the
+		Mormon settlement in three sleeps or four days. He then wanted
+		to know where we were going, and I made signs that we were
+		wishing to go toward the setting sun and to the big water, and
+		I said &quot;California.&quot; The country off to the west of
+		us now seemed an open, barren plain, which grew wider as it
+		extended west. The mountains on the north side seemed to get
+		lower and smaller as they extended west, but on the south or
+		east side they were all high and rough. It seemed as if we
+		could see one hundred miles down the river, and up to the time
+		we met the Indians we thought we had got through all our
+		troublesome navigation and could now sail on, quietly and
+		safely to the great Pacific Ocean and land of gold.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When I told Chief Walker this he seemed very much
+		astonished, as if wondering why we were going down the river
+		when we wanted to get west across the country. I asked him how
+		many sleeps it was to the big water, and he shook his head,
+		pointed out across the country and then to the river and shook
+		his head again; by which I understood that water was scarce,
+		out the way he pointed. He then led me down to a smooth sand
+		bar on the river and then, with a crooked stick, began to make
+		a map in the sand. First he made a long crooked mark, ten feet
+		long or so, and pointing to the river to let me know that the
+		mark in the sand was made to represent it. He then made a
+		straight mark across near the north end of the stream, and
+		showed the other streams which came into the Green river which
+		I saw at once was exactly correct. Then he laid some small
+		stones on each side of the cross mark, and making a small hoop
+		of a willow twig, he rolled it in the mark he had made across
+		the river, then flourished his stick as if he were driving
+		oxen. Thus he represented the emigrant road. He traced the
+		branches off to the north where the soldiers had gone, and the
+		road to California, which the emigrants took, all of which we
+		could see was correct. Then he began to describe the river
+		down which we had come. A short distance below the road he put
+		some small stones on each side of the river to represent
+		mountains. He then put down his hands, one on each side of the
+		crooked mark and then raised them up again saying e-e-e-e-e-e
+		as he raised them, to say that the mountains there were very
+		high. Then he traced down the stream to a place below where we
+		made our canoes; when he placed the stone back from the river
+		farther, to show that there was a valley there; then he drew
+		them in close again farther down, and piled them up again two
+		or three tiers high, then placing both fists on them he raised
+		them higher than the top of his head, saying e-e-e-e-e-e and
+		looking still higher and shaking his head as if to say:&mdash;
+		"Awful bad cañon", and thus he went on describing the river
+		till we understood that we were near the place where we now
+		were, and then pointed to his tepee, showing that I understood
+		him all right. It was all correct, as I very well knew and
+		assured me that he knew all about the country.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I became much interested in my new found friend, and had
+		him continue his map down the river. He showed two streams
+		coming in on the east side and then he began piling up stones
+		on each side of the river and then got longer ones and piled
+		them higher and higher yet. Then he stood with one foot on
+		each side of his river and put his hands on the stones and
+		then raised them as high as he could, making a continued
+		e-e-e-e-e-e as long as his breath would last, pointed to the
+		canoe and made signs with his hands how it would roll and
+		pitch in the rapids and finely capsize and throw us all out.
+		He then made signs of death to show us that it was a fatal
+		place. I understood perfectly plain from this that below the
+		valley where we now were was a terrible ca&ntilde;on, much
+		higher than any we had passed, and the rapids were not
+		navigable with safety. Then Walker shook his head more than
+		once and looked very sober, and said &quot;Indiano&quot; and
+		reaching for his bow and arrows, he drew the bow back to its
+		utmost length and put the arrow close to my breast, showing
+		how I would get shot. Then he would draw his hand across his
+		throat and shut his eyes as if in death to make us understand
+		that this was a hostile country before us, as well as rough
+		and dangerous.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now had a description of the country ahead and believed
+		it to be reliable. As soon as I could conveniently after this,
+		I had a council with the boys, who had looked on in silence
+		while I was holding the silent confab with the chief. I told
+		them where we were and what chances there were of getting to
+		California by this route, and that for my part I had as soon
+		be killed by Mormans as by savage Indians, and that I believed
+		the best way for us to do was to make the best of our way to
+		Salt Lake. &quot;Now&quot; I said, &quot;Those of you who
+		agree with me can follow&mdash;and I hope all will.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>McMahon said that we could not understand a word the old
+		Indian said, and as to following his trails, I don't believe a
+		word of it, and it don't seem right.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He said he had a map of the country, and it looked just as
+		safe to him to go on down the river as to go wandering across
+		a dry and desolate country which we knew nothing of. I said to
+		McMahon&mdash;&quot;I know this sign language pretty well. It
+		is used by almost all the Indians and is just as plain and
+		certain to me as my talk is to you. Chief Walker and his
+		forefathers were borne here and know the country as well as
+		you know your father's farm, and for my part, I think I shall
+		take one of his trails and go to Salt Lake and take the
+		chances that way. I have no objections to you going some other
+		way if you wish to and think it is best&quot;. McMahon and
+		Fields concluded they would not follow me any farther.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I then went to Chief Walker and had him point out the trail
+		to &quot;Mormonie&quot; as well as he could. He told me where
+		to enter the mountains leading north, and when we got part way
+		he told me we would come to an Indian camp, when I must follow
+		some horse tracks newly made; he made me know this by using
+		his hands like horse's forefeet, and pointed the way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some of the young men motioned for me to come out and shoot
+		at a mark with them, and as I saw it would please them I did
+		so and took good care to beat them every time too. Then they
+		wanted to swap (narawaup) guns with me which I declined doing.
+		After this the Chief came to me and wanted me to go and hunt
+		buffalo with them. I told him I had no horse, and then he went
+		and had a nice gray one brought up and told me I could ride
+		him if I would go. He took his bow and arrow and showed me how
+		he could shoot an arrow straight through a buffalo just back
+		of his short ribs and that the arrow would go clear through
+		and come out on the other side without touching a bone. Those
+		fellows were in fine spirit, on a big hunt, and when Walker
+		pointed out his route to me he swung his hand around to Salt
+		Lake.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They all spoke the word buffalo quite plainly. I took his
+		strong bow and found I could hardly pull it half way out, but
+		I have no doubt he could do as he said he could. I hardly knew
+		how to refuse going with him. I asked him how long it would be
+		before he would get around his long circuit and get to Salt
+		Lake, to which he replied by pulverizing some leaves in his
+		hands and scattering them in the air to represent snow, which
+		would fall by the time he got to &quot;Mormonee&quot;. I
+		shivered as he said this and by his actions I saw that I
+		understood him right.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I told him I could not go with him for the other boys would
+		depend on me to get them something to eat, and I put my finger
+		into my open mouth to tell him this. I think if I had been
+		alone I should have accepted his offer and should have had a
+		good time. I gave them to understand that we would swap
+		(narawaup) with them for some horses so he brought up a pair
+		of nice two year-old colts for us. I offered him some money
+		for them, he did not want that, but would take clothing of
+		almost any kind. We let them have some that we could get along
+		without, and some one let Walker have a coat. He put it on,
+		and being more warmly dressed than ever before, the sweat ran
+		down his face in streams. We let them have some needles and
+		thread and some odd notions we had to spare. We saw that
+		Walker had some three or four head of cattle with him which he
+		could kill if they did not secure game at the time they
+		expected.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>McMahon and Field still persisted they would not go with us
+		and so we divided our little stock of flour and dried meat
+		with them as fairly as possible and decided we would try the
+		trail. When our plans were settled we felt in pretty good
+		spirits again, and one of the boys got up a sort of corn-stalk
+		fiddle which made a squeaking noise and in a little while
+		there was a sort of mixed American and Indian dance going on
+		in which the squaws joined in and we had a pretty jolly time
+		till quite late at night. We were well pleased that these wild
+		folks had proved themselves to be true friends to us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The morning we were to start I told the boys a dream I had
+		in which I had seen that the course we had decided on was the
+		correct one, but McMahon and Field thought we were foolish
+		and said they had rather take the chances of going with the
+		Indians, or going on down the river. He seemed to place great
+		stress on the fact that he could not understand the
+		Indians.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Said he:&mdash;&quot;This Indian may be all right, and
+		maybe he will lead us all into a dreadful trap. They are
+		treacherous and revengeful, and for some merely fancied wrong
+		done by us, or by some one else of whom we have no control or
+		knowledge, they may take our scalps, wipe us out of existence
+		and no one will ever know what became of us. Now this map of
+		mine don't show any bad places on this river, and I believe we
+		can get down easily enough, and get to California some time.
+		Field and I cannot make up our minds so easily as you fellows.
+		I believe your chances are very poor.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The boys now had our few things loaded on the two colts,
+		for they had fully decided to go with me, and I was not in the
+		least put back by McMahon's dire forbodings. We shook hands
+		with quivering lips as we each hoped the other would meet good
+		luck, and find enough to eat and all such sort of friendly
+		talk, and then with my little party on the one side and
+		McMahon and Field, whom we were to leave behind, on the other,
+		we bowed to each other with bared heads, and then we started
+		out of the little young cottonwoods into the broad plain that
+		seemed to get wider and wider as we went west.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The mountains on the northern side grew smaller and less
+		steep as we went west, and on the other hand reached down the
+		river as far as we could see. The plain itself was black and
+		barren and for a hundred miles at least ahead of us it seemed
+		to have no end. Walker had explained to us that we must follow
+		some horse tracks and enter a ca&ntilde;on some miles to the
+		northwest. He had made his hands work like horses' feet,
+		placing then near the ground as if following a trail. We were
+		not much more than a mile away when on looking back, we saw
+		Chief Walker coming towards us on a horse at full speed; and
+		motioning for us to stop. This we did, though some of the boys
+		said we would surely be marched back and scalped. But it was
+		not for that he came. He had been watching us and saw that we
+		had failed to notice the tracks of the horses he told us about
+		so he rode after us, and now took us off some little distance
+		to the right, got off his horse and showed us the faint horse
+		tracks which we were to follow and said &quot;Mormonie&quot;.
+		He pointed out to us the exact ca&ntilde;on we were to enter
+		when we reached the hills; and said after three
+		&quot;sleeps&quot; we would find an Indian camp on top of the
+		mountain. He then bade us good bye again and galloped back to
+		his own camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now resumed our journey, keeping watch of the tracks
+		more closely, and as we came near the spurs of the mountain
+		which projected out into the barren valley we crossed several
+		well marked trails running along the foot hills, at right
+		angles to our own. This we afterwards learned was the regular
+		trail from Santa F&eacute; to Los Angeles. At some big rocks
+		further on we camped for the night, and found water in some
+		pools or holes in the flat rocks which held the rain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Reading people of to-day, who know so well the geography of
+		the American continent, may need to stop and think that in
+		1849 the whole region west of the Missouri River was very
+		little known, the only men venturesome enough to dare to
+		travel over it were hunters and trappers who, by a wild life
+		had been used to all the privations of such a journey, and
+		shrewd as the Indians themselves in the mysterious ways of the
+		trail and the chase. Even these fellows had only investigated
+		certain portions best suited to their purpose.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Indians here have the reputation of being blood thirsty
+		savages who took delight in murder and torture, but here, in
+		the very midst of this wild and desolate country we found a
+		Chief and his tribe, Walker and his followers who were as
+		humane and kind to white people as could be expected of any
+		one. I have often wondered at the knowledge of this man
+		respecting the country, of which he was able to make us a good
+		map in the sand, point out to us the impassable ca&ntilde;on,
+		locate the hostile indians, and many points which were not
+		accurately known by our own explorers for many years
+		afterward. He undoubtedly saved our little band from a watery
+		grave, for without his advice we had gone on and on, far into
+		the great Colorado ca&ntilde;on, from which escape would have
+		been impossible and securing food another impossibility, while
+		destruction by hostile indians was among the strong
+		probabilities of the case. So in a threefold way I have for
+		these more than forty years credited the lives of myself and
+		comrades to the thoughtful interest and humane consideration
+		of old Chief Walker.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In another pool or pond near the one where we were camped I
+		shot a small duck. Big sage was plenty here for fuel and we
+		had duck for supper. Our party consisted of five men and two
+		small ponies only two years old, with a stock of provisions
+		very small including that the old chief had given us. We
+		started on in the morning, following our faint trail till we
+		came to the ca&ntilde;on we had in view, and up this we turned
+		as we had been directed, finding in the bottom a little
+		running stream. Timber began to appear as we ascended, and
+		grass also. There were signs of deer and grouse but we had no
+		time to stop to hunt, for I had the only gun and while I
+		hunted the others must lie idly by. We reached the summit at a
+		low pass, and just above, on the north side of the higher
+		mountains were considerable banks of snow. Following the
+		Chief's instructions we left the trail and followed some horse
+		tracks over rolling hills, high on the mountain side. We found
+		the Indian camp exactly as the Chief had described, consisting
+		of two or three lodges. The men were all absent hunting, but
+		the women were gathering and baking some sort of a root which
+		looked like a carrot. They made a pile of several bushels and
+		covered it with earth, then made a fire, treating the pile
+		some as a charcoal burner does his pit of coal. When
+		sufficiently cooked they beat them up and made the material
+		into small cakes which were dried in the sun. The dried cakes
+		were as black as coal and intended for winter use. These roots
+		before roasting were unfit for food, as they contained a sort
+		of acrid juice that would make the tongue smart and very sore
+		but there was a very good rich taste when cooked. The woman
+		pointed to our horses and said &quot;Walker&quot;, so we knew
+		they were aware that we got them of him, and might have taken
+		us for horse thieves for aught I know. As it was not yet night
+		when we came to the camp, we passed on and camped on a clear
+		mountain brook where grew some pine trees. After a little some
+		of the Indians belonging to the camp we had passed came in,
+		bringing some venison, for which we traded by giving them some
+		needles and a few other trinkets. I beat these fellows
+		shooting at a mark, and then they wanted to trade guns, which
+		I declined. This piece of meat helped us along considerably
+		with our provisions, for game was very scarce and only some
+		sage hens had come across our trail. One day I scared a hawk
+		off the ground, and we took the sage hen he had caught and was
+		eating, and made some soup of it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After being on this trail six or seven days we began to
+		think of killing one of our colts for food, for we had put
+		ourselves on two meals a day and the work was very hard; so
+		that hunger was all the time increasing. We thought this was a
+		pretty long road for Walker to ride over in three sleeps as he
+		said he could, and we began also to think there might be some
+		mistake somewhere, although it had otherwise turned out just
+		as he said. On the eighth day our horse-tracks came out into a
+		large trail which was on a down grade leading in a northward
+		direction. On the ninth day we came into a large valley, and
+		near night came in sight of a few covered wagons, a part of a
+		train that intended going on a little later over the southern
+		route to Los Angeles but were waiting for the weather to get a
+		little cooler, for a large part of the route was over almost
+		barren deserts. We were very glad to find these wagons, for
+		they seemed to have plenty of food and the bountiful supper
+		they treated us to was the very thing we needed. We camped
+		here and told them of the hardships we had passed through.
+		They had hired a guide, each wagon paying him ten dollars for
+		his service. Our little party talked over the situation among
+		ourselves, and concluded that as we were good walkers we must
+		allow ourselves to be used in any way so that we had grub and
+		concluded as many of us as possible would try to get some
+		service to do for our board and walk along with the party.
+		John Rogers had a dollar and a half and I had thirty dollars,
+		which was all the money we had in our camp. We found out we
+		were about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City. Some of the boys
+		next day arranged to work for their board, and the others
+		would be taken along if they would furnish themselves with
+		flour and bacon. This part of the proposition fell to me and
+		two others, and so Hazelrig and I took the two colts and
+		started for the city, where they told us we could get all we
+		needed with our little purse of money. We reached Hobble Creek
+		before night, near Salt Lake where there was a Mormon fort,
+		and were also a number of wagons belonging to some prospecting
+		train. There seemed to be no men about and we were looking
+		about among the wagons for some one to inquire of, when a
+		woman came to the front of the last wagon and looked out at
+		us, and to my surprise it was Mrs. Bennett, wife of the man I
+		had been trying to overtake ever since my start on this long
+		trip. Bennett had my entire outfit with him on this trip and
+		was all the time wondering whether I would ever catch up with
+		them. We stayed till the men came in with their cattle towards
+		night, and Bennett was glad enough to see me, I assure you. We
+		had a good substantial supper and then sat around the campfire
+		nearly all night telling of our experience since leaving
+		Wisconsin. I had missed Bennett at the Missouri River. I knew
+		of no place where people crossed the river except Council
+		Bluff, here I had searched faithfully, finding no trace of
+		him, but it seems they had crossed farther up at a place
+		called Kanesville, a Mormon crossing, and followed up the
+		Platte river on the north side. Their only bad luck had been
+		to lose a fine black horse, which was staked out, and when a
+		herd of buffaloes came along he broke his rope and followed
+		after them. He was looked for with other horses, but never
+		found and doubtless became a prize for some enterprising Mr.
+		Lo. who was fortunate enough to capture him. Hazelrig and I
+		told of our experience on the south side of the Platte; why we
+		went down Green River; what a rough time we had; how we were
+		stopped by the Indians and how we had come across from the
+		river, arriving the day before and were now on our way to Salt
+		Lake to get some flour and bacon so we could go on with the
+		train when it started as they had offered to haul our grub for
+		our service if we could carry ourselves on foot.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Bennett would not hear of my going on to Salt Lake
+		City, for he said there must be provisions enough in the party
+		and in the morning we were able to buy flour and bacon of John
+		Philips of Mineral Point Wis. and of Wm. Philips his brother.
+		I think we got a hundred pounds of flour and a quantity of
+		bacon and some other things. I had some money which I had
+		received for my horse sold to Dallas, but as the others had
+		none I paid for it all, and told Hazelrig to take the ponies
+		and go back to camp with a share of the provisions and do the
+		best he could. I had now my own gun and ammunition, with some
+		clothing and other items which I had prepared in Wisconsin
+		before I started after my Winnebago pony, and I felt I ought
+		to share the money I had with the other boys to help them as
+		best I could. I felt that I was pretty well fixed and had
+		nothing to fear.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Bennett told me much of the trip on the north side of
+		the Platte. He said they had some cholera, of which a few
+		people died, and related how the outer if not the inner nature
+		of the men changed as they left civilization, law and the
+		courts behind them. Some who had been raised together, and
+		lived together all their lives without discord or trouble, who
+		were considered model men at home and just the right people to
+		be connected with in such an expedition, seemed to change
+		their character entirely out on these wild wastes. When
+		anything excited their displeasure their blood boiled over,
+		and only the interference of older and wiser heads on many
+		occasions prevented bloodshed. Some dissolved the solemn
+		contract they had made to travel together systematically and
+		in order and to stand, by, even unto death, and when they
+		reached the upper Platte, the journey only half over, talked
+		of going back, or splitting up the outfit and join others they
+		had taken a fancy to. Some who could not agree upon a just
+		division of a joint outfit, thinking one party was trying to
+		cheat, would not yield but would cut their wagons in two
+		lengthwise just for spite so that no carts could be made and
+		the whole vehicle spoiled for both parties. The ugly
+		disagreements were many and the cloven foot was shown in many
+		ways. Guns were often drawn and pointed but some one would
+		generally interfere and prevent bloodshed. Others were honest
+		and law abiding to the last degree beyond law and churches,
+		and would act as harmoniously as at home, obeying their chosen
+		captain in the smallest particular without any grumbling or
+		dissension, doing to every one as they would be done by. These
+		were the pride of the train. The trains were most of them
+		organized, and all along the river bottom one was hardly ever
+		out of sight of some of the wagons, all going west. Buffalo
+		and antelope were plenty and in great droves, followed always
+		by wolves great and small, who were on the lookout for
+		crippled or dead animals with which to fill their hungry
+		stomachs. Buffalo meat was plenty and much enjoyed while
+		passing this section of the road and this opportunity of
+		replenishing, enabled the stock to last them over more
+		desolate regions where game was scarce.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After Bennett had told his stories, and I had related more
+		of our own close escapes I began to ask him why he went this
+		way which seemed to be very circuitous and much longer than
+		the way they had first intended to go. He said that it was too
+		late in the season to go the straight-road safely, for there
+		was yet 700 miles of bad country to cross and do the best they
+		could it would be at the commencement of the rainy season
+		before the Sierra Nevada mountains could be reached and in
+		those mountains there was often a snow fall of 20 feet or
+		more, and anyone caught in it would surely perish. If they
+		tried to winter at the base of the mountains it was a long way
+		to get provisions, and no assurance of wild game, and this
+		course was considered very hazardous for any one to undertake.
+		This they had learned after consulting mountaineers and others
+		who knew about the regions, and as there was nothing doing
+		among the Latter Day Saints to give employment to any one, it
+		was decided best to keep moving and go the southern route by
+		way of Los Angeles. No wagons were reported as ever getting
+		through that way, but a trail had been traveled through that
+		barren desert country for perhaps a hundred years, and the
+		same could be easily broadened into a wagon road.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After days of argument and camp-fire talks, this Southern
+		route was agreed upon, and Capt. Hunt was chosen as guide.
+		Capt. Hunt was a Mormon, and had more than one wife, but he
+		had convinced them that he knew something about the road. Each
+		agreed to give him ten dollars to pilot the train to San
+		Bernardino where the Mormon Church had bought a Spanish grant
+		of land, and no doubt they thought a wagon road to that place
+		would benefit them greatly, and probably gave much
+		encouragement for the parties to travel this way. It was
+		undoubtedly safer than the northern mountain route at this
+		season of the year. It seemed at least to be a new venture for
+		west-bound emigrant trains, at least as to ultimate success,
+		for we had no knowledge of any that had gone through
+		safely.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some western people remembered the history of the Mormons
+		in Illinois and Missouri, and their doings there, feared
+		somewhat for their own safety now that they were so completely
+		under their power, for they knew the Mormons to be revengeful
+		and it was considered very unsafe for any traveler to
+		acknowledge he was from Missouri. Many a one who had been born
+		there, and lived there all his life, would promptly claim some
+		other state as his native place. I heard one Mormon say that
+		there were some Missourians on the plains that would never
+		reach California. &quot;They used us bad,&quot; said he, and
+		his face took on a really murderous look.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These Mormons at Salt Lake were situated as if on an island
+		in the sea, and no enemy could reach any adjoining state or
+		territory if Brigham Young's band of destroying angels were
+		only warned to look after them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At a late hour that night we lay down to sleep, and morning
+		came clear and bright. After breakfast Mr. Bennett said to
+		me:&mdash;&quot;Now Lewis I want you to go with me; I have two
+		wagons and two drivers and four yoke of good oxen and plenty
+		of provisions. I have your outfit yet, your gun and ammunition
+		and your two good hickory shirts which are just in time for
+		your present needs. You need not do any work. You just look
+		around and kill what game you can for us, and this will help
+		as much as anything, you can do.&quot; I was, of course glad
+		to accept this offer, and thanks to Mr. Bennett's kind care of
+		my outfit, was better fixed then any of the other boys.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We inquired around among the other wagons as to their
+		supply of flour and bacon; and succeeded to getting flour from
+		Mr. Philips and bacon from some of the others, as much as we
+		supposed the other boys would need, which I paid for, and when
+		this was loaded on the two colts Hazelrig started back alone
+		to the boys in camp. As I was so well provided for I gave him
+		all my money for they might need some, and I did not.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The wagons which composed the intended train were very much
+		scattered about, having moved out from Salt Lake at pleasure,
+		and it was said to be too early to make the start on the
+		southern route, for the weather on the hot, barren desert was
+		said to grow cooler a little later in the season, and it was
+		only at this cool season that the south west part of the
+		desert could be crossed in safety. The scattering members of
+		the train began to congregate, and Capt. Hunt said it was
+		necessary to have some sort of system about the move, and that
+		before they moved they must organize and adopt rules and laws
+		which must be obeyed. He said they must move like an army, and
+		that he was to be a dictator in all things except that in case
+		of necessity a majority of the train could rule otherwise. It
+		was thought best to get together and try a march out one day,
+		then go in camp and organize.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This they did, and at the camp there was gathered one
+		hundred and seven wagons, a big drove of horses and cattle,
+		perhaps five hundred in all. The train was divided into seven
+		divisions and each division was to elect its own captain.
+		Division No. 1 should lead the march the first day, and their
+		men should take charge of the stock and deliver them to the
+		wagons in the morning, and then No. 1 should take the rear,
+		with No. 2 in the lead to break the road. The rear division
+		would not turn a wheel before 10 o'clock the next day, and it
+		would be about that time at night before they were in camp and
+		unyoked. The numbers of animals cleaned out the feed for a
+		mile or two each side of the camp and a general meeting was
+		called for the organization of the whole. Mr. L. Granger got
+		up so he could look over the audience and proceeded to explain
+		the plan and to read a preamble and resolutions which had been
+		prepared as the basis for government. I remember that it begun
+		thus:&mdash;&quot;This Organization shall be known and
+		designated as the Sand Walking Company, and shall consist of
+		seven divisions etc,&quot; detailing the manner of marching as
+		we have recited. Capt J. Hunt was chosen commander and guide,
+		and his orders must be obeyed. All possible trouble that we
+		could imagine might come was provided against in our written
+		agreement, and all promised to live up to it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align="center">
+			<img height=308 alt="" src="images/ch_08.png" width=236
+			border=0><br>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-12684"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>We moved off in good style from this camp. After a day or
+		two and before we reached what is called Little Salt Lake, an
+		attempt was made to make a short cut, to save distance. The
+		train only went on this cut off a day or two when Capt. Hunt
+		came back from the front and said they had better turn back to
+		the old trail again, which all did. This was a bad move, the
+		train much broken and not easy to get them into regular
+		working order again. We were now approaching what they called
+		the Rim of the Basin. Within the basin the water all ran to
+		the north or toward Great Salt Lake, but when we crossed the
+		rim, all was toward the Colorado River, through which it
+		reached the Pacific Ocean. About this time we were overtaken
+		by another train commanded by Capt. Smith. They had a map with
+		them made by one Williams of Salt Lake a mountaineer who was
+		represented to know all the routes through all the mountains
+		of Utah, and this map showed a way to turn off from the
+		southern route not far from the divide which separated the
+		waters of the basin from those which flowed toward the
+		Colorado, and pass over the mountains, coming out in what they
+		called Tulare valley, much nearer than by Los Angeles.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This map was quite frequently exhibited and the matter
+		freely discussed in camp, indeed speeches were made in the
+		interest of the cut-off route which was to be so much shorter.
+		A clergyman, the Rev. J.W. Brier, was very enthusiastic about
+		this matter and discaused learnedly and plausibly about it.
+		The more the matter was talked about the more there were who
+		were converted to the belief that the short road would be the
+		best. The map showed every camp on the road and showed where
+		there was water and grass, and as to obstacles to the wagons
+		it was thought they could easily be overcome. A general
+		meeting was called for better consideration of the question.
+		Capt. Hunt said: &quot;You all know I was hired to go by way
+		of Los Angeles, but if you all wish to go and follow Smith I
+		will go also. But if even one wagon decides to go the original
+		route, I shall feel bound to go with that wagon.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A great many were anxious to get the opinion of Capt. Hunt
+		on the feasibility of the new route for he was a mountain man
+		and could probably give us some good advice. He finally
+		consented to talk of it, and said he really knew no more then
+		the others about this particular route, but he very much
+		doubted if a white man ever went over it, and that he did not
+		consider it at all safe for those who had wives and children
+		in their company to take the unknown road. Young men who had
+		no family could possibly get through, and save time even if
+		the road was not as good as Los Angeles road. But said he
+		&quot;If you decide to follow Smith I will go will go with
+		you, even if the road leads to Hell.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the route from near Salt Lake to this point we found the
+		country to grow more barren as we progressed. The grass was
+		thinner, and sage brush took the place of timber. Our road
+		took us in sight of Sevier Lake, and also, while going through
+		the low hills, passed Little Salt Lake, which was almost dry,
+		with a beach around it almost as white as snow. It might have
+		had a little more the dignity of a lake in wet weather, but it
+		was a rather dry affair as we saw it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At one point on this route we came into a long narrow
+		valley, well covered with sage brush, and before we had gone
+		very far we discovered that this was a great place for long
+		eared rabbits, we would call them Jack Rabbits now. Every one
+		who had a gun put it into service on this occasion, and there
+		was much popping and shooting on every side. Great clouds of
+		smoke rolled up as the hunters advanced and the rabbits ran in
+		every direction to get away. Many ran right among the horses,
+		and under the feet of the cattle and under the wagons, so that
+		the teamsters even killed some with a whip. At the end of the
+		valley we went into camp, and on counting up the game found we
+		had over 500, or about one for every person in camp. This gave
+		us a feast of fresh meat not often found.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was on this trip that one of Mr. Bennett's ox drivers
+		was taken with a serious bowel difficulty, and for many days
+		we thought he would die, but he eventually recovered. His name
+		was Silas Helmer.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was really a serious moment when the front of the train
+		reached the Smith trail. Team after team turned to the right
+		while now and then one would keep straight ahead as was at
+		first intended. Capt. Hunt came over to the larger party after
+		the division was made, and wished them all a hearty farewell
+		and a pleasant happy journey. My friend Bennett whose fortune
+		I shared was among the seceders who followed the Smith party.
+		This point, when our paths diverged was very near the place
+		afterward made notorious as Mountain Meadows, where the famous
+		massacre took place under the direction of the Mormon
+		generals. Our route from here up to the mountain was a very
+		pleasant one, steadily up grade, over rolling hills, with
+		wood, water and grass in plenty. We came at last to what
+		seemed the summit of a great mountain, about three days
+		journey on the new trail. Juniper trees grew about in bunches,
+		and my experience with this timber taught me that we were on
+		elevated ground.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Immediately in front of us was a ca&ntilde;on, impassible
+		for wagons, and down into this the trail descended. Men could
+		go, horses and mules, perhaps, but wagons could no longer
+		follow that trail, and we proposed to camp while explorers
+		were sent out to search a pass across this steep and rocky
+		ca&ntilde;on. Wood and bunch grass were plenty, but water was
+		a long way down the trail and had to be packed up to the camp.
+		Two days passed, and the parties sent out began to come in,
+		all reporting no way to go farther with the wagons. Some said
+		the trail on the west side of the ca&ntilde;on could be
+		ascended on foot by both men and mules, but that it would take
+		years to make it fit for wheels.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The enthusiasm about the Smith cut-off had begun to die and
+		now the talk began of going back to follow Hunt. On the third
+		morning a lone traveler with a small wagon and one yoke of
+		oxen, died. He seemed to be on this journey to seek to regain
+		his health. He was from Kentucky, but I have forgotten his
+		name. Some were very active about his wagon and, some thought
+		too much attention was paid to a stranger. He was decently
+		buried by the men of the company.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This very morning a Mr. Rynierson called the attention of
+		the crowd and made some remarks upon the situation. He said:
+		&quot;My family is near and dear to me. I can see by the
+		growth of the timber that we are in a very elevated place.
+		This is now the seventh of November, it being the fourth at
+		the time of our turning off on this trail. We are evidently in
+		a country where snow is liable to fall at any time in the
+		winter season, and if we were to remain here and be caught in
+		a severe storm we should all probably perish. I, for one, feel
+		in duty bound to seek a safer way than this. I shall hitch up
+		my oxen and return at once to the old trail. Boys (to his
+		teamsters) get the cattle and we'll return.&quot; This was
+		decisive, and Mr. Rynierson would tarry no longer. Many others
+		now proceeded to get ready and follow, and as Mr. Rynierson
+		drove out of camp quite a respectable train fell in behind
+		him. As fast as the hunters came in and reported no road
+		available, they also yoked up their oxen and rolled out. Some
+		waited awhile for companions yet in the fields, and all were
+		about ready to move, when a party came in with news that the
+		pass was found and no trouble could be seen ahead. About
+		twenty-seven wagons remained when this news came, and as their
+		proprietors had brought good news they agreed to travel on
+		westward and not go back to the old trail.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Bennett had gone only a short distance out when he had
+		the misfortune to break the axle of his wagon and he then went
+		back to camp and took an axle out of the dead man's wagon and
+		by night had it fitted into his own. He had to stay until
+		morning, and there were still a few others who were late in
+		getting a start, who camped there also. Among these were J.B.
+		Arcane, wife and child; two Earhart brothers and sons and some
+		two or three other wagons.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When all was ready we followed the others who had gone
+		ahead. The route led at first directly to the north and a pass
+		was said to be in that direction. Of the Green River party
+		only Rodgers and myself remained with this train. After the
+		wagons straightened out nicely, a meeting was called to
+		organize, so as to travel systematically. A feeling was very
+		manifest that those without any families did not care to bind
+		themselves to stand by and assist those who had wives and
+		children in their party and there was considerable debate,
+		which resulted in all the family wagons being left out of the
+		arrangements.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A party who called themselves &quot;The Jayhawkers&quot;
+		passed us, and we followed along in the rear, over rolling
+		hills covered with juniper timber, and small grassy valleys
+		between where there was plenty of water and went well, for
+		those before us had broken out the road so we could roll along
+		very pleasantly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the organization Jim Martin was chosen captain. Those
+		who were rejected were Rev. J.W. Brier and, his family, J.B.
+		Arcane and family, and Mr. A. Bennett and family, Mr. Brier
+		would not stay put out, but forced himself in, and said he was
+		going with the rest, and so he did. But the other families
+		remained behind. I attended the meeting and heard what was
+		said, but Mr. Bennett was my friend and had been faithful to
+		me and my property when he knew not where I was, and so I
+		decided to stand by him and his wife at all hazards.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As I had no team to drive I took every opportunity to climb
+		the mountains along the route, reaching the highest elevations
+		even if they were several miles from the trail. I sometimes
+		remained out all night. I took Mr. Arcane's field glass with
+		me and was thus able to see all there was of the country. I
+		soon became satisfied that going north was not taking us in
+		the direction we ought to go. I frequently told them so, but
+		they still persisted in following on. I went to the leaders
+		and told them we were going back toward Salt Lake again, not
+		making any headway toward California. They insisted they were
+		following the directions of Williams, the mountaineer; and
+		they had not yet got as far north as he indicated. I told
+		them, and Mr. Bennett and others, that we must either turn
+		west, or retrace our steps and get back into the regular Los
+		Angeles road again. In the morning we held another
+		consultation and decided to turn west here, and leave the
+		track we had been following.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Off we turned at nearly right angles to our former course,
+		to the west now, over a piece of table land that gave us
+		little trouble in breaking our own road. When we camped, the
+		oxen seemed very fond of a white weed that was very plenty,
+		and some borrowed a good deal of trouble thinking that perhaps
+		it might be poison. I learned afterwards that this plant was
+		the nutritious white sage, which cattle eat freely, with good
+		results. We now crossed a low range and a small creek running
+		south, and here were also some springs. Some corn had been
+		grown here by the Indians. Pillars of sand stone, fifteen feet
+		high and very slim were round about in several places and
+		looked strange enough. The next piece of table land sloped to
+		the east, and among the sage grew also a bunch grass a foot
+		high, which had seeds like broom-corn seeds. The Indians had
+		gathered the grass and made it in piles of one hundred pounds
+		or so, and used it for food as I found by examining their
+		camps.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day I climbed a high mountain where some pine grew, in
+		order to get a view of the country. As I neared its base I
+		came to a flat rock, perhaps fifty feet square. I heard some
+		pounding noise as I came near, but what ever it was, it ceased
+		on my approach. There were many signs of the rock being used
+		as a camp, such as pine burrs, bones of various kinds of
+		animals, and other remains of food which lay every where about
+		and on the rock. Near the center was a small oblong stone
+		fitted into a hole. I took it out and found it covered a fine
+		well of water about three feet deep and was thus protected
+		against any small animal being drowned in it. I went on up the
+		mountain and from the top I saw that the land west of us
+		looked more and more barren.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The second night the brave Jayhawkers who had been so firm
+		in going north hove in sight in our rear. They had at last
+		concluded to accept my advice and had came over our road quite
+		rapidly. We all camped together that night, and next morning
+		they took the lead again. After crossing a small range they
+		came to a basin which seemed to have no outlet, and was very
+		barren. Some of the boys in advance of the teams had passed
+		over this elevation and were going quite rapidly over the
+		almost level plain which sloped into the basin, when they saw
+		among the bunches of sage brush behind them a small party of
+		Indians following their road, not very far off, but still out
+		of bow and arrow range. The boys were suddenly able to take
+		much longer steps than usual and a little more rapidly too,
+		and swinging round toward the teams as soon as possible, for
+		they already had some fears that an arrow might be sticking in
+		their backs in an unpleasantly short space of time, for the
+		Indians were good travelers. When they came in sight of the
+		wagons, the Indians vanished as quickly as if they had gone
+		into a hole, with no sign remaining, except a small dog which
+		greatly resembled a prairie wolf, and kept a safe distance
+		away. No one could imagine where the fellows went so
+		suddenly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We drove to the west side of this basin and camped near the
+		foot of a low mountain. The cattle were driven down into the
+		basin where there was some grass, but at camp we had only the
+		water in our kegs.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some of the boys climbed the mountain on the north but
+		found no springs: Coming down a ca&ntilde;on they found some
+		rain water in a basin in the rocks and all took a good drink.
+		Lew West lay down and swallowed all he could and then told the
+		boys to kill him for he never would feel so good again. They
+		finished the pool, it was so small, before they left it. In
+		going on down the ca&ntilde;on they saw an Indian dodge behind
+		some big rocks, and searching, they found him in a cave as
+		still as a dead man. They pulled him out and made him go with
+		them, and tried every way to find out from him where they were
+		and where Owen's Lake was, as they had been told the lake was
+		on their route. But he proved to be no wiser than a man of
+		mud, and they led him along to camp, put a red flannel shirt
+		on him to cover his nakedness, and made him sleep between two
+		white men so he could not get away easily. In the morning they
+		were more successful, and he showed us a small ravine four
+		miles away which had water in it, enough for our use, and we
+		moved up and camped there, while the boys and the Indian
+		started over a barren, rocky mountain, and when over on the
+		western slope they were led to a water hole on a steep rocky
+		cliff where no one but an Indian would ever think of looking
+		for water. They took out their cups and had a good drink all
+		around, then offered the Indian some, but he disdained the
+		civilized way, and laying down his bow and arrows took a long
+		drink directly out of the pool. He was so long in getting a
+		good supply that the boys almost forgot him as they were
+		gazing over the distant mountain and discussing prospects,
+		till attracted by a slight noise they looked and saw Mr.
+		Indian going down over the cliffs after the fashion of a
+		mountain sheep, and in a few bounds he was out of sight. They
+		could not have killed him if they had tried, the move so
+		sudden and unlooked for. They had expected the fellow to show
+		them the way to Owen's lake, but now their guide was gone, and
+		left nothing to remember him by except his bow and arrows. So
+		they returned to their wagons not much wiser than before.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All kinds of game was now very scarce, and so seldom seen
+		that the men got tired of carrying their guns, and grew
+		fearless of enemies. A heavy rifle was indeed burdensome over
+		so long a road when there was no frequent use for it. The
+		party kept rolling along as fast as possible but the mountains
+		and valleys grew more barren and water more scarce all the
+		time. When found, the water would be in hole at the outlet of
+		some ca&ntilde;on, or in little pools which had filled up with
+		rain that had fallen on the higher ground. Not a drop of rain
+		had fallen on us since we started on this cut-off, and every
+		night was clear and warm. The elevated parts of the country
+		seemed to be isolated buttes, with no running streams between
+		them but instead, dry lakes with a smooth clay bed, very light
+		in color and so hard that the track of an ox could not be seen
+		on its glittering surface. At a distance those clay beds
+		looked like water shining in the sun and were generally about
+		three times as far as any one would judge, the air was so
+		clear. This mirage, or resemblance to water was so perfect as
+		often to deceive us, and almost to our ruin on one or two
+		occasions.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I took Arcane's field glass and took pains to ascend all
+		the high buttes within a day's walk of the road, and this
+		enabled me to get a good survey of the country north and west.
+		I would sometimes be gone two or three days with no luggage
+		but my canteen and gun. I was very cautious in regard to
+		Indians, and tried to keep on the safe side of surprises. I
+		would build a fire about dark and then travel on till I came
+		to a small washed place and lie down and stay till morning, so
+		if Mr. Indian did come to my fire he would not find any one to
+		kill. One day I was going up a wide ravine leading to the
+		summit, and before I reached the highest part I saw a smoke
+		curl up before me. I took a side ravine and went cautiously,
+		bowed down pretty low so no one could see me, and when near
+		the top of the ridge and about one hundred yards of the fire I
+		ventured to raise slowly up and take a look to see how many
+		there were in camp: I could see but two and as I looked across
+		the ravine an Indian woman seemed looking at me also, but I
+		was so low she could only see the top of my head, and I sank
+		down again out of sight. I crawled further up so as to get a
+		better view, and when I straightened up again she got a full
+		view of me. She instantly caught her infant off its little
+		pallet made of a small piece of thin wood covered with a
+		rabbit skin, and putting the baby under one arm, and giving a
+		smart jerk to a small girl that was crying to the top of her
+		voice, she bounded off and fairly flew up the gentle slope
+		toward the summit, the girl following after very close. The
+		woman's long black hair stood out as she rushed along, looking
+		over her shoulder every instant as if she expected to be
+		slain. The mother flying with her children, untrammeled with
+		any of the arts of fashion was the best natural picture I ever
+		looked upon, and wild in the extreme. No living artist could
+		do justice to the scene as the lady of the desert, her little
+		daughter and her babe, passed over the summit out of sight. I
+		followed, but when I reached the highest summit, no living
+		person could be seen. I looked the country over with my glass.
+		The region to the north was black rocky, and very mountainous.
+		I looked some time and then concluded I had better not go any
+		further that way, for I might be waylaid and filled with
+		arrows at some unsuspected moment. We saw Indian signs almost
+		every day, but as none of them ever came to our camp it was
+		safe to say they were not friendly. I now turned back and
+		examined the Indian woman's camp. She had only fire enough to
+		make a smoke. Her conical shaped basket left behind, contained
+		a few poor arrows and some cactus leaves, from which the
+		spines had been burned, and there lay the little pallet where
+		the baby was sleeping. It was a bare looking kitchen for
+		hungry folks.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now went to the top of a high butte and scanned the
+		country very carefully, especially to the west and north, and
+		found it very barren. There were no trees, no fertile valleys
+		nor anything green. Away to the west some mountains stood out
+		clear and plain, their summits covered white with snow. This I
+		decided was our objective point: Very little snow could be
+		seen elsewhere, and between me and the snowy mountains lay a
+		low, black rocky range, and a wide level plain, that had no
+		signs of water, as I had learned them in our trip thus far
+		across the country. The black range seemed to run nearly north
+		and south, and to the north and northwest the country looked
+		volcanic, black and desolate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As I looked and thought, I believed that we were much
+		farther from a fertile region then most of our party had any
+		idea of. Such of them as had read Fremont's travels, and most
+		of them going to California had fortified themselves before
+		starting by reading Fremont; said that the mountains were near
+		California and were fertile from their very summits down to
+		the sea, but that to the east of the mountains it was a desert
+		region for hundred of miles. As I explained it to them, and so
+		they soon saw for themselves, they believed that the snowy
+		range ahead of us was the last range to cross before we
+		entered the long-sought California, and it seemed not far off,
+		and prospect quite encouraging.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our road had been winding around among the buttes which
+		looked like the Indian baskets turned upside down on the great
+		barren plain. What water we found was in small pools in the
+		wash-out places near the foothills at the edge of the valley,
+		probably running down the ravines after some storm. There were
+		dry lake beds scattered around over the plain, but it did not
+		seem as if there had ever been volume of water enough lately
+		to force itself out so far into the plain as these lakes were.
+		All the lakes appeared about the same, the bed white and
+		glistening in the sun, which made it very hard for the eyes,
+		and so that a man in passing over it made no visible track. It
+		looked as if it one time might have been a smooth bed of
+		plastic mortar, and had hardened in the sun. It looked as if
+		there must have been water there sometime, but we had not seen
+		a drop, or a single cloud; every day was clear and sunny, and
+		very warm, and at night no stars forgot to shine.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our oxen began to look bad, for they had poor food. Grass
+		had been very scarce, and now when we unyoked them and turned
+		them out they did not care to look around much for something
+		to eat. They moved slowly and cropped disdainfully the dry
+		scattering shrubs and bunches of grass from six inches to a
+		foot high. Spending many nights and days on such dry food and
+		without water they suffered fearfully, and though fat and
+		sleek when we started from Salt Lake, they now looked gaunt
+		and poor, and dragged themselves slowly along, poor faithful
+		servants of mankind. No one knew how long before we might have
+		to kill some of them to get food to save our own lives.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now traveled several days down the bed of a broad
+		ravine, which led to a southwest direction. There seemed to be
+		a continuous range of mountains on the south, but to the north
+		was the level plain with scattered buttes, and what we had all
+		along called dry lakes, for up to this time we had seen no
+		water in any of them. I had carried my rifle with me every day
+		since we took this route, and though I was an experienced
+		hunter, a professional one if there be such a thing, I had
+		killed only one rabbit, and where no game lived I got as
+		hungry as other folks.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our line soon brought us in sight of a high butte which
+		stood apparently about 20 miles south of our route, and I
+		determined to visit and climb it to get a better view of
+		things ahead. I walked steadily all day and reached the summit
+		about dusk. I wandered around among the big rocks, and found a
+		projecting cliff where I would be protected from enemies, wind
+		or storm, and here I made my camp. While the light lasted I
+		gathered a small stock of fuel, which consisted of a stunted
+		growth of sage and other small shrubs, dry but not dead, and
+		with this I built a little fire Indian fashion and sat down
+		close to it. Here was a good chance for undisturbed meditation
+		and someway I could not get around doing a little meditating
+		as I added a new bit of fuel now and then to the small fire
+		burning at my side. I thought it looked dark and troublesome
+		before us. I took a stone for a pillow with my hat on it for a
+		cushion, and lying down close under the shelving rock I went
+		to sleep, for I was very tired, I woke soon from being cold,
+		for the butte was pretty high, and so I busied myself the
+		remainder of the night in adding little sticks to the fire,
+		which gave me some warmth, and thus in solitude I spent the
+		night. I was glad enough to see the day break over the eastern
+		mountains, and light up the vast barren country I could see on
+		every hand around me. When the sun was fairly up I took a good
+		survey of the situation, and it seemed as if pretty near all
+		creation was in sight. North and west was a level plain, fully
+		one hundred miles wide it seemed, and from anything I could
+		see it would not afford a traveler a single drink in the whole
+		distance or give a poor ox many mouthfuls of grass. On the
+		western edge it was bounded by a low, black and rocky range
+		extending nearly north and south for a long distance and no
+		pass though it which I could see, and beyond this range still
+		another one apparently parallel to it. In a due west course
+		from me was the high peak we had been looking at for a month,
+		and lowest place was on the north side, which we had named
+		Martin's Pass and had been trying so long to reach. This high
+		peak, covered with snow, glistened to the morning sun, and as
+		the air was clear from clouds or fog, and no dust or haze to
+		obscure the view, it seemed very near.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I had learned by experience that objects a day's walk
+		distant seemed close by in such a light, and that when clear
+		lakes appeared only a little distance in our front, we might
+		search and search and never find them. We had to learn how to
+		look for water in this peculiar way. In my Wisconsin travel I
+		had learned that when I struck a ravine I must go down to look
+		for living water, but here we must invariably travel upward
+		for the water was only found in the high mountains.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Prospects now seemed to me so hopeless, that I heartily
+		wished I was not in duty bound to stand by the women and small
+		children who could never reach a land of bread without
+		assistance. If I was in the position that some of them were
+		who had only themselves to look after, I could pick up my
+		knapsack and gun and go off, feeling I had no dependent ones
+		to leave behind. But as it was I felt I should be morally
+		guilty of murder if I should forsake Mr. Bennett's wife and
+		children, and the family of Mr. Arcane with whom I had been
+		thus far associated. It was a dark line of thought but I
+		always felt better when I got around to the determination, as
+		I always did, to stand by my friends, their wives and children
+		let come what might.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I could see with my glass the train of wagons moving slowly
+		over the plain toward what looked to me like a large lake. I
+		made a guess of the point they would reach by night, and then
+		took a straight course for it all day long in steady travel.
+		It was some time after dark, and I was still a quarter of a
+		mile from the camp fires, where in the bed of a ca&ntilde;on I
+		stepped into some mud, which was a sign of water. I poked
+		around in the dark for a while and soon found a little pool of
+		it, and having been without a drop of it for two days I lay
+		down and took a hasty drink. It did not seem to be very clear
+		or clean, but it was certainly wet, which was the main thing
+		just then. The next morning I went to the pond of water, and
+		found the oxen had been watered there. They stirred up the mud
+		a good deal and had drank off about all the clean part, which
+		seemed to refresh them very much. I found the people in the
+		camp on the edge of the lake I had seen from the mountain, and
+		fortunately it contained about a quarter of an inch of water.
+		They had dug some holes here, which filled up, and they were
+		using this water in the camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The ambitious mountain-climbers of our party had by this,
+		time, abandoned that sort of work, and I was left alone to
+		look about and try to ascertain the character of the road they
+		were to follow. It was a great deal to do to look out for food
+		for the oxen and for water for the camp, and besides all this
+		it was plain there were Indians about even if we did not see
+		them. There were many signs, and I had to be always on the
+		lookout to outgeneral them. When the people found I was in
+		camp this night they came around to our wagons to know what I
+		had seen and found, and what the prospects were ahead. Above
+		all they wanted to know how far it was, in my opinion to the
+		end of our journey. I listened to all their inquiries and told
+		them plainly what I had seen, and what I thought of the
+		prospect. I did not like telling the whole truth about it for
+		fear it might dampen their spirits, but being pressed for an
+		opinion I told them in plain words that it would at least be
+		another month before their journey would be ended. They seemed
+		to think I ought to be pretty good authority, and if I was not
+		mistaken, the oxen would get very poor and provisions very
+		scarce before we could pull through so long. I was up at day
+		break and found Mr. Bennett sitting by the fire. About the
+		first thing he said:&mdash;&quot;Lewis, if you please I don't
+		want you hereafter to express your views so openly and
+		emphatically as you did last night about our prospects. Last
+		night when I went to bed I found Sarah (his wife) crying and
+		when pressed for the cause, she said she had heard your
+		remarks on the situation, and that if Lewis said so it must be
+		correct, for he knows more about it than all of you. She felt
+		that she and the children must starve.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning Jayhawkers, and others of the train that
+		were not considered strictly of our own party, yoked up and
+		started due west across the level plain which I had predicted
+		as having no water, and I really thought they would never live
+		to get across to the western border. Mr. Culverwell and Mr.
+		Fish stayed with us, making another wagon in our train. We
+		talked about the matter carefully, I did not think it possible
+		to get across that plain in less than four or six days, and I
+		did not believe there was a drop of water on the route. To the
+		south of us was a mountain that now had considerable snow upon
+		its summit, and some small pine trees also. Doubtless we could
+		find plenty of water at the base, but being due south, it was
+		quite off our course. The prospects for reaching water were so
+		much better in that way that we finally decided to go there
+		rather than follow the Jayhawkers on their desolate tramp over
+		the dry plain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>So we turned up a ca&ntilde;on leading toward the mountain
+		and had a pretty heavy up grade and a rough bed for a road.
+		Part way up we came to a high cliff and in its face were
+		niches or cavities as large as a barrel or larger, and in some
+		of them we found balls of a glistening substance looking
+		something like pieces of varigated candy stuck together. The
+		balls were as large as small pumpkins. It was evidently food
+		of some sort, and we found it sweet but sickish, and those who
+		were so hungry as to break up one of the balls and divide it
+		among the others, making a good meal of it, were a little
+		troubled with nausea afterwards. I considered it bad policy to
+		rob the Indians of any of their food, for they must be pretty
+		smart people to live in this desolate country and find enough
+		to keep them alive, and I was pretty sure we might count them
+		as hostiles as they never came near our camp. Like other
+		Indians they were probably revengeful, and might seek to have
+		revenge on us for the injury. We considered it prudent to keep
+		careful watch for them, so they might not surprise us with a
+		volley of arrows.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The second night we camped near the head of the
+		ca&ntilde;on we had been following, but thus far there had
+		been no water, and only some stunted sage brush for the oxen,
+		which they did not like, and only ate it when near the point
+		of starvation. They stood around the camp looking as sorry as
+		oxen can. During the night a stray and crazy looking cloud
+		passed over us and left its moisture on the mountain to the
+		shape of a coat of snow several inches deep. When daylight
+		came the oxen crowded around the wagons, shivering with cold,
+		and licking up the snow to quench their thirst. We took
+		pattern after them and melted snow to get water for
+		ourselves.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>By the looks of our cattle it did not seem as if they could
+		pull much, and light loads were advisable on this up grade.
+		Mr. Bennett was a carpenter and had brought along some good
+		tools in his wagon. These he reluctantly unloaded, and almost
+		everything else except bedding and provisions, and leaving
+		them upon the ground, we rolled up the hills slowly, with
+		loads as light as possible.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rogers and I went ahead with our guns to look out the way
+		and find a good camping place. After a few miles we got out of
+		the snow and out upon an incline, and in the bright clear
+		morning air the foot of the snowy part of the mountain seemed
+		near by and we were sure we could reach it before night. From
+		here no guide was needed and Rogers and I, with our guns and
+		canteens hurried on as fast as possible, when a camp was found
+		we were to raise a signal smoke to tell them where it was. We
+		were here, as before badly deceived as to the distance, and we
+		marched steadily and swiftly till nearly night before we
+		reached the foot of the mountain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here was a flat place in a table land and on it a low brush
+		hut, with a small smoke near by, which we could plainly see as
+		we were in the shade of the mountain, and that place lighted
+		up by the nearly setting sun. We looked carefully and
+		satisfied ourselves there was but one hut, and consequently
+		but few people could be expected. We approached carefully and
+		cautiously, making a circuit around so as to get between the
+		hut and the hill in case that the occupants should retreat in
+		that direction. It was a long time before we could see any
+		entrance to this wickiup, but we found it at last and
+		approached directly in front, very cautiously indeed: We could
+		see no one, and thought perhaps they were in ambush for us,
+		but hardly probable, as we had kept closely out of sight. We
+		consulted a moment and concluded to make an advance and if
+		possible capture some one who could tell us about the country,
+		as we felt we were completely lost. When within thirty yards a
+		man poked out his head out of a doorway and drew it back again
+		quick as a flash. We kept out our guns at full cock and ready
+		for use, and told Rogers to look out for arrows, for they
+		would come now if ever. But they did not pull a bow on us, and
+		the red-man, almost naked came out and beckoned for us to come
+		on which we did.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We tried to talk with the fellow in the sign language but
+		he could understand about as much as an oyster. I made a
+		little basin in the ground and filled it with water from our
+		canteens to represent a lake, then pointed in an inquiring way
+		west and north, made signs of ducks and geese flying and
+		squawking, but I did no seem to be able to get an idea into
+		his head of what we wanted. I got thoroughly provoked at him
+		and may have shown some signs of anger. During all this time a
+		child or two in the hut squalled terribly, fearing I suppose
+		they would all be murdered. We might have lost our scalps
+		under some circumstances, but we appeared to be fully the
+		strangest party, and had no fear, for the Indian had no weapon
+		about him and we had both guns and knives. The poor fellow was
+		shivering with cold, and with signs of friendship we fired off
+		one of the guns which waked him up a little and he pointed to
+		the gun and said &quot;Walker,&quot; probably meaning the same
+		good Chief Walker who had so fortunately stopped us in our
+		journey down Green River. I understood from the Indian that he
+		was not friendly to Walker, but to show that he was all right
+		with us he went into the hut and brought out a handful of corn
+		for us to eat. By the aid of a warm spring near by they had
+		raised some corn here, and the dry stalks were standing
+		around.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we were about to leave I told him we would come back,
+		next day and bring him some clothes if we could find any to
+		spare, and then we shouldered our guns and went back toward
+		the wagons, looking over our shoulders occasionally to see if
+		we were followed. We walked fast down the hill and reached the
+		camp about dark to find it a most unhappy one indeed. Mrs.
+		Bennett and Mrs. Arcane were in heart-rending distress. The
+		four children were crying for water but there was not a drop
+		to give them, and none could be reached before some time next
+		day. The mothers were nearly crazy, for they expected the
+		children would choke with thirst and die in their arms, and
+		would rather perish themselves than suffer the agony of seeing
+		their little ones gasp and slowly die. They reproached
+		themselves as being the cause of all this trouble. For the
+		love of gold they had left homes where hunger had never come,
+		and often in sleep dreamed of the bounteous tables of their
+		old homes only to be woefully disappointed in the morning.
+		There was great gladness when John Rogers and I appeared in
+		the camp and gave the mothers full canteens of water for
+		themselves and little ones, and there was tears of joy and
+		thankfulness upon their cheeks as they blessed us over and
+		over again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The oxen fared very hard. The ground was made up of broken
+		stone, and all that grew was a dry and stunted brush not more
+		than six inches high, of which the poor animals took an
+		occasional dainty bite, and seemed hardly able to drag
+		along.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was only seven or eight miles to the warm spring and all
+		felt better to know for a certainty that we would soon be safe
+		again. We started early, even the women walked, so as to favor
+		the poor oxen all we could. When within two miles of the water
+		some of the oxen lay down and refused to rise again, so we had
+		to leave them and a wagon, while the rest pushed on and
+		reached the spring soon after noon. We took water and went
+		back to the oxen left behind, and gave them some to drink.
+		They were somewhat rested and got up, and we tried to drive
+		them in without the wagons, but they were not inclined to
+		travel without the yoke, so we put it on them and hitched to
+		the wagon again. The yoke and the wagon seemed to brace them
+		up a good deal, and they went along thus much better than when
+		alone and scattered about, with nothing to lean upon.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The warm spring was quite large and ran a hundred yards or
+		more before the water sank down into the dry and thirsty
+		desert. The dry cornstalks of last years crop, some small
+		willows, sagebrush, weeds and grass suited our animals very
+		well, and they ate better than for a long time, and we thought
+		it best to remain two or three days to give them a chance to
+		get rest. The Indian we left here the evening before had gone
+		and left nothing behind but a chunk of crystallized rock salt.
+		He seemed to be afraid of his friends.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The range we had been traveling nearly parallel with seemed
+		to come to an end here where this snow peak stood, and
+		immediately north and south of this peak there seemed to be a
+		lower pass. The continuous range north was too low to hold
+		snow. In the morning I concluded to go to the summit of that
+		pass and with my glass have an extensive view. Two other boys
+		started with me, and as we moved along the snow line we saw
+		tracks of our runaway Indian in the snow, passing over a low
+		ridge. As we went on up hill our boys began to fall behind,
+		and long before night I could see nothing of them. The ground
+		was quite soft, and I saw many tracks of Indians which put me
+		on my guard. I reached the summit and as the shade of its
+		mountain began to make it a little dark, I built a fire of
+		sage brush, ate my grub, and when it was fairly dark, renewed
+		the fire and passed on a mile, where in a small ravine with
+		banks two feet high I lay down sheltered from the wind and
+		slept till morning. I did this to beat the Indian in his own
+		cunning.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next morning I reached the summit about nine o'clock, and
+		had the grandest view I ever saw. I could see north and south
+		almost forever. The surrounding region seemed lower, but much
+		of it black, mountainous and barren. On the west the snow peak
+		shut out the view in that direction. To the south the
+		mountains seemed to descend for more than twenty miles, and
+		near the base, perhaps ten miles away, were several smokes,
+		apparently from camp fires, and as I could see no animals or
+		camp wagons anywhere I presumed them to be Indians. A few
+		miles to the north and east of where I stood, and somewhat
+		higher, was the roughest piece of ground I ever saw. It stood
+		in sharp peaks and was of many colors, some of them so red
+		that the mountain looked red hot, I imagined it to be a true
+		volcanic point, and had never been so near one before, and the
+		most wonderful picture of grand desolation one could ever
+		see.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Toward the north I could see the desert the Jayhawkers and
+		their comrades had under taken to cross, and if their journey
+		was as troublesome as ours and very much longer, they might by
+		this time be all dead of thirst. I remained on this summit an
+		hour or so bringing my glass to bear on all points within my
+		view, and scanning closely for everything that might help us
+		or prove an obstacle to our progress. The more I looked the
+		more I satisfied myself that we were yet a long way from
+		California and the serious question of our ever living to get
+		there presented itself to me as I tramped along down the grade
+		to camp. I put down at least another month of heavy weary
+		travel before we could hope to make the land of gold, and our
+		stock of strength and provisions were both pretty small for so
+		great a tax upon them. I thought so little about anything else
+		that the Indians might have captured me easily, for I jogged
+		along without a thought of them. I thought of the bounteous
+		stock of bread and beans upon my father's table, to say
+		nothing about all the other good things, and here was I, the
+		oldest son, away out in the center of the Great American
+		Desert, with an empty stomach and a dry and parched throat,
+		and clothes fast wearing out with constant wear. And perhaps I
+		had not yet seen the worst of it. I might be forced to see
+		men, and the women and children of our party, choke and die,
+		powerless to help them. It was a darker, gloomier day than I
+		had ever known could be, and alone I wept aloud, for I
+		believed I could see the future, and the results were bitter
+		to contemplate. I hope no reader of this history may ever be
+		placed in a position to be thus tried for I am not ashamed to
+		say that I have a weak point to show under such circumstances.
+		It is not in my power to tell how much I suffered in my lonely
+		trips, lasting sometimes days and nights that I might give the
+		best advice to those of my party. I believed that I could
+		escape at any time myself, but all must be brought through or
+		perish, and with this all I knew I must not discourage the
+		others. I could tell them the truth, but I must keep my worst
+		apprehensions to myself lest they loose heart and hope and
+		faith needlessly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I reached the camp on the third day where I found the boys
+		who went part way with me and whom I had out-walked. I related
+		to the whole camp what I had seen, and when all was told it
+		appeared that the route from the mountains westerly was the
+		only route that could be taken, they told me of a discovery
+		they had made of a pile of squashes probably raised upon the
+		place, and sufficient in number so that every person could
+		have one. I did not approve of this for we had no title to
+		this produce, and might be depriving the rightful owner of the
+		means of life. I told them not only was it wrong to rob them
+		of their food, but they could easily revenge themselves on us
+		by shooting our cattle, or scalp us, by gathering a company of
+		their own people together. They had no experience with red men
+		and were slow to see the results I spoke of as possible.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>During my absence an ox had been killed, for some were
+		nearly out of provisions, and flesh was the only means to
+		prevent starvation. The meat was distributed amongst the
+		entire camp, with the understanding that when it became
+		necessary to kill another it should be divided in the same
+		way. Some one of the wagons would have to be left for lack of
+		animals to draw it. Our animals were so poor that one would
+		not last long as food. No fat could be found on the entire
+		carcass, and the marrow of the great bones was a thick liquid,
+		streaked with blood resembling corruption.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our road led us around the base of the mountain; There were
+		many large rocks in our way, some as large as houses, but we
+		wound around among them in a very crooked way and managed to
+		get along. The feet of the oxen became so sore that we made
+		moccasins for them from the hide of the ox that was killed,
+		and with this protection they got along very well. Our trains
+		now consisted of seven wagons. Bennett had two; Arcane two;
+		Earhart Bros. one. Culverwell, Fish and others one; and there
+		was one other, the owners of which I have forgotten. The
+		second night we had a fair camp with water and pretty fair
+		grass and brush for the oxen. We were not very far from the
+		snow line and this had some effect on the country. When
+		Bennett retired that night he put on a camp kettle of the
+		fresh beef and so arranged the fire that it would cook slowly
+		and be done by daylight for breakfast. After an hour or so Mr.
+		Bennett went out to replenish the fire and see how the cooking
+		was coming on, and when I went to put more water in the
+		kettle, he found that to his disappointment, the most of the
+		meat was gone. I was rolled up in my blanket under his wagon
+		and awoke when he came to the fire and saw him stand and look
+		around as if to fasten the crime on the right party if
+		possible, but soon he came to me, and in a whisper said:
+		&quot;Did you see anyone around the fire after we went to
+		bed?&quot; I assured him I did not, and then he told me some
+		one had taken his meat. &quot;Do you think,&quot; said he
+		&quot;that any one is so near out of food as to be
+		starving?&quot; &quot;I know the meat is poor, and who ever
+		took it must be nearly starving.&quot; After a whispered
+		conversation we went to bed, but we both rose at daylight and,
+		as we sat by the fire, kept watch of those who got up and came
+		around. We thought we knew the right man, but were not sure,
+		and could not imagine what might happen if stealing grub
+		should begin and continue. It is a sort of unwritten law that
+		in parties such as ours, he who steals provisions forfeits his
+		life. We knew we must keep watch and if the offense was
+		repeated the guilty one might be compelled to suffer. Bennett
+		watched closely and for a few days I kept closely with the
+		wagons for fear there might be trouble. It was really the most
+		critical point in our experience. After three or four days all
+		hope of detecting the criminal had passed, and all danger was
+		over out of any difficulty.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One night we had a fair camp, as we were close to the base
+		of the snow butte, and found a hole of clear or what seemed to
+		be living water. There were a few minnows in it not much more
+		than an inch long. This was among a big pile of rocks, and
+		around these the oxen found some grass.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There now appeared to be a pass away to the south as a sort
+		of outlet to the great plain which lay to the north of us, but
+		immediately west and across the desert waste, extending to the
+		foot of a low black range of mountains, through which there
+		seemed to be no pass, the distant snowy peak lay still farther
+		on, with Martin's pass over it still a long way off though we
+		had been steering toward it for a month. Now as we were
+		compelled to go west this impassable barrier was in our way
+		and if no pass could be found in it we would be compelled to
+		go south and make no progress in a westerly direction.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our trail was now descending to the bottom of what seemed
+		to be the narrowest part of the plain, the same one the
+		Jayhawkers had started across, further north, ten days before.
+		When we reached the lowest part of this valley we came to a
+		running stream, and, as dead grass could be seen in the bed
+		where the water ran very slowly, I concluded it only had water
+		in it after hard rains in the mountains, perhaps a hundred
+		miles, to the north. This water was not pure; it had a bitter
+		taste, and no doubt in dry weather was a rank poison. Those
+		who partook of it were affected about as if they had taken a
+		big dose of salts.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A short distance above this we found the trail of the
+		Jayhawkers going west, and thus we knew they had got safely
+		across the great plain and then turned southward. I hurried
+		along their trail for several miles and looked the country
+		over with field glass becoming fully satisfied we should find
+		no water till we reached the summit, of the next range, and
+		then fearing the party had not taken the precaution to bring
+		along some water I went back to them and found they had none.
+		I told them they would not see a drop for the next forty
+		miles, and they unloaded the lightest wagon and drove back
+		with everything they had which would hold water, to get a good
+		supply.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I turned back again on the Jayhawker's road, and followed
+		it so rapidly that well toward night I was pretty near the
+		summit, where a pass through this rocky range had been found
+		and on this mountain not a tree a shrub or spear of grass
+		could be found&mdash;desolation beyond conception. I carried
+		my gun along every day, but for the want of a chance to kill
+		any game a single load would remain in my gun for a month.
+		Very seldom a rabbit could be seen, but not a bird of any
+		kind, not even a hawk buzzard or crow made their appearance
+		here.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When near the steep part of the mountain, I found a dead ox
+		the Jayhawkers had left, as no camp could be made here for
+		lack of water and grass, the meat could not be saved. I found
+		the body of the animal badly shrunken, but in condition, as
+		far as putrefaction was concerned, as perfect as when alive. A
+		big gash had been cut in the ham clear to the bone and the sun
+		had dried the flesh in this. I was so awful hungry that I took
+		my sheath knife and cut a big steak which I devoured as I
+		walked along, without cooking or salt. Some may say they would
+		starve before eating such meat, but if they have ever
+		experienced hunger till it begins to draw down the life
+		itself, they will find the impulse of self preservation
+		something not to be controlled by mere reason. It is an
+		instinct that takes possession of one in spite of himself.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I went down a narrow, dark ca&ntilde;on high on both sides
+		and perpendicular, and quite so in many places. In one of the
+		perpendicular portions it seemed to be a varigated clay
+		formation, and a little water seeped down its face. Here the
+		Indians had made a clay bowl and fastened it to the wall so
+		that it would collect and retain about a quart of water, and I
+		had a good drink of water, the first one since leaving the
+		running stream. Near here I staid all night, for fear of
+		Indians who I firmly believe would have taken my scalp had a
+		good opportunity offered. I slept without a fire, and my
+		supply of meat just obtained drove hunger away.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning I started down the ca&ntilde;on which
+		descended rapidly and had a bed of sharp, volcanic, broken
+		rock. I could sometimes see an Indian track, and kept a sharp
+		lookout at every turn, for fear of revenge on account of the
+		store of squashes which had been taken. I felt I was in
+		constant danger, but could do nothing else but go on and keep
+		eyes open trusting to circumstances to get out of any sudden
+		emergency that might arise.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As I recollect this was Christmas day and about dusk I came
+		upon the camp of one man with his wife and family, the Rev.
+		J.W. Brier, Mrs. Brier and two sons. I inquired for others of
+		his party and he told me they were somewhere ahead. When I
+		arrived at his camp I found the reverend gentleman very cooly
+		delivering a lecture to his boys on education. It seemed very
+		strange to me to hear a solemn discourse on the benefits of
+		early education when, it seemed to me, starvation was staring
+		us all in the face, and the barren desolation all around gave
+		small promise of the need of any education higher than the
+		natural impulses of nature. None of us knew exactly where we
+		were, nor when the journey would be ended, nor when
+		substantial relief would come. Provisions were wasting away,
+		and some had been reduced to the last alternative of
+		subsisting on the oxen alone. I slept by the fire that night,
+		without a blanket, as I had done on many nights before and
+		after they hitched up and drove on in the morning I searched
+		the camp carefully, finding some bacon rinds they had thrown
+		away. As I chewed these and could taste the rich grease they
+		contained, I thought they were the sweetest morsels I ever
+		tasted.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here on the north side of the ca&ntilde;on were some
+		rolling hills and some small weak springs, the water of which
+		when gathered together made a small stream which ran a few
+		yards down the ca&ntilde;on before it lost itself in the rocks
+		and sand. On the side there stood what seemed to be one half
+		of a butte, with the perpendicular face toward the
+		ca&ntilde;on. Away on the summit of the butte I saw an Indian,
+		so far away he looked no taller than my finger, and when he
+		went out of sight I knew pretty well he was the very fellow
+		who grew the squashes. I thought it might be he, at any
+		rate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now turned back to meet the teams and found them seven or
+		eight miles up the ca&ntilde;on, and although it was a down
+		grade the oxen were barely able to walk slowly with their
+		loads which were light, as wagons were almost empty except the
+		women and children. When night came on it seemed to be cloudy
+		and we could hear the cries of the wild geese passing east. We
+		regarded this as a very good sign and no doubt Owen's Lake,
+		which we expected to pass on this route, was not very far off.
+		Around in those small hills and damp places was some coarse
+		grass and other growths, but those who had gone before
+		devoured the best, so our oxen had a hard time to get anything
+		to eat.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next morning I shouldered my gun and followed down the
+		ca&ntilde;on keeping the wagon road, and when half a mile
+		down, at the sink of the sickly stream, I killed a wild goose.
+		This had undoubtedly been attracted here the night before by
+		the light of our camp fire. When I got near the lower end of
+		the ca&ntilde;on, there was a cliff on the north or right hand
+		side which was perpendicular or perhaps a little overhanging,
+		and at the base a cave which had the appearance of being
+		continuously occupied by Indians. As I went on down I saw a
+		very strange looking track upon the ground. There were hand
+		and foot prints as if a human being had crawled upon all
+		fours. As this track reached the valley where the sand had
+		been clean swept by the wind, the tracks became more plain,
+		and the sand had been blown into small hills not over three or
+		four feet high. I followed the track till it led to the top of
+		one of these small hills where a small well-like hole had been
+		dug and in this excavation was a kind of Indian mummy curled
+		up like a dog. He was not dead for I could see him move as he
+		breathed, but his skin looked very much like the surface of a
+		well dried venison ham. I should think by his looks he must be
+		200 or 300 years old, indeed he might be Adam's brother and
+		not look any older than he did. He was evidently crippled. A
+		climate which would preserve for many days or weeks the
+		carcass of an ox so that an eatable round stake could be cut
+		from it, might perhaps preserve a live man for a longer period
+		than would be believed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I took a good long look at the wild creature and during all
+		the time he never moved a muscle, though he must have known
+		some one was in the well looking down at him. He was probably
+		practicing on one of the directions for a successful political
+		career looking wise and saying nothing. At any rate he was not
+		going to let his talk get him into any trouble. He probably
+		had a friend around somewhere who supplied his wants. I now
+		left him and went farther out into the lowest part of the
+		valley. I could look to the north for fifty miles and it
+		seemed to rise gradually in that direction. To the south the
+		view was equally extended, and down that way a lake could be
+		seen. The valley was here quite narrow, and the lofty
+		snow-capped peak we had tried so hard to reach for the past
+		two months now stood before me. Its east side was almost
+		perpendicular and seemed to reach the sky, and the snow was
+		drifting over it, while here the day sun was shining
+		uncomfortably hot. I believe this mountain was really miles
+		from its base to its summit, and that nothing could climb it
+		on the eastern side except a bird and the only bird I had seen
+		for two months was the goose I shot. I looked every day for
+		some sort of game but had not seen any.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As I reached the lower part of the valley I walked over
+		what seemed to be boulders of various sizes, and as I stepped
+		from one to another the tops were covered with dirt and they
+		grew larger as I went along. I could see behind them and they
+		looked clear like ice, but on closer inspection proved to be
+		immense blocks of rock salt while the water which stood at
+		their bases was the strongest brine. After this discovery I
+		took my way back to the road made by the Jayhawkers and found
+		it quite level, but sandy. Following this I came to a campfire
+		soon after dark at which E. Doty and mess were camped. As I
+		was better acquainted I camped with them. They said the water
+		there was brackish and I soon found out the same thing for
+		myself. It was a poor camp; no grass, poor water and
+		scattering, bitter sage brush for food for the cattle. It
+		would not do to wait long here, and so they hurried on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I inquired of them about Martin's Pass, as they were now
+		quite near it, and they said it was no pass at all, only the
+		mountain was a little lower than the one holding the snow. No
+		wagon could get over it, and the party had made up their minds
+		to go on foot, and were actually burning their wagons as fuel
+		with which to dry the meat of some of the oxen which they had
+		killed. They selected those which were weakest and least
+		likely to stand the journey, and by drying it the food was
+		much concentrated. They were to divide the provisions equally
+		and it was agreed thereafter every one must lookout for
+		himself and not expect any help from anyone. If he used up his
+		own provisions, he had no right to expect anyone else to
+		divide with him. Rice, tea and coffee were measured out by the
+		spoonful and the small amount of flour and bacon which
+		remained was divided out as evenly as possible. Everything was
+		to be left behind but blankets and provisions for the men were
+		too weak to carry heavy packs and the oxen could not be relied
+		on as beasts of burden and it was thought best not to load
+		them so as to needlessly break them down.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When these fellows started out they were full of spirit,
+		and the frolic and fun along the Platte river was something
+		worth laughing at but now they were very melancholy and talked
+		in the lowest kind of low spirits. One fellow said he knew
+		this was the Creator's dumping place where he had left the
+		worthless dregs after making a world, and the devil had
+		scraped these together a little. Another said this must be the
+		very place where Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt,
+		and the pillar been broken up and spread around the country.
+		He said if a man was to die he would never decay on account of
+		the salt. Thus the talk went on, and it seemed as if there
+		were not bad words enough in the language to properly express
+		their contempt and bad opinion of such a country as this. They
+		treated me to some of their meat, a little better than mine,
+		and before daylight in the morning I was headed back on the
+		trail to report the bad news I had learned of the
+		Jayhawkers.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About noon I met two of our camp companions with packs on
+		their backs following the wagon trail, and we stopped and had
+		a short talk. They were oldish men perhaps 50 years old, one a
+		Mr. Fish of Indiana and another named Gould. They said they
+		could perhaps do as well on foot as to follow the slow ox
+		teams, but when I told them what those ahead of them were
+		doing, and how they must go, they did not seem to be entirely
+		satisfied, as what they had on their backs would need to be
+		replenished, and no such chance could be expected. They had an
+		idea that the end of the journey was not as far off as I
+		predicted. Mr. Fish had a long nicely made, whiplash wound
+		around his waist, and when I asked him why he carried such a
+		useless thing, which he could not eat, he said perhaps he
+		could trade it off for something to eat. After we had set on a
+		sand hill and talked for awhile, we rose and shook each other
+		by the hand, and bade each other good bye with quivering lips.
+		There was with me a sort of expression I could not repel that
+		I should never see the middle aged men again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As my road was now out and away from the mountains, and
+		level, I had no fear of being surprised by enemies, so walked
+		on with eyes downcast, thinking over the situation, and
+		wondering what would be the final outcome. If I were alone,
+		with no one to expect me to help them, I would be out before
+		any other man, but with women and children in the party, to go
+		and leave them would be to pile everlasting infamy on my head.
+		The thought almost made me crazy but I thought it would be
+		better to stay and die with them, bravely struggling to escape
+		than to forsake them in their weakness.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was almost night before I reached our camp, and sitting
+		around our little fire I told, in the most easy way I could
+		the unfavorable news of the party in advance. They seemed to
+		look to me as a guide and adviser, I presume because I took
+		much pains to inform myself on every point and my judgment was
+		accepted with very little opposing opinion, they moved as I
+		thought best. During my absence from camp for the two days the
+		Indians had shot arrows into three of our oxen, and one still
+		had an arrow in his side forward of the hip which was a
+		dangerous place. To be sure and save him for ourselves we
+		killed him. Some were a little afraid to eat the meat thinking
+		perhaps the arrow might be poisoned, but I agreed that they
+		wanted meat themselves and would not do that. I told them if
+		they got a shot themselves it would be very likely to be a
+		poisoned arrow and they must take the most instant measures to
+		cut it out before it went into the blood. So we ventured to
+		dry the meat and take it with us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Now I said to the whole camp &quot;You can see how you have
+		displeased the red men, taking their little squashes, and when
+		we get into a place that suits them for that purpose, they may
+		meet us with a superior force and massacre us, not only for
+		revenge but to get our oxen and clothing.&quot; I told them we
+		must ever be on guard against a surprise, as the chances were
+		greatly against us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We pulled the arrows out of the other oxen, and they seemed
+		to sustain no great injury from the wounds. This little faint
+		stream where we camped has since been named as Furnace Creek
+		and is still known as such. It was named in 1862 by some
+		prospectors who built what was called an air furnace on a
+		small scale to reduce some ore found near by, which they
+		supposed to contain silver, but I believe it turned out to be
+		lead and too far from transportations to be available.<br>
+			<br>
+		</p>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align="center">
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-1376"></a>CHAPTER X.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>Bennett and Arcane now concluded not to wait for me to go
+		ahead and explore out a way for them to follow, as I had done
+		for a long time, but to go ahead as it was evidently the best
+		way to turn south and make our own road, and find the water
+		and passes all for ourselves. So they hitched up and rolled
+		down the ca&ntilde;on, and out into the valley and then turned
+		due south. We had not gone long on this course before we saw
+		that we must cross the valley and get over to the west side.
+		To do this we must cross through some water, and for fear the
+		ground might be miry, I went to a sand hill near by and got a
+		mesquite stick about three feet long with which to sound out
+		our way. I rolled up my pants pulled off my moccasins and
+		waded in, having the teams stand still till I could find out
+		whether it was safe for them to follow or not by ascertaining
+		the depth of the water and the character of the bottom.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The water was very clear and the bottom seemed uneven,
+		there being some deep holes. Striking my stick on the bottom
+		it seemed solid as a rock, and breaking off a small projecting
+		point I found it to be solid rock salt. As the teams rolled
+		along they scarcely roiled the water. It looked to me as if
+		the whole valley which might be a hundred miles long might
+		have been a solid bed of rock salt. Before we reached this
+		water there were many solid blocks of salt lying around
+		covered with a little dirt on the top.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The second night we found a good spring of fresh water
+		coming out from the bottom of the snow peak almost over our
+		heads. The small flow from it spread out over the sand and
+		sank in a very short distance and there was some quite good
+		grass growing around.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was a temporary relief, but brought us face to face
+		with stranger difficulties and a more hopeless outlook.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was no possible way to cross this high steep range of
+		mountains anywhere to the north and the Jayhawkers had
+		abandoned their wagons and burned them, and we could no longer
+		follow on the trail they made. It seemed that there was no
+		other alternative but for us to keep along the edge of the
+		mountain to the south and search for another pass. Some who
+		had read Fremont's travels said that the range immediately
+		west of us must be the one he described, on the west side of
+		which was a beautiful country, of rich soil and having plenty
+		of cattle, and horses, and containing some settlers, but on
+		the east all was barren, dry, rocky, sandy desert as far as
+		could be seen. We knew this eastern side answered well the
+		description and believed that this was really the range
+		described, or at least it was close by.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had to look over the matter very carefully and consider
+		all the conditions and circumstances of the case. We could see
+		the mountains were lower to the south, but they held no snow
+		and seemed only barren rocks piled up in lofty peaks, and as
+		we looked it seemed the most God-forsaken country in the
+		world.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had been in the region long enough to know the higher
+		mountains contained most water, and that the valleys had bad
+		water or none at all, so that while the lower altitudes to the
+		south gave some promise of easier crossing it gave us no
+		promise of water or grass, without which we must certainly
+		perish. In a certain sense we were lost. The clear night and
+		days furnished us with the mean of telling the points of
+		compass as the sun rose and set, but not a sign of life in
+		nature's wide domain had been seen for a month or more. A vest
+		pocketful of powder and shot would last a good hunter till he
+		starved to death for there was not a living thing to shoot
+		great or small.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We talked over our present position pretty freely, and
+		every one was asked to speak his unbiased mind, for we knew
+		not who might be right or who might be wrong, and some one
+		might make a suggestion of the utmost value. We all felt
+		pretty much downhearted. Our civilized provisions were getting
+		so scarce that all must be saved for the women and children,
+		and the men must get along some way on ox meat alone. It was
+		decided not a scrap of anything that would sustain life must
+		go to waste. The blood, hide and intestines were all prepared
+		in some way for food. This meeting lasted till late at night.
+		If some of them had lost their minds I should not have been
+		surprised, for hunger swallows all other feelings. A man in a
+		starving condition is a savage. He may be as blood-shed and
+		selfish as a wild beast, as docile and gentle as a lamb, or as
+		wild and crazy as a terrified animal, devoid of affection,
+		reason or thought of justice. We were none of us as bad as
+		this, and yet there was a strange look in the eyes of some of
+		us sometimes, as I saw by looking round, and as others no
+		doubt realized for I saw them making mysterious glances even
+		in my direction.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Morning came and all were silent. The dim prospect of the
+		future seemed to check every tongue. When one left a water
+		hole he went away as if in doubt whether he would ever enjoy
+		the pleasure of another drop. Every camp was sad beyond
+		description, and no one can guide the pen to make it tell the
+		tale as it seemed to us. When our morning meal of soup and
+		meat was finished, Bennett's two teams, and the two of
+		Arcane's concluded their chances of life were better if they
+		could take some provisions and strike out on foot, and so they
+		were given what they could carry, and they arranged their
+		packs and bade us a sorrowful good bye hoping to meet again on
+		the Pacific Coast. There were genuine tears shed at the
+		parting and I believe neither party ever expected to see each
+		other in this life again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bennett's two men were named Silas Helmer and S.S. or C.C.
+		Abbott, but I have forgotten the names of Arcane's men. Mr.
+		Abbott was from New York, a harness maker by trade, and he
+		took his circular cutting knife with him, saying it was light
+		to carry and the weapon he should need. One of them had a gun.
+		They took the trail taken by the Jayhawkers. All the
+		provisions they could carry besides their blankets could not
+		last them to exceed 10 days, and I well knew they could hardly
+		get off the desert in that time. Mr. Abbott was a man I loved
+		fondly. He was good company in camp, and happy and sociable.
+		He had shown no despondency at any time untill the night of
+		the last meeting and the morning of the parting. His chances
+		seemed to me to be much poorer than my own, but I hardly think
+		he realized it. When in bed I could not keep my thoughts back
+		from the old home I had left, where good water and a bountiful
+		spread were always ready at the proper hour. I know I dreamed
+		of taking a draft of cool, sweet water from a full pitcher and
+		then woke up with my mouth and throat as dry as dust. The good
+		home I left behind was a favorite theme about the campfire,
+		and many a one told of the dream pictures, natural as life,
+		that came to him of the happy Eastern home with comfort and
+		happiness surrounding it, even if wealth was lacking. The home
+		of the poorest man on earth was preferable to this place.
+		Wealth was of no value here. A hoard of twenty dollar gold
+		pieces could now stand before us the whole day long with no
+		temptation to touch a single coin, for its very weight would
+		drag us nearer death. We could purchase nothing with it and we
+		would have cared no more for it as a thing of value than we
+		did the desert sands. We would have given much more for some
+		of the snow which we could see drifting over the peak of the
+		great snow mountains over our heads like a dusty cloud.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Deeming it best to spare the strength as much as possible,
+		I threw away everything I could, retaining only my glass, some
+		ammunition, sheath knife and tin cup. No unnecessary burden
+		could be put on any man or beast, lest he lie down under it,
+		never to rise again. Life and strength were sought to be
+		husbanded in every possible way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Leaving this camp where the water was appreciated we went
+		over a road for perhaps 8 miles and came to the mouth of a
+		rocky ca&ntilde;on leading up west to the summit of the range.
+		This ca&ntilde;on was too rough for wagons to pass over. Out
+		in the valley near its mouth was a mound about four feet high
+		and in the top of this a little well that held about a pailful
+		of water that was quite strong of sulphur. When stirred it
+		would look quite black. About the mouth of the well was a wire
+		grass that seemed to prevent it caving in. It seems the
+		drifting sand had slowly built this little mound about the
+		little well of water in a curious way. We spent the night here
+		and kept a man at the well all night to keep the water dipped
+		out as fast as it flowed, in order to get enough for ourselves
+		and cattle. The oxen drank this water better than they did the
+		brackish water of the former camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The plain was thinly scattered with sage brush, and up near
+		the base of the mountain some greasewood grew in little
+		bunches like currant bushes.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The men with wagons decided they would take this
+		ca&ntilde;on and follow it up to try to get over the range,
+		and not wait for me to go ahead and explore, as they said it
+		took too much time and the provisions, consisting now of only
+		ox meat were getting more precarious every day. To help them
+		all I could and if possible to be forewarned a little of
+		danger, I shouldered my gun and pushed on ahead as fast as I
+		could. The bottom was of sharp broken rock, which would be
+		very hard for the feet of the oxen, although we had rawhide
+		moccasins for them for some time, and this was the kind of
+		foot-gear I wore myself. I walked on as rapidly as I could,
+		and after a time came to where the ca&ntilde;on spread out
+		into a kind of basin enclosed on all sides but the entrance,
+		with a wall of high, steep rock, possible to ascend on foot
+		but which would apparently bar the further progress of the
+		wagons, and I turned back utterly disappointed. I got on an
+		elevation where I could look over the country east and south,
+		and it looked as if there was not a drop of water in its whole
+		extent, and there was no snow on the dark mountains that
+		stretched away to the southward and it seemed to me as if
+		difficulties beset me on every hand. I hurried back down the
+		ca&ntilde;on, but it was nearly dark before I met the wagons.
+		By a mishap I fell and broke the stock of my gun, over which I
+		was very sorry, for it was an excellent one, the best I ever
+		owned. I carried it in two pieces to the camp and told them
+		the way was barred, at which they could hardly endure their
+		disappointment. They turned in the morning, as the cattle had
+		nothing to eat here and no water, and not much of any food
+		since leaving the spring; they looked terribly bad, and the
+		rough road coming up had nearly finished them. They were yoked
+		up and the wagons turned about for the return. They went
+		better down hill, but it was not long before one of Bennett's
+		oxen lay down, and could not be persuaded to rise again. This
+		was no place to tarry in the hot sun, so the ox was killed and
+		the carcass distributed among the wagons. So little draft was
+		required that the remaining oxen took the wagon down. When
+		within two or three miles of the water hole one of Arcane's
+		oxen also failed and lay down, so they turned him out and when
+		he had rested a little he came on again for a while, but soon
+		lay down again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Arcane took a bucket of water back from camp and after
+		drinking it and resting awhile the ox was driven down to the
+		spring.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This night we had another meeting to decide upon our course
+		and determine what to do. At this meeting no one was wiser
+		than another, for no one had explored the country and knew
+		what to expect. The questions that now arose were &quot;How
+		long can we endure this work in this situation? How long will
+		our oxen be able to endure the great hardship on the small
+		nourishment they receive? How long can we provide ourselves
+		with food?&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had a few small pieces of dry bread. This was kept for
+		the children giving them a little now and then. Our only food
+		was in the flesh of the oxen, and when they failed to carry
+		themselves along we must begin to starve. It began to look as
+		if the chances of leaving our bones to bleach upon the desert
+		were the most prominent ones.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One thing was certain we must move somewhere at once. If we
+		stay here we can live as long as the oxen do, and no longer,
+		and if we go on it is uncertain where to go, to get a better
+		place. We had guns and ammunition to be sure, but of late we
+		had seen no living creature in this desert wild. Finally Mr.
+		Bennett spoke and said:&mdash;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>&quot;Now I will make you a proposition. I propose that we
+		select two of our youngest, strongest men and ask them to take
+		some food and go ahead on foot to try to seek a settlement,
+		and food, and we will go back to the good spring we have just
+		left and wait for their return. It will surely not take them
+		more than ten days for the trip, and when they get back we
+		shall know all about the road and its character and how long
+		it will take us to travel it. They can secure some other kind
+		of food that will make us feel better, and when the oxen have
+		rested a little at the spring we can get out with our wagons
+		and animals and be safe. I think this is the best and safest
+		way.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>&quot;Now what do you all say?&quot; After a little
+		discussion all seemed to agree that this was the best, and now
+		it remained to find the men to go. No one offered to accept
+		the position of advance messengers. Finally Mr. Bennett said
+		he knew one man well enough to know that he would come back if
+		he lived, and he was sure he would push his way through.
+		&quot;I will take Lewis (myself) if he will consent to
+		go.&quot; I consented, though I knew it was a hazardous
+		journey, exposed to all sorts of things, Indians, climate and
+		probable lack of water, but I thought I could do it and would
+		not refuse. John Rogers a large strong Tennessee, man was then
+		chosen as the other one and he consented also.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Now preparations began, Mr. Arcane killed the ox which had
+		so nearly failed, and all the men went to drying and preparing
+		meat. Others made us some new mocassins out of rawhide, and
+		the women made us each a knapsack.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our meat was closely packed, and one can form an idea how
+		poor our cattle were from the fact that John and I actually
+		packed seven-eighths of all the flesh of an ox into our
+		knapsacks and carried it away. They put in a couple of
+		spoonfuls of rice and about as much tea. This seemed like
+		robbery to the children, but the good women said that in case
+		of sickness even that little bit might save our lives. I wore
+		no coat or vest, but took half of a light blanket, while
+		Rogers wore a thin summer coat and took no blanket. We each
+		had a small tin cup and a small camp kettle holding a quart.
+		Bennett had me take his seven-shooter rifle, and Rogers had a
+		good double barreled shot gun. We each had a sheath knife, and
+		our hats were small brimmed, drab affairs fitting close to the
+		head and not very conspicuous to an enemy as we might rise up
+		from behind a hill into possible views. We tried on our packs
+		and fitted the straps a little so they would carry easy. They
+		collected all the money there was in camp and gave it to us.
+		Mr. Arcane had about $30 and others threw in small amounts
+		from forty cents upward. We received all sorts of advice.
+		Capt. Culverwell was an old sea faring man and was going to
+		tell us how to find our way back, but Mr. Bennett told the
+		captain that he had known Lewis as a hunter for many years,
+		and that if he went over a place in the daytime he could find
+		his way back at night every time. Others cautioned us about
+		the Indians and told us how to manage. Others told us not to
+		get caught in deep snow which we might find on the
+		mountains.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This advice we received in all the kindness in which it was
+		given, and then we bade them all good bye. Some turned away,
+		too much affected to approach us and others, shook our hands
+		with deep feeling, grasping them firmly and heartily hoping we
+		would be successful and be able to pilot them out of this
+		dreary place into a better land. Every one felt that a little
+		food to make a change from the poor dried meat would be
+		acceptable. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and J.B. Arcane and wife were
+		the last to remain when the others had turned away. They had
+		most faith in the plan and felt deeply. Mrs. Bennett was the
+		last, and she asked God to bless us and bring some food to her
+		starving children.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were so much affected that we could not speak and
+		silently turned away and took our course again up the canyon
+		we had descended the night before.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a while we looked back and when they saw us turn
+		around, all the hats and bonnets waved us a final parting.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Those left in the camp were Asabel, Bennett and Sarah his
+		wife, with three children, George, Melissa, and Martha; J.B.
+		Arcane and wife with son Charles. The youngest children were
+		not more than two years old. There were also the two Earhart
+		brothers, and a grown son, Capt. Culverwell, and some others I
+		cannot recall; eleven grown people in all, besides a Mr. Wade,
+		his wife and three children who did not mingle with our party,
+		but usually camped a little distance off, followed our trail,
+		but seemed to shun company. We soon passed round a bend of the
+		ca&ntilde;on, and then walked on in silence.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We both of us meditated some over the homes of our fathers,
+		but took new courage in view of the importance of our mission
+		and passed on as fast as we could.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>By night we were far up the mountain, near the
+		perpendicular rough peak, and far above us on a slope we could
+		see some bunches of grass and sage brush. We went to this and
+		found some small water holes. No water ran from them they were
+		so small. Here we staid all night. It did not seem very far to
+		the snowy peak to the north of us. Just where we were seemed
+		the lowest pass, for to the south were higher peaks and the
+		rocks looked as if they were too steep to be got over.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Through this gap came a cold breeze, and we had to look
+		round to get a sheltered place in which to sleep. We lay down
+		close together, spoon fashion, and made the little blanket do
+		as cover for the both of us. In the morning we filled our
+		canteens, which we had made by binding two powder cans
+		together with strips of cloth, and started for the summit near
+		by. From this was the grandest sight we ever beheld. Looking
+		east we could see the country we had been crawling over since
+		November 4th. &quot;Just look at the cursed country we have
+		come over!&quot; said Rogers as he pointed over it. To the
+		north was the biggest mountain we ever saw, peaks on peaks and
+		towering far above our heads, and covered with snow which was
+		apparently everlasting.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This mountain seemed to have very few trees on it, and in
+		extent, as it reached away to the north seemed interminable.
+		South was a nearly level plain, and to the west I thought I
+		could dimly see a range of mountains that held a little snow
+		upon their summits, but on the main range to the south there
+		was none. It seemed to me the dim snowy mountains must be as
+		far as 200 miles away, but of course I could not judge
+		accurately. After looking at this grand, but worthless
+		landscape long enough to take in its principal features we
+		asked each other what we supposed the people we left behind
+		would think to see mountains so far ahead. We knew that they
+		had an idea that the coast range was not very far ahead, but
+		we saw at once to go over all these mountains and return
+		within the limits of fifteen days which had been agreed upon
+		between us, would probably be impossible, but we must try as
+		best we could, so down the rocky steep we clambered and
+		hurried on our way. In places the way was so steep that we had
+		to help each other down, and the hard work made us perspire
+		freely so that the water was a prime necessity. In one place
+		near here, we found a little water and filled our canteens,
+		besides drinking a good present supply. There were two low,
+		black rocky ranges directly ahead of us which we must
+		cross.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When part way down the mountain a valley or depression
+		opened up in that direction up which it seemed as if we could
+		look a hundred miles. Near by and a short distance north was a
+		lake of water and when we reached the valley we crossed a
+		clear stream of water flowing slowly toward the lake.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Being in need of water, we rushed eagerly to it and
+		prepared to take a big drink, but the tempting fluid was as
+		salt as brine and made our thirst all the more intolerable.
+		Nothing grew on the bank of this stream and the bed was of
+		hard clay, which glistened in the sun.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now began the ascent of the next ridge, keeping a
+		westernly course, and walked as fast as we could up the rough
+		mountain side. We crossed the head of a ca&ntilde;on near the
+		summit about dark, and here we found a trail, which from
+		indications we knew to be that of the Jayhawkers, who had
+		evidently been forced to the southward of the course they
+		intended to take. They had camped here and had dug holes in
+		the sand in search of water, but had found none.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We staid all night here and dug around in some other places
+		in the bottom of the ca&ntilde;on, in the hope to have better
+		luck than they did, but we got no water anywhere.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We seemed almost perishing for want of water, the hard
+		exercise made us perspire so freely. In the morning we started
+		on, and near the summit we came to the dead body of Mr. Fish,
+		laying in the hot sun, as there was no material near here with
+		which his friends could cover the remains. This Mr. Fish was
+		the man who left camp some two weeks before in company with
+		another and who carried the long whiplash wound about his
+		body, in hope he could somewhere be able to trade it for
+		bread. No doubt in this very place where he breathed his last,
+		his bones still lie.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we came in sight of the next valley, we could see a lake
+		of water some distance south of our western course.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had followed the Jayhawkers trail thus far, but as we
+		found no water in small holes in the rocks as we were likely
+		to do when we were the first to pass, we decided to take a new
+		route in the hope to find a little water in this way, for we
+		had no hope of finding it in any other. This valley we now
+		crossed seemed to come to an end about ten miles to the north
+		of us. To the south it widened out, enclosing the lake spoken
+		of. This valley was very sandy and hard to walk over. When
+		about halfway across we saw some ox tracks leading toward the
+		lake, and in the hope we might find the water drinkable we
+		turned off at right angles to our course and went that way
+		also. Long before we reached the water of the lake, the bottom
+		became a thin, slimy mud which was very hard on our mocassins.
+		When we reached the water we found it to be of a wine color,
+		and so strongly alkaline as to feel slippery to the touch, and
+		under our feet.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This side trip, had cost us much exertion and made us feel
+		more thirsty than ever.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We turned now west again, making for a ca&ntilde;on, up
+		which we passed in the hope we should at some turn find a
+		little basin of rain water in some rock. We traveled in it
+		miles and miles, and our mouths became so dry we had to put a
+		bullet or a small smooth stone in and chew it and turn it
+		around with the tongue to induce a flow of saliva. If we saw a
+		spear of green grass on the north side of a rock, it was
+		quickly pulled and eaten to obtain the little moisture it
+		contained.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Thus we traveled along for hours, never speaking, for we
+		found it much better for our thirst to keep our mouths closed
+		as much as possible, and prevent the evaporation. The dry air
+		of that region took up water as a sponge does. We passed the
+		summit of this ridge without finding any water, and on our way
+		down the western side we came to a flat place where there was
+		an Indian hut made of small brush. We now thought there surely
+		must be some water near and we began a thorough search. The
+		great snow mountain did not seem far off, but to the south and
+		southwest a level or inclined plain extended for a long
+		distance. Our thirst began to be something terrible to endure,
+		and in the warm weather and hard walking we had secured only
+		two drinks since leaving camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were so sure that there must be water near here that we
+		laid our knapsacks down by the little hut and looked around in
+		every possible place we could think of. Soon it got dark and
+		then we made a little fire as a guide and looked again. Soon
+		the moon arose and helped us some, and we shouted frequently
+		to each other so as not to get lost.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were so nearly worn out that we tried to eat a little
+		meat, but after chewing a long time, the mouth would not
+		moisten it enough so we could swallow, and we had to reject
+		it. It seemed as if we were going to die with plenty of food
+		in our hand, because we could not eat it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We tried to sleep but could not, but after a little rest we
+		noticed a bright star two hours above the horizon, and from
+		the course of the moon we saw the star must be pretty truly
+		west of us. We talked a little, and the burden of it was a
+		fear that we could not endure the terrible thirst a while
+		longer. The thought of the women and children waiting for our
+		return made us feel more desperate than if we were the only
+		ones concerned. We thought we could fight to the death over a
+		water hole if we could only secure a little of the precious
+		fluid. No one who has ever felt the extreme of thirst can
+		imagine the distress, the dispair, which it brings. I can find
+		no words, no way to express it so others can understand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The moon gave us so much light that we decided we would
+		start on our course, and get as far as we could before the hot
+		sun came out, and so we went on slowly and carefully in the
+		partial darkness, the only hope left to us being that our
+		strength would hold out till we could get to the shining snow
+		on the great mountain before us. We reached the foot of the
+		range we were descending about sunrise. There was here a wide
+		wash from the snow mountain, down which some water had
+		sometime run after a big storm, and had divided into little
+		rivulets only reaching out a little way before they had sunk
+		into the sand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had no idea we could now find any water till we at least
+		got very near the snow, and as the best way to reach it we
+		turned up the wash although the course was nearly to the
+		north. The course was up a gentle grade and seemed quite sandy
+		and not easy to travel. It looked as if there was an all day
+		walk before us, and it was quite a question if we could live
+		long enough to make the distance. There were quite strong
+		indications that the water had run here not so very long ago,
+		and we could trace the course of the little streams round
+		among little sandy islands. A little stunted brush grew here
+		but it was so brittle that the stems would break as easy as an
+		icicle.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In order to not miss a possible bit of water we separated
+		and agreed upon a general course, and that if either one found
+		water he should fire his gun as a signal. After about a mile
+		or so had been gone over I heard Roger's gun and went in his
+		direction. He had found a little ice that had frozen under the
+		clear sky. It was not thicker than window glass. After putting
+		a piece in our mouths we gathered all we could and put it into
+		the little quart camp kettle to melt. We gathered just a
+		kettle full, besides what we ate as we were gathering, and
+		kindled a little fire and melted it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I can but think how providential it was that we started in
+		the night for in an hour after the sun had risen that little
+		sheet of ice would have melted and the water sank into the
+		sand. Having quenched our thirst we could now eat, and found
+		that we were nearly starved also. In making this meal we used
+		up all our little store of water, but we felt refreshed and
+		our lives renewed so that we had better courage to go on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now took our course west again taking a bee line for a
+		bluff that lay a little to the south of the big snow mountain.
+		On and on we walked till the dark shadow of the great mountain
+		in the setting sun was thrown about us, and still we did not
+		seem more than half way to the bluff before us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All the way had been hill and very tiresome walking. There
+		was considerable small brush scattered about, here and there,
+		over this steeply inclined plain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were still several miles from the base of this largest
+		of the mountains and we could now see that it extended west
+		for many miles. The buttes to the south were low, black and
+		barren, and to the west as far as we could see there were no
+		mountains with any snow. As the sun got further down we could
+		see a small smoke curling up near the base of the mountain,
+		and we thought it must be some signal made by the Indians, as
+		we had often seen them signal in that way, but we stopped and
+		talked the matter over, and as we were yet a long way from the
+		bluff which had been our objective point, we concluded we
+		would investigate the smoke signal a little closer. So we set
+		off toward it in the dusk and darkness and when within about a
+		mile we found we were in a tract that had been somewhat
+		beaten. Feeling with my fingers I was quite sure I could
+		distinguish ox tracks, and then was quite sure that we had
+		overtaken the Jayhawkers, or at least were on their trail. And
+		then I thought perhaps they had fallen among the Indians, who
+		now might be feasting on their oxen and it became necessary to
+		use great caution in approaching the little smoke.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We took a circuitous route and soon saw that the persons
+		were on a little bench above us and we kept very cautious and
+		quiet, listening for any sounds that might tell us who they
+		were.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>If they were Indians we should probably hear some of their
+		dogs, but we heard none, and kept creeping closer and closer,
+		till we were within fifty yards without hearing a sound to
+		give us any idea of who they were.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We decided to get our guns at full cock and then hail the
+		camp, feeling that we had a little the advantage of position.
+		We hailed and were answered in English. &quot;Don't
+		Shoot&quot; said we and they assured us they had no idea of
+		such a thing, and asked us to come in. We found here to our
+		surprise, Ed Doty, Tom Shannon, L.D. Stevens, and others whom
+		I do not recollect, the real Jayhawkers. They gave us some
+		fresh meat for supper, and near the camp were some water holes
+		that answered well for camp purposes.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here an ox had given out and they had stopped long enough
+		to dry the meat, while the others had gone on a day ahead.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Coming around the mountain from the north was quite a well
+		defined trail, leading to the west and they said they were
+		satisfied some one lived at the end of it, and they were going
+		to follow it if it lead to Mexico or anywhere else. They said
+		that Mr. Brier and his family were still on behind, and alone.
+		Every one must look out for himself here, and we could not do
+		much for another in any way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We inquired of them about the trail over which they had
+		come, and where they had found water, and we told them of our
+		experience in this respect. We then related how our train
+		could not go over the mountains with wagons, how they had
+		returned to the best spring, and that we started to go through
+		to the settlements to obtain relief while they waited for our
+		return. We explained to them how they must perish without
+		assistance. If we failed to get through, they could probably
+		live as long as the oxen lasted and would then perish of
+		starvation. We told them how nearly we came to the point of
+		perishing that very morning, of thirst, and how we were saved
+		by finding a little patch of ice in an unexpected place, and
+		were thus enabled to come on another days travel.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These men were not as cheerful as they used to be and their
+		situation and prospects constantly occupied their minds. They
+		said to us that if the present trail bore away from the
+		mountain and crossed the level plain, that there were some of
+		them who could not possibly get along safely to the other
+		side. Some were completely discouraged, and some were
+		completely out of provisions and dependent on those who had
+		either provisions or oxen yet on hand. An ox was frequently
+		killed, they said, and no part of it was wasted. At a camp
+		where there was no water, for stewing, a piece or hide would
+		be prepared for eating by singeing off the hair and then
+		roasting in the fire. The small intestines were drawn through
+		the fingers to clean them, and these when roasted made very
+		fair food.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They said they had been without water for four or five days
+		at a time and came near starving to death, for it was
+		impossible to swallow food when one became so thirsty. They
+		described the pangs of hunger as something terrible and not to
+		be described. They were willing to give us any information we
+		desired and we anxiously received all we could, for on our
+		return we desired to take the best possible route, and we thus
+		had the experience of two parties instead of one. They told us
+		about the death of Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham, and where we would
+		find their bodies if we went over their trail.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning we shouldered our packs again and took the
+		trail leading to the west, and by night we had overtaken the
+		advance party of the Jayhawkers, camped in a ca&ntilde;on
+		where there was a little water, barely sufficient for their
+		use. We inquired why they did not take the trail leading more
+		directly west at the forks, and they said they feared it would
+		lead them into deep snow which would be impassible. They said
+		they considered the trail they had taken as altogether the
+		safest one.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We met Bennett and Arcane's teamsters, and as we expected
+		they were already out of grub and no way to get anymore. When
+		the party killed an ox they had humbly begged for some of the
+		poorest parts, and thus far were alive. They came to us and
+		very pitifully told us they were entirely out, and although an
+		ox had been killed that day they had not been able to get a
+		mouthful. We divided up our meat and gave them some although
+		we did not know how long it would be before we would ourselves
+		be in the same situation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Thus far we had not seen anything to shoot, big or little
+		although we kept a sharp lookout.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The whole camp was silent, and all seemed to realize their
+		situation. Before them was a level plain which had the
+		appearance of being so broad as to take five or six days to
+		cross. Judging by the look from the top of the mountain as we
+		came over, there was little to hope for in the way of water.
+		We thought it over very seriously. All the water we could
+		carry would be our canteens full, perhaps two drinks apiece
+		and the poor meat had so little nourishment that we were weak
+		and unable to endure what we once could.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were alone, Rogers and I, in interest at any rate, even
+		if there were other men about. For the time it really seemed
+		as if there was very little hope for us and I have often
+		repeated the following lines as very closely describing my own
+		feelings at that time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align="center">
+			Oh hands, whose loving, gentle grasp I loosed.<br>
+			When first this weary journey was begun.<br>
+			If I could feel your touch as once I could.<br>
+			How gladly would I wish my work undone.<br>
+			<i>Harriet Keynon</i>.<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>During the evening, I had a talk with Capt. Asa Haines, in
+		which he said he left a good home in Illinois, where he had
+		everything he could wish to eat, and every necessary comfort,
+		and even some to spare, and now he felt so nearly worn out
+		that he had many doubts whether he could live to reach the
+		mountains, on the other side. He was so deeply impressed that
+		he made me promise to let his wife and family know how I found
+		him and how he died, for he felt sure he would never see the
+		California mines. I said I might not get through myself, but
+		he thought we were so young and strong that we would struggle
+		through. He said if he could only be home once more he would
+		be content to stay. This was the general tenor of the
+		conversation. There was no mirth, no jokes, and every one
+		seemed to feel that he was very near the end of his life, and
+		such a death as stood before them, choking, starving in a
+		desert was the most dreary outlook I ever saw.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This camp of trouble, of forlorn hope, on the edge of a
+		desert stretching out before us like a small sea, with no hope
+		for relief except at the end of a struggle which seemed almost
+		hopeless, is more than any pen can paint, or at all describe.
+		The writer had tried it often. Picture to yourself, dear
+		reader the situation and let your own imagination do the rest.
+		It can never come up to the reality.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning, as Rogers and I were about to start,
+		several of the oldest men came to us with their addresses and
+		wished us to forward them to their families if we ever got
+		within the reach of mails. These men shed tears, and we did
+		also as we parted. We turned silently away and again took up
+		our march.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we went down the ca&ntilde;on we came to one place where
+		it was so narrow, that a man or a poor ox could barely squeeze
+		through between the rocks, and in a few miles more reached the
+		open level plain. When three or four miles out on the trail
+		and not far from the hills we came to a bunch of quite tall
+		willows. The center of the bunch had been cut out and the
+		branches woven in so as to make a sort of corral. In the
+		center of this was a spring of good water and some good grass
+		growing around. This was pretty good evidence that some one
+		had been here before. We took a good drink and filled our
+		canteens anew, for we did not expect to get another drink for
+		two or three days at least.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We took the trail again and hurried on as the good water
+		made us feel quite fresh. After a few miles we began to find
+		the bones of animals, some badly decayed and some well
+		preserved. All the heads were those of horses, and it puzzled
+		us to know where they came from. As we passed along we noticed
+		the trail was on a slight up grade and somewhat crooked. If we
+		stepped off from it the foot sank in about two inches in dirt
+		finer than the finest flour. The bones were scattered all
+		along, sometimes the bones of several animals together. Was it
+		the long drive, poison water, or what? It was evident they had
+		not been killed but had dropped along the way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was a dreary trail at best, and these evidences of death
+		did not help to brighten it in the least. We wondered often
+		where it led to and what new things would be our experience.
+		After walking fast all day we came to quite an elevation,
+		where we could stand and look in all directions. The low black
+		range where we left the Jayhawkers was in sight, and this spur
+		of the great snowy mountains extended a long way to the south,
+		and seemed to get lower and lower, finally ending in low rocky
+		buttes, a hundred miles away. Some may think this distance
+		very far to see, but those who have ever seen the clear
+		atmosphere of that region will bear me out in these
+		magnificent distances. Generally a mountain or other object
+		seen at a distance would be three or four times as far off as
+		one would judge at first sight, so deceptive are appearances
+		there. The broad south end of the great mountain which we
+		first saw the next morning after we left the wagons, was now
+		plain in sight, and peak after peak extending away to the
+		north, all of them white with snow. Standing thus out in the
+		plain we could see the breadth of the mountain east and west,
+		and it seemed as though it must have been nearly a hundred
+		miles. The south end was very abrupt and sank as one into a
+		great plain in which we stood, twenty miles from the
+		mountain's base.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>To the northwest we could see a clay lake, or at least that
+		was what we called it, and a line of low hills seemed to be an
+		extension of the mountain in a direction swinging around to
+		the south to enclose this thirsty, barren plain before us,
+		which was bounded by mountains or hills on these sides. To the
+		south this range seemed to get higher, and we could see some
+		snow capped mountains to the south of our westerly course. The
+		low mountains as those seen in the northwest direction is the
+		same place now crossed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and
+		known as the Tehachipi pass, the noted loop, in which the
+		railroad crosses itself, being on the west slope and Ft. Tejon
+		being on the same range a little further south where the
+		Sierra Nevada mountains and the Coast Range join. The first
+		mountain bearing snow, south of our course was probably what
+		is known as Wilson's peak, and the high mountains still
+		farther south, the San Bernardino mountains. There were no
+		names there known to us nor did we know anything of the
+		topography of the country except that we supposed a range of
+		mountains was all that separated us from California.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were yet in the desert, and if we kept our due west
+		course, we must cross some of the snow before us which if
+		steep gave us some doubts whether we could get through or
+		not.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We did not know exactly what the people left behind would
+		do if we were gone longer than we intended, but if they
+		started on it was quite plain to us they would be lost, and as
+		seven days had already passed we were in serious trouble for
+		fear we could not complete the trip in the time allotted to
+		us. We surveyed the plain and mountains to learn its situation
+		and then started, on following our trail. As we went on we
+		seemed to be coming to lower ground, and near our road stood a
+		tree of a kind we had not seen before. The trunk was about six
+		or eight inches through and six or eight feet high with arms
+		at the top quite as large as the body, and at the end of the
+		arms a bunch of long, stiff bayonet shaped leaves.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was a brave little tree to live in such a barren
+		country. As we walked on these trees were more plenty and some
+		were much larger than the first. As we came to the lowest part
+		of the valley there seemed to be little faint water ways
+		running around little clouds of stunted shrubs, but there was
+		no signs that very much water ever run in them. We thought
+		that these were the outlet of the big sandy lake which might
+		get full of water and overflow through these channels after
+		some great storm.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As this low ground was quite wide we lost our trail in
+		crossing it, and we separated as we went along, looking to
+		find it again, till nearly dark when we looked for a camping
+		place. Fortunately we found a little pond of rain water, and
+		some of our strange trees that were dead gave us good material
+		for a fire, so that we were very comfortable indeed, having
+		both drink and fire.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Starting on again our course was now ascending slightly,
+		and we came across more and more of the trees, and larger ones
+		than at first. We saw some that seemed to have broken down
+		with their own weight. The bayonet shaped leaves seemed to
+		fall off when old and the stalk looked so much like an old
+		overgrown cabbage stump that we name them &quot;Cabbage
+		trees,&quot; but afterward learned they were a species of
+		Yucca. We were much worried at loosing our trail and felt that
+		it would be quite unsafe to try to cross the mountain without
+		finding it again, so we separated, Rogers going northwest, and
+		I southwest, agreeing to swing round so as to meet again about
+		noon, but when we met, neither of us had found a trail, and we
+		were still about 10 miles from the foothills. Rogers said he
+		had heard some of the people say that the trail leading from
+		Salt Lake to Los Angeles crossed such a mountain in a low
+		pass, with very high mountains on each side, and he supposed
+		that the high mountain to the south must be the one where the
+		trail crossed, but as this would take us fully fifty miles
+		south of our course as we supposed it was we hesitated about
+		going there, and concluded we would try the lowest place in
+		the mountain first, and if we failed we could then go and try
+		Roger's route, more to the south.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>So we pushed on, still keeping a distance apart to look out
+		for the trail, and before night, in the rolling hills, we saw
+		here and there faint traces of it, which grew plainer as we
+		went along, and about sundown we reached some water holes and
+		from some old skulls of oxen lying around the ground showing
+		that it had at some previous time been a camping ground. We
+		found some good large sage brush which made a pretty good
+		fire, and if we could have had a little fresh meat to roast we
+		thought we were in a good position for supper. But that poor
+		meat was pretty dry food. However it kept us alive, and we
+		curled up together and slept, for the night was cool, and we
+		had to make the little blanket do its best. We thought we
+		ought to find a little game, but we had not seen any to shoot
+		since we started.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning the trail led us toward the snow, and as we
+		went along, a brave old crow surprised us by lighting on a
+		bush near the trail, and we surprised him by killing him with
+		a charge of shot. &quot;Here's your fresh meat,&quot; said
+		Rogers as he put it into his knapsack to cook for supper, and
+		marched on. As we approached the summit we could see, on the
+		high mountains south of us, some trees, and when we came near
+		the highest part of our road there were some juniper trees
+		near it, which was very encouraging. We crossed over several
+		miles of hard snow, but it moistened up our moccassins and
+		made them soft and uncomfortable. After we had turned down the
+		western slope we killed a small hawk. &quot;Here's your
+		meat&quot; said I, as the poor thin fellow was stowed away for
+		future grub, to cook with the crow.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we got out of the snow we had lost the trail again but
+		the hills on the sides were covered with large brush, and on a
+		higher part of the mountain south, were some big trees, and we
+		began to think the country would change for the better pretty
+		soon. We followed down the ravine for many miles, and when
+		this came out into a larger one, we were greatly pleased at
+		the prospect, for down the latter came a beautiful little
+		running brook of clear pure water, singing as it danced over
+		the stones, a happy song and telling us to drink and drink
+		again, and you may be sure we did drink, for it had been
+		months and months since we had had such water, pure, sweet,
+		free from the terrible alkali and stagnant taste that had been
+		in almost every drop we had seen. Rogers leveled his shot gun
+		at some birds and killed a beautiful one with a top knot on
+		his head, and colors bright all down his neck. It was a
+		California quail. We said birds always lived where human
+		beings did, and we had great hopes born to us of a better
+		land. I told John that if the folks were only there now I
+		could kill game enough for them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We dressed our three birds and got them boiling in the camp
+		kettle, and while they were cooking talked over the outlook
+		which was so flattering that our tongues got loose and we
+		rattled away in strange contrast to the ominous silence of a
+		week ago. While eating our stew of crow and hawk, we could see
+		willows alders and big sage brush around and we had noticed
+		what seemed to be cottonwoods farther down the ca&ntilde;on,
+		and green trees on the slope of the mountain. We were sure we
+		were on the edge of the promised land and were quite light
+		hearted, till we began to tell of plans to get the good people
+		out who were waiting for us beside the little spring in the
+		desert. We talked of going back at once, but our meat was too
+		near gone, and we must take them something to encourage them a
+		little and make them strong for the fearful trip. As to these
+		birds&mdash;the quail was as superb a morsel as ever a man did
+		eat; the hawk was pretty fair and quite good eating; but that
+		abominable crow! His flesh was about as black as his feathers
+		and full of tough and bony sinews. We concluded we did not
+		want any more of that kind of bird, and ever since that day,
+		when I have heard people talk of &quot;eating crow&quot; as a
+		bitter pill, I think I know all about it from experience.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There seemed to be no other way for us but to push on in
+		the morning and try to obtain some relief for the poor women
+		and children and then get back to them as fast as ever we
+		could, so we shouldered our packs and went on down the
+		ca&ntilde;on as fast as we could. We came soon to evergreen
+		oaks and tall cottonwoods, and the creek bottom widened out to
+		two hundred yards. There were trees on the south side and the
+		brush kept getting larger and larger. There was a trail down
+		this ca&ntilde;on, but as it passed under fallen trees we knew
+		it could not have been the same one we had been following on
+		the other side of the summit, and when we discovered a bear
+		track in a soft place we knew very well it was not a trail
+		intended for human beings, and we might be ordered out almost
+		any moment.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the high bold grassy point about four hundred yards we
+		saw two horses that held their heads aloft and gave a snort,
+		then galloped away out of sight. About 10 o'clock I felt a
+		sudden pain in my left knee, keen and sharp, and as we went
+		along it kept growing worse. I had to stop often to rest, and
+		it was quite plain that if this increased or continued I was
+		sure enough disabled, and would be kept from helping those
+		whom we had left. Nerved with the idea we must get help to
+		them, and that right soon, I hobbled along as well as I could,
+		but soon had to say to Rogers that he had better go on ahead
+		and get help and let me come on as best I could, for every
+		moment of delay was a danger of death to our party who trusted
+		us to get them help. Rogers refused to do this, he said he
+		would stay with me and see me out, and that he could not do
+		much alone, and had better wait till I got better. So we
+		worked along through the tangled brush, being many times
+		compelled to wade the stream to get along, and this made our
+		moccasins soft and very uncomfortable to wear. I endured the
+		pain all day, and we must have advanced quite a little
+		distance in spite of my lameness, but I was glad when night
+		came and we camped in the dark brushy ca&ntilde;on, having a
+		big fire which made me quite comfortable all night, though it
+		was quite cold, and we had to keep close together so as to use
+		the blanket. I felt a little better in the morning and after
+		eating some of our poor dried meat, which was about as poor as
+		crow, and I don't know but a little worse, we continued on our
+		way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The tangle got worse and worse as we descended, and at
+		times we walked in the bed of the stream in order to make more
+		headway, but my lameness increased and we had to go very slow
+		indeed. About noon we came to what looked like an excavation,
+		a hole four feet square or more it looked to be, and on the
+		dirt thrown out some cottonwood trees had grown, and one of
+		the largest of these had been cut down sometime before. This
+		was the first sign of white men we had seen and it was
+		evidently an attempt at mining, no one knows how long ago. It
+		encouraged us at any rate, and we pushed on through brush and
+		briers, tangles of wild rose bushes and bushes of every sort,
+		till all of a sudden we came out into an open sandy valley,
+		well covered with sage brush and perhaps a hundred yards wide;
+		probably more.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The hills on the south side had on them some oak trees and
+		grassy spots, but the north side was thickly covered with
+		brush. Our beautiful little brook that had kept us company
+		soon sank into the dry sand out of sight, and we moved rather
+		slowly along every little while we spoke of the chances of
+		wagons ever getting through the road we had come, and the hope
+		that my lameness might not continue to retard our progress in
+		getting back to the place of our starting, that the poor
+		waiting people might begin to get out of the terrible country
+		they were in and enjoy as we had done, the beautiful running
+		stream of this side of the mountain. If I did not get better
+		the chances were that they would perish, for they never could
+		come through alone, as the distance had proved much greater
+		than we had anticipated, and long dry stretches of the desert
+		were more than they would be prepared for. As it was we feared
+		greatly that we had consumed so much time they would get
+		impatient and start out and be lost.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I continued to hobble along down the barren valley as well
+		as I could and here and there some tracks of animals were
+		discovered, but we could not make out whether they were those
+		of domestic cattle or elk. Soon, on the side of a hill, rather
+		high up a pack of prairie wolves were snarling around the
+		carcass of some dead animal, and this was regarded as another
+		sign that more and better meat could be found, for these
+		animals only live where some sort of game can be found, and
+		they knew better than we that it was not for their health to
+		go into the barren desert.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Before us now was a spur from the hills that reached nearly
+		across our little valley and shut out further sight in that
+		direction and when we came to it we climbed up over it to
+		shorten the distance. When the summit was reached a most
+		pleasing sight filled our sick hearts with a most
+		indescribable joy. I shall never have the ability to
+		adequately describe the beauty of the scene as it appeared to
+		us, and so long as I live that landscape will be impressed
+		upon the canvas of my memory as the most cheering in the
+		world. There before us was a beautiful meadow of a thousand
+		acres, green as a thick carpet of grass could make it, and
+		shaded with oaks, wide branching and symmetrical, equal to
+		those of an old English park, while all over the low mountains
+		that bordered it on the south and over the broad acres of
+		luxuriant grass was a herd of cattle numbering many hundreds
+		if not thousands. They were of all colors shades and sizes.
+		Some were calmly lying down in happy rumination, others
+		rapidly cropping the sweet grass, while the gay calves worked
+		off their superfluous life and spirit in vigorous exercise or
+		drew rich nourishment in the abundant mother's milk. All
+		seemed happy and content, and such a scene of abundance and
+		rich plenty and comfort bursting thus upon our eyes which for
+		months had seen only the desolation and sadness of the desert,
+		was like getting a glimpse of Paradise, and tears of joy ran
+		down our faces. If ever a poor mortal escapes from this world
+		where so many trials come, and joys of a happy Heaven are
+		opened up to him, the change cannot be much more that this
+		which was suddenly opened to us on that bright day which was
+		either one of the very last of December 1849 or the first of
+		January 1850, I am inclined to think it was the very day of
+		the new year, but in our troubles, the accuracy of the
+		calendar was among the least of our troubles. If it was, as I
+		believe the beginning of the year, it was certainly a most
+		auspicious one and one of the most hopeful of my life.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>And <i>now if the others were only here</i>, was the burden
+		of our thought, and a serious awakening from the dream of
+		beauty and rich plenty spread out before us. This
+		ring-streaked and speckled herd might be descended directly
+		from Jacob's famous herd, blessed of the Lord, and while we
+		could not keep our thoughts from some sad doubts as to the
+		fate of those whom we had left behind, we tried to be
+		generally hopeful and courageous and brightened up our steps
+		to prepare for a relief and return to the hot dry plain beyond
+		the mountains where they were awaiting us, no doubt with much
+		tribulation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now thought of myself and my failing knee and we sat down
+		under the shade of an oak to rest, and after a little, better
+		feeling seemed to come. Down by a deep gully cut by the rains
+		a yearling steer was feeding, and I took the rifle and crawled
+		down near him and put first one ball through him, and then
+		another, before he fell dead on the other side of the wash,
+		when we sprang with all the agility of a deer. We quickly got
+		some good meat and had it roasted and eaten almost quicker
+		than can be told. We hardly realized how near starved we were
+		till we had plenty before us again. We ate till we were
+		satisfied for once, and for the first time in many long dreary
+		weeks. We kindled a fire and commenced drying the meat, one
+		sleeping while the other kept the fire, and changing off every
+		few hours. What a rest that was! One who has never been nearly
+		worn out and starved, down nearly to the point of death can
+		never know what it is to rest in comfort. No one can tell. It
+		was like a dream, a sweet, restful dream where troubles would
+		drown themselves in sleep. How we felt the strength come back
+		to us with that food and the long draughts of pure clear
+		water.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The miserable dried meat in our knapsacks was put away and
+		this splendid jerked beef put in its place. The wolves came to
+		our camp and howled in dreadful disappointment at not getting
+		a meal. Rogers wanted me to shoot the miserable howlers, but I
+		let them have their concert out, and thought going without
+		their breakfast must be punishment enough for them. As our
+		moccasins were worn out we carefully prepared some sinews from
+		the steer and made new foot gear from the green hide which
+		placed us in shape for two or three week's walking.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The morning was clear and pleasant. We had our knapsacks
+		filled with good food we had prepared, and were enjoying the
+		cool breeze which came up the valley, when we heard faintly
+		the bark of a dog, or at least we thought we did. If this were
+		true there must be some one living not very far away and we
+		felt better. I was still very lame and as we started along the
+		walking seemed to make it worse again, so that it was all I
+		could do to follow John on the trail down the valley. As we
+		went along a man and woman passed us some distance on the
+		left, and they did not seem to notice us, though we were in
+		plain sight. They were curiously dressed. The woman had no
+		hoops nor shoes, and a shawl wound about her neck and one end
+		thrown over her head, was a substitute bonnet. The man had
+		sandals on his feet, with white cotton pants, a calico shirt,
+		and a wide rimmed, comical, snuff-colored hat. We at once put
+		them down as Spaniards, or then descendants of Mexico, and if
+		what we had read about them in books was true, we were in a
+		set of land pirates, and blood thirsty men whom we might have
+		occasion to be aware of. We had never heard a word of Spanish
+		spoken, except perhaps a word or two upon the plains which
+		some fellow knew, and how we could make ourselves known and
+		explain who we were was a puzzle to us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Difficulties began to arise in our minds now we were in an
+		apparent land of plenty, but in spite of all we went along as
+		fast as my lame knee would permit me to do. A house on higher
+		ground soon appeared in sight. It was low, of one story with a
+		flat roof, gray in color, and of a different style of
+		architecture from any we had ever seen before. There was no
+		fence around it, and no animals or wagons in sight, nor person
+		to be seen. As we walked up the hill toward it I told John our
+		moccasins made of green hide would betray us as having
+		recently killed an animal, and as these people might be the
+		owners and detain us by having us arrested for the crime, and
+		this would be especially bad for us just now. We determined to
+		face the people, and let the fact of our close necessities be
+		a sufficient excuse for us, if we could make them understand
+		our circumstances.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we came near the house no person was seen, but a mule
+		tied to a post told us there was some one about, and a man
+		soon made an appearance, dressed about the same style as the
+		one we had passed a short time before. As we came near we
+		saluted him, bidding him good morning, and he in turn touched
+		his hat politely, saying something in reply which we were not
+		able to understand. I showed him that I was lame, and taking
+		out some money pointed to the mule, but he only shook his head
+		and said something I could not comprehend. Rogers now began
+		looking around the house, which was built of sun-dried bricks
+		about one by two feet in size, and one end was used as a
+		storehouse. As he looked in, a man came to him and wanted a
+		black, patent leather belt which Rogers wore, having a
+		watch-pocket attached to it. He offered a quart or more of
+		coarse corn meal, and Rogers made the trade.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We tried to inquire where we were or where ought to go, but
+		could get no satisfactory answer from the man, although when
+		we spoke San Francisco he pointed to the north. This was not
+		very satisfactory to us and we seemed as badly lost as ever,
+		and where or which way to go we did not seem very successful
+		in finding out. So we concluded to go on a little way at
+		least, and I hobbled off in the direction he pointed, which
+		was down the hill and past a small, poorly fenced field which
+		was sometimes cultivated, and across the stream which followed
+		down the valley. Passing on a mile or two we stopped on a big
+		patch of sand to rest.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I told Rogers I did not think this course would lead us to
+		any place in a month, and just now a delay was ruinous to us
+		and to those who were waiting for us, and it would not do for
+		us to go off to the north to find a settlement. While I was
+		expressing my opinion on matters and things, Rogers had wet up
+		a part of his meal with water and put it to bake on the cover
+		of his camp kettle. There was a fair sized cake for each of
+		us, and it was the first bread of any kind we had eaten for
+		months, being a very acceptable change from an exclusively
+		meat diet. Looking up the valley we could see a cloud of dust,
+		thick and high, and soon several men on horseback who came at
+		a rushing gallop. I told Rogers they were after us, and
+		believed them to be a murderous set who might make trouble for
+		us. I hastily buried our little store of money in the sand,
+		telling him that if they got us, they would not get our money.
+		Putting our guns across our laps in an easy position we had
+		them cocked and ready for business, and our knives where we
+		could get them handy, and awaited their arrival.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They came on with a rush until within a short distance and
+		halted for consultation just across the creek, after which one
+		of them advanced toward us and as he came near us we could see
+		he was a white man, who wished us good evening in our own
+		language. We answered him rather cooly, still sitting in the
+		sand and he no doubt saw that we were a little suspicious of
+		the crowd. He asked us where we were from, and we told him our
+		circumstances and condition and that we would like to secure
+		some means of relief for the people we had left in the desert,
+		but our means were very limited and we wanted to do the best
+		we could. He said we were about 500 miles from San Francisco,
+		not far from 100 miles from the coast and thirty miles from
+		Los Angeles. We were much afraid we would not be able to get
+		anything here, but he told us to go across the valley to a
+		large live oak tree which he pointed out, and said we would
+		find an American there, and we should wait there till morning.
+		He said he would go back and stay at the house we had passed,
+		and would do what he could to assist us to go to Los Angeles
+		where we could get some supplies. Then he rode away, and as we
+		talked it over we saw no way but to follow the directions of
+		our newfound friend.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It seemed now that my lameness had indeed been a blessing.
+		If I had been able to walk we would now have been well on
+		toward the seashore, where we could have found no such friend
+		as this who had appeared to us. The way seemed clearer to us,
+		but the time for our return was almost up and there was no way
+		of getting back in fifteen days as we had agreed upon, so
+		there was great danger to our people yet. It seemed very
+		likely to take us twenty four or thirty days at best, and
+		while they probably had oxen enough to provide them food for
+		so long a time they might take a notion to move on, which
+		would be fatal.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the big live oak tree we found an American camper, who
+		was on his way to the gold mines. He was going a new route and
+		said the mines could be reached much quicker than by going up
+		the coast by way of San Francisco. A new company with wagons
+		was soon to start out to break the road, and when they crossed
+		the east end of the valley he would follow them. I think this
+		man's name was Springer. He had come by way of the Santa Fe
+		route, and the people of Los Angeles had told him this route
+		was an easy one being often traveled by saddle horses, and if
+		the company could make it possible for wagons they could have
+		all the cattle they wanted to kill along the road as their pay
+		for doing the work. Our new friend lay down early, and as he
+		saw we were scant in blankets he brought some to us for our
+		use, which were most thankfully received.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As soon as we were alone Rogers mixed up some more of the
+		meal which we baked in our friend's frying pan, and we baked
+		and ate and baked and ate again, for our appetites were
+		ravenous, and the demand of our stomachs got the better of the
+		judgment of our brains.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was hard to find time to sleep, we were so full of the
+		plans about the way, which we must manage to get relief for
+		the people. We had many doubts if animals could ever come over
+		the route we had come over, from deliberation we decided that
+		by selecting a route with that idea in our minds, we could get
+		mules and perhaps horses over the country. We perhaps could go
+		more to the north and take the Jayhawkers trail, but this
+		would take us fully a hundred miles farther and four or five
+		days longer, at the best, and every moment of delay was to be
+		carefully avoided as a moment of danger to our friends.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Thus again, our sleep was troubled from another cause.
+		Being so long unaccustomed to vegetable food, and helped on,
+		no doubt, by our poor judgment in gauging the quantity of our
+		food, we were attacked by severe pains in the stomach and
+		bowels, from which we suffered intensely. We arose very early
+		and with a very light breakfast, for the sickness admonished
+		us, we started back for the house we had first passed, at
+		which our friend on horseback, said he would spend the night
+		and where we were to meet him this morning. He said he could
+		talk Spanish all right and would do all he could to help
+		us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our suffering and trouble caused us to move very slowly, so
+		that it was nine or ten o'clock before we reached the house,
+		and we found they had two horses all ready for us to go to Los
+		Angeles. There were no saddles for us, but we thought this
+		would be a good way to cure my lameness. The people seemed to
+		be friends to us in every way. We mounted, having our packs on
+		our backs, and our guns before us, and with a friendly parting
+		to the people who did not go, all four of us started on a trip
+		of thirty miles to the town of Los Angeles.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we reached the foot of the mountain which was very
+		steep but not rocky, John and I dismounted and led our animals
+		to the top, where we could see a long way west, and south, and
+		it looked supremely beautiful. We could not help comparing it
+		to the long wide, desert we had crossed, and John and myself
+		said many times how we wished the folks were here to enjoy the
+		pleasant sight, the beautiful fertile picture.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There appeared to be one quite large house in sight, and
+		not far off, which the man told us was the Mission of San
+		Fernando, a Roman Catholic Church and residence for priests
+		and followers. The downward slope of the mountain was as steep
+		as the other side and larger, and John and I did not attempt
+		to mount till we were well down on the level ground again, but
+		the other two men rode up and down without any trouble. We
+		would let our leaders get half a mile or so ahead of us and
+		then mount and put our horses to a gallop till we overtook
+		them again. We had walked so long that riding was very
+		tiresome to us, and for comfort alone we would have preferred
+		the way on foot, but we could get along a little faster, and
+		the frequent dismounting kept us from becoming too lame from
+		riding.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We passed the Mission about noon or a little after, and a
+		few miles beyond met a man on horseback who lived up to the
+		north about a hundred miles. His name was French and he had a
+		cattle range at a place called Tejon (Tahone). Our friends
+		told him who we were, and what assistance we needed. Mr.
+		French said he was well acquainted in Los Angeles and had been
+		there some time, and that all the travelers who would take the
+		Coast route had gone, those who had come by way of Salt Lake
+		had got in from two to four weeks before, and a small train
+		which had come the Santa Fe Route was still upon the road. He
+		said Los Angeles was so clear of emigrants that he did not
+		think we could get any help there at the present time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Mr. French&mdash;&quot;You boys can't
+		talk Spanish and it is not very likely you will be able to get
+		any help. Now I say, you boys turn back and go with me and I
+		will give you the best I have, I will let you have a yoke of
+		gentle oxen, or more if you need them, and plenty of beans,
+		which are good food for I live on them; besides this I can
+		give an Indian guide to help you back. Will that do?&quot;
+		After a moment we said we doubted if oxen could be got over
+		the road, and if they were fat now they would soon get poor,
+		and perhaps not stand it as well as the oxen which had became
+		used to that kind of life, and of those they had in camp all
+		they needed. We wanted to get something for the women and
+		children to ride, for we knew they must abandon the wagons,
+		and could not walk so far over that dry, rough country.
+		&quot;Well,&quot; said Mr. French:&mdash;&quot;I will stop at
+		the place you were this morning&mdash;I know them
+		well&mdash;and they are good folks, and I am sure when I tell
+		them what you want they will help you if they possibly can.
+		This looks to me to be the most sensible course.&quot; After
+		talking an hour our two companions advised us that the
+		proposition of Mr. French seemed the most reasonable one that
+		appeared. But for us to go clear back to his range would take
+		up so much valuable time that we were almost afraid of the
+		delay which might mean the destruction of our friends. French
+		said he had a pack saddle, with him taking it home, and we
+		could put it on one of our horses, and when we came back to
+		Los Angeles could leave it at a certain saloon or place he
+		named and tell them it belonged to him and to keep it for him.
+		I have forgotten the name of the man who kept the saloon. We
+		agreed to this, and bidding our two companions farewell, we
+		turned back again with Mr. French.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When night came we were again at the Mission we had passed
+		on the way down. We were kindly treated here, for I believe
+		Mr. French told them about us. They sent an Indian to take our
+		horses, and we sat down beside the great house. There were
+		many smaller houses, and quite a large piece of ground fenced
+		in by an adobe wall. The roof of the buildings was like that
+		of our own buildings in having eaves on both, sides, but the
+		covering was of semi circular tiles made and burned like
+		brick. Rows of these were placed close together, the hollow
+		sides up, and then another course over the joints, placed with
+		the round side up, which made a roof that was perfectly
+		waterproof, but must have been very heavy. These tiles were
+		about two feet long. All the surroundings, and general make up
+		of the place were new to us and very wonderful. They gave us
+		good dried meat to eat and let us sleep in the big house on
+		the floor, which was as hard as granite, and we turned over a
+		great many times before daylight, and were glad when morning
+		came. We offered to pay them, but they would take nothing from
+		us, and we left leading our horses over the steep mountain,
+		and reaching the house again late in the day. They turned our
+		horses loose and seemed disposed to be very friendly and
+		disposed to do for us what they could.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were very tired and sat down by the side of the house
+		and rested, wondering how we would come out with our
+		preparations. They were talking together, but we could not
+		understand a word. A dark woman came out and gave each of us a
+		piece of cooked squash. It seemed to have been roasted in the
+		ashes and was very sweet and good. These were all signs of
+		friendship and we were glad of the good feeling. We were given
+		a place to sleep in the house, in a store room on a floor
+		which was not soft. This was the second house we had slept in
+		since leaving Wisconsin, and it seemed rather pent-up to
+		us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning we were shown a kind of mill like a coffee
+		mill, and by putting in a handful of wheat from a pile and
+		giving the mill a few turns we were given to understand we
+		should grind some flour for ourselves. We went to work with a
+		will, but found it, hard, slow work.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a little, our dark woman came and gave us each a
+		pancake and a piece of meat, also another piece of roasted
+		squash, for our breakfast, and this, we thought, was the best
+		meal we had ever eaten. The lady tried to talk to us but we
+		could not understand the words, and I could convey ideas to
+		her better by the sign language than any other way. She
+		pointed out the way from which we came and wanted to know how
+		many day's travel it might be away, and I answered by putting
+		my hand to my head and closing my eyes, which was repeated as
+		many times as there had been nights on our journey, at which
+		she was much surprised that the folks were so far away. She
+		then place her hand upon her breast and then held it up, to
+		ask how many women there were, and I answered her by holding
+		up three fingers, at which she shrugged her shoulders and
+		shook her head. Then pointing to a child by her side, four or
+		five years old, and in the same way asked how many children, I
+		answered by holding up four fingers, and she almost cried,
+		opening her mouth in great surprise, and turned away.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I said to Rogers that she was a kind, well meaning woman,
+		and that Mr. French had no doubt told her something of our
+		story. Aside from her dark complexion her features reminded me
+		of my mother, and at first sight of her I thought of the best
+		woman on earth my own far off mother, who little knew the
+		hardships we had endured. We went to work again at the mill
+		and after a while the woman came again and tried to talk and
+		to teach us some words of her own language. She place her
+		finger on me and said <i>ombre</i> and I took out my little
+		book and wrote down <i>ombre</i> as meaning man, and in the
+		same way she taught me that <i>mujer</i>, was woman;
+		<i>trigo</i>, wheat; <i>frijoles</i>, beans; <i>carne</i>,
+		meat; <i>calazasa</i>, pumpkin; <i>caballo</i>, horse;
+		<i>vaca</i>, cow; <i>muchacho</i>, boy, and several other
+		words in this way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I got hold of many words thus to study, so that if I ever
+		came back I could talk a little and make myself understood as
+		to some of the common objects and things of necessary use.
+		Such friendly, human acts shown to us strangers, were
+		evidences of the kindest disposition. I shall never forget the
+		kindness of those original Californians. When in Walker's camp
+		and finding he was friendly to Mormonism we could claim that
+		we were also Mormons, but the good people though well known
+		Catholics, did not so much as mention the fact nor inquire
+		whether we favored that sect or not. We were human beings in
+		distress and we represented others who were worse even than
+		we, and those kind acts and great good will, were given freely
+		because we were fellow human beings.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The provisions we prepared were, a sack of small yellow
+		beans; a small sack of wheat, a quantity of good dried meat,
+		and some of the coarse, unbolted flour we had made at the
+		mills. They showed us how to properly pack the horse, which
+		was a kind of work we had not been use to, and we were soon
+		ready for a start. I took what money we had and put it on a
+		block, making signs for them to take what the things were
+		worth. They took $30, and we were quite surprised to get two
+		horses, provisions, pack-saddles and ropes, some of the latter
+		made of rawhide and some of hair, so cheaply, but we afterward
+		learned that the mares furnished were not considered of much
+		value, and we had really paid a good fair price for
+		everything. To make it easy for us they had also fixed our
+		knapsacks on the horses.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The good lady with the child, came out with four oranges
+		and pointed to her own child and then to the East, put them in
+		the pack meaning we should carry them to the children. With a
+		hearty good bye from them, and a polite lifting of our hats to
+		them we started on our return, down toward the gentle decline
+		of the creek bottom, and then up the valley, the way we came.
+		Toward night we came to a wagon road crossing the valley, and
+		as we well knew we could not go up the tangled creek bed with
+		horses we took this road to the north, which took a dry ravine
+		for its direction, and in which there was a pack trail, and
+		this the wagons were following. We kept on the trail for a few
+		miles, and overtook them in their camp, and camped with them
+		over night. We told them we considered our outfit entirely too
+		small for the purpose intended, which was to bring two women
+		and four children out of the desert, but that being the best
+		we could get, we were taking this help to them and hoped to
+		save their lives. Our mission became well known and one man
+		offered to sell us a poor little one-eyed mule, its back all
+		bare of covering from the effect of a great saddle sore that
+		had very recently healed. He had picked it up somewhere in
+		Arizona where it had been turned out to die, but it seemed the
+		beast had enough of the good Santa Ana stock in it to bring it
+		through and it had no notion of dying at the present time,
+		though it was scarcely more than a good fair skeleton, even
+		then. The beast became mine at the price of $15, and the
+		people expressed great sympathy with us and the dear friends
+		we were going to try to save.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Another man offered a little snow-white mare, as fat as
+		butter, for $15, which I paid, though it took the last cent of
+		money I had. This little beauty of a beast was broken to lead
+		at halter, but had not been broken in any other way. Rogers
+		said he would ride her where he could, and before she got to
+		the wagons she would be as gentle as a lamb. He got a bridle
+		and tried her at once, and then there was a scene of rearing,
+		jumping and kicking that would have made a good Buffalo Bill
+		circus in these days. No use, the man could not be thrown off,
+		and the crowd cheered and shouted to Rogers
+		to&mdash;&quot;Hold her level.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After some bucking and backing on the part of the mare and
+		a good deal of whipping and kicking on the part of the man,
+		and a good many furious clashes in lively, but very awkward
+		ways, the little beast yielded the point, and carried her load
+		without further trouble.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The people gave us a good supper and breakfast, and one man
+		came and presented us with 25 pounds of unbolted wheat flour.
+		They were of great assistance to us in showing us how to pack
+		and sack our load, which was not heavy and could be easily
+		carried by our two animals which we had at first. However we
+		arranged a pack on the mule and this gave me a horse to ride
+		and a mule to lead, while Rogers rode his milk-white steed and
+		led the other horse. Thus we went along and following the
+		trail soon reached the summit from which we could see off to
+		the East a wonderful distance, probably 200 miles, of the dry
+		and barren desert of hill and desolate valley over which we
+		had come.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The trail bearing still to the north from this point, we
+		left and turned due east across the country, and soon came to
+		a beautiful lake of sweet fresh water situated well up toward
+		the top of the mountain. This lake is now called Elizabeth
+		Lake. Here we watered our animals and filled our canteens,
+		then steered a little south of east among the Cabbage trees,
+		aiming to strike the rain water hole where we had camped as we
+		came over. We reached the water hole about noon and here found
+		the Jayhawkers trail, which we took. They had evidently
+		followed us and passed down the same brushy ca&ntilde;on while
+		we having taken a circuitous route to the north, had gone
+		around there. Getting water here for ourselves and horses, we
+		went back to the trail and pushed on as fast as the animals
+		could walk, and as we now knew where we could get water, we
+		kept on till after dark, one of us walking to keep the trail,
+		and some time in the night reached the Willow corral I have
+		spoken of before. There was good water here, but the
+		Jayhawker's oxen had eaten all the grass that grew in the
+		little moist place around, and our animals were short of feed.
+		One of us agreed to stand guard the fore part of the night and
+		the other later, so that we might not be surprised by Indians
+		and lose our animals. I took the first watch and let the blaze
+		of the fire go out so as not to attract attention and as I sat
+		by the dull coals and hot ashes I fell asleep. Rogers happened
+		to wake and see the situation, and arose and waked me again
+		saying that we must be more careful or the Indians would get
+		our horses. You may be sure I kept awake the rest of my
+		watch.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next day we passed the water holes at the place where we
+		had so stealthily crawled up to Doty's camp when coming out.
+		These holes held about two pails of water each, but no stream
+		run away from them. Our horses seemed to want water badly for
+		when they drank they put their head in up to their eyes and
+		drank ravenously.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Thirty miles from here to the next water, Doty had told us,
+		and night overtook us before we could reach it, so a dry camp
+		was made. Our horses began now to walk with drooping heads and
+		slow, tired steps, so we divided the load among them all and
+		walked ourselves. The water, when reached proved so salt the
+		horses would not drink it, and as Doty had told us the most
+		water was over the mountain ahead of us, we still followed
+		their trail which went up a very rocky ca&ntilde;on in which
+		it was hard work for the horses to travel. The horses were all
+		very gentle now and needed some urging to make them go.
+		Roger's fat horse no longer tried to unseat its rider or its
+		pack, but seemed to be the most downhearted of the train. The
+		little mule was the liveliest, sharpest witted animal of the
+		whole. She had probably traveled on the desert before and knew
+		better how to get along. She had learned to crop every spear
+		of grass she came to, and every bit of sage brush that offered
+		a green leaf was given a nip. She would sometimes leave the
+		trail and go out to one side to get a little bunch of dry
+		grass, and come back and take her place again as if she knew
+		her duty. The other animals never tried to do this. The mule
+		was evidently better versed in the art of getting a living
+		than the horses.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Above the rough bed of the ca&ntilde;on the bottom was
+		gravelly and narrow, and the walls on each side nearly
+		perpendicular. Our horses now poked slowly along and as we
+		passed the steep wall of the ca&ntilde;on the white animal
+		left the trail and walked with full force, head first, against
+		the solid rock. She seemed to be blind, and though we went
+		quickly to her and took off the load she carried, she had
+		stopped breathing by the time we had it done. Not knowing how
+		far it was to water, nor how soon some of our other horses
+		might fall, we did not tarry, but pushed on as well as we
+		could, finding no water. We reached the summit and turned down
+		a ravine, following the trail, and about dark came to the
+		water they had told us about, a faint running stream which
+		came out of a rocky ravine and sank almost immediately in the
+		dry sand. There was water enough for us, but no grass. It
+		seemed as if the horses were not strong enough to carry a
+		load, and as we wanted to get them through if possible, we
+		concluded to bury the wheat and get it on our return. We dug a
+		hole and lined it with fine sticks, then put in the little bag
+		and covered it with dry brush, and sand making the surface as
+		smooth as if it had never been touched, then made our bed on
+		it. The whole work was done after dark so the deposit could
+		not be seen by the red men and we thought we had done it
+		pretty carefully.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next morning the little mule carried all the remaining
+		load, the horses bearing only their saddles, and seemed hardly
+		strong enough for that. There was now seven or eight miles of
+		clean loose sand to go over, across a little valley which came
+		to an end about ten miles north of us, and extended south to
+		the lake where we went for water on our outward journey and
+		found it red alkali. Near the Eastern edge of the valley we
+		turned aside to visit the grave of Mr. Isham, which they had
+		told us of. They had covered his remains with their hands as
+		best they could, piling up a little mound of sand over it. Our
+		next camp was to be on the summit of the range just before us,
+		and we passed the dead body of Mr. Fish, we had seen before,
+		and go on a little to a level sandy spot in the ravine just
+		large enough to sleep on. This whole range is a black mass
+		rocky piece of earth, so barren that not a spear of grass can
+		grow, and not a drop of water in any place. We tied our horses
+		to rocks and there they staid all night, for if turned loose
+		there was not a mouthful of food for them to get.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning an important question was to be decided, and
+		that was whether we should continue to follow the Jayhawker's
+		trail which led far to the north to cross the mountain, which
+		stood before us, a mass of piled-up rocks so steep that it
+		seemed as if a dog could hardly climb it. Our wagons were
+		nearly due east from this point over the range, and not more
+		than fifty miles away, while to go around to the north was
+		fully a hundred miles, and would take us four or five days to
+		make. As we had already gone so long we expected to meet them
+		any day trying to get out, and if we went around we might miss
+		them. They might have all been killed by Indians or they might
+		have already gone. We had great fears on their account. If
+		they had gone north they might have perished in the snow.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The range was before us, and we must get to the other side
+		in some way. We could see the range for a hundred miles to the
+		north and along the base some lakes of water that must be
+		salt. To the south it got some lower, but very barren and
+		ending in black, dry buttes. The horses must have food and
+		water by night or we must leave them to die, and all things
+		considered it seemed to be the quickest way to camp to try and
+		get up a rough looking ca&ntilde;on which was nearly opposite
+		us on the other side. So we loaded the mule and made our way
+		down the rocky road to the ridge, and then left the
+		Jayhawker's trail, taking our course more south so as to get
+		around a salt lake which lay directly before us. On our way we
+		had to go close to a steep bluff, and cross a piece of ground
+		that looked like a well dried mortar bed, hard and smooth as
+		ice, and thus got around the head of a small stream of clear
+		water, salt as brine. We now went directly to the mouth of the
+		ca&ntilde;on we had decided to take, and traveled up its
+		gravelly bed. The horses now had to be urged along constantly
+		to keep them moving and they held their heads low down as they
+		crept along seemingly so discouraged that they would much
+		rather lie down and rest forever than take another step. We
+		knew they would do this soon in spite of all our urging, if we
+		could not get water for them. The ca&ntilde;on was rough
+		enough where we entered it, and a heavy up grade too, and this
+		grew more and more difficult as we advanced, and the rough
+		yellowish, rocky walls closed in nearer and nearer together as
+		we ascended.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A perpendicular wall, or rather rise, in the rocks was
+		approached, and there was a great difficulty to persuade the
+		horses to take exertion to get up and over the small
+		obstruction, but the little mule skipped over as nimbly as a
+		well-fed goat, and rather seemed to enjoy a little variety in
+		the proceedings. After some coaxing and urging the horses took
+		courage to try the extra step and succeeded all right, when we
+		all moved on again, over a path that grew more and more
+		narrow, more and more rocky under foot at every moment. We
+		wound around among and between the great rocks, and had not
+		advanced very far before another obstruction, that would have
+		been a fall of about three feet had water been flowing in the
+		ca&ntilde;on, opposed our way. A small pile of lone rocks
+		enabled the mule to go over all right, and she went on looking
+		for every spear of grass, and smelling eagerly for water, but
+		all our efforts were not enough to get the horses along
+		another foot. It was getting nearly night and every minute
+		without water seemed an age. We had to leave the horses and go
+		on. We had deemed them indispensable to us, or rather to the
+		extrication of the women and children, and yet the hope came
+		to us that the oxen might help some of them out as a last
+		resort. We were sure the wagons must be abandoned, and such a
+		thing as women riding on the backs of oxen we had never seen,
+		still it occurred to us as not impossible and although leaving
+		the horses here was like deciding to abandon all for the
+		feeble ones, we saw we must do it, and the new hope arose to
+		sustain us for farther effort. We removed the saddles and
+		placed them on a rock, and after a few moments hesitation,
+		moments in which were crowded torrents of wild ideas, and
+		desperate thoughts, that were enough to drive reason from its
+		throne, we left the poor animals to their fate and moved
+		along. Just as we were passing out of sight the poor creatures
+		neighed pitifully after us, and one who has never heard the
+		last despairing, pleading neigh of a horse left to die can
+		form no idea of its almost human appeal. We both burst into
+		tears, but it was no use, to try to save them we must run the
+		danger of sacrificing ourselves, and the little party we were
+		trying so hard to save.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We found the little mule stopped by a still higher
+		precipice or perpendicular rise of fully ten feet. Our hearts
+		sank within us and we said that we should return to our
+		friends as we went away, with our knapsacks on our backs, and
+		the hope grew very small. The little mule was nipping some
+		stray blades of grass and as we came in sight she looked
+		around to us and then up the steep rocks before her with such
+		a knowing, intelligent look of confidence, that it gave us new
+		courage. It was a strange wild place. The north wall of the
+		ca&ntilde;on leaned far over the channel, overhanging
+		considerably, while the south wall sloped back about the same,
+		making the wall nearly parallel, and like a huge crevice
+		descending into the mountain from above in a sloping
+		direction.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We decided to try to get the confident little mule over
+		this obstruction. Gathering all the loose rocks we could we
+		piled them up against the south wall, beginning some distance
+		below, putting up all those in the bed of the stream and
+		throwing down others from narrow shelves above we built a sort
+		of inclined plane along the walls gradually rising till we
+		were nearly as high as the crest of the fall. Here was a
+		narrow shelf scarcely four inches wide and a space of from
+		twelve to fifteen feet to cross to reach the level of the
+		crest. It was all I could do to cross this space, and there
+		was no foundation to enable us to widen it so as to make a
+		path for an animal. It was forlorn hope but we made the most
+		of it. We unpacked the mule and getting all our ropes
+		together, made a leading line of it. Then we loosened and
+		threw down all the projecting points of rocks we could above
+		the narrow shelf, and every piece that was likely to come
+		loose in the shelf itself. We fastened the leading line to her
+		and with one above and one below we thought we could help her
+		to keep her balance, and if she did not make a misstep on that
+		narrow way she might get over safely. Without a moments
+		hesitation the brave animal tried the pass. Carefully and
+		steadily she went along, selecting a place before putting down
+		a foot, and when she came to the narrow ledge leaned gently on
+		the rope, never making a sudden start or jump, but cautiously
+		as a cat moved slowly along. There was now no turning back for
+		her. She must cross this narrow place over which I had to
+		creep on hands and knees, or be dashed down fifty feet to a
+		certain death. When the worst place was reached she stopped
+		and hesitated, looking back as well as she could. I was ahead
+		with the rope, and I called encouragingly to her and talked to
+		her a little. Rogers wanted to get all ready and he said,
+		&quot;holler&quot; at her as loud as he could and frighten her
+		across, but I thought the best way to talk to her gently and
+		let her move steadily.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I tell you, friends, it was a trying moment. It seemed to
+		be weighed down with all the trails and hardships of many
+		months. It seemed to be the time when helpless women and
+		innocent children hung on the trembling balance between life
+		and death. Our own lives we could save by going back, and
+		sometimes it seemed as if we would perhaps save ourselves the
+		additional sorrow of finding them all dead to do so at once. I
+		was so nearly in despair that I could not help bursting in
+		tears, and I was not ashamed of the weakness. Finally Rogers
+		said, &quot;Come Lewis&quot; and I gently pulled the rope,
+		calling the little animal, to make a trial. She smelled all
+		around and looked over every inch of the strong ledge, then
+		took one careful step after another over the dangerous place.
+		Looking back I saw Rogers with a very large stone in his hand,
+		ready to &quot;holler&quot; and perhaps kill the poor beast if
+		she stopped. But she crept along trusting to the rope to
+		balance, till she was half way across, then another step or
+		two, when calculating the distance closely she made a spring
+		and landed on a smooth bit of sloping rock below, that led up
+		to the highest crest of the precipice, and safely climbed to
+		the top, safe and sound above the falls. The mule had no shoes
+		and it was wonderful how her little hoofs clung to the smooth
+		rock. We felt relieved. We would push on and carry food to the
+		people; we would get them through some way; there could be no
+		more hopeless moment than the one just past, and we would save
+		them all.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was the work of a little while to transfer the load up
+		the precipice, and pack the mule again, when we proceeded.
+		Around behind some rocks only a little distance beyond this
+		place we found a small willow bush and enough good water for a
+		camp. This was a strange ca&ntilde;on. The sun never shown
+		down to the bottom in the fearful place where the little mule
+		climbed up, and the rocks had a peculiar yellow color. In
+		getting our provisions up the precipice, Rogers went below and
+		fastened the rope while I pulled them up. Rogers wished many
+		times we had the horses up safely where the mule was, but a
+		dog could hardly cross the narrow path and there was no hope.
+		Poor brutes, they had been faithful servants, and we felt
+		sorrowful enough at their terrible fate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had walked two days without water, and we were
+		wonderfully refreshed as we found it here. The way up this
+		ca&ntilde;on was very rough and the bed full of sharp broken
+		rocks in loose pieces which cut through the bottoms of our
+		moccasins and left us with bare feet upon the acute points and
+		edges. I took off one of my buckskin leggins, and gave it to
+		Rogers, and with the other one for myself we fixed the
+		moccasins with them as well as we could, which enabled us to
+		go ahead, but I think if our feet had been shod with steel
+		those sharp rocks would have cut through.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Starting early we made the summit about noon, and from here
+		we could see the place where we found a water hole and camped
+		the first night after we left the wagons. Down the steep
+		ca&ntilde;on we turned, the same one in which we had turned
+		back with the wagons, and over the sharp broken pieces of
+		volcanic rock that formed our only footing we hobbled along
+		with sore and tender feet. We had to watch for the smoothest
+		place for every step, and then moved only with the greatest
+		difficulty. The Indians could have caught us easily if they
+		had been around for we must keep our eyes on the ground
+		constantly and stop if we looked up and around. But we at last
+		got down and camped on some spot where we had set out
+		twenty-five days before to seek the settlements. Here was the
+		same little water hole in the sand plain, and the same strong
+		sulphur water which we had to drink the day we left. The mule
+		was turned loose dragging the same piece of rawhide she had
+		attached to her when we purchased her, and she ranged and
+		searched faithfully for food finding little except the very
+		scattering bunches of sage brush. She was industrious and
+		walked around rapidly picking here and there, but at dark came
+		into camp and lay down close to us to sleep.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was no sign that any one had been here during our
+		absence, and if the people had gone to hunt a way out, they
+		must either have followed the Jayhawker's trail or some other
+		one. We were much afraid that they might have fallen victims
+		to the Indians. Remaining in camp so long it was quite likely
+		they had been discovered by them and it was quite likely they
+		had been murdered for the sake of the oxen and camp equipage.
+		It might be that we should find the hostiles waiting for us
+		when we reached the appointed camping place, and it was small
+		show for two against a party. Our mule and her load would be a
+		great capture for them. We talked a great deal and said a
+		great many things at that camp fire for we knew we were in
+		great danger, and we had many doubts about the safety of our
+		people, that would soon be decided, and whether for joy or
+		sorrow we could not tell.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From this place, as we walked along, we had a wagon road to
+		follow, in soft sand, but not a sign of a human footstep could
+		we see, as we marched toward this, the camp of the last hope.
+		We had the greatest fears the people had given up our return
+		and started out for themselves and that we should follow on,
+		only to find them dead or dying. My pen fails me as I try to
+		tell the feelings and thoughts of this trying hour. I can
+		never hope to do so, but if the reader can place himself in my
+		place, his imagination cannot form a picture that shall go
+		beyond reality.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were some seven or eight miles along the road when I
+		stopped to fix my moccasin while Rogers went slowly along. The
+		little mule went on ahead of both of us, searching all around
+		for little bunches of dry grass, but always came back to the
+		trail again and gave us no trouble. When I had started up
+		again I saw Rogers ahead leaning on his gun and waiting for
+		me, apparently looking at something on the ground. As I came
+		near enough to speak I asked what he had found and he
+		said&mdash;&quot;Here is Capt. Culverwell, dead.&quot; He did
+		not look much like a dead man. He lay upon his back with arms
+		extended wide, and his little canteen, made of two powder
+		flasks, lying by his side. This looked indeed as if some of
+		our saddest forebodings were coming true. How many more bodies
+		should we find? Or should we find the camp deserted, and never
+		find a trace of the former occupants.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We marched toward camp like two Indians, silent and alert,
+		looking out for dead bodies and live Indians, for really we
+		more expected to find the camp devastated by those rascals
+		than to find that it still contained our friends. To the east
+		we could plainly see what seemed to be a large salt lake with
+		a bed that looked as if of the finest, whitest sand, but
+		really a wonder of salt crystal. We put the dreary steps
+		steadily one forward of another, the little mule the only
+		unconcerned one of the party, ever looking for an odd blade of
+		grass, dried in the hot dry wind, but yet retaining
+		nourishment, which she preferred.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About noon we came in sight of the wagons, still a long way
+		off, but in the clear air we could make them out, and tell
+		what they were, without being able to see anything more. Half
+		a mile was the distance between us and the camp before we
+		could see very plainly, as they were in a little depression.
+		We could see the covers had been taken off, and this was an
+		ominous sort of circumstance to us, for we feared the
+		depredations of the Indians in retaliation for the capture of
+		their squashes. They had shot our oxen before we left and they
+		have slain them this time and the people too.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We surely left seven wagons. Now we could see only four and
+		nowhere the sign of an ox. They must have gone ahead with a
+		small train, and left these four standing, after dismantling
+		them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>No signs of life were anywhere about, and the thought of
+		our hard struggles between life and death to go out and
+		return, with the fruitless results that now seemed apparent
+		was almost more than human heart could bear. When should we
+		know their fate? When should we find their remains, and how
+		learn of their sad history if we ourselves should live to get
+		back again to settlements and life? If ever two men were
+		troubled, Rogers and I surely passed through the furnace.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We kept as low and as much out of sight as possible,
+		trusting very much to the little mule that was ahead, for we
+		felt sure she would detect danger in the air sooner than we,
+		and we watched her closely to see how she acted. She slowly
+		walked along looking out for food, and we followed a little
+		way behind, but still no decisive sign to settle the awful
+		suspense in which we lived and suffered. We became more and
+		more convinced that they had taken the trail of the
+		Jayhawkers, and we had missed them on the road, or they had
+		perished before reaching the place where we turned from their
+		trail.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One hundred yards now to the wagons and still no sign of
+		life, no positive sign of death, though we looked carefully
+		for both. We fear that perhaps there are Indians in ambush,
+		and with nervous irregular breathing we counsel what to do.
+		Finally Rogers suggested that he had two charges in his shot
+		gun and I seven in the Coll's rifle, and that I fire one of
+		mine and await results before we ventured any nearer, and if
+		there are any of the red devils there we can kill some of them
+		before they get to us. And now both closely watching the
+		wagons I fired the shot. Still as death and not a move for a
+		moment, and then as if by magic a man came out from under a
+		wagon and stood up looking all around, for he did not see us.
+		Then he threw up his arms high over his head and
+		shouted&mdash;&quot;The boys have come. The boys have
+		come!&quot; Then other bare heads appeared, and Mr. Bennett
+		and wife and Mr. Arcane came toward us as fast as ever they
+		could. The great suspense was over and our hearts were first
+		in our mouths, and then the blood all went away and left us
+		almost fainting as we stood and tried to step. Some were safe
+		perhaps all of those nearest us, and the dark shadow of death
+		that had hovered over us, and cast what seemed a pall upon
+		every thought and action, was lifted and fell away a heavy
+		oppression gone. Bennett and Arcane caught us in their arms
+		and embraced us with all their strength, and Mrs. Bennett when
+		she came fell down on her knees and clung to me like a maniac
+		in the great emotion that came to her, and not a word was
+		spoken. If they had been strong enough they would have carried
+		us to camp upon their shoulders. As it was they stopped two or
+		three times, and turned as if to speak, but there was too much
+		feeling for words, convulsive weeping would choke the
+		voice.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All were a little calmer soon, and Bennett soon found voice
+		to say:&mdash;&quot;I know you have found some place, for you
+		have a mule,&quot; and Mrs. Bennett through her tears, looked
+		staringly at us as she could hardly believe our coming back
+		was a reality, and then exclaimed:&mdash;&quot;Good boys! O,
+		you have saved us all! God bless you forever! Such boys should
+		never die!&quot; It was some time before they could talk
+		without weeping. Hope almost died within them, and now when
+		the first bright ray came it almost turned reason from its
+		throne. A brighter happier look came to them than we had seen,
+		and then they plied us with questions the first of which
+		was:&mdash;&quot;Where were you?&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We told them it must be 250 miles yet to any part of
+		California where we could live. Then came the
+		question;&mdash;&quot;Can we take our wagons?&quot; &quot;You
+		will have to walk,&quot; was our answer, for no wagons could
+		go over that unbroken road that we had traveled. As rapidly
+		and carefully as we could we told them of our journey, and the
+		long distance between the water holes; that we had lost no
+		time and yet had been twenty six days on the road; that for a
+		long distance the country was about as dry and desolate as the
+		region we had crossed east of this camp. We told them of the
+		scarcity of grass, and all the reasons that had kept us so
+		long away from them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We inquired after the others whom we had left in camp when
+		we went away, and we were told all they knew about them.
+		Hardly were we gone before they began to talk about the state
+		of affairs which existed. They said that as they had nothing
+		to live on but their oxen it would be certain death to wait
+		here and eat them up, and that it would be much better to move
+		on a little every day and get nearer and nearer the goal
+		before the food failed. Bennett told them they would know
+		surely about the way when the boys returned, and knowing the
+		road would know how to manage and what to expect and work for,
+		and could get out successfully. But the general opinion of all
+		but Mr. Bennett and Mr. Arcane and their families was, as
+		expressed by one of them:&mdash;&quot;If those boys ever get
+		out of this cussed hole, they are d----d fools if they ever
+		come back to help anybody.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some did not stay more than a week after we were gone, but
+		took their oxen and blankets and started on. They could not be
+		content to stay idly in camp with nothing to occupy their
+		minds or bodies. They could see that an ox when killed would
+		feed them only a few days, and that they could not live long
+		on them, and it stood them in hand to get nearer the western
+		shore as the less distance the more hope while the meat
+		lasted. Bennett implored them to stay as he was sure we would
+		come back, and if the most of them deserted him he would be
+		exposed to the danger of the Indians, with no hope of a
+		successful resistance against them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>But the most seemed to think that to stay was to die, and
+		it would be better to die trying to escape than to set idly
+		down to perish. These men seemed to think their first duty was
+		to save themselves, and if fortunate, help others afterward,
+		so they packed their oxen and left in separate parties, the
+		last some two weeks before. They said that Capt. Culverwell
+		went with the last party. I afterward learned that he could
+		not keep up with them and turned to go back to the wagons
+		again, and perished, stretched out upon the sand as we saw
+		him, dying all alone, with no one to transmit his last words
+		to family or friends. Not a morsel to eat, and the little
+		canteen by his side empty. A sad and lonely death indeed!<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was no end to the questions about the road we had to
+		answer, for this was uppermost on their minds, and we tried to
+		tell them and show them how we must get along on our return.
+		We told them of the great snow mountains we had seen all to
+		the north of our road, and how deep the snow appeared to be,
+		and how far west it extended. We told them of the black and
+		desolate ranges and buttes to the south, and of the great dry
+		plains in the same direction. We told them of the Jayhawkers
+		trail; of Fish's dead body; of the salt lake and slippery
+		alkali water to which we walked, only to turn away in
+		disappointment; of the little sheets of ice which saved our
+		lives; of Doty's camp and what we knew of those gone before;
+		of the discouraged ones who gave us their names to send back
+		to friends; of the hawk and crow diet; of my lameness; of the
+		final coming out into a beautiful valley, in the midst of fat
+		cattle and green meadows, and the trouble to get the help
+		arranged on account of not knowing the language to tell the
+		people what we needed. They were deeply impressed that my
+		lameness had been a blessing in disguise, or we would have
+		gone on to the coast and consumed more time than we did in
+		walking slowly to favor the cripple knee. Our sad adventures
+		and loss of the horses in returning was sorrowfully told and
+		we spoke of the provisions we had been able to bring on the
+		little mule which had clambered over the rocks like a cat;
+		that we had a little flour and beans, and some good dried meat
+		with fat on it which we hoped would help to eke out the poorer
+		fare and get them through at last. They were so full of
+		compliments that we really began to think we had been brought
+		into the world on purpose to assist some one, and the one who
+		could forecast all things had directed us, and all our ways,
+		so that we should save those people and bring them to a better
+		part of God's footstool, where plenty might be enjoyed, and
+		the sorrows of the desert forgotten. It was midnight before we
+		could get them all satisfied with their knowledge of our
+		experience.</p>
+		<br>
+		<div align="center">
+			<p><img src="images/leaving_dv.png" alt="Leaving Death
+			Valley--The Manly Party on Foot After Leaving Their
+			Wagons" width="100%" border="0"><a
+			name="Anchor-24201"></a></p>
+			<p><b>LEAVING DEATH VALLEY&mdash;THE MANLY PARTY ON FOOT
+			AFTER LEAVING THEIR WAGONS.</b></p>
+		</div>
+		<br>
+		<p>It was quite a treat to us to sleep again between good
+		blankets, arranged by a woman's hand, and it was much better
+		resting than the curled up, cramped position we had slept in
+		while away, with only the poor protection of the half blanket
+		for both of us, in nights that were pretty chilly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had plenty of water here, and there being no fear of the
+		mule going astray we turned her loose. As the party had seen
+		no Indians during our absence we did not concern ourselves
+		much about them. At breakfast we cautioned them about eating
+		too much bread, remembering, our own experience in that
+		way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They said they had about given up our coming back a week
+		before, and had set about getting ready to try to move on
+		themselves. Bennett said he was satisfied that they never
+		could have got through alone after what we had told them of
+		the route and its dangers. He said he knew it now that not one
+		of them would have lived if they had undertaken the journey
+		alone without knowledge of the way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They had taken off the covers of the wagons to make them
+		into houses for the oxen, so they could be used as pack
+		animals. The strong cloth had been cut into narrow strips and
+		well made into breast straps and breeching, for the cattle
+		were so poor and their hide so loose it was almost impossible
+		to keep anything on their backs. They had emptied the feathers
+		out of the beds to get the cloth to use, and had tried to do
+		everything that seemed best to do to get along without wagons.
+		The oxen came up for water, and the mule with them. They
+		looked better than when we left, but were still poor. They had
+		rested for some time and might feel able to go along willingly
+		for a few days at least. I was handy with the needle, and
+		helped them to complete the harness for the oxen, while
+		Bennett and John went to the lake to get a supply of salt to
+		take along, a most necessary article with our fresh meat. I
+		looked around a little at our surroundings, and could see the
+		snow still drifting over the peak of the snowy mountain as we
+		had seen it farther east, where we were ourselves under the
+		burning sun. This was now pretty near February first, or
+		midwinter. The eastern side of this great mountain was too
+		steep to be ascended, and no sign of a tree could be seen on
+		the whole eastern slope. The range of mountains on the east
+		side of this narrow valley were nearly all the volcanic,
+		barren in the extreme, and the roughest of all the mountains
+		we had ever seen. I had now looked pretty thoroughly, and
+		found it to be pretty nearly a hundred miles long, and this
+		was the only camp I had seen where water could be had.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When Mrs. Bennet was ready to show me what to do on the
+		cloth harness, we took a seat under the wagon, the only shady
+		place and began work. The great mountain, I have spoken of as
+		the snow mountain has since been known as Telescope Peak,
+		reported to be 11,000 feet high. It is in the range running
+		north and south and has no other peak so high. Mrs. Bennett
+		questioned me closely about the trip, and particularly if I
+		had left anything out which I did not want her to know. She
+		said she saw her chance to ride was very slim, and she spoke
+		particularly of the children, and that it was impossible for
+		them to walk. She said little Martha had been very sick since
+		we had been gone, and that for many days they had expected her
+		to die. They had no medicine to relieve her and the best they
+		could do was to select the best of the ox meat, and make a
+		little soup of it and feed her, they had watched her carefully
+		for many days and nights, expecting they would have to part
+		with her any time and bury her little body in the sands.
+		Sometimes it seemed as if her breath would stop, but they had
+		never failed in their attentions, and were at last rewarded by
+		seeing her improve slowly, and even to relish a little food,
+		so that if no relapse set in they had hopes to bring her
+		through. They brought the little one and showed her to me, and
+		she seemed so different from what she was when we went away.
+		Then she could run about camp climb out and in the wagons, and
+		move about so spry that she reminded one of a quail. Now she
+		was strangely misshapen. Her limbs had lost all the flesh and
+		seemed nothing but skin and bones, while her body had grown
+		corpulent and distended, and her face had a starved pinched
+		and suffering look, with no healthy color in it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>She told me of their sufferings while we were gone, and
+		said she often dreamed she saw us suffering fearfully for
+		water, and lack of food and could only picture to herself as
+		their own fate, that they must leave the children by the trail
+		side, dead, and one by one drop out themselves in the same
+		way. She said she dreamed often of her old home where bread
+		was plenty, and then to awake to find her husband and children
+		starving was a severe trial indeed, and the contrast terrible.
+		She was anxious to get me to express an opinion as to whether
+		I thought we could get the oxen down the falls where we had so
+		much trouble.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I talked to her as encouragingly as I could, but she did
+		not cheer up much and sobbed and wept over her work most all
+		the time. It was not possible to encourage her much, the
+		outlook seemed so dark. Mrs. Arcane sat under another wagon
+		and said nothing, but she probably heard all we had to say,
+		and did not look as if her hopes were any brighter. Bennett
+		and Rogers soon returned with a supply of salt and said the
+		whole shore of the lake was a winrow of it, that could be
+		shoveled up in enormous quantities.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now in a counsel of the whole, talked over the matter,
+		and the way which seemed most promising. If we went by the
+		Jayhawkers trail, there was a week of solid travel to get over
+		the range and back south again as far as a point directly
+		opposite our camp, and this had taken us only three days to
+		come over as we had come. The only obstacle in the way was the
+		falls, and when we explained that there was some sand at the
+		bottom of them, Bennett said he thought we could get them over
+		without killing them, and that, as we knew exactly where the
+		water was, this was the best trail to take. Arcane was quite
+		of the same opinion, the saving of a week of hard and tiresome
+		travel being in each case the deciding reason. They then
+		explained to me what they had decided on doing if we had not
+		come back. They had selected two oxen for the women to ride
+		one to carry water and one to carry the four children. There
+		were no saddles but blankets enough to make a soft seat, and
+		they proposed to put a band or belt around the animals for
+		them to hold on by, and the blankets would be retained in
+		place by breast and breeching straps which we had made. They
+		had found out that it was very difficult to keep a load of any
+		kind upon an ox, and had devised all this harness to meet the
+		trouble.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bennett had one old bridle ox called Old Crump, which had
+		been selected to carry the children, because he was slow and
+		steady. &quot;How in the world do you expect it to keep the
+		children on?&quot;&mdash;said I. &quot;Well&quot;&mdash; said
+		Bennett, with a sort of comical air, about the first relief
+		from the sad line of thought that had possessed us
+		all&mdash;&quot;We have taken two strong hickory shirts,
+		turned the sleeves inside, sewed up the necks, then sewed the
+		two shirts together by the tail, and when these are placed on
+		the ox they will make two pockets for the youngest children,
+		and we think the two others will be able to cling to his back
+		with the help of a band around the body of the ox to which
+		they can cling to, with their hands.&quot; Now if Old Crump
+		went steady and did not kick up and scatter things, he thought
+		this plan would operate first rate. Now as to the mule they
+		proposed as we knew how to pack the animal, that we should use
+		her to pack our provisions so they would go safe.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From a piece of hide yet remaining John and I made
+		ourselves some new moccasins, and were all ready to try the
+		trip over our old trail for now the third time, and the last,
+		we hoped.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane had taken our advice, and in
+		cooking had not put too much of the flour or beans into the
+		soup for the children and they had gotten along nicely, and
+		even began to smile a little with satisfaction after a full
+		meal. They got along better than John and I did when we got
+		hold of the first nutritions after our arrival on the other
+		side.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We must leave everything here we can get along without. No
+		clothing except that on our backs. Only a camp kettle in which
+		to make soup, a tin cup for each one, and some knives and
+		spoons which each happen to have. Each one had some sort of a
+		canteen for water, which we must fill up at every opportunity,
+		and we decided to carry a shovel along, so we might bury the
+		body of Capt. Culverwell, and shovel up a pile of sand at the
+		falls to enable us to get the oxen over. Every ox had a cloth
+		halter on his head, so he might be led, or tied up at night
+		when we had a dry camp, and they would most assuredly wander
+		off if not secured. Old Crump was chosen to lead the train,
+		and Rogers was to lead him. We had made an extra halter for
+		this old fellow, and quite a long strip of bed ticking sewed
+		into a strap to lead him by.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This packing business was a new idea, and a hard matter to
+		get anything firmly fixed on their backs.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had made shoulder straps, hip straps, breast straps and
+		breeching as the correct idea for a harness. The only way we
+		could fasten the band around the animals was for one to get on
+		each side and pull it as tight as possible then tie a knot, as
+		we had no buckles or ring in our harness.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The loads of the oxen consisted of blankets and bedding and
+		a small, light tent of their sheeting about four by six feet
+		in size. We rose early and worked hard till about the middle
+		of the forenoon getting all things ready. They had been in a
+		state of masterly inactivity so long in this one camp that
+		they were anxious to leave it now forever. Only in progress
+		was there hope, and this was our last and only chance. We must
+		succeed or perish. We loaded the animals from the wagons, and
+		some of the oxen seemed quite afraid at this new way of
+		carrying loads. Old Crump was pretty steady, and so was the
+		one with the two water kegs one on each side but the other
+		oxen did not seem to think they needed any blankets on these
+		warm days.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mrs. Arcane was from a city, and had fondly conveyed thus
+		far some articles of finery, of considerable value and much
+		prized. She could not be persuaded to leave them here to deck
+		the red man's wife, and have her go flirting over the
+		mountains with, and as they had little weight she concluded
+		she would wear them and this perhaps would preserve them. So
+		she got out her best hat and trimmed it up with extra ribbon
+		leaving some with quite long ends to stream out behind. Arcane
+		brought up his ox Old Brigham, for he had been purchased at
+		Salt Lake and named in honor of the great Mormon Saint.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mrs. Arcane also dressed her little boy Charlie up In his
+		best suit of clothes, for she thought they might as well wear
+		them out as to throw them away. She made one think of a fairy
+		in gay and flying apparel. In the same way all selected their
+		best and most serviceable garments, for it was not considered
+		prudent to carry any load, and poor clothes were good enough
+		to leave for Indians. We set it down as a principle that we
+		must save ourselves all we could, for it would be a close
+		contested struggle with us and death, at the very best, and we
+		wanted to get all the advantage for ourselves we could. As we
+		were making the preparations the women grew more hopeful, as
+		it seemed as if something was really going to be
+		accomplished.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bennett and Arcane were emphatic in their belief and
+		expressions that we would succeed, &quot;I know it&mdash;Don't
+		you Sally?&quot; said Bennett very cheerfully, but after all
+		Mrs. Bennett could not answer quite as positively, but said
+		&quot;I hope so.&quot;&mdash;Mrs. Bennett's maiden name was
+		Sarah Dilley, which I mention here as I may otherwise forget
+		it afterward. She realized that hers was no easy place to
+		ride, that they would have hard fare at best, and that it must
+		be nearly or quite a month before they could reach a fertile
+		spot on which to place her feet. One could easily see that the
+		future looked quite a little dark to her, on account of her
+		children, as a mother naturally would.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>High overhead was the sun, and very warm indeed on that day
+		in the fore part of February 1850, when the two children were
+		put on Old Crump to see if he would let them ride. The two
+		small children were placed in the pockets on each side, face
+		outward, and they could stand or sit as they should choose.
+		George and Melissa were placed on top and given hold of the
+		strap that was to steady them in their place. I now led up
+		Mrs. Bennett's ox and Mr. Bennett helped his wife to mount the
+		animal, on whose back as soft a seat as possible had been
+		constructed. Mrs. Arcane in her ribbons was now helped to her
+		seat on the back of Old Brigham and she carefully adjusted
+		herself to position, and arranged her dress and ornaments to
+		suit, then took hold of the strap that served to hold on by as
+		there were no bridles on these two.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rogers led the march with his ox; Bennett and I started the
+		others along, and Arcane followed with Old Crump and the
+		children. Bennett and Arcane took off their hats and bade the
+		old camp good bye. The whole procession moved, and we were
+		once more going toward our journey's end we hoped. The road
+		was sandy and soft, the grade practically level, and
+		everything went well for about four miles, when the pack on
+		one of the oxen near the lead got loose and and turned over to
+		one side, which he no sooner saw thus out of position, then he
+		tried to get away from it by moving sidewise. Not getting
+		clear of the objectionable load in this way he tried to kick
+		it off, and thus really got his foot in it, making matters
+		worse instead of better. Then he began a regular waltz and
+		bawled at the top of his voice in terror. Rogers tried to
+		catch him but his own animal was so frisky that he could not
+		hold him and do much else, and the spirit of fear soon began
+		to be communicated to the others and soon the whole train
+		seemed to be taken crazy.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They would jump up high and then come down, sticking their
+		fore feet as far as possible into the sand after which, with
+		elevated tails, and terrible plunges would kick and thrash and
+		run till the packs came off, when they stopped apparently
+		quite satisfied. Mrs. Bennett slipped off her ox as quick as
+		she could, grabbed her baby from the pocket on Old Crump, and
+		shouting to Melissa and George to jump, got her family into
+		safe position in pretty short order. Arcane took his Charley
+		from the other pocket and laid him on the ground, while he
+		devoted his own attention to the animals. Mrs. Arcane's ox
+		followed suit, and waltzed around in the sand, bawled at every
+		turn, fully as bad as any of the others, but Mrs. Arcane
+		proved to be a good rider, and hard to unseat, clinging
+		desperately to her strap as she was tossed up and down, and
+		whirled about at a rate enough to to make any one dizzy. Her
+		many fine ribbons flew out behind like the streamers from a
+		mast-head, and the many fancy fixin's she had donned fluttered
+		in the air in gayest mockery. Eventually she was thrown
+		however, but without the least injury to herself, but somewhat
+		disordered in raiment. When I saw Bennett he was standing half
+		bent over laughing in almost hysterical convulsion at the
+		entirely impromptu circus which had so suddenly performed an
+		act not on the program. Arcane was much pleased and laughed
+		heartily when he saw no one was hurt. We did not think the
+		cattle had so much life and so little sense as to waste their
+		energies so uselessly. The little mule stepped out one side
+		and looked on in amazement, with out disarranging any article
+		of her load.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mrs. Bennett, carrying her baby and walking around to keep
+		out of the way, got very much exhausted, and sat down on the
+		sand, her face as red as if the blood were about to burst
+		through the skin, and perspiring freely. We carried a blanket
+		and spread down for her while we gathered in the scattered
+		baggage. Then the oxen were got together again, and submitted
+		to being loaded up again as quietly as if nothing had
+		happened. Myself and the women had to mend the harness
+		considerably, and Arcane and his ox went back for some water,
+		while Rogers and Bennett took the shovel and went ahead about
+		a mile to cover up the body of Capt. Culverwell, for some of
+		the party feared the cattle might be terrified at seeing it.
+		All this took so much time that we had to make a camp of it
+		right here.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We put the camp kettle on two stones, built a fire, put in
+		some beans and dried meat cut very fine, which cooked till
+		Arcane came with more water, which was added, and thickened
+		with a little of the unbolted flour, making a pretty good and
+		nutritious soup which we all enjoyed. We had to secure the
+		animals, for there was neither grass nor water for them, and
+		we thought they might not be in so good spirits another
+		day.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had little trouble in packing up again in the morning,
+		and concluded to take a nearer route to the summit, so as to
+		more quickly reach the water holes where Rogers and I camped
+		on our first trip over the country. This would be a hard rocky
+		road on its course leading up a small rocky ca&ntilde;on, hard
+		on the feet of the oxen, so they had to be constantly urged
+		on, as they seemed very tender footed. They showed no
+		disposition to go on a spree again and so far as keeping the
+		loads on, behaved very well indeed. The women did not attempt
+		to ride but followed on, close after Old Crump and the
+		children who required almost constant attention, for in their
+		cramped position they made many cries and complaints. To think
+		of it, two children cramped up in narrow pockets, in which
+		they could not turn around, jolted and pitched around over the
+		rough road, made them objects of great suffering to themselves
+		and anxiety and labor on the part of the mothers.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mrs. Bennett said she would carry her baby if she could,
+		but her own body was so heavy for her strength that she could
+		not do it. Bennett, Rogers and myself hurried the oxen all we
+		could, so that we could reach the water, and let Bennett go
+		back with some to meet the rest and refresh them for the end
+		of the day's march, and he could take poor little Martha from
+		the pocket and carry her in his arms, which would be a great
+		relief to her. Arcane also took his child when he met them,
+		throwing away his double barrel gun, saying:&mdash;&quot;I
+		have no use for you.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the women reached camp we had blankets already spread
+		down for them, on which they cast themselves, so tired as to
+		be nearly dead. They were so tired and discouraged they were
+		ready to die, for they felt they could not endure many days
+		like this.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We told them this was the first day and they were not used
+		to exercise therefore more easily tired than after they became
+		a little used to it. We told them not to be discouraged, for
+		we knew every water hole, and all the road over which we would
+		pilot them safely. They would not consent to try riding again,
+		after their circus experience, and Mrs. Arcane said her limbs
+		ached so much she did not think she could even go on the next
+		day. They had climbed over the rocks all day, and were lame
+		and sore, and truly thought they could not endure such another
+		day. The trail had been more like stairs than a road in its
+		steep ascent, and our camp was at a narrow pass in the range.
+		The sky was clear and cloudless, as it had been for so long
+		for thus far upon this route no rain had fallen, and only once
+		a little snow, that came to us like manna in the desert. For
+		many days we had been obliged to go without water both we and
+		our cattle, and over the route we had come we had not seen any
+		signs of a white man's presence older than our own. I have no
+		doubt we were the first to cross the valley in this location,
+		a visible sink hole in the desert.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The women did not recover sufficient energy to remove their
+		clothing, but slept as they were, and sat up and looked around
+		with uncombed hair in the morning, perfect pictures of
+		dejection. We let them rest as long as we could, for their
+		swollen eyes and stiffened joints told how sadly unprepared
+		they were to go forward at once. The sun came out early and
+		made it comfortable, while a cool and tonic breeze, came down
+		from the great snow mountain the very thing to brace them up
+		after a thorough rest.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The slope to the east was soon met by a high ridge and
+		between this and the main mountain was a gentle slope
+		scattered over with sage brush, and a few little stools of
+		bunch grass here and there between. This gave our oxen a
+		little food and by dipping out the water from the holes and
+		letting them fill up again we managed to get water for camp
+		use and to give the animals nearly all they wanted.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While waiting for the women Bennett and Arcane wanted to go
+		out and get a good view of the great snowy mountain I had told
+		them so much about. The best point of view was near our camp,
+		perhaps three or four hundred yards away, and I went with
+		them. This place where we now stood was lower than the
+		mountains either north or south, but were difficult to climb,
+		and gave a good view in almost every direction, and there, on
+		the back bone of the ridge we had a grand outlook, but some
+		parts of it brought back doleful recollections. They said they
+		had traveled in sight of that mountain for months and seen
+		many strange formations, but never one like this, as developed
+		from this point. It looked to be seventy-five miles to its
+		base, and to the north and west there was a succession of
+		snowy peaks that seemed to have no end. Bennett and Arcane
+		said they never before supposed America contained mountains so
+		grand with peaks that so nearly seemed to pierce the sky.
+		Nothing except a bird could ever cross such steep ranges as
+		that one.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>West and south it seemed level, and low, dark and barren
+		buttes rose from the plain, but never high enough to carry
+		snow, even at this season of the year. I pointed out to them
+		the route we were to follow, noting the prominent points, and
+		it could be traced for fully one hundred and twenty-five miles
+		from the point on which we stood. This plain, with its barren
+		ranges and buttes is now known as the Mojave Desert. This part
+		of the view they seemed to study over, as if to fix every
+		point and water hole upon their memory. We turned to go to
+		camp, but no one looked back on the country we had come over
+		since we first made out the distant snow peak, now so near us,
+		on November 4th 1849. The only butte in this direction that
+		carried snow was the one where we captured the Indian and
+		where the squashes were found.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The range next east of us across the low valley was barren
+		to look upon as a naked, single rock. There were peaks of
+		various heights and colors, yellow, blue firery red and nearly
+		black. It looked as if it might sometime have been the center
+		of a mammoth furnace. I believe this range is known as the
+		Coffin's Mountains. It would be difficult to find earth enough
+		in the whole of it to cover a coffin.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Just as we were ready to leave and return to camp we took
+		off our hats, and then overlooking the scene of so much trial,
+		suffering and death spoke the thought uppermost
+		saying:&mdash;&quot;<i>Good bye Death Valley!&quot;</i> then
+		faced away and made our steps toward camp. Even after this in
+		speaking of this long and narrow valley over which we had
+		crossed into its nearly central part, and on the edge of which
+		the lone camp was made, for so many days, it was called Death
+		Valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Many accounts have been given to the world as to the origin
+		of the name and by whom it was thus designated but ours were
+		the first visible footsteps, and we the party which named it
+		the saddest and most dreadful name that came to us first from
+		its memories.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=116 alt="" src="images/ch_10.png" width=165
+			border=0><br>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-1554"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>Out of Death Valley we surely were. To Rogers and I, the
+		case seemed hopeful, for we had confidence in the road and
+		believed all would have power to weather difficulties, but the
+		poor women&mdash;it is hard to say what complaints and sorrows
+		were not theirs. They seemed to think they stood at death's
+		door, and would about as soon enter, as to take up a farther
+		march over the black, desolate mountains and dry plains before
+		them, which they considered only a dreary vestibule to the
+		dark door after all. They even had an idea that the road was
+		longer than we told them, and they never could live to march
+		so far over the sandy, rocky roads. The first day nearly
+		satisfied them that it was no use to try, Rogers and I counted
+		up the camps we ought to reach each day and in this way could
+		pretty near convince them of time that would be consumed in
+		the trip. We encouraged them in every way we could; told them
+		we had better get along a little every day and make ourselves
+		a little nearer the promised land, and the very exercise would
+		soon make them stronger and able to make a full day's
+		march.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>John and I told them we felt in much better spirits now
+		than we did when we set out alone, and now that nothing but
+		the arrows of an Indian could stop us. We said to them.
+		&quot;We are not going to leave you two ladies out here to die
+		for there is not a sign of a grave to put you in,&mdash;&quot;
+		and it was a pretty tough place to think of making one. We
+		told them of the beautiful flowery hillsides over the other
+		side and begged them to go over there to die, as it would be
+		so much better and easier to perform the last sad rites there
+		instead of here on the top of the dismal mountain. It seemed
+		quite like a grim joke, but it produced a reaction that turned
+		the tide of thoughts and brought more courage. We only laid
+		out the march for this day as far as the falls and after a
+		little prepared to move. The cattle seemed to have quit their
+		foolishness, and they were loaded without trouble. The
+		children fitted into the pockets better than usual, and the
+		mothers with full canteens strapped across their shoulders
+		picked out soft places on which to place their poor blistered
+		feet at every step. They walked as if they were troubled with
+		corns on every toe and on their heels into the bargain, and
+		each foot was so badly affected, that they did not know on
+		which one to limp. But still they moved, and we were once more
+		on our way westward. They often stopped to rest, and Arcane
+		waited for them with Old Crump, while they breathed and
+		complained awhile and then passed on again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height="75%" alt="The Oxen Get Frisky."
+			src="images/frisky_oxen.png" border=0><a name="Anchor-43659"></a>
+			<h4><b>THE OXEN GET FRISKY</b></h4>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>The route was first along the foot of the high peak, over
+		bare rocks and we soon turned south somewhat so as to enter
+		the ca&ntilde;on leading down to the falls. The bottom of this
+		was thick with broken rock, and the oxen limped and picked out
+		soft places about as bad as the women did. A pair of moccasins
+		would not last long in such rocks and we hoped to get out of
+		them very soon. Rogers and I hurried along, assisting Arcane
+		and his party as much as we could, while Bennett staid behind
+		and assisted the women as much as possible, taking their arms,
+		and by this means they also reached camp an hour behind the
+		rest.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A kettle of hot steaming soup, and blankets all spread out
+		on which to rest, was the work Rogers and I had done to
+		prepare for them, and they sank down on the beds completely
+		exhausted. The children cried some but were soon pacified and
+		were contented to lie still. A good supper of hot soup made
+		them feel much better all around.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The first thing Bennett and Arcane did was to look round
+		and see the situation at the falls, and see if the obstacle
+		was enough to stop our progress, or if we must turn back and
+		look for a better way. They were in some doubt about it, but
+		concluded to try and get the animals over rather than to take
+		the time to seek another pass, which might take a week of
+		time. We men all went down to the foot of the fall, and threw
+		out all the large rocks, then piled up all the sand we could
+		scrape together with the shovel, till we had quite a pile of
+		material that would tend to break a fall. We arranged
+		everything possible for a forced passage in the morning, and
+		the animals found a few willows to browse and a few bunches of
+		grass here and there, which gave them a little food, while the
+		spring supplied them with enough water to keep them from
+		suffering with thirst.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early in the morning we took our soup hastily and with
+		ropes lowered our luggage over the small precipice, then the
+		children, and finally all the ropes were combined to make a
+		single strong one about thirty feet long. They urged one of
+		the oxen up to the edge of the falls, put the rope around his
+		horns, and threw down the end to me, whom they had stationed
+		below. I was told to pull hard when he started so that he
+		might not light on his head and break his neck. We felt this
+		was a desperate undertaking, and we fully expected to lose
+		some of our animals, but our case was critical and we must
+		take some chances. Bennett stood on one side of the ox, and
+		Arcane on the other, while big Rogers was placed in the rear
+		to give a regular Tennessee boost when the word was given.
+		&quot;Now for it,&quot; said Bennett, and as I braced out on
+		the rope those above gave a push and the ox came over,
+		sprawling, but landed safely, cut only a little by some
+		angular stones in the sand pile. &quot;Good enough,&quot; said
+		some one and I threw the rope back for another ox. &quot;We'll
+		get 'em all over safely&quot; said Arcane, &quot;if Lewis down
+		there, will keep them from getting their necks broken.&quot;
+		Lewis pulled hard every time, and not a neck was broken. The
+		sand pile was renewed every time and made as high and soft as
+		possible, and very soon all our animals were below the falls.
+		The little mule gave a jump when they pushed her and lighted
+		squarely on her feet all right. With the exception of one or
+		two slight cuts, which bled some, the oxen were all right and
+		we began loading them at once.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bennett and Arcane assisted their wives down along the
+		little narrow ledge which we used in getting up, keeping their
+		faces toward the rocky wall, and feeling carefully for every
+		footstep. Thus they worked along and landed safely by the time
+		we had the animals ready for a march. We had passed without
+		disaster, the obstacle we most feared, and started down the
+		rough ca&ntilde;on, hope revived, and we felt we should get
+		through. After winding around among the great boulders for a
+		little while we came to the two horses we had left behind,
+		both dead and near together. We pointed to the carcasses, and
+		told them those were the horses we brought for the women to
+		ride, and that is the way they were cheated out of their
+		passage. The bodies of the animals had not been touched by
+		bird or beast. The ca&ntilde;on was too deep and dark for
+		either wolves or buzzards to enter, and nothing alive had been
+		seen by us in the shape of wild game of any sort. Firearms
+		were useless here except for defence against Indians, and we
+		expected no real trouble from them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From what we could see, it was my opinion that no general
+		rain ever fell in that region. There was some evidence that
+		water had at times flowed down them freely after cloud bursts,
+		or some sudden tempest, but the gravel was so little worn that
+		it gave no evidence of much of a stream.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We hurried on as rapidly as possible so as to get into the
+		Jayhawker's beaten trail which would be a little easier to
+		follow. When we reached the lowest part of the valley we had
+		to turn south to get around a little, slow running stream of
+		salt water, that moved north and emptied into a Salt Lake. No
+		source of the stream could be seen from this point, but when
+		we reached a point where we could cross, we had a smooth, hard
+		clay bed to march over. It seemed to have been, some day, a
+		bed of mortar, but now baked hard, and the hoofs of the oxen
+		dented into it no more than half an inch. On our left hand was
+		a perpendicular cliff, along which we traveled for quite a
+		little way. The range of mountains now before us to cross was
+		black, nothing but rocks, and extremely barren, having no
+		water in it that we knew of, so when we reached the summit we
+		camped, tied all our animals to rocks, where they lay down and
+		did not rise till morning. The women were so tired they were
+		over two hours late, and we had the fire built, the soup
+		cooked and the beds made. As we did not stop at noon all were
+		very hungry, and ate with a relish. The poor animals had to go
+		without either grass or water. When Old Crump and the party
+		came in the men were carrying the babies, and their wives were
+		clinging to their arms, scarcely able to stand. When they
+		reached the beds they fell at full length on them, saying
+		their feet and limbs ached like the tooth ache. It seemed to
+		be best for them to rest a little before eating. Mrs. Bennett
+		said that the only consolation was that the road was getting
+		shorter every day, but were it not for the children she would
+		sooner die than follow the trail any farther. Their soup was
+		carried to them in the bed, and they were covered up as they
+		lay, and slept till morning. This day's walk was the hardest
+		one yet, and probably the longest one of the whole journey,
+		but there was no other place where we could find a place large
+		enough to make a camp and free enough of rocks so that a bed
+		could be made.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rogers and I had the kettle boiling early, and put in the
+		last of the meat, and nearly all that was left of the flour.
+		At the next camp an ox must be killed. Just as it was fairly
+		light I went about 200 yards south where the dead body of Mr.
+		Fish lay, just as he died more than a month before. The body
+		had not been disturbed and looked quite natural. He was from
+		Oscaloosa, Iowa.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The folks arose very reluctantly this morning, and appeared
+		with swollen eyes and uncombed hair, for there was no means of
+		making a toilet, without a drop of water, except what we had
+		used in getting breakfast. We set the soup kettle near the
+		foot of the bed so the women could feed the children and
+		themselves. Now as we loaded the oxen, it was agreed that
+		Rogers and I should go ahead with all but Old Crump, and get
+		in camp as soon as possible, and they were to follow on as
+		best they could. There was a little water left in the canteens
+		of Bennett and Arcane, to be given only to the children, who
+		would cry when thirsty, the very thing to make them feel the
+		worst.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were to kill an ox when we reached camp, and as each of
+		the men had an equal number on the start each was to furnish
+		one alternately and no disputing about whose were better or
+		stronger, in any emergency.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our road now led down the western slope of the mountain,
+		and loose, hard, broken rocks were harder on the feet of our
+		animals than coming up, and our own moccasins were wearing
+		through. The cattle needed shoes as well as we. Any one who
+		has never tried it can imagine how hard it is to walk with
+		tender feet over broken rock. It was very slow getting along
+		at the best, and the oxen stumbled dreadfully in trying to
+		protect their sore feet. At the foot of the mountain we had
+		several miles of soft and sandy road. The sun shone very hot,
+		and with no water we suffered fearfully. A short way out in
+		the sandy valley we pass again the grave of Mr. Isham, where
+		he had been buried by his friends. He was from Rochester, N.Y.
+		He was a cheerful, pleasant man, and during the forepart of
+		the journey used his fiddle at the evening camps to increase
+		the merriment of his jolly companions. In those days we got no
+		rain, see no living animals of any kind except those of our
+		train, see not a bird nor insect, see nothing green except a
+		very stunted sage, and some dwarf bushes. We now know that the
+		winter of 1849-50 was one of the wettest ever seen in
+		California, but for some reason or other none of the wet
+		clouds ever came to this portion of the State to deposit the
+		most scattering drops of moisture.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Quite a long way from the expected camp the oxen snuffed
+		the moisture, and began to hurry towards it with increased
+		speed. A little while before it did not seem as if they had
+		ambition enough left to make a quick move, but as we
+		approached the water those which had no packs fairly trotted
+		in their haste to get a drink. This stream was a very small
+		one, seeping out from a great pile of rocks, and maintaining
+		itself till it reached the sands, where it disappeared
+		completely. A few tufts of grass grew along the banks,
+		otherwise everything surrounding was desolate in the
+		extreme.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As soon as we could get the harness off the oxen, we went
+		to look for our little buried sack of wheat, which we were
+		compelled to leave and hide on our way out. We had hidden it
+		so completely, that it took us quite a little while to strike
+		its bed but after scratching with our hands awhile, we hit the
+		spot, and found it untouched. Although the sand in which it
+		was buried seemed quite dry, yet the grain had absorbed so
+		much moisture from it, that the sack was nearly bursting. It
+		was emptied on a blanket, and proved to be still sound and
+		sweet.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our first work now was to kill an ox and get some meat to
+		cook for those who were coming later. We got the kettle over
+		boiling with some of the wheat in it, for the beans were all
+		gone. We killed the ox saving the blood to cook. Cutting the
+		meat all off the bones, we had it drying over a fire as soon
+		as possible, except what we needed for this meal and the next.
+		Then we made a smooth place in the soft sand on which to
+		spread the blankets, the first good place we had found to
+		sleep since leaving Death Valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next job was to make moccassins for ourselves and for
+		the oxen, for it was plain they could not go on another day
+		barefooted. We kept busy indeed, attending the fires under the
+		meat and under the kettle, besides our shoemaking, and were
+		getting along nicely about sundown, when Old Christian Crump
+		appeared in sight followed by the women and the rest of the
+		party. The women were just as tired as ever and dropped down
+		on the blankets the first thing. &quot;How many such days as
+		this can we endure?&quot;&mdash;they said. We had them count
+		the days gone by, and look around to see the roughest part of
+		the road was now behind them. They said that only five days
+		had passed, and that two thirds of the distance still remained
+		untraveled, and they knew they could never endure even another
+		five day's work like the last. We told them to be brave, and
+		be encouraged, for we had been over the road and knew what it
+		was, and that we felt sure of being able to do it nicely. They
+		were fed in bed as usual, and there they lay till morning. We
+		men went to making moccasins from the green hide, and when we
+		had cut out those for the men and women the balance of the
+		hide was used in preparing some also for the oxen,
+		particularly the worst ones, for if I remember correctly there
+		was not enough to go round.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The morning came, bright and pleasant, as all of them were,
+		and just warm enough for comfort in the part of the day. The
+		women were as usual, and their appearance would remind one
+		quite strongly of half-drowned hens which had not been long
+		out of trouble. Hair snarled, eyes red, nose swollen, and out
+		of fix generally. They did not sleep well so much fatigued,
+		for they said they lived over their hard days in dreams at
+		night, and when they would close their eyes and try to go to
+		sleep, the visions would seem to come to them half waking and
+		they could not rest.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was now before us a particularly bad stretch of the
+		country as it would probably take us four or five days to get
+		over it, and there was only one water hole in the entire
+		distance. This one was quite salt, so much so that on our
+		return trip the horses refused to drink it, and the little
+		white one died next day. Only water for one day's camp could
+		be carried with us, and that was for ourselves alone and not
+		for the animals.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the moccasins were finished in the morning we began to
+		get our cattle together when it was discovered that Old
+		Brigham was gone, and the general belief was that the Indians
+		had made a quiet raid on us and got away with the old fellow.
+		We circled around till we found his track and then Arcane
+		followed it while we made ready the others. Arcane came in
+		with the stray namesake of the polygamous saint about this
+		time shouting:&mdash;&quot;I've got him&mdash;No
+		Indians.&quot; The ox had got into the wash ravine below camp
+		and passed out of sight behind, in a short time. He had been
+		as easily tracked as if he walked in snow. There was larger
+		sage brush in the wash than elsewhere, and no doubt Brigham
+		had thought this a good place to seek for some extra blades of
+		grass.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Immediately south of this camp now known as Providence
+		Springs, is the salt lake to which Rogers and I went on the
+		first trip and were so sadly disappointed in finding the water
+		unfit to use.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As soon as ready we started up the ca&ntilde;on, following
+		the trail made by the Jayhawkers who had proceeded us, and by
+		night had reached the summit, but passed beyond, a short
+		distance down the western slope, where we camped in a valley
+		that gave us good large sage brush for our fires, and quite a
+		range for the oxen without their getting out of sight. This
+		being at quite a high elevation we could see the foot as well
+		as the top, of the great snow mountain, and had a general good
+		view of the country.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This proved to be the easiest day's march we had
+		experienced, and the women complained less than on any other
+		night since our departure. Their path had been comparatively
+		smooth, and with the new moccasins their feet had been well
+		protected, they had come through pretty nicely. We told them
+		they looked better, and if they would only keep up good
+		courage they would succeed and come out all right to the land
+		where there was plenty of bread and water, and when safely
+		out, they might make good resolutions never to get in such a
+		trap again. Mrs. Bennett said such a trip could never be done
+		over again, and but for the fact that Rogers and I had been
+		over the road, and that she believed all we had said about it;
+		she never would have had the courage to come thus far. Now,
+		for the children's sake, she wished to live, and would put
+		forth any effort to come through all right.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day we had a long ca&ntilde;on to go down, and in
+		it passed the dead body of the beautiful white mare Rogers had
+		taken such a fancy to. The body had not decomposed, nor had it
+		been disturbed by any bird or beast. Below this point the bed
+		of the ca&ntilde;on was filled with great boulders, over which
+		it was very difficult to get the oxen along. Some of them had
+		lost their moccasins and had to suffer terribly over the
+		rocks.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Camp was made at the salt water hole, and our wheat and
+		meat boiled in it did not soften and get tender as it did in
+		fresh water. There was plenty of salt grass above; but the
+		oxen did not eat it any more than the horses did, and wandered
+		around cropping a bite of the bitter brush once in awhile, and
+		looking very sorry. This was near the place where Rogers and I
+		found the piece of ice which saved our lives. The women did
+		not seriously complain when we reached this camp, but little
+		Charley Arcane broke out with a bad looking rash all over his
+		body and as he cried most of the time it no doubt smarted and
+		pained him like a mild burn. Neither his mother nor any one
+		else could do anything for him to give him any relief. We had
+		no medicines, and if he or any one should die, all we could do
+		would be to roll the body in a blanket and cover it with a
+		light covering of sand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From this camp to the next water holes at the base of the
+		great snow mountain, it was at least 30 miles, level as to
+		surface, and with a light ascending grade. The Jayhawkers had
+		made a well marked trail, and it it was quite good walking.
+		The next camp was a dry one, both for ourselves and the oxen,
+		nothing but dry brush for them, and a little dried meat for
+		ourselves, but for all this the women did not complain so very
+		much. They were getting use to the work and grew stronger with
+		the exercise. They had followed Old Crump and the children
+		every day with the canteens of water and a little dried meat
+		to give them if they cried too much with hunger, and Arcane
+		had led his ox day after day with a patience that was
+		remarkable, and there was no bad temper shown by any one. This
+		was the way to do, for if there were any differences, there
+		was no tribunal to settle them by.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In all this desert travel I did not hear any discontent and
+		serious complaint, except in one case, and that was at the
+		Jayhawker's camp, where they burned their wagons at the end of
+		the wagon road, in Death Valley. Some could not say words bad
+		enough to express their contempt, and laid all the trouble of
+		salt water to Lot's wife. Perhaps she was in a better position
+		to stand the cursing than any of the party present.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day we reached the water holes at the place where
+		Rogers and I stole up to camp fire in the evening, supposing
+		it to be Indians, but finding there Capt. Doty and his mess, a
+		part of the Jayhawker's band. By dipping carefully from these
+		holes they filled again, and thus, although there was no flow
+		from them we gradually secured what water we needed for the
+		camp, which was a small amount after so long a time without.
+		There was some low brush here called greasewood, which grew
+		about as high as currant bushes, and some distance up the
+		mountain the oxen could find some scattery bunch grass, which,
+		on the whole, made this camp a pretty good one. The women,
+		however, were pretty nearly exhausted, and little Charley
+		Arcane cried bitterly all day and almost all night. All began
+		to talk more and feel more hopeful of getting through. The
+		women began to say that every step brought them so much nearer
+		to the house we had told them about on the other side and
+		often said the work was not so very hard after all. Really it
+		was not so bad travelling as we had at first. We were now nine
+		days from the wagons. &quot;Are we half way?&quot; was the
+		question they began to ask. We had to answer them that more
+		than one half the hard days were over, if one half the
+		distance had not been traveled, and with the better walking
+		and getting hardened to the work, they would get over the last
+		half better than the first. One thing was a little hard. All
+		of our beans and flour had been used up, and now the wheat was
+		about gone also. We had cooked it, and it seemed best, trying
+		to build up our strength, where it was most needed for the
+		greatest trials, and now we thought they would be able to get
+		along on the meat. We had reached the base of the great snow
+		mountain. It seems strange with the mass of snow resting
+		above, and which must be continually thawing more or less, no
+		ravines or large streams of water were produced flowing down
+		this side. It seemed dry all around its base, which is is very
+		singular, with the snow so near.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had now our barren ca&ntilde;on to go down, and right
+		here was the big trail coming down from the north, which we
+		took and followed. We said all these good things about the
+		road, and encouraged the people all we could to keep in good
+		spirits and keep moving. We told them we thought we knew how
+		to manage to get them safe over the road if they only fully
+		endeavored to do it. We were all quite young, and not in the
+		decline of life as were most of them who had perished by the
+		way. No reader can fully realize how much we had to say and do
+		to keep up courage, and it is to this more than anything else
+		that we did which kept up the lagging energies and inspired
+		the best exertion. I don't know but we painted some things a
+		little brighter than they were, and tried to hide some of the
+		most disheartening points of the prospects ahead, for we found
+		the mind had most to do with it after all. We have no doubt
+		that if we had not done all we could to keep up good courage,
+		the women would have pined away and died before reaching this
+		far. Whenever we stopped talking encouragingly, they seemed to
+		get melancholy and blue.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was some pretty good management to be exercised
+		still. The oxen were gradually growing weaker, and we had to
+		kill the weakest one every time, for if the transportation of
+		our food failed, we should yet be open to the danger of
+		starvation. As it was, the meat on their frames was very
+		scarce, and we had to use the greatest economy to make it last
+		and waste nothing. We should now have to kill one of our oxen
+		every few days, as our other means of subsistence had been so
+		completely used up. The women contracted a strange dislike to
+		this region and said they never wanted to see any part of it
+		again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As the sun showed its face over the great sea of mountains
+		away to the east of Death Valley, and it seemed to rise very
+		early for winter season we packed up and started west on the
+		big trail. Rogers and I took the oxen and mule and went on,
+		leaving the others to accompany Old Crump and his little
+		charges. Arcane had found it best to carry Charley on his
+		back, as it relieved the burning sensation, caused by the
+		eruption on his skin, which was aggravated by the close
+		quarters of the pockets. Thus leaving the pockets unbalanced,
+		Bennett had to carry his baby also. This made it harder for
+		them, but every one tried to be just as accommodating as they
+		could and each one would put himself to trouble to accommodate
+		or relieve others.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rogers and I made camp when we reached the proper place
+		which was some distance from the mountain, on a perfectly
+		level plain where there was no water, no grass, nothing but
+		sage brush would grow on the dry and worthless soil. We let
+		the oxen go and eat as much of this as they chose, which was
+		very little and only enough to keep them from absolute
+		starvation. The great trail had a branch near here that turned
+		north, and went up a ravine that would seem to reach the snow
+		in a little while. This was believed to be impassable at this
+		time of year. This route is known as Walker's Pass, leading
+		over a comparatively low ridge, and coming out the south fork
+		of the Kern River.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We made our camp here because it was as long a march as the
+		women could make, and, for a dry one, was as good a location
+		as we could find. The cool breeze came down from the snow to
+		the north of us, not so very many miles away, and after a
+		little it became uncomfortably cold. We gathered greasewood
+		bushes and piled them up to make a wind-break for our heads.
+		The oxen, even, would come and stand around the fire, seeming
+		greatly to enjoy the warm smoke, which came from burning the
+		greasewood brush, which by the way, burns about the best of
+		any green wood. When we were ready to lie down we tied the
+		animals to bunches of brush, and they lay contentedly till
+		morning.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>To the north of us, a few miles away we could see some
+		standing, columns of rock, much reminding one of the great
+		stone chimney of the boiler house at Stanford Jr., University;
+		not quite so trim and regular in exterior appearance, but
+		something in that order. We reckon the only students in the
+		vicinity would be lizards.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the women arrived in camp they were very tired, but
+		encouraged themselves that they were much nearer the promised
+		land than they were in the morning. Mrs. Bennett said she was
+		very careful never to take a step backward, and to make every
+		forward one count as much as possible. &quot;That's a good
+		resolution, Sally,&quot; said Mr Bennett. &quot;Stick to it
+		and we will come out by and bye.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From near this camp we have a low range of mountains to
+		cross, a sort of spur or offshoot of the great snow mountain
+		that reaches out twenty miles or more to the southeast, and
+		its extremity divides away into what seems from our point of
+		view a level plain. We had attained quite an elevation without
+		realizing it, so gradual had been the ascent, and our course
+		was now down a steep hillside and into a deep ca&ntilde;on. In
+		its very bottom we found a small stream of water only a few
+		yards long, and then it sank into the sands. Not a spear of
+		grass grew there, and if any had grown it had been eaten by
+		the cattle which had gone before. This was the same place,
+		where Rogers and I had overtaken the advance portion of the
+		Jayhawkers when we were on our outward trip in search of
+		relief, and where some of the older men were so discouraged
+		that they gave us their home addresses in Illinois so that we
+		could notify their friends of their precarious situation, and
+		if they were never otherwise heard from they could be pretty
+		sure they had perished from thirst and starvation when almost
+		at their journey's end.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The scenes of this camp on that occasion made so strong an
+		impression on my memory that I can never forget it. There were
+		poor dependent fellows without a morsel to eat except such
+		bits of poor meat as they could beg from those who were
+		fortunate enough to own oxen. Their tearful pleadings would
+		soften a heart of stone. We shared with some of them even when
+		we did not know the little store upon our backs would last us
+		through. Our oxen here had water to drink, but nothing more.
+		It might be a little more comfortable to drink and starve,
+		than both choke and starve, but these are no very pleasant
+		prospects in either one.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Both ourselves and the oxen were getting barefoot and our
+		feet very tender. The hill we had just come down was very
+		rough and rocky and our progress very slow, every step made in
+		a selected spot. We could not stop here to kill an ox and let
+		the remainder of them starve, but must push on to where the
+		living ones could get a little food. We fastened the oxen and
+		the mule to keep them from wandering, and slept as best we
+		could. The women and children looked worse than for some time,
+		and could not help complaining. One of the women held up her
+		foot and the sole was bare and blistered. She said they ached
+		like toothache. The women had left their combs in the wagons,
+		and their hair was getting seriously tangled. Their dresses
+		were getting worn off pretty nearly to their knees, and showed
+		the contact with the ground that sometimes could not be
+		avoided. They were in a sad condition so far as toilet and
+		raiment were concerned. Life was in the balance, however, and
+		instead of talking over sad things, we talked of the time when
+		we would reach the little babbling brook where Rogers and I
+		took such long draughts of clear, sweet water and the waiter
+		at our dinner gave us the choice of <i>Crow</i>, <i>Hawk</i>
+		or <i>Quail</i>, and where we took a little of all three.<br>
+		</p>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<a name="Anchor-8071"></a><img height="75%" alt="Pulling
+			the Oxen Down the Precipice." src="images/pulling_oxen.png"
+			border=0>
+			<h4>PULLING THE OXEN DOWN THE PRECIPICE.</h4>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>In the morning we were off again down the ca&ntilde;on,
+		limping some as we trod its coarse gravelly bed with our
+		tender feet and stiffened joints, but getting limbered up a
+		little after a bit, and enduring it pretty well. We set out to
+		try to reach the bunch of willows out on the level plain,
+		where the cattle could get some water and grass, but night
+		overtook us at the mouth of the ca&ntilde;on, and we were
+		forced to go into camp. This ca&ntilde;on is now called Red
+		Ca&ntilde;on. This was on an elevated plain, with a lake near
+		by, but as we had been so often deceived by going to the lake
+		for water, and finding them salt in every instance, or poison
+		on account of strong alkali, we did not take the trouble to go
+		and try this one.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Near us was some coarse grass and wet ground where we found
+		water enough for our moderate use, and the oxen, by
+		perseverance, could get something to eat and drink. After
+		supper we were out of meat and we would have to kill an ox to
+		get some food for breakfast. In the night a storm came on,
+		much to our surprise, for we had seen none since the night on
+		the mountain east of Death Valley more than two months before.
+		We tried to fix up a shelter to protect the children and
+		ourselves, but were not very successful. We tried to use our
+		guns for tent poles, but could not keep them in place. We laid
+		down as close as pigs in cold weather, and covered up as best
+		we could, but did not keep dry, and morning found us wet to
+		the skin, cold and shivering. We gathered big sage brush for a
+		fire in the morning, and the tracks of our nearly bare feet
+		could be plainly seen in the snow which lay like a blanket
+		awhile over the ground, about two inches deep. Some lay in bed
+		and we warmed blankets before the fire and put over them to
+		keep them comfortable till the sun should rise and warm the
+		air. We selected an ox and brought him up before the fire
+		where I shot him, and soon there was meat roasting over the
+		fire and blood cooking in the camp kettle. We had nothing to
+		season the blood pudding with but salt, and it was not very
+		good, but answered to sustain life. We ate a hasty meal, then
+		packed our animals and started for the willow patch about four
+		miles away. The snow was about gone.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I staid in camp to keep it till they could get through to
+		the willows and some one to come back with the mule to carry
+		forward the portion of meat that could not be taken at first.
+		We intended to dry it at the willows, and then we could carry
+		it along as daily food over the wide plain we had yet to
+		cross. Having carried the meat forward, we made a rack of
+		willows and dried it over the fire, making up a lot of
+		moccasins for the barefooted ones while we waited. We were
+		over most of the rocky road, we calculated that our shoemaking
+		would last us through. This was a very pleasant camp. The
+		tired ones were taking a rest. No one needed it more than our
+		women and children, who were tired nearly out. They were in
+		much better condition to endure their daily hardships than
+		when they started out, and a little rest would make them feel
+		quite fresh again. They understood that this was almost on the
+		western edge of this desert country and this gave them good
+		hope and courage.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This wonderful spot in the level plain, with a spring of
+		pure water making an oasis of green willows and grass has been
+		previously spoken of as:&mdash;&quot;A spring of good water,
+		and a little willow patch in a level desert away from any
+		hill.&quot; In all our wanderings we had never seen the like
+		before. No mountaineer would ever think of looking here for
+		water, much less ever dream of finding a lone spring away out
+		in the desert, several miles from the mountain's base. Where
+		the range we just came through leaves the mother mountain
+		stands a peak, seemingly alone, and built up of many colored
+		rocks, in belts, and the whole looks as if tipped with
+		steel.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Arcane's boy Charley still suffered from his bogus measles
+		or whatever else his disorder might be, and Bennett's little
+		Martha grew more quiet and improved considerably in health,
+		though still unable to walk, and still abdominally corpulent.
+		The other two children George and Melissa seemed to bear up
+		well and loved to get off and walk in places where the trail
+		was smooth and level. Bennett, Arcane and Old Crump usually
+		traveled with the same party as the women, and as each of them
+		had a small canteen to carry water, they could attend to the
+		wants of the children and keep them from worrying and getting
+		sick from fretfulness. They often carried the two younger ones
+		on their backs to relieve and rest them from their cramped
+		position on the ox.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Arcane used to say he expected the boys&mdash;meaning
+		Rogers and I&mdash;would try to surprise the party by letting
+		them get very near the house before they knew how near they
+		were. &quot;Be patient Mr. Arcane,&quot; said we, &quot;we can
+		tell you just how many camps there must be before we reach it,
+		and we won't fool you or surprise you in any way.&quot;
+		&quot;Well,&quot; said he. &quot;I was almost in hopes you
+		would, for I like to be disappointed in that way.&quot;
+		&quot;What do you think the folks will say when we tell them
+		that our little mule packed most of the meat of an ox four
+		miles from one camp to another?&quot; &quot;What will they say
+		when we tell them that the oxen were so poor that there was no
+		marrow in the great thigh bones?&quot; Instead of marrow there
+		was a thick dark liquid something like molasses in
+		consistency, but streaked with different colors which made it
+		look very unwholesome. Arcane said the whole story was so
+		incredible, that he never should fight anyone, even if he
+		should tell him he lied when he related the strange sad truth.
+		He said he had no doubt many a one would doubt their story, it
+		was so much beyond what people had ever seen or heard of
+		before, and they might be accused of very strong romancing in
+		the matter.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They all felt more like talking; for we were thus far safe
+		and sound, and though there was a desperate struggle of
+		seventy-five miles or more, from this place to the next water
+		in the foot-hills. Possibly the snow storms had left a little
+		in some of the pools, but we made no calculations on any. The
+		promised land we had so steadily been approaching, and now
+		comparatively so near, gave us great hope, which was better
+		than food and drink to give us strength.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were surely two camps between this and the little
+		pond John and I found, among the Cabbage trees, and not more
+		than six by ten feet square. As we worked away at our
+		foot-wear we talked more in an hour than we had in a whole day
+		before. We were slowly leaving Death Valley behind us with its
+		sad memories and sufferings. We were leaving behind the dead
+		bodies of several who had traveled with us and been just as
+		strong and hopeful as we. We had left behind us all in our
+		possession in that terrible spot, and simply with our lives we
+		hoped to escape, and trust to Providence and humanity on the
+		other side. Arcane now admitted that they could not have got
+		along half as well, if we had not gone ahead and looked out
+		the land. It was such a gain to know exactly where the next
+		water hole was, so it could be steered for and struggled
+		toward. He even went so far as to say they would have no
+		chance alone, and that as he now saw the road, he was sure
+		they have would all perished even before reaching as far as
+		this. We had strong hopes of the morrow, when we would be all
+		rested, all were shod, and would make every footstep count in
+		our western progress.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It seems quite a strange occurrence that the only two
+		storms we had had since we turned westward on this route, Nov.
+		4th, were snow storms, and that both had come while we were
+		asleep, so that all our days were cloudless. Sometimes the sun
+		was uncomfortably warm even in the heart of the winter. One
+		would have naturally expected that the great rainfall all over
+		the California coast in the winter of 1849-50, and the deep
+		snows that came in the Sierra Nevada mountains the same
+		winter, would have extended southerly the few hundred miles
+		that separated the two places. Modern science has shown the
+		tracks of the storms and partially explains the reasons for
+		this dry and barren nature of this region. When rains do come
+		they are so out of the regular order, that they are called
+		cloud-bursts or waterspouts, and the washes in the
+		ca&ntilde;ons and their mouths show how great has been the
+		volume of water that sometimes rushed down the slope. If
+		clouds at a warm or moderate temperature float against these
+		snow peaks all the water they contain is suddenly
+		precipitated. The country is an arid one and unless wealth
+		should appear in the shape of mines, the country can never be
+		inhabited. We considered ourselves very fortunate in finding
+		the little pools and holes of water which kept us alive. It
+		was not very good drinking water, but to us thirsty folks it
+		was a blessing and we never passed it by on account of any
+		little stagnant bitter taste. Salt water we could not drink of
+		course, though we sometimes used it to cook with.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were as well prepared next morning as possible for a
+		move, and the long walk before us, the last one between us and
+		the fertile land. They all talked of how delighted they would
+		be to see once more a running brook, green grass and trees,
+		and such signs of life as they had seen and been used to in
+		the good land they had left behind. The women said they could
+		endure the march of four or five days, if when all over, they
+		could sleep off the terrible fatigue and for once drink all
+		the pure sweet water they could desire. No more forced
+		marches. No more grey road, stretching out its dusty miles as
+		far as the eye could reach. The ladies thought the oxen would
+		be as happy as themselves, and the little mule, the most
+		patient one of the whole train deserved a life of ease for her
+		valuable services. This little black, one-eyed lady wandered
+		here and there at will seeking for grass, but never going
+		astray or getting far enough from the track to alarm us in the
+		least. She seldom drank much water, was always ready, never
+		got foot-sore, and seemed made expressly for such a life and
+		for such a desert.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A good kettleful of soup for breakfast, dried meat fixed in
+		packages, kegs and canteens filled with water, and we were
+		ready for an advance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There is one less ox to lead, and very little load for
+		those we have, still the load is all such poor weak fellows
+		ought to bear. Old Crump was not thus favored by a gradually
+		lightened load. He bore the same four children every day,
+		faithfully, carefully, with never a stumble nor fall, as
+		though fully aware of the precious nature of his burden.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In this new march John and I took the oxen and pushed on as
+		usual, leaving the families to follow on, at a slower pace,
+		the trail we made. The trail was slightly inclined. The bushes
+		stunted at the best, getting smaller as we proceeded, and the
+		horse bones, new and ancient are now thickly scattered along
+		the way. The soil is different from that we have had. We can
+		see the trail, winding gently here and there, swept clean by
+		the wind, and the surface is hard and good; but when the mule
+		gets the least bit off of it she sinks six inches deep into
+		the soft sand, and the labor of walking is immense. I stepped
+		out to examine the peculiar soil, and found it finer than
+		superfine flour. It was evident that a strong wind would lift
+		it in vast clouds which might even darken the sky, but we were
+		fortunate in this respect, for during all the time we were on
+		this peculiar soil, there was no wind at all, and we escaped a
+		sand-storm, a sort of storm as peculiar to this region as are
+		blizzards to some of the states of the great west.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our first night's camp was out on the barren waterless
+		plain, now known as the Mojave Desert. There were no shrubs
+		large enough to make a fire of, and nothing to tie our cattle
+		to, so we fastened all our animals together to keep them from
+		scattering and getting lost. We ate a little dry meat and
+		drank sparingly of the water, for our scanty stock was to last
+		us another day, when we might reach prospective water holes.
+		Starting early, John and I took all but Old Crump and the
+		other travelers, and hurried on to try and find the water
+		holes as early as possible. We, as well as the oxen were very
+		dry, for we left all the water we had with the party, for the
+		children, for they cannot endure the thirst as the older
+		people can. We reached the camping place before night. Quite a
+		time before we reached it, the cattle seemed to scent the
+		water and quickened their pace, so we were confident it had
+		not dried up. We got ahead of the oxen and kept there until we
+		reached the little pond and then guarded it to keep them from
+		wading into it, in their eagerness to reach some drink. They
+		all satisfied their thirst, and then we removed the harness,
+		built a fire of the dead cabbage trees which we found round
+		about, laid down the beds and arranged them neatly, and had
+		all nicely done before the rear guard came up, in charge of
+		Captain Crump. The party was eager for water and all secured
+		it. It was rain water and no doubt did not quench thirst as
+		readily as water from some living spring or brook. There was
+		evidence that there had been a recent shower or snow to fill
+		this depression up for our benefit. The Jayhawkers had passed
+		not more than a half mile north of this spot, but no sign
+		appeared that they had found it, and it was left to sustain
+		the lives of the women and children.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It often occurs to me that many may read incredulously when
+		I speak of our party eating the entire flesh of an ox in four
+		or five days. To such I will say that one cannot form an idea
+		how poor an ox will get when nearly starved so long. Months
+		had passed since they had eaten a stomachful of good
+		nutritious food. The animals walked slowly with heads down
+		nearly tripping themselves up with their long, swinging legs.
+		The skin loosely covered the bones, but all the flesh and
+		muscles had shrunk down to the smallest space. The meat was
+		tough and stringy as basswood bark, and tasted strongly of
+		bitter sage brush the cattle had eaten at almost every camp.
+		At a dry camp the oxen would lie down and grate their teeth,
+		but they had no cud to chew. It looked almost merciless to
+		shoot one down for food, but there was no alternative. We
+		killed our poor brute servants to save ourselves. Our cattle
+		found a few bunches out among the trees at this camp and
+		looked some better in the morning. They had secured plenty of
+		water and some grass.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Young Charlie Arcane seemed to grow worse rather than
+		better. His whole body was red as fire, and he screamed with
+		the pain and torment of the severe itching. Nothing could be
+		done to relieve him, and if his strength lasted till we could
+		get better air, water and food he might recover, but his
+		chances were very poor.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Not much rest at this camp for in the morning we aimed to
+		start early and reach the water in the foothills. We thought
+		we could do it if we started early, walked rapidly and took no
+		resting spell at noon. Such a poor soil as this we were
+		anxious to get away from, and walk once more on a soil that
+		would grow something besides stunted sage brush. From all
+		appearances the Jayhawkers were here in about the same
+		predicament Rogers and I were when we lost the trail. By their
+		tracks we could see they had scattered wide and there was no
+		road left for us to follow, and they had evidently tried to
+		follow our former tracks. Having no trail to follow we passed
+		on as best we could and came to a wide piece of land on which
+		were growing a great many cabbage trees. The soil was of the
+		finest dust with no grit in it, and not long before a light
+		shower had fallen, making it very soft and hard to get along
+		in with the moccasins. The women had to stop to rest
+		frequently, so our progress was very slow. Rogers and I had
+		feet about as hard as those of the oxen, so we removed our
+		moccasins and went barefoot, finding we could get along much
+		easier in that way, but the others had such tender feet they
+		could not endure the rough contact with the brush and mud.
+		Only a few miles had been made before the women were so
+		completely tired out that we had to stop and eat our little
+		bit of dried meat and wait till morning. The little mule now
+		carried all our stock of food, and the precious burden
+		lightened every day. This delay was not expected, but we had
+		to endure it and bear it patiently, for there was a limit to
+		strength of the feeble ones of our party. We had therefore to
+		make another barren camp. Relief seemed so near at hand we
+		kept good courage and talked freely of the happy ending which
+		would soon come. If we had any way to set a good table we
+		would feast and be merry like the prodigal son, but at any
+		rate we shall be safe if we can reach the fertile shore.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the sun went down we tied the mule and oxen to cabbage
+		trees, and shortly after dusk lay down ourselves, for we had
+		enjoyed a good fire made of the trunks of cabbage trees, the
+		first really comfortable one in a long time. The air was
+		cooler here, for we were on higher ground, and there was some
+		snow on the range of mountains before us, which sent these
+		cool breezes down to us, a change of climate quite
+		pleasing.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>For breakfast in the morning we had only dried meat roasted
+		before the fire, without water, and when we started each one
+		put a piece in his or her pocket to chew on during the day as
+		we walked along. As we went ahead the ground grew dryer and
+		the walking much improved. The morning overhead was perfectly
+		lovely, as away east, across the desert the sun early showed
+		his face to us. Not a cloud anywhere, not even over the tops
+		of the high peaks where great white masses sometimes cluster
+		but dissolve as soon as they float away, and there was not
+		wind enough to be perceptible. We remarked the same lack of
+		animal life which we had noticed on our first passage over
+		this section, seeing not a rabbit, bird, or living thing we
+		could use for food. Bennett had the same load in his gun he
+		put there when we left the wagons, and all the powder I had
+		burned was that used in killing the oxen we had slain whenever
+		it became necessary to provide for our barren kitchen.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we approached the low foot-hills the trail became better
+		travelled and better to walk in, for the Jayhawkers who had
+		scattered, every one for himself apparently, in crossing the
+		plain, seemed here to have drawn together and their path was
+		quite a beaten one. We saw from this that they followed the
+		tracks made by Rogers and myself as we made our first trip
+		westward in search of bread. Quite a little before the sun
+		went out of sight in the west we reached our camping place in
+		the lower hills at the eastern slope of a range we must soon
+		cross. Here was some standing water in several large holes,
+		that proved enough for our oxen, and they found some large
+		sage brush and small bushes round about, on which they browsed
+		and among which they found a few bunches of grass. Lying about
+		were some old skulls of cattle which had sometime been killed,
+		or died. These were the first signs of the sort we had seen
+		along this route. They might have been killed by Indians who
+		doubtless used this trail.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day in crossing the range before us, we reached
+		the edge of the snow, which the sun had softened, and we dare
+		not attempt to cross. Early in the morning, when it was frozen
+		hard the cattle could travel it very well. The snow belt was
+		five or six miles wide, and the snow two or three feet deep.
+		This was a very good camping place except that we had to melt
+		snow for all our water, but this being coarse and icy it was
+		not a great job as we found enough dry juniper trees and twigs
+		to make a very good fire. Here we also had to kill another ox.
+		This one in its turn was Arcane's, and left him only two, and
+		Bennett three, but we think that if we have no accident we
+		shall get them along with us till we can get other food, as
+		they have very light loads to pack. When the ox is killed and
+		the meat prepared the mule has, for a time, a larger load than
+		all the oxen have, but seems content and nips a bite of food
+		whenever it can see a chance anywhere along the road, giving
+		us no more trouble than a dog. And by the way, I think I have
+		not mentioned our faithful camp dog, a worthy member of our
+		party who stood watch always and gave us a sure alarm if
+		anything unusual happened anywhere about. He was perhaps only
+		one of a hundred that tried to cross the plains and had to be
+		abandoned when they reached the upper Platte, where the alkali
+		dust made their feet so sore they could not travel, and as
+		they could not be hauled on wagons they were left behind. But
+		this dog Cuff did not propose to be left behind to starve, and
+		crippled along after us, we doing all we could for him, and
+		proved as tough as the best of us. Bennett and I had trained
+		him as a hunting dog in the East, and he was very knowing and
+		handy in every particular.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were out of this camp at daylight. Very little rest for
+		some of us, but we must make the best of the cool morning
+		while the snow is hard, and so move on as soon as we can see
+		the way. As it gets lighter and the sun comes up red and hot
+		out of the desert we have a grand view of the great spread of
+		the country to south and of the great snow mountain to the
+		north and east, the peak standing over the place where we left
+		our wagons nineteen days before, on the edge of Death Valley.
+		The glare of the snow on the sun makes us nearly blind, but we
+		hurry on to try to cross it before it becomes so soft as to
+		slump under our feet. It is two or three feet in the deepest
+		places, and probably has been three times as deep when freshly
+		fallen, but it is now solid and icy. Our rawhide moccasins
+		protect our feet from cold, and both we and the animals got
+		along fairly well, the oxen breaking through occasionally as
+		the snow softened up, but generally walking on the top as we
+		did ourselves. The snow field reached much farther down the
+		western slope than we had hoped, much farther than on the
+		eastern side. Before we got out of it, we saw the track of
+		some animal which had crossed our route, but as it had been
+		made some days before and now could be seen only as some holes
+		in the surface, we could not determine what sort of an animal
+		it was.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A mile or two down the hill we were at last out of the
+		snow, and a little farther on we came to the little babbling
+		brook Rogers and I had so long painted in the most refreshing
+		colors to the tired women, with water, wood and grass on every
+		hand, the three greatest blessings of a camper's life. Here
+		was where Rogers and I had cooked and eaten our meat of crow,
+		quail and hawk, pretty hard food, but then, the blessed
+		water!<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There it danced and jumped over the rocks singing the
+		merriest song one ever heard, as it said&mdash;Drink, drink ye
+		thirsty ones your fill&mdash;the happiest sweetest music to
+		the poor starved, thirsty souls, wasted down almost to haggard
+		skeletons. O! if some poet of wildest imagination could only
+		place himself in the position of those poor tired travelers to
+		whom water in thick muddy pools had been a blessing, who had
+		eagerly drank the fluid even when so salt and bitter us to be
+		repulsive, and now to see the clear, pure liquid, distilled
+		from the crystal snow, abundant, free, filled with life and
+		health&mdash;and write it in words&mdash;the song of that
+		joyous brook and set it to the music that it made as it echoed
+		in gentle waves from the rocks and lofty walls, and with the
+		gentle accompaniment of rustling trees&mdash;a soft singing
+		hush, telling of rest, and peace, and happiness.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>New life seemed to come to the dear women. &quot;O! What a
+		beautiful stream!&quot; say they, and they dip in a tin cup
+		and drink, then watch in dreaming admiration the water as it
+		goes hurrying down; then dip and drink again, and again watch
+		the jolly rollicking brook as if it were the most entertaining
+		thing in the whole wide earth. &quot;Why can't such a stream
+		as that run out of the great Snow Mountain in the dry Death
+		Valley?&quot; say they&mdash;&quot;so we could get water on
+		the way.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The men have felt as glad as any of them, but have gathered
+		wood and made a fire, and now a camp kettle of cut up meat is
+		boiling for our supper. It was not yet night, but we must camp
+		in so beautiful a place as this, and though the food was poor,
+		we were better off than we had been before.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bennett proposed that I take the mule and go back to where
+		we saw the track of the animal in the snow and follow it in
+		hope that we might get some game for we had an idea it might
+		be an elk or bear or some large game, good to kill and give us
+		better meat: So I saddled the mule and took the trail back
+		till I came to the track, then followed it as best I could,
+		for it was very dull and gave me no idea what it was. I traced
+		out of the snow and then in a blind way through bushes as high
+		as the mule's back&mdash;Chaparral we called it
+		now&mdash;among which I made my way with difficulty. I could
+		now see that the track was made by an ox or cow&mdash;perhaps
+		an elk&mdash;I could not tell for sure it was so faint. This
+		chaparral covered a large piece of table land, and I made my
+		way through it, following the track for a mile or two, till I
+		came to the top of a steep hill sloping down into a deep
+		ca&ntilde;on and a creek, on the bank of which grew sycamore
+		and alder trees, with large willows. I stopped here some
+		minutes to see if I could see or hear the movement of of
+		anything. Across the creek I could see a small piece of
+		perhaps half an acre of natural meadow, and in it some small
+		bunches of sycamore trees. After a little I discovered some
+		sort of a horned animal there, and I reckoned this was good
+		enough game for me to try and capture, so led the mule out to
+		one side and down the hill near the creek, then tied her, and
+		crept along the bank, about four feet high, toward the little
+		meadow. When about right, as I thought, I climbed up behind a
+		bunch of sycamores, and when I slowly and cautiously raised up
+		I was within fifty yards of a cow or steer of some sort which
+		I could dimly see. I put a ball square in its forehead and it
+		fell without a struggle. I loaded again quick as possible, and
+		there saw two other smaller cattle stepping very high as
+		though terrified, but not aware of the nature or location of
+		the danger. I gave a low whistle and one of them looked toward
+		me long enough for me to put a ball in it. The third one was
+		now behind a clump of sycamores, and I soon saw its face
+		through a little opening not more than three inches wide. I
+		made a shot, and wounded it, and then rushed up and gave it a
+		fatal one.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I examined my game and found the first one was a poor old
+		cow, but the others were yearlings, one of them very fat and
+		nice, and I soon had the hind quarters skinned out, and all
+		the fat I could find, which made a big load for the mule. It
+		was now almost dark, and the next problem was to get back to
+		camp again. The brushy hills would be terrible to cross with a
+		load of meat, and by the way the ground lay I concluded our
+		camp was on this same creek farther down.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The only way that seemed at all feasible was to follow the
+		course of the stream if possible, rather than return the
+		course over which I had come. There were so many bushes and
+		trees along the bank that I had to take to the bed and follow
+		in the water, and as it was rocky and rough, and so dark I
+		could not see well how to step, I stumbled into holes and
+		pools up to my waist, wet as a rat. Coming to a small open
+		place I decided I had better camp for the night and not
+		attempt further progress in the darkness, and the decision was
+		hastened by dark clouds, which began to gather and a few
+		sprinkles of rain began to come. There was a good patch of
+		grass for the mule, but all was uncomfortable for me, with the
+		prospect for a rainy night, but as wood was plenty I decided
+		to make a fire and take the chances. I looked for matches and
+		scratched one. No go&mdash;they were damp, and scratch as
+		careful and quickly as I could, there was no answering spark
+		or flame, and darkness reigned supreme. A camp without a fire
+		in this wet place was not to be thought of, so I concluded I
+		might as well be slowly working my way down along the stream,
+		through thick brush and cold water, as to sit here in the cold
+		and wait.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>So the little mule and I started on, wading the creek in
+		thick darkness, getting only the most dim reflected light from
+		the sky through now and then an opening in the trees. I did
+		not know then how easy it was for a grizzly to capture myself,
+		the mule and meat and have quite a variety for supper. But the
+		grizzly stayed at home and we followed on through brambles and
+		hard brush, through which it was almost impossible to force
+		one's way. As it turned out, I was not in the track of the
+		storm and did not suffer much from it. Soon the ca&ntilde;on
+		grew wider, and I could make out on the right hand a piece of
+		table land covered with brush that seemed easier to get
+		through than the creek bed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The hill up to the table land was very steep, but not more
+		than fifty yards high, and when the mule tried to get up she
+		got along very well till near the top, when she slipped in the
+		wet earth and never stopped till she reached the bottom and
+		lay down. She was helped up to her feet again and we tried it
+		in another place, I holding her from slipping when she stopped
+		to rest, and at last we reached the top. The mule started on,
+		seeming to follow a trail, but I could not see whether there
+		was a trail or not, so thick was the darkness, but there was
+		evidently something of the kind, for the brush was two or
+		three feet high and very thick.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After proceeding some distance the mule stopped and did not
+		seem to wish to go any farther. I was pretty sure there was
+		something in front of her that blocked the way, and so worked
+		my way through the brush and carefully past her. I could
+		partly see and partly hear something just ahead, and in a
+		moment found it was our good faithful Cuff, and no frightful
+		spook at all. The good fellow had discovered our approach and
+		came out to meet us, and I am sure the mule was as glad as I
+		was to see him. He crawled through the brush and smelled at
+		the mule's load and then went forward in the trail, which we
+		followed. It was a long time after midnight when we reached
+		camp. There was a good fire burning, but all were asleep till
+		I led the mule up to the fire and called out&mdash;&quot;Wake
+		Up,&quot; when they were most of them on their feet in a
+		minute without stopping to dress, for all had slept a long
+		time without taking off their clothes.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>John took charge of the mule and unloaded it, telling me to
+		get into his warm bed. I took off my wet clothes and told him
+		to dry them, and then got between the dry, warm blankets in
+		greatest comfort. Daylight came very quickly, it seemed to me,
+		and before I finally rose, the sun had been up some hours
+		before me. Before I fell asleep I could hear the women say, as
+		they cut off the pieces of meat to roast&mdash;&quot;See the
+		fat! Only see how nice it is!&quot; Quickly roasted on the
+		coals they ate the delicate morsels with a relish and, most of
+		all, praised the sweet fat. &quot;We like to have it all
+		fat,&quot; said they, showing how their system craved the
+		nourishment the poor starved beef could not give. No one went
+		to bed after I came, but all sat and roasted meat and ate till
+		they were satisfied.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This sporting trip was quite different from deer hunting in
+		Wisconsin, and nothing like looking for game in Death Valley
+		where nothing lived. It was the hardest night's work that ever
+		came to me in many a day, and not the wild sport I generally
+		looked for when on the chase. I felt pretty well when I got
+		up, and a chunk of my last night's prize which had been
+		toasted for me was eaten with a relish, for it was the best of
+		meat and I, of course, had a first class appetite. I had to
+		tell them my last hunting story, and was much praised as a
+		lucky boy.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We would not be compelled to kill any more of our poor oxen
+		in order to live. So far we had killed six of them, and there
+		were five left. Our present situation was much appreciated,
+		compared with that of a few days ago when we were crawling
+		slowly over the desert, hungry, sore-footed and dry, when to
+		lie was far easier than to take steps forward. We felt like
+		rejoicing at our deliverance and there was no mourning now for
+		us. The surrounding hills and higher mountains seemed more
+		beautiful to us. They were covered with green trees and brush,
+		not a desert place in sight. The clear little singing brook
+		ran merrily on its way, the happiest, brightest stream in all
+		my memory. Wild birds came near us without fear, and seemed
+		very friendly. All was calm, and the bright sunshine exactly
+		warm enough so that no one could complain of heat or cold.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When ready to move it was announced that I had lost my
+		saddle blanket in my adventure, so they substituted another
+		one and I took the back track to the place where the mule
+		slipped down the bank, and there I found it. I soon overtook
+		them again just as they were going to camp on Mrs. Bennett's
+		account, as she had been suddenly taken sick with severe pain
+		and vomiting, something as Rogers and I had been after eating
+		our first California corn meal. The rich, fat meat was too
+		strong for her weak stomach.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Arcane all along had an idea that Rogers and I meant to
+		surprise them by leading them to believe the house we had
+		visited was quite a distance off, and then to so manage it
+		that it should appear upon their sight suddenly. We assured
+		them it would take two or more camps before we could get
+		there, and if Mrs. Bennett did not soon recover, even more
+		than that. Our camp here was under a great live oak, the
+		ground deep covered with dry leaves, and near by a beautiful
+		meadow where our cattle and mule ate, drank and rested, the
+		oxen chewing their cud with such an air of comfort as had not
+		come to them since leaving their far-off eastern pastures.
+		They seemed as much pleased as any one. They would lie down
+		and rest and eat at the same time in perfectly enjoyable
+		laziness.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here we all rested and washed such clothes as we could do
+		without long enough to dry, and washed our faces and hands
+		over and over again to remove the dirt which had been burned
+		and sweated in so completely as not to come off readily. We
+		sat on the bank of the brook with our feet dangling in the
+		water, a most refreshing bath, and they too began to look
+		clean again. We often saw tracks of the grizzly bear about,
+		but in our ignorance had no fear of them, for we did not know
+		they were a dangerous animal. An owl came and hooted in the
+		night, but that was the only challenge any wild beast or bird
+		gave to our peaceful and restful camp. We were out of the
+		dreadful sands and shadows of Death Valley, its exhausting
+		phantoms, its salty columns, bitter lakes and wild, dreary
+		sunken desolation. If the waves of the sea could flow in and
+		cover its barren nakedness, as we now know they might if a few
+		sandy barriers were swept away, it would be indeed, a
+		blessing, for in it there is naught of good, comfort or
+		satisfaction, but ever in the minds of those who braved its
+		heat and sands, a thought of a horrid Charnel house, a corner
+		of the earth so dreary that it requires an exercise of
+		strongest faith to believe that the great Creator ever smiled
+		upon it as a portion of his work and pronounced it &quot;Very
+		good.&quot; We had crossed the great North American Continent,
+		from a land of plenty, over great barren hills and plains, to
+		another mild and beautiful region, where, though still in
+		winter months, we were basking in the warmth and luxuriance of
+		early summer. We thought not of the gold we had come to win.
+		We were dead almost, and now we lived. We were parched with
+		thirst, and now the brightest of crystal streams invited us to
+		stoop and drink. We were starved so that we had looked at each
+		other with maniac thoughts, and now we placed in our mouth the
+		very fat of the land. We had seen our cattle almost perishing;
+		seen them grow gaunt and tottering; seen them slowly plod
+		along with hanging heads and only the supremacy of human will
+		over animal instinct had kept them from lying down never to
+		rise again. Now they were in pastures of sweet grass, chewing
+		the cud of content and satisfaction. Life which had been a
+		burden grew sweet to us, and though it may be that our words
+		of praise to Him, whose will was to deliver us out of the jaws
+		of death, were not set nor formal, yet His all-seeing eye saw
+		the truth in our hearts, and saw there the fullest expression
+		of our gratitude and thankfulness. Who shall say the thanks
+		that arose were less acceptable, because not given on bended
+		knees before gilded altars?<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Though across the desert and evidently in the long promised
+		land our troubles and trials were not through by any means,
+		but evidently we were out of danger. Our lives seemed to be
+		secure, and we were soon to meet with settlers who would no
+		doubt extend to us the hand of human sympathy. Many long miles
+		yet remained between us and the rivers in whose sands were
+		hidden the tiny grains of gold we came to seek.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The rest in the lovely camp had answered to cause Mrs.
+		Bennett to feel quite well again by the next morning, and we
+		made ready to proceed. We had the trail of the Jayhawkers to
+		follow, so the vines, brambles and tangles which had perplexed
+		Rogers and myself in our first passage were now somewhat
+		broken down, and we could get along very well without further
+		clearing of the road until the hills came down so close on
+		both sides that there was no room except in the very bed of
+		the stream. There was no other way, so we waded among after
+		the oxen as best we could. Sometimes the women fell down, for
+		a rawhide moccasin soaked soft in water was not a very
+		comfortable or convenient shoe, however it might be adapted to
+		hot, dry sands. The creek was shaded and the water quite cool.
+		The trail, such as it was, crossed the creek often and
+		generally was nothing else than the stream itself. The
+		constant wading, and wet, cold clothing caused the women to
+		give out soon and we selected the first dry suitable place
+		which offered food for the oxen, as a place to camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Wood was plenty and dry, so a good fire was soon burning,
+		and the poor women, wet to the waist and even higher, were
+		standing before it, turning round and round to get warm and
+		dry. Someone remarked that they resembled geese hanging before
+		the fire to roast, as they slowly revolved, and it was all
+		owing to their fatigue that the suggester did not receive
+		merited punishment then and there at their hands. As they got
+		a little dry and comfortable they remarked that even an excess
+		of water like this was better than the desert where there was
+		none at all, and as to their looks, there were no society
+		people about to point their fingers at them, and when they
+		reached a settled country they hoped to have a chance to
+		change their clothes, and get two dresses apiece, and that
+		these would be long enough to hide their knees which these
+		poor tatters quite failed to do. One remarked that she was
+		sure she had been down in the brook a dozen times and that she
+		did not consider cold water baths so frequently repeated were
+		good for the health.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Young Charley Arcane had been getting better for some days.
+		No medicine had been given him, and it was no doubt the change
+		of air and water that had begun to effect a cure. Arcane had a
+		hard time of it to keep the brush from pulling George and
+		Melissa off of Old Crump into the water. It was indeed one of
+		the hardest day's work of the whole journey, but no one was
+		low spirited, and all felt very well. The camping place was in
+		a deep ca&ntilde;on, surrounded by thick brush, so that no
+		wind came in to chill us. Everybody was cook and nobody was
+		boss. Not a cent of money among us, nor any chance to use any
+		if we had possessed it. We had nice, sweet, fat meat, cooked
+		rare or well done as each one preferred, and no complaints
+		about the waiters. The conditions were so favorable, compared
+		with the terrible Death Valley and its surroundings that every
+		one remarked about it, and no one felt in the least like
+		finding fault with the little inconveniences we were forced to
+		put up with. It might cure an inveterate fault-finder to take
+		a course of training in the desert.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day we did not wade half as much, and after a few
+		hours of travel we suddenly emerged from the brush into a
+		creek bottom which was much wider, with not a tree to obstruct
+		our way. The soil was sandy and covered more or less with sage
+		brush, and the stream which had been strong and deep enough to
+		make us very wet now sank entirely out of sight in the sandy
+		bottom. The hills were thinly timbered on the left side but
+		quite brushy on the right, and we could see the track of
+		cattle in the sand. No signs of other animals, but some small
+		birds came near, and meadow larks whistled their tune, quite
+		familiar to us, but still sounding slightly different from the
+		song of the same bird in the East. High in the air could be
+		seen a large sailing hawk or buzzard.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We stopped to rest at noon and noticed that the water ran a
+		little in the creek bed; but, by the time we were ready to
+		start we found none with which to fill our canteens. No doubt
+		this water was poured into the ca&ntilde;on somewhere near the
+		place where we killed the three cattle, and we had got out of
+		it before the flood came down. It was astonishing to see how
+		the thirsty sand drank up the quite abundant flow.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day we came down to the point of hill that nearly
+		crossed the valley, and we crossed the low ridge rather than
+		make a longer trip to get around by way of the valley. As we
+		reached the summit there appeared before us as beautiful a
+		rural picture as one ever looked upon. A large green meadow,
+		of a thousand acres, more or less; its southwest side bounded
+		by low mountains, at the base of which oak trees were plenty,
+		but no brush or undergrowth. It was like a grand old park,
+		such as we read of in English tales. All over the meadow
+		cattle of all sorts and sizes grazed, the &quot;Ring-streaked
+		and speckled&quot; of old Jacob's breed being very prominent.
+		Some lazily cropped the grass; some still more lazily reclined
+		and chewed their cud; while frisky calves exercised their
+		muscles in swift races and then secured their dinner from
+		anxious mothers. We camped at once and took the loads from all
+		the animals that they might feed in comfort on the sweet grass
+		that lay before them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We tarried here perhaps two hours, till the cattle stopped
+		eating, and amply enjoyed the scene. Never again would any one
+		of the party go back over that dreary desert, they said, and
+		everyone wondered why all places could not be as green and
+		beautiful as this one. I cannot half tell how we felt and
+		acted, nor what we said in our delight over this picture of
+		plenty. The strong contrasts created strong impressions, and
+		the tongues so long silent in our dry and dreary trouble were
+		loosened to say everything the heart inspired. Think as much
+		as you can; you cannot think it all.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We felt much better after our rest, and the oxen seemed
+		stronger and better able, as well as more willing to carry
+		their loads, so we soon prepared to move on down the valley,
+		toward the house we had spoken of as the goal we were to
+		reach. It was now the 7th day of March 1850, and this date, as
+		well as the 4th day of November 1849 will always remain an
+		important one in memory. On the last named day we left the
+		trail to take the unfortunate cut-off, and for four long
+		months we had wandered and struggled in terrible hardship.
+		Every point of that terrible journey is indelibly fixed upon
+		my memory and though seventy-three years of age on April 6th
+		1893 I can locate every camp, and if strong enough could
+		follow that weary trail from Death Valley to Los Angeles with
+		unerring accuracy. The brushy ca&ntilde;on we have just
+		described is now occupied by the Southern Pacific Railroad,
+		and the steep and narrow ridge pierced by a tunnel, through
+		which the trains pass. The beautiful meadow we so much admired
+		has now upon its border a railroad station, Newhall, and at
+		the proper season some portion of it is covered with thousands
+		of trays of golden apricots, grown in the luxuriant orchards
+		just beyond the hills toward the coast, and here drying in the
+		bright summer sun. The cattle in the parti-colored coats are
+		gone, but one who knows the ground can see our picture.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Loaded up again we start down the beautiful grassy valley,
+		the women each with a staff in hand, and everything is new and
+		strange to us. Rogers and I know that we will soon meet people
+		who are strangers to us; who speak a strange language of which
+		we know nothing, and how we, without a dollar, are to proceed
+		to get our food and things we need, are questions we cannot
+		answer nor devise any easy way to overcome. The mines are yet
+		five hundred miles away, and we know not of any work for us to
+		do nearer. Our lives have been given back to us, and now comes
+		the problem of how to sustain them manfully and independently
+		as soon as possible. If worse comes to worst we can walk to
+		San Francisco, probably kill enough game on the way and
+		possibly reach the gold mines at last, but the way was not
+		clear. We must trust much to luck and fortune and the ever
+		faithful Providence which rarely fails those who truly try to
+		help themselves.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We began to think some very independent thoughts. We had a
+		mule to carry our camp kettle and meat. Our cattle were now
+		beginning to improve and would soon get fat; these could carry
+		our blankets and odd loads, while Old Crump the christian
+		could still carry the children; Bennett and I knew how to
+		hunt, and had good rifles; so we could still proceed, and we
+		determined that, come what may, <i>we will be
+		victorious</i>.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These were some of the plans we talked over at our camps
+		and resting places, and as we walked along. If we could get
+		the two families fixed in some way so they could do without
+		Rogers and I, we could strike for the mines quite rapidly and
+		no doubt soon get ourselves on good footing. We were younger
+		than the rest and could endure more hardship. We decide to
+		remain together till we get to Los Angeles, and then see what
+		is best.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We reached our camping place at the foot of the hill, about
+		a hundred yards from the house we have so long striven to
+		reach. Here we unloaded in the shade of a large willow tree,
+		and scarcely had we removed the harness from the oxen when the
+		good lady of the house and her little child came down to see
+		us. She stood for a moment and looked around her and at the
+		two small children on the blankets, and we could hear her
+		murmur <i>mucha pobre</i> (very poor.) She could see our
+		ragged clothes and dirty faces and everything told her of our
+		extreme destitution. After seeing our oxen and mule which were
+		so poor she said to herself &quot;<i>flaco, flaco</i>&quot;
+		(so thin.) She then turned to us, Rogers and I, whom she had
+		seen before, and as her lively little youngster clung to her
+		dress, as if in fear of such queer looking people as we were,
+		she took an orange from her pocket and pointing to the
+		children of our party, wanted to know if we had given them the
+		four oranges she sent to them by us. We made signs that we had
+		done as she requested, when she smiled and said
+		&quot;<i>Buenos Muchuchos</i>&quot; (good boys.) In all this
+		talk neither could say a word the other could understand, and
+		the conversation was carried on by signs.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Arcane said to her&mdash;&quot;Me Catholic&quot; which she
+		seemed partly to comprehend and seemed more friendly. About
+		this time two men rode up and took a look at us. Arcane, who
+		was a mason, gave the masonic sign, as he told me afterward,
+		but neither of them recognized it. We used such words of
+		Spanish as I had taken down in my pass book and committed to
+		memory and by motions in addition to these made them
+		understand something of the state of affairs and that Mr.
+		French who had assisted us before had told us we could get
+		some meat (<i>carne</i>) from them. These men were finely
+		mounted, wore long leggins made of hide, dressed with the hair
+		on, which reached to their hips, stiff hats with a broad rim,
+		and great spurs at their heels. Each had a coil of braided
+		rawhide rope on the pommel of the saddle, and all these
+		arrangements together made a very dashing outfit.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They seemed to understand what we had said to them, for
+		they rode off with a rush and came back in a short time,
+		leading a fine, fat two-year-old heifer. When near our camp
+		the rider who was behind threw his <i>riata</i> and caught
+		both hind feet of the animal when by a sudden movement of the
+		horses the heifer was thrown. One of them dismounted, and at
+		the command the horse backed up and kept the rope tight while
+		the man went up to the prostrate beast and cut its throat. As
+		soon as it had ceased struggling, they loosened their ropes
+		and coiled them up: they came to us and pointed to the dead
+		heifer in a way which said&mdash;&quot;Help
+		yourselves.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were much gratified at the generosity of the people, and
+		at once dressed the animal as it lay, cutting off some good
+		fat pieces which we roasted over the fire and ate with a
+		relish. It seemed as if meat never tasted so good as that did
+		sweet, fragrant, and juicy. If some French cook could only
+		cook a steak that would smell and taste to his customers as
+		that meal tasted to us, his art would be perfect. We separated
+		a hind quarter and hung it to a tree, and when the lady came
+		back we told her that the piece we had selected was enough for
+		our present use, so she caused the remainder with the hide to
+		be taken to the house. Toward night they drove up a lot of
+		cows and calves and other cattle into their cattle yard or
+		corral, as it is called all over California, a stockade of
+		strong oak posts set deep in the ground and close together,
+		enclosing a space of about half an acre. The horsemen now rode
+		in and began to catch the calves with their ropes. It seemed
+		as if they were able to throw a rope over a calf's head or
+		around either leg they desired, with better aim, and at as
+		great a distance as one could shoot a Colt's revolver, and we
+		saw at once that a good raw-hide rope, in the hands of an
+		experienced man and well-trained horse, was a weapon in many
+		respects superior to firearms of any kind. A man near the gate
+		loosened the ropes and pushed the calves into a separate
+		corral till they had as many as they desired.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rogers watched the circus till it was over and then
+		returned to camp, meeting on the way Bennett and Arcane, with
+		their wives and children, carrying some blankets, for the good
+		lady had invited them to come up to the house and sleep. They
+		said we could go down and keep camp if old dog Cuff was
+		willing, for they had left him guarding the property. He was
+		pleased enough to have us come and keep him company, and we
+		slept nicely, disturbed only a little by the barking of the
+		house dogs and the hooting of an owl that came to visit our
+		tree.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The people came back to camp in the morning and had their
+		experience to relate. Their hosts first baked some kind of
+		slapjacks and divided them among their guests; then gave them
+		beans seasoned hot with pepper: also great pieces of squash
+		cooked before the fire, which they said was delicious and
+		sweet&mdash;more than good. Then came a dish of dried meat
+		pounded fine, mixed with green peppers and well fried in beef
+		tallow. This seemed to be the favorite dish of the
+		proprietors, but was a little too hot for our people. They
+		called it <i>chili cum carne</i>&mdash;meat with
+		pepper&mdash;and we soon found this to be one of the best
+		dishes cooked by the Californians. The children were carefully
+		waited on and given special attention to by these good people,
+		and it was nearly ten o'clock before the feast was over: then
+		the household had evening worship by meeting in silence,
+		except a few set words repeated by some in turn, the ceremony
+		lasting half an hour or more. Then they came and wished them
+		<i>buenos noches</i> in the most polite manner and left them
+		to arrange their blankets on the floor and go to sleep.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The unaccustomed shelter of a roof and the restless
+		worrying of the children, who required much attention, for the
+		change of diet had about the same effect on them as on Rogers
+		and myself when we first partook of the California food, gave
+		them little sleep, but still they rested and were truly
+		grateful for the most perfect hospitality of these kind
+		hearted people.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning the two horsemen and two Indians went to the
+		corral, when the riders would catch a cow with their ropes and
+		draw her head up to a post, binding it fast, while an Indian
+		took a short piece of rope and closely tied the hind legs
+		together above the gambrel joint, making the tail fast also.
+		They had a large bucket and several gourds. The Indians then
+		milked the cows they had made fast, getting from a pint to two
+		quarts from each one, milking into a gourd and pouring into
+		the bucket till they had all they desired. The calves were
+		separated the night before so they could secure some milk.
+		Cows were not trained to stand and be milked as they were at
+		home. Setting down the bucket of milk before us, with some
+		small gourds for dippers, we were invited to drink all we
+		wished. This was a regular banquet to us, for our famished
+		condition and good appetites made food relish wonderfully.
+		When we made a sign of wishing to pay them for their great
+		kindness they shook their heads and utterly refused. It was
+		genuine sympathy and hospitality on their part, and none of us
+		ever forgot it; the sight of a native Californian has always
+		brought out thoughts of these good people, and respect and
+		thankfulness to the race. This rancho, at which we were so
+		kindly entertained was called San Francisquito, or Little San
+		Francisco Rancho.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This morning Mr. Arcane, with our assistance, made an
+		arrangement with these people to give them his two oxen; and
+		they were to take him and his wife and child, to the
+		sea-shore, at a place called San Pedro, from which place he
+		hoped, in some way, to get passage to San Francisco in a
+		sailing vessel. He had no money, and no property to sell,
+		except perhaps his spy-glass, worth about ten dollars. With
+		this poor prospect before him he started for the sea. He bade
+		Bennett's folks good-bye, then came to me and put a light gold
+		ring on my finger, saying that it and his interest in the
+		little mule were mine. Then he gave his silver watch to Rogers
+		and said it was all he had to give him, but if he had a
+		million dollars, he would divide, and still think it a small
+		compensation for the faithful services we had rendered him.
+		&quot;I can never repay you,&quot; said he, &quot;for I owe
+		you a debt that is beyond compensation. You have saved our
+		lives, and have done it when you knew you could get nothing
+		for it. I hope we will meet again, and when we do you will be
+		welcome. If you hear of me anywhere, come and see me, for I
+		want to tell my friends who Manly and Rogers are, and how you
+		helped us. Good Bye!&quot; There were tears in his eyes, voice
+		full of emotion, and the firm clasp of his hand told how
+		earnest he was, and that he felt more than he could speak.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He helped Mrs. Arcane on her horse, then gave Charlie to
+		her, and, amid waving hands and many <i>adios</i> from our
+		new-found friends, with repeated &quot;good byes&quot; from
+		the old ones, they rode away. Mrs. Arcane could hardly speak
+		when she bade us farewell, she was so much affected. They had
+		about sixty miles to ride to reach the sea, and as she rode on
+		a man's saddle, and was unused to riding, I knew she would be
+		sadly wearied before she reached the coast.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our little train now seemed much smaller. Three oxen and a
+		mule were all our animals, and the adults must still walk, as
+		they had done on our desert route. But we were comparatively
+		happy, for we had plenty of good meat to eat, plenty of sweet
+		water to drink, and our animals were contented and improving
+		every day; grass and water seemed plenty everywhere. We put
+		our luggage on the oxen and the mule, loaded the children on
+		Old Crump as we had done before, and were ready to move again.
+		Our good friends stood around and smiled good-naturedly at our
+		queer arrangements, and we, not knowing how to say what our
+		hearts would prompt us to, shook their hands and said good bye
+		in answer to their &quot;<i>adios amigos</i>&quot; as we moved
+		away, waving hands to each other.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The men then detained me a little while to ask me more
+		about the road we had come over, how far it was, and how bad
+		the Indians were, and other particulars. I told him by signs
+		that we had been twenty-two days on the road, and that the
+		<i>Indianos</i>, as they called them, had not troubled us, but
+		that there was very little grass or water in all that land. He
+		made a sort of map on the ground and made me understand he
+		would like to go back and try to bring out the wagons we had
+		left behind, and he wanted me to go back with him and help
+		him. I explained to him by the map he had made, and one which
+		I made myself, that I considered it impossible to bring them
+		over. He seemed much disappointed, and with a shrug of his
+		shoulders said &quot;<i>mucho malo</i>&quot; (very bad) and
+		seemed to abandon the idea of getting a Yankee wagon. They
+		very much admired an American wagon, for their own vehicles
+		were rude affairs, as I shall bye-and-bye describe. We bade
+		each other many <i>adios</i>, and I went on my way, soon
+		catching up with the little party. We had been informed that
+		it was ten leagues, or thirty miles to Los Angeles, whither we
+		were now headed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had now been a whole year on the road between Wisconsin
+		and California, much of the time with the ground for a bed,
+		and though our meals had been sometimes scanty and long
+		between, very few of us had missed one on account of sickness.
+		Some, less strong than we, had lain down to perish, and had
+		been left behind, without coffin or grave; but we were here,
+		and so far had found food to nourish us in some degree with
+		prospects now of game in the future if nothing better offered.
+		We still talked of going to the gold mines on foot, for with
+		good food and rest our courage had returned, and we wanted to
+		succeed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our camp this night was in a nice watering place, where dry
+		oak wood was plenty and grass abundant. It was at the foot of
+		the San Fernando Mountain, not rocky, as we had found our road
+		some time before, but smooth and covered with grass. It was
+		rather steep to climb, but an infant compared with the great
+		mountains so rough and barren, we had climbed on our way from
+		Death Valley. Our present condition and state of mind was an
+		anomalous one. We were happy, encouraged, grateful and quite
+		contented in the plenty which surrounded us, and still there
+		was a sort of puzzling uncertainty as to our future, the way
+		to which seemed very obscure. In the past we had pushed on our
+		very best and a kind Providence had kept us. This we did now,
+		but still revolved the best plans and the most fortunate
+		possibilities in our minds. We talked of the time when we
+		should be able to show hospitality to our friends, and to
+		strangers who might need our open hand as we had needed the
+		favors which strangers had shown us in the last few days.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We ate our supper of good meat, with a dessert of good
+		beans our kind friends had given us, and enjoyed it greatly.
+		As we sat in silence a flock of the prettiest, most graceful
+		birds came marching along, and halted as if to get a better
+		view of our party. We admired them so much that we made not a
+		move, but waited, and they fearlessly walked on again. We
+		could see that there were two which were larger than the rest,
+		and from twelve to twenty smaller ones. The little top-knot on
+		the head and their symmetrical forms made them specially
+		attractive, and Mrs. Bennett and the children were much
+		pleased. The beauty of the California quail is especially
+		striking to one who sees them for the first time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the morning we began to climb the hill, getting along
+		very well indeed, for our raw-hide moccasins were now dry and
+		hard and fitted the foot perfectly. We did not try to make
+		great speed, but kept steadily on, and as we were used to
+		climbing, we reached the summit easily. From this elevation we
+		could get a fine view of the big grassy plain that seemed to
+		extend as far as the eye could reach and, not far from us, the
+		buildings and gardens of the San Fernando Mission. If we could
+		shut out the mountains the landscape would remind us of a
+		great Western prairie. We never could get over comparing this
+		country with the desolate Death Valley, for it seemed as if
+		such strange and striking opposites could hardly exist.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We rested here a little while and then wound our way down
+		the hill to the level land. A few miles brought us to the
+		mission houses and the church of San Fernando. There was not
+		much life about them, in fact they seemed comparatively
+		deserted, for we saw only one man and a few Indians. The man
+		brought some oranges and gave the children one each. After a
+		little rest we moved on over our road which was now quite
+		smooth and gently descending. Night overtook us in a place
+		where there was no water, but we camped and suffered no
+		inconvenience. A stream was passed next day, and a house near
+		by unoccupied. The road now began to enter gently rolling
+		hills covered with big grass and clover, which indicated rich
+		soil, and we never get tired of talking about it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the top of these hills we had another beautiful view as
+		far south and west as the eye could reach. Small objects,
+		probably horses and cattle, were scattered about the plain,
+		grazing in the midst of plenty. Our own animals were given
+		frequent opportunities to eat, and again and again we rejoiced
+		over the beauty. Of course it was not such a surprise and
+		wonder as it was when such a view first burst upon our sight,
+		but it pleased and delighted us ever. On the east was a
+		snow-capped peak, and here we were in the midst of green
+		fields of grass and wild flowers, in the softest climate of an
+		early spring. These strong contrasts beat anything we had ever
+		seen. Perhaps the contrast between the great snow mountain and
+		the hot Death Valley was greater in point of temperature, but
+		there the heat brought only barrenness, and of the two the
+		snow seemed the more cheerful. Here the vegetation of all
+		sorts was in full balance with the balmy air, and in
+		comparison the snow seemed a strange neighbor. It was quite a
+		contrast to our cold, windy March in Wisconsin, and we wonder
+		if it is always summer here. We were satisfied that even if we
+		could get no further we could live in such a land as this. The
+		broad prairie doubtless belonged to the United States, and we
+		could have our share and own a little piece of it on very easy
+		terms, and raise our own cattle and corn. If the people were
+		all as kind as those we had met we were sure at least of
+		neighborly treatment. I have endeavored to write this just as
+		it seemed to us then and not clothe the impressions with the
+		cover of later experience. The impressions we then daily
+		received and the sights we saw were stranger than the wildest
+		fiction, and if it so strikes you, my friendly reader, do not
+		wonder.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we came over the hills we could see a village near the
+		southern base and it seemed quite near us. It was a new and
+		strange sight to us as we approached. The houses were only one
+		story high and seemed built of mud of a gray color, the roofs
+		flat, and the streets almost deserted. Occasionally a man
+		could be seen, sometimes a dog, and now and then an Indian,
+		sitting with his back to the house. The whole view indicated a
+		thinly populated place, and the entire absence of wagons or
+		animals was a rather strange circumstance to us. It occurred
+		to us at first that if all the emigrants were gone our
+		reception might be a cool one in this city of mud. One thing
+		was in its favor and that was its buildings were about fire
+		proof for they had earthen floors and flat roofs.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We rested half an hour or so just outside, and then
+		ventured down the hill into the street. We met an American
+		almost the first man, and when we asked about a suitable
+		camping place, he pointed out the way and we marched on. Our
+		strange appearance attracted the attention of the children and
+		they kept coming out of the houses to see the curious little
+		train with Old Crump carrying the children and our poor selves
+		following along, dirty and ragged. Mrs. Bennett's dress hardly
+		reached below her knees, and although her skirts were fringed
+		about the bottom it was of a kind that had not been adopted as
+		yet in general circle of either Spanish-American or good
+		United States society. The shortness of the dress made the
+		curious raw-hide moccasins only the more prominent, and the
+		whole make-up of the party was a curious sight.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We went down the hill a little further to the lower bottom
+		to camp, while the barefooted, bareheaded urchins followed
+		after to get a further look at the strangers. Before we
+		selected a suitable place, we saw two tents and some wagons
+		which looked like those of overland travelers, and we went
+		toward them. When within fifty yards two men suddenly came to
+		their feet and looked at our little party approaching as if in
+		wonder, but at twenty steps they recognized Bennett and came
+		rushing forward. &quot;My God! It's Bennett&quot; said they,
+		and they clasped hands in silence while one greeted Mrs.
+		Bennett warmly. The meeting was so unexpected they shed tears
+		and quietly led the way back to camp. This was the camp of
+		R.G. Moody and H.C. Skinner, with their families. They had
+		traveled together on the Platte and became well acquainted,
+		the warmest of friends, and knowing that Bennett had taken the
+		cut off, they more than suspected he and his party had been
+		lost, as no sight of them had come to their eyes. They had
+		been waiting here six weeks in order to get some reliable
+		news, and now Mr. Bennet answered for himself. Rogers and I,
+		belonging to another party, were of course strangers.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Leaving them to compare notes, Rogers and I took charge of
+		Old Crump, the oxen, and the mule, unpacked them, and arranged
+		camp under a monstrous willow tree. Bennett and his wife were
+		taken into Mr. Moody's tent, and an hour or so later when Mrs.
+		Bennett appeared again, she had her face washed clean, her
+		hair combed, and a new clean dress. It was the first time we
+		had found soap, and the improvement in her looks and feelings
+		was surprising. Bennett looked considerably cleaned up too,
+		and appeared bright and fresh. The children had also been
+		taken in hand and appeared in new clothes selected from the
+		wardrobe of the other children, and the old dirty clothes were
+		put in process of washing as soon as possible.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Supper came, and it was so inviting. There was real bread
+		and it looked so nice we smiled when it was offered to us.
+		Mrs. Bennett broke pieces for the children and cautioned them
+		not to eat too much. It did seem so good to be among friends
+		we could talk with and be understood. After supper was over
+		and the things cleared away we all sat down in a circle and
+		Bennett told the story of where he had been these many days on
+		the cut off that was to shorten the trail. Mr. Moody said he
+		had about given the party up and intended to start up the
+		coast to-morrow. The story was so long that they talked till
+		they were sleepy and then began again after breakfast, keeping
+		it up till they had a good outline of all our travels and
+		tribulations. This Mr. R.G. Moody, his wife and daughter, Mrs.
+		Quinby, and son Charles, all lived in San Jose and are now
+		dead. H.C. Skinner was a brother-in-law of Moody and also
+		lived a long time in San Jose, but himself, son and one
+		daughter, are now dead.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rogers and I now took the pack-saddle we had borrowed of
+		Mr. French to use on our trip to Death Valley and return, and
+		carried it to the saloon on the east side of the plaza, where
+		we were to place it if we got back safely, and delivered it to
+		the man in charge, with many thanks to Mr. French for his
+		favors to us, and sent him word that we would always remember
+		him and be ready to do him a similar or equal favor if ever we
+		were able. We considered him a good benevolent man, and such
+		he proved to be when he offered us fat oxen, good beans, and
+		any other thing we needed. He told the people in the house who
+		we were, which no doubt influenced them kindly in our favor
+		when we arrived.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the saloon there was a large room with tables in it and
+		gambling going on actively. Money changed hands very rapidly,
+		drinks at the bar were frequent, and the whole affair moved
+		forward with the same regularity as any mercantile business.
+		The door stood wide open and any one could come and go at his
+		pleasure. Quite a number of black-eyed, fair looking women
+		circulated among the crowd, and this, to us, seemed quite out
+		of place, for we had never seen women in saloons before. We
+		watched the game awhile to see some losing and some gaining,
+		the result being quite exciting; but as neither of us had any
+		money, we could not have joined in the game had we been so
+		disposed; so we looked on awhile and then took a seat on the
+		ground outside of the house.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here we talked over our chances of getting to the mines.
+		All the clothes we had were on our backs and feet and those
+		were the poorest of the poor. We had no money. I had the
+		little black-eyed mule, and Rogers had the watch Arcane had
+		given him. Mr. Moody had said it was 500 miles to San
+		Francisco, and 150 miles further to the mines, so that after
+		the hard travel of a year we were still a long way off from
+		the place we started for.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We could not see any way to make a living here. There was
+		no land cultivated, not a fence, nothing to require labor of
+		any kind. The valley was rich enough and produced great crops
+		of grass, and the cattle and horses we had seen grazing seemed
+		to be about all the use they put it to. It looked as if the
+		people must live principally on meat. I thought if we could
+		manage to get a little provision together, such as flour and
+		beans, that I could pack there on the mule, and I was pretty
+		sure I could find game that would be better meat than we had
+		lived on during the last two months on the desert.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We looked around to see if we could find something to do to
+		earn a little for a start, but were not successful. In our
+		walk about this city of mud we saw many things that seemed
+		strange to us. There were more women than men, and more
+		children than grown-up people, while the dogs were plenty. At
+		the edge of the town, near the river were some grape vines
+		fenced in with living willows, interlaced in some places with
+		dry vines. The Indians moved very moderately around and no
+		doubt had plenty of beef to eat, with very few wants to
+		provide for. We noticed some few people paying for small
+		things at the stores with small money. The women all dressed
+		much alike. The dress was of some cheap material, sandals on
+		feet, and a kind of long shawl worn over the head and thrown
+		over the shoulder. There seemed to be neither hoops nor
+		corsets in their fashions. The men wore trousers of white
+		cotton or linen, with a calico shirt, sandals, and a broad
+		rimmed snuff colored hat. The Indians and their wives went
+		bareheaded.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Near the end of the street we came to a boarding house and
+		went in and sat down in the empty room. Soon a man came in,
+		better dressed than ourselves, and much to our surprise it was
+		one of the old Death Valley travelers, the Rev. J.W. Brier
+		whom I last saw in his lone camp in the desert, discoursing to
+		his young sons on the benefits of an early education. I know
+		the situation struck me very strangely, with death staring
+		them in the face and he preaching!<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had a long talk about the hard journey we had each
+		experienced. As his party had not waited they had come through
+		ahead of us. He said himself and Mr. Granger had started a
+		boarding house when they arrived, and had been doing a good
+		business. He said that as long as the emigrants continued to
+		come he could get along very well. We asked him if there was
+		any chance for us to work and get money to get some provisions
+		to help us on the way to the mines. He said he could give work
+		to one of us hauling water for the house with oxen and cart,
+		and the one who could manage oxen was the man. I was an ox
+		driver and so told him I would take his team and cart and set
+		out with the work. He said he could pay fifty dollars a month,
+		and I accepted the offer quickly as I saw it was a good chance
+		to build up my exhausted strength and flesh.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I turned the little mule out in the hills near by, and
+		began my work. It was not hard, for the boarders were thinning
+		out. The natives did not patronize this hotel very much, but
+		grub disappeared pretty fast at my corner of the table, for my
+		appetite began to be ravenous. There was not much variety to
+		the food and very few luxuries or delicacies, which were hard
+		to obtain on such a bare market, but all seemed satisfied with
+		the food, and to me it tasted extra good.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rogers went back to the old camp and helped them there, and
+		I often went over after dark, when my work was done. Moody and
+		Skinner had been active in trying to get Mr. Bennett ready to
+		go up the coast with them. Bennett had sold his repeating
+		rifle and with the proceeds and the help of his friends had
+		got another ox, making two yoke for him. They fixed up a wagon
+		for him, and yokes enough could be found where people had
+		traded off their oxen for horses. Provisions enough had been
+		gathered by Moody and Skinner for them all, and Rogers would
+		go along with the party to help them with the teams.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was left alone after they started, and it was my idea to
+		quit when I had worked a month, and if my mule staid with me,
+		to start for the mines even if I went alone. The majority of
+		the male inhabitants of this town had gone to the mines, and
+		this accounted for the unusual proportion of women. We learned
+		that they would return in November, and then the gambling
+		houses would start up in full blast, for these native
+		Californians seemed to have a great natural desire to indulge
+		in games of chance, and while playing their favorite game of
+		monte would lay down their last reale (12-1/2 cents) in the
+		hope of winning the money in sight before them on the
+		table.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As the boarding house business got dull I was taken over to
+		a vineyard and set to work, in place of hauling water. The
+		entire patch was as green as a meadow with weeds, and I was
+		expected to clean them out. I inquired of Brier how he came to
+		get hold of this nice property, and he said that during the
+		war the soldiers had taken possession of this piece of ground,
+		and had their camp here, so he considered it was government
+		land, and therefore had squatted on it and was going to hold
+		it, and pay for it as regular government land, and that he
+		already considered it his own, for said he, &quot;I am an
+		American, and this is a part of the public domain.&quot;
+		&quot;All right,&quot; said I, &quot;I will kill weeds for
+		you, if you wish, when I have time to spare, and you don't
+		want the oxen worked at any other work &quot;.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I could see every day that I was improving in health and
+		weight and would soon become myself again, able to take the
+		road to the mines. When about two weeks of my time had expired
+		two oldish men came to the house to stop for a few days and
+		reported themselves as from Sacramento, buying up some horses
+		for that market. Thus far they had purchased only six or
+		eight, as they had found the price too high to buy and then
+		drive so far to a market to sell again. They had about decided
+		to go back with what they had and undertake some other kind of
+		business. I thought this would be a pretty good chance for me
+		to go, as I would have company, and so went to Brier and
+		Granger and told them what I would like to do, and that with
+		their permission I would quit and go on with them. They
+		readily consented, for their money was coming in rather slow,
+		and they paid me twenty five dollars for half a month's work.
+		This made me feel pretty rich and I thought this would give me
+		food enough to reach the mines.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Having two or three days to get ready in, I began doing the
+		best I could. I found an old saddle tree which had been thrown
+		away, and managed to fix it up so I could use it. I also found
+		an old gun some traveler had left, and with a little work I
+		fitted the breech of that to my own gun which was broken, and
+		had been roughly tied together with strips of raw-hide. I now
+		had a good sound gun if it was not very handsome. I bought a
+		Spanish blanket, not so wide as ours, but coarse and strong,
+		and having a hole in the center through which to put the head
+		and wear it as a garment in case of storm, or at night. I went
+		to a native store and bought a supply of carn&eacute; seca
+		(dried beef) and some crackers, put some salt in my pocket and
+		was now provisioned for another trip. I found my mule in the
+		hills back of town, not far from where I left her, and the
+		rest and good feed had made her look better and feel better,
+		as well as myself.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The drovers had found two other men who wanted to go with
+		them and help drive the horses for their board. I put my
+		blanket on under the saddle, packed my little sack of meat and
+		crackers on behind, and when I was in the saddle with my gun
+		before me I considered I was pretty well fixed and able to
+		make my way against almost anything. I said to myself that the
+		only way now to keep me from getting to the gold mines was to
+		kill me. I felt that there was not a mountain so high I could
+		not climb, and no desert so wide and dry that I could not
+		cross it. I had walked and starved and choked and lived
+		through it, and now I felt so strong and brave I could do it
+		again&mdash;any way to reach the gold mines and get some of
+		the &quot;dust.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I had not much idea how the gold from the mines looked.
+		Everybody called it gold dust, and that conveyed an idea to me
+		that it was fine as flour, but how to catch it I did not know.
+		I knew other people found a way to get it, and I knew I could
+		learn if any body could. It was a great longing that came to
+		me to see some of the yellow dust in its native state, before
+		it had been through the mint.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the last meal I took at the house there were only a few
+		at the table. Among them was a well dressed Californian who
+		evidently did not greatly fancy American cooking, but got
+		along very well till Mrs. Brier brought around the dessert, a
+		sort of duff. This the Californian tasted a few times and then
+		laid down his spoon saying it was no bueno, and some other
+		words I did not then understand, but afterward learned that
+		they meant &quot;too much grease.&quot; The fellow left the
+		table not well pleased with what we generally consider the
+		best end of a Yankee dinner, the last plate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While here I had slept in a small store room, where I made
+		my pallet out of old rags and blankets. While I was looking
+		round for material to make my bed I came across a bag partly
+		full of sugar, brought from Chili. It was in very coarse
+		crystals, some as large as corn. There were some other
+		treasures end luxuries there that perhaps I was expected
+		guard. I however had a sweet tooth and a handful or so of the
+		sweet crystals found their way into my pocket.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I bade Mr. Brier and the rest good bye and rode away to
+		join my company.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=360 alt="" src="images/ch_11.png" width=140
+			border=0><br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-4887"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>[Leaving the little party whose wanderings we have followed
+		so closely, safely arrived in Los Angeles, their further
+		history in California will be taken up later on, and this
+		narrative will go back to points when the original party was
+		broken up and trace the little bands in their varied
+		experience. It will be remembered that the author and his
+		friends, after a perilous voyage down Green River, halted at
+		the camp of the Indian chief, Walker, and there separated, the
+		Author and four companions striking for Salt Lake, while
+		McMahon and Field remained behind, fully determined to go on
+		down the river.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The story of these two men is told by McMahon in the
+		following interesting letter.]<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align="center">
+			__________________________________<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>Dear Manley:&mdash;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Yours requesting me to give you a synopsis of the history
+		of incidents, experience, and observations of our mutual
+		friend, Richard Field and myself, from the time you, John
+		Rogers, Alfred Walton, and the Hazelrig brothers left us at
+		the camp of the generous old chief Walker on the west bank of
+		the river near the mouth of the &quot;great seven days
+		ca&ntilde;on&quot; is at hand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>You no doubt distinctly, and with pleasure, remember that
+		unbroken friendship which existed among us up to the time of
+		our separation and that we parted warm and tried friends.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Well, after you and your companions had left us we set to
+		work to prepare the canvas for the continuation of the voyage
+		down the river. We drilled holes through the sides of the
+		&quot;Pilot&quot;&mdash;you, I have no doubt remember which
+		that was, yours and mine, in which we took so many fearful
+		risks, and &quot;No. 2,&quot; so that we might in case of
+		necessity lash the two together. After a day or two Field lost
+		courage and finally determined to go no further down the
+		river. Walker in the meantime had repeated his friendly
+		warnings appertaining to the great danger in going further
+		down the river. You will remember what he had told us about it
+		before you left us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>You know that I was the biggest coward of the whole seven;
+		but I assumed courage and told Field that I would go down the
+		river alone; and, for a time, I thought I would do so; but
+		after some reflection I concluded that, perhaps, discretion
+		was the better part of valor, and reluctantly gave it up. We
+		now decided to follow you, or to take some other unknown route
+		and try to make our escape out of this most perilous
+		condition.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We then set about, as you had done, to trade with Walker
+		for a pony or two, and after much dickering Field succeeded in
+		getting the, afterwards famous, big, old, sore-backed mule.
+		You may not remember him, but I do; and, notwithstanding his
+		sore back, he made pretty good beef. I, with pins, needles,
+		thread, a pocket-knife, a handkerchief, etc., succeeded in
+		getting a very nice, round, three-year-old, iron-gray
+		pony.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After making pack-saddles, and getting almost ready to
+		start, we were, through Walker's kindness and persuasiveness,
+		overcome, and consented to go with him, feeling confident that
+		we would not starve to death while with him. We did not now
+		have Manley with his long experience, and his old rusty, but
+		always trusty, rifle as a sure defence against possible hunger
+		and starvation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The old chief, and, in fact, the whole tribe, seemed
+		pleased when we consented to go with them. Preparations were
+		now made, and all except the horses and four head of cattle,
+		was conveyed across the river in the two canoes which were
+		lashed together, while the horses and cattle were forced to
+		swim to the other side where we camped for the night. Next
+		morning the clever old chief had two good horses fitted up in
+		good style for Field and I, which we rode all of the nine days
+		that we remained with the band, while our own run with the
+		herd. Our baggage was carried on some of the chief's
+		pack-horses. We were, in fact, his honored guests, as will
+		hereafter appear.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All were soon mounted and off to the buffalo fields, Walker
+		having informed us that he intended going up into the buffalo
+		country on the head-waters of Grand River where he would
+		remain until snow fell, when he would go to Salt Lake City, or
+		vicinity.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Leaving the river, we set out across a not entirely barren
+		plain, for there was much sage-brush, and several varieties of
+		cactus. Towards evening we came close up to the foot of a
+		range of rugged, rocky mountains, where we found water and
+		camped for the night. Field and I usually pitched our little
+		muslin tent somewhere near our friends where we could sleep
+		without fear of man or beast, for I think some one of the reds
+		was always on guard.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All went well for four or five days, when we all got
+		entirely out of food except a few ounces of flour which we had
+		hidden away for a possible emergency. During the following two
+		days and nights all were entirely without food except the two
+		little children, whom you no doubt remember. We gave their
+		mother a little flour now and then which she mixed with a
+		little milk which one of the cows afforded, for the little
+		ones. These Indians did not seem to suffer for want of food;
+		even when we were starving, they appeared happy and contented;
+		and one young fellow would sing all day long while we were
+		starving. Daring the second day of starvation and hard
+		traveling over hot and barren deserts, the Indians killed a
+		wild-cat and two small rabbits. We got nothing. You will
+		remember that all the arms of the seven men were lost in the
+		river when the canoes were sunk, except your rifle and my
+		double barreled shot-gun and revolver, so that Field and I had
+		only the one gun, and neither of us knew anything about
+		hunting. When we camped, one of the boys brought over to our
+		tent a quarter of the cat, which was more than a fair share of
+		the whole supply, as twenty-two of them had only the two
+		little rabbits and three quarters of the unfortunate cat. We
+		boiled and boiled and boiled that cat's hind leg, but never
+		got it done. We waited as long as we possibly could, gave up
+		in despair and put a little flour into the broth to thicken
+		it, and drank it. It was not good, but much better the meat of
+		the cat. That cat and the rabbits were all the twenty-four of
+		us had to eat, after fasting two days, until late in the
+		evening of the next day.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>My people were religious, and when I was young the family
+		was wont to observe fast days, but never did we have any such
+		long fasts as these were. In the afternoon of the next day the
+		old chief left the caravan and went on ahead of the train
+		toward a chain of mountains, first giving some directions to
+		the band, and taking one son with him. When we arrived in a
+		small ca&ntilde;on in the edge of the mountains we found them
+		with a fine mountain sheep which they had killed and brought
+		down to the dim, little-used trail where we camped; and after
+		we had set up our little tent as usual, a short distance away
+		from our friends, one of the young men brought to us about one
+		fourth of the sheep, while the twenty-two Indians had the
+		rest.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>You know that a good-sized mountain sheep would make a fair
+		supper for twenty-four people, even though they had been
+		starving three or four days; but this was a small one, and I
+		think Field and I ate about half of the quarter. The
+		twenty-two Indians soon devoured the three-fourths and all of
+		the soft viscera, including the stomach and intestines, after
+		which some of the boys came to our tent while we were stuffing
+		our, what had been for several days empty, stomachs. We
+		offered them part of our bounteous supply of mutton, having
+		much more than we could eat; but no, they would not touch it
+		until we were filled full, when they accepted what was left,
+		and soon stowed it away. All were now pretty well filled up
+		once more.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day was spent without food, traveling over rough
+		mountains. Within a pass, late in the afternoon, we crossed
+		the fresh trail of some other band of roving red-skins, and
+		Walker suspected who they were, and went into camp early. The
+		Indians had killed nothing that day, but I had killed a small
+		rabbit which, unfortunately for it, came in my way during the
+		day. This we offered to the women for themselves and the
+		little children; but they positively refused to accept it,
+		insisting that they did not want it or need it, and that the
+		small supply of milk from the cow was quite sufficient for the
+		little ones, and the others spurned the offer to divide so
+		little a thing, so we had it all to ourselves.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It appeared that these people were accustomed to go for
+		long periods without food, and with little apparent
+		inconvenience; but Field and I began to feel as I suppose Dr.
+		Tanner felt after a few days' fasting, and began to wish that
+		the old chief would get hungry and kill one of his large, fat
+		steers, but he still held them in reserve.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early the next morning, now nine days from the time we had
+		left the river, the old chief took two of the young men and
+		left camp, as we afterwards learned, to go in search of the
+		Indians whose trail we had crossed the evening before. Some
+		time in the early part of the night, one of the young men
+		returned and informed us that they had found the wandering
+		tribe, and that we were to go back to their trail and follow
+		it to their camp up in a Southeast direction, Walker and one
+		of the young men having remained with their new-found
+		friends.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Field and I both felt greatly disappointed in not being
+		able to proceed north; and in the meantime we had become very
+		tired of the society of these people, notwithstanding the fact
+		that they were exceedingly clever; but we were almost starved
+		to death, and had about come to the conclusion that we would
+		be obliged to make some change. We were still on the east side
+		of, and considerable distance from the river, and probably not
+		more than one hundred, or one hundred and twenty miles from
+		the place where we parted from you.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The chief had sent particular instructions for us to go
+		with the tribe; but, after canvassing the whole situation, we
+		decided to part company with our good friends, proceed
+		northward, and try to reach Fort Bridger or some other
+		settlement in the northwest, and so informed them, and
+		requested the boys to bring in our mule and horse, which they
+		did after failing to induce us to go with them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bright and early the next morning, they all, even the
+		polygamous wives and little children, in apparent sorrow, bade
+		us good-bye, and were off, leaving us alone with our two poor,
+		lonely, four-footed companions, who were very anxious to
+		follow the band of horses. After the rather melancholy parting
+		we arranged our packs, and about ten o'clock started out on
+		what then seemed, and afterwards proved, to be a perilous
+		voyage through deserts, and over rough mountains. To avoid a
+		high range of mountains, our course was for a time northeast
+		but, after passing that range we bore to the northwest.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The days were quite warm, but the nights were cold. During
+		the first day we killed and ate one small rabbit, and this,
+		with a few seed buds gathered from wild rose bushes,
+		constituted two days' rations. On the third we did not have
+		even the rabbit or rose seed buds, but late in the afternoon
+		we found some small red berries, similar in appearance to what
+		I, in my childhood, knew and relished as Solomon's seal
+		berries. I being a natural coward, and fearing that they might
+		poison me, did not eat any of them, but generously allowed my
+		good friend to eat them all.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had now been almost entirely without water for two days
+		and nights. When night came on we picketed our animals in a
+		grass plot and lay down near them to see that they did not get
+		tangled in the ropes and hurt, or that some red skin, not
+		having the fear of the Lord in his heart, did not come and
+		take them away. About ten o'clock my companion began to
+		complain of pain in his stomach and bowels, and was soon
+		vomiting at a fearful rate; so violently, indeed, that I was
+		apprehensive that he might die. If I had had an emetic I would
+		have given it to him to have assisted nature in pumping those
+		devilish little red berries out of him, for I felt quite sure
+		that they were the cause of his illness. Perhaps it was
+		fortunate that there was no medecine at hand, for if there had
+		been I might have killed him with it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He suffered most intensely, and soon became very thirsty,
+		and, there being no water within many miles of us, he appealed
+		to me to bleed one of the animals and let him drink the blood;
+		I refused: he insisted; I again refused: he commanded; I still
+		refused. He swore, and called me almost everything except a
+		good Christian; he even expressed the wish that I, his friend,
+		might be sent to a certain place where the heat is most
+		intense, and the fire is never quenched.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At about eleven o'clock, when his pains were most severe, a
+		dark cloud, the first we had seen for months, came over us,
+		and a little rain began to fall, when I at once opened our
+		little camp kettle and turned the lid upside down, and into
+		both kettle and lid there fell perhaps two or three
+		teaspoonfuls of pure water, every drop of which I gave to the
+		sufferer, whereupon he expressed thanks for another God-send,
+		and at once apologized for bestowing unmerited abuse on me. He
+		afterwards often asserted that he believed that the little
+		rain-cloud was sent by God for his special benefit, and that
+		the water caught from that cloud was the sweetest and best
+		that he had ever tasted. I did not doubt the latter half of
+		the above statement, but I did have some doubt about the truth
+		of the former half when I called to mind the scene which
+		followed my refusal to bleed the horse. Whether the small
+		quantity of water gave him much relief, or not, I do not know,
+		but I do know that he soon became better and slept some while
+		I watched. He was quite feeble next morning when I put him on
+		the old sore-backed mule, where he rode most of the time for
+		the next four days, while the little horse carried our
+		baggage, and I led the way as usual, on foot.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>For four days from the time Field ate the little red
+		berries we did not have a drop of water except the two or
+		three teaspoonfuls which the stingy cloud left to save the
+		life of the &quot;berry-eater.&quot; We were still on the
+		desert, or in the mountains east of the river, traveling hard
+		during the day, and burning up with fever in the night. There
+		was plenty of drying grass in places, but our poor animals
+		could not eat it any longer, for they, too, were burning up
+		for want of water. Oh, how much I did wish that we had some
+		camels from Arabia, which could have gone so much longer
+		without water, and traveled so much faster.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the morning of the third day of starvation, we
+		determined to change our course, and, if possible, reach the
+		river once more. Bearing to the left over a high, barren range
+		of rocky mountains, and down into a plain of sand, sage brush,
+		and cactus. During the afternoon I shot a small rabbit, not
+		much larger than a rat, which we carried until night, then
+		broiled and tried to eat it, not because our appetites craved
+		it, but hoping that it might strengthen and sustain us, at
+		least a little while longer. We were, however, so nearly
+		burned up that there was not a sufficient flow of saliva to
+		moisten the little bits of broiled meat in the mouth. Late
+		that afternoon we fancied that our fast failing brute
+		companions scented water, or that they instinctively knew that
+		it was not far away. They would raise their heads, and extend
+		their noses as if smelling, while their physical force and
+		energy seemed renewed, and they certainly traveled faster.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>That night we ate the little, as before stated, more as a
+		duty than as a pleasure. There was some green grass round
+		about where we camped, or, more properly speaking, where we
+		lay, for we did not erect our little tent,&mdash;but the poor
+		starving animals did not eat a bite of it, but stood over us
+		as if in sympathy with us in our deplorable condition. We rose
+		before the sun, being somewhat rested and refreshed, for the
+		night had been cool, and took up our line of march, I, as
+		usual, in the lead, then came the old mule guided by its
+		precious owner, and lastly, the faithful little horse with the
+		pack on his still quite round back;&mdash;on over the still
+		dry and barren plain we went, without a Moses, cloud, or
+		pillar of fire to lead us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About ten o'clock, through the hot glimmer of the
+		down-pouring rays of the sun, we saw what appeared, and
+		afterwards proved, to be a clump of cottonwood trees. Our
+		hopes and courage were renewed, for we well knew the
+		cottonwood usually grows near flowing water. There was no
+		beaten pathway, no signs of animal life, no quails, no manna
+		in that desert; but on we went, almost without a halt, and at
+		one o'clock reached the cottonwood grove, immediately on the
+		bank of the great river down which we had floated in our
+		canoes more than a month before. On reaching the bank of the
+		river we recognized objects which we had seen while on our way
+		down.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We remembered that both men and horses might be
+		water-foundered, and that self-preservation is said to be the
+		first law of nature; but it was difficult to prevent the
+		famishing brutes from plunging into the river. We allowed them
+		to take only a small quantity at first, and each of us took
+		only a small cupful; then after a little time all took more,
+		and the thirst was soon quenched. We were surprised to find
+		how little water it took to satisfy the raging thirst of four
+		days of continued fasting. The animals, after taking
+		comparatively small quantities, seemed satisfied, and went off
+		in search of grass.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now had an abundance of water, but we well knew that
+		water alone would not sustain life very long: therefore our
+		next, and most serious business was to determine how to
+		prolong our lives. According to our map, our recollections of
+		different objects, and present appearances we were now a
+		little above the mouth of the Uinta river which comes in from
+		the northwest, all of which proved true. Our little map
+		pictured Fort Uinta on the Uinta river about one hundred miles
+		from where we were; but whether or not there were any human
+		beings there, we did not know, and in order to determine we
+		must cross this great river and travel a hundred miles, and
+		this seemed a perilous undertaking for us in our present
+		starving condition; but after being refreshed by plenty of
+		good water we determined to undertake it, hoping that good
+		fortune might attend us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a little rest, the animals with grass, we packed up,
+		and after Field had put on his, once serviceable, life
+		preserver he mounted the old mule behind the small pack and
+		started to swim across the river. He took the lead in this
+		instance for three reasons: first, we thought that the mule,
+		being much older than the horse, had probably had more
+		experience and therefore might be a much better swimmer; then
+		Field had the advantage in having the life preserver; but the
+		last, and most potent, reason was my fear of getting drowned.
+		It was understood that I was to remain on shore and be ready
+		to assist him if necessary, or until he had safely landed on
+		the other side.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In he went, and the trusty old mule was swimming
+		faithfully, and had reached the middle of the river, when
+		Field, as he afterwards told me, to hurry the mule, gave a
+		gentle jerk on the bridle, when, to his utter astonishment,
+		the mule made a complete somerset backwards plunging Field,
+		the pack, and himself entirely under the water, except his
+		heels which appeared above the water as his head went under.
+		In a moment Field popped up and, after shaking his head as a
+		swimmer will do after taking a plunge, cast about to take his
+		bearings, or to determine just where he was, and began to
+		paddle with his hands, much as he did when the canoes were
+		upset on the river, or somewhat after the style of a swimming
+		dog. On coming to the surface, the mule cast a glance at the
+		still living, but unloaded portion of his cargo, then made a
+		bee line for the shore which he had so recently left. While
+		Field continued to paddle and float down the river, I
+		dismounted and followed along the bank, trying to encourage
+		him to renewed efforts to float ashore. Finally he passed
+		behind a clump of willows out of sight; but soon I heard him
+		call for help and on going a little further down, found him
+		stuck fast in the mud. I waded waist deep into that mud, and
+		literally dragged him out, almost a mile below his starting
+		point.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we were struggling in this muddy swamp, Field said he
+		wondered why some of this superfluous water was not
+		distributed over those dry deserts from which we had so
+		recently come. I told him, politely, that I thought that a man
+		of his age, ability, opportunities, and nationality, (you know
+		he was quite proud of being an Englishman) ought to know why
+		the moisture was not so distributed, and that I was too
+		illiterate to enlighten him on that point, but that, when
+		opportunity offered, he might consult some one who knew more
+		of natural science than I did. I informed him that I had an
+		idea that if any considerable portion of the water of that
+		river had been distributed over that desert that we would not
+		have had the experience of the last fifteen days, whereupon he
+		very plainly intimated that I did not have much sense, or, in
+		other words, he called me a d----d fool.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After reaching solid ground and resting for a little while,
+		we returned to the place from which he had started out on his
+		perilous voyage, and where I had hastily left my horse. We
+		found the horse and mule quietly grazing with their packs on
+		their backs. The faithful old mule had the appearance of
+		having been wet, but was now almost dry, yet not so dry,
+		internally, as he had been several days before.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>What shall we do now? We are perhaps two hundred or more
+		miles from any white settlement. We do not know that Fort
+		Uinta is occupied. Shall we make another attempt to cross the
+		river? I asked my brave friend if he was willing to again
+		mount the mule and make another attempt, when he again
+		exclaimed, &quot;You must be a d-----d fool!&quot; I then,
+		pretending to have a little courage, asked him if he would
+		follow provided I would lead, whereupon he declared most
+		emphatically that under no conditions would he again attempt
+		to swim across that river. I had not had his experience, but
+		fear of being drowned was quite sufficient to prevent me from
+		undertaking the perilous task, more especially after
+		witnessing his failure.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Well, what next? We could not depend upon fishing and
+		hunting, for we had no fish-hooks, nor means of catching fish,
+		and not more than a dozen loads of shot, and a little powder;
+		so the matter of slaying one of our animal friends was now
+		seriously debated, and, after thoroughly canvassing the whole
+		situation, it was most reluctantly determined that, however
+		hard, this must be done. No doubt our starving condition at
+		that particular time had some weight in making this
+		decision.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Then the question was, which of the animals shall be
+		sacrificed? The mule was quite thin, and probably tough, while
+		the little horse was young, and, notwithstanding the many days
+		it had, with all of us, starved and traveled without water,
+		was still quite plump and round, and probably tender, or, at
+		the worst, not so tough as the poor old docile mule; so, at
+		length we decided to kill the innocent little creature, jerk
+		his flesh, pack it on the mule, and thereby try to save our
+		own lives, for a time at least, and endeavor to reach some
+		place of safety.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The matter of slaying the horse was determined by casting
+		lots, neither being willing to perform that melancholy, but
+		now absolutely necessary, act. It fell to my lot, and that was
+		one of, if not the most revolting act in my whole life's
+		experience, for I had, probably, become as strongly attached
+		to that little horse as man ever becomes attached to animal. I
+		most reluctantly took the bridle in my left hand, my revolver
+		in my right, stood directly in front of the poor,
+		unsuspecting, innocent creature with the murderous pistol
+		close to, and a little above a line extending from eye to eye,
+		and fired. When the smoke of the powder had cleared off a
+		little, I saw at my feet the quivering, dying body. I
+		staggered off a few steps and sat down, sick at heart.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Field walked several steps away, and turned his back upon
+		the scene until after the fatal shot had been fired; then,
+		after some little time, he entered upon his share of the
+		enforced duty, and, after having removed a portion of the
+		skin, cut off some slices of flesh and brought them to a fire
+		I had started. We broiled and ate a little of it, not through
+		desire or relish for it, but from a sense of duty, knowing
+		that our lives depended upon it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It is said that for many years Dr. Franklin refrained from
+		eating flesh, having an idea that it was wrong to slay and eat
+		the flesh of other creatures; but that he changed his mind,
+		and his diet, too, after having seen large fish devour small
+		ones. I strongly suspect that if the doctor had been with us,
+		or in a like condition, even before his conversion, he would,
+		more than likely have taken a little flesh, even though it had
+		been a piece of his own favorite horse.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I said we only ate a little at first: I only ate a little
+		for two reason; first, I did not relish the food; second, I
+		had heard of persons being killed by eating too much after
+		fasting for a long time, and I had no desire to commit suicide
+		just then. Field ate too much. Night came on, work was
+		suspended, and we retired. The poor old lone, and, no doubt,
+		now lonely, mule, having filled himself with grass, came up
+		near the now terribly-mutilated remains of his late companion,
+		and looked on as Field continued his bloody work. Field, with
+		an expression of sorrow, said, &quot;If that mule could reason
+		and look forward to the time when his body might be in a like
+		condition as that of this horse, he would, no doubt, take to
+		his heels, bid us a final farewell, and seek other
+		society.&quot; But, fortunately for us, he did not know that
+		he was to be held in reserve for our future security. He was
+		securely tied up every night from that time until the day he
+		was slain for our salvation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early in the night following that eventful day, my
+		companion began to complain much as he had done on the night
+		after he had eaten the little red berries; but there was no
+		lack of water now, no need of a special rain-cloud. I got up,
+		heated water in our little camp kettle, applied hot cloths to
+		his aching belly, and did everything else that either of us
+		could think of for his relief. The pain was intense, and we
+		feared that he would surely die, and earnestly prayed all the
+		rest of the night that he might be relieved, and get well.
+		Towards morning most violent vomiting came on, which continued
+		for thirty hours, or more. He was not able to walk for three
+		days, and during that time I nursed him, finished jerking the
+		meat, and built a raft of some partly rotten logs, which I
+		found in the vicinity, on which we floated across the river,
+		on the fourth day after our arrival here. I also looked to the
+		welfare of the mule, and prepared some bags in which to carry
+		our jerk. Manley, I am sure that you know the meaning of the
+		term &quot;jerk&quot; so that a definition of the word is not
+		at all necessary.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The old logs of which the raft was made were remnants of
+		log cabins, a number of which had been built and occupied more
+		than half a century before, but by whom I do not know. Field
+		remarked that the finding of these old rotting logs there was
+		another &quot;God send,&quot; as we then had neither ax,
+		hammer, nor any tool of iron with which to cut down a tree. I
+		bound these logs together with long strips cut from the hide
+		of the dead horse. Paddles and poles were also provided. The
+		mule was with difficulty driven across the river.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the raft was landed on the west bank, the mule packed,
+		and all about ready to start, I took the long strip of
+		raw-hide from the raft and tied one end of it around the
+		mule's neck, mounted Field on the mule behind the large pack,
+		which made the whole outfit look quite comical indeed. Before
+		leaving the other side of the river I had discovered that the
+		saddle girth was not very strong, so I cut a wide belt from
+		the hide of the lately slaughtered horse and fitted it to the
+		saddle as a girth, knowing that the pack, now containing all
+		of our goods and a supply of more than a bushel of jerk, would
+		be quite bulky, if not heavy, and more difficult to keep on
+		the back of a mule than it is for the camel to maintain his
+		hump on his back. This girth afterwards made us two or three
+		pretty substantial meals, as did also the long strip of green,
+		wet hide, one end of which I had tied round the mule's neck,
+		allowing it to drag for a long distance through the hot dry
+		sand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All being ready, I, as usual, took the lead with my shot
+		gun, which I always carried, but with which I seldom killed
+		anything, on my shoulder. The old mule followed with his high,
+		towering pack, and Field almost hidden behind. It was noon,
+		but we did not stop for dinner, but simply reached into one of
+		the great bulging sacks, took out a piece of jerk and ate it
+		as we went marching on; no more trouble now about cooking.
+		Late in the afternoon we reached Uinta river, and, as my
+		two-legged companion had grown very tired of the back of the
+		four-legged one, we went into camp early. Our objective point
+		was Fort Uinta, where we hoped to find military. We could not
+		risk turning the mule loose at night, and the long strip of
+		raw-hide was designed and used to secure him, and yet to
+		afford him liberty to graze while we slept. As you will see a
+		little further on, both girth and lariat were used for a
+		purpose not anticipated.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The second, third, fourth, and fifth days came and went,
+		and we were trudging on, up the Uinta, through a mostly very
+		barren country, with some little rich and fertile land. We saw
+		signs of Indians often, but no Indians. There was much
+		cottonwood, but little other timber. We saw some fish in the
+		river which we coveted, but could not get. The main course of
+		this river is from north-west to south-east. We traveled most
+		of the way to the fort on Indian trails, some of which were
+		much worn, but mostly at some much earlier period. Of course
+		we had plenty of good water, and food, such as it was. Field
+		did not walk two miles during those five days, but seemed to
+		be fattening fast. I sometimes thought he might be just a
+		little lazy, but I never told him so, for I realized that he
+		had recently had a severe tussel with death.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early in the morning of the sixth day we arrived at the
+		abandoned old fort. There were only three log buildings, and
+		they were in the shape of three sides of a hollow square, with
+		port-holes on the outer faces of the buildings, and doors
+		entering each of them from the hollow square or court. Facing
+		the vacant side of the court, the port-hole from which I shot
+		the wolf on the night after we had killed the mule, would be
+		on right hand side. We were unable to determine whether this
+		fort had been constructed and occupied by Americans or
+		Mexicans, but, from its apparent age, we were inclined to the
+		opinion that it was Mexicans. It had not been occupied for,
+		probably, three or four years. Some little farming had been
+		done immediately around the fort. Surrounding the fort is a
+		large body of fine, fertile land which I have no doubt has
+		long since been occupied by mormons, or other enterprising
+		people.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Having no means of subsistence here we soon decided to push
+		on towards Fort Bridger, and, after resting a few hours set
+		out following the larger fork of the river which comes almost
+		directly from the north. We now believed that we were almost,
+		if not exactly, due south of Fort Bridger. The river is small,
+		and very crooked; we crossed it many times within three days,
+		and, at the end of that time, found ourselves in the mouth of
+		a rocky ca&ntilde;on, and after struggling for one whole day,
+		we came to where the steep, high, stone walls closed the
+		little river in on both sides, rendering it impossible for us
+		to proceed any further.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We were now nearly out of food; the jerk was almost gone. A
+		council was held, and it was decided that we should return to
+		the fort and take chances of being rescued, or scalped by some
+		roving band of reds, or starving to death. We at once set out
+		on our return, full of disappointment and melancholy
+		forebodings.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day found us without food: and now came into use
+		the long, narrow strip of raw-hide which first bound together
+		the old, rotting logs of which the raft was made, then to
+		secure the mule of nights. It was now almost as hard as bone,
+		and nearly round, having been dragged through the hot sand
+		while it was yet green and wet, closed up like a hollow tube
+		with sand inside. Two or three yards of it at a time, was cut
+		into pieces about five inches long, the hair singed off, the
+		sand scratched out, and these pieces were dropped into our
+		camp kettle and cooked until the whole formed one mass of
+		jelly or gluten which was, to us, quite palatable. When the
+		lasso had all been thus prepared and eaten, the broad girth
+		which had served so well in holding the pack-saddle on the
+		mule's back, was cleaned, cooked, and eaten. These substitutes
+		for jerk sustained us very well till we again arrived at the
+		fort.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Another consultation was now held, and the question
+		was&mdash;what shall we do now? We were again, apparently, at
+		the starting point of another long, enforced fast. Our path
+		seemed hedged in. The prospect was, indeed, very gloomy. Our
+		only reasonable hope for even the temporary prolongation of
+		our lives was centered in our ever faithful, and always
+		reliable old mule. We revolted at the idea of killing and
+		eating him, but the last bit of the girth was gone. After
+		canvassing the whole situation over and over, again and again,
+		we finally, but most reluctantly decided to kill the mule, and
+		preserve all the soft parts, even the skin with all of its old
+		scars, and then gather in whatever else we could find, and
+		stay here until spring, or until good fortune might afford us
+		some means escape; till some Moses might come and lead us out
+		of this wilderness, notwithstanding the fact that we had not
+		borrowed any jewelry which we had failed to return.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were signs of wolves in that vicinity, and it was
+		decided that the mule be slain about ten paces distant and
+		directly in front of one of the port-holes of the fort, with
+		the idea that wolves might smell the blood and come there and
+		subject themselves to being shot, and thereby afford us a
+		chance to increase our stock of winter supplies in the form of
+		wolf steak, or jerk. Accordingly the victim was lead to the
+		spot indicated, and there slain in the same manner, and with
+		quite as much reluctance on the part of the slayer, as on the
+		occasion of the sacrifice of the little horse, more than three
+		weeks before. The body was skinned, cut up, and all taken
+		within the building, nothing being left except the blood which
+		had been spilled on the ground, and which was intended to
+		attract wolves or, possibly, bears or other animals.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>My now only living associate ridiculed the idea of killing
+		wolves, and insisted that the flesh could not be eaten,
+		stating the fact that even hogs would not eat the dead body of
+		a dog, and insisted that a dog was only a tamed wolf. I
+		reminded him of a cat which had been eaten. He finally agreed
+		that, if I killed a wolf, he would get up and dress it, but
+		said most emphatically that he would not sit up and watch for
+		it; so he went to bed, that is, rolled himself up in a blanket
+		on the ground in front of a good fire inside of the fort, and
+		went to sleep, while I sat with my rather untrustworthy double
+		barreled shot-gun protruding through the port-hole in full
+		view of the spot before indicated. The night was clear, and
+		the moon was shining in full splendor. It was probably eleven
+		o'clock; Field had been snoring for a long time, when I heard
+		something in the tall, dry grass, and soon a large,
+		brownish-gray wolf came into full view, with head up,
+		apparently sniffing, or smelling, and cautiously approaching
+		the fatal spot. When he reached it, and began to lick up the
+		blood which was still on the surface of the ground, standing
+		with his left side toward the fort, and in full view, I took
+		deliberate aim, and fired, and he fell upon the ground without
+		making any considerable noise.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The tired, sleeping man was aroused by the report of the
+		gun, and rushed into the room where I was in great excitement,
+		thinking, perhaps, that some enemy had appeared, and had just
+		then commenced to bombard the fort; but when I explained to
+		him that I had simply killed a wolf, he ran out towards it,
+		and, arriving close to it, the wounded creature rose up on its
+		hind feet and growled quite vigorously, which seemed to
+		frighten Field as much as did the noise of the gun. He dashed
+		back to the fort, and, after having time to recover from his
+		speechless condition, abused me most fearfully for having told
+		him that I had killed a wolf. I then went out and put a load
+		of shot into the wolf's head, and found that my first charge
+		had passed through and broke both of its fore legs near the
+		body. Field was so thoroughly frightened that I could not
+		induce him to approach the dead animal for some time, and I do
+		believe that that wolf haunted him as long as I knew him, for
+		he seemed never to forget it. After dressing it by the light
+		of the moon assisted by a torch, we retired. On viewing the
+		plump body next morning Field exclaimed, &quot;That's another
+		God-send!&quot; and notwithstanding his opinion that wolf
+		could not be eaten, he found that wolf to be the best food we
+		had eaten since we had assisted Walker and his tribe in eating
+		the mountain sheep.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The French may eat their horses, but I do not want more
+		horse flesh. The old mule made fair but quite coarse beef.
+		While out on this little pleasure(?) excursion we ate horse,
+		mule, wolf, wild-cat, mountain sheep, rose seed buds,
+		raw-hide, a squirrel, fatty matter from the sockets of the
+		mule's eyes and the marrow from his bones; but that ham of
+		wild-cat was certainly the most detestable thing that I ever
+		undertook to eat. The marrow from the mule's bones was a real
+		luxury.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now had a pretty good stock of food, such as it was, but
+		not enough to carry us through the winter on full rations;
+		therefore we determined to try to add to it by hunting. One
+		was to go out and hunt while the other would remain at home:
+		we now had undisputed possession of the fort and it was our
+		home. Field took the first day's outing while I occupied my
+		time in drying and smoking meat. Late in the evening he
+		returned, tired and worn out, having seen nothing worth
+		shooting.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next day came my turn to hunt. I took a lunch, as he had
+		done, consisting of jerked mule. I did not tell him so, but I
+		had determined to make an excursion up the river to a point
+		where we had seen some fresh trails and deer tracks some days
+		before. When I was putting up my lunch my friend intimated
+		that I was taking a very large amount for one lunch, but I
+		told him that I might stay out late and that I did not intend
+		to starve. I went, stayed all day, all night, and part of the
+		next day, and returned as he had done, tired and discouraged,
+		not having seen anything worth bringing in. In the evening of
+		the first day out I found a trail which appeared to have been
+		used daily by deer going to and from the river.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It occurred to me that they might go out early in the
+		morning, so I secreted myself within gun shot of the trail
+		behind an old, moss-covered log where I slept comfortably; and
+		when it was light enough in the morning to see a deer, I
+		leveled my gun across the log in a position commanding the
+		trail and waited and watched until nine o'clock, but nothing
+		came upon that pathway that morning. After getting tired of
+		watching and waiting I went down to the trail where, to my
+		astonishment, I found the fresh tracks of a large bear which
+		must have passed by that way while I was sleeping. As a rule I
+		do not like to be treated discourteously, but in this instance
+		I felt glad that this stranger had passed me by.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On arriving at the fort late in the evening I found my
+		friend in a terrible state of mental excitement. He said that
+		he had not slept a minute during the whole of the night
+		before. He had filled the door of his room with rails, and
+		sharpened one end of a long stick, which he intended to use if
+		necessary as a weapon of defence. When I arrived he was again
+		filling the door with rails. I had the gun, pistol and big
+		knife with me so this was his only means of defence. He said
+		he would not stay alone another night for all the gold in
+		California.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was much discouraged by our failures in hunting, and
+		after a lengthy discussion we decided to make another attempt
+		to cross the mountains and escape from what then seemed to us
+		certain starvation. This was Thursday night and we set Monday
+		as the time for starting. By Saturday night everything was in
+		readiness for the start and Sunday we devoted to Bible
+		reading, for we each still had a pocket Bible. As much of the
+		flesh of the wolf and the lamented mule as we thought we could
+		carry had been thoroughly jerked, and finding that we would
+		not be overburdened by it, we economized by roasting and
+		eating little scraps of flesh, the marrow from the bones, and
+		even the head of the mule was roasted, the fragments of flesh
+		scraped off and eaten, and Field found a rich fatty substance
+		in behind the eyes, which he ate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had a canteen in which our powder was carried, but the
+		powder was nearly all gone so we emptied it and used the
+		canteen to carry water in. Early Monday morning we loaded
+		ourselves, mostly with jerked mule and wolf, leaving many
+		useful things behind, bid adieu to Fort Uinta and took up our
+		line of march rather reluctantly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>My companion was not strong and we soon found it expedient
+		for me to take on part of his burden. We rested often and yet
+		long before night he became so tired that we had to go into
+		camp. Most of the day we had traveled on an old deserted
+		trail. The nights being cold we were under the necessity of
+		keeping up a fire as we had left our blankets at the fort. The
+		next morning we made an early start and rested often. At about
+		noon we found good shade and water, and the sun being quite
+		hot we stopped and rested in the shade for more than three
+		hours, then trudged on till nearly night when we found water,
+		and plenty of old dry timber for fuel and camped. Field
+		expressed a wish that he had his old mule again, and I
+		reminded him that he had a portion of it left in his knapsack,
+		and that turn about was fair play: as the mule had carried him
+		for a long time when he was unable to walk he should not
+		object to carrying a portion of the mule now; whereupon he
+		again plainly intimated that he thought I was a d---d fool. I
+		kept up the fire and he slept until morning.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Another day was passed without any unusual occurrence; we
+		traveled and ate at the same time as usual. Another day of
+		pretty hard travel over sandy plains and rocky hills brought
+		us to the foot of the mountain where we had plenty of good
+		water and an abundance of fuel. A little sprinkle of rain
+		early in the evening was the first we had seen since the
+		memorable night after Field had eaten the little red
+		berries.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early Saturday morning we filled our canteen with water and
+		started up the mountain. I had been carrying most of the jerk,
+		but the stock was running down quite rapidly. My companions
+		bag now being almost empty, and as he had little else to carry
+		while I had the gun and some other things, including his heavy
+		overcoat, I divided the jerk, putting about half of it into
+		his sack. All day long we were climbing the mountain. Late in
+		the afternoon I was several rods ahead of Field when he called
+		to me to stop: I did so and when he came up he appeared to be
+		a little cross and insisted that we were not traveling in the
+		direction formerly agreed upon. I requested him to let me see
+		the little compass which he had in his pocket, and on
+		examining it he found that he was mistaken; whereupon he
+		muttered something which I thought was &quot;swear
+		words,&quot; and then we went marching on. In a little while
+		we were within the old snow limits where we found large bodies
+		of old icy looking snow in places shaded by trees and rocks,
+		and a little before dark went into camp. We gathered some old
+		dry timber and made a large fire, then some green fir limbs
+		for a bed. When I began to prepare our bed on one side of the
+		flaming logs, to my surprise Field began to prepare one on the
+		other side of the fire. Neither had spoken since the
+		occurrence of the little unpleasantness in the afternoon about
+		the course of travel. Mutely each took his side of the
+		fire.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had always slept together except when he was sick and
+		the night I had left him alone at the fort. Some time in the
+		night I became thirsty and got up and procured some snow, put
+		it in our only tin cup and set it on some live coals to melt
+		and went to sleep. The snow melted, the water evaporated, the
+		solder melted and left the tin. While I slept, my dumb friend
+		woke up thirsty, took the tin cup, filled it with snow and put
+		it on coals. The snow melted and the water run out on the
+		coals; his tongue let loose and he then denounced me as a
+		knave, an ass, a fool, an unregenerate heathen, and what else
+		I don't want to remember. I woke up alarmed and did not at
+		first fully understand what had created the storm, but after
+		having the bottomless cup dashed at my head I realized the
+		situation, and began to try to apologize and explain the
+		unavoidable and unfortunate circumstance; but no explanation
+		would satisfy his now thoroughly &quot;Johnny Bull&quot;
+		temper. After this little nocturnal disturbance had subsided,
+		I, on my bed of fir branches with my feet towards the fire,
+		soon fell into a sound sleep and knew nothing more of the
+		world until the sun was shining. Whether or not my friend had
+		cooled off I did not inquire; but I do know that there was an
+		unusual coldness between us, for neither spoke to the other
+		until about twelve o'clock and then, as will appear, our
+		conversation was very short.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we did not rise until late no delay was made, but when
+		each had his bag on his back and a nugget of jerk in his hand
+		we started up the side of the mountain as quiet as two deaf
+		mutes. There was no water to be had; our camp kettle had been
+		left at the fort, and through my stupidity the cup had become
+		useless, therefore we were obliged to eat the icy snow or
+		endure the thirst. No new snow had yet fallen in this high
+		altitude although it was now nearing the end of October. These
+		mountains were then heavily covered with pine and fir but the
+		timber was not large. In some places where the snow had melted
+		away, short green grass was found quite close to great banks
+		of snow.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At about twelve o'clock we reached the summit of the great
+		Uinta range, and I, being a little in advance of my still mute
+		companion, halted to take a survey of the field before me. The
+		top of the range here is bare of timber and there was no snow.
+		When Field came up I broke the silence which had lasted since
+		the little unpleasantness of the night before, by suggesting
+		that we attempt to cross the snow-covered range of mountains
+		which now appeared north of us and probably fifty miles away,
+		through what appeared to be a gap or low place in the great
+		range of mountains. He replied, &quot;You may go that way if
+		you want to, but I am going this way,&quot; pointing in
+		another direction and quickly started off at an angle of about
+		45 degrees to the right, or directly north-east. I also
+		started immediately, and when we were a few rods apart I said,
+		&quot;Good-by; we may not meet again very soon.&quot; He
+		replied &quot;Good-by,&quot; and within a few minutes we were
+		out of sight, and in a very short time beyond hailing
+		distance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was the last I saw or heard of him until after each of
+		us had undergone many more hardships, so I will now drop my
+		friend but will hereafter devote a chapter to him, and give
+		you an account of his experience as he afterwards gave it to
+		me, detailing an account of many most interesting incidents.
+		Fortunately we had divided the jerk, for nothing was said at
+		this sudden and unexpected parting about anything which either
+		had in his possession. I had an idea when I bade him good-by
+		that he would soon turn about and follow me.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After the unceremonious parting I immediately began to
+		descend the north side of the mountain which was very rough,
+		rocky and steep; but down, down, down I went into a deep, dark
+		ca&ntilde;on where I slept on the leaves under a fir tree,
+		after having taken some landmarks. When it was light enough to
+		see the objects I had noted to guide me, I set out and spent
+		the day in crossing over hills and through deep ca&ntilde;ons.
+		In the evening I arrived at the foot of the range of mountains
+		which I had seen from the point of our parting. The sun
+		disappeared, dark clouds began to float over the mountains and
+		it was evident that a storm was approaching.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While it was yet light enough I took some landmarks or
+		guiding points; and it was well I did so, for on the following
+		morning when I woke I found it snowing quietly but heavily,
+		and before it was light enough for me to see my guiding
+		objects there must have been six or more inches of new snow on
+		the ground beyond my snug retreat under a sheltering pine.
+		When it was light enough I rose from my comfortable bed, took
+		my bearings as best I could without a compass and started up
+		the mountain through the rapidly accumulating bed of snow. The
+		snow continued to fall nearly all day, and before night it was
+		more than a foot deep.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All day long I struggled through a dense forest. Some time
+		in the forenoon I crossed the fresh trail of a large herd of
+		elk which forcibly reminded me that my sack was almost empty,
+		and I vainly wished that one of these wild creatures might
+		come in my way, but I did not dare to follow the herd with the
+		uncertainty of killing one, and the certainty of losing my way
+		this dark, snowy day. In order to maintain my course during
+		such dark days I was under the necessity of looking ahead and
+		observing trees or other objects in my line of travel.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>That night I, as usual, slept under a pine tree where there
+		was no snow. I saw no sign of fire in either of these ranges
+		of mountains, nor did I see any signs of Indians on my trip
+		over these two ranges. The next day as I approached the top of
+		the mountain I found the timber much smaller, and mostly pine.
+		There is much fertile land in some of the valleys between the
+		two great ranges of mountains.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early on the following morning I arrived at the bald,
+		snow-covered summit. On my right and on my left were high,
+		untimbered, snow-covered peaks. From this point I could
+		overlook a vast territory extending over many hills, valleys,
+		and smaller mountains where there was no snow; in fact, the
+		snow only extended a few miles down the steep sides of the
+		great range. As a rule there is more timber on the north than
+		on the south side of mountains west of the Rockies; but it was
+		the reverse here, for there was little timber on the north
+		side of this range.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One more day's tramping brought me down into a large barren
+		plain where I gathered some dry weeds for a bed, and slept,
+		without food or water; the last bit of the mule or wolf, I
+		know not which, I had eaten during the afternoon. I had had
+		very little jerk for the last two or three days, and began to
+		wish that I had another horse, mule, or even a wolf. For many
+		days I had seen no living thing except when I looked into a
+		small glass which I carried in my pocket, and then only saw a
+		familiar shadow.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I spent another day without food, but had plenty of water;
+		another night on a bed of green brush beside a good fire. The
+		next day was bright and sunny, quite a contrast to the gloomy
+		days I had spent in the mountains. For want of food I was
+		becoming quite weak and was not able to travel as fast as
+		usual. During the early part of the day I saw some tracks of
+		an unshod horse, which renewed my courage and hope of
+		redemption; and at about two o'clock in the afternoon I saw
+		some dark spots on the plain a long distance away, but almost
+		in the direction I was going. Hoping that these objects might
+		be living creatures, I hurried on for a time, then sat down
+		and after having watched them for a time I found that they
+		changed positions and that satisfied me to a moral certainty
+		that they were living creatures, but what I could not tell.
+		They might be horses, cattle, elk, deer, antelope or buffalo;
+		but no matter what, I must hurry on and try to reach them
+		before night.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Late in the evening I determined that they were horses but
+		could not yet tell whether they belonged to whites or Indians,
+		or were wild. As I approached them they stopped grazing and
+		started toward me, but soon disappeared in a deep gulch
+		between us which I had not noticed before. On arriving at the
+		edge of the gulch or narrow valley I saw the horses in the
+		vicinity of about fifteen or twenty wigwams which were all in
+		a row on the bank of a little creek that ran through the
+		gulch. Many Indians were sitting outside of their lodges, the
+		weather being warm.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On first sight of the village, being not more than 200
+		yards away, my heart fluttered just a little, not knowing
+		whether the savages would scalp me or not; but,
+		notwithstanding my natural cowardice, I at once determined to
+		&quot;beard the lion in his den,&quot; and walked as boldly as
+		I could up to the lower end of the row of wigwams. Within a
+		few feet of the nearest one three young bucks met me and
+		seemed to be anxious to know whence I came and whither I was
+		going; whether right down from Heaven, and if so what was my
+		mission. They seemed as much surprised at my sudden appearance
+		as I was on coming so suddenly upon them. My first and most
+		important business was to determine whether they would give me
+		something to eat, or eat me.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As the men, women, and children began to gather around me I
+		heard some one half way up the line of lodges call out saying
+		something which I did not understand, but on looking that way
+		saw a man beckoning to me, as I thought, when the young men
+		motioned for me to move on up the line. On arriving at the
+		place indicated I found myself in the presence of one whom I
+		then suspected, and afterwards found to be the chief, who
+		extended to his royal right hand and greeted me in a most
+		courteous and polite manner, and then with a graceful wave of
+		his hand and a slight bow indicated that I should precede him
+		at the low open door into his Royal Palace where he very
+		politely introduced me to his wife who proved to be a
+		sensible, clever, courteous woman. She soon prepared some
+		thing for me to eat, and after I had finished my supper an
+		Indian brought in two pistols and wanted me to take the cap
+		tube from one and put it into the other, which I soon
+		accomplished. He was much pleased, went out, and soon returned
+		with ten or more pounds of elk meat which he tendered to me as
+		compensation for my work, but the chief objected, and
+		insisted, as I understood him, that he had plenty and that I
+		was his guest, but finally consented for me to accept part of
+		the meat. I gave him to understand that I wanted to go to Fort
+		Bridger.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A case of nice new blankets was opened, as it appeared to
+		me, for my especial benefit. The chief, his lady, two sons
+		almost grown, two or three wolfish looking dogs which forcibly
+		reminded me of Field's terrible scare, and myself made up the
+		number of lodgers in that mansion that night. Late that night
+		some warriors who had been out on a campaign came home, and
+		learning that there was a stranger within the gates came to
+		the king's palace to see him, and also to report that they had
+		discovered some white barbarians in the vicinity who had dared
+		to enter his domain without a special permit, and that they
+		had sent a message to his highness informing him that they had
+		a good assortment of blankets, cutlery, pins, needles, beads,
+		etc., which his people might need or desire, and also a
+		limited amount of &quot;fire-water,&quot; and that they would
+		be pleased to receive his order for anything he might
+		desire.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The fact of the presence of these pale-faces in the
+		vicinity was at once communicated to me, and early on the
+		following morning I was informed that if it was my desire to
+		cut short my stay at the palace, the king would take great
+		pleasure in furnishing me means of conveyance, a proper
+		escort, and a reliable guide who would safely conduct me to
+		the camp of the accommodating merchants or Indian traders,
+		(but, in fact, Indian robbers.) Notwithstanding my reluctance
+		in leaving the society of the noble ruler and his people I
+		most readily accepted his generous offer, and after breakfast,
+		which consisted of elk meat and tobacco root in a combination
+		stew which was very palatable, a fine steed with a good
+		Mexican saddle and bridle was at the door. My escort,
+		consisting of four mounted warriors, was ready, and after
+		bidding my good friends farewell, I with some assistance
+		mounted my charger and we were all off on a full run, up and
+		down hill and across valley, at what seemed to me a fearful
+		rate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In less than two hours we entered the camp of the traders
+		at full speed, dismounted, and found one man, a long Jake from
+		Illinois, who could speak English. He had two wives, (squaws,)
+		and several children which he claimed, but some of them were
+		quite dark. His name was John Smith; not a very uncommon one.
+		He was a very clever man, about 35 years old, was not a
+		Mormon, but had taken the women in order to become popular
+		with the Indians and to improve his opportunities for
+		trade.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After getting something to eat, and learning something,
+		through Smith, of my adventures, my escort made ready to
+		return to their camp. Their trip, as Smith told me, was made
+		solely for my accommodation and now I had nothing with which
+		to compensate them; but as they were about to leave I took a
+		large &quot;bandanna,&quot; the only one I had left, and tied
+		it around the neck of the chief's son, he being one of the
+		clever escorts. He at first refused to accept it, but when
+		Smith told him that I desired him to take it as a token of
+		regard, he accepted it with an expression of thanks, and after
+		I had bidden them all good-bye, they rode away as rapidly as
+		we had come. I will always hold that chief and his people in
+		kindly remembrance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All of the other white men with Smith were French, and all
+		had plenty of wives (squaws) and numerous slaves. The wives
+		were not slaves, but they had slaves all around them. The
+		whole tribe traveled about and lived much as other tribes did,
+		only much better, for they lived by trading while the others
+		lived by hunting and fishing. In this camp I ate bread for the
+		first time in many weeks. At the end of three days after my
+		arrival here a caravan was ready to start for Fort Bridger for
+		winter supplies for the traders. I was furnished with a good
+		horse and saddle, and Smith, one of the Frenchmen, five
+		slaves, 20 horses, and myself made up the caravan, and on the
+		evening of the third day we reached the fort where I was very
+		kindly received.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Smith was a large man, had a good head, and some
+		cultivation and apparent refinement, and treated his women and
+		children well. He said he had been to his old home in Illinois
+		since he had entered upon this kind of life, but was not
+		contented there and soon returned to his Indian friends. He
+		and those Frenchmen were as generous and hospitable as old
+		Southern planters, and their kindness to me will not be
+		forgotten while my memory lasts.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was well treated at the fort which is 116 miles from the
+		point where the seven dug up the little flat-boat from its
+		sandy bed on the fifth day of August, just three mouths
+		before, since which I had undergone many hardships, took many
+		fearful risks, and traveled more than a thousand miles, far
+		enough to have taken me from Green River to San Francisco.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the morning of the seventh day of November I started
+		with a Government train for Salt Lake City where I arrived on
+		the fifteenth. I soon found a home with a prominent Mormon, a
+		Scotchman named Archie Gardner, living in the fifth ward, on
+		Mill Creek, one of the many small streams coming down from the
+		mountains east of the city. Mr. Gardner was a clever gentleman
+		about 45 years old, had a saw-mill up in, the mountains, and
+		was then building a flour mill only a few rods from his
+		dwelling. I assisted him in completing the little flour mill
+		and in attending it during the winter. Mr. Gardner had three
+		wives, all living in one house, but occupying separate rooms
+		at night. I usually attended the little mill until midnight,
+		and Gardner made it part of my duty to go to his house and
+		call him. He usually told me where I could find him, but not
+		always, so at times I was under the necessity of rapping at
+		more than one door before I found him.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He had the largest house in the ward, and the religious
+		services were held there by Bishop Johnson who also acted as
+		Justice of the Peace in that ward. Gardner's family all ate at
+		the same table over which the first wife presided. She was,
+		indeed, mistress of the house, the other wives treating her
+		with great respect, and all were, to all outward appearance,
+		quite friendly. Gardner bestowed much attention on his first
+		wife, though I always suspected that he was just a little more
+		fond of the youngest one, and I did not blame him much for she
+		manifested strong affection for him even in the presence of
+		the others, and yet there was no outward manifestation of
+		jealousy.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The second, or the one I will call the second because she
+		was in age between the others, and was the mother of the third
+		or youngest, a widowed mother and her daughter having been
+		sealed to Gardner at the same time, the first wife having
+		given her consent and standing with them at the triple
+		matrimonial altar, and then and there joining in the sacred
+		ceremony. As I was about to say, the second wife seemed to be
+		pleased at the manifestation of affection for the common
+		husband by the youngest wife, and No. 1 would in a
+		good-humored way say:&mdash;&quot;My, Annie, don't be so
+		demonstrative in the presence of other people,&quot; when the
+		husband would laugh and go and kiss No. 1.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Gardner spent most of his leisure time, particularly during
+		the day and evening, in his first wife's apartments with her
+		and her children. He was a very religious man, and always had
+		family prayers before retiring at night, and all persons about
+		the house were expected to join, at least formally, in this
+		service. The use of profane language was not allowed in or
+		about the house.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Many of the higher church officers were entertained at
+		Gardner's house and table, among whom were Brigham Young,
+		George A. Smith, Heber C. Kimble, George Taylor, and Parley P.
+		Pratt, with all of whom I formed some acquaintance. Brigham
+		was a dignified, clever gentleman, not austere but kind and
+		affable. Kimble was also a nice, genteel, genial, redheaded
+		gentleman. Smith was a heavy man with a very large abdomen,
+		dark hair full beard, exceedingly jovial and apparently always
+		happy. Pratt was a small, rather slim, quick and athletic man,
+		rather austere, refined, active and energetic. Taylor was a
+		large man, highly intellectual, and rather unsocial. Kimble
+		was my favorite notwithstanding the fact that he had fifteen
+		wives, mostly young and handsome, all in one house, and my
+		impression is that none of them had any children. I think it
+		was conceded that his was the finest harem in Utah. He called
+		me his young Gentile, was very kind and affable, but he never
+		invited me to inspect his harem.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About the first of December, 1849, Field arrived in Salt
+		Lake City, and I will allude to a little matter in which he
+		was concerned, after which I will give you a short account of
+		his trip from the time we parted company until he arrived in
+		Salt Lake as he afterwards gave it to me. Soon after he
+		arrived in the City of the Saints he heard of another who had
+		recently arrived from the south and that he was located in the
+		fifth ward on Mill creek at the house of one Gardner, and at
+		which house he soon arrived.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After staying with me for two or three days he found
+		employment in the family of the Apostle John Taylor. The
+		family consisted of seven wives living in seven different
+		houses. How many children there were I never knew, but there
+		was one wife who did not have any. She was a fine specimen of
+		English beauty. Taylor's women were nearly all English. It was
+		the business of my friend to cut wood, and do chores generally
+		for the Taylor family living in seven different places at the
+		same time. Taylor was in Europe that winter looking after the
+		interest of the church, and possibly after a few more wives,
+		and consequently could not, in person, attend to all of the
+		necessities of the seven branches of his family. In his daily
+		rounds looking after the seven wood-piles and other little
+		matters appertaining to the comfort of the family in so many
+		places Field happened to come in contact with the English
+		beauty, and the result was, mutual love at first sight,
+		notwithstanding the fact that this woman had passed, and taken
+		all of the solemn vows of the Lym house with the Apostle and
+		his six other wives.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I do not think that my English friend had lost one iota of
+		the fond recollection of his long since dead English wife, the
+		picture of whom he still carried near his heart; but,
+		nevertheless, he and this seventh wife of the noted Apostle
+		fell heels over head in love. Field, as you know, was a well
+		developed, good-looking, intelligent man of forty. The woman
+		was well developed, good-looking, and as smart as a
+		steel-trap, and both being English I was not at all surprised
+		at their mutual admiration and infatuation, nor did I blame
+		them much. I was intrusted with many closely-sealed envelopes
+		which I carried from one to the other. With my feeble
+		assistance they tried to devise some method by which they
+		might escape from the city before the Apostle should return
+		home; but the Danites were always on the alert, and they well
+		knew that detection by the Danites of an attempt to get away
+		together would lead to certain death to him, and if not to her
+		she would certainly have been returned to her polygamous state
+		of bondage. Spring came with little hope of escape, and they
+		reluctantly parted with the mutual understanding that, if
+		possible, she would make her escape and go to Sacramento where
+		he promised to keep his address. Ten months after the parting
+		they had not met yet, and if they ever did it was after I had
+		lost all further knowledge of him.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mormon morals, exclusive of polygamy, are very good. I
+		never saw a drunken man in Salt Lake City, and heard very
+		little profane language there. The people were industrious and
+		seemed happy. Their hospitality rivaled that of the old
+		Southern planters, and their charity was equal to that of
+		other Christians.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I will now go back to the place where Field and I separated
+		on the mountain top and give you a short statement as he gave
+		it to me, and while some things may border on the miraculous,
+		and seem somewhat incredible, I do not question the truth of
+		his statements. When we parted so unexpectedly he had about
+		half of the jerked wolf and mule combined. I went north while
+		he bore off in a northeasterly direction, and after traveling
+		for three days came to the river at a point above where we
+		lost our flat-boat. He struggled on up the river without road
+		or trail, and nothing to guide him except the little compass
+		which he still carried in his pocket.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Two days more and his last bit of jerk was gone, starvation
+		began to stare him in the face once more. He saw signs of
+		Indians having crossed his pathless course which gave him
+		renewed courage. Soon after starting out next morning he was
+		delighted to see a pony in the distance grazing, and on coming
+		up to it found one of its front legs broken. This, he said was
+		another God-send. The poor pony seemed to fear him. It was
+		probably an Indian pony, had its leg broken and was left to
+		die. He followed it for some time and finally got close to it
+		and fired his revolver at its chest and wounded it, but it
+		then left him with the blood flowing from its wound. After
+		resting for a time he followed on and soon found it lying
+		down, but not dead. He told me how innocent and helpless it
+		appeared, and looked at him as if pleading with him not to
+		inflict any more pain; but he felt that his life was in a
+		balance with its, and after a little meditation he put the
+		revolver to its forehead and ended its life and suffering.
+		Then came the usual process of skinning, cutting up and
+		jerking which took the balance of that day and part of the
+		next.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Eight days more and he was again starving. On the ninth he
+		arrived at the spot where we had dug up the little ferry-boat
+		which carried the seven adventurers far down the river more
+		than three very long dreary months before. Snow now covered
+		the entire country, and all emigrants had long since gone by.
+		His strength was failing fast but it would not do to linger
+		there, so he arose and was about to start when he saw a poor
+		old ox slowly coming towards him, and when it had come up near
+		to him he discovered a wolf not far behind which seemed to be
+		following the ox, but it soon turned and went away. Night was
+		coming on and he was very hungry. Something must be done. The
+		last cartridge had been exploded in killing the poor, broken
+		legged Indian pony, and the revolver was no longer of use. The
+		ox, though feeble, was probably yet stronger than the starving
+		man.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Field feared that he was not able to catch the ox by the
+		horns and hold it until he could cut its throat, so the next
+		plan was to get hold of the animal's tail with one hand, and
+		with the big knife in the other cut his hamstrings so as to
+		disable him, and then cut his throat. The ox seemed fond of
+		being rubbed and petted, so after a little time a firm hold on
+		the tail was secured, and the big knife vigorously applied,
+		but it was so very dull that he could not sever the tough old
+		tendons. After sawing with the dull knife and being literally
+		dragged for some distance, he became so much exhausted that he
+		was obliged to relinquish his hold and see the excited old ox
+		disappear.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In almost complete despair Field spent the night beside a
+		fire under one of those large cottonwoods which I have no
+		doubt you will remember even though it is now more than forty
+		years since you saw them. He rose early next morning and
+		started out on the well beaten road towards the Golden West,
+		but had only gone a few hundred yards when he was agreeably
+		surprised to again behold the old ox approaching him, but so
+		much exhausted that it could scarcely walk. The same, or some
+		other, wolf was near by, and had probably followed the poor
+		old ox all night. When the ox came close to Field the wolf
+		growled and again turned away as on the evening before. After
+		the wolf had left the ox seemed to be relieved.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It then occurred to the starving emigrant that he had a
+		sharp razor in his &quot;kitt&quot; with which he knew he
+		could cut those tough tendons, provided he could get another
+		hold on that tail. Field, as you probably remember, always
+		kept his face cleanly shaved. Even while we were starving he
+		would shave almost every day. The ox was tired and worn out
+		and so was Field; but he got the razor ready and soon had hold
+		of that tail again. Off went the ox, the keen razor was
+		applied, soon the tendons parted and down went the ox. But
+		only half the victory was won, for the ox would raise up on
+		his front feet and show fight; but after resting awhile the
+		would-be victor rushed up, caught the poor beast by the horns,
+		pushed him over on his side, held him down and cut his
+		throat.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a long, much needed rest he cut out a piece of the
+		poor beef, broiled and ate it, and then spent the remainder of
+		the day in hunting out the small, lean muscles that still
+		remained between the skin and bones of the poor old ox. The
+		poor beef was jerked and put into the sack which on the
+		following morning was thrown upon the back of its owner, and
+		from which he fed for the next six days, at the end of which
+		he arrived at Fort Bridger. From there he soon obtained a
+		passage for Salt Lake City, arriving there on the second day
+		of December, seventeen days after I had reached there, and
+		finding me as before stated.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some time in the winter we formed an acquaintance of a
+		gentleman named Jesse Morgan, a Gentile, who had left Illinois
+		in the spring of 1849 for California, but for some cause had
+		been delayed and obliged to winter in the city of the Latter
+		Day Saints. Morgan had a wife, a little child, a wagon and two
+		yoke of oxen, but no food nor money. Field and I arranged to
+		furnish food for all for the trip from there to Sacramento,
+		and assist in camp duties, drive the team, &amp;c. We made the
+		trip together and arrived in Sacramento in good condition on
+		the fourth day of July, 1850, and pitched our tent under a
+		large oak tree where the State Capitol now stands.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I spent five months with a wholesale grocery and miners
+		supply firm, Elder and Smith, Fourth and J streets,
+		Sacramento, and three months in the mines as a drummer, or
+		solicitor and collector for the same firm. I returned to
+		Sacramento and was almost ready to start home when the Scots
+		River excitement broke out. I then went to the mines on
+		Trinity River and associated myself in mining with Hiram
+		Gould, a young Presbyterian clergyman who had laid aside the
+		&quot;cloth&quot; for the time and engaged in mining. I
+		remained in the mines until July fourth, 1851, exactly one
+		year from the time I entered Sacramento, when I started home
+		by way of Nicaragua. In due time, after an interesting trip, I
+		arrived home and again entered upon the study of my chosen
+		profession, graduated from an honorable college, and am now,
+		as you know, practicing my profession on the sea shore.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>M.S. MCMAHON.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=70 alt="" src="images/ch_12.png" width=70
+			border=0><br>
+			<br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-47487"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br>
+			</h3>
+			STORY OF THE JAYHAWKERS.<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>In the foregoing chapters describing the trip across the
+		deserts and mountains, the author has had occasion many times
+		to refer to the &quot;Jayhawkers.&quot; Their history is in
+		many respects no less remarkable and intensely interesting
+		than that of his own party. The author has therefore collected
+		many notes and interviews with prominent members and presents
+		herewith the only written history of their travels.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The little train afterward known by this name was made up
+		in the state of Illinois in 1849, of industrious, enterprising
+		young men who were eager to see and explore the new country
+		then promising gold to those who sought. The young men were
+		from Knoxville, Galesburg and other towns. Not all were
+		influenced by the desire for gold. It was said that California
+		had a milder climate and that pleasant homes could there be
+		made, and the long, cold winter avoided.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They placed some of the best men in position to manage for
+		the whole. The outfit was placed on a steam-boat and
+		transported to Kanesville, on the Missouri River above Council
+		Bluffs. Some of the company went with the goods while others
+		bought teams and wagons in Western Missouri and drove to the
+		appointed place. Kanesville was a small Mormon camp, while
+		Council Bluffs was a trading post of a few log cabins on the
+		river bank, inhabited mostly by Indians. There was no regular
+		ferry at either place, and our party secured a log raft which
+		they used to get their wagons and provisions across, making
+		the oxen swim.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They asked all the questions they could think of from
+		everyone who pretended to know anything about the great
+		country to the west of them, for it seemed a great undertaking
+		to set out into the land they could see stretching out before
+		them across the river. Other parties bound the same way, also
+		arrived and joined them. They chose a guide who claimed to
+		have been over the road before. When all were gathered
+		together the guide told them that they were about to enter an
+		Indian country, and that the dusky residents did not always
+		fancy the idea of strangers richer than themselves passing
+		through, and sometimes showed out some of the bad traits the
+		Indians had been said to possess. It would therefore be better
+		to organize and travel systematically. He would divide the
+		company into divisions and have each division choose a
+		captain, and the whole company unite in adopting some rules
+		and laws which they would all agree to observe. This
+		arrangement was satisfactorily accomplished, and they moved
+		out in a sort of military style. And then they launched out on
+		the almost endless western prairie, said then to be a thousand
+		miles wide, containing few trees, and generally unknown.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These Illinois boys were young and full of mirth and fun
+		which was continually overflowing. They seemed to think they
+		were to be on a sort of every day picnic and bound to make
+		life as merry and happy as it could be. One of the boys was Ed
+		Doty who was a sort of model traveler in this line. A camp
+		life suited him; he could drive an ox team, cook a meal of
+		victuals, turn a pan of flap-jacks with a flop, and possessed
+		many other frontier accomplishments. One day when Doty was
+		engaged in the duty of cooking flap-jacks another frolicsome
+		fellow came up and took off the cook's hat and commenced going
+		through the motions of a barber giving his customer a vigorous
+		shampoo, saying:&mdash;&quot;<i>I am going to make a Jayhawker
+		out of you, old boy</i>.&quot; Now it happened at the election
+		for captain in this division that Ed Doty was chosen captain,
+		and no sooner was the choice declared than the boys took the
+		newly elected captain on their shoulders and carried him
+		around the camp introducing him as the <i>King Bird of the
+		Jayhawkers</i>. So their division was afterwards known as The
+		Jayhawkers, but whether the word originated with them, and
+		John Brown forgot to give them credit, or whether it was some
+		old frontier word used in sport on the occasion is more than I
+		will undertake to say; however the boys felt proud of their
+		title and the organization has been kept up to this day by the
+		survivors, as will be related further on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The first few days they got along finely and began to lose
+		all feeling of danger and to become rather careless in their
+		guard duty. When the cattle had eaten enough and lain down,
+		the guards would sometimes come into camp and go to sleep,
+		always finding the stock all right in the morning and no enemy
+		or suspicious persons in sight. But one bright morning no
+		cattle were in sight, which was rather strange as the country
+		was all prairie. They went out to look, making a big circuit
+		and found no traces till they came to the river, when they
+		found tracks upon the bank and saw some camps across the
+		river, a mile or so away. Doty had a small spy glass and by
+		rigging up a tripod of small sticks to hold it steady they
+		scanned the camps pretty closely and decided that there were
+		too many oxen for the wagons in sight.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some of the smartest of them stripped off their clothes and
+		started to swim the stream, but landed on the same side they
+		started from. Captain Doty studied the matter a little and
+		then set out himself, being a good swimmer, and by a little
+		shrewd management and swimming up stream when the current was
+		strongest, soon got across to where he could touch bottom and
+		shouted to the others to do the same. Soon all the swimmers
+		were across.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They could now see that there were two trains on that side
+		and that the farther one had already begun to move and was
+		about a mile in advance of the nearest one, Doty said
+		something must be done, and although they only were clothed in
+		undershirts they approached the nearest camp and were handed
+		some overalls for temporary use. The men in this camp on
+		hearing about the missing oxen said the fellows in the forward
+		train went over and got them, for, as they said there were no
+		wagons in sight and they must be strays. He said the forward
+		train was from Tennessee, and that they had some occasion to
+		doubt their honesty and had refused to travel with them any
+		further. They said they were all old Missourians, and did not
+		want other people's property and if the boys found their
+		cattle with the Tenneseans, and wanted any help to get them
+		back again to call on them, and putting in some good strong
+		swear words for emphasis.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The boys, barefooted and with only overalls and shirts,
+		started after the moving train which they called to a halt
+		when overtaken. The coarse grass was pretty hard to hurry
+		through, clothed as they were. The train men were pretty gruff
+		and wanted to know what was wanted. Capt. Doty very
+		emphatically told them he could see some of his oxen in their
+		train, and others in the herd, and he proposed to have them
+		all back again. The Jayhawker boys were unarmed but were in a
+		fighting mood and determined to have the stock at all hazards,
+		and if not peaceably, war might commence. The boys saw that
+		the two trains were of about equal strength, and if worse came
+		to worst they could go back and get their guns and men and
+		come over in full force after their property, and they were
+		assured the Missourians would help them and a combination of
+		forces would give them a majority and they could not be beaten
+		by the Tennessee crowd. There was a good deal of talk, but
+		finally when Doty demanded that their cattle be unyoked and
+		the others seperated from the herd, they yielded and gave them
+		all their stock, some seventy head.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Missourians had come up and heard the talk, and some of
+		them went back and helped drive the cattle to the river, and
+		deal out some double shotted thunder against the biggest
+		scamps they had come across. It was quite a job to get the
+		cattle across the river. They would go in a little way and
+		then circle round and round like a circus, making no progress.
+		They finally put a rope on one of them and a man led him as
+		far as he could, which was more than half way, and although
+		they landed a good ways down stream, they got them all across
+		safely, left their borrowed overalls in the hands of their
+		friends, with a thousand thanks for valuable assistance, and
+		plunged into the swift running Platte, and swam back again to
+		the northern side. They drove the straggling oxen back to camp
+		with a sense of great satisfaction, and in turn received the
+		praise of their friends who said that Ed Doty was the best
+		Jayhawker of the border.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was the first unpleasantness and they were afterwards
+		more cautious and stood guard all night, watching closely all
+		the time, both night and day, for for any signs of danger.
+		Thus in time they reached Salt Lake, rather late in the
+		season, but safe and sound, having escaped cholera or other
+		disease, and in good spirits to surmount any further
+		difficulties which might be met.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the Jayhawkers reached Salt Lake it was found that it
+		was not safe to try to go the regular northern route to
+		California, as they were advised by those who seemed to know,
+		as they might be snowed in on the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
+		perish. The Mormons told them that the snow often fell there
+		twenty feet deep, and some other stories likely to deter them
+		from making the attempt. They also told them of a route
+		farther south by which they could come into California at Los
+		Angeles, or they could remain in Salt Lake until May when it
+		would be safe to try the mountain route again. After listening
+		to the talk of the mountaineers who claimed to have been over
+		the route and to know all about it, and camping some time to
+		rest and learn all they could, they finally decided on taking
+		the southern route. One Mormon told them of a place where they
+		could make a cut-off and save five hundred miles, and, if they
+		would follow his instructions, they would find the route fully
+		as good as the one usually traveled which was not much better
+		than a trail. The cut-off was so instilled into their minds
+		that they had great confidence in the report and talked very
+		favorably of taking it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The man Williams made for them a map of the proposed route
+		and explained it to them and others who had gathered at Salt
+		Lake, and from the map they could see how much was to be
+		gained in time and distance by taking that route. A month or
+		two of travel was indeed something to gain, and as the roads
+		seemed similar in quality the reasoning was very plausible The
+		map explained all the watering places and favorable things but
+		said nothing about a desert, and as there was no one to tell
+		them any unfavorable side to this plan there were many who
+		quite concluded to go this way, and among those who did so
+		were the Jayhawkers, and the &quot;Williams Short Route&quot;
+		was freely talked about as a settled thing by them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They now set about preparing to move. They sold, traded,
+		and bought oxen till they had the best and fattest teams in
+		Salt Lake Valley; selected good provisions, and plenty of them
+		so as to be safe in case of delay, and contended that nothing
+		could stop them in a country where but little snow could be,
+		and water was as plentiful as shown on the map. They wanted to
+		reach the gold mines and this was the shortest route and even
+		if it was still considerably longer than the northern way they
+		said they would rather be moving along and thus gain time than
+		to so long in camp with nothing to do by which they could earn
+		a cent. There were here in Salt Lake ten times as many men as
+		could find employment, and Brigham's saints would be pretty
+		sure to get all of the odd jobs to the exclusion of the
+		heretics.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>To bring the matter to a determination a paper was drawn up
+		for those to sign who wanted to go the southern route and it
+		was pretty generally signed. The Mormon elder, John Hunt, was
+		consulted, and as he seemed to know the general southern route
+		better than any one else, he was prevailed upon to guide the
+		train through on the old Spanish Trail. This had never been
+		used as a wagon road, but he thought it could be without much
+		difficulty, and he said if they could secure him a fair sized
+		train he would go and conduct them through for ten dollars a
+		wagon. This proposition was accepted after some consideration,
+		and all who wished to do so were given permission to join the
+		train. In a few days there were one hundred and seven wagons
+		enlisted for this route, including seven Mormons bound for San
+		Bernardino.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Preparations for the trip now began in good earnest, and
+		the Saints were liberally patronized in purchase of flour and
+		meat which were the principal things they had to sell. As
+		their several wagons were loaded they moved out in small lots
+		to the south to keep in good fresh feed for their animals, and
+		to move on slowly till all were ready, when they would join in
+		one large body and proceed. The guide was in no special haste
+		as he said he wanted to wait a little later so the weather in
+		the south would be cooler than they would be likely to find it
+		if they pressed on at once. He said that in summer it was so
+		hot that no white man could endure the heat. He said they
+		could work slowly along the trail, and when the right time
+		came he would move out himself, and that they might be assured
+		that it would then be the coolest and best time in which to
+		travel down there. So the company dallied along, and it was
+		October before the whole train was made up at a point about a
+		hundred miles south of Salt Lake.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The complete organization was divided into seven divisions,
+		each with its captain, and division No. 1 was to lead the
+		march the first day and then fall to the rear while No. 2 took
+		the advance, and so continued till all had taken their turn.
+		The leading party was to guard and care for the cattle and
+		deliver them in the morning. The regulations were read aloud
+		to the captains, and this rather large army of men, women and
+		children, with about five hundred head of stock, moved out
+		very systematically. It would sometimes be fully ten o'clock
+		before the rear division could make a start, and
+		correspondingly late before they could get up with the main
+		camp at night. They got along very well, but cleaned the
+		country of grass for some distance each side of the trail, as
+		they swept along.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About the first of November Capt. Smith overtook us with
+		the pack train, and camped with us at night. He formed many
+		acquaintances and told them he was going to take a shorter
+		route and save five hundred miles, rather than take the long
+		route by way of Los Angeles. He had a map of his proposed
+		route, and it was very much like the one we had. He also
+		stated that it could probably be as easily traveled as the one
+		by way of Los Angeles, and as a consequence of his talk,
+		cut-off fever began to rage in camp again. Some got very
+		enthusiastic in the matter and spoke publicly in favor of
+		following Capt. Smith when he should come to the place when
+		his short route turned away from the other trail. His plan
+		grew so much in favor that when the place was reached a
+		hundred wagons turned out into the Smith trail, leaving Capt.
+		Hunt only the seven Mormon wagon bound for San Bernardino,
+		Hunt stood at the forks of the road as the wagons went by and
+		said to them;&mdash;&quot;Good-bye, friends. I cannot,
+		according to my agreement go with you, for I was hired for
+		this road, and no other was mentioned. I am in duty bound to
+		go even if only one wagon decides to go.&quot; When the last
+		wagon had passed him he still stood talking with several who
+		had chosen the new way and told them they were taking a big
+		risk, for they did not know very much about the route, and he
+		had been thinking that they might find it pretty rough and
+		hard to get over the first time. He said that if all decided
+		to go that way he would go and help them, even if they went to
+		h-ll, but as it was he could not. He wished them luck and the
+		two trains parted company.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the end of three days of travel on the Smith trail they
+		came to the top of a long steep hill. The trail went down and
+		down, and they see no way of crossing the terribly deep
+		ca&ntilde;on that was before them. So they went into camp and
+		sent explorers out to investigate and find a crossing if
+		possible.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the second day the explorers began to return with very
+		unfavorable reports, and many who found their progress thus
+		blocked turned about and started to follow Hunt. Most of the
+		wagons which remained had each one or more of their men out
+		exploring and could not turn back until their return. Several
+		of the Jayhawkers having once started on this route were very
+		anxious to get through on it if a way could be found for them
+		to do it, and therefore searched farther and with greater
+		determination than the others. When they returned they
+		reported they had found a way around the head of the
+		ca&ntilde;on and they believed it to be the right way. The map
+		Williams had given them did not show this ca&ntilde;on and
+		they believed it to be correct, and that the real road led
+		around at the place which they had found, and no further
+		trouble would be met.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Acting on this report about twenty wagons, including the
+		Jayhawkers, concluded to go ahead. &quot;We can beat the other
+		fellows a month,&quot; said they, and so they hitched up and
+		pulled out in a northerly direction, feeling in good spirits
+		and hopeful of success.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They named this place Mt. Misery. While camped here a lone
+		and seemingly friendless man died and was buried. None seem
+		now to remember his name, but think he was from Kentucky. He
+		was low with consumption and not strong enough to endure the
+		hardships of the journey.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About the third night the Jayhawkers were overtaken by
+		seven more wagons owned by A. Bennett and friends, J.B. Arcane
+		and family, two men named Earhart and a son of one of them,
+		and one or two other wagons.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Jayhawker's train was made up of men from many states,
+		but seemed well united and was as complete as when they first
+		started. The Author was with the party that came up in the
+		rear, which had started later but traveled faster on account
+		of having a road broken for them. He visited the leaders in
+		camp when they were discussing the necessity of forming a new
+		travelling compact to help and protect each other on the road.
+		Those who had no families were objecting to being bound to
+		those who had women and children with them. They argued that
+		the road would be hard and difficult and those wagons with
+		women and children would require more assistance than they
+		would be able to render in return. They said they could go
+		back and follow Hunt who was on a better road and they could
+		proceed with more safely.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Among those with this train was Rev. J.W. Brier, his wife
+		and three children. He objected to being turned back and said
+		he did not want to be assisted, but would go with them and do
+		his part and take care of himself. The Author listened to the
+		various speeches without speaking and became satisfied that it
+		would end in every one looking out for himself in case of hard
+		times. He went over to their camp again the next night and
+		wished to ask them why they were steering so nearly due north.
+		He said to them that they were going toward Salt Lake rather
+		than California, and that the Bennet party did not feel
+		inclined to follow them any farther in that direction. They
+		replied that their map told them to go north a day or more and
+		then they would find the route as represented. They would then
+		turn west and reach Owen's Lake and from there there would be
+		no more trouble. The Jayhawker crowd seemed to think they
+		could go anywhere and no difficulty could happen which they
+		couldn't overcome. Bennett's little train turned west from
+		this point and the Jayhawkers went on north, but before night
+		they changed their minds and came following on after Bennett
+		whom they overtook and passed, again taking the lead.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Thus far the country had been well watered and furnished
+		plenty of grass, and most of them talked and believed that
+		this kind of rolling country would last all the way through.
+		The men at leisure scattered around over the hills on each
+		side of the route taken by the train, and in advance of it,
+		hunting camping places and making a regular picnic of it.
+		There were no hardships, and one man had a fiddle which he
+		tuned up evenings and gave plenty of fine music. Joy and
+		happiness seemed the rule, and all of the train were certainly
+		having a good time of it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>But gradually there came a change as the wagon wheels
+		rolled westward. The valleys seemed to have no streams in
+		them, and the mountain ranges grew more and more broken, and
+		in the lower ground a dry lake could be found, and water and
+		grass grew scarce&mdash;so much so that both men and oxen
+		suffered. These dry lake beds deceived them many times. They
+		seemed as if containing plenty of water, and off the men would
+		go to explore. They usually found the distance to them about
+		three times as far as they at first supposed, and when at last
+		they reached them they found no water, but a dry, shining bed,
+		smooth as glass, but just clay, hard as a rock. Most of these
+		dry lakes showed no outlet, nor any inlet for that matter,
+		though at some period in the past they must have been full of
+		water. Nothing grew in the shape of vegetables or plants
+		except a small, stunted, bitter brush.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Away to the west and north there was much broken country,
+		the mountain ranges higher and rougher and more barren, and
+		from almost every sightly elevation there appeared one or more
+		of these dry lake beds. One night after about three days of
+		travel the whole of the train of twenty seven wagons was
+		camped along the bank of one of these lakes, this one with a
+		very little water in it not more than one fourth or one half
+		an inch in depth, and yet spread out to the width of a mile or
+		more. It was truly providential, for by digging holes along
+		the border the water would run into them and prove abundant
+		for all, both oxen and men. If it had proved dry, as so many
+		before had proved, or if we had been a few days earlier or
+		later we might not have found a drop. This proved to be the
+		last time the whole twenty seven wagons were gathered in one
+		camp together.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Author came into camp about nine o'clock in the evening
+		after climbing many peaks and taking a survey of the
+		surrounding country with a field glass. Men from nearly every
+		mess came to him to inquire what he had seen. They asked all
+		sorts of questions and wanted an opinion as to the
+		advisability of trailing across the prairie directly west,
+		which then seemed easy. They were told that from what could be
+		seen from the summit of buttes both north and south of the
+		camp, ranging a hundred or so miles in almost every direction,
+		it was believed no water could be found, between the present
+		camp and a range of mountains which could be seen crossing the
+		route far to the west. &quot;Well,&quot; said Capt. Doty of
+		the Jayhawkers, &quot;I don't like to hear such discouraging
+		talk from Manley, but I think we will have to steer straight
+		ahead. The prospect for water seems to be about the same, west
+		or south, and I cannot see that we would better ourselves, by
+		going north.&quot; When morning came Capt. Doty and his party
+		yoked up and set out straight across the desert, leaving seven
+		wagons of the Bennett party still in camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>For some time all of us had seen in the range ahead an
+		appearance of a pass, or lower place in the mountain, and we
+		had got to calling it Martin's Pass, naming it after Jim
+		Martin. There was a snow-capped peak just to the south of it
+		and the pass, now apparently exactly west of the lake camp,
+		seemed to the Jayhawkers easy to reach. Their wills were
+		strong enough and they were running over with determination
+		and energy enough to carry them over any plain, no matter how
+		dry or barren, or over any mountain no matter how rugged and
+		steep.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Five days they traveled, without finding water, and small
+		supply they took along had been consumed. For lack of water
+		they could not eat or sleep. The oxen gathered round the
+		little fire and seemed to beg for water, they had no cud to
+		chew unless it was the cud of disappointment. The range of
+		mountains they had been aiming for still seemed far away and
+		the possible show for reaching it seemed very poor indeed, and
+		the prospect of any water hole between them and the mountains
+		poorer yet. Hope was pretty near gone. Martins mess unyoked
+		their oxen from the wagons, put some small packs on their own
+		backs, and loaded some upon the backs of the oxen, and turned
+		south toward the nearest snowy mountain they could see, the
+		same one towards which the Bennett party steered from the lake
+		camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Doty party kept their courage longer and kept on
+		straight ahead for another day, and then camped, almost
+		without hope. No rest came to them, nor sleep. Towards morning
+		as they stood around the fire a stray cloud appeared and hid
+		the stars, and shortly after began to unload a cargo of snow
+		it carried. They spread out every blanket, and brushed up
+		every bit they could from the smooth places, kindled a little
+		fire of brush under the camp kettles and melted all the snow
+		all of them could gather, besides filling their mouths as fast
+		as ever they could, hoping that it would full in sufficient
+		quantities to satisfy themselves and the oxen, and quench
+		their dreadful thirst. Slowly the cloud moved scattering the
+		snowflakes till they felt relieved. The last time the Author
+		conversed with a member of this party was in 1892, and it was
+		conceded that this storm saved the lives of both man and beast
+		in that little band of Jayhawkers. It was like manna falling
+		from Heaven, and as surely saved their lives as did the manna
+		of the Bible save the lives of the tribes of Israel. They had
+		no reason to expect a storm of rain or snow, but came to them
+		just as they were perishing. A little further on they came to
+		a small stream of water, and as the bed showed only a recent
+		flow it must also have come from the little local storm
+		further up the mountain. They used this water freely, even
+		though it was not very good, and it acted on them very much
+		like a solution of Glanber Salts.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They decided at first that they had better follow the
+		stream southward, but after a little time, feeling the
+		sickness caused by the water, they saw it was no advantage and
+		turned west again, bearing to the north toward a sort of pass
+		they could now see in the mountains in that direction. This
+		stream is now known as the Amargosa, or bitter, river.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The new direction in which they marched gave them an
+		up-hill route for thirty or forty miles, rough and barren,
+		with no water or grass. There was no road or trail to follow,
+		the oxen were as weak as their owners from drinking the bitter
+		water, and the road needed some clearing and breaking in
+		places before the wagons could pass. They moved quite slowly
+		and reached the summit on the second night with the loss of a
+		single ox. The Author would say here that this was the last ox
+		which was allowed to die without using the flesh for food, and
+		it was from this same one he cut a steak to eat on Christmas
+		eve, 1849.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From the summit they took a way down a dark, deep
+		ca&ntilde;on having a steep slope, and very rocky and bad, but
+		down which the oxen drew their loads much easier than when
+		they came up, reaching water on the third day, where there
+		were many springs, and a sort of coarse grass for the oxen.
+		The place is now known as Furnace Creek. The Jayhawkers passed
+		on, and here at these very springs was where the Author
+		overtook the Rev. J.W. Brier delivering a lecture to his
+		children on the benefits of an early education, as referred to
+		in his narrative.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As the Jayhawkers drove out of this Furnace Creek
+		Ca&ntilde;on the valley into which they came was very narrow,
+		the high, snow-capped mountain before them seemed steeper and
+		rougher than ever, so steep in fact that it could not be
+		ascended by a man on foot. A short distance below could be
+		seen a lake containing water, and the pass toward which they
+		had been directing their course seemed to the north of them.
+		They therefore turned their course in that direction. The road
+		was sandy, and the brush that grew on it was only a few inches
+		high. On their way they came to an abandoned Indian camp
+		occupied by one poor old blind red man. He would hold his
+		mouth open like a young bird begging for something to eat. One
+		man dropped kernels of parched corn into his mouth, but
+		instead of eating them he quickly spit them out; it seemed
+		that he had been left to die and could not or would not. His
+		hair was white as snow. His skin looked about the color of a
+		smoked ham, and so crippled was he that he crawled about like
+		a beast, on all fours. It was barely possible that he had been
+		left to watch, and that his great infirmities were only
+		pretended, but they seemed genuine enough, and were doubtless
+		true. They left him in peaceable possession of the spot and
+		traveled on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They approached the base of the mountain in front of what
+		they had all along supposed to be a pass, and found, as they
+		had lately begun to suspect, that there was no pass that their
+		wagons could be taken through, and they must be abandoned. The
+		camp was poor. What little water there was had a salty taste,
+		and they could only find here and there a bunch of the poorest
+		grass. The oxen stood around as if utterly dispirited, and
+		would sometimes make a faint effort to pick up and eat some of
+		the dry brush that grew around the desolate camp. This camp is
+		now known to be in the northern part of Death Valley, but then
+		they knew no names for anything, but if dreariness and absence
+		of life, and threatened danger all around were any indication,
+		they might well have named it Death Valley as was afterwards
+		done by the party with whom the Author traveled.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The party had been brave till now, but when they realized
+		that they must make pack animals of themselves, and trudge on,
+		they knew not where, perhaps to only a lingering death, the
+		keen edge of disappointment cut close, and they realized how
+		desolate they were. They felt much inclined to attribute all
+		their troubles to the advice of the Mormons. Some said that
+		the plan was thus to wipe so many more hated Gentiles out of
+		the way, and wishes were deep and loud that the Mormons might
+		all be buried out of sight in the Great Salt Lake. They
+		thought Lot's wife must have been turned to salt in the
+		neighborhood, everything was so impregnated with saline
+		substances, and the same result might come to them. But the
+		inherent manhood of the little band came to their relief and
+		they determined not to die without a struggle for escape and
+		life.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They killed some of their oxen, and took the wood of their
+		wagons and kindled fires to dry and smoke the flesh so it
+		would be light and easy to carry with them. They scattered all
+		surplus baggage around the ground, carefully storing and
+		saving the bit of bread that yet remained and dividing it
+		equally among the party. They also divided the tea, coffee,
+		rice and some such things, and each one agreed that he could
+		not ask aught of his neighbor more. Knapsacks were improvised
+		from parts of the wagon canvas, and long strips of canvas were
+		made into a sort of pack harness for the oxen. It was a sad
+		sight to see the strong and vigorous young men of a few days
+		ago reduced to such straits; almost skeletons now, with no
+		hope of nourishment to invigorate them. They made canteens by
+		sewing a couple of small powder cans in cloth, with a band to
+		go over the shoulders.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Jayhawkers were still making their preparations when
+		the Martin party and Rev. J.W. Brier and family came up to
+		their camp, having taken a circuit around farther to the
+		south. The Martin party was already in marching order and this
+		camp was so poor that they did not wait, but gave all their
+		oxen they had left to Mr. Brier and said they could get on
+		faster without them. They took a straight course over the
+		hills and up the mountain, saying they believed they had
+		provisions enough upon their backs to last them through, and
+		that nothing should check their progress till they reached the
+		other side, where they said were fertile valleys and plenty of
+		chance to live.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Doty party, or Jayhawkers, when they were ready started
+		first a northerly course to find a more favorable place to
+		cross the range and drove their oxen with them, each with a
+		small pack. They soon came to some good water, and after
+		refreshing themselves turned westward to cross the great
+		mountain before them. Both men and oxen were shod with
+		moccasins made of raw-hide to protect the feet against sharp
+		rocks. They could see no trail but merely picked out the best
+		way to go. While climbing the steep mountain side they came
+		across a dead ox left by some party that had gone before them.
+		They cut out the tongue and some of the best meat and ate it
+		to eke out their own small stock, and carried some pieces with
+		them, but soon threw it all away but enough for a roast for
+		supper.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When it was getting dark they were almost at the summit,
+		but there was no good camping place, and they saw a small fire
+		light at a little distance and went to it, finding a poor lone
+		camper taking care of himself. They camped here also. It
+		seemed as if there were many men from the various parties
+		scattered all around the country, each one seeking out the
+		path which seemed to suit best his tender feet or present
+		fancy, steering west as well as mountains and ca&ntilde;on
+		would permit, some farther north, some farther south and
+		generally demoralized, each thinking that as a last resort he
+		would be able to save his own life. It seemed to be a question
+		of will and endurance, strong hearts and keeping the body in
+		motion. The weak and faint must fail, and the strong said to
+		the weak;&mdash;&quot;Stand up; be a man; don't fall
+		down;&quot; and so the strong spurred on the weak and kept
+		them up as best they could.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Down the mountain they went, on the west side and instead
+		of Los Angeles, which some of them expected to see, they saw
+		only a salt lake in the midst of a barren desert valley and
+		their route lay directly across it. They traveled in several
+		directions as they went across. One went across the valley on
+		a strip of dried mud between two small lakes. Others followed
+		down along the east side of the lake near the foot of the
+		mountain, where they found some good water and an old Indian
+		camp. They found some mosquite beans, which they did not know
+		were of much use, but really, if they had known how to fix
+		them up a little they would have been good food.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Capt. Doty's mess crossed between the lakes on the strip of
+		dry mud while others went on where it was still soft and left
+		marks of their foot-steps. Both parties turned up a small
+		ca&ntilde;on on the west side and began the ascent of a black
+		and barren range, containing no water, but in the bed of the
+		ravine near the summit they found some damp sand and tried to
+		dig with their hands to find some of the precious fluid. But
+		no water came, and in the morning one of their number Mr. Fish
+		died and was left unburied on the barren rocks. No doubt his
+		bones could be found there to-day.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Turning west again, they had a down grade over a most
+		barren and rocky road for many miles. The prospect from this
+		point was any thing but cheering. To the left a large lake
+		could be seen, and from their previous experience they
+		concluded it to be salt, and the valley they were coming to
+		was very sandy, and the hardest sort of footing for men and
+		animals as weak as those of the party were. It must be crossed
+		before there was any possibility of water, and when across it
+		was quite uncertain whether they could obtain any. One of
+		their number had already died of thirst and fatigue and all
+		were suffering terribly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The valley seemed about eight miles across, and before they
+		were half way over Mr. Ischam, one of their party sat down,
+		perfectly exhausted, and said he could not take another step.
+		No one was able to assist him or give him a drink of water,
+		and they could not tarry to see if rest would refresh him.
+		They could only look sadly at him and pass on in silence, for
+		he seemed fast wasting away. The thought came to everyone that
+		perhaps it would be his turn next to sit down and see the
+		others pass on. In fact the probability of any more of them
+		living another day was very poor, for they all grew weaker and
+		weaker with every hour, and no one knew how many hours must
+		pass before they could hope for water. There was not moisture
+		enough in their poor bodies to make tears, and no one dare
+		open his mouth, lest all the moisture suddenly evaporate and
+		respiration cease.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Those who had no cattle took different courses to reach the
+		hills and mountains on the west side of this valley, hoping
+		there to find water and signal to the others if they were
+		successful. All except the two men managed to get across, and
+		finding no water the packs were taken from the oxen and they
+		were driven to the lake which appeared on the left. Reaching
+		the lake they found the water red in color and so strong of
+		alkali that no man or beast could take a single swallow. They
+		drove the cattle back again with sad hearts, and almost
+		despondent, for in the rough, dry rocks of the mountains there
+		seemed no signs of water. But they were saved again. Those who
+		bore farthest to the right in their course to the mountains,
+		steering toward a pile of tremendous rocks, found a little
+		stream of good water which flowed only a short distance and
+		then sank into the sand. This good news spread rapidly, and
+		all soon gathered at the little streamlet. It was slow work
+		getting water for them all, but by being patient they were all
+		filled up. Some took two canteens of water and hurried back to
+		Mr. Ischam, whom they found still alive but his mouth and
+		throat so dry and parched, and his strength so small that he
+		was unable to swallow a single drop, and while they waited he
+		breathed his last. With their hands and feet they dug away the
+		sand for a shallow grave, placed the body in it, covered it
+		with his blankets, and then scraped the sand back over again
+		to make a little mound over their dead comrade. Perhaps if he
+		could have walked a mile farther he might have lived, and but
+		for the little trickling stream of water from the rocks they
+		might all be dead, so slight were the circumstances that
+		turned the scale to balance toward life or death.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was so little feed for oxen that they could gain no
+		strength, but were much refreshed by the water and could still
+		travel. One was killed here, and the meat, poor as it was,
+		gave the men new strength. They all guessed it to be at least
+		fifty miles to the base of the great snow mountain before
+		them, and what there was between no one could tell, for there
+		were hills and valleys between. Leaving the little spring
+		their course led first up a small ca&ntilde;on, and when they
+		reached the summit of the ridge a small valley covered with
+		sage brush was before them, the most fertile spot they had
+		seen for a long time. The descent to this valley was through
+		another ca&ntilde;on which was filled with large boulders for
+		much of the way, and over these it seemed almost impossible to
+		get the cattle. They had seen no water since leaving the
+		little stream, and the plain they were now approaching seemed
+		thirty miles wide, with no signs of streams or springs.
+		However just at the foot of the ca&ntilde;on they found a
+		small water hole, but the water was so salt that even the oxen
+		refused to drink it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They decided to make a push across the plain and endeavor
+		to reach the other side in two days, and they knew there could
+		be no water on its even expanse. The plain seemed quite an up
+		grade from where they were to the base of the mountain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the second day they all reached the point they were
+		aiming for except Rev. J.W. Brier and family, and they came in
+		one day behind. Every one looked out for himself and had no
+		time nor strength to spare to help others. Here on a small
+		bench overlooking the country to the south and east but still
+		a long distance from the snow, they found some holes of water,
+		and some bunch grass a little farther up the hill. Here was a
+		large trail coming from the north and leading from this point
+		westward. There were no signs of recent use, but there were
+		many indications that it was quite ancient and had been
+		considerably traveled in time past. This was quite encouraging
+		to many of them and they declared they would follow this trail
+		which would surely lead to some place well known, in a better
+		country. They cared not whether it led to California, Mexico,
+		or Texas, only that they might get out of this country which
+		seemed accursed. Any place where they could get something to
+		eat and drink would be better than this.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brier had some pretty hard struggles to get
+		along, and everyone of this party has ever been loud in praise
+		of the energy and determination of the brave little woman of
+		the Brier mess. All agreed that she was by far the best man of
+		the party. She was the one who put the packs on the oxen in
+		the morning. She it was who took them off at night, built the
+		fires, cooked the food, helped the children, and did all sorts
+		of work when the father of the family was too tired, which was
+		almost all of the time. They all said that he, like other
+		ministers, had fallen out with any work but that of the
+		tongue, and seemed perfectly willing for some one else to do
+		the work. Mrs. Brier had the sympathy of everyone, and many
+		would have helped her if they could. She waited on her big
+		husband with untiring zeal, and still had time to care for the
+		children with all of a mother's love. It seemed almost
+		impossible that one little woman could do so much. It was
+		entirely to her untiring devotion that her husband and
+		children lived. Mr. Brier had but little sympathy or help from
+		any one but her. Some were quite sarcastic in their remarks
+		about the invalid preacher who never earned his bread by the
+		sweat of his brow, and by their actions showed that they did
+		not care very much whether he ever got through or not. They
+		thought he ought to have asserted his manliness and taken the
+		burden on himself, and not lean upon his delicate and trusting
+		wife as he seemed to do. All are sure that it is to his
+		faithful wife the Rev. J.W. Brier owed his succor from the
+		sands of that desert.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Looking back on the scenes of that day, the way the selfish
+		dispositions of people were made manifest is almost
+		incredible. Every one seemed to think only of saving his own
+		life, and every spark of human sympathy and kindness seemed
+		extinguished. A man would drink the last cup of water even if
+		his neighbor choked.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This camp was the same one which the Author mentions in his
+		narrative, to which Rogers and himself crept so silently and
+		carefully at night to ascertain whether the occupants were
+		friends or foes. They were much pleased to find it was Capt.
+		Doty of the Jayhawkers and his mess who had remained behind to
+		dry the flesh of an ox they had killed when it could travel no
+		longer. The others had gone on ahead, following the trail,
+		leaving these to follow. They staid here two days, and it was
+		while waiting here that the Rev. J.W. Brier came up as before
+		related, and they all went on together when they moved.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Nearly every man had carried a gun in the early days of the
+		expedition, hoping to kill game, and to be well armed in case
+		of attack by Indians or enemies, but they began to find that
+		they were useless encumbrances, and first one and then another
+		would throw away his fire-arms as a burden too great for a
+		weary man to bear. There was no game, and the poor weak men
+		hardly deemed their own lives worth defending against an enemy
+		when a day or two of lack of water would end the matter of
+		life at any rate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As they slept they dreamed the most tantalizing dreams of
+		clear, rippling brooks of water; of wading knee deep in the
+		most beautiful of ponds; of hoisting the old moss-covered
+		bucket from some deep old well; of breaking and eating great
+		white loaves of bread; of surrounding the home table with its
+		load of steaming beans and bacon, fragrant coffee and
+		delicious fried cakes. With such dreams of comfort, they awoke
+		to realize more fully the terrors of their dry and swollen
+		throats, the discomfort of empty stomachs. Water and food were
+		the great riches of life to them then. Had piles of
+		twenty-dollars pieces been on the one hand and a bucket of
+		cold water on the other there is no doubt of the choice that
+		would have been made.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Seven or eight miles from this place were two branches to
+		the trail. One led into the mountains toward the snow, and the
+		other still bore southerly. They could see that some other
+		party who had no oxen to drive had taken the more northerly
+		route, which seemed to lead more directly in the direction of
+		the mines of California. Those who came later, with animals
+		thought it would be folly to try to cross the deep snow they
+		could see on the mountains before them and concluded that it
+		would be safer to the south of the snow line, braving the
+		danger of scarcity of water, rather than to perish in the
+		snow. Capt. Doty was willing to attempt the northern branch of
+		the trail if the others so decided, but the general feeling
+		was in favor of the more plain and open trail which led away
+		from the snows. It is known that this Northern branch led over
+		what is known as Walker's Pass, coming out at the Kern
+		River.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Taking then the southern branch, the party passed through a
+		range of low mountains, and then the country before them
+		seemed quite level for a hundred miles.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They expected they would find much difficulty on account of
+		water, as their experience had taught them that it was very
+		scarce in such locations, but this trail when they came to
+		follow it led them for eight or ten miles over a level piece
+		of high land that looked as if it might have slid down from
+		the high mountain at some day long past, and this easily
+		traveled road brought them at last to the top of a steep hill,
+		down which they went and found near the bottom, a small weak
+		stream of water, but no grass, and but little fuel of any
+		kind. (This was the same camp at which Rogers and the Author
+		overtook the advance party.) Here they killed an ox, which
+		made a good meal for all, and not much remained over, for many
+		had no oxen and were getting out of all sorts of provisions.
+		They depended much on the generosity of their fellow
+		travelers. Many of them stood back, and waited till those who
+		owned the food were satisfied, and were very grateful when
+		they were invited to take even the poorest morsels.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They could count the oxen and make a pretty close guess of
+		how many days they could live in this way, even with the best
+		probable fortune favoring them, and to the best of them there
+		was but little hope, and to those who were dependent it seemed
+		as if the fate of Fish and Ischam might be theirs almost any
+		day. When the Author conversed with them at this camp he found
+		them the first really heart-broken men he had ever seen. Some
+		were men of middle age who had left good farms that gave them
+		every need, and these they had left to seek a yellow phantom,
+		and now there were yellow phantoms of a different sort rearing
+		their dreadful forms all about them. They called themselves
+		foolish gold hunters to forsake a land of plenty for a chance
+		to leave their bones in a hot desert. More eyes than one
+		filled with tears, and hopes in more than one breast vanished
+		to almost nothing. More than one would gladly have placed
+		himself back where he could have been assured of the poorest
+		fare he ever saw upon his farm, for bread and water would have
+		been an assurance of life, of which there seemed to be really
+		but little expectation here.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When they left this camp in the ca&ntilde;on the trail was
+		between two high rocks, rising like walls on each side. In one
+		place they were so near together that an ox could hardly
+		squeeze through. In a very short time they came to a bunch of
+		willows growing out in the open ground. The little bunch or
+		grove was forty or fifty feet in diameter, and in the center
+		was a spring of water. The center of the clump had been
+		cleared out, making a sort of corral of bushes, enclosing the
+		spring. On the outside there was quite a little growth of
+		grass, which was a fortunate thing for their poor beasts.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Away in the distance, rising up a little against the
+		western sky they could see mountains with snow on them, and it
+		seemed as if it were a journey of five or six days to reach
+		them, but the good water and the grass bolstered up their
+		spirits wonderfully for there was present relief and rather
+		better prospects ahead. They were pretty sure that the wide
+		plain held no water. Everything that would hold the precious
+		drink was filled, and the best preparations made for what they
+		believed was to be the final struggle for life. They rested
+		one day and prepared for the very worst that might before
+		them. Early in the morning when they could see plainest, they
+		looked across the expanse before them and really it did not
+		seem quite so barren, hot and desolate as the region they had
+		passed, and they talked and hoped that this would be the last
+		desert they must cross and that Los Angeles lay just beyond
+		the sunny ridge they could dimly see ahead. There were some
+		tears that more than one would not live to answer roll call on
+		the other side, but it was the last hope, and worth an
+		earnest, active trial.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early in the morning, much refreshed, they started on again
+		with rather sober faces. That night one man insisted on
+		sleeping with his clothes and boots all on, for he said if he
+		died he wanted to die in full dress. Another day and some
+		thought they could see trees on the mountains ahead of them,
+		and this renewed their courage greatly. In the middle of the
+		day they suffered greatly with the heat and the dry air seemed
+		to drink up every bit of moisture from everybody. When they
+		killed an ox they saved the blood and ate it. The intestines,
+		cleaned with the fingers, made food when roasted on the fire,
+		and pieces of hide, singed and roasted, helped to sustain
+		life. The water was nearly all gone. Only power of will and
+		strength of body had kept any. Capt. Asa Haines sat down one
+		day and said he could go no farther, but his comrade, L.D.
+		Stephens, who had kept a little rice, a little tea, and a dry
+		crust of bread for time of need, took a little water in a cup
+		and made some soup which he forced his friend to eat and soon
+		he revived and was able to move on again. That was true
+		friendship.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next night Stevens himself awoke and seemed perishing
+		with thirst. He crawled over to Doty's bed and begged for just
+		one sup of water, Doty in the goodness of his heart, took his
+		canteen from under his head divided the last few drops with
+		him and the death which threatened him was held off. Capt.
+		Doty found it necessary to talk very seriously to those who
+		mourned and talked of failing. He never gave up in the least.
+		He encouraged all to make every step they could and know no
+		such word as fail. When they said that death would be easier
+		than life, he told them so, but that life was possible if they
+		only willed it, and a better life than had been theirs. And so
+		he kept them encouraged and kept them putting one foot before
+		the other, pointing out the ever lessening distance to the
+		mountain before them. He appealed to their manhood. &quot;Be
+		men,&quot; said he, &quot;Be brave and courageous, and you
+		have more strength than you believe.&quot; Thus by example and
+		words he proved to be a true captain to his little band.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Their water was all gone, every drop, and still the
+		foot-hills seemed far away. The supply of meat ran out. Tom
+		Shannon killed an ox, and when those who had cattle had taken
+		some, the others who had none were told to divide the rest.
+		There was no water to dress or cook it, but it helped to
+		sustain life. Entrails, bones, sinews, bits of hide and
+		everything was used. One man was seen with an ox horn, burning
+		the end in the fire and gnawing away at the softened portion.
+		It was something terrible to see human beings eating what the
+		dogs would cast aside. One man saw some moist looking earth on
+		the shady side of a bunch of brush and he dug down and got a
+		handful of it, from which he tried to suck the moisture. He
+		failed, and the bad taste of the earth made him suffer more
+		than before. Many bones of horses and cattle now appeared
+		along the trail. They seemed to have been there a long time,
+		and some were partly decayed. On this waterless stretch one of
+		their number, a Frenchman, wandered off, searching for water
+		in little hollows or puddles, and never came back to camp. He
+		was supposed to be dead, but ten years afterward some
+		surveyors found him in a Digger Indian camp.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>An idea how selfish men will get under such circumstances
+		may be gained by relating that on one occasion when an ox was
+		killed the liver was carried to the brave little Mrs. Brier
+		for herself and children, and she laid it aside for a few
+		moments till she could attend to some other duties before
+		cooking it. Darkness coming on meanwhile, some unprincipled,
+		ungallant thief stole it, and only bits of offal and almost
+		uneatable pieces were left to sustain their lives. That any
+		one could steal the last morsel from a woman and her children
+		surpasses belief, but yet it was plain that there was at least
+		one man in the party who could do it. No one can fully
+		understand or describe such scenes as this unless he has
+		looked into just such hungry looking, haggard eyes and faces,
+		a mixture of determination and despair, the human expression
+		almost vanishing, and the face of a starving wolf or jackal
+		taking its place. There are no words to paint such a state of
+		things to him who has never seen and known.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>But there were true men, true, charitable hearts in that
+		little band. Though death stared them in the face they never
+		forgot their fellow men. As they slowly crawled along many
+		would wander here and there beside the trail and fall behind,
+		especially the weaker ones, and many were the predictions that
+		such and such a one would never come up again, or reach the
+		camp. Then it was that these noble souls, tired almost beyond
+		recovery themselves, would take water and go back to seek the
+		wandering ones and give them drink and help them on. More than
+		one would thus have perished in the sands but for the little
+		canteen of water carried back by some friend. Only a swallow
+		or two would often revive their failing strength and courage,
+		and with slow step they would move on again. How much good a
+		crust of bread would have done such a poor creature. Bread
+		there was none&mdash;nothing but the flesh of their poor oxen,
+		wasted and consumed by days of travel and lack of food till it
+		had no goodness in it. Even the poor oxen, every night seemed
+		to be the end of their walking; every morning it was feared
+		that that would be the last time they would be able to rise
+		upon their feet.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Already five or six days had passed since they left the
+		camp at the willows where they had their last supply of water,
+		and still they were on the desert. The journey was longer than
+		they had expected, partly owing to the slow progress they had
+		made for there were frequent stops to rest or they could not
+		move at all. The mountains seemed nearer every day, and the
+		trees were outlined more plainly each morning as they started
+		out. Capt. Doty used every circumstance to encourage them. He
+		would remark upon the favorable signs of water in the hills
+		before them, and the hope that there might be some game to
+		provide better meat than that of starving oxen. Thus he
+		renewed their hope and kept alive their courage. He must have
+		had a great deal of fortitude to hide his own sad feelings,
+		for they must as surely have come to him as to any one, and to
+		keep up always an air of hope, courage, and determination to
+		succeed. If he had been a man of less spirit and good judgment
+		it is very probable that many more would have been left by the
+		wayside to die.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About this point the trail which had been growing fainter
+		and fainter, seemed to vanish entirely. One could move in
+		almost any direction to right or left as he chose, and because
+		of this, previous travel had doubtless scattered and thus left
+		no trail. It was thought best that this company should spread
+		out and approach the mountains in as broad a front as possible
+		so as to multiply the chances of finding water, and so they
+		started out in pairs, some to the right and some to the left,
+		each selecting the point where water seemed most probable.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Tom Shannon and a companion were one of these pairs. Tom
+		was one of the few who still stuck to his gun, for he felt
+		that it might save his life sometime. He and his companion
+		separated about a mile, each looking at all points that showed
+		the least sign of water. Suddenly a jack rabbit started from a
+		bush, the first game Shannon had seen for more than a month.
+		He pulled the rifle on him as he was making some big bound and
+		had the good luck to nearly split his head open. Rushing up to
+		his game he put his mouth to the wound and sucked the warm
+		blood as it flowed, for it was the first liquid he had seen;
+		but instead of allaying his fearful thirst it seemed to make
+		it worse and he seemed delirious. A little way up the gulch he
+		saw a rock and a green bush and steered for it, but found no
+		water. He sat down with his back to the rock, his rifle
+		leaning up near by, pulled his old worn hat over his eyes, and
+		suffered an agony of sickness. He realized that life was
+		leaving his body, and there he sat with no power to move and
+		no desire to make an effort. It seemed as if he could see
+		plain before him all the trail from where he sat, back over
+		all the deserts, mountains and rivers to the old place in
+		Illinois. He entirely forgot the present, and seemed
+		unconscious of everything but the pictures of the past. The
+		mind seemed growing freer from its attachment to the body and
+		at liberty to take in his whole past life, and bright scenes
+		that had gone before. How long he sat thus he knows not. His
+		companion was fortunate in finding water, and when he had
+		refreshed himself he set out to find poor Tom of whom he could
+		see nothing. Going toward where he heard the shot he followed
+		on till he saw him at the rock, almost doubled up, with his
+		face concealed by his hat. &quot;O! Tom!&quot; said he, but
+		there came no answering motion, and going nearer he called
+		again and still no answer and no sign. Poor Tom had surely
+		passed on to the better land, thought he, and salvation was so
+		near. He approached and lifted the hat rim. There was a
+		movement of the eyes, a quivering of the muscles of the face,
+		and a sort of semi-unconscious stare such as precedes
+		approaching dissolution.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Quickly holding back his head he poured water between his
+		lips from his canteen and it was swallowed. Then a little
+		more, and then some more, and life seemed coming back again
+		into a troublesome world, bringing pain with it, and the
+		consciousness of a suffering body. After a time he felt better
+		and was helped to his feet, and together they went to the
+		water hole where they made a fire and cooked the rabbit which
+		was the first savory meat they had tasted for a long time. Tom
+		felt better and told his companion how he felt after tasting
+		the warm rabbit's blood, and how he had nearly gone off into
+		the sleep of death.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>&quot;If you had been a little longer finding me,&quot;
+		said Tom, &quot;I should soon have been out of this sad
+		world.&quot; They fired a signal gun, looked down at the bones
+		of the rabbit, drank more water, and gradually felt new life
+		coming to them. The mountains seemed more fertile, and there
+		was brush and grass near by, timber farther up, and still
+		higher a cap of snow extending far along the range, both north
+		and south. Towards night on this eventful day the scattered
+		travelers began to come slowly into camp attracted by the guns
+		and the smoke of the fire made by those who first found the
+		water. Some were nearly as far gone as Tom Shannon was, and
+		great caution had to used in giving them water on their empty
+		stomach. One man named Robinson became so weak before he got
+		near camp that his companions placed him on the back of one of
+		the animals and a man walked on either side to catch him if he
+		fell off. When they got within a mile of the water he insisted
+		that he was strong enough to take care of himself and not be
+		watched every minute, and they relaxed their vigilance. He
+		soon fell off, and when they went to him he refused to be put
+		back on the animal again or to walk any farther. &quot;Just
+		spread my blankets down,&quot; said he, &quot;and I will lie
+		down and rest a little and after a while I will come along
+		into camp.&quot; So they left him and pushed on to water, and
+		when they were a little refreshed went back to him with water,
+		and to help him to come in, but when they came to him they
+		found him dead. He did not seem to have moved after he had
+		lain down. He did not seem so bad off as Shannon was when he
+		lay down, and probably a few swallows of water at that time
+		would have saved his life. It seemed sad indeed, after so much
+		suffering and striving to get along, that he should die within
+		a mile of water that would have saved his life. If he had
+		possessed a little more strength so that the spark of life
+		could have remained a little longer, the cooling moisture from
+		the canteen would have revived it, and a little rest would
+		have placed him on his feet again. They had no tools to dig a
+		grave, not even a knife for they had left every weight in
+		camp, so they covered him closely in his blankets and sadly
+		returned to their friends. They had all along hoped that the
+		Frenchman who had wandered away would come in, but he never
+		came. There were several water holes scattered around at this
+		point which seemed to be a sort of sunken place in the hills,
+		and quite large brush could be obtained for fire, and grass
+		for the oxen. Those who had been good hunters and had thrown
+		away their rifles as useless burdens, now began to look at
+		hills before them and think that game might be found in them,
+		as well as water. There were only one or two guns in the whole
+		party, They thought that this must surely be the edge of the
+		great desert they had crossed, and only the snow range before
+		them could be the obstacle that separated them from Los
+		Angeles.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day from here would bring them to the edge of the snow,
+		and they debated as to the best course to pursue. Some of them
+		were fearful they could not cross the snow with the oxen, for
+		it seemed to be quite deep. The best place to cross seemed
+		directly west of them. South was a higher peak, and to the
+		north it was surely impassible. There seemed to be a faint
+		sign of a trail from this point towards the lowest point in
+		the snow mountains. There were some bones of cattle around the
+		springs which they thought was an indication that in years
+		gone by there had been some traveling on this trail. There
+		surely would be water in the snow which could be got by
+		melting it, and on the whole it seemed best to make the
+		attempt to cross at the lowest place. There were no signs of
+		travel except the trail which had not been used in years, not
+		signs of civilization except the bones.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Starting from the water holes which showed no signs of
+		having been used for several years, their next camp was, as
+		they had calculated, on the edge of the snow where they found
+		plenty of dry juniper trees for fire. and of course plenty of
+		water. Here they killed an ox and fed the hungry so that they
+		were pretty well refreshed. This was an elevated place and
+		they could look back over the trail across the desert for,
+		what seemed to them, a hundred miles, and the great dangers of
+		their journey were discussed. Said one of them to Tom
+		Shannon:&mdash;&quot;Tom, you killed the first game we have
+		come across in two months. Even the buzzards and coyotes knew
+		better than to go out in into the country where the cursed
+		Mormon saint sent us numbskulls.&quot; Another said that while
+		they had been seeking a heaven on earth they had passed
+		through purgatory, or perhaps a worse place still nearer the
+		one from which sulphurous fumes arise, and now they hoped that
+		there might be a somewhat more heavenly place beyond the snow.
+		One who had been silent seemed awakened by inspiration and
+		spoke in impromptu lines somewhat as follows, as he pointed
+		out to the dim distance:&mdash;<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align="center">
+			&quot;Yonder in mountains' gray beauty,<br>
+			Wealth and fame decay.<br>
+			Yonder, the sands of the desert,<br>
+			Yonder, the salt of the sea,<br>
+			Yonder, a fiery furnace,<br>
+			Yonder, the bones of our friends,<br>
+			Yonder the old and the young<br>
+			Lie scattered along the way.&quot;<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>Some even confessed the desperate thoughts that had come to
+		their minds when they were choking and starving. We have
+		mentioned four of the train who had perished beside the trail
+		and it will be remembered that one party of eleven started out
+		on foot before the wagons were abandoned by the rest of the
+		party. Nothing was heard of these for seven years, but long
+		afterward nine skeletons were found at the remains of a camp,
+		and the other two were afterward seen in the gold fields. When
+		spoken to about this party, they burst into tears and could
+		not talk of it. So it is known that at least thirteen men
+		perished in the country which has well been named Death
+		Valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>People who have always been well fed, and have never
+		suffered from thirst till every drop of moisture seemed gone
+		from the body, so they dare not open their mouth lest they dry
+		up and cease to breathe, can never understand, nor is there
+		language to convey the horrors of such a situation. The story
+		of these parties may seem like fairy fables, but to those who
+		experienced it all, the strongest statements come far short of
+		the reality. No one could believe how some men, when they are
+		starving take on the wild aspect of savage beasts, and that
+		one could never feel safe in their presence. Some proved true
+		and kind and charitable even with death staring them in the
+		face, and never forgot their fellow men. Some that seemed
+		weakest proved strongest in the final struggle for
+		existence.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Early next morning before the sun rose they started to
+		cross the snow, leaving their comrade Robinson behind, rolled
+		up in his blankets, taking his everlasting sleep so far as the
+		troubles of this world are concerned. What the day would bring
+		forth very few could have any idea. Go on they must, and this
+		direction seemed most promising. If the snow should prove hard
+		enough to hold up the oxen they could probably cross before
+		night, but if compelled to camp in the snow it was a doubtful
+		case for them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The snow held them as they advanced on it, but grew a
+		little softer as the sun got higher. The tracks of both men
+		and animals were stained with blood from their worn-out feet.
+		When they turned the summit they found more timber and the
+		ravine they followed was so shaded that the force of the sun
+		was broken, and they really did not suffer very much from
+		slumping through the snow, and so got safely over. Not far
+		below the snow they found a running brook of clear, sweet
+		water, with willows along the banks and trees on the hills,
+		the first really good water for a month or two. This is the
+		same camp where Rogers and his companion ate their meal of
+		quail, hawk and crow a few days before, and these travelers
+		knew by the remains of the little camp fire that they were
+		following on the trail of the two men who had gone before.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This place was so great an improvement on the camps of the
+		past that all hands began to talk and act more rational as
+		hope dawned more brightly on them. Those who had guns branched
+		off to search for game, but found they were too weak for that
+		kind of work, and had to sit down very often to rest. When
+		they tried to run they stumbled down and made very poor
+		progress.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Capt. Doty, Tom Shannon and Bill Rude sat down to rest on a
+		bold point above the creek. While there three wild horses came
+		along within easy range, and thinking they would form better
+		meat than the oxen each man picked his animal and all fired
+		simultaneously, bringing them all to the ground. This seemed a
+		piece of glorious luck, and all rushed in like wolves lifter a
+		wounded animal. It was not very long before each had a chunk
+		of meat in his hand, and many a one did not stop from eating
+		because it was not cooked. Such declared they never ate
+		anything so delicious in all their lives before, and wondered
+		why horses were not used as food instead of hogs and cattle.
+		As they satisfied their ravenous appetites they ate more like
+		beasts than like men, so nearly were they starved, and so
+		nearly had their starving condition made them fall from their
+		lofty estate.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As they passed on down this ca&ntilde;on they found it very
+		brushy and on the dry leaves under the wide-spreading trees
+		they saw signs of bear and perhaps other animals. There were
+		some swampy places where it was grassy, and into these the
+		cattle rushed with great eagerness for the food they had so
+		long suffered for. Some of Mr. Brier's cattle went in, and in
+		tramping around for food sank deep into the mud and could not
+		be coaxed out again. Mrs. Brier threw clubs at them but they
+		did not seem inclined to pay much attention to her attacks so
+		she was forced to go in after them herself, and in so doing
+		also sank into the mud and could not get out without
+		assistance. All this time her reverend husband sat outside on
+		the hard ground at a safe distance, but did not offer any
+		help. Probably if an extended and learned lecture on the
+		effects of gravitation would have done any good he would have
+		been ready with prompt and extended service to one whom he had
+		promised to love and cherish.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About this time L.D. Stevens came along and seeing the
+		condition of the unfortunate woman, at once went to her
+		assistance and helped her to dry land. Brier himself never
+		made a move nor said a word. Stevens looked terribly cross at
+		him and remarked to his companions that if the preacher
+		himself had been the one stuck in the mud he would have been
+		quite inclined to leave him there for all of helping him.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The ca&ntilde;on grew narrow as they descended, and the
+		brush thicker, so that to follow the bed of the stream was the
+		only way to get along. The cattle seemed to scent a bear and
+		stampeded in terror through the brush in various directions,
+		all except one which was being led by a rope. They tried to
+		follow the animals in a desperate effort to recover them and a
+		few blankets they had upon their backs, but could only make
+		slow progress. Tom Shannon and two others found a fresh bear
+		track and determined to follow it awhile in the hope of having
+		revenge on the cause of their mishap with the oxen. They took
+		their blankets and kept the trail till night when they camped,
+		but were at so great an elevation that a snowstorm came with
+		six inches of snow so they could no longer follow the
+		track.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They were very hungry and on the way back came across some
+		wild cherries which had dried perfectly dry as they hung on
+		the bushes. These they picked and ate, cracking the seeds with
+		their teeth, and declaring them to be the best of fruit. Good
+		appetites made almost anything taste good then. They got back
+		to the creek next day pretty nearly starved, and with neither
+		a bear nor runaway oxen to reward them for their two days'
+		hard work.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Wood and water were plenty, but grass was scarce and their
+		ox had to live on brush and leaves, but this was infinitely
+		better than the stunted and bitter shrubs of the desert. They
+		came out of the brush at last into the open bottom land where
+		the brook sank out of sight in the sand, and sage brush
+		appeared all about. From this on, over the elevated point
+		which projected out nearly across the valley, their experience
+		and emotions in coming in sight of vast herds of cattle
+		feeding on rolling grassy hills, or reclining under great oak
+		trees scattered over the more level lands, were much the same
+		as came to the Author and his party when the same scene was
+		suddenly opened to them. Signs of civilization and of plenty
+		so suddenly appearing after so many weeks of suffering and
+		desolation was almost enough to turn their heads, and more
+		than one of the stout-hearted pioneers shed tears of joy. Only
+		a few days before and they could scarcely have believed it
+		possible to find a spot so lovely.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>But to hungry, more than half starved men, points of
+		artistic beauty and sober reflections over the terrors of the
+		past found little place, and their first thought was to
+		satisfy the cravings of hunger which were assuredly none the
+		less when they beheld the numerous fat cattle all around them.
+		There was no one to ask or to buy from and to kill and eat
+		without permission might be wrong and might get them into
+		difficulty, but one might as well ask a starving wolf to get
+		permission to slay and eat when a fat lamb came across his
+		path as to expect these men to take very much time to hunt up
+		owners. When life or death are the questions that present
+		themselves men are not so apt to discuss the right or wrong of
+		any matter.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Tom Shannon and a couple of others did not wait long at any
+		rate, but crawled down the creek bed till they were opposite a
+		few fine animals and then crept up the bank very near to them.
+		Two or three shots rang out and as many fine cattle were
+		brought down. The live cattle ran away and the hungry men soon
+		had the field to themselves. Much quicker than can be told the
+		men had fat pieces of meat in their hands which they devoured
+		without cooking. The men acted like crazy creatures at a
+		barbacue&mdash;each one cut for himself with very little
+		respect for anyone. The boldest got in first and the more
+		retiring came in later, but all had enough and gradually
+		resumed more human actions and appearance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They had hardly finished their bloody feast when they saw a
+		small squad of men on horseback advancing toward them, and as
+		they came near it was quite plain that they were all armed in
+		some way. All had lassoes at their saddles, some had
+		old-fashioned blunderbusses, and nearly every one had a
+		<i>macheta</i> or long bladed Spanish knife. As the horsemen
+		drew near they formed into something like military order and
+		advanced slowly and carefully. It was pretty evident they
+		thought they were about to encounter a band of thieving
+		Indians, but as they came closer they recognized the strangers
+		as Americans and passed the compliments with them in a rather
+		friendly manner.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some of the Jayhawkers had been in the Mexican War and
+		understood a few words of Spanish, and by a liberal use of
+		signs were able to communicate with the armed party and tell
+		them who they were, where they were going, and the unfortunate
+		condition in which they found themselves. The men did not seem
+		angry at losing so few of their cattle, and doubtless
+		considered themselves fortunate in not suffering to the extent
+		of some hundreds as they did sometimes by Indian raids, and
+		invited the whole party down to the ranch house of the San
+		Francisquito Rancho of which this was a part. Arrived at the
+		house the ranch men brought in a good fat steer which they
+		killed and told the poor Americans to help themselves and be
+		welcome. This was on the fourth day of February, 1850.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The whole party remained here to rest themselves and their
+		oxen for several days, and were royally entertained by the
+		people at the ranch. They talked over the plans for the
+		future, and considered the best course to pursue. They thought
+		it would be wise to keep their oxen for these would now
+		improve in flesh, and as they had no money with which to buy
+		food they might still rely on them in further travels. The
+		best oxen had survived, for the failing ones were selected to
+		be killed when they were forced to have food. The weaker of
+		their comrades had perished in the desert, and the remainder
+		of the train consisted of the strongest men and the strongest
+		oxen, and there seemed to be no question but that they could
+		all live in this country where grass and water were both
+		abundant, and every sign of more or less wild game.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Those of the company who had no cattle made their way
+		directly to Los Angeles, and from thence to the coast from
+		which most of them reached San Francisco by sailing vessel.
+		Those who had no money were given a passage on credit, and it
+		is believed that all such debts were afterwards honestly
+		paid.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Capt. Doty made a proposition to buy out the oxen of some
+		who had only one or two, giving his note for them payable in
+		San Francisco or anywhere up north they might chance to meet,
+		and many of them accepted and went to the coast. In this way
+		Doty secured oxen enough to supply one for each of those who
+		decided to go with him. They decided to use them for pack
+		animals to carry their blankets, and to proceed slowly toward
+		the mines, killing game, if possible, and permitting their
+		animals to graze and improve in condition as they moved.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There must have been from twenty-five to forty people
+		gathered at the ranch. Among them was the Rev. J.W. Brier who
+		seemed to want to impress it on the new California friends
+		that he was the man of all others to be honored. The ranchman
+		was a good Catholic, and Brier tried to make him understand
+		that he, also, was very devout. He said, and repeated to him
+		very often&mdash;&quot;Me preacher,&quot; but he did not
+		succeed very well in impressing the good Californian with the
+		dignity of his profession, for he could talk no Spanish and
+		was not highly gifted in sign language.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When they went away they had no way to reward their good
+		friends who had been friends indeed to them. They could only
+		look their thanks and express themselves in a very few words
+		of Spanish. &quot;<i>Adios Amigos</i>,&quot; said they to the
+		scantily clothed travelers as they set out on their way to the
+		mines.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They followed down the course of the river that flowed
+		through the valley, the Santa Clara River, and knew that it
+		would take them to the sea at last. Before they reached the
+		mission of San Buena Ventura, near the sea, they ran out of
+		meat again, for they had failed to find game as they had
+		expected, and Capt. Asa Haynes took the chances of killing a
+		Spanish cow that looked nice and fat. They camped around the
+		carcass and ate, and smoked the meat that was left. While thus
+		engaged two horsemen approached, and after taking a good look
+		at the proceedings, galloped off again. When the party arrived
+		at the Mission they were arrested and taken before the alcalde
+		to give an account of their misdeeds. They realized that they
+		were now in a bad fix, and either horn of the dilemma was bad
+		enough. They could not talk Spanish; they had no money; they
+		had killed somebody's cow; they were very hungry; they might
+		be willing to pay, but had no way of doing it; they did not
+		want to languish in jail, and how to get out of it they could
+		not understand. Luck came to them, however, in the shape of a
+		man who could speak both English and Spanish, to whom they
+		told their story and who repeated it to the alcalde, telling
+		him of their misfortunes and unfortunate condition, and when
+		that officer found out all the circumstances he promptly
+		released them as he did not consider them as criminals. The
+		cow was probably worth no more than ten dollars.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At Santa Barbara they found a chance to trade off some of
+		their oxen for mares, which were not considered worth much,
+		and managed the barter so well that they came out with a horse
+		apiece and a few dollars besides, with which to buy grub along
+		the road. They depended mostly on their guns for supplying
+		them with food. They supposed they were about three hundred
+		miles from San Francisco, and expected to meet with but few
+		people except at the Missions, of which they had learned there
+		were a few along the road. At these there was not much to be
+		had except dried beef. However, they managed to use the guns
+		with fair success, and at last arrived safely at Stockton
+		where they sold some of their horses for more than double what
+		they cost, and with a small number of horses they packed on to
+		the gold mines.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Those of the party who went to Los Angeles managed in one
+		way or another to get through on schooners, and many of them,
+		after a year or two of hard work, made some money and returned
+		to their homes in Illinois. It is hardly necessary to add that
+		they did not return via Death Valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some years afterward the members of this party who had
+		returned to their Eastern homes formed themselves into an
+		organization which they called the Jayhawkers' Union,
+		appointed a chairman and secretary, and each year every one
+		whose name and residence could be obtained was notified to be
+		present at some designated place on the fourth day of February
+		which was the date on which they considered they passed from
+		impending death into a richly promising life. They always had
+		as good a dinner as Illinois could produce, cooked by the
+		wives and daughters of the pioneers, and the old tales were
+		told over again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One part of the program was the calling of the roll, and
+		such reports and letters as had come to hand. The following is
+		a list of the members of the party so far as can be
+		ascertained, as gathered from recollections and from the
+		reports of the meetings of the reunions.<br>
+		</p>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			LIST OF JAYHAWKERS.<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>The following named were living, so far as known, in
+		1893:&mdash;John B. Colton and Alonzo C. Clay, of Galesburg,
+		Ill., Luther A. Richards, of Woodhull, Ill., Chas. B. Mecum,
+		of Ripley, Iowa, John W. Plummer, of Tulon, Ill., Edward
+		Bartholomew, Urban P. Davidson, John Crosscup and L. Dow
+		Stephens, of San Jose, California, Harrison Frans and Thomas
+		Shannon, of Los Gatos, Cal., J.W. Brier and wife, Lodi, Cal.,
+		three children of Mr. Brier.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The following are supposed to be dead:&mdash;Ann Haines,
+		Knoxville, Ill., Sidney P. Edgerton, formerly of Blair,
+		Nebraska, Thomas McGrew, John Cole, Wm. B. Rude, Wm. Robinson
+		and Alex. Palmer, of Knoxville, Ill., Marshall B. Edgerton,
+		late of Galesburg, Ill. Wm. Ischam, of Rochester, N.Y.,
+		Mr.---- Fish, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, John L. West, Aaron Larkin,
+		Capt. Edwin Doty and Brien Byram, of Knoxville, Ill., Mr.----
+		Carter, of Wisconsin, Geo. Allen, Leander Woolsey and Chas.
+		Clark, of Henderson, Ill., Mr. ---- Gretzinger, of Oskaloosa,
+		Iowa, and a Frenchman whose name is unknown.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were some others connected more or less with the
+		party at some part of the trip, but not coming in with the
+		Jayhawker organization. So far as learned, their names are as
+		follows:&mdash;John Galler, Jim Woods and Jim Martin of Miss.,
+		Ed Croker of N.Y., David Funk, Mr. Town, Henry Wade, wife and
+		three children, Nat Ward, John D. Martin, of Texas, Old
+		Francis, a Frenchman, Fred Carr and Negro &quot;Joe,&quot;
+		from Miss.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were a great many reports about finding rich mines
+		about this time, and these stories have been magnified and
+		told in all sorts of ways since then, and parties have
+		returned to try to find the great riches.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Among the Jayhawkers were two Germans who could speak but
+		little English and probably for this reason, kept apart from
+		the remainder of the party.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day, after the wagons were abandoned these German
+		fellows were marching along alone with their packs on their
+		backs in the warm sun, suffering very much for want of water
+		and food, when one of them sat down on a hill-side in pretty
+		nearly absolute despair, while the other man went down into a
+		ravine hoping to find a puddle of water in the rocky bottom
+		somewhere, though it was almost a forlorn hope. All at once he
+		called out to his partner on the hill&mdash;&quot;John, come
+		down here and get some of this gold. There is a lot of
+		it.&quot; To this poor John Galler only
+		replied:&mdash;&quot;No, I won't come. I don't want any gold,
+		but I would like very much to have some water and some
+		bread.&quot; And so they left the valuable find and slowly
+		walked on, pulling through at last with the rest of them, and
+		reaching Los Angeles.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The man who found the gold went to the Mission of San Luis
+		Rey and started a small clothing store, and some time
+		afterward was killed. John Galler settled in Los Angeles and
+		established a wagon shop in which he did a successful
+		business. He was an honest, industrious man and the people had
+		great confidence in him. He often told them about what his
+		partner had said about finding the gold in the desert, and the
+		people gave him an outfit on two or three occasions to go back
+		and re-locate the find, but he did not seem to have much idea
+		of location, and when he got back into the desert again things
+		looked so different to him that he was not able to identify
+		the place, or to be really certain they were on the same trail
+		where his companion found the gold.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Author saw him in 1862 and heard what he had to say
+		about it, and is convinced that it was not gold at all which
+		they saw. I told him that I more than suspected that what he
+		saw was mica instead of gold and that both he and his partner
+		had been deceived, for more than one man not used to gold had
+		been deceived before now. &quot;No sir!&quot; said he, &quot;I
+		saw lots of gold in Germany, and when I saw that I knew what
+		it was.&quot; The Author went back over that trail in 1862 and
+		sought out the German on purpose to get information about the
+		gold. He could not give the name of a single man who was in
+		the party at that time, but insisted that it was gold he saw
+		and that he knew the trail.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Author was able to identify with reasonable certainty
+		the trails followed by the different parties, but found no
+		signs of gold formation except some barren quartz, and this
+		after an experience of several years in both placer and quartz
+		mines. So honest John Galler's famous placer mine still
+		remains in the great list of lost mines, like the Gunsight
+		Lead and other noted mines for which men have since prospected
+		in vain.<br>
+			<br>
+		</p>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-42598"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>Alexander Combs Erkson was one of the pioneers of 1849,
+		having left the state of Iowa in the month of May, when he
+		assisted in organizing a company known as the &quot;Badger
+		Company&quot; at Kanesville, the object being mutual
+		assistance and protection. This company joined the Bennett
+		party mentioned so prominently in this history, at the
+		Missouri, and traveled with them or near them to the
+		rendezvous near Salt Lake where the new company was organized
+		for the southern trip taken by the Death Valley party, the
+		Jayhawkers and others. As the experience of Mr. Erkson was in
+		some respects different to that of the parties mentioned, he
+		having taken a different route for a part of the way, it was
+		thought best to embody it in this history. The following was
+		dictated to the editor of this book, and as Mr. Erkson died
+		before the written account could be revised by him, it is the
+		best that can possibly be obtained.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			____________________<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			MR. ERKSON'S STATEMENT.<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>&quot;We arrived at the Mormon camp near Salt Lake, Salt
+		Lake City, in the month of August. Several of us went to work
+		getting out lumber for Brigham Young while we were waiting and
+		resting. The mormons all advised us not to undertake to go on
+		by the northern route, and as the travelers gathered at this
+		point they canvassed the situation. We used our teams when we
+		were at work for Brigham and assisted in building a dam across
+		a ca&ntilde;on where he intended to build a woolen mill. I
+		earned about a hundred dollars by my work, which was paid to
+		me in ten-dollar pieces of a gold coin made by the Mormons.
+		They were not like the U.S. coins. I remember one side had an
+		eye and the words&mdash;&quot;Holiness to the Lord.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We entered into an agreement with Capt. Hunt, a Mormon, to
+		pilot us through, and turned all our gold into that company,
+		thus bringing none of the Mormon gold with us. We went on with
+		the company as has been related in the foregoing pages, till
+		we arrived at Mt. Misery, so named by us, when we took the
+		back track, while Mr. Manley and the others went on as they
+		have related. We had meetings by the light of a greenwood
+		fire, and the matter was talked up in little knots of people,
+		and then some one would get up and speak. One J.W. Brier, a
+		preacher, was the principal blower. 'You are going wrong!'
+		said he, We should go west, and in six weeks we will be loaded
+		with gold!'<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Hunt got a little confused at a place called Beaver
+		Meadows, or Mountain Meadows, and thought perhaps he could
+		find a new road. Several men were sent out to look, and some
+		of us in camp played ball for amusement while we were waiting.
+		Hunt's men came back and said there were no prospects of a new
+		road, and he said he knew the southern route and believed it
+		would be safe to go that way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He told us that we must decide the next day. When we came
+		to the road where we were to separate he filed off on his road
+		and the others filed off on their road and then came back with
+		their whips in their hands. I had filed in after Hunt, and
+		they tried to convince me that I was very wrong. A Mr. Norton
+		of Adrian, Mich., promised Mrs. Erkson a horse to ride if she
+		would go, and so I left Hunt and turned in on the other road,
+		the hindmost wagon. This is going back a little with the
+		history and bringing it up to Mt. Misery. On my way back from
+		Mt. Misery I climbed up on a big rock and inscribed the
+		date&mdash;Nov. 10, 1849.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In our journey we came to what is called 'The rim of the
+		Basin,' and traveled along on that a distance till we came to
+		the Santa Clara River and saw where the Indians had raised
+		corn and melons. We followed on down that stream and found our
+		teams gradually failing. Noting this we decided to overhaul
+		our loads and reject a lot of things not strictly necessary to
+		preserve life. I know I threw out a good many valuable and
+		pretty things by the roadside. I remember six volumes of
+		Rollin's Ancient History, nicely bound, with my name on the
+		back, that were piled up and left. We followed along near the
+		Santa Clara River till it emptied into the Virgin River. It
+		was somewhere along here that we first saw some Yucca trees.
+		The boys often set fire to them to see them burn.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Virgin River was a small stream running on about the
+		course we wanted to travel, and we followed this course for
+		thirty or forty miles. We found plenty of wood and water and
+		mesquite. After awhile the river turned off to the left, while
+		we wanted to keep to the right, so we parted company there. We
+		heard of a river beyond which they called the 'Big Muddy' and
+		we went up a little arroyo, then over a divide to some table
+		land that led us down to the Big Muddy. We made our wagons as
+		light as possible, taking off all the boards and stakes we
+		could possibly get along without. Wm. Philipps and others were
+		placed on short allowance. They had an idea that I had more
+		provisions in my wagon than I ought to have, but I told them
+		that it was clothing that we used to sleep on. I divided among
+		them once or twice. When we reached the Muddy we stopped two
+		or three days for there was plenty of feed. It was a narrow
+		stream that seemed as if it must come from springs. It was
+		narrow between banks, but ran pretty deep, and a streak of fog
+		marked its course in the morning. We understood it was not
+		very far from where we left the Virgin River to the Colorado,
+		some said not more than fourteen miles and that the Colorado
+		turned sharply to the south at that point. Mr. Rhynierson and
+		wife had a child born to them on the Virgin River, and it was
+		named Virginia.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was a gloomy trip the whole time on the Muddy. I lost
+		three or four head of cattle, all within a day and a night.
+		Mrs. Erkson walked to lighten the load, and would pick all the
+		bunches of grass she saw and put them on the wagon to feed the
+		oxen when we stopped. I let them pass me and stopped and fed
+		the cattle, and slept ourselves. It was said that we ran great
+		risks from Indians, but we did not see any. I had at this time
+		only two yoke of oxen left.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We overtook the party next morning at nine o'clock, having
+		met some of them who were coming back after us. All were
+		rejoiced that we had come on safely. Here I met Elisha Bennett
+		and told him my story. He said he could sell me a yoke of
+		oxen. He had a yoke in J.A. Philipps' team and was going to
+		take them out. He said nothing in particular as to price. I
+		said that I wanted to see Mr. Philipps and talk with him about
+		the matter, for he had said Bennett should not have the
+		cattle. I went over to see him and spoke to him about
+		Bennett's cattle and he told me they had quarreled and I could
+		have them, and so we made a bargain. I gave twenty dollars for
+		the cattle, the last money I had, and as much provisions as he
+		could carry on his back. They were making up a party to reach
+		the settlements at the Williams ranch, and I made arrangements
+		for them to send back provisions for us. About thirty started
+		that way&mdash;young men and men with no families with
+		them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I got along very well with my new team after that. It was
+		about forty miles from water to water, and I think we camped
+		three times. At one place we found that provisions had been
+		left, with a notice that the material was for us, but the
+		red-skins got the provisions. We struck a spring called-----,
+		a small spring of water, and a child of some of the party died
+		there and was buried.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We then went more nearly south to find the Mojave River,
+		for we hoped to find water there. It was very scarce with us
+		then, We had one pretty cold day, but generally fine weather,
+		and to get along we traveled at night and a party struck the
+		Mojave. Here there was some grass, and the mustard was
+		beginning to start up and some elder bushes to put forth
+		leaves. I picked some of the mustard and chewed it to try to
+		get back my natural taste. Here the party divided, a part
+		going to the left to San Bernardino and the remainder to the
+		right to Cucamunga. I was with the latter party and we got
+		there before night.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Rhynierson said to one of the party&mdash;'Charlie, you had
+		better hurry on ahead and try to get some meat before the
+		crowd comes up.' Charlie went on ahead and we drove along at
+		the regular gait which was not very fast about these times. We
+		saw nothing of Charlie and so I went to the house to look for
+		him and found him dead drunk on wine. He had not said a word
+		to them about provisions. That wine wrecked us all. All had a
+		little touch of scurvy, and it seemed to be just what we
+		craved. I bought a big tumbler of it for two bits and carried
+		it to my wife. She lasted it at first rather gingerly, then
+		took a little larger sup of it, and then put it to her lips
+		and never slopped drinking till the last drop was gone. I
+		looked a little bit surprised and she looked at me and
+		innocently asked&mdash;'Why! Haven't you had any?' I was
+		afraid she would be the next one to be dead drunk, but it
+		never affected her in that way at all. We bought a cow here to
+		kill, and used the meat either fresh or dried, and then went
+		on to the Williams, or Chino ranch. Col. Williams was glad to
+		see us, and said we could have everything we wanted. We wanted
+		to get wheat, for we had lived so long on meat that we craved
+		such food. He told us about the journey before us and where we
+		would find places to camp. Here we found one of the Gruwells.
+		We camped here a week, meeting many emigrants who came by way
+		of Santa Fe.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We went on from here to San Gabriel where we staid six
+		weeks to rest and recuperate the cattle. In the good grass we
+		found here they all became about as fat as ever in a little
+		while. Here the party all broke up and no sort of an
+		organization was kept up beyond here. Some went to Los
+		Angeles, some went on north, trading off their cattle for
+		horses, and some went directly to the coast. We went to the
+		Mission of San Fernando where we got some oranges which were
+		very good for us. There is a long, tedious hill there to get
+		over. We made up ten wagons. By the time we reached the San
+		Francisquito Ranch I had lost my cattle. I went down to this
+		ranch and there met Mr. and Mrs. Arcane getting ready to go to
+		San Pedro. We came north by way of Tejon pass and the Kern
+		River, not far from quite a large lake, and reached the mines
+		at last. I remember we killed a very fat bear and tried out
+		the grease, and with this grease and some flour and dried
+		apples Mrs. Erkson made some pretty good pies which the miners
+		were glad to get at a dollar and even two dollars
+		apiece.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Erkson followed mining for about a year and then went
+		into other business until he came to Santa Clara Valley and
+		began farming near Alviso. He has been a highly respected
+		citizen and progressive man, He died in San Jose in the spring
+		of 1893.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			___________________<br>
+			<br>
+			<br>
+			THE EXPERIENCE OF EDWARD COKER.<br>
+		</div>
+		<p>Edward Coker was one of a party of twenty-one men who left
+		their wagons, being impatient of the slow progress made by the
+		ox train, and organized a pack train in which they were
+		themselves the burden carriers. They discarded everything not
+		absolutely necessary to sustain life, packed all their
+		provisions into knapsacks, bravely shouldered them and started
+		off on foot from the desert to reach California by the
+		shortest way.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Among those whom Mr. Coker can recollect are Capt. Nat.
+		Ward, Jim Woods, Jim Martin of Missouri, John D. Martin of
+		Texas, &quot;Old Francis,&quot; a French Canadian, Fred Carr,
+		Negro &quot;Joe&quot; and some others from Coffeeville, Miss.,
+		with others from other states.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Coker related his experience to the Author somewhat as
+		follows:&mdash;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One other of the party was a colored man who joined us at
+		the camp when we left the families, he being the only
+		remaining member of a small party who had followed our wagon
+		tracks after we had tried to proceed south. This party was
+		made up of a Mr. Culverwell who had formerly been a writer in
+		a Government office at Washington, D.C., a man named Fish
+		claiming to be a relative of Hamilton Fish of New York, and
+		another man whose name I never knew. He, poor fellow, arrived
+		at our camp in a starving condition and died before our
+		departure. The other two unfortunates ones died on the desert,
+		and the colored man reported that he simply covered their
+		remains with their blankets.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I well remember that last night in camp before we started
+		with our knapsacks and left the families, for it was plain the
+		women and children must go very slow, and we felt we could go
+		over rougher and shorter roads on foot and get through sooner
+		by going straight across the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Our
+		condition was certainly appalling. We were without water, all
+		on the verge of starvation, and the three poor cattle which
+		yet remained alive were objects of pity. It seemed almost a
+		crime to kill the poor beasts, so little real food was there
+		left on their skeleton frames. They had been so faithful and
+		had plodded along when there seemed no hope for them. They
+		might still serve to keep the party from starvation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was at this camp that Mr. Ischam died. The night before
+		our departure he came wandering into camp and presented such
+		an awful appearance, simply a living skeleton of a once grand
+		and powerful man. He must have suffered untold agony as he
+		struggled on to overtake the party, starving and alone, with
+		the knowledge that two of his companions had perished
+		miserably of starvation in that unknown wilderness of rocks
+		and alkali.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our journey on foot through the mountains was full of
+		adventure and suffering. On our arrival at the shores of
+		Owen's Lake not a man of the party had a mouthful of food left
+		in his pack, and to add to our difficulties we had several
+		encounters with the hostile Indians. There was a fearful snow
+		storm falling at Owen's Lake on the evening that we arrived
+		there, and we could make no fire. The Indians gathered around
+		us and we did not know exactly what to make of them, nor could
+		we determine whether their intentions were good or bad. We
+		examined the lake and determined to try to ford it, and thus
+		set out by the light of the moon that occasionally peeped out
+		from behind the clouds, while the red devils stood howling on
+		the shore.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The following morning we found what was then known as the
+		Fremont Trail, and by the advice of some friendly Indians who
+		came into our camp, we kept the &quot;big trail&quot; for
+		three days and came to Walker's Pass. While on this trail we
+		were followed at night by a number of wild Indians, but we
+		prudently avoided any collisions with them and kept moving on.
+		Going on through the pass we followed the right hand branch of
+		the trail, the left hand branch leading more to the south and
+		across a wide plain. We soon came to a fair-sized stream, now
+		known to be the south fork of the Kern River, which we
+		followed until we came to its junction with a larger river,
+		the two making the Kern River. Here we were taken across by
+		some friendly Indians who left the Missions farther west
+		during the Mexican war and took to their own village located
+		at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. At this village we
+		were on exhibition for several hours with an audience of five
+		hundred people or more, of the red men, and on the following
+		morning we commenced the ascent of the mountains again, the
+		Indians furnishing us with a guide in the person of an old
+		Pi-Ute. He brought us over the range, through the snow and
+		over the bleak ridges, in the month of December, 1849, and we
+		made our first camp at an Indian village in Tulare Valley, a
+		few miles south of where Porterville now stands.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From this Indian village we walked on until we arrived at
+		the present site of Millerton on the south bank of the San
+		Joaquin River. Our sufferings were terrible from hunger, cold,
+		and wet, for the rains were almost continual at this
+		elevation, and we had been forced several times to swim. The
+		sudden change from the dried-up desert to a rainy region was
+		pretty severe on us. On our arrival at the San Joaquin River
+		we found a camp of wealthy Mexicans who gave us a small amount
+		of food, and seemed to want us to pass on that they might be
+		rid of us. I can well believe that a company of twenty-one
+		starving men was the cause of some disquietude to them. They
+		gave us some hides taken from some of the cattle they had
+		recently slain, and from these we constructed a boat and ferry
+		rope in which we crossed the river, and then continued our
+		journey to the mining camp on Aqua Frio, in Mariposa
+		county.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It is very strange to think that since that time I have
+		never met a single man of that party of twenty-one. I had kept
+		quite full notes of the whole trip from the state of New York
+		to the mines, and including my early mining experience up to
+		the year 1851. Unfortunately this manuscript was burned at the
+		Russ House fire in Fresno, where I also lost many personal
+		effects.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the year 1892 Mr. Coker was living in Fresno, or near
+		that city, in fairly comfortable health, and it is to be hoped
+		that the evening of his days, to which all the old pioneers
+		are rapidly approaching, may be to him all that his brightest
+		hopes pictured.<br>
+		</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=302 alt="" src="images/ch_14.png" width=309
+			border=0><br>
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-37990"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>Having followed the various little parties into which the
+		great train had resolved itself when it began to feel the
+		pressure of suffering and trouble which came with contact with
+		the desert, followed them in their various ways till they came
+		through to the Pacific Slope, the travels and experiences of
+		the Author are again resumed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It will be remembered that he had rested at Los Angeles,
+		working for Mr. Brier who had temporarily turned boarding
+		house keeper, and finally made arrangements with some drovers
+		to assist in taking a small stock of horses north to the
+		mines. His story is thus continued:&mdash;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We followed the wagon road which the companies that had
+		gone on before had made, and got along very well. At night I
+		acted independently&mdash;staked out my mule and ate my meal
+		of dried meat and crackers&mdash;then joined the others around
+		a large fire, and all seemed to enjoy the company. After a few
+		days the two men who owned the horses proposed to me to let my
+		mule carry the provisions, and they wanted me to ride one of
+		their horses that was not carrying a pack, as they said it
+		would keep it more gentle to ride it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>To please the old gentleman from Sacramento I agreed to the
+		proposition, for I thought perhaps by being accommodating I
+		could get along more pleasantly.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Thus we traveled on, over rolling hills covered with grass
+		and wild flowers, and I was much pleased with all that I could
+		see. For the first two days we did not pass a house, which
+		shows how thinly settled the country was. Cattle were often
+		seen, and sometimes horses, but people were very scarce. In
+		time we went down a long, steep hill, then across a wide
+		valley that supported a rank growth of vegetation, and came to
+		a Mission called San Buena Ventura (good luck.) Here the men
+		seemed scarce, but Indians and dogs plenty. The houses were of
+		the same sort as at Los Angeles, except the church, all made
+		of dried mud, and never more than one story high.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we journeyed along we came to the sea shore, the
+		grandest sight in the world to me, for I had never before seen
+		the ocean. What a wide piece of water it was! Far out I could
+		see small waves coming toward the shore, and the nearer they
+		came the faster they seemed to rush and at last turned into
+		great rollers and breakers which dashed upon the rocks or
+		washed far up the sandy shore with a force that made the
+		ground tremble. There was no wind and I could not see what it
+		could be that so strangely agitated the water. Here the waves
+		kept coming, one after another, with as much regularity as the
+		slow strokes of a clock. This was the first puzzle the great
+		sea propounded to me, and there under the clear blue sky and
+		soft air I studied over the ceaseless, restless motion and the
+		great power that was always beating on the shore. I tasted the
+		water and found it exceedingly salt, and I did not see how
+		anything could live in it and not become in the condition of
+		pickled pork or fish. Where was the salt to make this mighty
+		brine pond, and why did it keep so when the great rivers kept
+		pouring in their torrents of fresh waters? I did not
+		understand, and these are some of the thoughts that came to
+		the boy who had been raised upon the prairie, and to whom the
+		great ocean was indeed an unknown sea.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We followed along the road and in time came to another
+		village and Mission called Santa Barbara. The village was near
+		the shore, and the church farther back upon an elevated piece
+		of ground near the foot of the mountain, overlooking the town
+		and sea and much of the country to the south, west and east.
+		The mountain was high and rough, and a point ran out into the
+		sea making a sort of harbor. This town was built much as the
+		others had been except perhaps the Mission which seemed
+		better. The roofs were as flat as the floors and were covered
+		with a sort of tar which made them water-proof. The material
+		of the houses was sun-dried bricks, two feet long by one foot
+		wide and four to six inches thick. There was no lime in the
+		mortar of this mason work, and the openings in the walls had
+		iron bars across them instead of sash and glass. Dried hides
+		were spread upon the floors, and there was a large earthen jar
+		for water, but not a table, bedstead or chair could be seen in
+		the rooms we saw. A man came along, rode right in at the door,
+		turned around and rode out again. The floor was so hard that
+		the horse's feet made no impression on it. Very few men, quite
+		a number of Indians, more women, and a still larger quantity
+		of dogs made up the inhabitants.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Leaving here the road led back from the sea shore and over
+		quite a level table land, covered with a big growth of grass
+		and some timber, and then down to the sandy shore again where
+		the mountain comes so close that we were crowded down to the
+		very water's edge. Here the never-tiring waves were still
+		following each other to the shore and dashing themselves to
+		pieces with such a noise that I felt awed to silence. What a
+		strange difference in two parts of the earth so little
+		distance from each other! Here was a waste of waters, there
+		was a waste of sands that may some time have been the bottom
+		of just such a dashing, rolling sea as this. And here, between
+		the two, was a fertile region covered with trees, grass and
+		flowers, and watered with brooks of fresh, sweet water.
+		Paradise and Desolation! They surely were not far apart. Here
+		I saw some of the queer things that wash on shore, for we
+		camped close to the beach.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was a circumstance of great interest to me to see the
+		sun slowly go down into the great ocean. Slowly and steadily
+		it went, getting redder and redder as it went down, then it
+		just touched the distant water and the waves dashed over more
+		and more of its face till all was covered. Were it not for the
+		strong, bright rays that still shot up across the sky one
+		might think it was drowned forever, but in the morning it came
+		up over the mountain top, having apparently made half the
+		circuit of the globe.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Soon after this the road left the shore and turned into the
+		mountains. Another Mission was on this road, Santa Ynez,
+		situated in a beautiful place but apparently in decay, for the
+		men had gone to the mines, leaving the Indians, women, and
+		dogs as in other places. San Luis Obispo was another Mission
+		similarly inhabited, but the surroundings did not seem so
+		pleasant as those we had seen before, although it bore signs
+		that considerable had been done. From here our road bore still
+		more north and we had a long mountain to work over, very
+		rocky, and in some places barren.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>San Miguel was a Mission situated on the bank of a dry
+		stream that evidently had seen plenty of water earlier in the
+		season. The surrounding country was covered with scattering
+		timber. Soledad was another place where there were some
+		improvements, located on a small river, but nearly deserted
+		like the other places. Prospects at the gold mines were so
+		favorable that every man felt an irresistible desire to enrich
+		himself, and so they left their families at the Missions and
+		in the towns and rushed off to the mines. Nearly all of them
+		expected to return by winter.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I think I must stop right here and tell about the
+		California carriages of which I had seen several at Los
+		Angeles and at the Missions along our road. The first time I
+		saw one it was a great curiosity, I assure you. The wheels
+		were cut off the end of a sycamore log a little over two feet
+		in diameter and each section about a foot long. The axle was a
+		piece of wood eight inches square with a tongue fastened to it
+		long enough to be used with a yoke of oxen, and the ends of
+		the axle were roughly rounded, leaving something of a
+		shoulder. The wheels were retained in place by a big
+		lynch-pin. On the axle and tongue was a strong frame of square
+		hewed timbers answering for bed pieces, and the bottom was of
+		raw-hide tightly stretched, which covered the whole frame.
+		Tall stakes at each corner of the frame held up an awning in
+		hot weather. The yoke was fastened to the horns of the oxen by
+		strong, narrow strips of raw-hide, and the tongue was fastened
+		to the yoke in the same way. The driver was generally an
+		Indian, armed with a small pole six or eight feet long, who
+		marched on before, the oxen following after. I saw many a
+		wagon like this, the platform well filled up with women and
+		children, and a pack of dogs following along behind, slowly
+		rolling over the country, and this is the way they traveled
+		when they went visiting friends who lived a few miles in the
+		country. Sometimes the wheels gave perfectly agonizing shrieks
+		as they revolved, and when they made so much noise that their
+		strong Spanish nerves could stand it no longer, if there was
+		any green grass to be found the drivers would crowd in a
+		quantity around the axle, and there was generally room for a
+		good lot of it, to answer for a lubricator.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We passed on from Soledad and shortly rose into the table
+		land we had seen for some time before us. From here we could
+		look north for a long way with no hill or mountain in sight;
+		but our road led along on the east side of this treeless
+		plain, so thickly covered with grass that we recalled some of
+		the old tales of the grassy plains. We passed a landholder's
+		house on the road, then crossed a range of low mountains and
+		came to the Mission of San Juan (St. John) situated near the
+		foot-hills, overlooking a level, rich appearing extent of
+		valley land with a big vegetable growth all over it; in some
+		places wild mustard which stood thickly and was from four to
+		ten feet high. I thought what a splendid place it would be for
+		the Yankees who are fond of greens.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was the first place since we left Los Angeles where we
+		could buy any kind of breadstuff, and we were here enabled to
+		get a change of diet, including greens. This seemed to be one
+		end or side of another valley, and as we went along it seemed
+		to widen away to the east; but our course was to the north,
+		and we followed the road. The architecture of all the
+		buildings except the churches was all the same, being built of
+		the sun dried adobes or bricks made by mixing up a clay mud
+		with tough grass and letting it get dry and hard. We saw the
+		same kind of roof material as before, a sort of mineral tar
+		which I supposed they must find somewhere about.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I could imagine why the houses were built in this way, for
+		when the Jesuit missionaries first came in they found the
+		country occupied by Indians who used their arrows to good
+		effect, as they were jealous of all outside occupation. The
+		early settlers evidently made the walls of their dwellings
+		thick and strong enough to resist all kinds of weapons used by
+		Indians. They could not set fire to them for they were fire
+		proof and arrow proof, and the hostile Indian could dance on
+		the roof without being able to get in or do any injury. Thus
+		the poor Indian was fairly beat and eventually became a better
+		Indian.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Indians of what is now Nevada and Arizona used to come
+		over into these rich valleys and clandestinely capture a band
+		of a hundred or more head of cattle or horses and make their
+		escape. They were often followed by the herders, but if they
+		did not overtake the thieves before they got into the deep
+		ca&ntilde;ons of the mountains, they would usually turn back
+		and let them go rather than be led into ambush in some strange
+		narrow place where escape would be impossible and they might
+		be filled with arrows. No doubt the trail we had followed
+		across the plains, where there were so many horses' bones, was
+		one of these trails along which the thieving Indians took
+		their booty which died upon the trip.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our road from here was near the foot-hills on the west side
+		of a level, grassy, thinly timbered valley, and as we advanced
+		we noticed that the timber grew more plentiful and the trees
+		larger, without much underbrush. We also noticed that the
+		vegetation was ranker and no doubt the soil was very rich. We
+		then came to a point where the mountain reaches out almost
+		across the valley to meet the mountain on the east side. Here
+		we found a gravelly creek with but little water, but as soon
+		as we passed this point we saw the valley suddenly widening
+		out, and beautiful groves of live oak trees scattered all
+		around. The vegetation here was very rank, the mustard ten
+		feet high in places, making it difficult to see out of the
+		road. This was perhaps the strongest contrast to the arid
+		desert that we had seen.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we went on down the valley the hills seemed to stand
+		farther and farther back as if to make more room for those who
+		would soon settle in this fertile place, and we soon came in
+		sight of the village or pueblo of San Jose (St. Joseph) where
+		we camped. Here we learned that the two owners of the horses
+		intended to go to San Francisco instead of Sacramento, and as
+		we considered the former place a very poor one for a penniless
+		person to go we concluded to break up the company camp and
+		each do the best he could for himself, for our objective point
+		was the gold mines, and the sooner we reached them the
+		better.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The drovers who had been anxious to have us go with them
+		and help them now began to talk about a settlement with us, as
+		if they had done us great favors, and called on the other
+		fellows to help pay for their board upon the way. When they
+		came to me they said my share would be an ounce. This struck
+		me hard, but they said I had ridden their horse all the way
+		and the charge was very low. I told them I had furnished the
+		most of the provisions I had eaten, and my mule had packed a
+		good load all the way, which I considered worth as much as the
+		use of the horse. But they refused to allow me anything for
+		the use of the mule and became very urgent in their demand for
+		money.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These men were evidently of the tribe of Skinflint, who had
+		no souls, or they would not have attempted to rob an almost
+		penniless emigrant in this way of the last few dollars he had,
+		and all the hope he had of reaching the mines. I did not
+		desire to give up to such narrow principles as this and
+		hesitated, but they were bound to have the money or make a
+		quarrel, and talked pretty loud of the way they collected
+		debts in Sacramento, so that to avoid trouble and get out of
+		the clutches of such mean scoundrels as these I counted out
+		sixteen dollars, almost every cent I had, and reluctantly gave
+		them to my enemy. I immediately mounted my mule, and without
+		stopping to say goodbye rode off. I may have quoted a part of
+		the speech Capt Hunt made when the party wanted to leave the
+		trail and take the cut-off, especially that part where he
+		alluded to their going to h--l. I very much fear the little
+		piety my mother taught me was badly strained on that occasion,
+		and I thought of a good many swear words if I did not say
+		them, which I suppose is about as bad. I could see how
+		cunningly they had managed to get me to ride their horse that
+		it might serve as the foundation for a claim on me for about
+		all the money I had in the world.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I hitched my mule in the edge of the town and went in to
+		look at the place. The houses were situated very much as in
+		other places we had come through&mdash;scattered around over
+		much ground and built low, but had a different style of roof,
+		a peaked or sloping one, and covered with half round tile two
+		feet or more long and an inch thick. One course of these would
+		be laid with the hollow side up, and then a course with the
+		hollow side down, covering the joints of the lower course.
+		This allowed the air to circulate freely and was proof against
+		rain. I saw no flat roofs such as I had seen down along the
+		coast. I saw one gambling house and about all the men in town
+		were gathered there, and some women, too. This was the busiest
+		place in town and situated near the plaza. This was the
+		largest town I had yet been in. There seemed to be plenty of
+		women and lots of dogs, but the men were as scarce as they had
+		been in any of the towns&mdash;gone to the gold mines to make
+		a stake. I took in the sights pretty well, and there were a
+		great many new things for me to see, and when pretty well
+		satisfied concluded I would go back to my mule and camp in
+		some place just out of town for the night.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Before I reached my animal whom should I meet but my old
+		traveling companion John Rogers whom I thought to be a hundred
+		miles away by this time. We shook hands heartily and he told
+		me that Bennett, Moody and Skinner were camped not far off,
+		and he was still with them. He wore a pair of blue overalls, a
+		blue woolen shirt and the same little narrow rimmed hat he had
+		worn so long. I observed, too, that he was barefoot, and told
+		him I had a dollar or two which he could take and get some
+		shoes. He said it was no use for there was not a pair of shoes
+		in the town to buy, and he had not found any material of which
+		he could make himself a pair of moccasins. I told him how I
+		had been swindled coming up, and he was about as angry as I
+		had been. I think if I had known that my friend John Rogers
+		had been so near I should have bidden the rascals an
+		unceremonious good-bye and we would have been able to hold our
+		own on a claim for the services of myself and mule.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We went up to the place where our people were camped,
+		perhaps a mile above town on the bank of a river, nearly dry,
+		but where plenty of wood, water and grass were at hand; such a
+		place as we had looked for in vain for many a weary day upon
+		the desert. This was as far above Death Valley as a king above
+		a pauper, and we hoped never to see such a country again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In camp we talked about moving on to the mines. Rogers said
+		he was going to start next day, and in answer to exclamations
+		of surprise that he should start off alone, he said that some
+		fellows camped a little way down the river were going to start
+		and he had made arrangements to go with them, as the Bennett
+		party would not go yet for a week. In the morning he shook
+		hands and bade us good-bye and good luck, and started off down
+		the river bank, lost to us, as it proved, for many years.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next day as we were all sitting on the ground I felt a
+		sort of moving of the earth under me and heard a rumbling
+		sound that seemed very queer. It seemed there was a motion
+		also to the trees around us. We all started and looked a
+		little frightened, and Skinner said he believed it was an
+		earthquake, for he said he could see the motion in a sort of
+		wave. It was gone in half a minute. Moody
+		said:&mdash;&quot;How do you like California now?&quot; I said
+		I thought this part of it was a pretty good place for there
+		was plenty of wood, water and grass, and that was better than
+		we had seen in some places.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He then went on to say that he had heard Mr. Bennett's
+		story of their sufferings and narrow escape from death, and it
+		was the most wonderful story he had ever heard. He said the
+		idea of Mrs. Bennett walking over such a country for
+		twenty-two days was almost beyond belief, for he would not
+		have thought her able to walk one-third the distance. He never
+		knew before how much women could do when they were called to
+		do it, and they proved in emergencies to be as tough as any
+		body. He said if he ever got back home he should move to give
+		them all the rights and privileges of men for sure.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day I mounted my mule for a ride to the eastern
+		foothills, and sat down on a little incline and overlooked the
+		valley, a beautiful landscape, while my mule cropped the rich
+		grasses in a circle described by the rope which confined him.
+		I was always a great admirer of nature, and as I sat there
+		alone I could see miles on miles of mammoth mustard waving in
+		the strong breeze which came down over the San Francisco Bay
+		just visible to the northward, and on the mountain summits to
+		the west could see tall timber reaching up into the deep blue
+		of the sky. It was a real contented comfort to be thus in the
+		midst of luxuriance and beauty, and I enjoyed it, coming as it
+		did at the end of the long and dreary road I had been
+		traveling for the past twelve months. Up the Platte; across
+		the Rockies; down the Green River ca&ntilde;ons in my canoe;
+		across the mountains to Salt Lake; out over the &quot;Rim of
+		the Basin,&quot; and across the desert, guided only by the
+		fact that we knew the Pacific Ocean was to the west of us, and
+		choosing our road as best we could in view of the lofty,
+		snow-clad, impassible mountains; seeing thirteen of our
+		comrades lie down never to rise again, and, when hope and
+		strength were almost gone, to suddenly come out into a fertile
+		region on the seventh of March, 1850. How I wished the fellows
+		who slept in Death Valley could have seen this view. The
+		change from all that barrenness and desolation to this
+		beautiful, fertile country, covered with wild flowers and
+		luxuriant live oaks, was as strong a contrast as one could
+		imagine a sudden coming from purgatory to paradise in the
+		space of a single hour.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I waked up from my dreamy thoughts, mounted my mule and
+		rode to camp. As I rode along the nimble ground squirrel, with
+		his keen black eye, would climb to the top of the high mustard
+		stalks to get a better view and, suspicious of an enemy within
+		his almost undisputed territory, disappear in a wink to his
+		safe underground fortress. Fat cattle and horses would appear
+		before me a moment, and then, with a wild look and high heads,
+		dash through the tall mustard out of sight.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next day my trip was toward the western hills, and before I
+		came to them was confronted with an extensive stretch of
+		chaparral brush, absolutely impenetrable, which I must go
+		around or stop my progress in this direction. These thickets
+		were a regular paradise for grizzly bears, for within the
+		protection of this matted and thorny growth he is as safe as
+		is the soldier in the rocky fort of Gibraltar. I soon found a
+		way around the brush and rose high enough so that a backward
+		look over the valley was charming, quite as much so as the
+		eastern side. I wandered over the grassy hills covered with
+		great scattering oaks, and came to a grove of mammoth trees,
+		six feet or more in diameter, with tops reaching two hundred
+		or three hundred feet toward the blue sky. They seemed to me
+		to be a kind of cedar, and were far larger and taller than any
+		trees I had ever seen in the forests of Vermont, Michigan or
+		Wisconsin, and in my long journey from the East the route had
+		been principally through a country devoid of good timber. A
+		stranger in a strange land, everything was new and wonderful.
+		After satisfying my inquiring mind I returned to camp again,
+		and soon learned that my newly discovered trees were the
+		famous redwoods, so greatly prized for their valuable
+		qualities.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Taking the most direct course to camp I came, when within
+		two or three miles of San Jose, to a large extent of willows
+		so thick, and so thickly woven together with wild blackberry
+		vines, wild roses and other thorny plants, that it appeared at
+		first as if I never could get through. But I found a winding
+		trail made by the cattle through the bushes and mustard, and
+		this I followed, being nearly scared occasionally by some wild
+		steers as they rushed off through the thickets. I got through
+		safely, though it would have been difficult to escape a wild,
+		enraged steer, or a grizzly had I met him face to face even
+		with a rifle in hand. I could see nowhere but by looking
+		straight up, for the willows were in places fifty feet high
+		and a foot in diameter. The willows where I came from were
+		mere bushes, and these astonished me. This bit of brush is
+		still locally known as &quot;The Willows,&quot; but the trees
+		are all gone, and the ground thickly covered with orchards and
+		fine residences, the land selling at from one thousand to two
+		thousand dollars per acre.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The sun rose without a cloud, and a little later the sea
+		breeze from the bay blew gently over the valley, making the
+		climate perfectly delightful in its temperate coolness, a true
+		paradise on earth it seemed to me, if I was able to judge or
+		set a value upon so beautiful a spot; and surely I had seen
+		all sorts, good and poor, desert and valley, mountain and
+		plain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>But I was poor in purse, and resolved I would seek first
+		the gold mines and secure gold enough to buy a piece of this
+		valley afterward.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When I had seen what was to be seen about San Jose I had a
+		talk with my friends and found that Mr. Bennett favored going
+		on to the mines at once and that Moody and Skinner thought
+		they would remain a little while at least.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I went along in company with Bennett, and when we got a
+		little way from San Jose, on the road to the Mission, the road
+		seemed walled in on both sides with growing mustard ten or
+		twelve feet high and all in blossom. How so much mustard could
+		grow, and grow so large, I could not understand. I had seen a
+		few plants in the gardens or fields which people used for
+		greens, and here seemed to be enough to feed the nation, if
+		they liked mustard greens.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The second day out we passed the big church at Mission San
+		Jose and soon left the valley and turned into the mountains
+		and when part way over we came to a stream which we followed
+		up and came out into Livermore valley, where we found a road
+		to follow. Houses were scarce, and we camped a mile or so
+		before we got to the Livermore ranch buildings. There was very
+		little sign of life about the place, and we soon went out of
+		the valley and into the mountains again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The first sign of settlement we saw when part way through
+		the mountains was a stone corral, but no house or other
+		improvements. The next place was a small house made of willow
+		poles set in the ground and plastered over with mud. This
+		rejoiced in the name of &quot;Mountain House.&quot; This
+		wayside inn looked like a horse thief's glory; only one or two
+		men, a quarter of an elk hanging on a pole, and no
+		accommodations for man or beast. There was very little water,
+		nothing to sell as well as nothing wanted. On the summits of
+		the mountains as we passed through we saw, standing like
+		guards, many large buck elks.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was now fifteen miles to the San Joaquin river, and a
+		level plain lay before us. When our road turned into the river
+		bottom we found the water too deep to get through safely, so
+		we concluded to go on and try to find some place where we
+		could cross. On our way droves of antelopes could be seen
+		frolicking over the broad plains, while in the distance were
+		herds of elk winding their way from the mountains towards the
+		river for water. When far away their horns were the first
+		things visible, and they much resembled the dry tops of dead
+		pine trees, but a nearer view showed them to us as the proud
+		monarchs of the plain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we came up opposite the mouth of the Merced river we
+		concluded to try again to cross. The river here, as below, was
+		out of its banks, and the overflowed part was quite wide which
+		we had to pass through before we could reach the river
+		proper.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I waded in ahead of the team and sounded the depth of the
+		river so as not to get in too deep water, and avoid if
+		possible such accidents as might otherwise occur. Sometimes
+		the water was up to the wagon bed and it looked a little
+		doubtful of our getting through in safety, but we made it at
+		last.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We found a narrow strip of dry land along the river bank. A
+		town was on the east side of the San Joaquin. river, just
+		below where the Merced river came in. I think this place was
+		called Merced City. This so-called city contained but one
+		residence, a tent occupied by the ferryman. We crossed the
+		sluggish stream and for the privilege paid the ferryman, ten
+		dollars for toll. The road was not much used and the ferry
+		business seemed lonesome.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here we camped for the night. The mosquitoes soon found us,
+		and they were all very hungry and had good teeth. They annoyed
+		me so that I moved my lodgings to the ferryboat, but here they
+		quickly found me and troubled me all night. These insects were
+		the first I had seen since I left the lower Platte river, and
+		I thought them as bad as on the Mississippi.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From here the road led up the Merced river near the bottom,
+		and as we came near groves of willows, big, stately elk would
+		start out and trot off proudly into the open plains to avoid
+		danger. These proud, big-horned monarchs of the plains could
+		be seen in bunches scattered over the broad meadows, as well
+		as an equal amount of antelope. They all seemed to fear us,
+		which was wise on their part, and kept out of rifle shot. As
+		were not starving as we were once, I did not follow them out
+		on the open plain, for I thought I could get meat when we were
+		more in need.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We followed up the river bottom and saw not a single house
+		until we reached the road leading from Stockton to the
+		Mariposa mines, where we found a ferry and a small store. Here
+		we learned that some men were mining a few miles up the river,
+		so we drove on until we found a little work being done in a
+		dry gulch near the river bank. We made our camp at this spot
+		and had plenty of wood, water and grass. We found there was
+		something to be learned in the art of gold mining. We had no
+		tools nor money, and had never seen a speck of native gold and
+		did not know how to separate it from the dirt nor where to
+		search for it. We were poor, ignorant emigrants. There were
+		two or three men camped here. One of them was more social than
+		the rest and we soon got acquainted. His name was Williams,
+		from Missouri. He came down to the river with a pan of dirt,
+		and seeing me in my ignorance trying to wash some as well, he
+		took the pan from me and very kindly showed me how to work so
+		as to let the dirt go and save the gold. When he had the pan
+		finished a few small, bright scales remained. These to me were
+		curious little follows and I examined them closely and
+		concluded there was a vast difference between gold and lead
+		mining. Williams became more friendly and we told him
+		something about our journey across the plains, and he seemed
+		to think that we deserved a good claim. He went to a dry gulch
+		where a Spaniard was working and told him that all of
+		California, now that the war was over, belonged to Americans
+		and he must leave. Williams had his gun in his hand and war
+		might follow, so Mr. Spaniard left and his claim was presented
+		to Bennett and myself.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Williams had been twice to Santa Fe from Missouri and had
+		learned the Spanish language and could swear at them by note
+		if necessary. We now began work almost without tools, but our
+		ground we had to work was quite shallow and Williams helped us
+		out by loaning us some of his tools at times. We soon
+		succeeded in scratching together some of the yellow stuff and
+		I went down to the store and bought a pan for five dollars, a
+		shovel for ten dollars, and a poor pick cost me ten dollars
+		more. This took about two ounces of my money.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now worked harder than ever for about three weeks, but
+		we could not save much and pay such high prices as were
+		charged. Our gulch claim was soon worked out, and as the river
+		had fallen some we tried the bar, but we could only make four
+		or five dollars a day, and the gold was very fine and hard to
+		save. We bought a hind quarter of an elk and hung it up in a
+		tree and it kept fresh till all of it was eaten.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some others came and took up claims on the bar, and as the
+		prospects were not as good as was wished, three of us
+		concluded to go and try to find a better place. The next day
+		was Sunday and all lay in bed late. Before I rose I felt
+		something crawling on my breast, and when I looked I found it
+		to be an insect, slow in motion, resembling a louse, but
+		larger. He was a new emigrant to me and I wondered what he
+		was. I now took off my pants and found many of his kind in the
+		seams. I murdered all I could find, and when I got up I told
+		Williams what I had found. He said they hurt nobody and were
+		called <i>piojos</i>, more commonly known as body lice.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We started on our prospecting tour and went northeast to a
+		place now called Big Oak Flat. This was at the head of a small
+		stream and there were several small gulches that emptied into
+		it that paid well. This flat was all taken up and a ditch was
+		cut through to drain it. A ship load of gold was expected to
+		be found when it was worked. A small town of tents had been
+		pitched on both sides of the flat. One side was occupied by
+		gamblers, and many games were constantly carried on and were
+		well patronized. On the opposite side of the flat were many
+		small tents, and around on the hillside some mules and jacks
+		were feeding. One of the little long-eared donkeys came down
+		among the tents and went in one and commenced eating flour
+		from the sack. The owner of the flour ran to the tent, took
+		his shot gun and fired a load of buck-shot into the donkey's
+		hams. The animal reeled and seemed shot fatally. I now looked
+		for a battle to commence, but the parties were more
+		reasonable. The price of the animal was fully paid, and no
+		blood shed as I expected there surely would be.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now prospected further east, but nothing good enough was
+		found. The place we looked over was where the town of Garota
+		now stands. We concluded to go back, have a council, and go
+		somewhere else. On our way back we stopped to get dinner.
+		While I was around the fire, barefooted, I felt something
+		crawl up my instep, and it proved to be another of those
+		<i>piojos</i> of Williams'. I now thought these torments must
+		be all over this country.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Gold dust was used to transact all business; all the coin
+		was in the hands of the gentlemen gamblers. Most miners found
+		it necessary to have a small pair of scales in the breast
+		pocket to weigh the dust so as not to have to trust some one
+		who carried lead weights and often got more than his just
+		dues. Gold dust was valued at sixteen dollars an ounce.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now thought it would be best for two of us to take our
+		mules and go down in the small hills and try to get some elk
+		meat to take with us, as our route would be mostly through the
+		unsettled part of the country, and no provisions could likely
+		be procured, so Mr. Bradford of New Orleans and myself took
+		our mules and went down where the hills were low and the game
+		plenty. We camped in a low ravine, staked out our mules and
+		staid all night without a fire, believing that when we woke in
+		the early morning some of the many herd of elk then in sight
+		would be near us at daylight, and we could easily kill all we
+		wanted without leaving camp; but we were disappointed.
+		Hundreds of the big-horned fellows were in sight, but none in
+		rifle shot, and there was no chance for us to get any nearer
+		to them. We got near a couple of antelope and Mr. Bradford,
+		who was a brag shot and had the best gun, proposed to kill
+		them as we stood. The larger of the two was on his side and
+		much nearer than the smaller one, but we fired together just
+		as we stood. Bradford's antelope ran off unhurt: mine fell
+		dead in its tracks. Bradford bragged no more about his fine
+		gun and superior marksmanship.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We went back to camp with the little we had killed and soon
+		got ready to start north. Bennett was to go with his team to
+		Sacramento and wait there until he heard from us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Four of us, mounted on mules, now started on our journey
+		along the foothills without a road. We struck the Tuolumne
+		river at a ferry. The stream was high and rapid and could not
+		be forded, so we had to patronize the ferryman, and give him
+		half an ounce apiece. We thought such charges on poor and
+		almost penniless emigrants were unjust.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The point we were seeking to reach was a new discovery
+		called Gold Lake on Feather River, where many rich gulches
+		that emptied into it had been worked, and the lake was
+		believed to have at least a ship load of gold in it. It was
+		located high in the mountains and could be easily drained and
+		a fortune soon obtained if we got there in time and said
+		nothing to anyone we might meet on the road. We might succeed
+		in getting a claim before they were all taken up. We followed
+		along the foothills without a road, and when we came to the
+		Stanislaus River we had to patronize a ferry and pay half an
+		ounce each again. We thought their scale weights were rather
+		heavy and their ferrymen well paid.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We continued along the foothills without any trail until we
+		struck the road from Sacramento to Hangtown. This sounded like
+		a bad name for a good village, but we found it was fittingly
+		named after some ugly devils who were hanged there. The first
+		house that we came to on this road was the Mormon Tavern. Here
+		were some men playing cards for money, and two boys, twelve or
+		fourteen years old, playing poker for the same and trying in
+		every way to ape the older gamblers and bet their money as
+		freely and swear as loud as the old sports. All I saw was new
+		and strange to me and became indelibly fixed on my mind. I had
+		never before seen such wicked boys, and the men paid no
+		attention to these fast American boys. I began to wonder if
+		all the people in California were like these, bad and
+		wicked.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here we learned that Gold Lake was not as rich as reported,
+		so we concluded to take the road and go to Coloma, the place
+		where gold was first found on the American River.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We camped at Coloma all night. Mr. Bradford got his mule
+		shod and paid sixteen dollars, or in the mining phrase, an
+		ounce of gold dust. I visited the small town and found that
+		the only lively business place in it was a large gambling
+		house, and I saw money (gold dust) liberally
+		used&mdash;sometimes hundreds of dollars bet on a single card.
+		When a few hundred or thousand were lost more would be brought
+		on. The purse would be set in the center of the table and the
+		owners would take perhaps twenty silver dollars or checks, and
+		when they were lost the deposited purse would be handed to the
+		barkeeper, the amount weighed out and the purse returned. When
+		the purse was empty a friend of the better would bring
+		another, and so the game went on almost in silence. The game
+		called Monte seemed to be the favorite. How long these sacks
+		of gold lasted or who eventually got the whole I never knew.
+		This was a new country with new people, and many seemed to be
+		engaged in a business that was new, strange and hazardous. The
+		final result of all this was what puzzled me.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now followed the road up the mountain to Georgetown.
+		Here was a small village on the summit of the ridge and it
+		seemed to be in a prosperous mining section. After some
+		inquiry about a good place to work we concluded to go down a
+		couple of miles northeast of town on Ca&ntilde;on creek and go
+		to work if vacant ground could be found. There was a piece of
+		creek bottom here that had not been much worked. Georgia Flat
+		above had been worked and paid well, and the Illinois and
+		Oregon ca&ntilde;ons that emptied into the bottom here were
+		rich, so we concluded to locate in the bottom. Claims here in
+		the flat were only fifteen feet square. I located one and my
+		notice told others that I would go to work on it as soon my
+		partner came from Sacramento. I sent my partner, Mr. Bennett a
+		note telling him to come up.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While waiting for Mr. Bennett I took my pan and butcher
+		knife and went into a dry gulch out of sight of the other
+		campers and began work. As the ground was mostly bare bed rock
+		by scratching around I succeeded in getting three or four pans
+		of dirt a day. The few days I had to wait for Bennett I made
+		eight dollars a day until my claim was worked out.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I then went to Georgetown to meet Bennett and family, and
+		soon after my arrival they came well and safe. All of them,
+		even to the faithful camp dog, Cuff, were glad to see me. Old
+		Cuff followed me all around town, but when we got ready to
+		start for camp the dog was gone and could not be found. Some
+		one had hidden him away knowing he could not be gotten any
+		other way, for six ounces would not have bought him. We had
+		raised him in Wisconsin, made him a good deer dog, and with us
+		he had crossed the dry and sandy deserts. He had been a great
+		protection to Bennett's children on the plains, and company
+		for us all.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now located claims on the creek bottom. The channel of
+		the creek was claimed by Holman of Alabama and the Helms
+		brothers of Missouri. They had turned the stream into a ditch
+		in order to work the bed of the stream, believing that their
+		claims had all the gold in them. Our claims joined theirs.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. W.M. Stockton, who left his family in Los Angeles, came
+		with Mr. Bennett and went to work with us. As everything here
+		was very high we concluded to let Mr. Stockton take the team
+		and go to Sacramento for provisions for our own use. Flour and
+		meat were each fifty cents a pound, potatoes twenty-five cents
+		a pound and onions one dollar and twenty-five cents each.
+		Onions and potatoes eaten raw were considered very necessary
+		to prevent and cure scurvy, which was quite a common
+		complaint. Whiskey, if not watered, cost one dollar a
+		drink.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our claims were about ten feet deep. The bottom was wet and
+		a pump needed, so we went to a whip saw-mill and got four
+		narrow strips one by three and one by five and twelve feet
+		long, paying for them by weight, the price being twelve cents
+		a pound. Out of these strips we made a good pump by fixing a
+		valve at the end and nailing a piece of green rawhide on a
+		pole, which answered for a plunger, and with the pump set at
+		forty-five degrees it worked easily and well. One man could
+		easily keep the water out and we made fair wages.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the creek bottom Mr. Bush of Missouri had a saloon. The
+		building was made mainly of brush, with a split piece for a
+		counter, and another one for a shelf for his whiskey keg, a
+		box of cigars, a few decks of cards and half a dozen glasses,
+		which made up the entire stock of trade for the shop. In front
+		was a table made of two puncheons with a blanket thrown over
+		all, and a few rough seats around. There was no roof except
+		the brush, and through the dry season none was needed except
+		for shade.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was also at this place five brothers by the name of
+		Helms, also from Missouri. Their names were Jim, Davenport,
+		Wade, Chet and Daunt. These men, with Mr. Holman, owned the
+		bed of the stream, and their ground proved to be quite wet and
+		disagreeable to work. Mr. Holman could not well stand to work
+		in the cold water, so he asked the privilege of putting in a
+		hired man in his place, which was agreed to. He then took up a
+		claim for himself outside of the other claims, and this proved
+		to be on higher bed rock and dry, and paid even better than
+		the low claims where the Helms brothers were at work. This was
+		not what the Helms boys considered exactly fair, as Holman
+		seemed to be getting rich the fastest, and as there was no law
+		to govern them they held a free country court of their own,
+		and decided the case to suit themselves; so they ordered
+		Holman to come back and do his own work. No fault was found
+		with the hired man but what he did his work well enough, but
+		they were jealous and would not be bound by their
+		agreement.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>But this decision did not satisfy all parties, and it was
+		agreed to submit the case to three men, and I was chosen one
+		of them. We held Court on the ground and heard both sides of
+		the story, after which we retired to the shade of a bunch of
+		willows to hold council over the matter with the result that
+		we soon came to a decision in favor of Mr. Holman. About this
+		time one of the Helms boys began to quarrel with Holman and
+		grew terribly mad, swearing all kinds of vengeance, and making
+		the ca&ntilde;on ring with the loudest kind of Missouri oaths.
+		Finally he picked up a rock to kill Holman, but the latter was
+		quick with his pistol, a single shot duelling piece, and as
+		they were not more than ten feet apart Helms would have had a
+		hole in him large enough for daylight to shine through if the
+		pistol had not missed fire. We stopped the quarrel and made
+		known our decision, whereupon Helms went off muttering
+		vengeance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now went back to our work again at our claims, mine
+		being between Helms' cabin and the saloon. Holman stopped to
+		talk a little while on my claim, while I was down below at
+		work, and soon Helms came back again in a terrible rage,
+		stopping on the opposite side of the hole from Holman,
+		swearing long and loud, and flourishing a big pistol with
+		which he threatened to blow Holman into purgatory. He was so
+		much enraged that he fairly frothed at the mouth like a rabid
+		dog. The men were about twenty feet apart, and I at the bottom
+		of the hole ten feet below, but exactly between them. It
+		seemed to me that I was in some little danger for Helms had
+		his big pistol at full cock, and as it pointed at me quite as
+		often as it did at anybody, I expect I dodged around a little
+		to keep out of range. Helms was terribly nervous, and trembled
+		as he cursed, but Holman was cool and drew his weapon
+		deliberately, daring Helms to raise his hand or he would kill
+		him on the instant. Helms now began to back off, but carefully
+		kept his eye on Holman and continued his abuse as he went on
+		to the saloon to get something to replenish his courage.
+		Holman, during the whole affair, talked very calmly and put
+		considerable emphasis into his words when he dared Helms to
+		make a hostile motion. He was a true Alabamian and could be
+		neither scared nor driven. He soon sold out, however, and went
+		to a more congenial camp for he said these people were
+		cowardly enough to waylay and kill him unawares.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Soon after this unpleasantness a man and wife who lived in
+		Georgetown came into notice, and while the man made some money
+		mining his wife did a good stroke of business washing for the
+		boys who paid her a dollar a shirt as laundry fees. As she
+		began to make considerable money the bigger, if not better,
+		half of this couple began to feel quite rich and went off on a
+		drunk, and when his own money was spent he went to his wife
+		for more, but she refused him, and he, in his drunken rage,
+		picked up a gun near by and shot her dead.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All of a sudden the Helms boys and others gathered at the
+		saloon, took drinks all around, and did a good deal of
+		swearing, which was the biggest portion of the proceedings of
+		the meeting; and then they all started off toward town,
+		swearing and yelling as they struggled up the steep mountain
+		side&mdash;a pack of reckless, back-woods Missourians who
+		seemed to smell something bloody.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was near night when they all came back and gathered
+		around the saloon again. They were all in unusual good humor
+		as they related the adventures of the afternoon, and bragged
+		of their bravery and skill in performing the little job they
+		had just completed, which consisted in taking the murderer out
+		to the first convenient oak tree, and with the assistance of
+		some sailors in handling the ropes, hoisting the fellow from
+		the ground with a noose around his neck, and to the
+		&quot;Heave, yo heave&quot; of the sailor boys, pulling the
+		rope that had been passed over an elevated limb. They watched
+		the suspended body till the last spark of life went out, and
+		then went back to town leaving the corpse hanging for somebody
+		else to cut down and bury. They whooped and yelled at the top
+		of their voices as they came down along the mountain trail,
+		and at the saloon they related to the crowd that had gathered
+		there how they had helped to hang the ---- who had killed his
+		wife. They said justice must be done if there was no law, and
+		that no man could kill a woman and live in California. They
+		imagined they were very important individuals, and veritable
+		lords of Creation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These miners, many of them, were inveterate gamblers and
+		played every night till near day-light, with no roof over
+		them, and their only clothes a woolen shirt and overalls which
+		must have been a little scanty in the cool nights which
+		settled down over the mountain camp; but they bore it all in
+		their great desire for card playing.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Near by there were three men who worked and slept together,
+		every night dividing the dust which each put into a purse at
+		the head of his bed. One day the news came to the saloon that
+		one of the purses had been stolen. The Helms boys talked it
+		over and concluded that as one of the men had gone to town, he
+		might know something about the lost dust; so they went to town
+		and there, after a little search, found their man in a
+		gambling house. After a little while they invited him to
+		return to camp with them, and all started together down the
+		mountain; but when about half way down they halted suddenly
+		under an oak tree and accused their man of knowing where his
+		partner's money was. This he strongly denied, and was very
+		positive in his denial till he felt the surprise of a rope
+		around his neck, with the end over a limb, and beginning to
+		haul pretty taut in a direction that would soon elevate his
+		body from the ground, when he weakened at their earnestness
+		and asked them to hold on a minute. As the rope slackened he
+		owned up he had the dust and would give it up if they would
+		not send the news to his folks in Missouri. This was agreed to
+		and the thief was advised to leave at once for some distant
+		camp, or they might yet expose him. He was not seen
+		afterward.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The boys bragged a good deal of their detective ability
+		after this, and said that a little hanging would make a ----
+		thief tell the truth even if it did not make an honest man of
+		him, and that a thief would be lucky if he got through with
+		them and saved his life. Their law was &quot;Hanging for
+		stealing.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Helms brothers were said to be from western Missouri,
+		and in early days were somewhat of the border ruffian order,
+		and of course preferred to live on the frontier rather than in
+		any well regulated society. As the country became settled and
+		improved around them they moved on. A school house was an
+		indication that the country was getting too far advanced for
+		them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They crossed the plains in 1849 and began mining operations
+		near Georgetown in Placer county. It was well known that they
+		were foremost in all gambling, and in taking a hand in any
+		excitement that came up, and as a better class of miners came
+		in they moved on, keeping ahead with the prospectors, and just
+		out of reach of law and order. If anyone else committed a
+		crime they were always quite eager to be on the vigilance
+		committee, and were remarkably happy when punishing a
+		wrong-doer. When any of their number was suspected it was
+		generally the case that they moved quickly on and so escaped.
+		It was reported, however, that one of their number was in the
+		hands of the vigilance committee and hanged in Montana.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a time, it is said, they went down to southern
+		California and settled on the border of the Colorado desert,
+		about seventy-five miles east of San Diego, in a mountainous
+		and desert region. Here they found a small tribe of Indians,
+		and by each marrying a squaw they secured rights equal to any
+		of them in the occupation of the land. This was considered
+		pretty sharp practice, but it suited them and they became big
+		chiefs and midecine men, and numerous dusky descendants grew
+		up around them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It is said that their property consists of extensive
+		pasture lands on which they raise cattle, and that they always
+		go well armed with pistol, rifle and riata. It is said that
+		some of the Indians undertook to claim that the Helms brothers
+		were intruders, but that in some mysterious way accidents
+		happened to most of them and they were left without any
+		serious opposition.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They are very hospitable and entertaining to people who
+		visit them, provided they do not know too much about the men
+		or their former deeds or history. In this case ignorance is
+		bliss and it is folly, if not dangerous, to be too wise. They
+		have made no improvements, but live in about the same style as
+		the Indians and about on a level with them morally and
+		intellectually.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There may be those who know them well, but the writer only
+		knows them by hearsay and introduces them as a certain type of
+		character found in the early days.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As I was now about barefoot I went to town to look for
+		boots or shoes. There were no shoes, and a pair of the
+		cheapest boots I found hanging at the door were priced to me
+		at two ounces. This seemed a wonderful sum for a pair of
+		coarse cow-hide boots that would sell in the state for two
+		dollars and fifty cents; but I had to buy them at the price or
+		go barefoot.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While rambling around town I went into a round tent used as
+		a gambling saloon. The occupants were mostly men, and one or
+		two nice appearing ladies, but perhaps of doubtful reputation.
+		The men were of all classes&mdash;lawyer, doctors, preachers
+		and such others as wanted to make money without work. The
+		miners, especially sailors, were eager to try to beat the
+		games. While I was here the table was only occupied by a
+		sailor lying upon it and covered with a green blanket. All at
+		once the fellow noticed a large <i>piojo</i> walking slowly
+		across the table, and drawing his sheath knife made a
+		desperate stab at him, saying &quot;You kind of a deck hand
+		can't play at this game.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our claims, by this time were nearly worked out, and I
+		thought that I had upward of two thousand dollars in gold, and
+		the pile looked pretty big to me. It seemed to me that these
+		mines were very shallow and would soon be worked out, at least
+		in a year or two. I could not see that the land would be good
+		for much for farming when no irrigation could be easily got,
+		and the Spanish people seemed to own all the best land as well
+		as the water; so that a poor fellow like myself would never
+		get rich at farming here.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Seeing the matter in this light I thought it would be best
+		to take my money and go back to Wisconsin where government
+		land was good and plenty, and with even my little pile I could
+		soon be master of a good farm in a healthy country, and I
+		would there be rich enough. Thus reasoning I decided to return
+		to Wisconsin, for I could not see how a man could ever be a
+		successful farmer in a country where there were only two
+		seasons, one wet and the other long and dry.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I went out and hunted up my mule which I had turned out to
+		pasture for herself, and found her entirely alone. After a
+		little coaxing I caught her and brought her with me to camp,
+		where I offered her for sale. She was sleek and fat and looked
+		so well that Helms said that if I could beat him shooting he
+		would buy both mule and gun; so three or four of us tried our
+		skill. My opponents boasted a good deal of their superior
+		marksmanship, but on the trial, which began at short range, I
+		beat them all pretty badly. Helms was as good as his word and
+		offered me twelve ounces for my gun and mule, which I took. I
+		thought a great deal of my fat little one-eyed mule, and I
+		thought then, as I think now, how well she did her part on the
+		fearful road to and from Death Valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Helms was now going to the valley to have a winter's hunt,
+		for here the snow would fall four feet deep and no mining work
+		could be done till spring, when he would return and work his
+		claim again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now had all in my pocket, and when I got ready to go Mrs.
+		Bennett was much affected at knowing that I would now leave
+		them, perhaps never to return to them again. She clasped me in
+		her arms, embraced me as she would her own son, and said
+		&quot;Good luck to you&mdash;God bless you, for I know that
+		you saved all our lives. I don't suppose you will ever come
+		back, but we may come back to Wisconsin sometime and we will
+		try to find a better road than the one we came over. Give my
+		best regards to all who inquire after us.&quot; She shook my
+		hand again and again with earnest pressure, and cried and
+		sobbed bitterly. As I climbed the mountain she stood and
+		watched me so long as I was in sight, and with her
+		handkerchief waved a final adieu. I was myself much affected
+		at this parting, for with Mr. and Mrs. Bennett had been really
+		a home to me; she had been to me as a mother, and it was like
+		leaving a home fireside to go away from them. I was now
+		starting out among strangers, and those I should meet might be
+		the same good friends as those whom I had left behind. Mr.
+		Bennett and I had for many years been hunting companions; I
+		had lived at his house in the East, and we never disagreed but
+		had always been good friends. I had now a traveling companion
+		whose home was in Iowa Co., Wis., where I had lived for
+		several years, and we went along together by way of Greenwood
+		where there was a small mining town built of tents, many of
+		which were used as gambling places. These places were occupied
+		by gentlemen, some of whom wore white shirts to distinguish
+		them, I presume, from the common herd of miners from whom they
+		won their dust.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We crossed the American River at Salmon Falls, and walked
+		thence on to Sacramento City, which was the largest town we
+		had seen on the coast. The houses were all small wooden ones,
+		but business seemed to be brisk, and whiskey shops and
+		gambling houses plenty. One game played with three cards,
+		called three card Monte, was played openly on the streets,
+		with goods boxes for tables. Every one who came along was
+		urged to bet by the dealer who would lay out his cards face up
+		so all could see them, then turn them over and shuffle them
+		and say &quot;I'll bet six ounces that no one can put his
+		finger on the queen.&quot; I watched this a while and saw that
+		the dealer won much oftener than he lost, and it seemed to be
+		a simple and easy way to make a living when money was
+		plenty.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We strolled around town looking at the sights, and the
+		different business places, the most lively of which had plenty
+		of music inside, lots of tables with plenty of money on them,
+		and many questionable lady occupants. These business places
+		were liberally patronized and every department flourishing,
+		especially the bar. Oaths and vulgar language were the
+		favorite style of speech, and very many of the people had all
+		the whiskey down them that they could conveniently carry.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We got through the town safely and at the river we found a
+		steamboat bound for San Francisco and the fare was two ounces.
+		The runners were calling loudly for passengers, and we were
+		told we could never make the trip any cheaper for they had
+		received a telegram from below saying that no boat would come
+		up again for two days. I said to him &quot;I can't see your
+		telegram. Where is it?&quot; At this he turned and left us. He
+		had thought, no doubt, that miners were green enough to
+		believe anything. In the course of an hour the smoke of a
+		steamer was seen down the river, and this beat out the runners
+		who now offered passage for half an ounce.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At this time there was no telegraph and the delay was a
+		lucky one for us. We took passage and went to San Francisco
+		that night, where we put up at a cheap tavern near where the
+		Custom House now stands.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here we learned that we would have to wait two days before
+		a ship would sail for Panama, and during this time we surveyed
+		the town from the hill-tops and walked all over the principal
+		streets. It was really a small, poorly built, dirty looking
+		place, with few wharves, poor, cheap hotels, and very rough
+		inhabitants. There were lots of gambling houses full of tables
+		holding money, and the rooms filled with pretty rough looking
+		people, except the card dealers, most of whom wore white
+		shirts, and a few sported plug hats. There was also a
+		&quot;right smart sprinkling&quot; of ladies present who were
+		well dressed and adorned with rich jewelry, and their position
+		seemed to be that of paying teller at the gambling tables.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The buildings seemed to be rather cheap, although material
+		was very expensive, as well as labor, mechanics of all sorts
+		getting as much as ten or twelve dollars per day for work.
+		Coin seemed to be scarce, and a great deal of the money needed
+		on the gambling tables was represented by iron washers, each
+		of which represented an ounce of gold.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I noticed some places in the streets where it was muddy and
+		a narrow walk had been made out of boxes of tobacco, and
+		sometimes even bacon was used for the same purpose.
+		Transportation from the city to the mines was very slow and
+		made by schooner. Ship loads of merchandise had arrived and
+		been unloaded, and the sailors having run away to the mines,
+		everything except whiskey and cards was neglected. Whiskey
+		sold at this place for fifty cents a drink.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A man at the tavern where we stopped tried hard to sell me
+		a fifty-vara lot there in the edge of the mud (near where the
+		Custom House now stands) for six hundred dollars. I thought
+		this a pretty high price and besides such a lot was no use to
+		me, for I had never lived in town and could not so easily see
+		the uses to which such property could be put. It seemed very
+		doubtful to me that this place would ever be much larger or
+		amount to much, for it evidently depended on the mines for a
+		support, and these were so shallow that it looked as if they
+		would be worked out in a short time and the country and town
+		both be deserted. And I was not alone in thinking that the
+		country would soon be deserted, for accustomed as we all had
+		been to a showery summer, these dry seasons would seem
+		entirely to prevent extensive farming. Some cursed the country
+		and said they were on their way to &quot;good old Missouri,
+		God's own country.&quot; Hearing so much I concluded it would
+		be wise not to invest, but to get me back to Wisconsin
+		again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The steamer we took passage in was the Northerner,
+		advertised to sail on the twenty-ninth day of November, 1850.
+		The cabin room was all engaged, and they charged us nine
+		ounces for steerage passage; but I did not care as much about
+		their good rooms and clean sheets as I would have done at one
+		time, for I had been a long time without either and did not
+		care to pay the difference. When we were at the ship's office
+		we had to take our turns to get tickets. One man weighed out
+		the dust, and another filled out certificates. When the
+		callers began to get a little scarce I looked under the
+		counter where I saw a whole panful of dust to which they added
+		mine to make the pile a little higher. They gave out no berths
+		with these tickets, but such little things as that did not
+		trouble us in the least. It was far better fare than we used
+		to have in and about Death Valley, and we thought we could
+		live through anything that promised better than the
+		desert.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The passenger list footed up four hundred and forty, and
+		when all got on board, at about ten o'clock in the morning,
+		there was hardly room for all to stand up comfortably. It
+		seemed to me to be a very much over-crowded boat in which to
+		put to sea, but we floated out into the current, with all the
+		faces toward the shore, and hats and handkerchiefs waving
+		goodbye to those who had come down to see the home-goers
+		safely off.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we passed out through the wonderful Golden Gate and the
+		out going current met the solid sea, each seemed wrestling for
+		the mastery, and the waves beat and dashed themselves into
+		foam all around us, while the spray came over the bows quite
+		lively, frightening some who did not expect such treatment.
+		When we had passed this scene of watery commotion and got out
+		into the deeper water, the sea smoothed down a great deal; but
+		sea-sickness began to claim its victims, at first a few, then
+		more and more, till the greater part were quite badly
+		affected. I had a touch of it myself, but managed to keep my
+		feet by bracing out pretty wide, and hugging everything I
+		could get hold of that seemed to offer a steady support, and I
+		did not lie down until after I had thrown my breakfast
+		overboard.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>By the time dark came nearly every one was on his back,
+		mostly on deck, and no one asleep. All were retching and
+		moaning bitterly. Some who had a few hours before cursed
+		California now cursed the sea, and declared that if they could
+		induce the Captain to turn about and put them back on shore
+		again, they would rather creep on their hands and knees clear
+		back to old Missouri over rocks and sand, than to ride any
+		further on such a miserable old boat as this one was.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next morning the decks looked pretty filthy, and about all
+		the food the passengers had eaten was now spread about the
+		decks in a half digested condition. Most of the passengers
+		were very sick. With the early daylight the sailors coupled
+		the hose to the big steam pump, and began the work of washing
+		and scrubbing off the decks, and though many begged hard to be
+		left alone as they were, with all the filth, a good flood of
+		salt water was the only answer they received to their
+		pleading, and they were compelled to move, for the sailors
+		said they could not change their orders without the Captain,
+		and he would not be out of bed till ten o'clock or later. So
+		the cursing and swearing went for naught, and the decks were
+		clean again. There were no deaths to report, but there were
+		very few to do duty at the tables in eating the food prepared
+		for them. After a few days the tables filled up again, and now
+		it took them so long to eat that there had to be an order for
+		only two meals a day or there would not have been a chance for
+		all to get something. They were terribly hungry now, and every
+		one seemed to try his best to take in provisions enough to
+		last him for at least twelve hours.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As the fellows began to get their sea legs on, they began
+		to talk as if they were still in California, and could easily
+		manage any little boat like this, and could run things as they
+		did when they crossed the plains, where no sheriff, court or
+		judge had anything to say about matters, and all law was left
+		behind. They began to act as if they were lords over all they
+		could see, and as many of them were from the Southern states,
+		they seemed to take an especial pride in boasting of how they
+		did as they pleased, about like the Helms brothers. They
+		talked as if they could run the world, or the universe even,
+		themselves without assistance.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One morning at breakfast, when the table was full and the
+		waiters scarce, some of these fellows swore and talked pretty
+		rough, and as a waiter was passing a blue-blood from New
+		Orleans rose in his seat and called for sugar, holding the
+		empty bowl in his hand, but the waiter passed on and paid no
+		attention, and when a mulatto waiter came along behind him the
+		angry man damned him the worst he could, ordering him to bring
+		a bowl of sugar, quick. This waiter did not stop and the
+		Louisiana man threw the bowl at the waiter's head, but missed
+		it, and the bowl went crashing against the side of the ship. I
+		expected surely the Captain and his men would come and put the
+		unruly fellow in irons, and there might be a fight or a riot,
+		so I cut my meal short and went on deck about as soon as I
+		could do so, thinking that would be a safer place. But the
+		Captain seemed to know about how to manage such fellows, and
+		never left his stateroom, which I think was a wise move. The
+		darky did not make his appearance at table afterwards, and the
+		man who threw the bowl said that colored folks had to mind a
+		gentleman when he spoke to them, or fare worse.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Captain now got out his passenger list, and we all had
+		to pass through a narrow space near the wheel-house and every
+		one answer to his name and show his ticket. This made work for
+		about one day. Some stowaways were found and put down into the
+		hole to heave coal. One day the Captain and mate were out
+		taking an observation on the sun when a young Missourian
+		stepped up to see what was being done, and said to the
+		Captain:&mdash;&quot;Captain, don't you think I could learn
+		how to do that kind of business?&quot; The Captain took the
+		young man's hand and looked at his nails which were very rough
+		and dirty and said:&mdash;&quot;No my lad; boys with such
+		finger nails can't learn navigation.&quot; This made a big
+		laugh at the brave lubber's expense.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Many of the sea-sick ones did not get up so soon, and some
+		died of that, or something else, and their bodies were sewed
+		up in blankets with a bushel of coal at their feet to sink
+		them, and thrown overboard. The bodies were laid out on a
+		plank at the ship's side, the Captain would read a very brief
+		service, and the sailors would, at the appropriate time, raise
+		the end of the plank so that the body slid off and went down
+		out of sight in a moment.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In due time we went into the harbor of Acapulco for water
+		and coal. Here nearly every one went on shore, and as there
+		was no wharf for the vessel to lie to, the native canoes had
+		many passengers at a dollar apiece for passage money. Out back
+		of town there was a small stream of clear water which was warm
+		and nice to bathe in, and some places three or four feet deep,
+		so that a great many stripped off for a good wash which was
+		said to be very healthful in this climate. Many native women
+		were on hand with soap and towels ready to give any one a good
+		scrubbing for <i>dos reales</i>, (twenty-five cents) and those
+		who employed them said they did a good, satisfactory job.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As I returned to town the streets seemed to be deserted,
+		and I saw one man come out on an adjoining street, and after
+		running a few steps, fall down on his face. Hearing the report
+		of a gun at the same time, I hurried on to get out of danger,
+		but I afterward learned that the man was a travelling gambler
+		who had come across the country from Mexico, and that he was
+		killed as he fell. No one seemed to care for him.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Near the beach were some large trees, and under them
+		dancing was going on to the music of the guitar. There were
+		plenty of pretty Spanish girls for partners, and these and our
+		boys made up an interesting party. The girls did not seem at
+		all bashful or afraid of the boys, and though they could not
+		talk together very much they got along with the sign language,
+		and the ladies seemed very fond of the <i>Americanos</i>.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was a fort here, a regular moss-backed old concern,
+		and the soldiers were bare footed and did not need much
+		clothing.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The cattle that were taken on board here were made to swim
+		out to the ship, and then, with a rope around their horns,
+		hoisted on deck, a distance of perhaps forty feet above the
+		water. The maddened brutes were put into a secure stall ready
+		for the ship's butcher. The small boys came around the ship in
+		canoes, and begged the passengers to throw them out a dime,
+		and when the coin struck the water they would dive for it,
+		never losing a single one. One man dropped a bright bullet and
+		the boy who dove for it was so enraged that he called him a
+		d----d Gringo (Englishman.) None of these boys wore any
+		clothes.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This town, like all Spanish towns, was composed of
+		one-story houses, with dry mud, fire-proof walls. The country
+		around looked very mountainous and barren, and comfortably
+		warm.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After two days we were called on board, and soon set sail
+		for sea again; and now, as we approached the equator, it
+		became uncomfortably warm and an awning was put over the upper
+		deck. All heavy clothing was laid aside, and anyone who had
+		any amount of money on his person was unable to conceal it;
+		but no one seemed to have any fear of theft, for a thief could
+		not conceal anything he should steal, and no one reported
+		anything lost. There was occasionally a dead body to be
+		consigned to a watery grave.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A few days out from here and we were again mustered as
+		before to show our tickets, which were carefully examined.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It seemed strange to me that the water was the poorest fare
+		we had. It was sickish tasting stuff, and so warm it would do
+		very well for dish-water.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were many interesting things to see. Sometimes it
+		would be spouting whales; sometimes great black masses rolling
+		on the water, looking like a ship bottom upward, which some
+		said were black-fish. Some fish seemed to be at play, and
+		would jump ten feet or more out of the water. The flying fish
+		would skim over the waves as the ship's wheels seemed to
+		frighten them; and we went through a hundred acres of
+		porpoises, all going the same way. The ship plowed right
+		through them, but none seemed to get hurt by the wheels.
+		Perhaps they were emigrants like ourselves in search of a
+		better place.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It now became terribly hot, and the sun was nearly overhead
+		at noon. Sometimes a shark could be seen along-side, and
+		though he seemed to make no effort, easily kept up with the
+		moving ship. Occasionally we saw a sea snake navigating the
+		ocean all by himself. I did not understand how these fellows
+		went to sea and lived so far from land. The flying fish seemed
+		to be more plentiful as we went along, and would leave the
+		water and scud along before us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had evening concerts on the forecastle, managed by the
+		sailors. Their songs were not sacred songs by any means, and
+		many of them hardly fit to be heard by delicate ears. We again
+		had to run the gauntlet of the narrow passage and have our
+		tickets looked over, and this time a new stowaway was found,
+		and he straightway made application for a job. &quot;Go below,
+		sir&quot; was all the Captain said. Several died and had their
+		sea burial, and some who had been so sick all the way as not
+		to get out of bed, proved tough enough to stand the climate
+		pretty well.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we were nearing Panama the doctor posted a notice to the
+		mast cautioning us against eating much fruit while on shore,
+		as it was very dangerous when eaten to excess. We anchored
+		some little distance from the shore and had to land in small
+		boats managed by the natives. I went in one, and when the boat
+		grounded at the beach the boatman took me on his back and set
+		me on shore, demanding two dollars for the job, which I paid,
+		and he served the whole crowd in the same way. The water here
+		was blood warm, and they told me the tide ran very high.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was a strange old town to me, walled in on all sides,
+		a small plaza in the center with a Catholic church on one
+		side, and the other houses were mostly two story. On the side
+		next to the beach was a high, thick wall which contained cells
+		that were used for a jail, and on top were some dismounted
+		cannon, long and old fashioned.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The soldiers were poor, lazy fellows, barefooted, and had
+		very poor looking guns. Going out and in all had to pass
+		through a large gateway, but they asked no questions. The
+		streets were very narrow and dirty and the sleeping rooms in
+		the second story of the houses seemed to be inhabited by cats.
+		For bed clothes was needed only a single sheet. On the roofs
+		all around sat turkey buzzards, and anything that fell in the
+		streets that was possible for them to eat, was gobbled up very
+		quickly. They were as tame as chickens, and walked around as
+		fearless and lordly as tame turkeys. In consideration of their
+		cleaning up the streets without pay, they were protected by
+		law. One of the passengers could not resist the temptation to
+		shoot one, and a small squad of soldiers were soon after him,
+		and came into a room where there were fifty of us, but could
+		not find their man. He would have been sent to jail if he had
+		been caught. We had to pay one dollar a night for beds in
+		these rooms, and they counted money at the rate of eight dimes
+		to the dollar.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The old town of Panama lies a little south in the edge of
+		the sea, and was destroyed by an earthquake long ago I was
+		told. To me, raised in the north, everything was very new and
+		strange in way of living, style of building and kind of
+		produce. There were donkeys, parrots and all kinds of monkeys
+		in plenty. Most of the women were of very dark complexion, and
+		not dressed very stylishly, while the younger population did
+		not have even a fig leaf, or anything to take its place. The
+		adults dressed very economically, for the days are summer days
+		all the year round, and the clothing is scanty and cheap for
+		either sex.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The cattle were small, pale red creatures, and not inclined
+		to be very fat, and the birds mostly of the parrot kind. The
+		market plaza is outside the walls, and a small stream runs
+		through it, with the banks pretty thickly occupied by
+		washerwomen. All the washing was done without the aid of a
+		fire.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the plaza there were plenty of donkeys loaded with truck
+		of all sorts, from wood, green grass, cocoa-nuts and
+		sugar-cane to parrots, monkeys and all kinds of tropical
+		fruits. Outside the walls the houses were made of stakes
+		interwoven with palm leaves, and everything was green as well
+		as the grass and trees. Very little of the ground seemed to be
+		cultivated, and the people were lazy and idle, for they could
+		live so easily on the wild products of the country. A white
+		man here would soon sweat out all his ambition and enterprise,
+		and would be almost certain to catch the Panama yellow fever.
+		The common class of the people here, I should say, were
+		Spanish and negro mixed, and they seem to get along pretty
+		well; but the country is not suitable for white people. It
+		seems to have been made on purpose for donkeys, parrots and
+		long-heeled negroes.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The cabin passengers engaged all the horses and mules the
+		country afforded on which to ride across the Chagres River, so
+		it fell to the lot of myself and companion to transfer
+		ourselves on foot, which was pretty hard work in the hot and
+		sultry weather. My gold dust began to grow pretty heavy as I
+		went along, and though I had only about two thousand dollars,
+		weighing about ten pounds, it seemed to me that it weighed
+		fifty pounds by the way that it bore down upon my shoulders
+		and wore sore places on them. It really was burdensome. I had
+		worn it on my person night and day ever since leaving the
+		mines, and I had some little fear of being robbed when off the
+		ship.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our road had been some day paved with cobble stones. At the
+		outskirts of the town we met a native coming in with a big
+		green lizard, about two feet long, which he was hauling and
+		driving along with a string around its neck. I wondered if
+		this was not a Panama butcher bringing in a fresh supply of
+		meat.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we reached the hills on our way from Panama, the paved
+		road ended and we had only a mule trail to follow. The whole
+		country was so densely timbered that no man could go very far
+		without a cleared road. In some places we passed over hills of
+		solid rock, but it was of a soft nature so that the trail was
+		worn down very deep, and we had to take the same regular steps
+		that the mules did, for their tracks were worn down a foot or
+		more. On the road we would occasionally meet a native with a
+		heavy pack on his back, a long staff in each hand, and a solid
+		half-length sword by his side. He, like the burro, grunted
+		every step he took. They seemed to carry unreasonably heavy
+		loads on their backs, such as boxes and trunks, but there was
+		no other way of getting either freight or baggage across the
+		isthmus at that time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It looked to me as if this trail might be just such a one
+		as one would expect robbers to frequent, for it would of
+		course be expected that Californians would carry considerable
+		money with them, and we might reasonably look out for this
+		sort of gentry at any turn of the trail. We were generally
+		without weapons, and we should have to deliver on demand, and
+		if any one was killed the body could easily be concealed in
+		the thick brush on either side of the trail, and no special
+		search for anyone missing would occur.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About noon one day we came to a native hut, and saw growing
+		on a tree near by something that looked like oranges, and we
+		made very straight tracks with the idea of picking some and
+		having a feast, but some of the people in the shanty called
+		out to us and made motions for us not to pick them for they
+		were no good; so we missed our treat of oranges and contented
+		ourselves with a big drink of water and walked on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a little more travel we came to another shanty made
+		of poles and palm leaves, occupied by an American. He was a
+		tall, raw-boned, cadaverous looking way-side renegade who
+		looked as if the blood had all been pumped out of his veins,
+		and he claimed to be sick. He said he was one of the Texas
+		royal sons. We applied for some dinner and he lazily told us
+		there were flour, tea and bacon and that we could help
+		ourselves. I wet up some flour and baked some cakes, made some
+		poor tea, and fried some bacon. We all got a sort of dinner
+		out of his pantry stuff, and left him a dollar apiece for the
+		accommodation. As we walked on my companion gave out and could
+		carry his bundle no longer, so I took it, along with my own,
+		and we got on as fast as we could, but darkness came on us
+		before we reached the Chagres River and we had to stay all
+		night at a native hut. We had some supper consisting of some
+		very poor coffee, crackers, and a couple of eggs apiece, and
+		had to sleep out under a tree where we knew we might find
+		lizards, snakes, and other poisonous reptiles, and perhaps a
+		thieving monkey might pick our pockets while we slept.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Before it was entirely dark many who rode horses came
+		along, many of them ladies, and following the custom of the
+		country, they all rode astride. Among this crowd was one
+		middle-aged and somewhat corpulent old fellow, by profession a
+		sea-captain, who put on many airs. The old fellow put on his
+		cool white coat&mdash;in fact, a white suit
+		throughout&mdash;and in this tropical climate he looked very
+		comfortable, indeed, thus attired. He filled his breast pocket
+		with fine cigars, and put in the other pocket a flask with
+		some medicine in it which was good for snake bites, and also
+		tending to produce courage in case the man, not used to
+		horse-back riding, should find his natural spirits failing.
+		The rest of his luggage was placed on pack animals, and in
+		fact the only way luggage was carried in those days was either
+		on the backs of donkeys or men.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>All was ready for a start, and the captain in his
+		snow-white suit was mounted on a mule so small that his feet
+		nearly touched the ground. The little animal had a mind of his
+		own, and at first did not seem inclined to start out readily,
+		but after a bit concluded to follow his fellow animals, and
+		all went well.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The rider was much amused at what he saw; sometimes a very
+		lively monkey, sometimes a flock: of paroquets or a
+		high-colored lizard&mdash;and so he rode along with a very
+		happy air, holding his head up, and smoking a fragrant Havana
+		with much grace. The road was rough and rocky, with a mud-hole
+		now and then of rather uncertain depth. At every one of these
+		mud-holes the Captain's mule would stop, put down his head,
+		blow his nose and look wise, and then carefully sound the
+		miniature sea with his fore-feet, being altogether too
+		cautious to suit his rider who had never been accustomed to a
+		craft that was afraid of water.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At one of these performances the mule evidently concluded
+		the sea before him was not safe, for when the captain tried to
+		persuade him to cross his persuasions had no effect. Then he
+		coaxed him with voice gentle, soft and low, with the result
+		that the little animal took a few very short steps and then
+		came to anchor again. Then the captain began to get slightly
+		roiled in temper, and the voice was not so gentle, sweet and
+		low, but it had no greater effect upon his craft. He began to
+		get anxious, for the others had gone on, and he thought
+		perhaps he might be left.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Now, this sea-faring man had armed his heels with the large
+		Spanish spurs so common in the country, and bringing them in
+		contact with the force due to considerable impatience, Mr.
+		Mule was quite suddenly and painfully aware of the result.
+		This was harsher treatment than he could peaceably submit to,
+		and at the second application of the spurs a pair of small
+		hoofs were very high in the air and the captain very low on
+		his back in the mud and water, having been blown from the
+		hurricane deck of his craft in a very sudden and lively style.
+		The philosophical mule stood very still and looked on while
+		the white coat and pantaloons were changing to a dirty brown,
+		and watched the captain as he waded out, to the accompaniment
+		of some very vigorous swear words.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Both the man and beast looked very doubtful of each other's
+		future actions, but the man shook the water off and bestowed
+		some lively kicks on his muleship which made him bounce into
+		and through the mud-hole, and the captain, still holding the
+		bridle, followed after. Once across the pool the captain set
+		his marine eye on the only craft that had been too much for
+		his navigation and said &quot;Vengeance should be mine,&quot;
+		and in this doubtful state of mind he cautiously mounted his
+		beast again and fully resolved to stick to the deck,
+		hereafter, at all hazards, he hurried on and soon overtook the
+		train again, looking quite like a half drowned rooster. The
+		others laughed at him and told him they could find better
+		water a little way ahead, at the river, and they would see him
+		safely in. The captain was over his pet, and made as much fun
+		as any of them, declaring that he could not navigate such a
+		bloody craft as that in such limited sea room, for it was
+		dangerous even when there was no gale to speak of.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The ladies did not blush at the new and convenient costumes
+		which they saw in this country, and laughed a good deal over
+		the way of traveling they had to adopt. Any who were sick were
+		carried in a kind of chair strapped to the back of a native.
+		Passengers were strung along the road for miles, going and
+		coming. We would occasionally sit down awhile and let the
+		sweat run off while a party of them passed us. Some were
+		mounted on horses, some on mules, and some on donkeys, and
+		they had to pay twelve dollars for the use of an animal for
+		the trip.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our night at this wayside deadfall was not much better than
+		some of the nights about Death Valley, but as I was used to
+		low fare, I did not complain as some did. This seemed a
+		wonderful country to a northern raised boy. The trail was
+		lined on both sides with all kinds of palms and various other
+		kinds of trees and shrubs, and they were woven together in a
+		compact mass with trailing and running vines. The trees were
+		not tall, and the bark was as smooth as a young hickory. The
+		roots would start out of the tree three feet above the ground
+		and stand out at an angle, and looked like big planks placed
+		edgewise.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It seemed as if there were too many plants for the ground
+		to support, and so they grew on the big limbs of the trees all
+		around, the same as the mistletoe on the oak, only there were
+		ever so many different kinds.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The weather was very clear, and the sun so hot that many of
+		the travelers began to wilt and sit down by the roadside to
+		rest. Many walked along very slowly and wore long faces. The
+		road from Panama to Crucez, on the Chagres River, was eighteen
+		miles long, and all were glad when they were on the last end
+		of it. The climate here seems to take all the starch and
+		energy out of a man's body, and in this condition he must be
+		very cautious or some disease will overtake him and he will be
+		left to die without burial for his body if he has no personal
+		friends with him.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We started on the next morning, and on our way stepped over
+		a large ship anchor that lay across the trail. I suppose the
+		natives had undertaken to pack it across the isthmus and found
+		it too heavy for them. Perhaps it was for Capt. Kidd, the
+		great pirate, for it is said that he often visited Panama in
+		the course of his cruising about in search of treasures.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Passing along a sandy place in the trail, a snake crossed
+		and left his track, big as a stovepipe it seemed to be, and
+		after this we kept a sharp watch for big snakes that might be
+		in waiting to waylay us for game.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were plenty of monkeys and parrots climbing and
+		chattering around in the trees. The forest is here so dense
+		that the wind never blows, and consequently it never gets
+		cool. The sun, ever since we got down near the equator, was
+		nearly overhead, and the moon seemed to be even north of
+		us.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we reached the Chagres River we hired a boat of an
+		Irishman for the trip down. I wondered if there was a place on
+		earth so desolate that the &quot;Paddy&quot; would not find
+		it. The boat for the journey cost two hundred dollars, and
+		would hold passengers enough so that it would cost us ten
+		dollars each, at any rate, and perhaps a little more. Two
+		natives had charge of the boat and did the navigating. There
+		were two ladies among the passengers, and when the two
+		natives, who I suppose were the captain and mate of the craft,
+		came on board, clad very coolly in Panama hats, the ladies
+		looked at them a little out of the corners of their eyes and
+		made the best of it. Our two navigators took the oars and
+		pulled slowly down the stream.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Nothing but water and evergreen trees could we see, for the
+		shore on either hand was completely hidden by the dense growth
+		that hung over and touched the water. On a mud bar that we
+		passed a huge alligator lay, taking a sun bath, and though
+		many shots were fired at him he moved away very leisurely. No
+		one could get on shore without first clearing a road through
+		the thick brushes and vines along the bank. On the way one of
+		our boatmen lost his hat, his only garment, into the river,
+		and overboard he went, like a dog, and soon had it and climbed
+		on board again. I wondered why some of the big alligators did
+		not make a snap at him.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The water in the run looked very roily and dirty, and no
+		doubt had fever in it. The only animals we saw were monkeys
+		and alligators, and there were parrots in the trees. The
+		farther we went down the stream the wider it became, and the
+		current slacker so that we moved more slowly with the same
+		amount of rowing. At a place called Dos Hermanos (two
+		brothers) we could see a little cleared spot near the bank,
+		which seemed to be three or four feet above the water. There
+		were no mountains nor hills in sight, and the whole country
+		seemed to be an extensive swamp. It was near night that we
+		came to a small native village of palm huts, and here our
+		boatmen landed and hid themselves, and not being able to find
+		them we were compelled to stay all night, for we dare not go
+		on alone. The place looked like a regular robbers' roost, and
+		being forced to sleep outside the huts, we considered it
+		safest to sleep with one eye open. We would have gone on with
+		the boat only that we were afraid the river might have more
+		than one outlet, and if we should take the wrong one we might
+		be too late for the steamer, which even now we were afraid
+		would not wait for us, and getting left would be a very
+		serious matter in this country.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We had very little to eat, and all we could buy was sugar
+		cane, bananas, monkeys and parrots. We kept a sharp eye out
+		for robbers, keeping together as much as we could, for we knew
+		that all returning Californians would be suspected of having
+		money. Most all of them were ready for war except myself who
+		had no weapon of any kind. All of these people had a bad name,
+		and every one of them carried a long bladed knife called a
+		Macheta, with which they could kill a man at a single blow.
+		But with all our fears we got through the night safely, and in
+		the morning found our boatmen who had hidden away. We waited
+		not for breakfast, but sailed away as soon as we could, and
+		reached Chagres, near the mouth of the river, before
+		night.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The river banks here are not more than three feet high, and
+		farther back the land fell off again into a wet swamp of
+		timber and dense vegetable growth. The town was small and
+		poorly built, on the immediate bank, and the houses were
+		little brush and palm affairs except the boarding house which
+		was &quot;T&quot; shaped, the front two stories high, with a
+		long dining room running back, having holes for windows, but
+		no glass in them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Before the bell rung for meals a long string of hungry men
+		would form in line, and at the first tap would make a rush for
+		the table like a flock of sheep. After all were seated a
+		waiter came around and collected a dollar from each one, and
+		we thought this paid pretty well for the very poor grub they
+		served afterwards.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>No ship had as yet been in sight to take us away from this
+		lowest, dirtiest, most unhealthful place on earth, and the
+		prospect of remaining here had nothing very charming about it.
+		The river was full of alligators, so the bathing was
+		dangerous, and the whole country was about fit for its
+		inhabitants, which were snakes, alligators, monkeys, parrots
+		and lazy negroes. It could not have been more filthy if the
+		dregs of the whole earth had been dumped here, and cholera and
+		yellow fever were easy for a decent man to catch.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>My companion and I went out on the beach a mile or two to
+		get the salt water breeze, and leave the stinking malaria for
+		those who chose to stay in the hot, suffocating village, and
+		here we would stay until nearly night. Across a small neck of
+		water was what was called a fort. It could hardly be seen it
+		was so covered with moss and vines, but near the top could be
+		seen something that looked like old walls. There was no sign
+		of life about it, and I should judge it was built at some very
+		early day. Surely there was nothing here to protect, for the
+		whole country did not seem able to support even a few
+		barefooted soldiers.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some men who wandered along up the river bank, following a
+		path, said they had seen some dead human bodies thrown into
+		the swamp and left, probably because it was easier than
+		putting them under ground.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>For a bedroom I hired a little platform which a store
+		keeper had placed before his store, where I slept, and paid a
+		dollar for the privilege. Some one walked around near me all
+		night, and I dared not close more than one eye at a time for
+		fear of losing a little bag of gold dust. This little bag of
+		gold was getting to be a great burden to me in this sickly
+		climate, and the vigilant guard I had to keep over so small a
+		treasure was very tiresome.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The second night no steamer came, but on the third morning
+		the steamer was riding at anchor three or four miles out, and
+		soon after a ship came in from the Atlantic end of the
+		Nicaragua route with one thousand passengers, there being no
+		steamer there for them to take a passage home on, and so they
+		had to come here for a start. This filled the little town to
+		overflowing, but as the ship that had arrived was the Georga,
+		one of the largest afloat, all could go if they only could
+		endure the fare.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now had to go in small boats from the shore to the ship,
+		and the trip cost two dollars and a half. I waited till I had
+		seen some of the boats make a trip or two, and then choosing
+		one that had a sober skipper, I made the venture. It was said
+		that one drunken boatman allowed his boat to drift into some
+		breakers and all were lost.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I tell you I was over anxious to get out of this country,
+		for I well knew that if I stayed very long I should stay
+		forever, for one like myself raised in a healthful climate,
+		could not remain long without taking some of the fatal
+		diseases the country was full of.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We made the trip to the vessel safely, and as our boat lay
+		under the ship's quarter, the men holding the ropes, I looked
+		up, and when I saw the swinging rope ladder on which I was
+		expected to climb up to the ship's deck, it seemed a pretty
+		dangerous job; but I mustered up courage and made the attempt.
+		The sea was pretty rough out here for the small boats, and the
+		ship rolled some, so that when persons tried to get hold of
+		the ladder they were thrown down and sometimes hurt a little.
+		A man held on to the lower end of the ladder so that the one
+		who was climbing might not get banged against the side of the
+		ship and have his breath knocked out of him, I mounted the
+		ladder safely and climbed away like a monkey, reaching the
+		deck all right. Ladies and weak people were hauled up in a
+		sort of chair with a block and rope.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It took the most of two days to get the people on board,
+		and when they were counted up there were one thousand four
+		hundred and forty, all told. This steamer had a very long
+		upper deck and a comparatively short keel, and rolled very
+		badly; and as for me, I had swallowed so much of the deadly
+		malaria of the isthmus that I soon got very seasick, and the
+		first day or two were very unpleasant. I went to the bar and
+		paid two bits for a glass of wine to help my appetite, but it
+		staid with me no longer than time enough to reach the ship's
+		side. When night came the decks were covered with sleepy men,
+		and if the weather had been rough and all sick, as was the
+		case when we left San Francisco, we should have had more
+		filthy decks than we had even on that occasion.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Approaching the harbor at Havana, Cuba, we seemed to be
+		going head foremost against a wall of solid rock, but when
+		within speaking distance an officer came in sight on the fort
+		right before us, and shouted through his speaking trumpet,
+		saying:&mdash;&quot;Why don't you salute us?&quot; Our officer
+		said, &quot;You know us well enough without.&quot; Our ship
+		had a small cannon on the forecastle, but did not choose to
+		use it, and I suppose the Cuban officer felt slighted. We now
+		turned short to the right and entered the beautiful harbor,
+		which is perfectly landlocked and as still as a pond. The city
+		is all on the right side of the bay and our coal yard was on
+		the left at a short wharf at which we landed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A lot of armed soldiers were placed a short distance back
+		on the high ground and no one was allowed to go beyond them.
+		We now had a port officer on board who had entire charge of
+		the ship, and if anyone wanted to go to the city, across the
+		bay two or three miles, he had to pay a dollar for a pass.
+		This pass business made the blue bloods terribly angry, and
+		they swore long and loud, and the longer they talked the
+		madder they got, and more bitter in their feelings, so that
+		they were ready to fight (not with sugar-bowls this time.)<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The weather here was very warm and the heat powerful, and
+		as these fellows saw there was only one course to be pursued
+		if they wanted to get on shore, they slowly took passes good
+		for all day and paid their dollar for them, and also another
+		dollar each to the canoe men to take them to the city. Myself
+		and companion also took passes and went over.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Arriving at the city we walked a short distance and came to
+		the plaza, which is not a very large one. Here was a single
+		grave nicely fenced in, and across the plaza were some large
+		two-story houses in front of which was stationed a squad of
+		cavalry standing as motionless as if every man of them was a
+		marble statue. We kept on the opposite side of the street, and
+		chancing to meet a man whom we rightly supposed to be an
+		Englishman, we inquired about the grave on the plaza and were
+		informed that it was that of Christopher Columbus, the
+		discoverer of America.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Just then we noticed the cavalry moving up the street at a
+		slow gallop, and so formed that a close carriage was in the
+		center of the squad. As they rushed by and we gazed at them
+		with purely American curiousity, our new English friend raised
+		our hats for us and held them till the cavalcade had passed,
+		merely remarking that the Governor General was within the
+		carriage. We spoke perhaps a bit unpleasantly when we asked
+		him why he was so ungentlemanly in his treatment of us as to
+		remove our hats, but he said:&mdash;&quot;My friends, if I had
+		not taken off your hats for you as a friend, some of those
+		other fellows would have knocked them off, so I did for you an
+		act of greatest kindness, for every one removes his hat when
+		the Governor General passes.&quot; He also informed us that
+		the special occasion for this rather pompous parade was the
+		execution of some criminals at a park or prison not far away,
+		and that this was done by beheading them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our friend proposed that we also walk out in that
+		direction, and we went with him to the edge of the city, but
+		when he turned into a by path that did not seem much
+		frequented, we declined to follow farther, and turned back
+		along the open road. The path looked to us a sort of robber's
+		route, and not exactly safe for unarmed men like us in a
+		strange country.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The man followed us back and took us into a large, airy
+		saloon, in the center of which a big fountain was playing, and
+		the great basin in which the water fell was filled with
+		beautiful fish. Our friend called for an iced drink for each
+		of us, and as we sat at the table we tasted it and found it
+		rather intoxicating. For this they charged us one dollar each,
+		but we noticed that our friend paid nothing, and we set him
+		down as a sort of capper, after the style we had seen at the
+		gold mines. We sat a few minutes and then so coolly bade our
+		friend good-bye that he had not the face to follow us further,
+		and continued our walk about the streets which seemed to us
+		very narrow, and the houses generally two stories high.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A chaise passed us, containing two young ladies with
+		complexions white and fair, and eyes and hair black, in
+		striking contrast. The carriage was drawn by two horses
+		tandem, the horse in the shafts being mounted by a big negro
+		of very dignified appearance, dressed in livery and having top
+		boots that came to his knees. This was the only vehicle of the
+		kind we saw on the streets.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We did not dare to go very far alone, for with our
+		ignorance of the Spanish language we might go astray and not
+		get back to the ship within the lifetime of our passes, and
+		not knowing how much trouble that might cause us, we were
+		naturally a little timid; so we took a boat back to the ship,
+		and when on board again we felt safe. We had only about four
+		dollars cash left.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A big gang of darkies were coaling the ship. Each one
+		carried a large tub full of coal upon his head and poured it
+		down into the ship's hold. All the clothes these fellows wore
+		was a strip of cloth about their middle. When they were let
+		off for dinner they skimmed off all they could get from the
+		ship's slop barrel which stood on the wharf alongside, to help
+		out their very scanty food. The overseer stood by them all the
+		time with a big whip and made them hurry up as fast as
+		possible, talking Spanish pretty vigorously, and though we
+		could not understand, we made up our minds that a good part of
+		it was swearing.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The next morning the steamship Prometheus came in and tied
+		up near us, and soon word was brought that she would take the
+		New Orleans passengers on board and sail immediately for that
+		port. It now occurred to me that I could get nearer home by
+		going up the Mississippi River than by way of New York, so I
+		went on board the Prometheus, and we soon sailed out of the
+		harbor, passing under the gate of the fortress called, I
+		think, San Juan de Ulloa.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Nothing special occurred during our passage till we were
+		near the mouth of the Mississippi River, when, in the absence
+		of a pilot boat or tug, our Captain thought he would try to
+		get in alone, and as a consequence we were soon fast in the
+		mud. The Captain now made all the passengers go aft, and
+		worked the engine hard but could not move her at all. The tide
+		was now low, and there was a prospect that we should have to
+		wait full six hours to get away. We worked on, however, and
+		after a few hours a tug came to our assistance and pulled us
+		out of the mud and towed us into the right channel, up which
+		we steamed on our way to New Orleans, one-hundred-twenty miles
+		away.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The country on both sides of us was an immense
+		marsh&mdash;no hills in sight, no timber, nothing but the same
+		level marsh or prairie. When we were nearer the Crescent City
+		some houses came in sight; then we passed General Jackson's
+		battle-field, and in due time reached the city.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On board this ship I became acquainted with Dick Evans who
+		lived in the same county that I used to in Wisconsin, near
+		Mineral Point, so the three of us now concluded to travel
+		together.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>New Orleans seemed to be a very large city. Near the levee
+		a large government building was in course of construction for
+		a Custom House. It was all of stone, and the walls were up
+		about two stories. We put up at a private boarding house, and
+		the first business was to try and sell our gold dust. So we
+		went to the mint and were told we would have to wait ten days
+		to run it through the mill, and we did not like to wait so
+		long. We were shown all through the mint and saw all the
+		wonders of coin making. Every thing seemed perfect here.
+		Beautiful machinery was in operation making all sizes of gold
+		coins, from a twenty dollar piece down. Strips of gold bands
+		about six feet long and of the proper thickness for twenty
+		dollar pieces are run through a machine which cuts out the
+		pieces, and when these are cut they can stamp out the pieces
+		as fast as one can count.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This was the most ingenious work I ever saw, and very
+		wonderful and astonishing to a backwoodsman like myself, for I
+		supposed that money was run in moulds like bullets.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As we could not wait we went to a bank and sold our dust,
+		getting only sixteen dollars per ounce, the same price they
+		paid in California. We now took the cars and rode out to Lake
+		Ponchartrain&mdash;most of the way over a trestle work. We
+		found a wharf and warehouse at the lake, and a steamer lay
+		there all ready to go across to the other side. The country
+		all about looked low, with no hills in sight.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we returned to the city we looked all about, and in
+		the course of our travels came to a slave market. Here there
+		were all sorts of black folks for sale; big and little, old
+		and young and all sorts. They all seemed good-natured, and
+		were clean, and seemed to think they were worth a good deal of
+		money. Looking at them a few minutes sent my mind back to St.
+		Joseph, Missouri, where I saw a black sold at auction. From my
+		standpoint of education I did not approve of this way of
+		trading in colored people.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We continued our stroll about the city, coming to a
+		cemetery, where I looked into a newly dug grave to find it
+		half full of water. On one side were many brick vaults above
+		ground. The ground here is very low and wet, and seemed to be
+		all swamp. The drainage was in surface gutters, and in them
+		the water stood nearly still. It seemed to me such water must
+		have yellow fever in it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>For a long way along the levee the steamboats lay thick and
+		close together, unloading cotton, hemp, sugar, hoop poles,
+		bacon and other products, mostly the product of negro
+		labor.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here our friend Evans was taken sick, and as he got no
+		better after a day or two, we called a doctor to examine him.
+		He pronounced it a mild case of yellow fever. His skin was
+		yellow in places, and he looked very badly. The doctor advised
+		us to go on up the river, saying it was very dangerous staying
+		here with him. Evans gave me most of his money and all of his
+		gold specimens to take to his wife, and when he got well he
+		would follow us. We bade him good-bye, and with many wishes
+		for his speedy recovery, we took passage on a steamer for St.
+		Louis. This steamer, the Atlantic, proved to be a real
+		floating palace in all respects. The table was supplied with
+		everything the country afforded, and polite and well-dressed
+		darkies were numerous as table waiters. This was the most
+		pleasant trip I had ever taken, and I could not help comparing
+		the luxuriance of my coming home to the hardships of the
+		outward journey across the plains, and our starvation
+		fare.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Our boat was rather large for the stage of water this time
+		of year, and we proceeded rather slowly, but I cared little
+		for speed as bed and board were extra good, and a first cabin
+		passage in the company of friends, many of whom were going to
+		the same part of Wisconsin as myself, was not a tedious affair
+		by any means.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At night gambling was carried on very extensively, and
+		money changed hands freely as the result of sundry games of
+		poker, which was the popular game.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We reached St. Louis in time, and here was the end of our
+		boat's run. The river had some ice floating on its surface,
+		and this plainly told us that we were likely to meet more ice
+		and colder weather as we went north. We concluded to take the
+		Illinois River boat from here to Peoria, and paid our passage
+		and stepped on board. We were no more than half way through
+		this trip when the ice began to form on the surface of the
+		water, and soon became so thick and strong that the boat
+		finally came to a perfect standstill, frozen in solid.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now engaged a farm wagon to take us to Peoria, from
+		which place we took regular stages for Galena. Our driver was
+		inclined to be very merciful to his horses, so we were two
+		days in reaching that town, but perhaps it was best, for the
+		roads were icy and slippery, and the weather of the real
+		winter sort. From here we hired a team to take four of us to
+		Plattville, and then an eighteen-mile walk brought me to
+		Mineral Point, the place from which I started with my
+		Winnebago pony in 1849. I had now finished my circle and
+		brought both ends of the long belt together.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now went to a drug store and weighed Mr. Evans'
+		specimens, wrapping each in a separate piece of paper, with
+		the value marked on each, and took them to his wife, to whom I
+		told the news about her husband. In two week's time he came
+		home sound and well.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was quite disappointed in regard to the looks and
+		business appearance of the country. It looked thinly settled,
+		people scarce, and business dull. I could not get a day's work
+		to do, and I could not go much farther on foot, for the snow
+		was eight or ten inches deep, and I was still several hundred
+		miles from my parents in Michigan. So my journey farther east
+		was delayed until spring. The hunting season was over, and
+		when I came into Mineral Point without a gun, and wore good
+		clothes, making a better appearance than I used to, they
+		seemed to think I must be rich and showed me marked attention,
+		and made many inquiries about their neighbors who started for
+		California about the same time I did. The young ladies smiled
+		pleasantly when near me, and put on their best white aprons,
+		looking very tidy and bright, far superior to any of the
+		ladies I had seen in my crooked route from San Francisco
+		through Acapulco, Panama, the West Indies and along the
+		Mississippi.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After a few days in town I went out into the neighborhood
+		where I used to live and stopped with Mr. E.A. Hall, who used
+		to be a neighbor of Mr. Bennett, as he had invited me to stay
+		with himself and wife, who were the only occupants of a good
+		house, and all was pleasant. But notwithstanding all the
+		comfort in which I was placed, I grew lonesome, for the
+		enforced idleness, on account of the stormy weather, was a new
+		feature in my life, and grew terribly monotonous.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After some delay I concluded to write to my parents in
+		Michigan and give them a long letter with something of a
+		history of my travels, and to refresh my memory I got out my
+		memorandum I had kept through all my journey.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As my letter was liable to be quite lengthy I bought a
+		quantity of foolscap paper and begun. I took my diary as my
+		guide, and filled out the ideas suggested in it so they would
+		understand them. I soon ran through with my paper and bought
+		more, and kept on writing. The weather was cold and stormy,
+		and I found it the best occupation I could have to prevent my
+		being lonesome; so I worked away, day after day, for about a
+		month, and I was really quite tired of this sort of work
+		before I had all the facts recorded which I found noted down
+		in my diary. My notes began in March, 1849, in Wisconsin, and
+		ended in February, 1852, on my return to Mineral Point. I
+		found, as the result of my elaboration, over three hundred
+		pages of closely written foolscap paper, and I felt very much
+		relieved when it was done. By the aid of my notes I could very
+		easily remember everything that had taken place during my
+		absence, and it was recorded in regular form, with day and
+		date, not an incident of any importance left out, and every
+		word as true as gospel. I had neither exaggerated nor
+		detracted from any event so far as I could recollect.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now loaned Mr. Hall, with whom I lived, six hundred
+		dollars to enable him to cross the plains to California and
+		try to make his fortune. To secure this I took a mortgage on
+		his eighty-acre farm, and he set out to make the journey. I
+		had another eighty acres of land near here which I bought at
+		government price before going to California, but I could not
+		now sell it for what it cost me. When I went away I had left
+		my chest and contents with my friend Samuel Zollinger, and he
+		had kept it safely, so I now made him my lawful agent. I
+		placed my narrative and some other papers in the chest and
+		gave the key into his charge, while I went north, across the
+		Wisconsin River, to visit my old hunting and trapping friend,
+		Robert McCloud. Here I made a very pleasant visit of perhaps a
+		week, and the common prospects of the country were freely
+		talked over. It seemed to us as if the good times were still
+		far off; every day was like Sunday so far as anything going
+		on; no money in circulation, many places abandoned, and, like
+		myself, many had gone to California to seek gold instead of
+		lead. (The mines at Mineral Point are mostly of lead, with
+		some copper.)<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Looking at matters in this light it did not need a great
+		deal of McCloud's persuasion to induce me to go back with him
+		to California, all the more so as my little pile seemed to
+		look smaller every day, while three or four years ago it would
+		have seemed quite large. Deciding to go, I wrote to Mr.
+		Zollinger to send the account I had written to my parents in
+		Michigan, reading it first himself, and admonishing him not to
+		lend it. I also wrote to my parents telling them what they
+		might look for in the mails, and cautioning them never to have
+		it printed, for the writing was so ungrammatical and the
+		spelling so incorrect that it would be no credit to me.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I afterward learned that in time they received the bundle
+		of paper and read it through and through, and circulated it
+		around the neighborhood till it was badly worn, and laid it
+		away for future perusal when their minds should incline that
+		way. But the farm house soon after took fire and burned, my
+		labor going up in smoke.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the news of this reached me I resolved to try to
+		forget all the trials, troubles and hardships I had gone
+		through, and which I had almost lived over again as I wrote
+		them down, and I said to myself that I would not talk about
+		them more than I could help, the sooner to have them vanish,
+		and never write them down again, but a few years ago an
+		accident befell me so that I could not work, and I back-slid
+		from my determination when I was persuaded so earnestly by
+		many friends to write the account which appeared a few years
+		ago in the Santa Clara Valley now the Pacific Tree and Vine,
+		edited by H.A. Brainard, at San Jose, California. The diary
+		was lost, and from memory alone the facts have been rehearsed,
+		and it is but fair to tell the reader that the hardest and
+		worst of it has never been told nor will it ever be.<br>
+			<br>
+		</p>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-27012"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>McCloud and I now took his skiff, and for two days floated
+		down the Wisconsin River till we reached the Mississippi,
+		boarded the first steamboat we could hail, and let our own
+		little craft adrift. In due time we reached St. Louis and
+		boarded another steamer for New Orleans.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At a wood-yard, about dark, a lot of negroes, little and
+		big, came on board to sell brooms. The boat's clerk seemed to
+		know negro character pretty well, so he got out his violin and
+		played for them. For a while the young colored gentry listened
+		in silence, but pretty soon he struck a tune that suited them,
+		and they began to dance in their own wild style.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In seven days from St. Louis we landed in New Orleans, and
+		found the government steamer, Falcon, advertised to sail in
+		two days. We went together to one of the slave warehouses.
+		Outside and in all was neat end clean, and any day you could
+		see men, women and children standing under the shed as a sign
+		of what they had within, and the painted signs &quot;For
+		Sale&quot; displayed conspicuously. We were very civilly
+		treated, and invited to examine the goods offered for sale.
+		There were those of all ages and all colors, for some were
+		nearly white and some intensely black, with all the shades
+		between. All were to be sold, separately, or in families, or
+		in groups as buyers might desire. All were made to keep
+		themselves clean and neatly dressed, and to behave well, with
+		a smile to all the visitors whether they felt like smiling or
+		not. Some seemed really anxious to get a good master, and when
+		a kind, pleasant looking man came along they would do their
+		utmost to be agreeable to him and inquire if he did not want
+		to buy them. We talked it over some between ourselves, and
+		when we thought of the market and the human chattels for sale
+		there, McCloud spoke up and said:&mdash;&quot;I am almost
+		persuaded to be an abolitionist.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now went on board the steamer Falcon, in command of a
+		government officer, to try to learn something about the family
+		of Capt. Culverwell who perished alone in Death Valley. He
+		told me he had once belonged to the Navy and had his life
+		insured, and as I was an important witness for his family I
+		wanted to learn where they lived. The Captain looked over a
+		list of officers, but Culverwell's name was not there. I then
+		wrote a letter to Washington stating the facts of his death,
+		and my own address in Sacramento, California. I also stated
+		that I would assist the widow if I could, but I never received
+		an answer.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We soon started down the river, having on board about one
+		hundred passengers, men going to work on the Panama Railroad.
+		At Chagres we found a small stern wheeled river steamer and
+		took passage on it for Gorgona, as far as the steamer could
+		well go up the river. While going up we met a similar boat
+		coming down, and being near a short bend they crashed
+		together, breaking down our guards severely, but fortunately
+		with no damage to our wheel. A few miles above this a dark
+		passing cloud gave us rain in streams, and we had to drift in
+		near shore to wait for the storm to pass. I never before saw
+		water fall so fast, and yet in half an hour the sun was out
+		and burning hot.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Before we reached Gorgona we got acquainted with a man
+		named John Briggs from Wisconsin, and Lyman Ross from Rhode
+		Island, and concluded to travel in company. Our fare thus far
+		was ten dollars, and two horses to Panama for which we paid
+		twelve dollars each. We now rode and walked turn about, and
+		when we inquired about the road we were told that being once
+		in it we could not possibly get out except at the other end,
+		and would need no guide, and at the end of a very disagreeable
+		day's work we reached the big gate at Panama and entered the
+		ancient city.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We waited but little here before taking the steamer
+		Southerner, bound for San Francisco. Three days after we
+		sailed away one of our passengers went overboard, a corpse,
+		and three or four more died and were buried alongside before
+		we reached Acapulco.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here we took on water and coal and were soon at sea again.
+		McCloud soon had to take his place in the sick ward, and I
+		attended him most of the time, but was not allowed to give him
+		anything without a permit from the doctor, and the long delays
+		between the administrations of medicine made the sickness hard
+		to endure. The sick could see the dead sewed up in blankets
+		with a bucket of coal for a weight; then resting on a plank
+		with sailors on each side, the mate would read the brief
+		services appropriate to a burial at sea, the plank was tilted,
+		and the lifeless body slid down into the depths. Such scenes
+		were no benefit to the suffering, for each might think his
+		turn was next, when a bright hope and prospect would be better
+		for his recovery.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One forenoon the fire gong rang out sharply, and all was in
+		confusion, supposing the ship to be on fire, but nothing could
+		be seen but a dense fog, except as a gentle wind lifted it a
+		little and there, dead ahead, was a rocky island, against
+		which it seemed we must dash to destruction, for there was no
+		beach and very little chance for any one to be saved. Ten
+		minutes more in this direction and we were lost, but the
+		officers quickly changed the course, and we passed the pile of
+		rocks scarcely a rifle shot away. Whose fault it was, this
+		danger so miraculously avoided, we did not know, the captain's
+		or the imperfect chart, and opinions were freely given both
+		ways.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About those days the air felt cooler the fog less dense,
+		and the foggy rain-bows we had seen so much when the sun tried
+		to shine, were scarce, while a more northern wind created a
+		coolness that made sick folks feel refreshed and hopeful. It
+		gave me a chance to cheer up my sick friend who was still in
+		bed, and tell him it would continue to be cooler as we
+		went.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the Fourth of July the officers produced the ship's full
+		supply of flags, and the sailors climbed high and low,
+		fastening them to every rope till we had a very gay
+		Independence day appearance. In this gay dress we steamed into
+		San Diego harbor to leave the mail for a few soldiers
+		stationed there, and get their letters in return.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I could see no town in San Diego, but a beautiful harbor,
+		and some poor looking mustard wigwams some way off seemed to
+		contain the good people of that place.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A boat with a small crew pulled out and came alongside to
+		get the mail and deliver theirs, and then we turned to sea
+		again. The country all around this beautiful little harbor
+		looked mountainous and extremely barren, and no one wanted to
+		go on shore.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About dark we had made sufficient offing and turned
+		northward, plowing through large fields of kelp. The next
+		morning the forward watch announced land ahead, which could
+		dimly be seen as the fog rose. The officers rushed on deck and
+		could see not far ahead a sandy beach, and a moment more
+		showed that we were headed directly for it, and that it was
+		not more than a quarter of a mile away. Quickly the helmsman
+		was given orders to steer almost west instead of the north
+		course he had been following. He was asked why he kept on his
+		north course when he saw danger ahead, and
+		answered:&mdash;&quot;It is my business to steer according to
+		orders, even if the ship goes ashore, and I can not change
+		course unless ordered to.&quot; The Captain now examined his
+		chart and decided he was in San Pedro harbor, off Los
+		Angeles.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The sun came out bright and clear a little later, and I got
+		McCloud out of his bed and gave him a seat at the ship's side
+		where he could see the green grassy hills near the beach, and
+		larger hills and mountains farther back. We could see cattle
+		feeding in the nearest pastures, and the whole scene was a
+		pleasant one; and as we sat on the eastern side of the ship
+		and snuffed the cool breeze which came from the north, we
+		thought we were comparatively happy people, and hoped that, if
+		no accident befell, we would soon be at the end of our
+		voyage.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On the seventh day of July, 1851, we entered the Golden
+		Gate, this being my second arrival in California. On our trip
+		from Panama seven or more had died and been buried at sea, but
+		the remainder of us were quite safe and sound. We found the
+		heart of the city still smoking, for a fire had broken out on
+		July fourth and burned extensively, and these broad, blackened
+		ruins were the result. Some said the work had been done by the
+		Sidney &quot;ducks&quot; and their numerous helpers, who were
+		really the rulers of the city. The place now looked much worse
+		than it did when I left in November before. These Sidney
+		&quot;ducks&quot; were English convicts from Australia, and
+		other thieves and robbers joined them as agreeable companion,
+		making a large class that seemed to glory in destruction and a
+		chance for booty.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I walked around over the hills where I could see the burned
+		district and the destruction of so much valuable property, and
+		when I thought the civil law was not strong enough to govern,
+		it seemed to me it would be a good place for such men as the
+		Helms brothers of Georgetown to come down and do a little
+		hanging business, for they could here find plenty to do, and
+		they could carry out their plan of letting no guilty man
+		escape.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About four o'clock one afternoon we went aboard the
+		Sacramento steamer, Antelope, paying our passage with half an
+		ounce apiece, and were soon on our way past the islands and up
+		the bay. When we were beyond Benicia, where the river banks
+		were close, McCloud sat watching the shore, and remarked that
+		the boat ran like a greyhound, and it seemed to him, beat the
+		old ocean steamer pretty bad.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He seemed to be nearly well again, and complimented me as
+		the best doctor he ever saw. Since he had been sick I had paid
+		him all the attention I could, and he gave me all the praise I
+		deserved, now that he was getting to feel himself again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At Sacramento we changed to another boat bound for
+		Marysville, which place we reached without special incident.
+		Here we invested in a four-ounce donkey, that is, we paid four
+		ounces of gold for him, just an ounce apiece for four of
+		us&mdash;W.L. Manley, Robert McCloud, Lyman Ross and John
+		Briggs. We piled our blankets in a pack upon the gentle,
+		four-ounce donkey, and added a little tea and coffee, dried
+		beef and bread, then started for the Yuba River, ourselves on
+		foot. We crossed the river at Park's Bar, then went up the
+		ridge by way of Nigger Tent, came down to the river again at
+		Goodyear Bar, then up the stream to Downieville. This town was
+		named after John Downie, a worthless drunkard. I remember that
+		he once reformed, but again back-slid and died a drunkard's
+		death.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We found this a lively mining town about sixty miles above
+		Marysville, on the north fork of the Yuba River, and only
+		reached by a pack trail, but everything was flush here, even
+		four aces. The location was a veritable Hole-in-the-Ground,
+		for the mountains around were very high, and some of them wore
+		their caps of snow all summer, particularly those on the east.
+		The gold dust we found here was coarser than it was where I
+		worked before, down south on the Merced River. Before I came
+		to California I always supposed that gold dust was really
+		dust, and about as fine as flour.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We went up the North Fork about a mile or two above town
+		and camped on Wisconsin Flat to begin our mining operations.
+		Our luck was poor at first, and all except myself were out of
+		money, and more or less in debt to me. We made expenses,
+		however, and a little more, and as soon as Mr. Ross got his
+		small debt paid he said he was discouraged mining, and with
+		blankets on his shoulders started up the trail towards
+		Galloway's ranch, on the summit south of town. Mr. Ross said
+		the work was too hard for him, for he was not strong enough to
+		handle pick and shovel, and he believed he could go down to
+		Sacramento and make more by his wits than he could here. I
+		went with him to town and saw him start off with a fair load
+		on his back, and watched him as he toiled up the steep
+		mountain trail for about two miles, when he went out of
+		sight.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The rest of us kept on mining. Our luck was not very good,
+		but we persevered, for there was nothing to be gained by
+		fainting by the way. I went into an old abandoned shaft about
+		ten feet deep and found the bottom filled with a big quartz
+		boulder, and as I had been a lead miner in Wisconsin, I began
+		drifting, and soon found bed rock, when I picked up a piece of
+		pure gold that weighed four ounces. This was what I called a
+		pretty big find, and not exactly what I called gold dust. It
+		was quite a surprise to me, for the gravel on the bed rock was
+		only about three or four inches thick.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We kept on drifting for some time, sometimes making good
+		wages, and on the whole so satisfactory that we concluded to
+		stay. We now located some claims back in the flat where the
+		ground would be thirty feet deep, and would have to be
+		drifted. These we managed to hold until winter, and in the
+		meantime we worked along the river and could make something
+		all the time.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We put in a flume between two falls on the Middle Fork, but
+		made only wages, and I got my arm nearly broken, and had to
+		work with one hand for nearly a month.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One afternoon I went crevicing up the river, and found a
+		crevice at the water's edge about half an inch wide, and the
+		next day we worked it out getting forty ounces, and many of
+		the pieces were about an inch long and as large around as a
+		pipe-stem.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Winter was now near by, and we set to work to build a cabin
+		and lay in a stock of grub, which cost quite a good deal, for
+		the self-raising flour which we bought was worth twenty cents
+		a pound, and all kinds of hog meat fifty cents, with other
+		supplies in proportion. Our new claims now paid very well.
+		Snow came down to the depth of about four feet around our
+		cabin, but as our work was under ground, we had a comfortable
+		place all winter.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the spring McCloud and I went to Sacramento and sold our
+		chunks of gold (it was all very coarse) to Page, Bacon &amp;
+		Co. who were themselves surprised at the coarseness of the
+		whole lot. When our savings were weighed up we found we had
+		made half an ounce a day, clear of all expenses, for the
+		entire year.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We now took a little run down to San Francisco, also to
+		Santa Clara where we staid a night or two with Mr. McCloud's
+		friend, Mr. Otterson, and then went back to our claims again.
+		In taking care of our money we had to be our own bankers, and
+		the usual way was to put the slugs we received for pay into a
+		gallon pickle jar, and bury this in some place known only to
+		our particular selves, and these vaults we considered
+		perfectly safe. The slugs were fifty dollar pieces, coined for
+		convenience, and were eight-sided, heavy pieces. In the
+		western counties the people called them &quot;Adobies,&quot;
+		but among the miners they were universally known as
+		&quot;Slugs.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The winter proved a little lonesome, the miners mostly
+		staid at home and worked. During the year we had been here I
+		had not seen a respectable woman in this mining country. There
+		were few females here, and they were said to be of very
+		doubtful character. As a general thing people were very
+		patient with their wickedness, but not always.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Twice only in the history of California were women made the
+		victims of mob violence, once at Los Angeles and once at
+		Downieville. The affair at the last-named place occurred in
+		1851, and the victim was a pretty little Spanish woman named
+		Juanita. She and her husband, like many another couple at that
+		time, kept a monte game for the delectation of the miners who
+		had more money than sense, but beyond this fact absolutely
+		nothing was said against her character.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There was an English miner named Cannon living in town, who
+		was very popular among a large number of gamblers and others.
+		He got drunk one night and about midnight went to the house
+		occupied by the Spanish woman and her husband and kicked the
+		door down. Early the following morning he told his comrades
+		that he was going to apologize to the woman for what he had
+		done. He went alone to the house, and, while talking with the
+		husband and wife, the woman suddenly drew a knife and stabbed
+		Cannon to the heart. What had been said that provoked the deed
+		was never known, further than that Juanita claimed she had
+		been grossly insulted.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>She was given a mock trial, but the facts of the case were
+		not brought out, as the men who were with Cannon were too
+		drunk to remember what had happened the previous night. It was
+		a foregone conclusion that the poor woman was to be hanged,
+		and the leaders of the mob would brook no interference. A
+		physician examined Juanita and announced to the mob that she
+		was in a condition that demanded the highest sympathy of every
+		man, but he was forced to flee from town to save his life. A
+		prominent citizen made an appeal for mercy, but he was driven
+		down the main street and across the river by a mob with drawn
+		revolvers, and with threats of instant death. The well-known
+		John B. Weller was in town at the time, and was asked to
+		reason with the mob, but refused to do so.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The execution was promptly carried out. A plank was put
+		across the supports of the bridge over the Yuba, and a rope
+		fastened to a beam overhead. Juanita went calmly to her death.
+		She wore a Panama hat, and after mounting the platform she
+		removed it, tossed it to a friend in the crowd, whose nickname
+		was &quot;Oregon,&quot; with the remark, &quot;Adios
+		amigo.&quot; Then she adjusted the noose to her own neck,
+		raising her long, loose tresses carefully in order to fix the
+		rope firmly in its place, and then, with a smile and wave of
+		her hand to the bloodthirsty crowd present, she stepped calmly
+		from the plank into eternity. Singular enough, her body rests
+		side by side, in the cemetery on the hill, with that of the
+		man whose life she had taken.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>On Sundays Downieville was full of men, none very old, and
+		none very young, but almost every one of middle age. Nearly
+		every man was coarsely dressed, with beard unshaved and many
+		with long hair, but on any occasion of excitement it was not
+		at all strange to see the coarsest, roughest looking one of
+		all the party mount a stump and deliver as eloquent an address
+		as one could wish to hear. On Sunday it was not at all unusual
+		for some preacher to address the moving crowd, while a few
+		feet behind him would be a saloon in full blast, and drinking,
+		gambling, swearing and vulgar language could be plainly seen
+		and heard at the same time, and this class of people seemed to
+		respect the Sunday preacher very little. The big saloon was
+		owned by John Craycroft, formerly a mate on a Mississippi
+		River steamboat, who gained most of his money by marrying a
+		Spanish woman and making her a silent partner.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One enterprising man who was anxious to make money easily,
+		took a notion to try his luck in trade, so, as rats and mice
+		were troublesome in shops and stores, he went down to the
+		valley and brought up a cargo of cats which he disposed of at
+		prices varying from fifty to one hundred dollars each,
+		according to the buyer's fancy.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>During the summer Kelley the fiddler came up in the mines
+		to make a raise, and Craycroft made him a pulpit about ten
+		feet above the floor in his saloon, having him to play nights
+		and Sundays at twenty dollars per day. He was a big uneducated
+		Irishman, who could neither read nor write, but he played and
+		sang and talked the rich Irish brogue, all of which brought
+		many customers to the bar. In the saloon could be seen all
+		sorts of people dealing different games, and some were said to
+		be preachers. Kelley staid here as long as he could live on
+		his salary, and left town much in debt, for whiskey and cards
+		got all his money.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One of the grocers kept out a sign, &quot;CHEAP JOHN, THE
+		PACKER,&quot; and kept a mule to deliver goods, which no other
+		merchant did, and in this way gained many friends, and many
+		now may praise the enterprise of Cheap John, the Packer.
+		Prices were pretty high in those days. Sharpening picks cost
+		fifty cents, a drink of whiskey one dollar, and all kinds of
+		pork, fifty cents per pound. You could get meals at the
+		McNutty house for one dollar. The faro and monte banks
+		absorbed so much of the small change that on one occasion I
+		had to pay five dollars for a two dollar pair of pants in
+		order to get a fifty dollar slug changed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>No white shirts were worn by honest men, and if any man
+		appeared in such a garment he was at once set down as a
+		gambler, and with very little chance of a mistake. One Langdon
+		had the only express office, and brought letters and packages
+		from Sacramento. I paid one dollar simply to get my name on
+		his letter list, and when a letter came I had to pay one
+		dollar for bringing it up, as there was no Post Office at
+		Downieville.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Newspapers were eagerly sought for, such was the hunger for
+		reading. The Western folks bought the St. Louis papers, while
+		Eastern people found the New York Tribune a favorite. One
+		dollar each for such papers was the regular price. It may seem
+		strange, but aside from the news we got from an occasional
+		newspaper, I did not hear a word from the East during the two
+		years I remained on Yuba river. Our evenings were spent in
+		playing cards for amusement, for no reading could be got. The
+		snow between Marysville and Downieville was deep and
+		impassable in winter, but we could work our drifting claims
+		very comfortably, having laid in a stock of provisions early
+		in the season, before snowfall. The nights seemed tediously
+		long and lonesome, for when the snow was deep no one came to
+		visit us, and we could go nowhere, being completely hemmed in.
+		All the miners who did not have claims they could work
+		underground, went down below the winter snow-line to find
+		work, and when the snow went off came back again and took
+		possession of the old claims they had left.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After the snow went off three German sailors came up and
+		took a river claim a short distance above us on a north fork
+		of the north fork of the stream, where one side of the
+		ca&ntilde;on was perpendicular and the other sloped back only
+		slightly. Here they put logs across the river, laid stringers
+		on these, and covered the bottom with fir boughs. Then they
+		put stakes at the sides and rigged a canvas flume over their
+		bridge through which they turned the whole current of the
+		river, leaving a nearly dry bed beneath. This we called pretty
+		good engineering and management on the part of the sailor
+		boys, for no lumber was to be had, and they had made
+		themselves masters of the situation with the material on
+		hand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They went to work under their log aqueduct, and found the
+		claim very rich in coarse gold. They went to town every
+		Saturday night with good big bags of dust, and as they were
+		open-hearted fellows, believing that a sailor always has the
+		best of luck, they played cards freely, always betting on the
+		Jack and Queen, and spent their money more easily than they
+		earned it. They were quite partial to the ladies, and
+		patronizing the bar and card tables as liberally as they did,
+		usually returned to camp on Monday or Tuesday with a mule load
+		of grub and whiskey as all the visible proceeds of a week's
+		successful mining; but when Saturday night came around again
+		we were pretty sure to see the jolly sailors going past with
+		heavy bags of gold. They left one nearly pure piece of gold at
+		Langdon's Express office that weighed five pounds, and another
+		as large as a man's hand, of the shape of a prickly pear
+		leaf.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>They worked their claim with good success until the snow
+		water came down and forced them out. I went one day to see
+		them, and they took a pan of dirt from behind a big rock and
+		washed it out, getting as much as two teacupfuls of nuggets,
+		worth perhaps a thousand dollars. When they went away they
+		said they would go to Germany to see their poor relatives and
+		friends, and one of them really went home, but the other two
+		had spent all their money before they were ready to leave San
+		Francisco. These men were, without doubt, the inventors of the
+		canvas flume which was afterward used so successfully in
+		various places.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While I was still here the now famous Downieville Butte
+		quartz mine was discovered, but there was no way then of
+		working quartz successfully, and just at that time very little
+		was done with it, but afterward, when it was learned how to
+		work it, and the proper machinery introduced, it yielded large
+		sums of bullion.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The miners had a queer way of calling every man by some
+		nickname or other instead of his true name, and no one seemed
+		offended at it, but answered to his new name as readily as to
+		any.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was nearly fall when we found we had worked our claims
+		out, and there were no new ones we could locate here, so we
+		concluded to go prospecting for a new locality. I bought a
+		donkey in town of a Mr. Hawley, a merchant, for which I paid
+		sixty dollars, and gave the little fellow his old master's
+		name. We now had two animals, and we packed on them our
+		worldly goods, and started south up the mountain trail by way
+		of the city of six, where some half dozen men had located
+		claims, but the ground was dry and deep, so we went on.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We still went south, down toward the middle Yuba River and
+		when about half way down the mountain side came to a sort of
+		level bench where some miners were at work, but hardly any
+		water could be had. They called this Minnesota. We stayed here
+		a day or two, but as there seemed to be no possible further
+		development of water, concluded to go on further. Across the
+		river we could see a little flat, very similar to the one we
+		were on, and a little prospecting seemed to have been done on
+		the side of the mountain. We had a terribly steep ca&ntilde;on
+		to cross, and a river also, with no trail to follow, but our
+		donkeys were as good climbers as any of us, so we started down
+		the mountain in the morning, and arrived at the river about
+		noon. Here we rested an hour or two and then began climbing
+		the brushy mountain side. The hill was very steep, and the sun
+		beat down on us with all his heat, so that with our hard labor
+		and the absence of any wind we found it a pretty hot
+		place.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It was pretty risky traveling in some places, and we had to
+		help the donkeys to keep them from rolling down the hill, pack
+		and all. It took us four hours to make a mile and a half or
+		two miles in that dense brush, and we were nearly choked when
+		we reached the little flat. Here we found some water, but no
+		one lived here. From here we could see a large flat across a
+		deep ca&ntilde;on to the west, and made up our minds to try to
+		go to it. We went around the head of the ca&ntilde;on, and
+		worked through the brush and fallen timber, reaching our
+		objective point just as night was coming on. This flat, like
+		the one we had left, was quite level, and contained, perhaps,
+		nearly one hundred acres. Here we found two men at work with a
+		&quot;long tom&quot;&mdash;a Mr. Fernay and a Mr. Bloat. They
+		had brought the water of a small spring to their claim and
+		were making five or six dollars per day. We now prospected
+		around the edge of this flat, and getting pretty fair
+		prospects concluded we would locate here if we could get
+		water.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We then began our search for water and found a spring about
+		three quarters of a mile away, to which we laid claim, and
+		with a triangle level began to survey out a route for our
+		ditch. The survey was satisfactory, and we found we could
+		bring the water out high on the flat, so we set to work
+		digging at it, and turned the water in. The ground was so very
+		dry that all the water soaked up within two hundred yards of
+		the spring.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>By this time we were out of grub, and some one must go for
+		a new supply, and as we knew the trail to Downieville was
+		terribly rough, I was chosen as the one to try to find Nevada
+		City, which we thought would be nearer and more easily
+		reached. So I started south with the donkeys, up the mountain
+		toward the ridge which lies between the middle and south Yuba
+		Rivers, and when I got well on the ridge I found a trail used
+		some by wagons, which I followed till I came to a place where
+		the ridge was only wide enough for a wagon, and at the west
+		end a faint trail turned off south into the rolling hills. I
+		thought this went about the course I wanted to go, so I
+		followed it, and after two or three miles came to the south
+		Yuba river. This seemed to be an Indian trail, no other signs
+		on it. I climbed the mountain here, and when I reached the top
+		I found a large tent made of blue drilling, and here I found I
+		was four or five miles from Nevada City with a good trail to
+		follow. The rolling hills I then passed through are now called
+		North Bloomfield, and at one time were known as
+		&quot;Humbug.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I started along the trail and soon reached the city where I
+		drove my donkeys up to a store which had out the sign
+		&quot;Davis &amp; Co..&quot; I entered and inquiring the
+		prices of various sorts of provisions such as flour, bacon,
+		beans, butter, etc., soon had selected enough for two donkey
+		loads. They assisted me in putting them in pack, and when it
+		was ready I asked the amount of my bill, which was one hundred
+		and fifty dollars. This I paid at once, and they gave me some
+		crackers and dried beef for lunch on the way. Davis
+		said&mdash;&quot;That is the quickest sale I ever made, and
+		here the man is ready to go. I defy any one to beat it.&quot;
+		Before sun down I was two or three miles on my way back where
+		I found some grass and camped for the night, picketed the
+		animals, ate some of Mr. Davis' grub for supper, and arranged
+		a bed of saddle blankets. I arrived at camp the next day about
+		sun down.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next day I went on up the divide and found a house on the
+		trail leading farther east, where two men lived, but they
+		seemed to be doing nothing. There were no mines and miners
+		near there, and there seemed to be very little travel on the
+		trail. The fellows looked rough, and I suspected they might be
+		bad characters. The stream they lived near was afterward
+		called Bloody Run, and there were stories current that blood
+		had been shed there.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here was a section of comparatively level land, for the
+		mountain divide, and a fine spring of good cold water, all
+		surrounded by several hundred acres of the most magnificent
+		sugar pines California ever raised, very large, straight as a
+		candle, and one hundred feet or more to the lowest limbs. This
+		place was afterward called Snow Tent, and S.W. Churchill built
+		a sawmill at the spring, and had all this fine timber at the
+		mercy of his ax and saw, without anyone to dispute his right.
+		He furnished lumber to the miners at fifty dollars or more per
+		thousand feet. Bloody Run no doubt well deserves its name, for
+		there was much talk of killing done there.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I, however, went up and talked to the men and told them I
+		wished to hire a cross cut saw for a few days to get out stuff
+		for a cabin, and agreed to pay two dollars a day for the use
+		of it till it came back.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We cut down a large sugar pine, cut off four six feet cuts,
+		one twelve feet, and one sixteen feet cut, and from these we
+		split out a lot of boards which we used to make a V-shaped
+		flume which we placed in our ditch, and thus got the water
+		through. We split the longer cuts into two inch plank for
+		sluice boxes, and made a small reservoir, so that we succeeded
+		in working the ground. We paid wages to the two men who
+		worked, and two other men who were with us went and built a
+		cabin.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now went and got another load of provisions, and as the
+		snow could be seen on the high mountains to the east, I
+		thought the deer must be crowded down to our country, so I
+		went out hunting and killed a big fat buck, and the next day
+		three more, so fresh meat was plenty.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About this time a man came down the mountain with his oxen
+		and wagon, wife and three or four children, the eldest a young
+		lady of fifteen years. The man's name was H. M. Moore. We had
+		posted notices, according to custom, to make mining laws, and
+		had quite a discussion about a name for the place. Some of the
+		fellows wanted to name it after the young lady, &quot;Minda's
+		Flat,&quot; but we finally chose &quot;Moore's Flat&quot;
+		instead, which I believe is the name it still goes by. Our
+		laws were soon completed, and a recorder chosen to record
+		claims. We gave Mr. Moore the honor of having a prospecting
+		town named after him because he was the first man to be on
+		hand with a wife.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I became satisfied after a little that this place would be
+		a very snowy place, and that from all appearances it would
+		fall from two to four feet deep, and not a very pleasant place
+		to winter in. An honest acquaintance of mine came along,
+		Samuel Tyler and to him I let my claim to work on shares and
+		made McCloud my agent, verbally, while I took my blankets and
+		started for the valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The first town I passed through was a newly discovered
+		mining town called French Corral. Here I found an old
+		Wisconsin friend Wm. Sublet, the foster father of the
+		accomplishen wife of Mayor S.W. Boring of San Jose. From here
+		I went to Marysville. The storm had been raging high in the
+		mountains for some days, and the Yuba river rising fast,
+		overflowing its banks as I walked into town, and the next day
+		the merchants were very busy piling their goods above high
+		water mark. I went to a hotel and called for a bed.
+		&quot;Yes,&quot; says the landlord &quot;Is your name John or
+		Peter?&quot; I told him William, which he set down in his book
+		and we went up stairs to the best room which was fitted up
+		with berths three tiers high on each side, and only one or two
+		empty ones. He looked around for covers, but none could be
+		found unoccupied, but one fellow who was sound asleep and
+		snoring awfully, so he took the blanket off from him saying:
+		&quot;He wont know a thing about it till morning, be jabers,
+		so don't say a word.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Next morning the river was booming, its surface covered
+		with all sorts of mining outfit such as flume timber, rockers,
+		various qualities of lumber, pieces of trees as well as whole
+		ones, water wheels and other traps. The river between
+		Downieville and here must have been swept clean of all
+		material that would float, including &quot;long Toms.&quot;
+		The water continued to rise till it covered the Plaza, and in
+		two days a steamer came up and sailed across the public
+		square. This looked like a wet season to me, and when the boat
+		was ready to go down the river I went on board, bound for
+		Sacramento. Here it was also getting terrible wet and muddy,
+		and the rain kept pouring down. In the morning I worked my way
+		up J street and saw a six-mule team wading up the streets the
+		driver on foot, tramping through the sloppy mud, occasionally
+		stepping in a hole and falling his whole length in the mud. On
+		the street where so much trouble was met by the teamsters, a
+		lot of idlers stood on the sidewalk, and when a driver would
+		fall and go nearly out of sight, they would, like a set of
+		loafers, laugh at him and blackguard him with much noise, and
+		as they were numerous they feared nothing.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Suddenly a miner, who had lately arrived from the
+		mountains, raised his room window in the second story of a
+		house, put out one leg and then his body, as far as he could,
+		and having nothing on but his night clothes, shouted to the
+		noisy crowd below:&mdash;&quot;Say can't you d----d farmers
+		plow now?&quot; At this he dodged back quickly into his window
+		as if he expected something might be thrown at him. The rain
+		continued, and the water rose gradually till it began to run
+		slowly through the streets, and all the business stopped
+		except gambling and drinking whisky, which were freely carried
+		on in the saloons day and night.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While here in Sacramento I was sufficiently prompted by
+		curiosity to go around to the place on J street where the
+		Legislature was in session. I stood sometime outside the
+		enclosure listening to the members who were in earnest debate
+		over a question concerning the size of mining claims. They
+		wanted them uniform in size all over the state, but there was
+		some opposition, and the debate on this occasion was between
+		the members from the mining counties on one side and the
+		&quot;cow&quot; counties on the other. The miners took the
+		ground that the claims were of different richness in the
+		different mining localities and that the miners themselves
+		were the best judges of the proper size of claims, and were
+		abundantly able to make their own laws as they had done under
+		the present mining customs, and their laws had always been
+		respected, making any further legislative action
+		unnecessary.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While this wrangle was going on. Capt. Hunt, of San
+		Bernardino (our guide from Salt Lake in 1849), came along and
+		stopped where I stood, shaking me heartily by the hand,
+		inquiring where I was from, and when I told him I was from the
+		mines he said he thought the cow county fellows were trying to
+		make the miners some trouble. I told him the present mining
+		regulations suited us very well, and after he had talked with
+		me a little he went inside and whispered to some of the silent
+		members that the miners wanted no change, for he had just
+		consulted a miner to that effect. When occasion offered he
+		called for a vote which resulted in the defeat of the cow
+		counties and a postponement of the measure indefinitely.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>My next move was to try to find a dryer place so I took a
+		boat for Benicia, then for Stockton, where I found a sea of
+		mud, so that a man needed stilts or a boat to cross the
+		street.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Here in a livery stable I found my old Platte River boss,
+		Chas. Dallas, for whom I drove in 1849, but he did not seem to
+		know me and took no notice of me, but talked &quot;horse&quot;
+		and horse-racing to the bystanders very loudly. I suppose that
+		Dallas had made money and did not care for a poor ox driver,
+		and on my part I did not care very much for his friendship, so
+		I walked away and left him without a word.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Every way I looked was a sea of black, sticky mud; dogs
+		mired in the streets and died, and teams and animals had
+		forsaken the usual route of travel. The gambling houses and
+		saloons were crowded, gum boots in demand, and the only way to
+		get out of town was by water. I took this way out, and on the
+		same boat by which I came, going to San Francisco. This was
+		high and dry enough to be above the highest floods of Yuba,
+		Sacramento or San Joaquin, but all business except the saloons
+		was dull. Fronting on Portsmouth Square was the Hall of
+		Corruption. Inside was a magnificently furnished bar, more
+		than one keeper and various gambling tables, most of them with
+		soiled doves in attendance. The room was thronged with players
+		and spectators, and coin and dust were plenty. The dealers
+		drew off their cards carefully, and seemed to have the largest
+		pile of coin on their side.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I climbed Russian Hill and to take a look over the city. It
+		seemed poorly built, but the portion that had been burned in
+		July 1852, had been built up again. The business part was near
+		the beach and north of Market street.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I had never lived in a town and did not know its ways, so I
+		strolled around alone, for without acquaintance I did not know
+		where to go nor what to look for. I therefore thought I would
+		see some other part of the country. I found that a schooner
+		was about to sail for San Pedro, near Los Angeles. I took hold
+		of a rope to help myself on board, when it gave way and I
+		found myself floundering in the water. They helped me out and
+		the Captain gave me a dry suit to put on, I was profoundly
+		grateful for the favor, and found him a generous man.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We sailed away and stopped at Monterey for 24 hours which
+		gave me a good chance for a good look at the old Capitol
+		houses, which were of adobe, and to find that this city was
+		also liberally supplied with gambling, card and billiard
+		tables. The majority of the people were Spanish and fond of
+		gaming, and the general appearance of the place was old and
+		without good improvements, though there were more two-story
+		houses than in most places in California.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some houses were of stone, but more of adobe, and there
+		seemed to be no fertile country round, and the hills about had
+		small pines on them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some of the sailors went out and gathered a large bag of
+		mussels and clams, from which they made a liberal allowance of
+		chowder for the table. After seven or eight days we arrived in
+		San Pedro, and found the town to consist of one long adobe
+		house. The beach was low and sandy, and we were wet somewhat
+		in wading through a light surf to get on shore. We had on
+		board a Mr. Baylis, who we afterward learned came down with
+		Capt. Lackey on a big speculation which was to capture all the
+		wild goats they could on Catalina Island, and take them to San
+		Francisco for slaughtering.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The goats were easily captured and taken on board the
+		schooner, and thence to shore but many were drowned in the
+		transit, and when driven to San Francisco the dead were
+		scattered all along the route. Although wild they seemed to
+		lack the vitality that tame goats possess. The speculation
+		proved a disappointment to the projectors.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At the adobe house, kept by a Spaniard we had breakfast,
+		then shouldered our packs for the march of ten leagues to Los
+		Angeles for there was no chance to ride. It was night before
+		we reached the City of Angels, and here I staid a day to take
+		a look at the first city I saw in California in March
+		1850.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I inquired for my mining companion, W.M. Stockton who
+		worked with Bennett and myself near Georgetown in 1850, and
+		found he lived near the old mission of San Gabriel nine miles
+		away, whither I walked and found him and family well and glad
+		to see me. He had jumped an old pear orchard which was not
+		claimed by the Mission Fathers, although it was only
+		three-fourths of a mile away. The trees were all seedlings and
+		very large, probably 50 or more years old. Some of the Mission
+		buildings were falling down since they had been abandoned, and
+		the Americans would go to these houses and remove the tile
+		flooring from the porches and from the pillars that supported
+		them. These tiles were of hard burned clay, in pieces about a
+		foot square, and were very convenient to make fire places and
+		pavements before the doors of their new houses. Out-side the
+		enclosed orange and fig orchard at this place were some large
+		olive and fig trees, apparently as old as the mission, being a
+		foot or more in diameter and about 50 feet high. I had never
+		seen olives, and when I saw these trees covered with plenty of
+		fruit about the size of damson plums I took the liberty of
+		tasting it and found it very disagreeable, and wondered of
+		what use such fruit could be.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Stockton fenced his orchard by setting posts and tying
+		sycamore poles to them to keep the stock away, built an adobe
+		house on the claim and called the property his. I went to work
+		for him at once, pruning the trees, which improved their
+		appearance, and then turned on a little stream of water which
+		ran through the place, and on down to the mission. With this
+		treatment the trees did well without cultivation.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I bought one half the stock consisting of some Spanish
+		cows, one yoke of oxen and some horses, worked enough to pay
+		my board, watched the stock and still had plenty of time to
+		ride around over the adjoining country.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When the pears were ripe the Spanish men, women and
+		children eagerly bought them at 25 cents per dozen and some
+		Sundays the receipts for fruit sold would be as high as $100.
+		That taken to town would bring from $5. to $8. per box, the
+		boxes being a little larger than those in present use. An
+		Indian woman, widow of a Mr. Reed, claimed a vineyard near the
+		orchard, and laid claim to the whole property, so Stockton
+		gave her $1000 for a quit claim deed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Near by was a small artificial lake made by a dam of cobble
+		stones, laid in cement across a ravine, which was built
+		perhaps 50 years before, and yet the tracks of a child who had
+		walked across before the cement was dry, were plainly
+		seen.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Stockton and I visited Mr. Roland, an old settler who lived
+		south of San Gabriel river, and staid all night with him,
+		finding him very sociable and hospitable. All his work was
+		done by Indians who lived near by, and had been there as long
+		as he. He had a small vineyard, and raised corn, squashes,
+		melons and all that are necessary for his table, having also a
+		small mill near by for grinding corn and wheat without
+		bolting. The Indians made his wine by tramping the grapes with
+		their feet in a rawhide vat hung between four poles set in the
+		ground. The workmen were paid off every Saturday night, and
+		during Sunday he would generally sell them wine enough to get
+		about all the money back again. This had been his practice for
+		many years, and no doubt suited Mr. Roland as well as the red
+		men.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Roland was an old Rocky Mountain trapper who came to
+		California long before gold was discovered, and during the
+		evening the talk naturally ran to the subject of early
+		days.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Roland related that while his party were in camp in the
+		upper Colorado they were visited by a small band of Indians
+		who professed friendship and seated themselves around the
+		fire. Suddenly they made an attack and each trapper had an
+		Indian to contend with, except Mr. Roland who was left to be
+		dispatched afterwards. But as he ran, a squaw among them
+		followed him, and after a while overtook him and showed
+		friendship. He had neither gun or knife and so concluded to
+		put faith in the woman who safely guided him in a long tramp
+		across the desert where they both came near starving, but
+		finally reached Los Angeles Valley, when the brave squaw
+		mingled with her own people and he lost sight of her
+		forever.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>No white man could alone have traversed that desert waste
+		and found food enough to last him half the journey.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He gradually learned to speak Spanish, and was granted the
+		piece of land he applied for, and where he then lived; married
+		a Spanish girl, with whom he had a happy home and raised a
+		large family, and grew rich, for they were both industrious
+		and economical. The first wife died, and he was persuaded to
+		marry a Texas widow, and now had to buy the first carriage he
+		ever owned, and furnish a fine turn-out and driver for the
+		lady, who wore much jewelry and fine clothes, and spent money
+		freely. Roland was not a society man, his thoughts and habits
+		were different from his wife, and he staid at home, better
+		contented there.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were many other pioneers in the neighborhood, Dan
+		Sexton, Col. Williams, of Chino ranch, Workman, B.D. Wilson,
+		Abel Stearns, Temple, Wolfskill and many others, Scott and
+		Granger were lawyers. Granger was the same man who read the
+		preamble and resolutions that were to govern our big train as
+		we were about to start from Utah Lake.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Scott was quite a noted member of the bar, and when Gen.
+		Winfield Scott ran for President, some wide awake politicians
+		caused the uneducated Spaniards to vote for their favorite
+		lawyer instead of the redoubtable general, and they did this
+		with a good will for they thought the famous avocado was the
+		best man, and thus the manipulators lost many votes to the
+		real candidate. Scott was afterward retained by many of the
+		Spaniards to present their claims for their land to the U.S.
+		Government and was considered a very able man.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mr. Stockton related that when he left his family here to
+		go to the mines he rented one half a house of Michael Blanco
+		who had a Spanish wife and children, and these and his own
+		were of course constant playmates. When he returned in the
+		fall he found his children had learned to speak Spanish and
+		nearly forgotten English, so that he had to coax them a great
+		deal to get them to talk to him at all, and he could not
+		understand a word they said.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I now tried to learn the language myself. I had money to
+		loan, and the borrowers were Spanish who gave good security
+		and paid from 5 to 25 per cent interest per month, on short
+		time. Mrs. Stockton assisted me very much as an
+		interpreter.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I bought young steers for $8. each and gradually added to
+		my herd. I got along well until next spring when the beef
+		eating population began to steal my fat cattle, and seemed
+		determined I should get no richer. The country was
+		over-stocked with desperate and lawless renegades in Los
+		Angeles and from one to four dead men was about the number
+		picked up in the streets each morning. They were of low class,
+		and there was no investigation, simply a burial at public
+		expense.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The permanent Spanish population seemed honest and
+		benevolent, but there were many bad ones from Chili, Sonora,
+		Mexico, Texas, Utah and Europe, who seemed always on an errand
+		of mischief a murder, thieving or robbery.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Three or four suspicious looking men came on horseback and
+		made their camp near the Mission under an oak tree, where they
+		staid sometime. They always left someone in camp while the
+		others went away every day on their horses, and acted so
+		strangely that the report soon became current that they were
+		stealing horses and running them off to some safe place in the
+		mountains till a quantity could be accumulated to take to the
+		mines to sell. On this information the Vigilance Committee
+		arrested the man in camp and brought him to a private room,
+		where he was tried by twelve men, who found him guilty of
+		horse stealing, and sentenced to be hung at once, for horse
+		stealing was a capital offence in those days.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>To carry out the sentence they procured a cart, put a box
+		on it for a seat, and with a rope around his neck and seated
+		on the box, the condemned man was dragged off by hand to an
+		oak tree not far away, whither he was followed by all the men,
+		women and children of the place, who where nearly all natives.
+		While preparations were being made under the tree some one
+		called out that men were riding rapidly from the direction of
+		Los Angeles, and from the dust they raised seemed to be more
+		than usually in haste. So it was proposed to wait till they
+		came up. It was soon known that an Indian had been sent to Los
+		Angeles to give news to the man's friends there, and they had
+		come with all the speed of their horses to try to save his
+		life. They talked and inquired around a little and then
+		proposed the question whether to hang him or to turn him over
+		to the lawful authorities for regular trial. This was put to a
+		vote and it was decided to spare him now. So the rope was
+		taken off his neck, and he was turned over to Mr. Mallard the
+		Mission Justice of the Peace, much to the relief of the fellow
+		who saw death staring him in the face.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Santa Anita ranch, now owned by E.J. Baldwin, was owned
+		by Henry Dalton, an Englishman, who came with a stock of goods
+		worth $75,000, years before, but now had only the ranch left.
+		The Azuza, a short distance south was occupied by his
+		brother.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I became well acquainted with many of these old California
+		natives, and found them honest in their dealings, good to the
+		needy and in all my travels never found more willing hands to
+		bestow upon relatives, friends or strangers ready relief than
+		I saw among these simple natives. Their kindness to our party
+		when we came starving on the desert in 1850, can never be
+		praised enough, and as long as I shall live my best wishes
+		shall go with them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I was one day riding with Vincent Duarte down toward
+		Anaheim when he suddenly dismounted to kill a large tarantula
+		by pelting him with stones. It was the first one I had seen,
+		and seemed an over-grown spider. I asked him if the thing was
+		harmful, and he replied with considerable warmth, &quot;Mucho
+		malo por Christianos&quot; and I wondered if the insect knew
+		saints from sinners.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This spring we concluded to go to the Mormon settlement at
+		San Bernardino and secure some American bulls to improve our
+		stock, and starting late one day I rode as far as the Azuza
+		Rancho where I staid all night with Mr. Dalton, reaching the
+		holy city, a branch of Brigham Young's harem next day. Here I
+		found a town of log houses in a circle, enclosing a plaza.
+		There was a passage between the houses. I stopped at the
+		principal hotel kept by a vigorous and enthusiastic Mormon
+		woman, who delighted to preach the doctrine.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Walking around on the outside of the fortifications I came
+		across Capt. Hunt, the man who was hired in the fall of 1849
+		to bring the big train from Salt Lake to San Bernardino.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I told him who I was, and what I wanted, and he seemed to
+		know me, inviting me in the most friendly and social manner to
+		take supper with him, which I did. He sat at the head of the
+		table and introduced me to his three wives. The furnishing of
+		the house was cheap and common, but the table was fairly
+		provided for. He said he would help me to find the animals I
+		wanted, and in the morning showed me two which he had, that
+		were young and suitable, and a larger one which he said I
+		could have if I could drive him.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I soon found out that I had better move or sell my cattle,
+		for with all my watching I could do they gradually
+		disappeared, and hungry thieves who could live on beef alone,
+		visited my little band of cattle too often and took what they
+		wanted, and I could not detect them. I soon sold to four
+		buyers from the north, L.D. Stevens, David Grant, Sam Craig
+		and Mr. Wilson, and hired out with my two horses to help them
+		drive the band north, at a salary of $100 per month.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Disposing most of my money with Palmer, Cook &amp; Co., I
+		went to see my mine at Moore's Flat. There were two boats
+		leaving at about the same time, one for Stockton, and one for
+		Sacramento, the latter of which I took, and Rogers the other.
+		Both landed at Benecia, and when we swung away from that wharf
+		Rogers and I saluted each other with raised and swinging hats,
+		shouted a good bye, and I have never seen him since.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At Moore's Flat I found my mine well and profitably worked
+		by Mr. Tyler and as his lease was not out I returned to San
+		Jose, as I had learned from Rogers that Mr. A. Bennett was at
+		Watsonville, and Mr. Arcane at Santa Cruz, and I desired to
+		visit them. I rode back across the country and found Mr.
+		Bennett and family at the point where the Salinas river enters
+		Monterey Bay. They were all well, and were glad to see me for
+		they did not know I was in California. Mrs. Bennett was
+		greatly affected at our meeting and shed tears of joy as she
+		shook hands.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bennett had a nice Whitehall boat and we had a genuine
+		happy time hunting, fishing and gathering clams, and also in
+		social visits among the neighbors and old acquaintances, among
+		them one Jacob Rhodehouse of Wisconsin.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>While here I rode my horse around to Monterey and to Carmel
+		Mission, where I staid two or three days, with Mr. Gourley, a
+		brother of Mrs. William M. Stockton, who was here engaged in
+		raising potatoes. I walked along the beach near some rocky
+		islands near the shore, and on these rocks were more sea lions
+		and seals than I supposed the whole ocean contained&mdash;the
+		most wonderful show of sea life on the California coast.
+		Returning I staid all night at the crossing of the Salinas
+		with a colored family who gave me good accommodations for self
+		and horse. I heard afterward that this family was attacked by
+		robbers and all but one murdered.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Mrs. Bennett's father D.J. Dilley lived near here also, and
+		I had not seen him since the time in Wisconsin, when he hauled
+		my canoe over to the river in 1849. One day while fishing on
+		the beach we found the body of a man, which we carried above
+		the tide and buried in the sand.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I gave one of my horses to Geo. Bennett, and went over to
+		Santa Cruz, where I found Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Arcane and son
+		Charles in a comfortable home, well situated, and overjoyed to
+		see me.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He knew everyone in town, and as we went about he never
+		missed to introduce me to every one we met, as the man who
+		helped himself and family out of Death Valley, and saved their
+		lives. Arcane was a very polite Frenchman and knew how to
+		manage such things very gracefully, but with all his grace and
+		heartiness it made me feel quite a little embarrassed to be
+		made so much of publicly and among strangers. He took me in
+		his buggy and we drove along the beach, and to the lime-kiln
+		of Cowel &amp; Jordan, also to the court house when court was
+		in session.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Upon the hill I met Judge Watson, the father of
+		Watsonville, and a Mr. Graham, an old settler and land owner,
+		and on this occasion he pulled a sheet of ancient, smoky
+		looking paper from beneath his arm, pointed to a dozen or so
+		of written lines in Spanish and then with a flourish of the
+		precious document in Watson's face dared him to beat that, or
+		get him off his land. I must say that never in my life was I
+		better entertained than here.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From Santa Cruz I crossed the mountain on a lonely and
+		romantic trail to San Jose again, finding very few houses on
+		the road. Here I went to work for R. G. Moody building a
+		gristmill on the banks of the Coyote Creek, to be run by water
+		from artesian wells. When the mill was done I went for my
+		horse, and on my return I ran very unexpectedly upon Davenport
+		Helms, to whom I had sold my little black mule in 1850. Our
+		talk was short but he told me he had killed a man in
+		Georgetown, and the sheriff was looking for him. He was now
+		venturing to town for tobacco, and would hurry back to the
+		hills again where he was herding cattle.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He said he kept them off at one time by getting in a piece
+		of chaparral and presenting his gun to them when they came
+		near, they dare not advance on him. Then he laughed and
+		said&mdash;&quot;And all the time my gun was empty, for I did
+		not have a d----d thing to put into it.&quot; &quot;I tell you
+		they don't catch old Davenport. Now don't you tell on me.
+		Good-bye.&quot; I saw him no more after that.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The town of San Jose was now more of a town than it was a
+		few years before. The &quot;Forty Thieves,&quot; and others,
+		commenced building a city hall of brick on the top of old
+		adobe walls, and this was the principal improvement, except
+		the Moody mill near the Sutter house, one street north of
+		Julian.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After finishing work on the mill I drew my money from the
+		bank in San Francisco and started for the mines on horseback.
+		Near French Camp, on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley,
+		many cattle were feeding on the plains, and among them, much
+		to my surprise I found &quot;Old Crump,&quot; the ox that
+		brought Bennett's and Arcane's children safe through from
+		Death Valley in February, 1850. He was now fat and sleek and
+		as kind and gentle as when so poor upon the terrible journey.
+		I got off my horse and went up to him, and patted my old
+		friend. I was glad to find him so contented and happy, and I
+		doubt not that he too was glad. I met a man near by and asked
+		him about the ox, and he said that the owner would not sell
+		him nor allow him to be worked, for he knew of the faithful
+		part he performed in the world, and respected him for it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>At Sacramento I deposited my money with Page, Bacon &amp;
+		Co., a branch of the St. Louis firm of the same name,
+		considered the safest bank in the United States. Their bills
+		were taken in payment of Government land. Some rascals had
+		some counterfeit bills on their bank, and traded them off for
+		gold with the Missourians who were going home, and the poor
+		fellows found themselves poor on arrival.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Going to my mine, where I left only a cabin or two, I found
+		quite a village with two hotels and a post office.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>News soon came that the banks had closed their door, and
+		Page and Bacon also, so I concluded that I was broke. The
+		&quot;Pikers&quot; said Page and Bacon could not, nor would
+		not fail, but news was against them. The boys now tried to
+		persuade me to go to Sacramento, and try to get my money and
+		if I succeeded, to bring up a good stock of goods and they
+		would buy of me in preference to any one else. On this showing
+		I went down, and finding my old friend Lyman Ross (well known
+		in San Jose) who was keeping a fruit store. I told him my
+		business and he took me to L.A. Booth, Carrol &amp; Co., and I
+		stated to him the facts about my money in the bank and the
+		doors closed. I told him if he would assist me I would buy
+		$2000 worth of his goods, and send them to Moore's Flat. I
+		endorsed the certificate over to him, and in half an hour he
+		came back with the coin. How he got it I never knew, but he
+		did me a great favor, and we have been good friends ever
+		since. I was no merchant, nor had I any mercantile education,
+		so I took lessons from Mr. Booth, and allowed him to make out
+		for me a bill of goods such as he well knew I needed. With
+		these we loaded up two 6 mule teams, and started for the
+		mountain.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I had about $700 left besides paying for the goods, but I
+		felt a very little troubled as to my prospect for success, for
+		it was a new business to me. Mr. Booth in a business way was a
+		true father to me, and the much needed points in trade which
+		he gave me were stored away for the use I knew I would make of
+		them. Of all those whom I bear in grateful remembrance none
+		stand higher than this worthy man.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I went first direct to Nevada City to take out a license
+		that I might best protect myself against oppositions and from
+		there I had a walk of 18 miles over a rough mountain trail to
+		my selected place of business. Climbing the great hill of the
+		S. Yuba river I often tired and sat down to rest, and I used
+		this time to study my bill of goods, and add the freight and
+		profit to the cost, so as to be well posted, and able to
+		answer all questions readily when I unloaded the stock. The
+		new trade seemed quite a task to learn, but I felt that I was
+		compelled to succeed, and I worked manfully at it.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When I reached Moore's Flat I found that the boys had
+		rented a store for me, and their welcome was very hearty when
+		they found how lucky I had been in securing my money and
+		starting out as their &quot;grub supplier.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Four of us now located some mining claims, and began a
+		tunnel both to drain the ground, and to work through the
+		bed-rock. This we named The Paradise, and we expected that
+		three or four months would elapse before we made it pay, but
+		there was in truth two years of solid rock-work before we got
+		under the ground, but it paid well in the end.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The largest nugget of gold ever found before this time was
+		a quartz boulder from the Buckeye sluice, about 8 by 10 inches
+		in size, and when cleaned up at the San Francisco mint the
+		value was about $10,000.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Two of my partners in the work, L.J. Hanchett, and Jas.
+		Clark ran out of funds at the end of the first year, and I
+		took as much of the expense as I could upon my own
+		shoulders.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>About this time learning by a letter from her father that
+		Mrs. Bennett was lying at the point of death at Mr. L.C.
+		Bostic's in San Jose, I left H. Hanchett in charge of my
+		business, and in four days I stood beside the bedside of my
+		friend, endeared through the trials when death by thirst,
+		starvation and the desert sands, stared us in the face with
+		all its ghastliness.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>She reached out her arms and drew me down to her, and
+		embraced me and said in a faint whisper&mdash;&quot;God bless
+		you:&mdash;you saved us all till now, and I hope you will
+		always be happy and live long.&quot; She would have said more,
+		but her voice was so weak she could not be heard. She was very
+		low with consumption, and easily exhausted. I sat with her
+		much of the time at her request and though for her sake I
+		would have kept back the tears I could not always do it. Two
+		doctors came, one of them Dr. Spencer, and as I sat with my
+		face partly turned away I over heard Dr. S. say to his
+		assistant&mdash;&quot;He is a manly man.&quot;<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>This presence and the circumstances brought back the trying
+		Death Valley struggles, when this woman and her companions,
+		and the poor children, so nearly starved they could not stand
+		alone, were only prevented from sitting down to die in sheer
+		despair by the encouraging words of Rogers and myself who had
+		passed over the road, and used every way to sustain their
+		courage.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>She died the following day; with Mr. Bennett, I followed
+		her remains to Oak Hill cemetery, where she was buried near
+		the foot of the hill, and a board marked in large letters,
+		&quot;S.B.&quot; (Sarah Bennett) placed to mark the mound. The
+		grave cannot now be found, and no records being then kept it
+		is probably lost.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I went home with Mr. Bennett to his home near Watsonville,
+		and spent several days, meeting several of our old Death
+		Valley party, and Mr. D.J. Dilley, Mrs. Bennett's father. Mrs.
+		Bennett left surviving her a young babe.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I returned to Moore's Flat, and soon sold out my store,
+		taking up the business of purchasing gold dust direct from the
+		miners, which I followed for about two years, and in the fall
+		of 1859 sold out the business to Marks &amp; Powers. I looked
+		about through Napa and Sonoma Counties, and finally came to
+		San Jose, where I purchased the farm I now own, near
+		Hillsdale, of Bodley &amp; McCabe, for which I paid
+		$4,000.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the fall of the same year my old friend W.M. Stockton of
+		Los Angeles Co. persuaded me to come down and pay him a visit.
+		His wife had died and he felt very lonely. I had been there
+		but a few days when my old friend A. Bennett and his children
+		also came to Stockton's. The children had grown so much I
+		hardly knew them, but I was glad indeed to meet them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I found Mr. Bennett to be a poor man. He had been persuaded
+		to go to Utah, being told that a fortune awaited his coming
+		there, or could be accumulated in a short time. He gave away
+		the little babe left by his wife to Mrs. Scott, of Scott's
+		Valley, in Santa Cruz Co. and sold his farm near the mouth of
+		the Salinas River. With what money he had accumulated he
+		loaded two 4 mule teams with dry goods, put his four children
+		into his wagon, and went to Cedar City, Utah.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He gave a thrilling account of passing through Mountain
+		Meadows, where he saw, here and there little groups of
+		skeletons of the unhappy victims of the great massacre at that
+		place of men, women and children, by J.D. Lee, and his Mormon
+		followers and told me the terrible story, which I here
+		omit.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Smarting under the terrible taxation of one tenth of
+		everything, Bennett grew poorer and poorer and at last
+		resolved that he must go away, but his wife could not leave
+		her own people, and so he set off with his children, somewhat
+		afraid he might be shot down, but he reached Los Angeles Co.
+		in safety. One daughter married a lawyer in San Bernardino,
+		and died a few years afterwards. The other married a Capt.
+		Johnson of Wilmington, and Bennett and two sons went to
+		Idaho.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A few years ago in passing from San Jose to the Coast, my
+		wife and I spent Sunday at Scott's Valley. Mrs. Scott invited
+		us to visit them in the evening at the house when all would be
+		at home. Mrs. Scott was the lady to whom Bennett gave his girl
+		baby when he started away for Utah, and I felt very anxious to
+		see her now she was grown up. Mrs. Scott introduced us, and I
+		sat and looked at the little woman quite a long time, but
+		could not see that she resembled either father or mother. My
+		mind ran back over the terrible road we came and I pictured to
+		myself the woman as she then appeared.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I studied over our early trials, crossing the plains over
+		the deserts and our trying scenes out of Death Valley and
+		turned all over in my mind for some time and finally all came
+		to me like a flash and I could clearly see that the little
+		lady was a true picture of her mother; I now began to ask
+		questions about her folks, she said her father lived near
+		Belmont, Nevada, and her grand-father died at the Monte, Los
+		Angeles county Cal.. Our visit now became very interesting and
+		we kept a late hour.<br>
+		</p>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=343 alt="" src="images/ch_16.png" width=348 border=0>
+			<br>
+
+		</div>
+		<hr>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<h3><a name="Anchor-CHAPTE-54752"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br>
+			</h3>
+		</div>
+		<p>Since writing the connected story which has thus far
+		appeared, I turn back to give some incidents of life in the
+		mines, and some description of those pioneer gold days.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I have spoken of Moore's Flat, Orleans Flat and Woolsey's
+		Flat, all similarly situated on different points of the
+		mountain, on the north side of the ridge between the South and
+		Middle Yuba River, and all at about the same altitude. A very
+		deep ca&ntilde;on lies between each of them, but a good
+		mountain road was built around the head of each ca&ntilde;on,
+		connecting the towns. When the snow got to be three or four
+		feet deep the roads must be broken out and communication
+		opened, and the boys used to turn out <i>en masse</i> and each
+		one would take his turn in leading the army of road breakers.
+		When the leader got tired out some one would take his place,
+		for it was terrible hard work to wade through snow up to one's
+		hips, and the progress very slow. But the boys went at it as
+		if they were going to a picnic, and a sort of picnic it was
+		when they reached the next town, for whisky was free and grub
+		plenty to such a party, and jollity and fun the uppermost
+		thoughts. On one such occasion when the crowd came through
+		Orleans Flat to Moore's Flat, Sid Hunt, the butcher, was in
+		the lead as they came in sight of the latter place, and both
+		he and his followers talked pretty loud and rough to the
+		Moore's Flat fellows calling them &quot;lazy pups&quot; for
+		not getting their road clear. Hunt's helper was a big stout,
+		loud talking young man named Williams, and he shouted to the
+		leader&mdash;&quot;Sid Hunt, toot your horn if you don't sell
+		a clam.&quot; This seemed to put both sides in good humor, and
+		the Orleans fellows joined in a plenty to eat and drink,
+		rested and went home. Next day, both camps joined forces and
+		broke the road over to Woolsey's Flat, and the third day
+		crowded on toward Nevada City, and when out and across Bloody
+		Run, a stream called thus because some dead men had been found
+		at the head of the stream by the early settlers, and it was
+		suspected the guilty murderers lived not far off, they turned
+		down into Humbug, a town now called Bloomfield, and as they
+		went down the snow was not so deep. They soon met Sam Henry,
+		the express man, working through with letters and papers, and
+		all turned home again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A young doctor came to Moore's Flat and soon became quite
+		popular, and after a little while purchased a small drug store
+		at Orleans Flat. In this town there lived a man and his family
+		and among them a little curly headed girl perhaps one or two
+		years old. She was sick and died and buried while the ground
+		was covered thick with snow. A little time after, it was
+		discovered that the grave had been disturbed, and on
+		examination no body was found in the grave.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Then it was a searching party was organized, and threats of
+		vengeance made against the grave robber if he should be
+		caught. No tracks were found leading out of town so they began
+		to look about inside, and there began to be some talk about
+		this Dr. Kittridge as the culprit. He was the very man, and he
+		went to his drug store and told his clerk to get a saddle
+		horse and take the dead child's body in a sack to his cabin at
+		Moore's Flat, and conceal it in a back room. The clerk obeyed,
+		and with the little corpse before him on the horse started
+		from the back door and rode furiously to Moore's Flat, and
+		concealed the body as he had been directed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some noticed that he had ridden unusually fast, and having
+		a suspicion that all was not right, told their belief to the
+		Orleans Flat people, who visited the Doctor at his store and
+		accused him of the crime, and talked about hanging him on the
+		spot without a trial. At this the Doctor began to be greatly
+		frightened and begged piteously for them to spare his life,
+		confessing to the deed, but pleading in extenuation that it
+		was for the purpose of confirming a question in his
+		profession, and wholly in the interest of science that he did
+		it, and really to spare the feelings of the parents that he
+		did it secretly. He argued that no real harm had been done,
+		and some of his friends sided with him in this view. But the
+		controversy grew warmer, and the house filled up with people.
+		Some were bloodthirsty and needed no urging to proceed to buy
+		a rope and use it. Others argued, and finally the Doctor said
+		that the body had not been dissected, and if they would allow
+		him, and appoint a committee to go with him, he would produce
+		the body, and they could decently bury it again and there it
+		might remain forever. This he promised to do, and all agreed
+		to it, and he kept his word, thus ending the matter
+		satisfactorily and the Doctor was released. But the feeling
+		never died out. The Doctor's friends deserted him, and no one
+		seemed to like to converse with him. At the saloon he would
+		sit like a perfect stranger, no one noticing him, and he soon
+		left for new fields.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The first tunnel run at Moore's Flat was called the
+		Paradise, and had to be started low on the side of the
+		mountain in order to drain the ground, and had to be blasted
+		through the bed rock for about 200 feet.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Four of us secured ground enough by purchase so we could
+		afford to undertake this expensive job and we worked on it day
+		and night. Jerry Clark and Len Redfield worked the day shifts,
+		and Sam King and Wm. Quirk the night shift. When the tunnel
+		was completed about 100 feet, the night shift had driven
+		forward the top of the tunnel as a heading, leaving the
+		bottom, which was about a foot thick, or more, to be taken out
+		by the day shift. They drilled a hole about two feet
+		horizontally to blast out this bench. King would sit and hold
+		the drill between his feet, while Quirk would strike with a
+		heavy sledge. When the hole was loaded they tramped down the
+		charge very hard so as to be sure it would not blow out, but
+		lift the whole bench. One day when they were loading a hole,
+		King told Quirk to come down pretty heavy on the tamping, so
+		as to make all sure, and after a few blows given as directed,
+		there was an explosion, and Quirk was forced some distance out
+		of the tunnel, his eyes nearly put out with dirt blown into
+		them, and his face and body cut with flying pieces of rock. He
+		was at first completely stunned, but after awhile recovered so
+		as to crawl out, and was slowly making his way up the hill on
+		hands and knees when he was discovered and helped to his cabin
+		where his wounds were washed and dressed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Then a party with lighted candles entered the tunnel to
+		learn the fate of King, and they found him lying on the mass
+		of rock the blast had lifted, dead. On a piece of board they
+		bore the body to his cabin. There was hardly a whole bone
+		remaining. A cut diagonally across his face, made by a sharp
+		stone, had nearly cut his head in two. He had been thrown so
+		violently against the roof of the tunnel, about 6 feet high,
+		that he was completely mashed.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>He had a wife in Mass. and as I had often heard him talk of
+		her, and of sending her money, I bought a $100 check and sent
+		it in the same letter which bore the melancholy news. King had
+		a claim at Chip's Flat which he believed would be very rich in
+		time, so I kept his interest up in it till it amounted to $500
+		and then abandoned the claim and pocketed the loss.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>We made a pine box, and putting his body in it, laid it
+		away with respect. I had often heard him say that if he
+		suffered an accident, he wished to be killed outright and not
+		be left a cripple, and his wish came true.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>After this accident the blacksmith working for the Paradise
+		Co., was making some repairs about the surface of the air
+		shaft, and among his tools was a bar of steel an inch square,
+		and 8 or 10 feet long, which was thrown across the shaft, and
+		while working at the whim wheel he slipped and struck this bar
+		which fell to the bottom of the shaft, 100 feet deep and the
+		blacksmith followed. When the other workmen went down to his
+		assistance they found that the bar of steel had stuck upright
+		in the bottom of the shaft, and when the man came down it
+		pierced his body from hip to neck, killing him instantly. He
+		was a young man, and I have forgotten his name.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Those who came to California these later years will not
+		many of them see the old apparatus and appliances which were
+		used in saving the gold in those primitive days. Among them
+		was the old &quot;Rocker.&quot; This had a bottom about 5 feet
+		long and 16 inches wide, with the sides about 8 inches high
+		for half the length, and then sloped off to two inches at the
+		end. There was a bar about an inch high across the end to
+		serve as a riffle, and on the higher end of this box is a
+		stationary box 14 inches square, with sides 4 inches high and
+		having a sheet iron bottom perforated with half inch holes. On
+		the bottom of the box are fastened two rockers like those on
+		the baby cradle, and the whole had a piece of board or other
+		solid foundation to stand on, the whole being set at an angle
+		to allow the gravel to work off at the lower end with the
+		water. A cleat was fastened across the bottom to catch the
+		gold, and this was frequently examined to see how the work was
+		paying, and taking out such coarse pieces as could be readily
+		seen. To work the rocker a pan of dirt would be placed in the
+		square screen box, and then with one hand the miner would rock
+		the cradle while he poured water with the other from a dipper
+		to wash the earth. After he had poured on enough water and
+		shaken the box sufficiently to pass all the small stuff
+		through he would stir over what remained in the screen box,
+		examining carefully for a nugget too large to pass through the
+		half inch holes. If the miner found that the dirt did not pay
+		he took his rocker on his back and went on in search of a
+		better claim.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Another way to work the dirt was to get a small head of
+		water running in a ditch, and then run the water and gravel
+		through a series of boxes a foot square and twelve feet long,
+		using from one to ten boxes as circumstances seemed to
+		indicate. At the lower end of these boxes was placed the
+		&quot;Long Tom&quot; which was about two feet wide at the
+		lower end, and having sides six inches high at the same point.
+		The side pieces extend out about 3 feet longer than the wooden
+		bottom, and are turned up to a point, some like a sled runner,
+		and this turned up part has a bottom of sheet iron punched
+		full of holes, the size of the sheet iron being about 3 feet
+		by 16 inches.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The miners shovel dirt into the upper end of the boxes
+		slowly, and regulate the water so that it dissolves the lumps
+		and chunks very thoroughly before it reaches the long tom
+		where a man stands and stirs the gravel over, and if nothing
+		yellow is seen throws the washed gravel away, and lets the
+		rest go through the screen. Immediately below this screen was
+		placed what was called a &quot;riffle box,&quot; 2 by 4 feet
+		in size with bars 4 inches high across the bottom and sides,
+		and this box is set at the proper angle. Now when the water
+		comes through the screen it falls perpendicularly in this box
+		with force enough to keep the contents continually in motion,
+		and as the gold is much heavier than any other mineral likely
+		to be found in the dirt, it settles to the bottom, and all the
+		lighter stuff is carried away by the water. The gold would be
+		found behind the bars in the riffle box.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These methods of working were very crude, and we gradually
+		became aware that the finest dust was not saved, and many
+		improvements were brought into use. In my own mine the
+		tailings that we let go down the mountain side would lodge in
+		large piles in different places, and after lying a year, more
+		gold could be washed out of it than was first obtained, and
+		some of it coarser, so that it was plainly seen that a better
+		way of working would be more profitable. There was plenty of
+		ground called poor ground that had much gold in it but could
+		not be profitably worked with the rocker and long tom. The bed
+		rock was nearly level and as the land had a gradual rise, the
+		banks kept getting higher and higher as they dug farther in.
+		Now it was really good ground only down close to the bed rock,
+		but all the dirt had some gold in it, and if a way could be
+		invented to work it fast enough, such ground would pay. So the
+		plan of hydraulic mining was experimented upon.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The water was brought in a ditch or flume to the top of a
+		high bank, and then terminated in a tight box. To this box was
+		attached a large hose made by hand out of canvas, and a pipe
+		and nozzle attached to the lower end of the hose. Now as the
+		bank was often 100 feet or more high the water at this head,
+		when directed through the nozzle against the bank, fairly
+		melted it away into liquid mud. Imagine us located a mile
+		above the river on the side of a mountain. We dug at first
+		sluices in the rock to carry off the mud and water, and after
+		it had flowed in these a little way a sluice box was put in to
+		pass it through. These were made on a slope of one in twelve,
+		and the bottom paved with blocks, 3 inches thick, so laid as
+		to make a cavity or pocket at the corner of the blocks. After
+		passing the first sluice box the water and gravel would be run
+		in a bed rock sluice again, and then into another sluice box
+		and so on for a mile, passing through several sluice boxes on
+		the way. Quicksilver was placed in the upper sluice boxes, and
+		when the particles of gold were polished up by tumbling about
+		in the gravel, they combined with the quicksilver making an
+		amalgam.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The most gold would be left in the first sluice boxes but
+		some would go on down to the very last, where the water and
+		dirt was run off into the river. They cleaned up the first
+		sluices every week, a little farther down every month, while
+		the lower ones would only be cleaned up at the end of the
+		season.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In cleaning up, the blocks would be taken out of the boxes,
+		and every little crevice or pocket in the whole length of the
+		sluice cleaned out, from the bottom to the top, using little
+		hooks and iron spoons made for the purpose.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The amalgam thus collected was heated in a retort which
+		expelled the quicksilver in vapor, which was condensed and
+		used again.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When they first tried hydraulic work a tinsmith made a
+		nozzle out of sheet iron, but when put in practice, instead of
+		throwing a solid stream, it scattered like an shotgun, and up
+		at Moore's Flat they called the claims where they used it the
+		&quot;shotgun&quot; claims.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>From that time great improvements were made in hydraulic
+		apparatus until the work done by them was really
+		wonderful.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In 1850 there lived at Orleans Flat and Moore's Flat, in
+		Nevada County a few young, energetic and very stirring
+		pioneers in the persons of lads from 10 to 15 years of age,
+		always on the search for a few dimes to spend, or add to an
+		already hoarded store, and the mountain air, with the wild
+		surroundings, seemed to inspire them always with lively vigor,
+		and especially when there was a prospect of a two-bit piece
+		not far ahead.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In winter when the deep snow cut off all communication with
+		the valley, our busy tinner ran short of solder, and seeing a
+		limited supply in the tin cans that lay thick about, he
+		engaged the boys to gather in a supply and showed them how
+		they could be melted down to secure the solder with which they
+		had been fastened, and thus provide for his immediate wants.
+		So the boys ransacked every spot where they had been thrown,
+		under the saloon and houses, and in old dump holes everywhere,
+		till they had gathered a pretty large pile which they fired as
+		he had told them, and then panned out the ashes to secure the
+		drops of metal which had melted down and cooled in small drops
+		and bits below. This was re-melted and cast into a mould made
+		in a pine block, and the solder made into regular form. About
+		one-third was made up thus in good and honest shape.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>But the boys soon developed a shrewdness that if more fully
+		expanded might make them millionaires, but in the present
+		small way they hoped to put to account in getting a few extra
+		dimes. They put a big chunk of iron in the mould and poured in
+		the melted solder which enclosed it completely, so that when
+		they presented the bright silvery bar to the old tinker he
+		paid the price agreed upon and they divided the money between
+		them, and then, in a secure place, they laughed till their
+		sides ached at the good joke on the tinman.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In due time the man found out the iron core in his bar of
+		solder, and thought the joke such a good one that he told of
+		it in the saloon, and had to spend at least $5 in drinks to
+		ease off the laugh they had on him as the victim of the young
+		California pioneers. And these young fellows&mdash;some have
+		paddled their own canoe successfully into quiet waters and are
+		now in the fullness of life, happy in their possessions, while
+		some have been swamped on the great rushing stream of
+		business, and dwell in memory on the happy times gone by.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The older pioneers in these mining towns were, in many
+		respects a peculiar class of men. Most of them were sober and
+		industrious, fearless and venturesome, jolly and happy when
+		good luck came to them, and in misfortune stood up with brave,
+		strong, manly hearts, without a tear or murmur. They let the
+		world roll merrily by, were ever ready with joke, mirth and
+		fun to make their surroundings cheerful.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Fortunes came and went; they made money easily, and spent
+		it just as freely, and in their generosity and kindly charity
+		the old expression&mdash;&quot;He has a heart like an ox&quot;
+		fitted well the character of most of them.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When luck turned against them they worked the harder, for
+		the next turn might fill their big pockets with a fortune, and
+		then the dream of capturing a wife and building up a home
+		could be realized, and they would move out into the world on a
+		wave of happiness and plenty. This kind of talk was freely
+		carried on around the camp fire in the long evenings, and who
+		knows how many of these royal good fellows realized those
+		bright hopes and glorious anticipations? Who knows?<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The names come back in memory of some of them, and others
+		have been forgotten. I recall Washington Work, H. J. Kingman,
+		A. J. Henderson, L. J. Hanchett, Jack Hays, Seth Bishop, Burr
+		Blakeslee, Jim Tyler, who was the loudest laugher in the town,
+		and as he lived at the Clifton House he was called &quot;The
+		Clifton House Calf.&quot; These and many others might be
+		mentioned as typical good fellows of the mining days. The
+		biggest kind of practical joke would be settled amicably at
+		the saloon after the usual style.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One day Jack Hays bought a pair of new boots, set them down
+		in the store and went to turn off the miners supply of water.
+		When he returned he found his boots well filled with refuse
+		crackers and water. This he discovered when he took them up to
+		go to dinner, and as he poured out the contents at the door, a
+		half dozen boys across the street raised a big laugh at him,
+		and hooted at his discomfiture. Jack scowled an awful scowl,
+		and if he called them &quot;pukes&quot; with a few swear words
+		added, it was a mild way of pouring out his anger. But after
+		dinner the boys surrounded him and fairly laughed him into a
+		good humor, so that he set up drinks for the crowd.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Foot races were a great Sunday sport, and dog fights were
+		not uncommon. One dog in our camp was champion of the ridge,
+		and though other camps brought in their pet canines to eat him
+		up, he was always the top dog at the end of the scrimmage, and
+		he had a winning grip on the fore foot of his antagonist.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>A big &quot;husky&quot; who answered to the name of
+		Cherokee Bob came our way and stopped awhile. He announced
+		himself a foot racer, and a contest was soon arranged with
+		Soda Bill of Nevada City, and each went into a course of
+		training at his own camp. Bob found some way to get the best
+		time that Bill could make, and comparing it with his own, said
+		he could beat in that race. So when it came off our boys
+		gathered up their money, and loaded down the stage, inside and
+		out, departing with swinging hats and flying colors, and
+		screaming in wild delight at the sure prospect of doubling
+		their dust. In a few days they all came back after the style
+		of half drowned roosters.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Bob had 'thrown' the race and skipped with his money before
+		they could catch him. Had he been found he would have been
+		urgently hoisted to the first projecting limb, but he was
+		never seen again. The boys were sad and silent for a day or
+		two, but a look of cheerful resignation soon came upon their
+		faces as they handled pick and shovel, and the world rolled on
+		as before.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>One fall we had a county election, and among the candidates
+		for office was our townsman, H.M. Moore, from whom Moore's
+		Flat secured its name. He was the Democratic nominee for
+		County Judge, and on the other side was David Belden, he whom
+		Santa Clara County felt proud to honor as its Superior Judge,
+		and when death claimed him, never was man more sincerely
+		mourned by every citizen.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The votes were counted, and Belden was one ahead. Moore
+		claimed another count, and this time a mistake was discovered
+		in the former count, but unfortunately it gave Belden a larger
+		majority than before, and his adversary was forced to abandon
+		the political fight.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the fifties I traveled from the North Yuba River to San
+		Bernardino on different roads, and made many acquaintances and
+		friends. I can truly say that I found many of these early
+		comers who were the most noble men and women of the earth.
+		They were brave else they had never taken the journey through
+		unknown deserts, and through lands where wild Indians had
+		their homes. They were just and true to friends, and to real
+		enemies, terribly bitter and uncompromising. Money was
+		borrowed and loaned without a note or written obligation, and
+		there was no mention made of statute laws as a rule of action.
+		When a real murderer or horsethief was caught no lawyers were
+		needed nor employed, but if the community was satisfied as to
+		the guilt and identity of the prisoner, the punishment was
+		speedily meted out, and the nearest tree was soon ornamented
+		(?) with his swinging carcass.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Many of these worthy men broke the trail on the rough way
+		that led to the Pacific Coast, drove away all dangers, and
+		made it safer for those who dared not at first risk life and
+		fortune in the journey, but, encouraged by the success of the
+		earliest pioneers, ventured later on the eventful trip to the
+		new gold fields. I cannot praise these noble men too much;
+		they deserve all I can say, and much more, too; and if a word
+		I can say shall teach our new citizens to regard with reverent
+		respect the early pioneers who laid the foundations of the
+		glory, prosperity and beauty of the California of to-day, I
+		shall have done all I hope to, and the historian of another
+		half century may do them justice, and give to them their full
+		need of praise.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>As long as I have lived in California I have never carried
+		a weapon of defense, and never could see much danger. I tried
+		to follow the right trail so as to shun bad men, and never
+		found much difficulty in doing so. We hear much of the
+		Vigilance Committee of early days. It was an actual necessity
+		of former times. The gold fields not only attracted the good
+		and brave, but also the worst and most lawless desperadoes of
+		the world at large. England's banished convicts came here from
+		the penal colonies of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. They
+		had wonderful ideas of freedom. In their own land the stern
+		laws and numerous constabulary had not been able to keep them
+		from crime. A colony of criminals did not improve in moral
+		tone, and when the most reckless and daring of all these were
+		turned loose in a country like California, where the machinery
+		of laws and officers to execute them was not yet in order,
+		these lawless &quot;Sidney Ducks,&quot; as they were called,
+		felt free to rob and murder, and human life or blood was not
+		allowed to stand between them and their desires. Others of the
+		same general stripe came from Mexico and Chili, and Texas and
+		Western Missouri furnished another class almost as bad.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Vigilance Committee of San Francisco was composed of
+		the best men in the world. They endured all that was heaped
+		upon them by these lawless men, and the law of self protection
+		forced them to organize for the swift apprehension and
+		punishment of crime, and the preservation of their property
+		and lives. No one was punished unjustly, but there was no
+		delay, and the evil-doer met his fate swiftly and surely.
+		Justice was strict, and the circumstances were generally
+		unfavorable to thoughts of mercy. I was in San Francisco the
+		day after Casey and Cory were hung by the Vigilance Committee.
+		Things looked quite military. Fort Gunny-bags seemed well
+		protected, and no innocent man in any danger. I was then a
+		customer of G.W. Badger and Lindenberger, clothiers, and was
+		present one day in their store when some of the clerks came in
+		from general duty, and their comrades shouldered the same guns
+		and took their places on guard. The Committee was so truly
+		vigilant that these fire-bugs, robbers and cut-throats had to
+		hide for safety.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Those who came early to this coast were, mostly, brave,
+		venturesome, enduring fellows, who felt they could outlive any
+		hardship and overcome all difficulties; they were of no
+		ordinary type of character or habits. They thought they saw
+		success before them, and were determined to win it at almost
+		any cost. They had pictured in their minds the size of the
+		&quot;pile&quot; that would satisfy them, and brought their
+		buckskin bags with them, in various sizes, to hold the snug
+		sum they hoped to win in the wonderful gold fields of the then
+		unknown California.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These California pioneers were restless fellows, but those
+		who came by the overland trail were not without education and
+		refinement; they were, indeed, many of them, the very cream of
+		Americans. The new scenes and associations, the escape from
+		the influence of home and friends, of wife and children, led
+		some off the dim track, and their restlessness could not well
+		be put down. Reasonable men could not expect all persons under
+		these circumstances to be models of virtue. Then the Missouri
+		River seemed to be the western boundary of all civilization,
+		and as these gold hunters launched out on the almost trackless
+		prairies that lay westward of that mighty stream, many
+		considered themselves as entering a country of peculiar
+		freedom, and it was often said that &quot;Law and morality
+		never crossed the Missouri River.&quot; Passing this great
+		stream was like the crossing of the Rubicon in earlier
+		history, a step that could not be retraced, a launching to
+		victory or death. Under this state of feeling many showed the
+		cloven foot, and tried to make trouble, but in any emergency
+		good and honest men seemed always in the majority, and those
+		who had thoughts or desires of evil were compelled to submit
+		to honorable and just conclusions.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>There were some strange developments of character among
+		these travelers. Some who had in long attendance at school and
+		church, listened all their lives to teachings of morality and
+		justice, and at home seemed to be fairly wedded to ideas of
+		even rights between man and man, seemed to experience a change
+		of character as they neared the Pacific Coast. Amiable
+		dispositions became soured, moral ideas sadly blunted, and
+		their whole make-up seemed changed, while others who at home
+		seemed to be of rougher mould, developed principles of justice
+		and humanity, affection almost unbounded, and were true men in
+		every trial and in all places. A majority of all were thus
+		fair-minded and true.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Men from every state from New Hampshire to Texas gathered
+		on the banks of the Missouri to set out together across the
+		plains. These men reared in different climates, amid different
+		ways and customs, taught by different teachers in schools of
+		religion and politics, made up a strange mass when thus thrown
+		together; but the good and true came to the surface, and the
+		turbulent and bad were always in a hopeless minority. Laws
+		seemed to grow out of the very circumstances, and though not
+		in print, flagrant violations would be surely punished.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Some left civilization with all the luxuries money could
+		buy&mdash;fine, well-equipped trains of their own, and riding
+		a fat and prancing steed, which they guided with gloved hands,
+		and seemed to think that water and grass and pleasant camping
+		places would always be found wherever they wished to stop for
+		rest, and that the great El Dorado would be a grand pleasure
+		excursion, ending in a pile of gold large enough to fill their
+		big leather purse. But the sleek, fat horse grew poor; the
+		gloves with embroidered gauntlet wrists were cast aside; the
+		trains grew small, and the luxuries vanished, and perhaps the
+		plucky owner made the last few hundred miles on foot, with
+		blistered soles and scanty pack, almost alone. Many of these
+		gay trains never reached California, and many a pioneer who
+		started with high hopes died upon the way, some rudely buried,
+		some left where they fell upon the sands or rocks.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Those who got through found a splendid climate and
+		promising prospects before them of filling empty stomachs and
+		empty pockets, and were soon searching eagerly for yellow
+		treasure. When fortunate they recovered rapidly their
+		exhausted bodies to health and strength, and gained new energy
+		as they saw prosperity.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Prospectors wandered through the mountains in search of new
+		and suitable gold diggings, and when they came to a miner's
+		cabin the door was always open, and whether the owner was
+		present or absent they could go in, and if hungry, help
+		themselves to anything they found in shape of food, and go
+		away again without fear of offense, for under such
+		circumstances the unwritten law said that grub was free.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>By the same unwritten law, stealing and robbery, as well as
+		murder, were capital offences, and lawless characters were put
+		down. Favors were freely granted, and written obligations were
+		never asked or given, and business was governed by the rules
+		of strictest honor. The great majority of these pioneers were
+		the bone and sinew of the nation, and possessed a fair share
+		of the brains. In a personal experience with them extending
+		from early days to the present time I have found them always
+		just and honorable, and I regret that it is not within my
+		ability to give the praise they deserve. When a stranger and
+		hungry I was never turned away without food, and my
+		entertainment was free, and given without thought of
+		compensation or reward.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>In the chambers of my mind are stored up the most pleasant
+		recollections of these noble men whose good deeds in days gone
+		by have earned for them the right to a crown of glory of
+		greatest splendor.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>These noble souls who came here 40 years ago are fast
+		passing away across the Mystic River, and those who trod on
+		foot the hot and dusty trail are giving way to those who come
+		in swiftly rolling palace cars, and who hardly seem to give a
+		thought to the difference between then and now. Those who came
+		early cleared the way and started the great stream of gold
+		that has made America one of the richest nations of the
+		world.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>I have a suggestion to make to the descendants of these
+		noble pioneers, that to perpetuate the memory of their
+		fathers, and do reverence to their good and noble deeds in the
+		early history of this grand State, there should be erected
+		upon the highest mountain top a memorial building wherein may
+		be inscribed the names and histories of the brave pioneers, so
+		they may never be blotted out.<br>
+		</p>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<p>THE JAYHAWKERS.<br>
+			</p>
+		</div>
+		<p>The most perfect organization of the pioneers who
+		participated more or less in the scenes depicted in this
+		volume, is that of the Jayhawkers, and, strange to say, this
+		organization is in the East, and has its annual meetings
+		there, although the living members are about equally divided
+		between the East and the Pacific Coast. As related elsewhere,
+		February 4th is the day of the annual meeting, for on that day
+		they reached the Santa Clara Valley.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It is greatly regretted that a more direct and complete
+		account of the Death Valley experience of the Jayhawkers could
+		not have been obtained for this work. To be sure it was from
+		the lips of a living witness told in many conversations, but
+		no doubt many striking incidents were left out. It is,
+		however, a settled thing that these, and other individuals
+		with whom he was immediately connected, were more intimately
+		connected with the horrors of the sunken valley which was
+		given its name by them, than were any other persons who ever
+		crossed that desert region.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>It will be considered that this was the most favorable time
+		of year possible, and that during the spring or summer not one
+		would have lived to tell the tale.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The Author, to his best, has done his duty to all, and
+		concludes with the hope that this mite may authenticate one of
+		the saddest chapters in the history of the Golden State.<br>
+		</p>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<p>CONCLUSION.<br>
+			</p>
+		</div>
+		<p>This story is not meant to be sensational, but a plain,
+		unvarnished tale of truth&mdash;some parts hard and very sad.
+		It is a narrative of my personal experience, and being in no
+		sense a literary man or making any pretense as a writer, I
+		hope the errors may be overlooked, for it has been to me a
+		difficult story to tell, arousing as it did sad recollections
+		of the past. I have told it in the plainest, briefest way,
+		with nothing exaggerated or overdone. Those who traveled over
+		the same or similar routes are capable of passing a just
+		opinion of the story.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Looking back over more than 40 years, I was then a great
+		lover of liberty, as well as health and happiness, and I
+		possessed a great desire to see a new country never yet trod
+		by civilized man, so that I easily caught the gold fever of
+		1849, and naught but a trip to that land of fabled wealth
+		could cure me.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Geography has wonderfully changed since then. Where Omaha
+		now stands there was not a house in 1849. Six hundred miles of
+		treeless prairie without a house brought us to the adobe
+		dwellings at Fort Laramie, and 400, more or less, were the
+		long miles to Mormondom, still more than 700 miles from the
+		Pacific Coast. Passing over this wilderness was like going to
+		sea without a compass.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Hence it will be seen that when we crossed a stream that
+		was said to flow to the Pacific Ocean, myself and comrades
+		were ready to adopt floating down its current as an easier
+		road than the heated trail, and for three weeks, over rocks
+		and rapids, we floated and tumbled down the deep ca&ntilde;on
+		of Green River till we emerged into an open plain and were
+		compelled to come on shore by the Indians there encamped. We
+		had believed the Indians to be a war-like and cruel people,
+		but when we made them understand where we wanted to go, they
+		warned us of the great impassable Colorado Ca&ntilde;on only
+		two days ahead of us, and pointed out the road to
+		&quot;Mormonie&quot; with their advice to take it. This was
+		Chief Walker, a good, well meaning red man, and to him we owed
+		our lives.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>Out of this trouble we were once again on the safe road
+		from Salt Lake to Los Angeles, and again made error in taking
+		a cutoff route, and striking across a trackless country
+		because it seemed to promise a shorter distance, and where
+		thirteen of our party lie unburied on the sands of the
+		terribly dry valley. Those who lived were saved by the little
+		puddles of rain water that had fallen from the small rain
+		clouds that had been forced over the great Sierra Nevada
+		Mountains in one of the wettest winters ever known. In an
+		ordinary year we should have all died of thirst, so that we
+		were lucky in our misfortune.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>When we came out to the fertile coast near Los Angeles, we
+		found good friends in the native Californians who, like good
+		Samaritans, gave us food and took us in, poor, nearly starved
+		creatures that we were, without money or property from which
+		they could expect to be rewarded. Their deeds stand out whiter
+		in our memories than all the rest, notwithstanding their skins
+		were dark. It seems to me such people do not live in this age
+		of the world which we are pleased to call advanced. I was much
+		with these old Californians, and found them honest and
+		truthful, willing to divide the last bit of food with a needy
+		stranger or a friend. Their good deeds have never been praised
+		enough, and I feel it in my heart to do them ample justice
+		while I live.<br>
+		</p>
+		<p>The work that was laid out for me to do, to tell when and
+		where I went, is done. Perhaps in days to come it may be of
+		even more interest than now, and I shall be glad I have turned
+		over the scenes in my memory and recorded them, and on some
+		rolling stone you may inscribe the name of WILLIAM LEWIS
+		MANLEY, born near St. Albans, Vermont, April 20th, 1820, who
+		went to Michigan while yet it was a territory, as an early
+		pioneer; then onward to Wisconsin before it became a state,
+		and for twelve long, weary months traveled across the wild
+		western prairies, the lofty mountains and sunken deserts of
+		Death Valley, to this land which is now so pleasant and so
+		fair, wherein, after over 40 years of earnest toil, I rest in
+		the midst of family and friends, and can truly say I am
+		content.</p>
+		<div align=center>
+			THE&nbsp;END.</div>
+		<br>
+		<div align=center>
+			<img height=386 alt="" src="images/ch_17.png" width=314
+			border=0></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
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@@ -0,0 +1,14751 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Death Valley in '49
+
+Author: William Lewis Manly
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2004 [EBook #12236]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEATH VALLEY IN '49 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry Mittell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+DEATH VALLEY IN '49.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+IMPORTANT CHAPTER OF California Pioneer History.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+--THE--
+
+AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PIONEER, DETAILING HIS LIFE FROM A HUMBLE HOME IN THE
+GREEN MOUNTAINS TO THE GOLD MINES OF CALIFORNIA; AND PARTICULARLY
+RECITING THE SUFFERINGS OF THE BAND OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO GAVE
+"DEATH VALLEY" ITS NAME.
+
+BY WILLIAM LEWIS MANLY.
+
+1894.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by WM. L.
+MANLEY, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TO THE PIONEERS OF CALIFORNIA, THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, THIS
+BOOK IS DEDICATED, WITH THAT HIGH RESPECT AND REGARD SO OFTEN EXPRESSED
+IN ITS PAGES, BY THE AUTHOR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I. Birth, Parentage.--Early Life in Vermont.--Sucking Cider
+through a Straw.
+
+CHAPTER II. The Western Fever.--On the Road to Ohio.--The Outfit.--The
+Erie Canal.--In the Maumee Swamp.
+
+CHAPTER III. At Detroit and Westward.--Government Land.--Killing
+Deer.--"Fever 'N Agur."
+
+CHAPTER IV. The Lost Filley Boy.--Never Was Found.
+
+CHAPTER V. Sickness.--Rather Catch Chipmonks in the Rocky Mountains than
+Live in Michigan.--Building the Michigan Central R.R.--Building a
+Boat.--Floating down Grand River.--Black Bear.--Indians Catching
+Mullet.--Across the Lake to Southport.--Lead Mining at Mineral
+Point.--Decides to go Farther West.--Return to Michigan.
+
+CHAPTER VI. Wisconsin.--Indian Physic.--Dressed for a Winter Hunting
+Campaign.--Hunting and Trapping in the Woods.--Catching Otter and
+Marten.
+
+CHAPTER VII. Lead Mining.--Hears about Gold in California.--Gets the
+Gold Fever.--Nothing will cure it but California.--Mr. Bennett and the
+Author Prepare to Start.--The Winnebago Pony.--Agrees to Meet Bennett at
+Missouri River.--Delayed and Fails to Find Him.--Left with only a Gun
+and Pony.--Goes as a Driver for Charles Dallas.--Stopped by a Herd of
+Buffaloes.--Buffalo Meat.--Indians.--U.S. Troops.--The Captain and the
+Lieutenant.--Arrive at South Pass.--The Waters Run toward the
+Pacific.--They Find a Boat and Seven of them Decide to Float down the
+Green River.
+
+CHAPTER VIII. Floating down the River.--It begins to roar.--Thirty Miles
+a Day.--Brown's Hole.--Lose the Boat and make two Canoes.--Elk.--The
+Cañons get Deeper.--Floundering in the Water.--The Indian Camp.--Chief
+Walker proves a Friend.--Describes the Terrible Cañon below
+Them.--Advises Them to go no farther down.--Decide to go
+Overland.--Dangerous Route to Salt Lake.--Meets Bennett near
+there.--Organize the Sand Walking Company.
+
+CHAPTER IX. The Southern Route.--Off in Fine Style.--A Cut-off
+Proposed.--Most of Them Try it and Fail.--The Jayhawkers.--A New
+Organization.--Men with Families not Admitted.--Capture an Indian Who
+Gives Them the Slip.--An Indian Woman and Her Children.--Grass Begins to
+Fail.--A High Peak to the West.--No Water.--An Indian Hut.--Reach the
+Warm Spring.--Desert Everywhere.--Some One Steals Food.--The Water Acts
+Like a Dose of Salts.--Christmas Day.--Rev. J.W. Brier Delivers a
+Lecture to His Sons.--Nearly Starving and Choking.--An Indian in a
+Mound.--Indians Shoot the Oxen.--Camp at Furnace Creek.
+
+CHAPTER X. A Long, Narrow Valley.--Beds and Blocks of Salt.--An Ox
+Killed.--Blood, Hide and Intestines Eaten.--Crossing Death Valley.--The
+Wagons can go no farther.--Manley and Rogers Volunteer to go for
+Assistance.--They Set out on Foot.--Find the Dead Body of Mr. Fish.--Mr.
+Isham Dies.--Bones along the Road.--Cabbage Trees.--Eating Crow and
+Hawk.--After Sore Trials They Reach a Fertile Land.--Kindly
+Treated.--Returning with Food and Animals.--The Little Mule Climbs a
+Precipice, the Horses are Left Behind.--Finding the Body of Captain
+Culverwell.--They Reach Their Friends just as all Hope has Left
+Them.--Leaving the Wagons.--Packs on the Oxen.--Sacks for the
+Children.--Old Crump.--Old Brigham and Mrs. Arcane.--A Stampede
+[Illustrated.]--Once more Moving Westward.--"Good-bye, Death Valley."
+
+CHAPTER XI. Struggling Along.--Pulling the Oxen Down the Precipice
+[Illustrated.]--Making Raw-hide Moccasins.--Old Brigham Lost and
+Found.--Dry Camps.--Nearly Starving.--Melancholy and Blue.--The Feet of
+the Women Bare and Blistered.--"One Cannot form an Idea How Poor an Ox
+Will Get."--Young Charlie Arcane very Sick.--Skulls of Cattle.--Crossing
+the Snow Belt.--Old Dog Cuff.--Water Dancing over the Rocks.--Drink, Ye
+Thirsty Ones.--Killing a Yearling.--- See the Fat.--Eating Makes Them
+Sick.--Going down Soledad Cañon--A Beautiful Meadow.--Hospitable Spanish
+People.--They Furnish Shelter and Food.--The San Fernando
+Mission.--Reaching Los Angeles.--They Meet Moody and Skinner.--Soap and
+Water for the First Time in Months.--Clean Dresses for the Women.--Real
+Bread to Eat.--A Picture of Los Angeles.--Black-eyed Women.--The Author
+Works in a Boarding-house.--Bennett and Others go up the Coast.--Life in
+Los Angeles.--The Author Prepares to go North.
+
+CHAPTER XII. Dr. McMahon's Story.--McMahon and Field, Left behind with
+Chief Walker, Determine to go down the River.--Change Their Minds and go
+with the Indians.--Change again and go by themselves.--Eating Wolf
+Meat.--After much Suffering they reach Salt Lake.--John Taylor's Pretty
+Wife.--Field falls in Love with her.--They Separate.--Incidents of
+Wonderful Escapes from Death.
+
+CHAPTER XIII. Story of the Jayhawkers.--Ceremonies of Initiation--Rev.
+J.W. Brier.--His Wife the best Man of the Two.--Story of the Road across
+Death Valley.--Burning the Wagons.--Narrow Escape of Tom Shannon.--Capt.
+Ed Doty was Brave and True.--They reach the Sea by way of Santa Clara
+River.--Capt. Haynes before the Alcalde.--List of Jayhawkers.
+
+CHAPTER XIV. Alexander Erkson's Statement.--Works for Brigham Young at
+Salt Lake.--Mormon Gold Coin.--Mt. Misery.--The Virgin River and Yucca
+Trees.--A Child Born to Mr, and Mrs. Rynierson.--Arrive at
+Cucamonga.--Find some good Wine which is good for Scurvy.--San Francisco
+and the Mines.--Settles in San Jose.--Experience of Edward Coker.--Death
+of Culverwell, Fish and Isham.--Goes through Walker's Pass and down Kern
+River.--Living in Fresno in 1892.
+
+CHAPTER XV. The Author again takes up the History.--Working in a
+Boarding House, but makes Arrangements to go North.--Mission San Bueno
+Ventura.--First Sight of the Pacific Ocean.--Santa Barbara in
+1850.--Paradise and Desolation.--San Miguel, Santa Ynez and San Luis
+Obispo.--California Carriages and how they were used.--Arrives in San
+Jose and Camps in the edge of Town.--Description of the place.--Meets
+John Rogers, Bennett, Moody and Skinner.--On the road to the
+Mines.--They find some of the Yellow Stuff and go Prospecting for
+more--Experience with _Piojos_--Life and Times in the Mines--Sights and
+Scenes along the Road, at Sea, on the Isthmus, Cuba, New Orleans, and up
+the Mississippi--A few Months Amid Old Scenes, then away to the Golden
+State again.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI St. Louis to New Orleans, New Orleans to San Francisco--Off
+to the Mines Again--Life in the Mines and Incidents of Mining Times and
+Men--Vigilance Committee--Death of Mrs. Bennett.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII Mines and Mining--Adventures and Incidents of the Early
+Days--The Pioneers, their Character and Influence--- Conclusion.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+DEATH VALLEY IN '49
+
+THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PIONEER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+St. Albans, Vermont is near the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, and
+only a short distance south of "Five-and-forty north degrees" which
+separates the United States from Canada, and some sixty or seventy miles
+from the great St. Lawrence River and the city of Montreal. Near here it
+was, on April 6th, 1820, I was born, so the record says, and from this
+point with wondering eyes of childhood I looked across the waters of the
+narrow lake to the slopes of the Adirondack mountains in New York, green
+as the hills of my own Green Mountain State.
+
+The parents of my father were English people and lived near Hartford,
+Connecticut, where he was born. While still a little boy he came with
+his parents to Vermont. My mother's maiden name was Phœbe Calkins, born
+near St. Albans of Welch parents, and, being left an orphan while yet in
+very tender years, she was given away to be reared by people who
+provided food and clothes, but permitted her to grow up to womanhood
+without knowing how to read or write. After her marriage she learned to
+do both, and acquired the rudiments of an education.
+
+Grandfather and his boys, four in all, fairly carved a farm out of the
+big forest that covered the cold rocky hills. Giant work it was for them
+in such heavy timber--pine, hemlock, maple, beech and birch--the
+clearing of a single acre being a man's work for a year. The place where
+the maples were thickest was reserved for a sugar grove, and from it was
+made all of the sweet material they needed, and some besides. Economy of
+the very strictest kind had to be used in every direction. Main strength
+and muscle were the only things dispensed in plenty. The crops raised
+consisted of a small flint corn, rye oats, potatoes and turnips. Three
+cows, ten or twelve sheep, a few pigs and a yoke of strong oxen
+comprised the live stock--horses, they had none for many years. A great
+ox-cart was the only wheeled vehicle on the place, and this, in winter,
+gave place to a heavy sled, the runners cut from a tree having a natural
+crook and roughly, but strongly, made.
+
+In summer there were plenty of strawberries, raspberries, whortleberries
+and blackberries growing wild, but all the cultivated fruit was apples.
+As these ripened many were peeled by hand, cut in quarters, strung on
+long strings of twine and dried before the kitchen fire for winter use.
+They had a way of burying up some of the best keepers in the ground, and
+opening the apple hole was quite an event of early spring.
+
+The children were taught to work as soon as large enough. I remember
+they furnished me with a little wooden fork to spread the heavy swath of
+grass my father cut with easy swings of the scythe, and when it was dry
+and being loaded on the great ox-cart I followed closely with a rake
+gathering every scattering spear. The barn was built so that every
+animal was housed comfortably in winter, and the house was such as all
+settlers built, not considered handsome, but capable of being made very
+warm in winter and the great piles of hard wood in the yard enough to
+last as fuel for a year, not only helped to clear the land, but kept us
+comfortable. Mother and the girls washed, carded, spun, and wove the
+wool from our own sheep into good strong cloth. Flax was also raised,
+and I remember how they pulled it, rotted it by spreading on the green
+meadow, then broke and dressed it, and then the women made linen cloth
+of various degrees of fineness, quality, and beauty. Thus, by the labor
+of both men and women, we were clothed. If an extra fine Sunday dress
+was desired, part of the yarn was colored and from this they managed to
+get up a very nice plaid goods for the purpose.
+
+In clearing the land the hemlock bark was peeled and traded off at the
+tannery for leather, or used to pay for tanning and dressing the hide of
+an ox or cow which they managed to fat and kill about every year. Stores
+for the family were either made by a neighboring shoe-maker, or by a
+traveling one who went from house to house, making up a supply for the
+family--whipping the cat, they called it then. They paid him in
+something or other produced upon the farm, and no money was asked or
+expected.
+
+Wood was one thing plenty, and the fireplace was made large enough to
+take in sticks four feet long or more, for the more they could burn the
+better, to get it out of the way. In an outhouse, also provided with a
+fireplace and chimney, they made shingles during the long winter
+evenings, the shavings making plenty of fire and light by which to work.
+The shingles sold for about a dollar a thousand. Just beside the
+fireplace in the house was a large brick oven where mother baked great
+loaves of bread, big pots of pork and beans, mince pies and loaf cake, a
+big turkey or a young pig on grand occasions. Many of the dishes used
+were of tin or pewter; the milk pans were of earthenware, but most
+things about the house in the line of furniture were of domestic
+manufacture.
+
+The store bills were very light. A little tea for father and mother, a
+few spices and odd luxuries were about all, and they were paid for with
+surplus eggs. My father and my uncle had a sawmill, and in winter they
+hauled logs to it, and could sell timber for $8 per thousand feet.
+
+The school was taught in winter by a man named Bowen, who managed forty
+scholars and considered sixteen dollars a month, boarding himself, was
+pretty fair pay. In summer some smart girl would teach the small
+scholars and board round among the families.
+
+When the proper time came the property holder would send off to the
+collector an itemized list of all his property, and at another the taxes
+fell due. A farmer who would value his property at two thousand or three
+thousand dollars would find he had to pay about six or seven dollars.
+All the money in use then seemed to be silver, and not very much of
+that. The whole plan seemed to be to have every family and farm
+self-supporting as far as possible. I have heard of a note being given
+payable in a good cow to be delivered at a certain time, say October 1,
+and on that day it would pass from house to house in payment of a debt,
+and at night only the last man in the list would have a cow more than
+his neighbor. Yet those were the days of real independence, after all.
+Every man worked hard from early youth to a good old age. There were no
+millionaires, no tramps, and the poorhouse had only a few inmates.
+
+I have very pleasant recollections of the neighborhood cider mill. There
+were two rollers formed of logs carefully rounded and four or five feet
+long, set closely together in an upright position in a rough frame, a
+long crooked sweep coming from one of them to which a horse was hitched
+and pulled it round and round, One roller had mortices in it, and
+projecting wooden teeth on the other fitted into these, so that, as they
+both slowly turned together, the apples were crushed, A huge box of
+coarse slats, notched and locked together at the corners, held a vast
+pile of the crushed apples while clean rye straw was added to strain the
+flowing juice and keep the cheese from spreading too much; then the
+ponderous screw and streams of delicious cider. Sucking cider through a
+long rye straw inserted in the bung-hole of a barrel was just the best
+of fun, and cider taken that way "awful" good while it was new and
+sweet.
+
+The winter ashes, made from burning so much fuel and gathered from the
+brush-heaps and log-heaps, were carefully saved and traded with the
+potash men for potash or sold for a small price. Nearly every one went
+barefoot in summer, and in winter wore heavy leather moccasins made by
+the Canadian French who lived near by.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+About 1828 people began to talk about the far West. Ohio was the place
+we heard most about, and the most we knew was, that it was a long way
+off and no way to get there except over a long and tedious road, with
+oxen or horses and a cart or wagon. More than one got the Western fever,
+as they called it, my uncle James Webster and my father among the rest,
+when they heard some traveler tell about the fine country he had seen;
+so they sold their farms and decided to go to Ohio, Uncle James was to
+go ahead, in the fall of 1829 and get a farm to rent, if he could, and
+father and his family were to come on the next spring.
+
+Uncle fitted out with two good horses and a wagon; goods were packed in
+a large box made to fit, and under the wagon seat was the commissary
+chest for food and bedding for daily use, all snugly arranged. Father
+had, shortly before, bought a fine Morgan mare and a light wagon which
+served as a family carriage, having wooden axles and a seat arranged on
+wooden springs, and they finally decided they would let me take the
+horse and wagon and go on with uncle, and father and mother would come
+by water, either by way of the St. Lawrence river and the lakes or by
+way of the new canal recently built, which would take them as far as
+Buffalo.
+
+So they loaded up the little wagon with some of the mentioned things and
+articles in the house, among which I remember a fine brass kettle,
+considered almost indispensable in housekeeping. There was a good lot of
+bedding and blankets, and a quilt nicely folded was placed on the spring
+seat as a cushion.
+
+As may be imagined I was the object of a great deal of attention about
+this time, for a boy not yet ten years old just setting out into a
+region almost unknown was a little unusual. When I was ready they all
+gathered round to say good bye and my good mother seemed most concerned.
+She said--"Now you must be a good boy till we come in the spring. Mind
+uncle and aunt and take good care of the horse, and remember us. May God
+protect you." She embraced me and kissed me and held me till she was
+exhausted. Then they lifted me up into the spring seat, put the lines in
+my hand and handed me my little whip with a leather strip for a lash.
+Just at the last moment father handed me a purse containing about a
+dollar, all in copper cents--pennies we called them then. Uncle had
+started on they had kept me so long, but I started up and they all
+followed me along the road for a mile or so before we finally separated
+and they turned back. They waved hats and handkerchiefs till out of
+sight as they returned, and I wondered if we should ever meet again.
+
+I was up with uncle very soon and we rolled down through St. Albans and
+took our road southerly along in sight of Lake Champlain. Uncle and aunt
+often looked back to talk to me, "See what a nice cornfield!" or, "What
+nice apples on those trees," seeming to think they must do all they
+could to cheer me up, that I might not think too much of the playmates
+and home I was leaving behind.
+
+I had never driven very far before, but I found the horse knew more than
+I did how to get around the big stones and stumps that were found in the
+road, so that as long as I held the lines and the whip in hand I was an
+excellent driver.
+
+We had made plans and preparations to board ourselves on the journey. We
+always stopped at the farm houses over night, and they were so
+hospitable that they gave us all we wanted free. Our supper was
+generally of bread and milk, the latter always furnished gratuitously,
+and I do not recollect that we were ever turned away from any house
+where we asked shelter. There were no hotels, or taverns as they called
+them, outside of the towns.
+
+In due time we reached Whitehall, at the head of Lake Champlain, and the
+big box in Uncle's wagon proved so heavy over the muddy roads that he
+put it in a canal boat to be sent on to Cleveland, and we found it much
+easier after this for there were too many mud-holes, stumps and stones
+and log bridges for so heavy a load as he had. Our road many times after
+this led along near the canal, the Champlain or the Erie, and I had a
+chance to see something of the canal boys' life. The boy who drove the
+horses that drew the packet boat was a well dressed fellow and always
+rode at a full trot or a gallop, but the freight driver was generally
+ragged and barefoot, and walked when it was too cold to ride, threw
+stones or clubs at his team, and cursed and abused the packet-boy who
+passed as long as he was in hearing. Reared as I had been I thought it
+was a pretty wicked part of the world we were coming to.
+
+We passed one village of low cheap houses near the canal. The men about
+were very vulgar and talked rough and loud, nearly every one with a
+pipe, and poorly dressed, loafing around the saloon, apparently the
+worse for whisky. The children were barefoot, bare headed and scantly
+dressed, and it seemed awfully dirty about the doors of the shanties.
+Pigs, ducks and geese were at the very door, and the women I saw wore
+dresses that did not come down very near the mud and big brogan shoes,
+and their talk was saucy and different from what I had ever heard women
+use before. They told me they were Irish people--the first I had ever
+seen. It was along here somewhere that I lost my little whip and to get
+another one made sad inroads into the little purse of pennies my father
+gave me. We traveled slowly on day after day. There was no use to hurry
+for we could not do it. The roads were muddy, the log ways very rough
+and the only way was to take a moderate gait and keep it. We never
+traveled on Sunday. One Saturday evening my uncle secured the privilege
+of staying at a well-to do farmer's house until Monday. We had our own
+food and bedding, but were glad to get some privileges in the kitchen,
+and some fresh milk or vegetables. After all had taken supper that night
+they all sat down and made themselves quiet with their books, and the
+children were as still as mice till an early bed time when all retired.
+When Sunday evening came the women got out their work--their sewing and
+their knitting, and the children romped and played and made as much
+noise as they could, seeming as anxious to break the Sabbath as they had
+been to have a pious Saturday night. I had never seen that way before
+and asked my uncle who said he guessed they were Seventh Day Baptists.
+
+After many days of travel which became to me quite monotonous we came to
+Cleveland, on Lake Erie, and here my uncle found his box of goods,
+loaded it into the wagon again, and traveled on through rain and mud,
+making very slow headway, for two or three days after, when we stopped
+at a four-corners in Medina county they told us we were only 21 miles
+from Cleveland. Here was a small town consisting of a hotel, store,
+church, schoolhouse and blacksmith shop, and as it was getting cold and
+bad, uncle decided to go no farther now, and rented a room for himself
+and aunt, and found a place for me to lodge with Daniel Stevens' boy
+close by. We got good stables for our horses.
+
+I went to the district school here, and studied reading, spelling and
+Colburn's mental arithmetic, which I mastered. It began very easy--"How
+many thumbs on your right hand?" "How many on your left?" "How many
+altogether?" but it grew harder further on.
+
+Uncle took employment at anything he could find to do. Chopping was his
+principal occupation. When the snow began to go off he looked around for
+a farm to rent for us and father to live on when he came, but he found
+none such as he needed. He now got a letter from father telling him that
+he had good news from a friend named Cornish who said that good land
+nearly clear of timber could be bought of the Government in Michigan
+Territory, some sixty or seventy miles beyond Detroit, and this being an
+opportunity to get land they needed with their small capital, they would
+start for that place as soon as the water-ways were thawed out, probably
+in April.
+
+We then gave up the idea of staying here and prepared to go to Michigan
+as soon as the frost was out of the ground. Starting, we reached Huron
+River to find it swollen and out of its bank, giving us much trouble to
+get across, the road along the bottom lands being partly covered with
+logs and rails, but once across we were in the town and when we enquired
+about the road around to Detroit, they said the country was all a swamp
+and 30 miles wide and in Spring impassible. They called it the Maumee or
+Black Swamp, We were advised to go by water, when a steamboat came up
+the river bound for Detroit we put our wagons and horses on board, and
+camped on the lower deck ourselves. We had our own food and were very
+comfortable, and glad to have escaped the great mudhole.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+We arrived in Detroit safely, and a few minutes answered to land our
+wagons and goods, when we rolled outward in a westerly direction. We
+found a very muddy roads, stumps and log bridges plenty, making our rate
+of travel very slow. When out upon our road about 30 miles, near
+Ypsilanti, the thick forest we had been passing through grew thinner,
+and the trees soon dwindled down into what they called oak openings, and
+the road became more sandy. When we reached McCracken's Tavern we began
+to enquire for Ebenezer Manley and family, and were soon directed to a
+large house near by where he was stopping for a time.
+
+We drove up to the door and they all came out to see who the new comers
+were. Mother saw me first and ran to the wagon and pulled me off and
+hugged and kissed me over and over again, while the tears ran down her
+cheeks, Then she would hold me off at arm's length, and look me in the
+eye and say--"I am so glad to have you again"; and then she embraced me
+again and again. "You are our little man," said she, "You have come over
+this long road, and brought us our good horse and our little wagon." My
+sister Polly two years older than I, stood patiently by, and when mother
+turned to speak to uncle and aunt, she locked arms with me and took me
+away with her. We had never been separated before in all our lives and
+we had loved each other as good children should, who have been brought
+up in good and moral principles. We loved each other and our home and
+respected our good father and mother who had made it so happy for us.
+
+We all sat down by the side of the house and talked pretty fast telling
+our experience on our long journey by land and water, and when the sun
+went down we were called to supper, and went hand in hand to surround
+the bountiful table as a family again. During the conversation at supper
+father said to me--"Lewis, I have bought you a smooth bore rifle,
+suitable for either ball or shot." This, I thought was good enough for
+any one, and I thanked him heartily. We spent the greater part of the
+night in talking over our adventures since we left Vermont, and sleep
+was forgotten by young and old.
+
+Next morning father and uncle took the horse and little wagon and went
+out in search of Government land. They found an old acquaintance in
+Jackson county and Government land all around him, and, searching till
+they found the section corner, they found the number of the lots they
+wanted to locate on--200 acres in all. They then went to the Detroit
+land office and secured the pieces they had chosen.
+
+Father now bought a yoke of oxen, a wagon and a cow, and as soon as we
+could get loaded up our little emigrant train started west to our future
+home, where we arrived safely in a few days and secured a house to live
+in about a mile away from our land. We now worked with a will and built
+two log houses and also hired 10 acres broken, which was done with three
+or four yoke of oxen and a strong plow. The trees were scattered over
+the ground and some small brush and old limbs, and logs which we cleared
+away as we plowed. Our houses went up very fast--all rough oak logs,
+with oak puncheons, or hewed planks for a floor, and oak shakes for a
+roof, all of our own make. The shakes were held down upon the roof by
+heavy poles, for we had no nails, the door of split stuff hung with
+wooden hinges, and the fire place of stone laid up with the logs, and
+from the loft floor upward the chimney was built of split stuff
+plastered heavily with mud. We have a small four-paned window in the
+house. We then built a log barn for our oxen, cow and horse and got
+pigs, sheep and chickens as fast as a chance offered.
+
+As fast as possible we fenced in the cultivated land, father and uncle
+splitting out the rails, while a younger brother and myself, by each
+getting hold of an end of one of them managed to lay up a fence four
+rails high, all we small men could do. Thus working on, we had a pretty
+well cultivated farm in the course of two or three years, on which we
+produced wheat, corn and potatoes, and had an excellent garden. We found
+plenty of wild cranberries and whortleberries, which we dried for winter
+use. The lakes were full of good fish, black bass and pickerel, and the
+woods had deer, turkeys, pheasants, pigeons, and other things, and I
+became quite an expert in the capture of small game for the table with
+my new gun. Father and uncle would occasionally kill a deer, and the
+Indians came along and sold venison at times.
+
+One fall after work was done and preparations were made for the winter,
+father said to me:--"Now Lewis, I want you to hunt every day--come home
+nights--but keep on till you kill a deer." So with his permission I
+started with my gun on my shoulder, and with feelings of considerable
+pride. Before night I started two deer in a brushy place, and they
+leaped high over the oak bushes in the most affrighted way. I brought my
+gun to my shoulder and fired at the bounding animal when in most plain
+sight. Loading then quickly, I hurried up the trail as fast as I could
+and soon came to my deer, dead, with a bullet hole in its head. I was
+really surprised myself, for I had fired so hastily at the almost flying
+animal that it was little more than a random shot. As the deer was not
+very heavy I dressed it and packed it home myself, about as proud a boy
+as the State of Michigan contained. I really began to think I was a
+capital hunter, though I afterward knew it was a bit of good luck and
+not a bit of skill about it.
+
+It was some time after this before I made another lucky shot. Father
+would once in a while ask me:--"Well can't you kill us another deer?" I
+told him that when I had crawled a long time toward a sleeping deer,
+that I got so trembly that I could not hit an ox in short range. "O,"
+said he, "You get the buck fever--don't be so timid--they won't attack
+you." But after awhile this fever wore off, and I got so steady that I
+could hit anything I could get in reach of.
+
+We were now quite contented and happy. Father could plainly show us the
+difference between this country and Vermont and the advantages we had
+here. There the land was poor and stony and the winters terribly severe.
+Here there were no stones to plow over, and the land was otherwise easy
+to till. We could raise almost anything, and have nice wheat bread to
+eat, far superior to the "Rye-and-Indian" we used to have. The nice
+white bread was good enough to eat without butter, and in comparison
+this country seemed a real paradise.
+
+The supply of clothing we brought with us had lasted until now--more
+than two years--and we had sowed some flax and raised sheep so that we
+began to get material of our own raising, from which to manufacture some
+more. Mother and sister spun some nice yarn, both woolen and linen, and
+father had a loom made on which mother wove it up into cloth, and we
+were soon dressed up in bran new clothes again. Domestic economy of this
+kind was as necessary here as it was in Vermont, and we knew well how to
+practice it. About this time the emigrants began to come in very fast,
+and every piece of Government land any where about was taken. So much
+land was ploughed, and so much vegetable matter turned under and
+decaying that there came a regular epidemic of fever and ague and
+bilious fever, and a large majority of the people were sick. At our
+house father was the first one attacked, and when the fever was at its
+height he was quite out of his head and talked and acted like a crazy
+man. We had never seen any one so sick before, and we thought he must
+surely die, but when the doctor came he said:--"Don't be alarmed. It is
+only 'fever 'n' agur,' and no one was ever known to die of that." Others
+of us were sick too, and most of the neighbors, and it made us all feel
+rather sorrowful. The doctor's medicines consisted of calomel, jalap and
+quinine, all used pretty freely, by some with benefit, and by others to
+no visible purpose, for they had to suffer until the cold weather came
+and froze the disease out. At one time I was the only one that remained
+well, and I had to nurse and cook, besides all the out-door work that
+fell to me. My sister married a man near by with a good farm and moved
+there with him, a mile or two away. When she went away I lost my real
+bosom companion and felt very lonesome, but I went to see her once in a
+while, and that was pretty often, I think. There was not much going on
+as a general thing. Some little neighborhood society and news was about
+all. There was, however, one incident which occurred in 1837, I never
+shall forget, and which I will relate in the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+About two miles west father's farm in Jackson county Mich., lived Ami
+Filley, who moved here from Connecticut and settled about two and a half
+miles from the town of Jackson, then a small village with plenty of
+stumps and mudholes in its streets. Many of the roads leading thereto
+had been paved with tamarac poles, making what is now known as corduroy
+roads. The country was still new and the farm houses far between.
+
+Mr. Filley secured Government land in the oak openings, and settled
+there with his wife and two or three children, the oldest of which was a
+boy named Willie. The children were getting old enough to go to school,
+but there being none, Mr. Filley hired one of the neighbor's daughters
+to come to his house and teach the children there, so they might be
+prepared for usefulness in life or ready to proceed further with their
+education--to college, perhaps in some future day.
+
+The young woman he engaged lived about a mile a half away--Miss Mary
+Mount--and she came over and began her duties as private school ma'am,
+not a very difficult task in those days. One day after she had been
+teaching some time Miss Mount desired to go to her father's on a visit,
+and as she would pass a huckleberry swamp on the way she took a small
+pail to fill with berries as she went, and by consent of Willie's
+mother, the little boy went with her for company. Reaching the berries
+she began to pick, and the little boy found this dull business, got
+tired and homesick and wanted to go home. They were about a mile from
+Mr. Filley's and as there was a pretty good foot trail over which they
+had come, the young woman took the boy to it, and turning him toward
+home told him to follow it carefully and he would soon see his mother.
+She then filled her pail with berries, went on to her own home, and
+remained there till nearly sundown, when she set out to return to Mr.
+Filley's, reaching there yet in the early twilight. Not seeing Willie,
+she inquired for him and was told that he had not returned, and that
+they supposed he was safe with her. She then hastily related how it
+happened that he had started back toward home, and that she supposed he
+had safely arrived.
+
+Mr. Filley then started back on the trail, keeping close watch on each
+side of the way, for he expected he would soon come across Master Willie
+fast asleep. He called his name every few rods, but got no answer nor
+could he discover him, and so returned home again, still calling and
+searching, but no boy was discovered. Then he built a large fire and put
+lighted candles in all the windows, then took his lantern and wont out
+in the woods calling and looking for the boy. Sometimes he thought he
+heard him, but on going where the sound came from nothing could be
+found. So he looked and called all night, along the trail and all about
+the woods, with no success. Mr. Mount's home was situated not far from
+the shore of Fitch's Lake, and the trail went along the margin, and in
+some places the ground was quite a boggy marsh, and the trail had been
+fixed up to make it passably good walking.
+
+Next day the neighbors were notified, and asked to assist, and although
+they were in the midst of wheat harvest, a great many laid down the
+cradle and rake and went out to help search. On the third day the whole
+county became excited and quite an army of searchers turned out, coming
+from the whole country miles around.
+
+Mr. Filley was much excited and quite worn out an beside himself with
+fatigue and loss of sleep. He could not eat. Yielding to entreaty he
+would sit at the table, and suddenly rise up, saying he heard Willie
+calling, and go out to search for the supposed voice, but it was all
+fruitless, and the whole people were sorry indeed for the poor father
+and mother.
+
+The people then formed a plan for a thorough search. They were to form
+in a line so near each other that they could touch hands and were to
+march thus turning out for nothing except in passable lakes, and thus we
+marched, fairly sweeping the county in search of a sign. I was with this
+party and we marched south and kept close watch for a bit of clothing, a
+foot print or even bones, or anything which would indicate that he had
+been destroyed by some wild animal. Thus we marched all day with no
+success, and the next went north in the same careful manner, but with no
+better result. Most of the people now abandoned the search, but some of
+the neighbors kept it up for a long time.
+
+Some expressed themselves quite strongly that Miss Mount knew where the
+boy was, saying that she might have had some trouble with him and in
+seeking to correct him had accidentally killed him and then hidden the
+body away--perhaps in the deep mire of the swamp or in the muddy waters
+on the margin of the lake. Search was made with this idea foremost, but
+nothing was discovered. Rain now set in, and the grain, from neglect
+grew in the head as it stood, and many a settler ate poor bread all
+winter in consequence of his neighborly kindness in the midst of
+harvest. The bread would not rise, and to make it into pancakes was the
+best way it could be used.
+
+Still no tidings ever came of the lost boy. Many things were whispered,
+about Mr. Mount's dishonesty of character and there were many suspicions
+about him, but no real facts could be shown to account for the boy. The
+neighbors said he never worked like the rest of them, and that his patch
+of cultivated land was altogether too small to support his family, a
+wife and two daughters, grown. He was a very smooth and affable talker,
+and had lots of acquaintances. A few years afterwards Mr. Mount was
+convicted of a crime which sent him to the Jackson State Prison, where
+he died before his term expired. I visited the Filley family in 1870,
+and from them heard the facts anew and that no trace of the lost boy had
+ever been discovered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+The second year of sickness and I was affected with the rest, though it
+was not generally so bad as the first year. I suffered a great deal and
+felt so miserable that I began to think I had rather live on the top of
+the Rocky Mountains and catch chipmuncks for a living than to live here
+and be sick, and I began to have very serious thoughts of trying some
+other country. In the winter of 1839 and 1840 I went to a neighboring
+school for three months, where I studied reading, writing and spelling,
+getting as far as Rule of Three in Daboll's arithmetic. When school was
+out I chopped and split rails for Wm. Hanna till I had paid my winter's
+board. After this, myself and a young man named Orrin Henry, with whom I
+had become acquainted, worked awhile scoring timber to be used in
+building the Michigan Central Railroad which had just then begun to be
+built. They laid down the ties first (sometimes a mudsill under them)
+and then put down four by eight wooden rails with a strips of band iron
+half an inch thick spiked on top. I scored the timber and Henry used the
+broad axe after me. It was pretty hard work and the hours as long as we
+could see, our wages being $13 per month, half cash.
+
+In thinking over our prospect it seemed more and more as if I had better
+look out for my own fortune in some other place. The farm was pretty
+small for all of us. There were three brothers younger than I, and only
+200 acres in the whole, and as they were growing up to be men it seemed
+as if it would be best for me, the oldest, to start out first and see
+what could be done to make my own living. I talked to father and mother
+about my plans, and they did not seriously object, but gave me some good
+advice, which I remember to this day--"Weigh well every thing you do;
+shun bad company; be honest and deal fair; be truthful and never fear
+when you know you are right." But, said he, "Our little peach trees will
+bear this year, and if you go away you must come back and help us eat
+them; they will be the first we ever raised or ever saw." I could not
+promise.
+
+Henry and I drew our pay for our work. I had five dollars in cash and
+the rest in pay from the company's store. We purchased three nice
+whitewood boards, eighteen inches wide, from which we made us a boat and
+a good sized chest which we filled with provisions and some clothing and
+quilts. This, with our guns and ammunition, composed the cargo of our
+boat. When all was ready, we put the boat on a wagon and were to haul it
+to the river some eight miles away for embarkation. After getting the
+wagon loaded, father said to me;--"Now my son, you are starting out in
+life alone, no one to watch or look after you. You will have to depend
+upon yourself in all things. You have a wide, wide world to operate
+in--you will meet all kinds of people and you must not expect to find
+them all honest or true friends. You are limited in money, and all I can
+do for you in that way is to let you have what ready money I have." He
+handed me three dollars as he spoke, which added to my own gave me seven
+dollars as my money capital with which to start out into the world among
+perfect strangers, and no acquaintances in prospect on our Western
+course.
+
+When ready to start, mother and sister Poll came out to see us off and
+to give us their best wishes, hoping we would have good health, and find
+pleasant paths to follow. Mother said to me:--"You must be a good boy,
+honest and law-abiding. Remember our advice, and honor us for we have
+striven to make you a good and honest man, and you must follow our
+teachings, and your conscience will be clear. Do nothing to be ashamed
+of; be industrious, and you have no fear of punishment." We were given a
+great many "Good byes" and "God bless you's" as with hands, hats and
+handkerchiefs they waved us off as far as we could see them. In the
+course of an hour or so we were at the water's edge, and on a beautiful
+morning in early spring of 1840 we found ourselves floating down the
+Grand River below Jackson.
+
+The stream ran west, that we knew, and it was west we thought we wanted
+to go, so all things suited us. The stream was small with tall timber on
+both sides, and so many trees had fallen into the river that our
+navigation was at times seriously obstructed. When night came we hauled
+our boat on shore, turned it partly over, so as to shelter us, built a
+fire in front, and made a bed on a loose board which we carried in the
+bottom of the boat. We talked till pretty late and then lay down to
+sleep, but for my part my eyes would not stay shut, and I lay till break
+of day and the little birds began to sing faintly.
+
+I thought of many things that night which seemed so long. I had left a
+good dear home, where I had good warm meals and a soft and comfortable
+bed. Here I had reposed on a board with a very hard pillow and none too
+many blankets, and I turned from side to side on my hard bed, to which I
+had gone with all my clothes on. It seemed the beginning of another
+chapter in my pioneer life and a rather tough experience. I arose,
+kindled a big fire and sat looking at the glowing coals in still further
+meditation.
+
+Neither of us felt very gleeful as we got our breakfast and made an
+early start down the river again. Neither of us talked very much, and no
+doubt my companion had similar thoughts to mine, and wondered what was
+before us. But I think that as a pair we were at that moment pretty
+lonesome. Henry had rested better than I but probably felt no less
+keenly the separation from our homes and friends. We saw plenty of
+squirrels and pigeons on the trees which overhung the river, and we shot
+and picked up as many as we thought we could use for food. When we fired
+our guns the echoes rolled up and down the river for miles making the
+feeling of loneliness still more keen, as the sound died faintly away.
+We floated along generally very quietly. We could see the fish dart
+under our boat from their feeding places along the bank, and now and
+then some tall crane would spread his broad wings to get out of our way.
+
+We saw no houses for several days, and seldom went on shore. The forest
+was all hard wood, such as oak, ash, walnut, maple, elm and beech.
+Farther down we occasionally passed the house of some pioneer hunter or
+trapper, with a small patch cleared. At one of these a big green boy
+came down to the bank to see who we were. We said "How d'you do," to
+him, and, getting no response, Henry asked him how far is was to
+Michigan, at which a look of supreme disgust came over his features as
+he replied--"'Taint no far at all."
+
+The stream grew wider as we advanced along its downward course, for
+smaller streams came pouring in to swell its tide. The banks were still
+covered with heavy timber, and in some places with quite thick
+undergrowth. One day we saw a black bear in the river washing himself,
+but he went ashore before we were near enough to get a sure shot at him.
+Many deer tracks were seen along the shore, but as we saw very few of
+the animals themselves, they were probably night visitors.
+
+One day we overtook some canoes containing Indians, men, women and
+children. They were poling their craft around in all directions spearing
+fish. They caught many large mullet and then went on shore and made
+camp, and the red ladies began scaling the fish. As soon as their lords
+and masters had unloaded the canoes, a party started out with four of
+the boats, two men in a boat, to try their luck again. They ranged all
+abreast, and moved slowly down the stream in the still deep water,
+continually beating the surface with their spear handles, till they came
+to a place so shallow that they could see the bottom easily, when they
+suddenly turned the canoes head up stream, and while one held the craft
+steady by sticking his spear handle down on the bottom, the other stood
+erect, with a foot on either gunwale so he could see whatever came down
+on either side. Soon the big fish would try to pass, but Mr. Indian had
+too sharp an eye to let him escape unobserved, and when he came within
+his reach he would turn his spear and throw it like a dart, seldom
+missing his aim. The poor fish would struggle desperately, but soon came
+to the surface, when he would be drawn in and knocked in the head with a
+tomahawk to quiet him, when the spear was cut out and the process
+repeated. We watched them about an hour, and during that time some one
+of the boats was continually hauling in a fish. They were sturgeon and
+very large. This was the first time we had ever seen the Indian's way of
+catching fish and it was a new way of getting grub for us. When the
+canoes had full loads they paddled up toward their camp, and we drifted
+on again.
+
+When we came to Grand Rapids we had to go on shore and tow our boat
+carefully along over the many rocks to prevent accident. Here was a
+small cheap looking town. On the west bank of the river a water wheel
+was driving a drill boring for salt water, it seemed through solid rock.
+Up to this time the current was slow, and its course through a dense
+forest. We occasionally saw an Indian gliding around in his canoe, but
+no houses or clearings. Occasionally we saw some pine logs which had
+been floated down some of the streams of the north. One of these small
+rivers they called the "Looking-glass," and seemed to be the largest of
+them.
+
+Passing on we began to see some pine timber, and realized that we were
+near the mouth of the river where it emptied into Lake Michigan. There
+were some steam saw mills here, not then in operation, and some houses
+for the mill hands to live in when they were at work. This prospective
+city was called Grand Haven. There was one schooner in the river loaded
+with lumber, ready to sail for the west side of the lake as soon as the
+wind should change and become favorable, and we engaged passage for a
+dollar and a half each. While waiting for the wind we visited the woods
+in search of game, but found none. All the surface of the soil was clear
+lake sand, and some quite large pine and hemlock trees were half buried
+in it. We were not pleased with this place for it looked as if folks
+must get their grub from somewhere else or live on fish.
+
+Next morning we were off early, as the wind had changed, but the lake
+was very rough and a heavy choppy sea was running. Before we were half
+way across the lake nearly all were sea-sick, passengers and sailors.
+The poor fellow at the helm stuck to his post casting up his accounts at
+the same time, putting on an air of terrible misery.
+
+This, I thought was pretty hard usage for a land-lubber like myself who
+had never been on such rough water before. The effect of this
+sea-sickness was to cure me of a slight fever and ague, and in fact the
+cure was so thorough that I have never had it since. As we neared the
+western shore a few houses could be seen, and the captain said it was
+Southport. As there was no wharf our schooner put out into the lake
+again for an hour or so and then ran back again, lying off and on in
+this manner all night. In the morning it was quite calm and we went on
+shore in the schooner's yawl, landing on a sandy beach. We left our
+chest of clothes and other things in a warehouse and shouldered our
+packs and guns for a march across what seemed an endless prairie
+stretching to the west. We had spent all our lives thus far in a country
+where all the clearing had to be made with an axe, and such a broad
+field was to us an entirely new feature. We laid our course westward and
+tramped on. The houses were very far apart, and we tried at every one of
+them for a chance to work, but could get none, not even if we would work
+for our board. The people all seemed to be new settlers, and very poor,
+compelled to do their own work until a better day could be reached. The
+coarse meals we got were very reasonable, generally only ten cents, but
+sometimes a little more.
+
+As we travelled westward the prairies seemed smaller with now and then
+some oak openings between. Some of the farms seemed to be three or four
+years old, and what had been laid out as towns consisted of from three
+to six houses, small and cheap, with plenty of vacant lots. The soil
+looked rich, as though it might be very productive. We passed several
+small lakes that had nice fish in them, and plenty of ducks on the
+surface.
+
+Walking began to get pretty tiresome. Great blisters would come on our
+feet, and, tender as they were, it was a great relief to take off our
+boots and go barefoot for a while when the ground was favorable. We
+crossed a wide prairie and came down to the Rock river where there were
+a few houses on the east side but no signs of habitation on the west
+bank. We crossed the river in a canoe and then walked seven miles before
+we came to a house where we staid all night and inquired for work. None
+was to be had and so we tramped on again. The next day we met a real
+live Yankee with a one-horse wagon, peddling tin ware in regular Eastern
+style, We inquired of him about the road and prospects, and he gave us
+an encouraging idea--said all was good. He told us where to stop the
+next night at a small town called Sugar Creek. It had but a few houses
+and was being built up as a mining town, for some lead ore had been
+found there. There were as many Irish as English miners here, a rough
+class of people. We put up at the house where we had been directed, a
+low log cabin, rough and dirty, kept by Bridget & Co. Supper was had
+after dark and the light on the table was just the right one for the
+place, a saucer of grease, with a rag in it lighted and burning at the
+edge of the saucer. It at least served to made the darkness apparent and
+to prevent the dirt being visible. We had potatoes, beans and tea, and
+probably dirt too, if we could have seen it. When the meal was nearly
+done Bridget brought in and deposited on each plate a good thick pancake
+as a dessert. It smelled pretty good, but when I drew my knife across it
+to cut it in two, all the center was uncooked batter, which ran out upon
+my plate, and spoiled my supper.
+
+We went to bed and soon found it had other occupants beside ourselves,
+which, if they were small were lively and spoiled our sleeping. We left
+before breakfast, and a few miles out on the prairie we came to a house
+occupied by a woman and one child, and we were told we could have
+breakfast if we could wait to have it cooked. Everything looked cheap
+but cheery, and after waiting a little while outside we were called in
+to eat. The meal consisted of corn bread, bacon, potatoes and coffee. It
+was well cooked and looked better than things did at Bridget's. I
+enjoyed all but the coffee, which had a rich brown color, but when I
+sipped it there was such a bitter taste I surely thought there must be
+quinine in it, and it made me shiver. I tried two or three times to
+drink but it was too much for me and I left it. We shouldered our loads
+and went on again. I asked Henry what kind of a drink it was. "Coffee,"
+said he, but I had never seen any that tasted like that and never knew
+my father to buy any such coffee as that.
+
+We labored along and in time came to another small place called
+Hamilton's Diggings where some lead mines were being worked. We stopped
+at a long, low log house with a porch the entire length, and called for
+bread and milk, which was soon set before us. The lady was washing and
+the man was playing with a child on the porch. The little thing was
+trying to walk, the man would swear terribly at it--not in an angry way,
+but in a sort of careless, blasphemous style that was terribly shocking.
+I thought of the child being reared in the midst of such bad language
+and reflected on the kind of people we were meeting in this far away
+place. They seemed more wicked and profane the farther west we walked. I
+had always lived in a more moral and temperate atmosphere, and I was
+learning more of some things in the world than I had ever known before.
+I had little to say and much to see and listen to and my early precepts
+were not forgotten. No work was to be had here and we set out across the
+prairie toward Mineral Point, twenty miles away. When within four miles
+of that place we stopped at the house of Daniel Parkinson, a fine
+looking two-story building, and after the meal was over Mr. Henry hired
+out to him for $16 per month, and went to work that day. I heard of a
+job of cutting cordwood six miles away and went after it, for our money
+was getting very scarce, but when I reached the place I found a man had
+been there half an hour before and secured the job. The proprietor, Mr.
+Crow, gave me my dinner which I accepted with many thanks, for it saved
+my coin to pay for the next meal. I now went to Mineral Point, and
+searched the town over for work. My purse contained thirty-five cents
+only and I slept in an unoccupied out house without supper. I bought
+crackers and dried beef for ten cents in the morning and made my first
+meal since the day before, felt pretty low-spirited. I then went to
+Vivian's smelting furnace where they bought lead ore, smelted it, and
+run it into pigs of about 70 pounds each. He said he had a job for me if
+I could do it. The furnace was propelled by water and they had a small
+buzz saw for cutting four-foot wood into blocks about a foot long. These
+blocks they wanted split up in pieces about an inch square to mix in
+with charcoal in smelting ore. He said he would board me with the other
+men, and give me a dollar and a quarter a cord for splitting the wood. I
+felt awfully poor, and a stranger, and this was a beginning for me at
+any rate, so I went to work with a will and never lost a minute of
+daylight till I had split up all the wood and filled his woodhouse
+completely up. The board was very coarse--bacon, potatoes, and bread--a
+man cook, and bread mixed up with salt and water. The old log house
+where we lodged was well infested with troublesome insects which worked
+nights at any rate, whether they rested days or not, and the beds had a
+mild odor of pole cat. The house was long, low and without windows. In
+one end was a fireplace, and there were two tiers of bunks on each side,
+supplied with straw only. In the space between the bunks was a
+stationary table, with stools for seats. I was the only American who
+boarded there and I could not well become very familiar with the
+boarders.
+
+The country was rolling, and there were many beautiful brooks and clear
+springs of water, with fertile soil. The Cornish miners were in the
+majority and governed the locality politically. My health was excellent,
+and so long as I had my gun and ammunition I could kill game enough to
+live on, for prairie chickens and deer could be easily killed, and meat
+alone would sustain life, so I had no special fears of starvation. I was
+now paid off, and went back to see my companion, Mr. Henry. I did not
+hear of any more work, so I concluded I would start back toward my old
+home in Michigan, and shouldered my bundle and gun, turning my face
+eastward for a long tramp across the prairie. I knew I had a long tramp
+before me, but I thought best to head that way, for my capital was only
+ten dollars, and I might be compelled to walk the whole distance. I
+walked till about noon and then sat down in the shade of a tree to rest
+for this was June and pretty warm. I was now alone in a big territory,
+thinly settled, and thought of my father's home, the well set table, all
+happy and well fed at any rate, and here was my venture, a sort of
+forlorn hope. Prospects were surely very gloomy for me here away out
+west in Wisconsin Territory, without a relative, friend or acquaintance
+to call upon, and very small means to travel two hundred and fifty miles
+of lonely road--perhaps all the way on foot. There were no laborers
+required, hardly any money in sight, and no chance for business. I knew
+it would be a safe course to proceed toward home, for I had no fear of
+starving, the weather was warm and I could easily walk home long before
+winter should come again. Still the outlook was not very pleasing to one
+in my circumstances.
+
+I chose a route which led me some distance north of the one we travelled
+when we came west, but it was about the same. Every house was a new
+settler, and hardly one who had yet produced anything to live upon. In
+due time I came to the Rock River, and the only house in sight was upon
+the east bank. I could see a boat over there and so I called for it, and
+a young girl came over with a canoe for me. I took a paddle and helped
+her hold the boat against the current, and we made the landing safely. I
+paid her ten cents for ferriage and went on again. The country was now
+level, with burr-oak openings. Near sundown I came to a small prairie of
+about 500 acres surrounded by scattering burr-oak timber, with not a
+hill in sight, and it seemed to me to be the most beautiful spot on
+earth. This I found to belong to a man named Meachem, who had an octagon
+concrete house built on one side of the opening. The house had a hollow
+column in the center, and the roof was so constructed that all the rain
+water went down this central column into a cistern below for house use.
+The stairs wound around this central column, and the whole affair was
+quite different from the most of settlers' houses. I staid here all
+night, had supper and breakfast, and paid my bill of thirty-five cents.
+He had no work for me so I went on again. I crossed Heart Prairie,
+passed through a strip of woods, and out at Round Prairie. It was level
+as a floor with a slight rise in one corner, and on it were five or six
+settlers. Here fortune favored me, for here I found a man whom I knew,
+who once lived in Michigan, and was one of our neighbors there for some
+time. His name was Nelson Cornish. I rested here a few days, and made a
+bargain to work for him two or three days every week for my board as
+long as I wished to stay. As I got acquainted I found some work to do
+and many of my leisure hours I spent in the woods with my gun, killing
+some deer, some of the meat of which I sold. In haying and harvest I got
+some work at fifty cents to one dollar per day, and as I had no clothes
+to buy, I spent no money, saving up about fifty dollars by fall. I then
+got a letter from Henry saying that I could get work with him for the
+winter and I thought I would go back there again.
+
+Before thinking of going west again I had to go to Southport on the lake
+and get our clothes we had left in our box when we passed in the spring.
+So I started one morning at break of day, with a long cane in each hand
+to help me along, for I had nothing to carry, not even wearing a coat.
+This was a new road, thinly settled, and a few log houses building. I
+got a bowl of bread and milk at noon and then hurried on again. The last
+twenty miles was clear prairie, and houses were very far apart, but
+little more thickly settled as I neared Lake Michigan. I arrived at the
+town just after dark, and went to a tavern and inquired about the
+things. I was told that the warehouse had been broken into and robbed,
+and the proprietor had fled for parts unknown. This robbed me of all my
+good clothes, and I could now go back as lightly loaded as when I came.
+I found I had walked sixty miles in that one day, and also found myself
+very stiff and sore so that I did not start back next day, and I took
+three days for the return trip--a very unprofitable journey.
+
+I was now ready to go west, and coming across a pet deer which I had
+tamed, I knew if I left it it would wander away with the first wild ones
+that came along, and so I killed it and made my friends a present of
+some venison. I chose still a new route this time, that I could see all
+that was possible of this big territory when I could do it so easily. I
+was always a great admirer of Nature and things which remained as they
+were created, and to the extent of my observation, I thought this the
+most beautiful and perfect country I had seen between Vermont and the
+Mississippi River. The country was nearly level, the land rich, the
+prairies small with oak openings surrounding them, very little marsh
+land and streams of clear water. Rock River was the largest of these,
+running south. Next west was Sugar River, then the Picatonica. Through
+the mining region the country was rolling and abundantly watered with
+babbling brooks and health-giving springs.
+
+In point of health it seemed to me to be far better than Michigan. In
+Mr. Henry's letter to me he had said that he had taken a timber claim in
+"Kentuck Grove," and had all the four-foot wood engaged to cut at
+thirty-seven cents a cord. He said we could board ourselves and save a
+little money and that in the spring he would go back to Michigan with
+me. This had decided me to go back to Mineral Point. I stopped a week or
+two with a man named Webb, hunting with him, and sold game enough to
+bring me in some six or seven dollars, and then resumed my journey.
+
+On my way I found a log house ten miles from a neighbor just before I
+got to the Picatonica River. It belonged to a Mr. Shook who, with his
+wife and three children, lived on the edge of a small prairie, and had a
+good crop of corn. He invited me to stay with him a few days, and as I
+was tired I accepted his offer and we went out together and brought in a
+deer. We had plenty of corn bread, venison and coffee, and lived well.
+After a few days he wanted to kill a steer and he led it to a proper
+place while I shot it in the head. We had no way to hang it up so he
+rolled the intestines out, and I sat down with my side against the steer
+and helped him to pull the tallow off.
+
+It was now getting nearly dark and while he was splitting the back bone
+with an axe, it slipped in his greasy hands and glancing, cut a gash in
+my leg six inches above the knee. I was now laid up for two or three
+weeks, but was well cared for at his house. Before I could resume my
+journey snow had fallen to the depth of about six inches, which made it
+rather unpleasant walking, but in a few days I reached Mr. Henry's camp
+in "Kentuck Grove," when after comparing notes, we both began swinging
+our axes and piling up cordwood, cooking potatoes, bread, bacon, coffee
+and flapjacks ourselves, which we enjoyed with a relish.
+
+I now went to work for Peter Parkinson, who paid me thirteen dollars per
+month, and I remained with him till spring. While with him a very sad
+affliction came to him in the loss of his wife. He was presented by her
+with his first heir, and during her illness she was cared for by her
+mother, Mrs. Cullany, who had come to live with them during the winter.
+When the little babe was two or three weeks old the mother was feeling
+in such good spirits that she was left alone a little while, as Mrs.
+Cullany was attending to some duties which called her elsewhere. When
+she returned she was surprised to see that both Mrs. Parkinson and the
+babe were gone. Everyone turned out to search for her. I ran to the
+smokehouse, the barn, the stable in quick order, and not finding her a
+search was made for tracks, and we soon discovered that she had passed
+over a few steps leading over a fence and down an incline toward the
+spring house, and there fallen, face downward, on the floor of the house
+which was covered only a few inches deep with water lay the unfortunate
+woman and her child, both dead. This was doubly distressing to Mr.
+Parkinson and saddened the whole community. Both were buried in one
+grave, not far from the house, and a more impressive funeral I never
+beheld.
+
+I now worked awhile again with Mr. Henry and we sold our wood to Bill
+Park, a collier, who made and sold charcoal to the smelters of lead ore.
+When the ice was gone in the streams, Henry and I shouldered our guns
+and bundles, and made our way to Milwaukee, where we arrived in the
+course of a few days. The town was small and cheaply built, and had no
+wharf, so that when the steamboat came we had to go out to it in a small
+boat. The stream which came in here was too shallow for the steamer to
+enter. When near the lower end of the lake we stopped at an island to
+take on food and several cords of white birch wood. The next stopping
+place was at Michilamackanac, afterward called Mackinaw. Here was a
+short wharf, and a little way back a hill, which seemed to me to be a
+thousand feet high, on which a fort had been built. On the wharf was a
+mixed lot of people--Americans, Canadians, Irish, Indians, squaws and
+papooses. I saw there some of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen.
+They would weigh twenty pounds or more, and had bright red and yellow
+spots all over them. They called them trout, and they were beauties,
+really. At the shore near by the Indians were loading a large white
+birch bark canoe, putting their luggage along the middle lengthways, and
+the papooses on top. One man took a stern seat to steer, and four or
+five more had seats along the gunwale as paddlers and, as they moved
+away, their strokes were as even and regular as the motions of an
+engine, and their crafts danced as lightly on the water as an egg shell.
+They were starting for the Michigan shore some eight or ten miles away.
+This was the first birch bark canoe I had ever seen and was a great
+curiosity in my eyes.
+
+We crossed Lake Huron during the night, and through its outlet, so
+shallow that the wheels stirred up the mud from the bottom; then through
+Lake St. Clair and landed safety at Detroit next day. Here we took the
+cars on the Michigan Central Railroad, and on our way westward stopped
+at the very place where we had worked, helping to build the road, a year
+or more before. After getting off the train a walk of two and one half
+miles brought me to my father's house, where I had a right royal
+welcome, and the questions they asked me about the wild country I had
+traveled over, how it looked, and how I got along--were numbered by the
+thousand.
+
+I remained at home until fall, getting some work to do by which I saved
+some money, but in August was attacked with bilious fever, which held me
+down for several weeks, but nursed by a tender and loving mother with
+untiring care, I recovered, quite slowly, but surely. I felt that I had
+been close to death, and that this country was not to be compared to
+Wisconsin with its clear and bubbling springs of health-giving water.
+Feeling thus, I determined to go back there again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+With the idea of returning to Wisconsin I made plans for my movements. I
+purchased a good outfit of steel traps of several kinds and sizes,
+thirty or forty in all, made me a pine chest, with a false bottom to
+separate the traps from my clothing when it was packed in traveling
+order, the clothes at the top. My former experience had taught me not to
+expect to get work there during winter, but I was pretty sure something
+could be earned by trapping and hunting at this season, and in summer I
+was pretty sure of something to do. I had about forty dollars to travel
+on this time, and quite a stock of experience. The second parting from
+home was not so hard as the first one. I went to Huron, took the steamer
+to Chicago, then a small, cheaply built town, with rough sidewalks and
+terribly muddy streets, and the people seemed pretty rough, for sailors
+and lake captains were numerous, and knock downs quite frequent. The
+country for a long way west of town seemed a low, wet marsh or prairie.
+
+Finding a man going west with a wagon and two horses without a load, I
+hired him to take me and my baggage to my friend Nelson Cornish, at
+Round Prairie. They were glad to see me, and as I had not yet got strong
+from my fever, they persuaded me to stay a while with them and take some
+medicine, for he was a sort of a doctor. I think he must have given me a
+dose of calomel, for I had a terribly sore mouth and could not eat any
+for two or three weeks. As soon as I was able to travel I had myself and
+chest taken to the stage station on the line for the lake to Mineral
+Point. I think this place was called Geneva. On the stage I got along
+pretty fast, and part of the time on a new road. The first place of note
+was Madison the capital of the territory, situated on a block of land
+nearly surrounded by four lakes, all plainly seen from the big house.
+Further on at the Blue Mounds I left the stage, putting my chest in the
+landlord's keeping till I should come or send for it.
+
+I walked about ten miles to the house of a friend named A. Bennett, who
+was a hunter and lived on the bank of the Picatonica River with his wife
+and two children. I had to take many a rest on the way, for I was very
+weak.
+
+Resting the first few days, Mrs. Bennett's father, Mr. J.P. Dilly, took
+us out about six miles and left us to hunt and camp for a few days. We
+were quite successful, and killed five nice, fat deer, which we dressed
+and took to Mineral Point, selling them rapidly to the Cornish miners
+for twenty-five cents a quarter for the meat. We followed this business
+till about January first, when the game began to get poor, when we hung
+up our guns for a while. I had a little money left yet. The only money
+in circulation was American silver and British sovereigns. They would
+not sell lead ore for paper money nor on credit. During the spring I
+used my traps successfully, so that I saved something over board and
+expenses.
+
+In summer I worked in the mines with Edwin Buck of Bucksport, Maine, but
+only found lead ore enough to pay our expenses in getting it. Next
+winter I chopped wood for thirty-five cents per cord and boarded myself.
+This was poor business; poorer than hunting. In summer I found work at
+various things, but in the fall Mr. Buck and myself concluded that as we
+were both hunters and trappers, we would go northward toward Lake
+Superior on a hunting expedition, and, perhaps remain all winter. We
+replenished our outfit, and engaged Mr. Bennett to take us well up into
+the north country. We crossed the Wisconsin River near Muscoda, went
+then to Prairie du Chien, where we found a large stone fur trading
+house, owned by Mr. Brisbois, a Frenchman, from whom we obtained some
+information of the country further on. He assured us there was no danger
+from the Indians if we let them alone and treated them fairly.
+
+We bought fifty pounds of flour for each of us, and then started up the
+divide between the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. On one side flowed
+the Bad River, and on the other the Kickapoo. We traveled on this divide
+about three days, when Mr. Bennett became afraid to go any further, as
+he had to return alone and the Indians might capture him before he could
+get back to the settlement. We camped early one night and went out
+hunting to get some game for him. I killed a large, black bear and Mr.
+Bennett took what he wanted of it, including the skin, and started back
+next morning.
+
+We now cachéd our things in various places, scattering them well. Some
+went in hollow logs, and some under heaps of brush or other places,
+where the Indians could not find them. We then built a small cabin about
+six by eight feet in size and four feet high, in shape like a A. We were
+not thoroughly pleased with this location and started out to explore the
+country to the north of us, for we had an idea that it would be better
+hunting there.
+
+The first day we started north we killed a bear, and filled our stomachs
+with the fat, sweet meat. The next night we killed another bear after a
+little struggling. The dog made him climb a tree and we shot at him; he
+would fall to the ground as if dead, but would be on his feet again in
+an instant, when, after the dog had fastened to his ham, he would climb
+the tree again. In the third trial he lay in the fork and had a good
+chance to look square at his tormentor. I shot him in the head, and as
+he lay perfectly still, Buck said:--"Now you have done it--we can't get
+him." But in a moment he began to struggle, and soon came down,
+lifeless.
+
+Here we camped on the edge of the pine forest, ate all the fat bear meat
+we could, and in the morning took separate routes, agreeing to meet
+again a mile or so farther up a small brook. I soon saw a small bear
+walking on a log and shot him dead. His mate got away, but I set my dog
+on him and he soon had to climb a tree. When I came up to where the dog
+was barking I saw Mr. Bear and fired a ball in him that brought him
+down. Just then I heard Mr. Buck shoot close by, and I went to him and
+found he had killed another and larger bear. We stayed here another
+night, dressed our game and sunk the meat in the brook and fastened it
+down, thinking we might want to get some of it another time.
+
+We were so well pleased with this hunting ground that we took the bear
+skins and went back to camp. When we got there our clothes were pretty
+well saturated with bear's oil, and we jokingly said it must have soaked
+through our bodies, we had eaten so much bear meat. I began to feel
+quite sick, and had a bad headache. I felt as if something must be done,
+but we had no medicine. Mr. Buck went down by the creek and dug some
+roots he called Indian Physic, then steeped them until the infusion
+seemed as black as molasses, and, when cool told me to take a swallow
+every fifteen minutes for an hour, then half as much for another hour as
+long as I could keep it down. I followed directions and vomited freely
+and for a long time, but felt better afterward, and soon got well. It
+reminded me some of the feelings I had when I was seasick on Lake
+Michigan.
+
+It may be interesting to describe how we were dressed to enter on this
+winter campaign. We wore moccasins of our own make. I had a buckskin
+jumper, and leggins that came up to my hips. On my head a drab hat that
+fitted close and had a rim about two inches wide. In fair weather I went
+bare-headed, Indian fashion. I carried a tomahawk which I had made. The
+blade was two inches wide and three inches long--the poll two inches
+long and about as large round as a dime; handle eighteen or twenty
+inches long with a knob on the end so it would not easily slip from the
+hand. Oiled patches for our rifle balls on a string, a firing wire, a
+charger to measure the powder, and a small piece of leather with four
+nipples on it for caps--all on my breast, so that I could load very
+rapidly. My bed was a comfort I made myself, a little larger than usual.
+I lay down on one side of the bed and with my gun close to me, turned
+the blanket over me. When out of camp I never left my gun out of my
+reach. We had to be real Indians in custom and actions in order to be
+considered their equals. We got our food in the same way they did, and
+so they had nothing to ask us for. They considered themselves the real
+kings of the forest.
+
+We now determined to move camp, which proved quite a job as we had to
+pack everything on our backs; which we did for ten or fifteen miles to
+the bank of a small stream where there were three pine trees, the only
+ones to be found in many miles. We made us a canoe of one of them. While
+we were making the canoe three Indians came along, and after they had
+eaten some of our good venison, they left us. These were the first we
+had seen, and we began to be more cautious and keep everything well hid
+away from camp and make them think we were as poor as they were, so they
+might not be tempted to molest us.
+
+We soon had the canoe done and loaded, and embarked on the brook down
+stream. We found it rather difficult work, but the stream grew larger
+and we got along very well. We came to one place where otter signs
+seemed fresh, and stopped to set a trap for them. Our dog sat on the
+bank and watched the operation, and when we started on we could not get
+him to ride or follow. Soon we heard him cry and went back to find he
+had the trap on his fore foot. To get it off we had to put a forked
+stick over his neck and hold him down, he was so excited over his
+mishap. When he was released he left at full speed and was never seen by
+us after.
+
+When we got well into the pine woods we camped and cached our traps and
+provisions on an island, and made our camp further down the stream and
+some little distance from the shore. We soon found this was very near a
+logging camp, and as no one had been living there for a year, we moved
+camp down there and occupied one of the empty cabins. We began to set
+dead-fall traps in long lines in many different directions, blazing the
+trees so we could find them if the snow came on. West of this about ten
+miles, where we had killed some deer earlier, we made a A-shaped cabin
+and made dead falls many miles around to catch fishes, foxes, mink and
+raccoons. We made weekly journeys to the places and generally staid
+about two nights.
+
+One day when going over my trap lines I came to a trap which I had set
+where I had killed a deer, and saw by the snow that an eagle had been
+caught in the trap and had broken the chain and gone away. I followed on
+the trail he made and soon found him. He tried to fly but the trap was
+too heavy, and he could only go slowly and a little way. I fired and put
+a ball in him and he fell and rolled under a large log on the hillside.
+As I took the trap off I saw an Indian coming down the hill and brought
+my gun to bear on him. He stopped suddenly and made signs not to shoot,
+and I let him come up. He made signs that he wanted the feathers of the
+bird which I told him to take, and then he wanted to know where we
+slept. I pointed out the way and made him go ahead of me there, for I
+did not want him behind me. At camp he made signs for something to eat,
+but when I showed him meat he shook his head. However he took a leg of
+deer and started on, I following at a good distance till satisfied that
+he would not come back.
+
+We had not taken pains to keep track of the day of the week or month;
+the rising and setting of the sun and the changes of the moon were all
+the almanacs we had. Then snow came about a foot deep, and some days
+were so cold we could not leave our camp fire at all. As no Indians
+appeared we were quite successful and kept our bundle of furs in a
+hollow standing tree some distance from camp, and when we went that way
+we never stopped or left any sign that we had a deposit there.
+
+Some time after it was all frozen up solid, some men with two yoke of
+oxen came up to cut and put logs in the river to raft down when the ice
+went out. With them came a shingle weaver, with a pony and a small sled,
+and some Indians also. We now had to take up all of our steel traps, and
+rob all our dead-falls and quit business generally--even then they got
+some of our traps before we could get them gathered in. We were now
+comparatively idle.
+
+Until these loggers came we did not know exactly where we were situated,
+but they told us we were on the Lemonai river, a branch of the
+Wisconsin, and that we could get out by going west till we found the
+Mississippi river and then home. We hired the shengle man with his pony
+to take us to Black River, farther north which we reached in three days,
+and found a saw mill there in charge of a keeper. Up the river farther
+we found another mill looked after by Sam Ferguson. Both mills were
+frozen up. The Indians had been here all winter. They come from Lake
+Superior when the swamps froze up there, to hunt deer, till the weather
+gets warm, then they returned to the Lake to fish.
+
+Of course the presence of the Indians made game scarce, but the mill men
+told us if we would go up farther into the marten country they thought
+we would do well. We therefore made us a hand sled, put some provisions
+and traps on board, and started up the river on the ice. As we went the
+snow grew deeper and we had to cut hemlock boughs for a bed on top of
+the snow. It took about a half a cord of wood to last us all night, and
+it was a trouble to cut holes in the ice to water, for it was more than
+two feet thick. Our fire kindled on the snow, would be two or three feet
+below on the ground, by morning. This country was heavily timbered with
+cedar, or spruce and apparently very level.
+
+One day we saw two otters coming toward us on the ice. We shot one, but
+as the other gun missed fire, the other one escaped, for I could not
+overtake it in the woods. We kept on up the river till we began to hear
+the Indians' guns, and then we camped and did not fire a gun for two
+days, for we were afraid we might be discovered and robbed, and we knew
+we could not stay long after our grub was gone. All the game we could
+catch was the marten or sable, which the Indians called _Waubusash_. The
+males were snuff color and the female much darker. Mink were scarce, and
+the beaver, living in the river bank, could not be got at till the ice
+went out in the spring.
+
+We now began to make marten traps or dead-falls, and set them for this
+small game. There were many cedar and tamarack swamps, indeed that was
+the principal feature, but there were some ridges a little higher where
+some small pines and beech grew. Now our camp was one place where there
+was no large timber caused by the stream being dammed by the beaver.
+Here were some of the real Russian Balsam trees, the most beautiful in
+shape I had ever seen. They were very dark green, the boughs very thick,
+and the tree in shape like an inverted top. Our lines of trips led for
+miles in every direction marked by blazed trees. We made a trap of two
+poles, and chips which we split from the trees. These were set in the
+snow and covered with brush, We sometimes found a porcupine in the top
+of a pine tree. The only signs of his presence were the chips he made in
+gnawing the bark for food. They never came down to the ground as we saw.
+They were about all the game that was good to eat. I would kill one,
+skin it and drag the carcass after me all day as I set traps, cutting
+off bits for bait, and cooking the rest for ourselves to eat. We tried
+to eat the marten but it was pretty musky and it was only by putting on
+plenty of salt and pepper that we managed to eat them. We were really
+forced to do it if we remained here. We secured a good many of these
+little fellows which have about the the best fur that is found in
+America.
+
+We were here about three weeks, and our provisions giving out and the
+ice becoming tender in the swamp were two pretty strong reasons for our
+getting out, so we shouldered our packs of fur and our guns and, getting
+our course from a pocket-compass, we started out. As we pushed on we
+came to some old windfalls that were troublesome to get through. The
+dense timber seemed to be six feet deep, and we would sometimes climb
+over and sometimes crawl under, the fallen trees were so thickly mixed
+and tangled.
+
+Mr. Buck got so completely tired that he threw away his traps. We
+reached our starting place at O'Neil's saw-mill after many days of the
+hardest work, and nearly starved, for we had seen no game on our trip.
+We found our traps and furs all safe here and as this stream was one of
+the tributaries of the Mississippi, we decided to make us a boat and
+float down toward that noted stream. We secured four good boards and
+built the boat in which we started down the river setting traps and
+moving at our leisure. We found plenty of fine ducks, two bee trees, and
+caught some cat-fish with a hook and line we got at the mill. We also
+caught some otter, and, on a little branch of the river killed two
+bears, the skin of one of them weighing five pounds. We met a keel boat
+being poled up the river, and with the last cent of money we possessed
+bought a little flour of them.
+
+About the first of May we reached Prairie du Chien. Here we were met
+with some surprise, for Mr. Brisbois said he had heard we were killed or
+lost. He showed us through his warehouses and pointed out to us the many
+bales of different kinds of furs he had on hand. He told us we were the
+best fur handlers he had seen, and paid us two hundred dollars in
+American gold for what we had. We then stored our traps in the garret of
+one of his warehouses, which was of stone, two stories and an attic, as
+we thought of making another trip to this country if all went well.
+
+We now entered our skiff again and went on down the great river till we
+came to a place nearly opposite Mineral Point, when we gave our boat to
+a poor settler, and with guns and bundles on our backs took a straight
+shoot for home on foot. The second day about dark we came in the edge of
+the town and were seen by a lot of boys who eyed us closely and with
+much curiosity, for we were dressed in our trapping suits. They followed
+us, and as we went along the crowd increased so that when we got to
+Crum. Lloyd's tavern the door was full of boys' heads looking at us as
+if we were a circus. Here we were heartily welcomed, and every body was
+glad to see us, as they were about to start a company to go in search of
+their reported murdered friends. It seems a missionary got lost on his
+way to Prairie La Crosse and had come across our deserted cabin, and
+when he came in he reported us as no doubt murdered.
+
+I invested all of my hundred dollars in buying eighty acres of good
+Government land. This was the first $100 I ever had and I felt very
+proud to be a land owner. I felt a little more like a man now than I had
+ever felt before, for the money was hard earned and all mine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Mr. Buck and myself concluded we would try our luck at lead mining for
+the summer and purchased some mining tools for the purpose. We camped
+out and dug holes around all summer, getting just about enough to pay
+our expenses--not a very encouraging venture, for we had lived in a tent
+and had picked and shoveled and blasted and twisted a windlass hard
+enough to have earned a good bit of money.
+
+In the fall we concluded to try another trapping tour, and set out for
+Prairie du Chien. We knew it was a poor place to spend money up in the
+woods, and when we got our money it was all in a lump and seemed to
+amount to something. Mr. Brisbois said that the prospects were very poor
+indeed, for the price of fur was very low and no prospect of a better
+market. So we left our traps still on storage at his place and went back
+again. This was in 1847, and before Spring the war was being pushed in
+Mexico. I tried to enlist for this service, but there were so many ahead
+of me I could not get a chance.
+
+I still worked in the settlement and made a living, but had no chance to
+improve my land. The next winter I lived with Mr A. Bennett, hunted deer
+and sold them at Mineral Point, and in this way made and saved a few
+dollars.
+
+There had been from time to time rumors of a better country to the west
+of us and a sort of a pioneer, or western fever would break out among
+the people occasionally. Thus in 1845 I had a slight touch of the
+disease on account of the stories they told us about Oregon. It was
+reported that the Government would give a man a good farm if he would go
+and settle, and make some specified improvement. They said it was in a
+territory of rich soil, with plenty of timber, fish and game and some
+Indians, just to give a little spice of adventure to the whole thing.
+The climate was very mild in winter, as they reported, and I concluded
+it would suit me exactly. I began at once to think about an outfit and a
+journey, and I found that it would take me at least two years to get
+ready. A trip to California was not thought of in those days, for it did
+not belong to the United States.
+
+In the winter of 1848-49 news began to come that there was gold in
+California, but not generally believed till it came through a U.S.
+officer, and then, as the people were used to mines and mining, a
+regular gold fever spread as if by swift contagion. Mr. Bennett was
+aroused and sold his farm, and I felt a change in my Oregon desires and
+had dreams at might of digging up the yellow dust. Nothing would cure us
+then but a trip, and that was quickly decided on.
+
+As it would be some weeks yet before grass would start, I concluded to
+haul my canoe and a few traps over to a branch of the Wisconsin, and
+make my way to Prairie du Chien, do a little trapping, get me an Indian
+pony on which to ride to California. There were no ponies to be had at
+Mineral Point. Getting a ride up the river on a passing steamboat I
+reached Prairie La Crosse, where the only house was that of a Dutch
+trader from whom I bought a Winnebago pony, which he had wintered on a
+little brushy island, and I thought if he could winter on brush and
+rushes he must be tough enough to take me across the plains. He cost me
+$30, and I found him to be a poor, lazy little fellow. However, I
+thought that when he got some good grass, and a little fat on his ribs
+he might have more life, and so I hitched a rope to him and drove him
+ahead down the river. When I came to the Bad Axe river I found it
+swimming full, but had no trouble in crossing, as the pony was as good
+as a dog in the water.
+
+Before leaving Bennett's I had my gun altered over to a pill lock and
+secured ammunition to last for two years. I had tanned some nice
+buckskin and had a good outfit of clothes made of it, or rather cut and
+made it myself. Where I crossed the Bad Axe was a the battle ground
+where Gen. Dodge fought the Winnebago Indians. At Prairie du Chien I
+found a letter from Mr. Bennett, saying that the grass was so backward
+he would not start up for two or three weeks, and I had better come back
+and start with them; but as the letter bore no date I could only guess
+at the exact time. I had intended to strike directly west from here to
+Council Bluffs and meet them there, but now thought perhaps I had better
+go back to Mineral Point and start out with them there, or follow on
+rapidly after them if by any chance they had already started.
+
+On my way back I found the Kickapoo river too high to ford, so I pulled
+some basswood bark and made a raft of a couple of logs, on which to
+carry my gun and blanket; starting the pony across I followed after. He
+swam across quickly, but did not seem to like it on the other side, so
+before I got across, back he came again, not paying the least attention
+to my scolding. I went back with the raft, which drifted a good way down
+stream, and caught the rascal and started him over again, but when I got
+half way across he jumped and played the same joke on me again. I began
+to think of the old puzzle of the story of the man with the fox, the
+goose and a peck of corn, but I solved it by making a basswood rope to
+which I tied a stone and threw across, then sending the pony over with
+the other end. He staid this time, and after three days of swimming
+streams and pretty hard travel reached Mineral Point, to find Bennett
+had been gone two weeks and had taken my outfit with him as we first
+planned.
+
+I was a little troubled, but set out light loaded for Dubuque, crossed
+the river there and then alone across Iowa, over wet and muddy roads,
+till I fell in with some wagons west of the Desmoines River. They were
+from Milwaukee, owned by a Mr. Blodgett, and I camped with them a few
+nights, till we got to the Missouri River.
+
+I rushed ahead the last day or two and got there before them. There were
+a few California wagons here, and some campers, so I put my pony out to
+grass and looked around. I waded across the low bottom to a strip of dry
+land next to the river, where there was a post office, store, and a few
+cabins. I looked first for a letter, but there was none. Then I began to
+look over the cards in the trading places and saloons, and read the
+names written on the logs of the houses, and everywhere I thought there
+might be a trace of the friends I sought. No one had seen or knew them.
+After looking half a day I waded back again to the pony--pretty blue. I
+thought first I would go back and wait another year, but there was a
+small train near where I left the pony, and it was not considered very
+safe to go beyond there except with a pretty good train. I sat down in
+camp and turned the matter over in my mind, and talked with Chas. Dallas
+of Lynn, Iowa, who owned the train. Bennett had my outfit and gun, while
+I had his light gun, a small, light tent, a frying pan, a tin cup, one
+woolen shirt and the clothes on my back. Having no money to get another
+outfit, I about concluded to turn back when Dallas said that if I would
+drive one of his teams through, he would board me, and I could turn my
+pony in with his loose horses; I thought it over, and finally put my
+things in the wagon and took the ox whip to go on. Dallas intended to
+get provision here, but could not, so we went down to St. Jo, following
+the river near the bluff. We camped near town and walked in, finding a
+small train on the main emigrant road to the west. My team was one yoke
+of oxen and one yoke of cows. I knew how to drive, but had a little
+trouble with the strange animals till they found I was kind to them, and
+then they were all right.
+
+This was in a slave state, and here I saw the first negro auction. One
+side of the street had a platform such as we build for a political
+speaker. The auctioneer mounted this with a black boy about 18 years
+old, and after he had told all his good qualities and had the boy stand
+up bold and straight, he called for bids, and they started him at $500.
+He rattled away as if he were selling a steer, and when Mr. Rubideaux,
+the founder of St. Jo bid $800, he went no higher and the boy was sold.
+With my New England notions it made quite an impression on me.
+
+Here Dallas got his supplies, and when the flour and bacon was loaded up
+the ferryman wanted $50 to take the train across. This Dallas thought
+too high and went back up the river a day's drive, where he got across
+for $30. From this crossing we went across the country without much of a
+road till we struck the road from St. Jo, and were soon on the Platte
+bottom.
+
+We found some fine strawberries at one of the camps across the country.
+We found some hills, but now the country was all one vast prairie, not a
+tree in sight till we reached the Platte, there some cottonwood and
+willow. At the first camp on the Platte I rolled up in my blanket under
+the wagon and thought more than I slept, but I was in for it and no
+other way but to go on. I had heard that there were two forts, new Ft.
+Kearny and Ft. Laramie, on the south side of the river, which we must
+pass before we reached the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, and beyond
+there there would be no place to buy medicine or food. Our little train
+of five wagons, ten men, one woman and three children would not be a
+formidable force against the Indians if they were disposed to molest us,
+and it looked to me very hazardous, and that a larger train would be
+more safe, for Government troops were seldom molested on their marches.
+
+If I should not please Mr. Dallas and get turned off with only my gun
+and pony I should be in a pretty bad shape, but I decided to keep right
+on and take the chances on the savages, who would get only my hair and
+my gun as my contribution to them if they should be hostile. I must
+confess, however, that the trail ahead did not look either straight or
+bright to me, but hoped it might be better than I thought. So I yoked my
+oxen and cows to the wagon and drove on. All the other teams had two
+drivers each, who took turns, and thus had every other day off for
+hunting if they chose, but I had to carry the whip every day and leave
+my gun in the wagon.
+
+When we crossed Salt Creek the banks were high and we had to tie a
+strong rope to the wagons and with a few turns around a post, lower them
+down easily, while we had to double the teams to get them up the other
+side.
+
+Night came on before half the wagons were over, and though it did not
+rain the water rose before morning so it was ten feet deep. We made a
+boat of one of the wagon beds, and had a regular ferry, and when they
+pulled the wagons over they sank below the surface but came out all
+right. We came to Pawnee Village, on the Platte, a collection of mud
+huts, oval in shape, and an entrance low down to crawl in at. A ground
+owl and some prairie dogs were in one of them, and we suspected they
+might be winter quarters for the Indians.
+
+Dallas and his family rode in the two-horse wagon. Dick Field was cook,
+and the rest of us drove the oxen. We put out a small guard at night to
+watch for Indians and keep the stock together so there might be no delay
+in searching for them. When several miles from Ft. Kearney I think on
+July 3rd, we camped near the river where there was a slough and much
+cottonwood and willow. Just after sundown a horse came galloping from
+the west and went in with our horses that were feeding a little farther
+down. In the morning two soldiers came from the fort, inquiring after
+the stray horse, but Dallas said he had seen none, and they did not hunt
+around among the willows for the lost animal. Probably it would be the
+easiest way to report back to the fort--"Indians got him." When we
+hitched up in the morning he put the horse on the off side of his own,
+and when near the fort, he went ahead on foot and entertained the
+officers while the men drove by, and the horse was not discovered. I did
+not like this much, for if we were discovered, we might be roughly
+handled, and perhaps the property of the innocent even confiscated.
+Really my New England ideas of honesty were somewhat shocked.
+
+Reaching the South Platte, it took us all day to ford the sandy stream,
+as we had first to sound out a good crossing by wading through
+ourselves, and when we started our teams across we dare not stop a
+moment for fear the wagons would sink deep into the quicksands. We had
+no mishaps in crossing, and when well camped on the other side a
+solitary buffalo made his appearance about 200 yards away and all hands
+started after him, some on foot. The horsemen soon got ahead of him, but
+he did not seem inclined to get out of their way, so they opened fire on
+him. He still kept his feet and they went nearer, Mr. Rogers, being on a
+horse with a blind bridle, getting near enough to fire his Colt's
+revolver at him, when he turned, and the horse, being unable to see the
+animal quick enough to get out of the way, suffered the force of a
+sudden attack of the old fellow's horns, and came out with a gash in his
+thigh six inches long, while Rogers went on a flying expedition over the
+horse's head, and did some lively scrambling when he reached the ground.
+The rest of them worried him along for about half a mile, and finally,
+after about forty shots he lay down but held his head up defiantly,
+receiving shot after shot with an angry shake, till a side shot laid him
+out. This game gave us plenty of meat, which though tough, was a
+pleasant change from bacon. I took no part in this battle except as an
+observer. On examination it was found that the balls had been many of
+them stopped by the matted hair about the old fellow's head and none of
+them had reached the skull.
+
+A few days after this we were stopped entirely by a herd of buffaloes
+crossing our road. They came up from the river and were moving south.
+The smaller animals seemed to be in the lead, and the rear was brought
+up by the old cows and the shaggy, burly bulls. All were moving at a
+smart trot, with tongues hanging out, and seemed to take no notice of
+us, though we stood within a hundred yards of them. We had to stand by
+our teams and stock to prevent a stampede, for they all seemed to have a
+great wonder, and somewhat of fear at their relatives of the plains.
+After this we often saw large droves of them in the distance. Sometimes
+we could see what in the distance seemed a great patch of brush, but by
+watching closely we could see it was a great drove of these animals.
+Those who had leisure to go up to the bluffs often reported large droves
+in sight. Antelopes were also seen, but these occupied the higher
+ground, and it was very hard to get near enough to them to shoot
+successfully. Still we managed to get a good deal of game which was very
+acceptable as food.
+
+One prominent land mark along the route was what they called Court House
+Rock, standing to the south from the trail and much resembled an immense
+square building, standing high above surrounding country. The farther we
+went on the more plentiful became the large game, and also wolves and
+prairie dogs, the first of which seemed to follow the buffaloes closely.
+
+About this time we met a odd looking train going east, consisting of
+five or six Mormons from Salt Lake, all mounted on small Spanish mules.
+They were dressed in buckskin and moccasins, with long spurs jingling at
+their heels, the rowels fully four inches long, and each one carried a
+gun, a pistol and a big knife. They were rough looking fellows with
+long, matted hair, long beards, old slouch hats and a generally back
+woods get-up air in every way. They had an extra pack mule, but the
+baggage and provisions were very light. I had heard much about the
+Mormons, both at Nauvoo and Salt Lake, and some way or other I could not
+separate the idea of horse thieves from this party, and I am sure I
+would not like to meet them if I had a desirable mule that they wanted,
+or any money, or a good looking wife. We talked with them half an hour
+or so and then moved on.
+
+We occasionally passed by a grave along the road, and often a small head
+board would state that the poor unfortunate had died of cholera. Many of
+these had been torn open by wolves and the blanket encircling the corpse
+partly pulled away. Our route led a few miles north of Chimney Rock,
+standing on an elevated point like a tall column, so perfect and regular
+on all sides, that from our point it looked as if it might be the work
+of the stone cutters. Some of the party went to see it and reported
+there was no way to ascend it, and that as far as a man could reach, the
+rocks were inscribed with the names of visitors and travelers who passed
+that way.
+
+At Scott's Bluffs, the bluffs came close to the river, so there was
+considerable hill climbing to get along, the road in other places
+finding ample room in the bottom. Here we found a large camp of the
+Sioux Indians on the bank of a ravine, on both sides of which were some
+large cottonwood trees. Away up in the large limbs platforms had been
+made of poles, on which were laid the bodies of their dead, wrapped in
+blankets and fastened down to the platform by a sort of a network of
+smaller poles tightly lashed so that they could not be dragged away or
+disturbed by wild animals. This seemed a strange sort of cemetery, but
+when we saw the desecrated earth-made graves we felt that perhaps this
+was the best way, even if it was a savage custom.
+
+These Indians were fair-sized men, and pretty good looking for red men.
+Some of our men went over to their camp, and some of their youths came
+down to ours, and when we started on they seemed quite proud that they
+had learned a little of the English language, but the extent of their
+knowledge seemed to be a little learned of the ox-drivers, for they
+would swing their hands at the cattle and cry out "Whoa! haw, g--d
+d--n." Whether they knew what was meant, I have my doubts. They seemed
+pretty well provided for and begged very little, as they are apt to do
+when they are hard pressed.
+
+We saw also some bands of Pawnee Indians on the move across the
+prairies. They would hitch a long, light pole on each side of a pony,
+with the ends dragging behind on the ground, and on a little platform at
+the hind end the children sat and were dragged along.
+
+As we passed on beyond Scott's Bluff the game began to be perceptibly
+scarcer, and what we did find was back from the traveled road, from
+which it had apparently been driven by the passing hunters.
+
+In time we reached Ft. Laramie, a trading post, where there were some
+Indian lodges, and we noticed that some of the occupants had lighter
+complexions than any of the other Indians we had seen. They had cords of
+dried buffalo meat, and we purchased some. It was very fat, but was so
+perfectly cured that the clear tallow tasted as sweet as a nut. I
+thought it was the best dried meat I had ever tasted, but perhaps a good
+appetite had something to do with it.
+
+As we passed Ft. Laramie we fell in company with some U.S. soldiers who
+were going to Ft. Hall and thence to Oregon. We considered them pretty
+safe to travel with and kept with them for some time, though their rate
+of travel was less than ours. Among them were some Mormons, employed as
+teamsters, and in other ways, and they told us there were some
+Missourians on the road who would never live to see California. There
+had been some contests between the Missourians and the Mormons, and I
+felt rather glad that none of us hailed from Pike county.
+
+We turned into what they called the Black Hills, leaving the Platte to
+the north of us. The first night on this road we had the hardest rain I
+ever experienced, and the only one of any account on our journey. Our
+camp was on a level piece of ground on the bank of a dry creek, which
+soon became a very wet creek indeed, for by morning it was one hundred
+yards wide and absolutely impassible. It went down, however, as quickly
+as it rose, and by ten o'clock it was so low that we easily crossed and
+went on our way. We crossed one stream where there were great drifts or
+piles of hail which had been brought down by a heavy storm from higher
+up the hills. At one place we found some rounded boulders from six to
+eight inches in diameter, which were partly hollow, and broken open were
+found to contain most beautiful crystals of quartz, clear as purest ice.
+The inside was certainly very pretty, and it was a mystery how it came
+there. I have since learned that such stones are found at many points,
+and that they are called geodes.
+
+We came out at the river again at the mouth of Deer Creek, and as there
+was some pretty good coal there quite easy to get, we made camp one day
+to try to tighten our wagon tires, John Rogers acting as blacksmith.
+This was my first chance to reconnoiter, and so I took my gun and went
+up the creek, a wide, treeless bottom. In the ravines on the south side
+were beautiful groves of small fir trees and some thick brush, wild rose
+bushes I think. I found here a good many heads and horns of elk, and I
+could not decide whether they had been killed in winter during the deep
+snow, or had starved to death.
+
+There was a ferry here to cross the river and go up along north side.
+Mr. Dallas bought the whole outfit for a small sum and when we were
+safely over he took with him such ropes as he wanted and tied the boat
+to the bank The road on this side was very sandy and led over and among
+some rolling hills. In talking with the men of the U.S. troops in whose
+company we still were, I gathered much information concerning our road
+further west. They said we were entirely too late to get through to
+California, on account of crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains, which,
+they said would be covered with snow by November, or even earlier, and
+that we would be compelled to winter at Salt Lake. Some of the drivers
+overheard Mr. Dallas telling his family the same thing, and that if he
+should winter at Salt Lake, he would discharge his drivers as soon as he
+arrived, as he could not afford to board them all winter.
+
+This was bad news for me, for I had known of the history of them at
+Nauvoo and in Missouri, and the prospect of being thrown among them with
+no money to buy bread was a very sorry prospect for me. From all I could
+learn we could not get a chance to work, even for our board there, and
+the other drivers shared my fears and disappointment. In this dilemma we
+called a council, and invited the gentleman in to have an understanding.
+He came and our spokesman stated the case to him, and our fears, and
+asked him what he had to say to us about it. He flew quite angry at us,
+and talked some and swore a great deal more, and the burden of his
+speech was:--"This train belongs to me and I propose to do with it just
+as I have a mind to, and I don't care a d--n what you fellows do or say.
+I am not going to board you fellows all winter for nothing, and when we
+get to Salt Lake you can go where you please, for I shall not want you
+any longer." We talked a little to him and under the circumstances to
+talk was about all we could do. He gave us no satisfaction and left us
+apparently much offended that we had any care for ourselves.
+
+Then we had some talk among ourselves, at the time, and from day to day
+as we moved along. We began to think that the only way to get along at
+all in Salt Lake would be to turn Mormons, and none of us had any belief
+or desire that way and could not make up our minds to stop our journey
+and lose so much time, and if we were not very favored travelers our lot
+might be cast among the sinners for all time.
+
+We were now on the Sweetwater River, and began to see the snow on the
+Rocky Mountains ahead of us, another reminder that there was a winter
+coming and only a little more than half our journey was done. We did not
+feel very happy over it, and yet we had to laugh once in a while at some
+of the funny things that would happen.
+
+The Government party we were with had among them a German mule driver
+who had a deal of trouble with his team, but who had a very little
+knowledge of the English language. When the officers tried to instruct
+him a little he seemed to get out of patience and would say something
+very like _Sacramento_. We did not know exactly what this meant. We had
+heard there was a river of that name or something very near like that;
+and then again some said that was the Dutch for swearing. If this latter
+was the truth then he was a very profane mule driver when he got mad.
+
+The Captain of the company had a very nice looking lady with him, and
+they carried a fine wall tent which they occupied when they went into
+camp. The company cook served their meals to them in the privacy of
+their tent, and they seemed to enjoy themselves very nicely. Everybody
+thought the Captain was very lucky in having such an accomplished
+companion, and journey along quietly to the gold fields at government
+expense.
+
+There seemed to be just a little jealousy between the Captain and the
+Lieutenant, and one day I saw them both standing in angry attitude
+before the Captain's quarters, both mounted, with their carbines lying
+across their saddles before them. They had some pretty sharp, hot words,
+and it looked as if they both were pretty nearly warmed up to the
+shooting point. Once the Lieutenant moved his right hand a little, and
+the Captain was quick to see it, shouting;--"Let your gun alone or I
+will make a hole through you," at the same time grasping his own and
+pointing it straight at the other officer. During all this time the
+Captain's lady stood in the tent door, and when she saw her favorite had
+the drop on the Lieutenant she clapped her delicate, little hands in a
+gleeful manner:--"Just look at the Captain! Ain't he spunky?" and then
+she laughed long and loud to see her lord show so much military courage.
+She seemed more pleased at the affair than any one else. I don't know
+exactly what the others thought, but I never could believe that the lady
+and the Captain were ever married.
+
+The Lieutenant was no coward, but probably thinking that prudence was
+the better part of valor, refrained from handling his gun, and the two
+soon rode away in opposite directions.
+
+We passed a lone rock standing in the river bottom on the Sweetwater,
+which they named Independence Rock. It was covered with the names of
+thousands of people who had gone by on that road. Some were pretty
+neatly chiseled in, some very rudely scrawled, and some put on with
+paint. I spent all the time I could hunting Mr. Bennett's name, but I
+could not find it anywhere. To have found his name, and thus to know
+that he had safely passed this point would have been a little
+re-assuring in those rather doubtful days. Some had named the date of
+their passing, and some of them were probably pretty near the gold
+fields at this time.
+
+All along in this section we found alkali water near the road, some very
+strong and dangerous for man or beast to use. We traveled on up the
+Sweetwater for some time, and at last came to a place where the road
+left the river, and we had a long, hard hill to pull up. When we reached
+the top of this we were in the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, the
+backbone of the American continent. To the north of us were some very
+high peaks white with snow, and to the south were some lower hills and
+valleys. The summit of the mountains was not quite as imposing as I
+expected, but it was the summit, and we were soon surely moving down the
+western side, for at Pacific Springs the water ran to the westward,
+toward the Pacific coast. The next day we came to the nearly dry bed of
+the river--the Big Sandy. The country round about seemed volcanic, with
+no timber, but plenty of sage brush, in which we were able to shoot an
+occasional sage hen. The river bed itself was nothing but sand, and
+where there was water enough to wet it, it was very miry and hard
+traveling over it. There are two streams, the Big Sandy and Little
+Sandy, both tributaries to Green River, which we soon reached and
+crossed.
+
+It was a remarkable clear and rapid stream and was now low enough to
+ford. One of the Government teams set out to make the crossing at a
+point where it looked shallow enough, but before the lead mules reached
+the opposite shore, they lost their footing and were forced to swim. Of
+course the wagon stopped and the team swung round and tangled up in a
+bad shape. They were unhitched and the wagon pulled back, the load was
+somewhat dampened, for the water came into the wagon box about a foot.
+We camped here and laid by one day, having thus quite a little chance to
+look around.
+
+When we came to the first water that flowed toward the Pacific Coast at
+Pacific Springs, we drivers had quite a little talk about a new scheme.
+We put a great many "ifs" together and they amounted to about this:--If
+this stream were large enough; if we had a boat; if we knew the way: if
+there were no falls or bad places; if we had plenty of provisions; if we
+were bold enough set out on such a trip, etc., we might come out at some
+point or other on the Pacific Ocean. And now when we came to the first
+of the "ifs," a stream large enough to float a small boat; we began to
+think more strongly about the other "ifs".
+
+In the course of our rambles we actually did run across the second "if"
+in the shape of a small ferry boat filled up with sand upon a bar, and
+it did not take very long to dig it out and put it into shape to use,
+for it was just large enough to hold one wagon at a time. Our military
+escort intended to leave us at this point, as their route now bore off
+to the north of ours. I had a long talk with the surgeon who seemed well
+informed about the country, and asked him about the prospects. He did
+not give the Mormons a very good name. He said to me:--"If you go to
+Salt Lake City, do not let them know you are from Missouri, for I tell
+you that many of those from that State will never see California. You
+know they were driven from Missouri, and will get revenge if they can."
+Both the surgeon and the captain said the stream came out on the Pacific
+Coast and that we had no obstacles except cataracts, which they had
+heard were pretty bad. I then went to Dallas and told him what we
+proposed doing and to our surprise he did not offer any objections, and
+offered me $60 for my pony. He said he would sell us some flour and
+bacon for provisions also.
+
+We helped them in crossing the river, which was somewhat difficult,
+being swift, with boulders in the bottom but we got all safely over and
+then made the trade we had spoken of. Dallas paid me for my pony and we
+took what flour and bacon he would let go. He gave us some ropes for
+head and stern lines to our boat and a couple of axes, and we laid
+these, and our provisions in a pile by the roadside. Six of us then gave
+up our whips. Mr. S. McMahon, a driver, hesitated for some time, but
+being pressed by Dallas for a decision, at last threw down his whip and
+said:--"I will go with the boys." This left Dallas with only one driver,
+but he took a whip himself, and with the aid of the children and his
+wife who drove the two-horse wagon, they got along very well. I paid for
+such provisions as we had taken, as the rest of the fellows had almost
+no money.
+
+So we parted company, the little train slowly moving on its way
+westward. Our military captain, the soldier boys, and the gay young lady
+taking the route to Oregon, and we sitting on the bank of the river
+whose waters flowed to the great Pacific. Each company wished the other
+good luck, we took a few long breaths and then set to work in earnest to
+carry out our plans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+About the first thing we did was to organize and select a captain, and,
+very much against my wishes, I was chosen to this important position.
+Six of us had guns of some sort, Richard Field, Dallas's cook, was not
+armed at all. We had one regular axe and a large camp hatchet, which was
+about the same as an axe, and several very small hatchets owned by the
+men. All our worldly goods were piled up on the bank, and we were alone.
+
+An examination of the old ferry boat showed it to be in pretty good
+condition, the sand with which it had been filled keeping it very
+perfectly. We found two oars in the sand under the boat, and looked up
+some poles to assist us in navigation. Our cordage was rather scant but
+the best we could get and all we could muster. The boat was about twelve
+feet long and six or seven feet wide, not a very well proportioned
+craft, but having the ability to carry a pretty good load. We swung it
+up to the bank and loaded up our goods and then ourselves. It was not a
+heavy load for the craft, and it looked as if we were taking the most
+sensible way to get to the Pacific, and almost wondered that everybody
+was so blind as not to see it as we did.
+
+This party was composed of W.L. Manley, M.S. McMahon, Charles and Joseph
+Hazelrig, Richard Field, Alfred Walton and John Rogers. We untied the
+ropes, gave the boat a push and commenced to move down the river with
+ease and comfort, feeling much happier than we would had we been going
+toward Salt Lake with the prospect of wintering there.
+
+At the mouth of Ham's Fork we passed a camp of Indians, but we kept
+close to the opposite shore to avoid being boarded by them. They
+beckoned very urgently for us to come ashore, but I acted as if I did
+not understand them, and gave them the go-by.
+
+As we were floating down the rapid stream it became more and more a
+rapid, roaring river, and the bed contained many dangerous rocks that
+were difficult to shun. Each of us had a setting-pole, and we ranged
+ourselves along the sides of the boat and tried to keep ourselves clear
+from the rocks and dangers. The water was not very deep and made such a
+dashing noise as the current rushed among the rocks that one had to talk
+pretty loud to be heard. As we were gliding along quite swiftly, I set
+my pole on the bottom and gave the boat a sudden push to avoid a
+boulder, when the pole stuck in the crevice between two rocks, and
+instead of losing the pole by the sudden jerk I gave, I was the one who
+was very suddenly yanked from the boat by the spring of the pole, and
+landed in the middle of the river. I struck pretty squarely on my back,
+and so got thoroughly wet, but swam for shore amid the shouts of the
+boys, who waved their hats and hurrahed for the captain when they saw he
+was not hurt. I told them that was nothing as we were on our way to
+California by water any way, and such things must be expected.
+
+The next day after this I went on shore and sighted a couple of
+antelope, one of which I shot, which gave us good grub, and good
+appetites we already had. As near as we could estimate we floated about
+thirty miles a day, which beat the pace of tired oxen considerably. In
+one place there was a fringe of thick willows along the bank, and a
+little farther back a perpendicular bluff, while between the two was a
+strip of fine green grass. As we were passing this we scared up a band
+of elk in this grass meadow, and they all took a run down the river like
+a band of horses. One of them turned up a small ravine with walls so
+steep he could not get out, so we posted a guard at the entrance, and
+three of us went up the cañon after him, and after the others had each
+fired a shot, I fired the third and brought him down. This was about the
+finest piece of Rocky Mountain beef that one could see. We took the
+carcass on board and floated on again.
+
+Thus far we had a very pleasant time, each taking his turn in working
+the boat while the others rested or slept. About the fifth day when we
+were floating along in very gently running water, I had lay down to take
+a rest and a little sleep. The mountains here on both sides of the river
+were not very steep, but ran gradually for a mile or so. While I was
+sleeping the boat came around a small angle in the stream, and all at
+once there seemed to be a higher, steeper range of mountains right
+across the valley. The boys thought the river was coming to a rather
+sudden end and hastily awoke me, and for the life of me I could not say
+they were not right, for there was no way in sight for it to go to. I
+remembered while looking over a map the military men had I found a place
+named Brown's Hole, and I told the boys I guessed we were elected to go
+on foot to California after all, for I did not propose to follow the
+river down any sort of a hole into any mountain. We were floating
+directly toward a perpendicular cliff, and I could not see any hole any
+where, nor any other place where it could go. Just as we were within a
+stone's throw of the cliff, the river turned sharply to the right and
+went behind a high point of the mountain that seemed to stand squarely
+on edge. This was really an immense crack or crevice, certainly 2000
+feet deep and perhaps much more, and seemed much wider at the bottom
+than it did at the top, 2000 feet or more above our heads. Each wall
+seemed to lean in toward the water as it rose.
+
+We were now for some time between two rocky walls between which the
+river ran very rapidly, and we often had to get out and work our boat
+over the rocks, sometimes lifting it off when it caught. Fortunately we
+had a good tow line, and one would take this and follow along the edge
+when it was so he could walk. The mountains seemed to get higher and
+higher on both sides as we advanced, and in places we could see quite a
+number of trees overhanging the river, and away up on the rocks we could
+see the wild mountain sheep looking down at us. They were so high that
+they seemed a mile away, and consequently safe enough. This was their
+home, and they seemed very independent, as if they dared us fellows to
+come and see them. There was an old cottonwood tree on bank with marks
+of an axe on it, but this was all the sign we saw that any one had ever
+been here before us. We got no game while passing through this deep
+cañon and began to feel the need of some fresh provisions very sorely.
+
+We passed many deep, dark cañons coming into the main stream, and at one
+place, where the rock hung a little over the river and had a smooth
+wall, I climbed up above the high water mark which we could clearly see,
+and with a mixture of gunpowder and grease for paint, and a bit of cloth
+tied to a stick for a brush, I painted in fair sized letters on the
+rock, CAPT. W.L. MANLEY, U.S.A. We did not know whether we were within
+the bounds of the United States or not, and we put on all the majesty we
+could under the circumstances. I don't think the sun ever shone down to
+the bottom of the cañon, for the sides were literally sky-high, for the
+sky, and a very small portion of that was all we could see.
+
+Just before night we came to a place where some huge rocks as large as
+cabins had fallen down from the mountain, completely filling up the
+river bed, and making it completely impassible for our boat. We unloaded
+it and while the boys held the stern line, I took off my clothes and
+pushed the boat out into the torrent which ran around the rocks, letting
+them pay the line out slowly till it was just right. Then I sang out
+to--"Let go"--and away it dashed. I grasped the bow line, and at the
+first chance jumped overboard and got to shore, when I held the boat and
+brought it in below the obstructions. There was some deep water below
+the rocks; and we went into camp. While some loaded the boat, others
+with a hook and line caught some good fish, which resembled mackerel.
+
+While I was looking up toward the mountain top, and along down the rocky
+wall, I saw a smooth place about fifty feet above where the great rocks
+had broken out, and there, painted in large black letters, were the
+words "ASHLEY, 1824." This was the first real evidence we had of the
+presence of a white man in this wild place, and from this record it
+seems that twenty-five years before some venturesome man had here
+inscribed his name. I have since heard there were some persons in St.
+Louis of this name, and of some circumstances which may link them with
+this early traveler.
+
+When we came to look around we found that another big rock blocked the
+channel 300 yards below, and the water rushed around it with a terrible
+swirl. So we unloaded the boat again and made the attempt to get around
+it as we did the other rocks. We tried to get across the river but
+failed. We now, all but one, got on the great rock with our poles, and
+the one man was to ease the boat down with the rope as far as he could,
+then let go and we would stop it with our poles and push it out into the
+stream and let it go over, but the current was so strong that when the
+boat struck the rock we could not stop it, and the gunwale next to us
+rose, and the other went down, so that in a second the boat stood
+edgewise in the water and the bottom tight against the big rock, and the
+strong current pinned it there so tight that we could no more move it
+than we could move the rock itself.
+
+This seemed a very sudden ending to our voyage and there were some very
+rapid thoughts as to whether we would not safer among the Mormons than
+out in this wild country, afoot and alone. Our boat was surely lost
+beyond hope, and something must be done. I saw two pine trees, about two
+feet through, growing on a level place just below, and I said to them
+that we must decide between going afoot and making some canoes out of
+these pine trees. Canoes were decided on, and we never let the axes
+rest, night or day till we had them completed. While my working shift
+was off, I took an hour or two, for a little hunting, and on a low
+divide partly grown over with small pines and juniper I found signs, old
+and new, of many elk, and so concluded the country was well stocked with
+noble game. The two canoes, when completed were about fifteen feet long
+and two feet wide, and we lashed them together for greater security.
+When we tried them we found they were too small to carry our load and
+us, and we landed half a mile below, where there were two other pine
+trees--white pine--about two feet through, and much taller than the ones
+we had used. We set at work making a large canoe of these. I had to
+direct the work for I was the only one who had ever done such work. We
+worked night and day at these canoes, keeping a big fire at night and
+changing off to keep the axes busy. This canoe we made twenty-five or
+thirty feet long, and when completed they made me captain of it and into
+it loaded the most valuable things, such as provisions, ammunition, and
+cooking utensils. I had to take the lead for I was the only skillful
+canoeist in the party. We agreed upon signals to give when danger was
+seen, or game in sight, and leading off with my big canoe we set sail
+again, and went flying down stream.
+
+This rapid rate soon brought us out of the high mountains and into a
+narrow valley when the stream became more moderate in its speed and we
+floated along easily enough. In a little while after we struck this
+slack water, as we were rounding a point, I saw on a sand bar in the
+river, five or six elk, standing and looking at us with much curiosity.
+I signaled for those behind to go to shore, while I did the same, and
+two or three of us took our guns and went carefully down along the bank,
+the thick brush hiding us from them, till we were in fair range, then
+selecting our game we fired on them. A fine doe fell on the opposite
+bank, and a magnificent buck which Rogers and I selected, went below and
+crossed the river on our side. We followed him down along the bank which
+was here a flat meadow with thick bunches of willows, and soon came
+pretty near to Mr. Elk who started off on a high and lofty trot. As he
+passed an opening in the bushes I put a ball through his head and he
+fell. He was a monster. Rogers, who was a butcher, said it would weigh
+five hundred or six hundred pounds. The horns were fully six feet long,
+and by placing the horns on the ground, point downwards, one could walk
+under the skull between them. We packed the meat to our canoes, and
+staid up all night cutting the meat in strips and drying it, to reduce
+bulk and preserve it, and it made the finest kind of food, fit for an
+epicure.
+
+Starting on again, the river lost more and more of of its rapidity as it
+came out into a still wider valley, and became quite sluggish. We picked
+red berries that grew on bushes that overhung the water. They were sour
+and might have been high cranberries. One day I killed an otter, and
+afterward hearing a wild goose on shore, I went for the game and killed
+it on a small pond on which there were also some mallard duck. I killed
+two of these. When I fired, the ones not killed did not fly away, but
+rather swam toward me. I suppose they never before had seen a man or
+heard the report of a gun. On the shore around the place I saw a small
+bear track, but I did not have time to look for his bearship, and left,
+with the game already killed, and passed on down through this beautiful
+valley.
+
+We saw one place where a large band of horses had crossed, and as the
+men with them must have had a raft, we were pretty sure that the men in
+charge of them were white men. Another day we passed the mouth of a
+swollen stream which came in from the west side. The water was thick
+with mud, and the fish, about a foot long, came to the top, with their
+noses out of water. We tried to catch some, but could not hold them. One
+night we camped on an island, and I took my gun and went over toward the
+west side where I killed a deer. The boys hearing me shoot, came out,
+guns in hand, thinking I might need help, and I was very glad of their
+assistance. To make our flour go as far as possible we ate very freely
+of meat, and having excellent appetites it disappeared very fast.
+
+It took us two or three days to pass this beautiful valley, and then we
+began to get into a rougher country again, the cañons deeper and the
+water more tumultuous. McMahon and I had the lead always, in the big
+canoe. The mountains seemed to change into bare rocks and get higher and
+higher as we floated along. After the first day of this the river became
+so full of boulders that many times the only way we could do was to
+unload the canoes and haul them over, load up and go ahead, only to
+repeat the same tactics in a very short time again. At one place where
+the river was more than usually obstructed we found a deserted camp, a
+skiff and some heavy cooking utensils, with a notice posted up on an
+alder tree saying that they had found the river route impracticable, and
+being satisfied that the river was so full of rocks and boulders that it
+could not be safely navigated, they had abandoned the undertaking and
+were about to start overland to make their way to Salt Lake. I took down
+the names of the parties at the time in my diary, which has since been
+burned, but have now forgotten them entirely. They were all strangers to
+me. They had taken left such heavy articles as could not be carried on
+foot. This notice rather disconcerted us, but we thought we had better
+keep on and see for ourselves, so we did not follow them, but kept on
+down the rocky river. We found generally more boulders than water, and
+the down grade of the river bed was heavy.
+
+Some alders and willows grew upon the bank and up quite high on the
+mountains we could see a little timber. Some days we did not go more
+than four or five miles, and that was serious work, loading and
+unloading our canoes, and packing them over the boulders, with only
+small streams of water curling around between them. We went barefoot
+most of the time, for we were more than half of the time in the water
+which roared and dashed so loud that we could hardly heard each other
+speak. We kept getting more and more venturesome and skillful, and
+managed to run some very dangerous rapids in safety.
+
+On the high peaks above our heads we could see the Rocky Mountain sheep
+looking defiantly at us from their mountain fastnesses, so far away they
+looked no larger than jack rabbits. They were too far off to try to
+shoot at, and we had no time to try to steal up any nearer for at the
+rate we were making, food would be the one thing needful, for we were
+consuming it very fast. Sometimes we could ride a little ways, and then
+would come the rough-and-tumble with the rocks again.
+
+One afternoon we came to a sudden turn in the river, more than a right
+angle, and, just below, a fall of two feet or more. This I ran in
+safety, as did the rest who followed and we cheered at our pluck and
+skill. Just after this the river swung back the other way at a right
+angle or more, and I quickly saw there was danger below and signaled
+them to go on shore at once, and lead the canoes over the dangerous
+rapids. I ran my own canoe near shore and got by the rapid safely,
+waiting for the others to come also. They did not obey my signals but
+thought to run the rapid the same as I did. The channel here was
+straight for 200 yards, without a boulder in it, but the stream was so
+swift that it caused great, rolling waves in the center, of a kind I
+have never seen anywhere else. The boys were not skillful enough to
+navigate this stream, and the suction drew them to the center where the
+great waves rolled them over and over, bottom side up and every way. The
+occupants of our canoe let go and swam to shore. Fields had always been
+afraid of water and had worn a life preserver every day since we left
+the wagons. He threw up his hands and splashed and kicked at a terrible
+rate, for he could not swim, and at last made solid ground. One of the
+canoes came down into the eddy below, where it lodged close to the
+shore, bottom up. Alfred Walton in the other canoe could not swim, but
+held on to the gunwale with a death grip, and it went on down through
+the rapids. Sometimes we could see the man and sometimes not, and he and
+the canoe took turns in disappearing. Walton had very black hair, and as
+he clung fast to his canoe his black head looked like a crow on the end
+of a log. Sometimes he would be under so long that we thought he must be
+lost, when up he would come again still clinging manfully.
+
+McMahon and I threw everything out of the big canoe and pushed out after
+him. I told Mc. to kneel down so I could see over him to keep the craft
+off the rocks, and by changing his paddle from side to side as ordered,
+he enabled me to make quick moves and avoid being dashed to pieces. We
+fairly flew, the boys said, but I stood up in the stern and kept it
+clear of danger till we ran into a clear piece of river and overtook
+Walton clinging to the overturned boat; McMahon seized the boat and I
+paddled all to shore, but Walton was nearly dead and could hardly keep
+his grasp on the canoe. We took him to a sandy place and worked over him
+and warmed him in the sun till he came to life again, then built a fire
+and laid him up near to it to get dry and warm. If the canoe had gone on
+20 yards farther with him before we caught it, he would have gone into
+another long rapid and been drowned. We left Walton by the fire and
+crossing the river in the slack water, went up to where the other boys
+were standing, wet and sorry-looking, say-that all was gone and lost.
+Rogers put his hand in his pocket and pulled out three half dollars and
+said sadly:--"Boys, this is all I am worth in the world." All the
+clothes he had were a pair of overalls and a shirt. If he had been
+possessed of a thousand in gold he would have been no richer, for there
+was no one to buy from and nothing to buy. I said to them: "Boys, we
+can't help what has happened, we'll do the best we can. Right your
+canoe, get the water out, and we'll go down and see how Walton is." They
+did as I told them, and lo and behold when the canoe rolled right side
+up, there were their clothes and blankets safe and sound. These light
+things had floated in the canoe and were safe. We now tried by joining
+hands to reach out far enough to recover some of the guns, but by
+feeling with their feet they found the bottom smooth as glass and the
+property all swept on below, no one knew where. The current was so
+powerful that no one could stand in it where it came up above his knees.
+The eddy which enabled us to save the first canoe with the bedding and
+clothes was caused by a great boulder as large as a house which had
+fallen from above and partly blocked the stream. Everything that would
+sink was lost.
+
+We all got into the two canoes and went down to Walton, where we camped
+and staid all night for Walton's benefit. While we were waiting I took
+my gun and tried to climb up high enough to see how much longer this
+horrible cañon was going to last, but after many attempts, I could not
+get high enough to see in any direction. The mountain was all bare rocks
+in terraces, but it was impossible to climb from one to the other, and
+the benches were all filled with broken rocks that had fallen from
+above.
+
+By the time I got back to camp, Walton was dry and warm and could talk.
+He said he felt better, and pretty good over his rescue. When he was
+going under the water, it seemed sometimes as if he never would come to
+the top again, but he held on and eventually came out all right. He
+never knew how he got to shore, he was so nearly dead when rescued.
+
+The next morning Walton was so well we started on. We were now very
+poorly armed. My rifle and McMahon's shotgun were all the arms we had
+for seven of us, and we could make but a poor defence if attacked by man
+or beast, to say nothing of providing ourselves with food. The mountains
+on each side were very bare of timber, those on the east side
+particularly so, and very high and barren. Toward night we were floating
+along in a piece of slack water, the river below made a short turn
+around a high and rocky point almost perpendicular from the water. There
+was a terrace along the side of this point about fifty feet up, and the
+bench grew narrower as it approached the river. As I was coming down
+quite close under this bank I saw three mountain sheep on the bench
+above, and, motioning to the boys, I ran on shore and, with my gun in
+hand, crept down toward them, keeping a small pine tree between myself
+and the sheep. There were some cedar bushes on the point, and the pines
+grew about half way up the bank. I got in as good a range as possible
+and fired at one of them which staggered around and fell down to the
+bottom of the cliff. I loaded and took the next largest one which came
+down the same way. The third one tried to escape by going down the bend
+and then creeping up a crevice, but it could not get away and turned
+back, cautiously, which gave me time to load again and put a ball
+through it. I hit it a little too far back for instant death, but I
+followed it up and found it down and helpless, and soon secured it. I
+hauled this one down the mountain, and the other boys had the two others
+secure by this time. McMahon was so elated at my success that he said:
+"Manley, if I could shoot as you do I would never want any better
+business." And the other fellows said they guessed we were having better
+luck with one gun than with six, so we had a merry time after all. These
+animals were of a bluish color, with hair much finer than deer, and
+resembled a goat more than a sheep. These three were all females and
+their horns were quite straight, not curved like the big males. We cut
+the meat from the bones and broke them up, making a fine soup which
+tasted pretty good. They were in pretty good order, and the meat like
+very good mutton.
+
+We kept pushing on down the river. The rapids were still dangerous in
+many places, but not so frequent nor so bad as the part we had gone
+over, and we could see that the river gradually grew smoother as we
+progressed.
+
+After a day or two we began to get out of the cañons, but the mountains
+and hills on each side were barren and of a pale yellow caste, with no
+chance for us to climb up and take a look to see if there were any
+chances for us further along. We had now been obliged to follow the
+cañon for many miles, for the only way to get out was to get out
+endwise, climbing the banks being utterly out of the question. But these
+mountains soon came to an end, and there was some cottonwood and willows
+on the bank of the river, which was now so smooth we could ride along
+without the continual loading and unloading we had been forced to
+practice for so long. We had begun to get a little desperate at the lack
+of game, but the new valley, which grew wider all the time, gave us hope
+again, if it was quite barren everywhere except back of the willow
+trees.
+
+We were floating along very silently one day, for none of us felt very
+much in the mood for talking, when we heard a distant sound which we
+thought was very much like the firing of a gun. We kept still, and in a
+short time a similar sound was heard, plainer and evidently some ways
+down the stream. Again and again we heard it, and decided that it must
+be a gun shot, and yet we were puzzled to know how it could be. We were
+pretty sure there were no white people ahead of us, and we did not
+suppose the Indians in this far-off land had any firearms. It might be
+barely possible that we were coming now to some wagon train taking a
+southern course, for we had never heard that there were any settlements
+in this direction and the barren country would preclude any such thing,
+as we viewed it now. If it was a hostile band we could not do much with
+a rifle and a shot gun toward defending ourselves or taking the
+aggressive. Some of the boys spoke of our scalps ornamenting a spear
+handle, and indulged in such like cheerful talk which comforted us
+wonderfully.
+
+Finally we concluded we did not come out into that wild country to be
+afraid of a few gunshots, and determined to put on a bold front, fight
+if we had to, run away if we could not do any better, and take our
+chances on getting scalped or roasted. Just then we came in sight of
+three Indian lodges just a little back from the river, and now we knew
+for certain who had the guns. McMahon and I were in the lead as usual,
+and it was only a moment before one of the Indians appeared, gun in
+hand, and made motions for us to come on shore. A cottonwood tree lay
+nearly across the river, and I had gone so far that I had to go around
+it and land below, but the other boys behind were afraid to do otherwise
+than to land right there as the Indian kept his gun lying across his
+arm. I ran our canoe below to a patch of willows, where we landed and
+crawled through the brush till we came in sight of the other boys, where
+we stood and waited a moment to see how they fared, and whether our red
+men were friends or enemies. There were no suspicious movements on their
+part, so we came out and walked right up to them. There was some little
+talk, but I am sure we did not understand one another's language, and so
+we made motions and they made motions, and we got along better. We went
+with them down to the tepee, and there we heard the first word that was
+at all like English and that was "Mormonee," with a sort of questioning
+tone. Pretty soon one said "Buffalo," and then we concluded they were on
+a big hunt of some sort. They took us into their lodges and showed us
+blankets, knives, and guns, and then, with a suggestive motion, said all
+was "Mormonee," by which we understood they had got them from the
+Mormons. The Indian in the back part of the lodge looked very pleasant
+and his countenance showed a good deal of intelligence for a man of the
+mountains. I now told the boys that we were in a position where we were
+dependent on some one, and that I had seen enough to convince me that
+these Indians were perfectly friendly with the Mormons, and that for our
+own benefit we had better pass ourselves off for Mormons, also. So we
+put our right hand to our breast and said "Mormonee," with a cheerful
+countenance, and that act conveyed to them the belief that we were
+chosen disciples of the great and only Brigham and we became friends at
+once, as all acknowledged. The fine-looking Indian who sat as king in
+the lodge now, by motions and a word or two, made himself known as Chief
+Walker, and when I knew this I took great pains to cultivate his
+acquaintance.
+
+I was quite familiar with the sign language used by all the Indians, and
+found I could get along pretty well in making him understand and knowing
+what he said. I asked him first how many "sleeps" or days it was from
+there to "Mormonee." In answer he put out his left hand and then put two
+fingers of his right astride of it, making both go up and down with the
+same motion of a man riding a horse. Then he shut his eyes and laid his
+head on his hand three times, by which I understood that a man could
+ride to the Mormon settlement in three sleeps or four days. He then
+wanted to know where we were going, and I made signs that we were
+wishing to go toward the setting sun and to the big water, and I said
+"California." The country off to the west of us now seemed an open,
+barren plain, which grew wider as it extended west. The mountains on the
+north side seemed to get lower and smaller as they extended west, but on
+the south or east side they were all high and rough. It seemed as if we
+could see one hundred miles down the river, and up to the time we met
+the Indians we thought we had got through all our troublesome navigation
+and could now sail on, quietly and safely to the great Pacific Ocean and
+land of gold.
+
+When I told Chief Walker this he seemed very much astonished, as if
+wondering why we were going down the river when we wanted to get west
+across the country. I asked him how many sleeps it was to the big water,
+and he shook his head, pointed out across the country and then to the
+river and shook his head again; by which I understood that water was
+scarce, out the way he pointed. He then led me down to a smooth sand bar
+on the river and then, with a crooked stick, began to make a map in the
+sand. First he made a long crooked mark, ten feet long or so, and
+pointing to the river to let me know that the mark in the sand was made
+to represent it. He then made a straight mark across near the north end
+of the stream, and showed the other streams which came into the Green
+river which I saw at once was exactly correct. Then he laid some small
+stones on each side of the cross mark, and making a small hoop of a
+willow twig, he rolled it in the mark he had made across the river, then
+flourished his stick as if he were driving oxen. Thus he represented the
+emigrant road. He traced the branches off to the north where the
+soldiers had gone, and the road to California, which the emigrants took,
+all of which we could see was correct. Then he began to describe the
+river down which we had come. A short distance below the road he put
+some small stones on each side of the river to represent mountains. He
+then put down his hands, one on each side of the crooked mark and then
+raised them up again saying e-e-e-e-e-e as he raised them, to say that
+the mountains there were very high. Then he traced down the stream to a
+place below where we made our canoes; when he placed the stone back from
+the river farther, to show that there was a valley there; then he drew
+them in close again farther down, and piled them up again two or three
+tiers high, then placing both fists on them he raised them higher than
+the top of his head, saying e-e-e-e-e-e and looking still higher and
+shaking his head as if to say:--"Awful bad cañon", and thus he went on
+describing the river till we understood that we were near the place
+where we now were, and then pointed to his tepee, showing that I
+understood him all right. It was all correct, as I very well knew and
+assured me that he knew all about the country.
+
+I became much interested in my new found friend, and had him continue
+his map down the river. He showed two streams coming in on the east side
+and then he began piling up stones on each side of the river and then
+got longer ones and piled them higher and higher yet. Then he stood with
+one foot on each side of his river and put his hands on the stones and
+then raised them as high as he could, making a continued e-e-e-e-e-e as
+long as his breath would last, pointed to the canoe and made signs with
+his hands how it would roll and pitch in the rapids and finely capsize
+and throw us all out. He then made signs of death to show us that it was
+a fatal place. I understood perfectly plain from this that below the
+valley where we now were was a terrible cañon, much higher than any we
+had passed, and the rapids were not navigable with safety. Then Walker
+shook his head more than once and looked very sober, and said "Indiano"
+and reaching for his bow and arrows, he drew the bow back to its utmost
+length and put the arrow close to my breast, showing how I would get
+shot. Then he would draw his hand across his throat and shut his eyes as
+if in death to make us understand that this was a hostile country before
+us, as well as rough and dangerous.
+
+I now had a description of the country ahead and believed it to be
+reliable. As soon as I could conveniently after this, I had a council
+with the boys, who had looked on in silence while I was holding the
+silent confab with the chief. I told them where we were and what chances
+there were of getting to California by this route, and that for my part
+I had as soon be killed by Mormans as by savage Indians, and that I
+believed the best way for us to do was to make the best of our way to
+Salt Lake. "Now" I said, "Those of you who agree with me can follow--and
+I hope all will."
+
+McMahon said that we could not understand a word the old Indian said,
+and as to following his trails, I don't believe a word of it, and it
+don't seem right.
+
+He said he had a map of the country, and it looked just as safe to him
+to go on down the river as to go wandering across a dry and desolate
+country which we knew nothing of. I said to McMahon--"I know this sign
+language pretty well. It is used by almost all the Indians and is just
+as plain and certain to me as my talk is to you. Chief Walker and his
+forefathers were borne here and know the country as well as you know
+your father's farm, and for my part, I think I shall take one of his
+trails and go to Salt Lake and take the chances that way. I have no
+objections to you going some other way if you wish to and think it is
+best". McMahon and Fields concluded they would not follow me any
+farther.
+
+I then went to Chief Walker and had him point out the trail to
+"Mormonie" as well as he could. He told me where to enter the mountains
+leading north, and when we got part way he told me we would come to an
+Indian camp, when I must follow some horse tracks newly made; he made me
+know this by using his hands like horse's forefeet, and pointed the way.
+
+Some of the young men motioned for me to come out and shoot at a mark
+with them, and as I saw it would please them I did so and took good care
+to beat them every time too. Then they wanted to swap (narawaup) guns
+with me which I declined doing. After this the Chief came to me and
+wanted me to go and hunt buffalo with them. I told him I had no horse,
+and then he went and had a nice gray one brought up and told me I could
+ride him if I would go. He took his bow and arrow and showed me how he
+could shoot an arrow straight through a buffalo just back of his short
+ribs and that the arrow would go clear through and come out on the other
+side without touching a bone. Those fellows were in fine spirit, on a
+big hunt, and when Walker pointed out his route to me he swung his hand
+around to Salt Lake.
+
+They all spoke the word buffalo quite plainly. I took his strong bow and
+found I could hardly pull it half way out, but I have no doubt he could
+do as he said he could. I hardly knew how to refuse going with him. I
+asked him how long it would be before he would get around his long
+circuit and get to Salt Lake, to which he replied by pulverizing some
+leaves in his hands and scattering them in the air to represent snow,
+which would fall by the time he got to "Mormonee". I shivered as he said
+this and by his actions I saw that I understood him right.
+
+I told him I could not go with him for the other boys would depend on me
+to get them something to eat, and I put my finger into my open mouth to
+tell him this. I think if I had been alone I should have accepted his
+offer and should have had a good time. I gave them to understand that we
+would swap (narawaup) with them for some horses so he brought up a pair
+of nice two year-old colts for us. I offered him some money for them, he
+did not want that, but would take clothing of almost any kind. We let
+them have some that we could get along without, and some one let Walker
+have a coat. He put it on, and being more warmly dressed than ever
+before, the sweat ran down his face in streams. We let them have some
+needles and thread and some odd notions we had to spare. We saw that
+Walker had some three or four head of cattle with him which he could
+kill if they did not secure game at the time they expected.
+
+McMahon and Field still persisted they would not go with us and so we
+divided our little stock of flour and dried meat with them as fairly as
+possible and decided we would try the trail. When our plans were settled
+we felt in pretty good spirits again, and one of the boys got up a sort
+of corn-stalk fiddle which made a squeaking noise and in a little while
+there was a sort of mixed American and Indian dance going on in which
+the squaws joined in and we had a pretty jolly time till quite late at
+night. We were well pleased that these wild folks had proved themselves
+to be true friends to us.
+
+The morning we were to start I told the boys a dream I had in which I
+had seen that the course we had decided on was the correct one, but
+McMahon and Field thought we were foolish and said they had rather take
+the chances of going with the Indians, or going on down the river. He
+seemed to place great stress on the fact that he could not understand
+the Indians.
+
+Said he:--"This Indian may be all right, and maybe he will lead us all
+into a dreadful trap. They are treacherous and revengeful, and for some
+merely fancied wrong done by us, or by some one else of whom we have no
+control or knowledge, they may take our scalps, wipe us out of existence
+and no one will ever know what became of us. Now this map of mine don't
+show any bad places on this river, and I believe we can get down easily
+enough, and get to California some time. Field and I cannot make up our
+minds so easily as you fellows. I believe your chances are very poor."
+
+The boys now had our few things loaded on the two colts, for they had
+fully decided to go with me, and I was not in the least put back by
+McMahon's dire forebodings. We shook hands with quivering lips as we each
+hoped the other would meet good luck, and find enough to eat and all
+such sort of friendly talk, and then with my little party on the one
+side and McMahon and Field, whom we were to leave behind, on the other,
+we bowed to each other with bared heads, and then we started out of the
+little young cottonwoods into the broad plain that seemed to get wider
+and wider as we went west.
+
+The mountains on the northern side grew smaller and less steep as we
+went west, and on the other hand reached down the river as far as we
+could see. The plain itself was black and barren and for a hundred miles
+at least ahead of us it seemed to have no end. Walker had explained to
+us that we must follow some horse tracks and enter a cañon some miles to
+the northwest. He had made his hands work like horses' feet, placing
+then near the ground as if following a trail, We were not much more than
+a mile away when on looking back, we saw Chief Walker coming towards us
+on a horse at full speed; and motioning for us to stop. This we did,
+though some of the boys said we would surely be marched back and
+scalped. But it was not for that he came. He had been watching us and
+saw that we had failed to notice the tracks of the horses he told us
+about so he rode after us, and now took us off some little distance to
+the right, got off his horse and showed us the faint horse tracks which
+we were to follow and said "Mormonie". He pointed out to us the exact
+cañon we were to enter when we reached the hills; and said after three
+"sleeps" we would find an Indian camp on top of the mountain. He then
+bade us good bye again and galloped back to his own camp.
+
+We now resumed our journey, keeping watch of the tracks more closely,
+and as we came near the spurs of the mountain which projected out into
+the barren valley we crossed several well marked trails running along
+the foot hills, at right angles to our own. This we afterwards learned
+was the regular trail from Santa Fé to Los Angeles. At some big rocks
+further on we camped for the night, and found water in some pools or
+holes in the flat rocks which held the rain.
+
+Reading people of to-day, who know so well the geography of the American
+continent, may need to stop and think that in 1849 the whole region west
+of the Missouri River was very little known, the only men venturesome
+enough to dare to travel over it were hunters and trappers who, by a
+wild life had been used to all the privations of such a journey, and
+shrewd as the Indians themselves in the mysterious ways of the trail and
+the chase. Even these fellows had only investigated certain portions
+best suited to their purpose.
+
+The Indians here have the reputation of being blood thirsty savages who
+took delight in murder and torture, but here, in the very midst of this
+wild and desolate country we found a Chief and his tribe, Walker and his
+followers who were as humane and kind to white people as could be
+expected of any one. I have often wondered at the knowledge of this man
+respecting the country, of which he was able to make us a good map in
+the sand, point out to us the impassable cañon, locate the hostile
+indians, and many points which were not accurately known by our own
+explorers for many years afterward. He undoubtedly saved our little band
+from a watery grave, for without his advice we had gone on and on, far
+into the great Colorado cañon, from which escape would have been
+impossible and securing food another impossibility, while destruction by
+hostile indians was among the strong probabilities of the case. So in a
+threefold way I have for these more than forty years credited the lives
+of myself and comrades to the thoughtful interest and humane
+consideration of old Chief Walker.
+
+In another pool or pond near the one where we were camped I shot a small
+duck. Big sage was plenty here for fuel and we had duck for supper. Our
+party consisted of five men and two small ponies only two years old,
+with a stock of provisions very small including that the old chief had
+given us. We started on in the morning, following our faint trail till
+we came to the cañon we had in view, and up this we turned as we had
+been directed, finding in the bottom a little running stream. Timber
+began to appear as we ascended, and grass also. There were signs of deer
+and grouse but we had no time to stop to hunt, for I had the only gun
+and while I hunted the others must lie idly by. We reached the summit at
+a low pass, and just above, on the north side of the higher mountains
+were considerable banks of snow. Following the Chief's instructions we
+left the trail and followed some horse tracks over rolling hills, high
+on the mountain side. We found the Indian camp exactly as the Chief had
+described, consisting of two or three lodges. The men were all absent
+hunting, but the women were gathering and baking some sort of a root
+which looked like a carrot. They made a pile of several bushels and
+covered it with earth, then made a fire, treating the pile some as a
+charcoal burner does his pit of coal. When sufficiently cooked they beat
+them up and made the material into small cakes which were dried in the
+sun. The dried cakes were as black as coal and intended for winter use.
+These roots before roasting were unfit for food, as they contained a
+sort of acrid juice that would make the tongue smart and very sore but
+there was a very good rich taste when cooked. The woman pointed to our
+horses and said "Walker", so we knew they were aware that we got them of
+him, and might have taken us for horse thieves for aught I know. As it
+was not yet night when we came to the camp, we passed on and camped on a
+clear mountain brook where grew some pine trees. After a little some of
+the Indians belonging to the camp we had passed came in, bringing some
+venison, for which we traded by giving them some needles and a few other
+trinkets. I beat these fellows shooting at a mark, and then they wanted
+to trade guns, which I declined. This piece of meat helped us along
+considerably with our provisions, for game was very scarce and only some
+sage hens had come across our trail. One day I scared a hawk off the
+ground, and we took the sage hen he had caught and was eating, and made
+some soup of it.
+
+After being on this trail six or seven days we began to think of killing
+one of our colts for food, for we had put ourselves on two meals a day
+and the work was very hard; so that hunger was all the time increasing.
+We thought this was a pretty long road for Walker to ride over in three
+sleeps as he said he could, and we began also to think there might be
+some mistake somewhere, although it had otherwise turned out just as he
+said. On the eighth day our horse-tracks came out into a large trail
+which was on a down grade leading in a northward direction. On the ninth
+day we came into a large valley, and near night came in sight of a few
+covered wagons, a part of a train that intended going on a little later
+over the southern route to Los Angeles but were waiting for the weather
+to get a little cooler, for a large part of the route was over almost
+barren deserts. We were very glad to find these wagons, for they seemed
+to have plenty of food and the bountiful supper they treated us to was
+the very thing we needed. We camped here and told them of the hardships
+we had passed through. They had hired a guide, each wagon paying him ten
+dollars for his service. Our little party talked over the situation
+among ourselves, and concluded that as we were good walkers we must
+allow ourselves to be used in any way so that we had grub and concluded
+as many of us as possible would try to get some service to do for our
+board and walk along with the party. John Rogers had a dollar and a half
+and I had thirty dollars, which was all the money we had in our camp. We
+found out we were about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City. Some of the
+boys next day arranged to work for their board, and the others would be
+taken along if they would furnish themselves with flour and bacon. This
+part of the proposition fell to me and two others, and so Hazelrig and I
+took the two colts and started for the city, where they told us we could
+get all we needed with our little purse of money. We reached Hobble
+Creek before night, near Salt Lake where there was a Mormon fort, and
+were also a number of wagons belonging to some prospecting train. There
+seemed to be no men about and we were looking about among the wagons for
+some one to inquire of, when a woman came to the front of the last wagon
+and looked out at us, and to my surprise it was Mrs. Bennett, wife of
+the man I had been trying to overtake ever since my start on this long
+trip. Bennett had my entire outfit with him on this trip and was all the
+time wondering whether I would ever catch up with them. We stayed till
+the men came in with their cattle towards night, and Bennett was glad
+enough to see me, I assure you. We had a good substantial supper and
+then sat around the campfire nearly all night telling of our experience
+since leaving Wisconsin. I had missed Bennett at the Missouri River. I
+knew of no place where people crossed the river except Council Bluff,
+here I had searched faithfully, finding no trace of him, but it seems
+they had crossed farther up at a place called Kanesville, a Mormon
+crossing, and followed up the Platte river on the north side. Their only
+bad luck had been to lose a fine black horse, which was staked out, and
+when a herd of buffaloes came along he broke his rope and followed after
+them. He was looked for with other horses, but never found and doubtless
+became a prize for some enterprising Mr. Lo. who was fortunate enough to
+capture him. Hazelrig and I told of our experience on the south side of
+the Platte; why we went down Green River; what a rough time we had; how
+we were stopped by the Indians and how we had come across from the
+river, arriving the day before and were now on our way to Salt Lake to
+get some flour and bacon so we could go on with the train when it
+started as they had offered to haul our grub for our service if we could
+carry ourselves on foot.
+
+Mr. Bennett would not hear of my going on to Salt Lake City, for he said
+there must be provisions enough in the party and in the morning we were
+able to buy flour and bacon of John Philips of Mineral Point Wis. and of
+Wm. Philips his brother. I think we got a hundred pounds of flour and a
+quantity of bacon and some other things. I had some money which I had
+received for my horse sold to Dallas, but as the others had none I paid
+for it all, and told Hazelrig to take the ponies and go back to camp
+with a share of the provisions and do the best he could. I had now my
+own gun and ammunition, with some clothing and other items which I had
+prepared in Wisconsin before I started after my Winnebago pony, and I
+felt I ought to share the money I had with the other boys to help them
+as best I could. I felt that I was pretty well fixed and had nothing to
+fear.
+
+Mr. Bennett told me much of the trip on the north side of the Platte. He
+said they had some cholera, of which a few people died, and related how
+the outer if not the inner nature of the men changed as they left
+civilization, law and the courts behind them. Some who had been raised
+together, and lived together all their lives without discord or trouble,
+who were considered model men at home and just the right people to be
+connected with in such an expedition, seemed to change their character
+entirely out on these wild wastes. When anything excited their
+displeasure their blood boiled over, and only the interference of older
+and wiser heads on many occasions prevented bloodshed. Some dissolved
+the solemn contract they had made to travel together systematically and
+in order and to stand, by, even unto death, and when they reached the
+upper Platte, the journey only half over, talked of going back, or
+splitting up the outfit and join others they had taken a fancy to. Some
+who could not agree upon a just division of a joint outfit, thinking one
+party was trying to cheat, would not yield but would cut their wagons in
+two lengthwise just for spite so that no carts could be made and the
+whole vehicle spoiled for both parties. The ugly disagreements were many
+and the cloven foot was shown in many ways. Guns were often drawn and
+pointed but some one would generally interfere and prevent bloodshed.
+Others were honest and law abiding to the last degree beyond law and
+churches, and would act as harmoniously as at home, obeying their chosen
+captain in the smallest particular without any grumbling or dissension,
+doing to every one as they would be done by. These were the pride of the
+train. The trains were most of them organized, and all along the river
+bottom one was hardly ever out of sight of some of the wagons, all going
+west. Buffalo and antelope were plenty and in great droves, followed
+always by wolves great and small, who were on the lookout for crippled
+or dead animals with which to fill their hungry stomachs. Buffalo meat
+was plenty and much enjoyed while passing this section of the road and
+this opportunity of replenishing, enabled the stock to last them over
+more desolate regions where game was scarce.
+
+After Bennett had told his stories, and I had related more of our own
+close escapes I began to ask him why he went this way which seemed to be
+very circuitous and much longer than the way they had first intended to
+go. He said that it was too late in the season to go the straight-road
+safely, for there was yet 700 miles of bad country to cross and do the
+best they could it would be at the commencement of the rainy season
+before the Sierra Nevada mountains could be reached and in those
+mountains there was often a snow fall of 20 feet or more, and anyone
+caught in it would surely perish. If they tried to winter at the base of
+the mountains it was a long way to get provisions, and no assurance of
+wild game, and this course was considered very hazardous for any one to
+undertake. This they had learned after consulting mountaineers and
+others who knew about the regions, and as there was nothing doing among
+the Latter Day Saints to give employment to any one, it was decided best
+to keep moving and go the southern route by way of Los Angeles. No
+wagons were reported as ever getting through that way, but a trail had
+been traveled through that barren desert country for perhaps a hundred
+years, and the same could be easily broadened into a wagon road.
+
+After days of argument and camp-fire talks, this Southern route was
+agreed upon, and Capt. Hunt was chosen as guide. Capt. Hunt was a
+Mormon, and had more than one wife, but he had convinced them that he
+knew something about the road. Each agreed to give him ten dollars to
+pilot the train to San Bernardino where the Mormon Church had bought a
+Spanish grant of land, and no doubt they thought a wagon road to that
+place would benefit them greatly, and probably gave much encouragement
+for the parties to travel this way. It was undoubtedly safer than the
+northern mountain route at this season of the year. It seemed at least
+to be a new venture for west-bound emigrant trains, at least as to
+ultimate success, for we had no knowledge of any that had gone through
+safely.
+
+Some western people remembered the history of the Mormons in Illinois
+and Missouri, and their doings there, feared somewhat for their own
+safety now that they were so completely under their power, for they knew
+the Mormons to be revengeful and it was considered very unsafe for any
+traveler to acknowledge he was from Missouri. Many a one who had been
+born there, and lived there all his life, would promptly claim some
+other state as his native place. I heard one Mormon say that there were
+some Missourians on the plains that would never reach California. "They
+used us bad," said he, and his face took on a really murderous look.
+
+These Mormons at Salt Lake were situated as if on an island in the sea,
+and no enemy could reach any adjoining state or territory if Brigham
+Young's band of destroying angels were only warned to look after them.
+
+At a late hour that night we lay down to sleep, and morning came clear
+and bright. After breakfast Mr. Bennett said to me:--"Now Lewis I want
+you to go with me; I have two wagons and two drivers and four yoke of
+good oxen and plenty of provisions. I have your outfit yet, your gun and
+ammunition and your two good hickory shirts which are just in time for
+your present needs. You need not do any work. You just look around and
+kill what game you can for us, and this will help as much as anything,
+you can do." I was, of course glad to accept this offer, and thanks to
+Mr. Bennett's kind care of my outfit, was better fixed then any of the
+other boys.
+
+We inquired around among the other wagons as to their supply of flour
+and bacon; and succeeded to getting flour from Mr. Philips and bacon
+from some of the others, as much as we supposed the other boys would
+need, which I paid for, and when this was loaded on the two colts
+Hazelrig started back alone to the boys in camp. As I was so well
+provided for I gave him all my money for they might need some, and I did
+not.
+
+The wagons which composed the intended train were very much scattered
+about, having moved out from Salt Lake at pleasure, and it was said to
+be too early to make the start on the southern route, for the weather on
+the hot, barren desert was said to grow cooler a little later in the
+season, and it was only at this cool season that the south west part of
+the desert could be crossed in safety. The scattering members of the
+train began to congregate, and Capt. Hunt said it was necessary to have
+some sort of system about the move, and that before they moved they must
+organize and adopt rules and laws which must be obeyed. He said they
+must move like an army, and that he was to be a dictator in all things
+except that in case of necessity a majority of the train could rule
+otherwise. It was thought best to get together and try a march out one
+day, then go in camp and organize.
+
+This they did, and at the camp there was gathered one hundred and seven
+wagons, a big drove of horses and cattle, perhaps five hundred in all.
+The train was divided into seven divisions and each division was to
+elect its own captain. Division No. 1 should lead the march the first
+day, and their men should take charge of the stock and deliver them to
+the wagons in the morning, and then No. 1 should take the rear, with No.
+2 in the lead to break the road. The rear division would not turn a
+wheel before 10 o'clock the next day, and it would be about that time at
+night before they were in camp and unyoked. The numbers of animals
+cleaned out the feed for a mile or two each side of the camp and a
+general meeting was called for the organization of the whole. Mr. L.
+Granger got up so he could look over the audience and proceeded to
+explain the plan and to read a preamble and resolutions which had been
+prepared as the basis for government. I remember that it begun
+thus:--"This Organization shall be known and designated as the Sand
+Walking Company, and shall consist of seven divisions etc," detailing
+the manner of marching as we have recited. Capt J. Hunt was chosen
+commander and guide, and his orders must be obeyed. All possible trouble
+that we could imagine might come was provided against in our written
+agreement, and all promised to live up to it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+We moved off in good style from this camp. After a day or two and before
+we reached what is called Little Salt Lake, an attempt was made to make
+a short cut, to save distance. The train only went on this cut off a day
+or two when Capt. Hunt came back from the front and said they had better
+turn back to the old trail again, which all did. This was a bad move,
+the train much broken and not easy to get them into regular working
+order again. We were now approaching what they called the Rim of the
+Basin. Within the basin the water all ran to the north or toward Great
+Salt Lake, but when we crossed the rim, all was toward the Colorado
+River, through which it reached the Pacific Ocean. About this time we
+were overtaken by another train commanded by Capt. Smith. They had a map
+with them made by one Williams of Salt Lake a mountaineer who was
+represented to know all the routes through all the mountains of Utah,
+and this map showed a way to turn off from the southern route not far
+from the divide which separated the waters of the basin from those which
+flowed toward the Colorado, and pass over the mountains, coming out in
+what they called Tulare valley, much nearer than by Los Angeles.
+
+This map was quite frequently exhibited and the matter freely discussed
+in camp, indeed speeches were made in the interest of the cut-off route
+which was to be so much shorter. A clergyman, the Rev. J.W. Brier, was
+very enthusiastic about this matter and discoursed learnedly and
+plausibly about it. The more the matter was talked about the more there
+were who were converted to the belief that the short road would be the
+best. The map showed every camp on the road and showed where there was
+water and grass, and as to obstacles to the wagons it was thought they
+could easily be overcome. A general meeting was called for better
+consideration of the question. Capt. Hunt said: "You all know I was
+hired to go by way of Los Angeles, but if you all wish to go and follow
+Smith I will go also. But if even one wagon decides to go the original
+route, I shall feel bound to go with that wagon."
+
+A great many were anxious to get the opinion of Capt. Hunt on the
+feasibility of the new route for he was a mountain man and could
+probably give us some good advice. He finally consented to talk of it,
+and said he really knew no more then the others about this particular
+route, but he very much doubted if a white man ever went over it, and
+that he did not consider it at all safe for those who had wives and
+children in their company to take the unknown road. Young men who had no
+family could possibly get through, and save time even if the road was
+not as good as Los Angeles road. But said he "If you decide to follow
+Smith I will go will go with you, even if the road leads to Hell."
+
+On the route from near Salt Lake to this point we found the country to
+grow more barren as we progressed. The grass was thinner, and sage brush
+took the place of timber. Our road took us in sight of Sevier Lake, and
+also, while going through the low hills, passed Little Salt Lake, which
+was almost dry, with a beach around it almost as white as snow. It might
+have had a little more the dignity of a lake in wet weather, but it was
+a rather dry affair as we saw it.
+
+At one point on this route we came into a long narrow valley, well
+covered with sage brush, and before we had gone very far we discovered
+that this was a great place for long eared rabbits, we would call them
+Jack Rabbits now. Every one who had a gun put it into service on this
+occasion, and there was much popping and shooting on every side. Great
+clouds of smoke rolled up as the hunters advanced and the rabbits ran in
+every direction to get away. Many ran right among the horses, and under
+the feet of the cattle and under the wagons, so that the teamsters even
+killed some with a whip. At the end of the valley we went into camp, and
+on counting up the game found we had over 500, or about one for every
+person in camp. This gave us a feast of fresh meat not often found.
+
+It was on this trip that one of Mr. Bennett's ox drivers was taken with
+a serious bowel difficulty, and for many days we thought he would die,
+but he eventually recovered. His name was Silas Helmer.
+
+It was really a serious moment when the front of the train reached the
+Smith trail. Team after team turned to the right while now and then one
+would keep straight ahead as was at first intended. Capt. Hunt came over
+to the larger party after the division was made, and wished them all a
+hearty farewell and a pleasant happy journey. My friend Bennett whose
+fortune I shared was among the seceders who followed the Smith party.
+This point, when our paths diverged was very near the place afterward
+made notorious as Mountain Meadows, where the famous massacre took place
+under the direction of the Mormon generals. Our route from here up to
+the mountain was a very pleasant one, steadily up grade, over rolling
+hills, with wood, water and grass in plenty. We came at last to what
+seemed the summit of a great mountain, about three days journey on the
+new trail. Juniper trees grew about in bunches, and my experience with
+this timber taught me that we were on elevated ground.
+
+Immediately in front of us was a cañon, impassible for wagons, and down
+into this the trail descended. Men could go, horses and mules, perhaps,
+but wagons could no longer follow that trail, and we proposed to camp
+while explorers were sent out to search a pass across this steep and
+rocky cañon. Wood and bunch grass were plenty, but water was a long way
+down the trail and had to be packed up to the camp. Two days passed, and
+the parties sent out began to come in, all reporting no way to go
+farther with the wagons. Some said the trail on the west side of the
+cañon could be ascended on foot by both men and mules, but that it would
+take years to make it fit for wheels.
+
+The enthusiasm about the Smith cut-off had begun to die and now the talk
+began of going back to follow Hunt. On the third morning a lone traveler
+with a small wagon and one yoke of oxen, died. He seemed to be on this
+journey to seek to regain his health. He was from Kentucky, but I have
+forgotten his name. Some were very active about his wagon and, some
+thought too much attention was paid to a stranger. He was decently
+buried by the men of the company.
+
+This very morning a Mr. Rynierson called the attention of the crowd and
+made some remarks upon the situation. He said: "My family is near and
+dear to me. I can see by the growth of the timber that we are in a very
+elevated place. This is now the seventh of November, it being the fourth
+at the time of our turning off on this trail. We are evidently in a
+country where snow is liable to fall at any time in the winter season,
+and if we were to remain here and be caught in a severe storm we should
+all probably perish. I, for one, feel in duty bound to seek a safer way
+than this. I shall hitch up my oxen and return at once to the old trail.
+Boys (to his teamsters) get the cattle and we'll return." This was
+decisive, and Mr. Rynierson would tarry no longer. Many others now
+proceeded to get ready and follow, and as Mr. Rynierson drove out of
+camp quite a respectable train fell in behind him. As fast as the
+hunters came in and reported no road available, they also yoked up their
+oxen and rolled out. Some waited awhile for companions yet in the
+fields, and all were about ready to move, when a party came in with news
+that the pass was found and no trouble could be seen ahead. About
+twenty-seven wagons remained when this news came, and as their
+proprietors had brought good news they agreed to travel on westward and
+not go back to the old trail.
+
+Mr. Bennett had gone only a short distance out when he had the
+misfortune to break the axle of his wagon and he then went back to camp
+and took an axle out of the dead man's wagon and by night had it fitted
+into his own. He had to stay until morning, and there were still a few
+others who were late in getting a start, who camped there also. Among
+these were J.B. Arcane, wife and child; two Earhart brothers and sons
+and some two or three other wagons.
+
+When all was ready we followed the others who had gone ahead. The route
+led at first directly to the north and a pass was said to be in that
+direction. Of the Green River party only Rodgers and myself remained
+with this train. After the wagons straightened out nicely, a meeting was
+called to organize, so as to travel systematically. A feeling was very
+manifest that those without any families did not care to bind themselves
+to stand by and assist those who had wives and children in their party
+and there was considerable debate, which resulted in all the family
+wagons being left out of the arrangements.
+
+A party who called themselves "The Jayhawkers" passed us, and we
+followed along in the rear, over rolling hills covered with juniper
+timber, and small grassy valleys between where there was plenty of water
+and went well, for those before us had broken out the road so we could
+roll along very pleasantly.
+
+At the organization Jim Martin was chosen captain. Those who were
+rejected were Rev. J.W. Brier and, his family, J.B. Arcane and family,
+and Mr. A. Bennett and family, Mr. Brier would not stay put out, but
+forced himself in, and said he was going with the rest, and so he did.
+But the other families remained behind. I attended the meeting and heard
+what was said, but Mr. Bennett was my friend and had been faithful to me
+and my property when he knew not where I was, and so I decided to stand
+by him and his wife at all hazards.
+
+As I had no team to drive I took every opportunity to climb the
+mountains along the route, reaching the highest elevations even if they
+were several miles from the trail. I sometimes remained out all night. I
+took Mr. Arcane's field glass with me and was thus able to see all there
+was of the country. I soon became satisfied that going north was not
+taking us in the direction we ought to go. I frequently told them so,
+but they still persisted in following on. I went to the leaders and told
+them we were going back toward Salt Lake again, not making any headway
+toward California. They insisted they were following the directions of
+Williams, the mountaineer; and they had not yet got as far north as he
+indicated. I told them, and Mr. Bennett and others, that we must either
+turn west, or retrace our steps and get back into the regular Los
+Angeles road again. In the morning we held another consultation and
+decided to turn west here, and leave the track we had been following.
+
+Off we turned at nearly right angles to our former course, to the west
+now, over a piece of table land that gave us little trouble in breaking
+our own road. When we camped, the oxen seemed very fond of a white weed
+that was very plenty, and some borrowed a good deal of trouble thinking
+that perhaps it might be poison. I learned afterwards that this plant
+was the nutritious white sage, which cattle eat freely, with good
+results. We now crossed a low range and a small creek running south, and
+here were also some springs. Some corn had been grown here by the
+Indians. Pillars of sand stone, fifteen feet high and very slim were
+round about in several places and looked strange enough. The next piece
+of table land sloped to the east, and among the sage grew also a bunch
+grass a foot high, which had seeds like broom-corn seeds. The Indians
+had gathered the grass and made it in piles of one hundred pounds or so,
+and used it for food as I found by examining their camps.
+
+One day I climbed a high mountain where some pine grew, in order to get
+a view of the country. As I neared its base I came to a flat rock,
+perhaps fifty feet square. I heard some pounding noise as I came near,
+but what ever it was, it ceased on my approach. There were many signs of
+the rock being used as a camp, such as pine burrs, bones of various
+kinds of animals, and other remains of food which lay every where about
+and on the rock. Near the center was a small oblong stone fitted into a
+hole. I took it out and found it covered a fine well of water about
+three feet deep and was thus protected against any small animal being
+drowned in it. I went on up the mountain and from the top I saw that the
+land west of us looked more and more barren.
+
+The second night the brave Jayhawkers who had been so firm in going
+north hove in sight in our rear. They had at last concluded to accept my
+advice and had came over our road quite rapidly. We all camped together
+that night, and next morning they took the lead again. After crossing a
+small range they came to a basin which seemed to have no outlet, and was
+very barren. Some of the boys in advance of the teams had passed over
+this elevation and were going quite rapidly over the almost level plain
+which sloped into the basin, when they saw among the bunches of sage
+brush behind them a small party of Indians following their road, not
+very far off, but still out of bow and arrow range. The boys were
+suddenly able to take much longer steps than usual and a little more
+rapidly too, and swinging round toward the teams as soon as possible,
+for they already had some fears that an arrow might be sticking in their
+backs in an unpleasantly short space of time, for the Indians were good
+travelers. When they came in sight of the wagons, the Indians vanished
+as quickly as if they had gone into a hole, with no sign remaining,
+except a small dog which greatly resembled a prairie wolf, and kept a
+safe distance away. No one could imagine where the fellows went so
+suddenly.
+
+We drove to the west side of this basin and camped near the foot of a
+low mountain. The cattle were driven down into the basin where there was
+some grass, but at camp we had only the water in our kegs.
+
+Some of the boys climbed the mountain on the north but found no springs:
+Coming down a cañon they found some rain water in a basin in the rocks
+and all took a good drink. Lew West lay down and swallowed all he could
+and then told the boys to kill him for he never would feel so good
+again. They finished the pool, it was so small, before they left it. In
+going on down the cañon they saw an Indian dodge behind some big rocks,
+and searching, they found him in a cave as still as a dead man. They
+pulled him out and made him go with them, and tried every way to find
+out from him where they were and where Owen's Lake was, as they had been
+told the lake was on their route. But he proved to be no wiser than a
+man of mud, and they led him along to camp, put a red flannel shirt on
+him to cover his nakedness, and made him sleep between two white men so
+he could not get away easily. In the morning they were more successful,
+and he showed us a small ravine four miles away which had water in it,
+enough for our use, and we moved up and camped there, while the boys and
+the Indian started over a barren, rocky mountain, and when over on the
+western slope they were led to a water hole on a steep rocky cliff where
+no one but an Indian would ever think of looking for water. They took
+out their cups and had a good drink all around, then offered the Indian
+some, but he disdained the civilized way, and laying down his bow and
+arrows took a long drink directly out of the pool. He was so long in
+getting a good supply that the boys almost forgot him as they were
+gazing over the distant mountain and discussing prospects, till
+attracted by a slight noise they looked and saw Mr. Indian going down
+over the cliffs after the fashion of a mountain sheep, and in a few
+bounds he was out of sight. They could not have killed him if they had
+tried, the move so sudden and unlooked for. They had expected the fellow
+to show them the way to Owen's lake, but now their guide was gone, and
+left nothing to remember him by except his bow and arrows. So they
+returned to their wagons not much wiser than before.
+
+All kinds of game was now very scarce, and so seldom seen that the men
+got tired of carrying their guns, and grew fearless of enemies. A heavy
+rifle was indeed burdensome over so long a road when there was no
+frequent use for it. The party kept rolling along as fast as possible
+but the mountains and valleys grew more barren and water more scarce all
+the time. When found, the water would be in hole at the outlet of some
+cañon, or in little pools which had filled up with rain that had fallen
+on the higher ground. Not a drop of rain had fallen on us since we
+started on this cut-off, and every night was clear and warm. The
+elevated parts of the country seemed to be isolated buttes, with no
+running streams between them but instead, dry lakes with a smooth clay
+bed, very light in color and so hard that the track of an ox could not
+be seen on its glittering surface. At a distance those clay beds looked
+like water shining in the sun and were generally about three times as
+far as any one would judge, the air was so clear. This mirage, or
+resemblance to water was so perfect as often to deceive us, and almost
+to our ruin on one or two occasions.
+
+I took Arcane's field glass and took pains to ascend all the high buttes
+within a day's walk of the road, and this enabled me to get a good
+survey of the country north and west. I would sometimes be gone two or
+three days with no luggage but my canteen and gun. I was very cautious
+in regard to Indians, and tried to keep on the safe side of surprises. I
+would build a fire about dark and then travel on till I came to a small
+washed place and lie down and stay till morning, so if Mr. Indian did
+come to my fire he would not find any one to kill. One day I was going
+up a wide ravine leading to the summit, and before I reached the highest
+part I saw a smoke curl up before me. I took a side ravine and went
+cautiously, bowed down pretty low so no one could see me, and when near
+the top of the ridge and about one hundred yards of the fire I ventured
+to raise slowly up and take a look to see how many there were in camp: I
+could see but two and as I looked across the ravine an Indian woman
+seemed looking at me also, but I was so low she could only see the top
+of my head, and I sank down again out of sight. I crawled further up so
+as to get a better view, and when I straightened up again she got a full
+view of me. She instantly caught her infant off its little pallet made
+of a small piece of thin wood covered with a rabbit skin, and putting
+the baby under one arm, and giving a smart jerk to a small girl that was
+crying to the top of her voice, she bounded off and fairly flew up the
+gentle slope toward the summit, the girl following after very close. The
+woman's long black hair stood out as she rushed along, looking over her
+shoulder every instant as if she expected to be slain. The mother flying
+with her children, untrammeled with any of the arts of fashion was the
+best natural picture I ever looked upon, and wild in the extreme. No
+living artist could do justice to the scene as the lady of the desert,
+her little daughter and her babe, passed over the summit out of sight. I
+followed, but when I reached the highest summit, no living person could
+be seen. I looked the country over with my glass. The region to the
+north was black rocky, and very mountainous. I looked some time and then
+concluded I had better not go any further that way, for I might be
+waylaid and filled with arrows at some unsuspected moment. We saw Indian
+signs almost every day, but as none of them ever came to our camp it was
+safe to say they were not friendly. I now turned back and examined the
+Indian woman's camp. She had only fire enough to make a smoke. Her
+conical shaped basket left behind, contained a few poor arrows and some
+cactus leaves, from which the spines had been burned, and there lay the
+little pallet where the baby was sleeping. It was a bare looking kitchen
+for hungry folks.
+
+I now went to the top of a high butte and scanned the country very
+carefully, especially to the west and north, and found it very barren.
+There were no trees, no fertile valleys nor anything green. Away to the
+west some mountains stood out clear and plain, their summits covered
+white with snow. This I decided was our objective point: Very little
+snow could be seen elsewhere, and between me and the snowy mountains lay
+a low, black rocky range, and a wide level plain, that had no signs of
+water, as I had learned them in our trip thus far across the country.
+The black range seemed to run nearly north and south, and to the north
+and northwest the country looked volcanic, black and desolate.
+
+As I looked and thought, I believed that we were much farther from a
+fertile region then most of our party had any idea of. Such of them as
+had read Fremont's travels, and most of them going to California had
+fortified themselves before starting by reading Fremont; said that the
+mountains were near California and were fertile from their very summits
+down to the sea, but that to the east of the mountains it was a desert
+region for hundred of miles. As I explained it to them, and so they soon
+saw for themselves, they believed that the snowy range ahead of us was
+the last range to cross before we entered the long-sought California,
+and it seemed not far off, and prospect quite encouraging.
+
+Our road had been winding around among the buttes which looked like the
+Indian baskets turned upside down on the great barren plain. What water
+we found was in small pools in the wash-out places near the foothills at
+the edge of the valley, probably running down the ravines after some
+storm. There were dry lake beds scattered around over the plain, but it
+did not seem as if there had ever been volume of water enough lately to
+force itself out so far into the plain as these lakes were. All the
+lakes appeared about the same, the bed white and glistening in the sun,
+which made it very hard for the eyes, and so that a man in passing over
+it made no visible track. It looked as if it one time might have been a
+smooth bed of plastic mortar, and had hardened in the sun. It looked as
+if there must have been water there sometime, but we had not seen a
+drop, or a single cloud; every day was clear and sunny, and very warm,
+and at night no stars forgot to shine.
+
+Our oxen began to look bad, for they had poor food. Grass had been very
+scarce, and now when we unyoked them and turned them out they did not
+care to look around much for something to eat. They moved slowly and
+cropped disdainfully the dry scattering shrubs and bunches of grass from
+six inches to a foot high. Spending many nights and days on such dry
+food and without water they suffered fearfully, and though fat and sleek
+when we started from Salt Lake, they now looked gaunt and poor, and
+dragged themselves slowly along, poor faithful servants of mankind. No
+one knew how long before we might have to kill some of them to get food
+to save our own lives.
+
+We now traveled several days down the bed of a broad ravine, which led
+to a southwest direction. There seemed to be a continuous range of
+mountains on the south, but to the north was the level plain with
+scattered buttes, and what we had all along called dry lakes, for up to
+this time we had seen no water in any of them. I had carried my rifle
+with me every day since we took this route, and though I was an
+experienced hunter, a professional one if there be such a thing, I had
+killed only one rabbit, and where no game lived I got as hungry as other
+folks.
+
+Our line soon brought us in sight of a high butte which stood apparently
+about 20 miles south of our route, and I determined to visit and climb
+it to get a better view of things ahead. I walked steadily all day and
+reached the summit about dusk. I wandered around among the big rocks,
+and found a projecting cliff where I would be protected from enemies,
+wind or storm, and here I made my camp. While the light lasted I
+gathered a small stock of fuel, which consisted of a stunted growth of
+sage and other small shrubs, dry but not dead, and with this I built a
+little fire Indian fashion and sat down close to it. Here was a good
+chance for undisturbed meditation and someway I could not get around
+doing a little meditating as I added a new bit of fuel now and then to
+the small fire burning at my side. I thought it looked dark and
+troublesome before us. I took a stone for a pillow with my hat on it for
+a cushion, and lying down close under the shelving rock I went to sleep,
+for I was very tired, I woke soon from being cold, for the butte was
+pretty high, and so I busied myself the remainder of the night in adding
+little sticks to the fire, which gave me some warmth, and thus in
+solitude I spent the night. I was glad enough to see the day break over
+the eastern mountains, and light up the vast barren country I could see
+on every hand around me. When the sun was fairly up I took a good survey
+of the situation, and it seemed as if pretty near all creation was in
+sight. North and west was a level plain, fully one hundred miles wide it
+seemed, and from anything I could see it would not afford a traveler a
+single drink in the whole distance or give a poor ox many mouthfuls of
+grass. On the western edge it was bounded by a low, black and rocky
+range extending nearly north and south for a long distance and no pass
+though it which I could see, and beyond this range still another one
+apparently parallel to it. In a due west course from me was the high
+peak we had been looking at for a month, and lowest place was on the
+north side, which we had named Martin's Pass and had been trying so long
+to reach. This high peak, covered with snow, glistened to the morning
+sun, and as the air was clear from clouds or fog, and no dust or haze to
+obscure the view, it seemed very near.
+
+I had learned by experience that objects a day's walk distant seemed
+close by in such a light, and that when clear lakes appeared only a
+little distance in our front, we might search and search and never find
+them. We had to learn how to look for water in this peculiar way. In my
+Wisconsin travel I had learned that when I struck a ravine I must go
+down to look for living water, but here we must invariably travel upward
+for the water was only found in the high mountains.
+
+Prospects now seemed to me so hopeless, that I heartily wished I was not
+in duty bound to stand by the women and small children who could never
+reach a land of bread without assistance. If I was in the position that
+some of them were who had only themselves to look after, I could pick up
+my knapsack and gun and go off, feeling I had no dependent ones to leave
+behind. But as it was I felt I should be morally guilty of murder if I
+should forsake Mr. Bennett's wife and children, and the family of Mr.
+Arcane with whom I had been thus far associated. It was a dark line of
+thought but I always felt better when I got around to the determination,
+as I always did, to stand by my friends, their wives and children let
+come what might.
+
+I could see with my glass the train of wagons moving slowly over the
+plain toward what looked to me like a large lake. I made a guess of the
+point they would reach by night, and then took a straight course for it
+all day long in steady travel. It was some time after dark, and I was
+still a quarter of a mile from the camp fires, where in the bed of a
+cañon I stepped into some mud, which was a sign of water. I poked around
+in the dark for a while and soon found a little pool of it, and having
+been without a drop of it for two days I lay down and took a hasty
+drink. It did not seem to be very clear or clean, but it was certainly
+wet, which was the main thing just then. The next morning I went to the
+pond of water, and found the oxen had been watered there. They stirred
+up the mud a good deal and had drank off about all the clean part, which
+seemed to refresh them very much. I found the people in the camp on the
+edge of the lake I had seen from the mountain, and fortunately it
+contained about a quarter of an inch of water. They had dug some holes
+here, which filled up, and they were using this water in the camp.
+
+The ambitious mountain-climbers of our party had by this, time,
+abandoned that sort of work, and I was left alone to look about and try
+to ascertain the character of the road they were to follow. It was a
+great deal to do to look out for food for the oxen and for water for the
+camp, and besides all this it was plain there were Indians about even if
+we did not see them. There were many signs, and I had to be always on
+the lookout to outgeneral them. When the people found I was in camp this
+night they came around to our wagons to know what I had seen and found,
+and what the prospects were ahead. Above all they wanted to know how far
+it was, in my opinion to the end of our journey. I listened to all their
+inquiries and told them plainly what I had seen, and what I thought of
+the prospect. I did not like telling the whole truth about it for fear
+it might dampen their spirits, but being pressed for an opinion I told
+them in plain words that it would at least be another month before their
+journey would be ended. They seemed to think I ought to be pretty good
+authority, and if I was not mistaken, the oxen would get very poor and
+provisions very scarce before we could pull through so long. I was up at
+day break and found Mr. Bennett sitting by the fire. About the first
+thing he said:--"Lewis, if you please I don't want you hereafter to
+express your views so openly and emphatically as you did last night
+about our prospects. Last night when I went to bed I found Sarah (his
+wife) crying and when pressed for the cause, she said she had heard your
+remarks on the situation, and that if Lewis said so it must be correct,
+for he knows more about it than all of you. She felt that she and the
+children must starve."
+
+In the morning Jayhawkers, and others of the train that were not
+considered strictly of our own party, yoked up and started due west
+across the level plain which I had predicted as having no water, and I
+really thought they would never live to get across to the western
+border. Mr. Culverwell and Mr. Fish stayed with us, making another wagon
+in our train. We talked about the matter carefully, I did not think it
+possible to get across that plain in less than four or six days, and I
+did not believe there was a drop of water on the route. To the south of
+us was a mountain that now had considerable snow upon its summit, and
+some small pine trees also. Doubtless we could find plenty of water at
+the base, but being due south, it was quite off our course. The
+prospects for reaching water were so much better in that way that we
+finally decided to go there rather than follow the Jayhawkers on their
+desolate tramp over the dry plain.
+
+So we turned up a cañon leading toward the mountain and had a pretty
+heavy up grade and a rough bed for a road. Part way up we came to a high
+cliff and in its face were niches or cavities as large as a barrel or
+larger, and in some of them we found balls of a glistening substance
+looking something like pieces of varigated candy stuck together. The
+balls were as large as small pumpkins. It was evidently food of some
+sort, and we found it sweet but sickish, and those who were so hungry as
+to break up one of the balls and divide it among the others, making a
+good meal of it, were a little troubled with nausea afterwards. I
+considered it bad policy to rob the Indians of any of their food, for
+they must be pretty smart people to live in this desolate country and
+find enough to keep them alive, and I was pretty sure we might count
+them as hostiles as they never came near our camp. Like other Indians
+they were probably revengeful, and might seek to have revenge on us for
+the injury. We considered it prudent to keep careful watch for them, so
+they might not surprise us with a volley of arrows.
+
+The second night we camped near the head of the cañon we had been
+following, but thus far there had been no water, and only some stunted
+sage brush for the oxen, which they did not like, and only ate it when
+near the point of starvation. They stood around the camp looking as
+sorry as oxen can. During the night a stray and crazy looking cloud
+passed over us and left its moisture on the mountain to the shape of a
+coat of snow several inches deep. When daylight came the oxen crowded
+around the wagons, shivering with cold, and licking up the snow to
+quench their thirst. We took pattern after them and melted snow to get
+water for ourselves.
+
+By the looks of our cattle it did not seem as if they could pull much,
+and light loads were advisable on this up grade. Mr. Bennett was a
+carpenter and had brought along some good tools in his wagon. These he
+reluctantly unloaded, and almost everything else except bedding and
+provisions, and leaving them upon the ground, we rolled up the hills
+slowly, with loads as light as possible.
+
+Rogers and I went ahead with our guns to look out the way and find a
+good camping place. After a few miles we got out of the snow and out
+upon an incline, and in the bright clear morning air the foot of the
+snowy part of the mountain seemed near by and we were sure we could
+reach it before night. From here no guide was needed and Rogers and I,
+with our guns and canteens hurried on as fast as possible, when a camp
+was found we were to raise a signal smoke to tell them where it was. We
+were here, as before badly deceived as to the distance, and we marched
+steadily and swiftly till nearly night before we reached the foot of the
+mountain.
+
+Here was a flat place in a table land and on it a low brush hut, with a
+small smoke near by, which we could plainly see as we were in the shade
+of the mountain, and that place lighted up by the nearly setting sun. We
+looked carefully and satisfied ourselves there was but one hut, and
+consequently but few people could be expected. We approached carefully
+and cautiously, making a circuit around so as to get between the hut and
+the hill in case that the occupants should retreat in that direction. It
+was a long time before we could see any entrance to this wickiup, but we
+found it at last and approached directly in front, very cautiously
+indeed: We could see no one, and thought perhaps they were in ambush for
+us, but hardly probable, as we had kept closely out of sight. We
+consulted a moment and concluded to make an advance and if possible
+capture some one who could tell us about the country, as we felt we were
+completely lost. When within thirty yards a man poked out his head out
+of a doorway and drew it back again quick as a flash. We kept out our
+guns at full cock and ready for use, and told Rogers to look out for
+arrows, for they would come now if ever. But they did not pull a bow on
+us, and the red-man, almost naked came out and beckoned for us to come
+on which we did.
+
+We tried to talk with the fellow in the sign language but he could
+understand about as much as an oyster. I made a little basin in the
+ground and filled it with water from our canteens to represent a lake,
+then pointed in an inquiring way west and north, made signs of ducks and
+geese flying and squawking, but I did no seem to be able to get an idea
+into his head of what we wanted. I got thoroughly provoked at him and
+may have shown some signs of anger. During all this time a child or two
+in the hut squalled terribly, fearing I suppose they would all be
+murdered. We might have lost our scalps under some circumstances, but we
+appeared to be fully the strangest party, and had no fear, for the
+Indian had no weapon about him and we had both guns and knives. The poor
+fellow was shivering with cold, and with signs of friendship we fired
+off one of the guns which waked him up a little and he pointed to the
+gun and said "Walker," probably meaning the same good Chief Walker who
+had so fortunately stopped us in our journey down Green River. I
+understood from the Indian that he was not friendly to Walker, but to
+show that he was all right with us he went into the hut and brought out
+a handful of corn for us to eat. By the aid of a warm spring near by
+they had raised some corn here, and the dry stalks were standing around.
+
+As we were about to leave I told him we would come back, next day and
+bring him some clothes if we could find any to spare, and then we
+shouldered our guns and went back toward the wagons, looking over our
+shoulders occasionally to see if we were followed. We walked fast down
+the hill and reached the camp about dark to find it a most unhappy one
+indeed. Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane were in heart-rending distress. The
+four children were crying for water but there was not a drop to give
+them, and none could be reached before some time next day. The mothers
+were nearly crazy, for they expected the children would choke with
+thirst and die in their arms, and would rather perish themselves than
+suffer the agony of seeing their little ones gasp and slowly die. They
+reproached themselves as being the cause of all this trouble. For the
+love of gold they had left homes where hunger had never come, and often
+in sleep dreamed of the bounteous tables of their old homes only to be
+woefully disappointed in the morning. There was great gladness when John
+Rogers and I appeared in the camp and gave the mothers full canteens of
+water for themselves and little ones, and there was tears of joy and
+thankfulness upon their cheeks as they blessed us over and over again.
+
+The oxen fared very hard. The ground was made up of broken stone, and
+all that grew was a dry and stunted brush not more than six inches high,
+of which the poor animals took an occasional dainty bite, and seemed
+hardly able to drag along.
+
+It was only seven or eight miles to the warm spring and all felt better
+to know for a certainty that we would soon be safe again. We started
+early, even the women walked, so as to favor the poor oxen all we could.
+When within two miles of the water some of the oxen lay down and refused
+to rise again, so we had to leave them and a wagon, while the rest
+pushed on and reached the spring soon after noon. We took water and went
+back to the oxen left behind, and gave them some to drink. They were
+somewhat rested and got up, and we tried to drive them in without the
+wagons, but they were not inclined to travel without the yoke, so we put
+it on them and hitched to the wagon again. The yoke and the wagon seemed
+to brace them up a good deal, and they went along thus much better than
+when alone and scattered about, with nothing to lean upon.
+
+The warm spring was quite large and ran a hundred yards or more before
+the water sank down into the dry and thirsty desert. The dry cornstalks
+of last years crop, some small willows, sagebrush, weeds and grass
+suited our animals very well, and they ate better than for a long time,
+and we thought it best to remain two or three days to give them a chance
+to get rest. The Indian we left here the evening before had gone and
+left nothing behind but a chunk of crystallized rock salt. He seemed to
+be afraid of his friends.
+
+The range we had been traveling nearly parallel with seemed to come to
+an end here where this snow peak stood, and immediately north and south
+of this peak there seemed to be a lower pass. The continuous range north
+was too low to hold snow. In the morning I concluded to go to the summit
+of that pass and with my glass have an extensive view. Two other boys
+started with me, and as we moved along the snow line we saw tracks of
+our runaway Indian in the snow, passing over a low ridge. As we went on
+up hill our boys began to fall behind, and long before night I could see
+nothing of them. The ground was quite soft, and I saw many tracks of
+Indians which put me on my guard. I reached the summit and as the shade
+of its mountain began to make it a little dark, I built a fire of sage
+brush, ate my grub, and when it was fairly dark, renewed the fire and
+passed on a mile, where in a small ravine with banks two feet high I lay
+down sheltered from the wind and slept till morning. I did this to beat
+the Indian in his own cunning.
+
+Next morning I reached the summit about nine o'clock, and had the
+grandest view I ever saw. I could see north and south almost forever.
+The surrounding region seemed lower, but much of it black, mountainous
+and barren. On the west the snow peak shut out the view in that
+direction. To the south the mountains seemed to descend for more than
+twenty miles, and near the base, perhaps ten miles away, were several
+smokes, apparently from camp fires, and as I could see no animals or
+camp wagons anywhere I presumed them to be Indians. A few miles to the
+north and east of where I stood, and somewhat higher, was the roughest
+piece of ground I ever saw. It stood in sharp peaks and was of many
+colors, some of them so red that the mountain looked red hot, I imagined
+it to be a true volcanic point, and had never been so near one before,
+and the most wonderful picture of grand desolation one could ever see.
+
+Toward the north I could see the desert the Jayhawkers and their
+comrades had under taken to cross, and if their journey was as
+troublesome as ours and very much longer, they might by this time be all
+dead of thirst. I remained on this summit an hour or so bringing my
+glass to bear on all points within my view, and scanning closely for
+everything that might help us or prove an obstacle to our progress. The
+more I looked the more I satisfied myself that we were yet a long way
+from California and the serious question of our ever living to get there
+presented itself to me as I tramped along down the grade to camp. I put
+down at least another month of heavy weary travel before we could hope
+to make the land of gold, and our stock of strength and provisions were
+both pretty small for so great a tax upon them. I thought so little
+about anything else that the Indians might have captured me easily, for
+I jogged along without a thought of them. I thought of the bounteous
+stock of bread and beans upon my father's table, to say nothing about
+all the other good things, and here was I, the oldest son, away out in
+the center of the Great American Desert, with an empty stomach and a dry
+and parched throat, and clothes fast wearing out with constant wear. And
+perhaps I had not yet seen the worst of it. I might be forced to see
+men, and the women and children of our party, choke and die, powerless
+to help them. It was a darker, gloomier day than I had ever known could
+be, and alone I wept aloud, for I believed I could see the future, and
+the results were bitter to contemplate. I hope no reader of this history
+may ever be placed in a position to be thus tried for I am not ashamed
+to say that I have a weak point to show under such circumstances. It is
+not in my power to tell how much I suffered in my lonely trips, lasting
+sometimes days and nights that I might give the best advice to those of
+my party. I believed that I could escape at any time myself, but all
+must be brought through or perish, and with this all I knew I must not
+discourage the others. I could tell them the truth, but I must keep my
+worst apprehensions to myself lest they loose heart and hope and faith
+needlessly.
+
+I reached the camp on the third day where I found the boys who went part
+way with me and whom I had out-walked. I related to the whole camp what
+I had seen, and when all was told it appeared that the route from the
+mountains westerly was the only route that could be taken, they told me
+of a discovery they had made of a pile of squashes probably raised upon
+the place, and sufficient in number so that every person could have one.
+I did not approve of this for we had no title to this produce, and might
+be depriving the rightful owner of the means of life. I told them not
+only was it wrong to rob them of their food, but they could easily
+revenge themselves on us by shooting our cattle, or scalp us, by
+gathering a company of their own people together. They had no experience
+with red men and were slow to see the results I spoke of as possible.
+
+During my absence an ox had been killed, for some were nearly out of
+provisions, and flesh was the only means to prevent starvation. The meat
+was distributed amongst the entire camp, with the understanding that
+when it became necessary to kill another it should be divided in the
+same way. Some one of the wagons would have to be left for lack of
+animals to draw it. Our animals were so poor that one would not last
+long as food. No fat could be found on the entire carcass, and the
+marrow of the great bones was a thick liquid, streaked with blood
+resembling corruption.
+
+Our road led us around the base of the mountain; There were many large
+rocks in our way, some as large as houses, but we wound around among
+them in a very crooked way and managed to get along. The feet of the
+oxen became so sore that we made moccasins for them from the hide of the
+ox that was killed, and with this protection they got along very well.
+Our trains now consisted of seven wagons. Bennett had two; Arcane two;
+Earhart Bros. one. Culverwell, Fish and others one; and there was one
+other, the owners of which I have forgotten. The second night we had a
+fair camp with water and pretty fair grass and brush for the oxen. We
+were not very far from the snow line and this had some effect on the
+country. When Bennett retired that night he put on a camp kettle of the
+fresh beef and so arranged the fire that it would cook slowly and be
+done by daylight for breakfast. After an hour or so Mr. Bennett went out
+to replenish the fire and see how the cooking was coming on, and when I
+went to put more water in the kettle, he found that to his
+disappointment, the most of the meat was gone. I was rolled up in my
+blanket under his wagon and awoke when he came to the fire and saw him
+stand and look around as if to fasten the crime on the right party if
+possible, but soon he came to me, and in a whisper said: "Did you see
+anyone around the fire after we went to bed?" I assured him I did not,
+and then he told me some one had taken his meat. "Do you think," said he
+"that any one is so near out of food as to be starving?" "I know the
+meat is poor, and who ever took it must be nearly starving." After a
+whispered conversation we went to bed, but we both rose at daylight and,
+as we sat by the fire, kept watch of those who got up and came around.
+We thought we knew the right man, but were not sure, and could not
+imagine what might happen if stealing grub should begin and continue. It
+is a sort of unwritten law that in parties such as ours, he who steals
+provisions forfeits his life. We knew we must keep watch and if the
+offense was repeated the guilty one might be compelled to suffer.
+Bennett watched closely and for a few days I kept closely with the
+wagons for fear there might be trouble. It was really the most critical
+point in our experience. After three or four days all hope of detecting
+the criminal had passed, and all danger was over out of any difficulty.
+
+One night we had a fair camp, as we were close to the base of the snow
+butte, and found a hole of clear or what seemed to be living water.
+There were a few minnows in it not much more than an inch long. This was
+among a big pile of rocks, and around these the oxen found some grass.
+
+There now appeared to be a pass away to the south as a sort of outlet to
+the great plain which lay to the north of us, but immediately west and
+across the desert waste, extending to the foot of a low black range of
+mountains, through which there seemed to be no pass, the distant snowy
+peak lay still farther on, with Martin's pass over it still a long way
+off though we had been steering toward it for a month. Now as we were
+compelled to go west this impassable barrier was in our way and if no
+pass could be found in it we would be compelled to go south and make no
+progress in a westerly direction.
+
+Our trail was now descending to the bottom of what seemed to be the
+narrowest part of the plain, the same one the Jayhawkers had started
+across, further north, ten days before. When we reached the lowest part
+of this valley we came to a running stream, and, as dead grass could be
+seen in the bed where the water ran very slowly, I concluded it only had
+water in it after hard rains in the mountains, perhaps a hundred miles,
+to the north. This water was not pure; it had a bitter taste, and no
+doubt in dry weather was a rank poison. Those who partook of it were
+affected about as if they had taken a big dose of salts.
+
+A short distance above this we found the trail of the Jayhawkers going
+west, and thus we knew they had got safely across the great plain and
+then turned southward. I hurried along their trail for several miles and
+looked the country over with field glass becoming fully satisfied we
+should find no water till we reached the summit, of the next range, and
+then fearing the party had not taken the precaution to bring along some
+water I went back to them and found they had none. I told them they
+would not see a drop for the next forty miles, and they unloaded the
+lightest wagon and drove back with everything they had which would hold
+water, to get a good supply.
+
+I turned back again on the Jayhawker's road, and followed it so rapidly
+that well toward night I was pretty near the summit, where a pass
+through this rocky range had been found and on this mountain not a tree
+a shrub or spear of grass could be found--desolation beyond conception.
+I carried my gun along every day, but for the want of a chance to kill
+any game a single load would remain in my gun for a month. Very seldom a
+rabbit could be seen, but not a bird of any kind, not even a hawk
+buzzard or crow made their appearance here.
+
+When near the steep part of the mountain, I found a dead ox the
+Jayhawkers had left, as no camp could be made here for lack of water and
+grass, the meat could not be saved. I found the body of the animal badly
+shrunken, but in condition, as far as putrefaction was concerned, as
+perfect as when alive. A big gash had been cut in the ham clear to the
+bone and the sun had dried the flesh in this. I was so awful hungry that
+I took my sheath knife and cut a big steak which I devoured as I walked
+along, without cooking or salt. Some may say they would starve before
+eating such meat, but if they have ever experienced hunger till it
+begins to draw down the life itself, they will find the impulse of self
+preservation something not to be controlled by mere reason. It is an
+instinct that takes possession of one in spite of himself.
+
+I went down a narrow, dark cañon high on both sides and perpendicular,
+and quite so in many places. In one of the perpendicular portions it
+seemed to be a varigated clay formation, and a little water seeped down
+its face. Here the Indians had made a clay bowl and fastened it to the
+wall so that it would collect and retain about a quart of water, and I
+had a good drink of water, the first one since leaving the running
+stream. Near here I staid all night, for fear of Indians who I firmly
+believe would have taken my scalp had a good opportunity offered. I
+slept without a fire, and my supply of meat just obtained drove hunger
+away.
+
+In the morning I started down the cañon which descended rapidly and had
+a bed of sharp, volcanic, broken rock. I could sometimes see an Indian
+track, and kept a sharp lookout at every turn, for fear of revenge on
+account of the store of squashes which had been taken. I felt I was in
+constant danger, but could do nothing else but go on and keep eyes open
+trusting to circumstances to get out of any sudden emergency that might
+arise.
+
+As I recollect this was Christmas day and about dusk I came upon the
+camp of one man with his wife and family, the Rev. J.W. Brier, Mrs.
+Brier and two sons. I inquired for others of his party and he told me
+they were somewhere ahead. When I arrived at his camp I found the
+reverend gentleman very cooly delivering a lecture to his boys on
+education. It seemed very strange to me to hear a solemn discourse on
+the benefits of early education when, it seemed to me, starvation was
+staring us all in the face, and the barren desolation all around gave
+small promise of the need of any education higher than the natural
+impulses of nature. None of us knew exactly where we were, nor when the
+journey would be ended, nor when substantial relief would come.
+Provisions were wasting away, and some had been reduced to the last
+alternative of subsisting on the oxen alone. I slept by the fire that
+night, without a blanket, as I had done on many nights before and after
+they hitched up and drove on in the morning I searched the camp
+carefully, finding some bacon rinds they had thrown away. As I chewed
+these and could taste the rich grease they contained, I thought they
+were the sweetest morsels I ever tasted.
+
+Here on the north side of the cañon were some rolling hills and some
+small weak springs, the water of which when gathered together made a
+small stream which ran a few yards down the cañon before it lost itself
+in the rocks and sand. On the side there stood what seemed to be one
+half of a butte, with the perpendicular face toward the cañon. Away on
+the summit of the butte I saw an Indian, so far away he looked no taller
+than my finger, and when he went out of sight I knew pretty well he was
+the very fellow who grew the squashes. I thought it might be he, at any
+rate.
+
+I now turned back to meet the teams and found them seven or eight miles
+up the cañon, and although it was a down grade the oxen were barely able
+to walk slowly with their loads which were light, as wagons were almost
+empty except the women and children. When night came on it seemed to be
+cloudy and we could hear the cries of the wild geese passing east. We
+regarded this as a very good sign and no doubt Owen's Lake, which we
+expected to pass on this route, was not very far off. Around in those
+small hills and damp places was some coarse grass and other growths, but
+those who had gone before devoured the best, so our oxen had a hard time
+to get anything to eat.
+
+Next morning I shouldered my gun and followed down the cañon keeping the
+wagon road, and when half a mile down, at the sink of the sickly stream,
+I killed a wild goose. This had undoubtedly been attracted here the
+night before by the light of our camp fire. When I got near the lower
+end of the cañon, there was a cliff on the north or right hand side
+which was perpendicular or perhaps a little overhanging, and at the base
+a cave which had the appearance of being continuously occupied by
+Indians. As I went on down I saw a very strange looking track upon the
+ground. There were hand and foot prints as if a human being had crawled
+upon all fours. As this track reached the valley where the sand had been
+clean swept by the wind, the tracks became more plain, and the sand had
+been blown into small hills not over three or four feet high. I followed
+the track till it led to the top of one of these small hills where a
+small well-like hole had been dug and in this excavation was a kind of
+Indian mummy curled up like a dog. He was not dead for I could see him
+move as he breathed, but his skin looked very much like the surface of a
+well dried venison ham. I should think by his looks he must be 200 or
+300 years old, indeed he might be Adam's brother and not look any older
+than he did. He was evidently crippled. A climate which would preserve
+for many days or weeks the carcass of an ox so that an eatable round
+stake could be cut from it, might perhaps preserve a live man for a
+longer period than would be believed.
+
+I took a good long look at the wild creature and during all the time he
+never moved a muscle, though he must have known some one was in the well
+looking down at him. He was probably practicing on one of the directions
+for a successful political career looking wise and saying nothing. At
+any rate he was not going to let his talk get him into any trouble. He
+probably had a friend around somewhere who supplied his wants. I now
+left him and went farther out into the lowest part of the valley. I
+could look to the north for fifty miles and it seemed to rise gradually
+in that direction. To the south the view was equally extended, and down
+that way a lake could be seen. The valley was here quite narrow, and the
+lofty snow-capped peak we had tried so hard to reach for the past two
+months now stood before me. Its east side was almost perpendicular and
+seemed to reach the sky, and the snow was drifting over it, while here
+the day sun was shining uncomfortably hot. I believe this mountain was
+really miles from its base to its summit, and that nothing could climb
+it on the eastern side except a bird and the only bird I had seen for
+two months was the goose I shot. I looked every day for some sort of
+game but had not seen any.
+
+As I reached the lower part of the valley I walked over what seemed to
+be boulders of various sizes, and as I stepped from one to another the
+tops were covered with dirt and they grew larger as I went along. I
+could see behind them and they looked clear like ice, but on closer
+inspection proved to be immense blocks of rock salt while the water
+which stood at their bases was the strongest brine. After this discovery
+I took my way back to the road made by the Jayhawkers and found it quite
+level, but sandy. Following this I came to a campfire soon after dark at
+which E. Doty and mess were camped. As I was better acquainted I camped
+with them. They said the water there was brackish and I soon found out
+the same thing for myself. It was a poor camp; no grass, poor water and
+scattering, bitter sage brush for food for the cattle. It would not do
+to wait long here, and so they hurried on.
+
+I inquired of them about Martin's Pass, as they were now quite near it,
+and they said it was no pass at all, only the mountain was a little
+lower than the one holding the snow. No wagon could get over it, and the
+party had made up their minds to go on foot, and were actually burning
+their wagons as fuel with which to dry the meat of some of the oxen
+which they had killed. They selected those which were weakest and least
+likely to stand the journey, and by drying it the food was much
+concentrated. They were to divide the provisions equally and it was
+agreed thereafter every one must lookout for himself and not expect any
+help from anyone. If he used up his own provisions, he had no right to
+expect anyone else to divide with him. Rice, tea and coffee were
+measured out by the spoonful and the small amount of flour and bacon
+which remained was divided out as evenly as possible. Everything was to
+be left behind but blankets and provisions for the men were too weak to
+carry heavy packs and the oxen could not be relied on as beasts of
+burden and it was thought best not to load them so as to needlessly
+break them down.
+
+When these fellows started out they were full of spirit, and the frolic
+and fun along the Platte river was something worth laughing at but now
+they were very melancholy and talked in the lowest kind of low spirits.
+One fellow said he knew this was the Creator's dumping place where he
+had left the worthless dregs after making a world, and the devil had
+scraped these together a little. Another said this must be the very
+place where Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, and the pillar
+been broken up and spread around the country. He said if a man was to
+die he would never decay on account of the salt. Thus the talk went on,
+and it seemed as if there were not bad words enough in the language to
+properly express their contempt and bad opinion of such a country as
+this. They treated me to some of their meat, a little better than mine,
+and before daylight in the morning I was headed back on the trail to
+report the bad news I had learned of the Jayhawkers.
+
+About noon I met two of our camp companions with packs on their backs
+following the wagon trail, and we stopped and had a short talk. They
+were oldish men perhaps 50 years old, one a Mr. Fish of Indiana and
+another named Gould. They said they could perhaps do as well on foot as
+to follow the slow ox teams, but when I told them what those ahead of
+them were doing, and how they must go, they did not seem to be entirely
+satisfied, as what they had on their backs would need to be replenished,
+and no such chance could be expected. They had an idea that the end of
+the journey was not as far off as I predicted. Mr. Fish had a long
+nicely made, whiplash wound around his waist, and when I asked him why
+he carried such a useless thing, which he could not eat, he said perhaps
+he could trade it off for something to eat. After we had set on a sand
+hill and talked for awhile, we rose and shook each other by the hand,
+and bade each other good bye with quivering lips. There was with me a
+sort of expression I could not repel that I should never see the middle
+aged men again.
+
+As my road was now out and away from the mountains, and level, I had no
+fear of being surprised by enemies, so walked on with eyes downcast,
+thinking over the situation, and wondering what would be the final
+outcome. If I were alone, with no one to expect me to help them, I would
+be out before any other man, but with women and children in the party,
+to go and leave them would be to pile everlasting infamy on my head. The
+thought almost made me crazy but I thought it would be better to stay
+and die with them, bravely struggling to escape than to forsake them in
+their weakness.
+
+It was almost night before I reached our camp, and sitting around our
+little fire I told, in the most easy way I could the unfavorable news of
+the party in advance. They seemed to look to me as a guide and adviser,
+I presume because I took much pains to inform myself on every point and
+my judgment was accepted with very little opposing opinion, they moved
+as I thought best. During my absence from camp for the two days the
+Indians had shot arrows into three of our oxen, and one still had an
+arrow in his side forward of the hip which was a dangerous place. To be
+sure and save him for ourselves we killed him. Some were a little afraid
+to eat the meat thinking perhaps the arrow might be poisoned, but I
+agreed that they wanted meat themselves and would not do that. I told
+them if they got a shot themselves it would be very likely to be a
+poisoned arrow and they must take the most instant measures to cut it
+out before it went into the blood. So we ventured to dry the meat and
+take it with us.
+
+Now I said to the whole camp "You can see how you have displeased the
+red men, taking their little squashes, and when we get into a place that
+suits them for that purpose, they may meet us with a superior force and
+massacre us, not only for revenge but to get our oxen and clothing." I
+told them we must ever be on guard against a surprise, as the chances
+were greatly against us.
+
+We pulled the arrows out of the other oxen, and they seemed to sustain
+no great injury from the wounds. This little faint stream where we
+camped has since been named as Furnace Creek and is still known as such.
+It was named in 1862 by some prospectors who built what was called an
+air furnace on a small scale to reduce some ore found near by, which
+they supposed to contain silver, but I believe it turned out to be lead
+and too far from transportations to be available.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Bennett and Arcane now concluded not to wait for me to go ahead and
+explore out a way for them to follow, as I had done for a long time, but
+to go ahead as it was evidently the best way to turn south and make our
+own road, and find the water and passes all for ourselves. So they
+hitched up and rolled down the cañon, and out into the valley and then
+turned due south. We had not gone long on this course before we saw that
+we must cross the valley and get over to the west side. To do this we
+must cross through some water, and for fear the ground might be miry, I
+went to a sand hill near by and got a mesquite stick about three feet
+long with which to sound out our way. I rolled up my pants pulled off my
+moccasins and waded in, having the teams stand still till I could find
+out whether it was safe for them to follow or not by ascertaining the
+depth of the water and the character of the bottom.
+
+The water was very clear and the bottom seemed uneven, there being some
+deep holes. Striking my stick on the bottom it seemed solid as a rock,
+and breaking off a small projecting point I found it to be solid rock
+salt. As the teams rolled along they scarcely roiled the water. It
+looked to me as if the whole valley which might be a hundred miles long
+might have been a solid bed of rock salt. Before we reached this water
+there were many solid blocks of salt lying around covered with a little
+dirt on the top.
+
+The second night we found a good spring of fresh water coming out from
+the bottom of the snow peak almost over our heads. The small flow from
+it spread out over the sand and sank in a very short distance and there
+was some quite good grass growing around.
+
+This was a temporary relief, but brought us face to face with stranger
+difficulties and a more hopeless outlook.
+
+There was no possible way to cross this high steep range of mountains
+anywhere to the north and the Jayhawkers had abandoned their wagons and
+burned them, and we could no longer follow on the trail they made. It
+seemed that there was no other alternative but for us to keep along the
+edge of the mountain to the south and search for another pass. Some who
+had read Fremont's travels said that the range immediately west of us
+must be the one he described, on the west side of which was a beautiful
+country, of rich soil and having plenty of cattle, and horses, and
+containing some settlers, but on the east all was barren, dry, rocky,
+sandy desert as far as could be seen. We knew this eastern side answered
+well the description and believed that this was really the range
+described, or at least it was close by.
+
+We had to look over the matter very carefully and consider all the
+conditions and circumstances of the case. We could see the mountains
+were lower to the south, but they held no snow and seemed only barren
+rocks piled up in lofty peaks, and as we looked it seemed the most
+God-forsaken country in the world.
+
+We had been in the region long enough to know the higher mountains
+contained most water, and that the valleys had bad water or none at all,
+so that while the lower altitudes to the south gave some promise of
+easier crossing it gave us no promise of water or grass, without which
+we must certainly perish. In a certain sense we were lost. The clear
+night and days furnished us with the mean of telling the points of
+compass as the sun rose and set, but not a sign of life in nature's wide
+domain had been seen for a month or more. A vest pocketful of powder and
+shot would last a good hunter till he starved to death for there was not
+a living thing to shoot great or small.
+
+We talked over our present position pretty freely, and every one was
+asked to speak his unbiased mind, for we knew not who might be right or
+who might be wrong, and some one might make a suggestion of the utmost
+value. We all felt pretty much downhearted. Our civilized provisions
+were getting so scarce that all must be saved for the women and
+children, and the men must get along some way on ox meat alone. It was
+decided not a scrap of anything that would sustain life must go to
+waste. The blood, hide and intestines were all prepared in some way for
+food. This meeting lasted till late at night. If some of them had lost
+their minds I should not have been surprised, for hunger swallows all
+other feelings. A man in a starving condition is a savage. He may be as
+blood-shed and selfish as a wild beast, as docile and gentle as a lamb,
+or as wild and crazy as a terrified animal, devoid of affection, reason
+or thought of justice. We were none of us as bad as this, and yet there
+was a strange look in the eyes of some of us sometimes, as I saw by
+looking round, and as others no doubt realized for I saw them making
+mysterious glances even in my direction.
+
+Morning came and all were silent. The dim prospect of the future seemed
+to check every tongue. When one left a water hole he went away as if in
+doubt whether he would ever enjoy the pleasure of another drop. Every
+camp was sad beyond description, and no one can guide the pen to make it
+tell the tale as it seemed to us. When our morning meal of soup and meat
+was finished, Bennett's two teams, and the two of Arcane's concluded
+their chances of life were better if they could take some provisions and
+strike out on foot, and so they were given what they could carry, and
+they arranged their packs and bade us a sorrowful good bye hoping to
+meet again on the Pacific Coast. There were genuine tears shed at the
+parting and I believe neither party ever expected to see each other in
+this life again.
+
+Bennett's two men were named Silas Helmer and S.S. or C.C. Abbott, but I
+have forgotten the names of Arcane's men. Mr. Abbott was from New York,
+a harness maker by trade, and he took his circular cutting knife with
+him, saying it was light to carry and the weapon he should need. One of
+them had a gun. They took the trail taken by the Jayhawkers. All the
+provisions they could carry besides their blankets could not last them
+to exceed 10 days, and I well knew they could hardly get off the desert
+in that time. Mr. Abbott was a man I loved fondly. He was good company
+in camp, and happy and sociable. He had shown no despondency at any time
+until the night of the last meeting and the morning of the parting. His
+chances seemed to me to be much poorer than my own, but I hardly think
+he realized it. When in bed I could not keep my thoughts back from the
+old home I had left, where good water and a bountiful spread were always
+ready at the proper hour. I know I dreamed of taking a draft of cool,
+sweet water from a full pitcher and then woke up with my mouth and
+throat as dry as dust. The good home I left behind was a favorite theme
+about the campfire, and many a one told of the dream pictures, natural
+as life, that came to him of the happy Eastern home with comfort and
+happiness surrounding it, even if wealth was lacking. The home of the
+poorest man on earth was preferable to this place. Wealth was of no
+value here. A hoard of twenty dollar gold pieces could now
+stand before us the whole day long with no temptation to touch a single
+coin, for its very weight would drag us nearer death. We could purchase
+nothing with it and we would have cared no more for it as a thing of
+value than we did the desert sands. We would have given much more for
+some of the snow which we could see drifting over the peak of the great
+snow mountains over our heads like a dusty cloud.
+
+Deeming it best to spare the strength as much as possible, I threw away
+everything I could, retaining only my glass, some ammunition, sheath
+knife and tin cup. No unnecessary burden could be put on any man or
+beast, lest he lie down under it, never to rise again. Life and strength
+were sought to be husbanded in every possible way.
+
+Leaving this camp where the water was appreciated we went over a road
+for perhaps 8 miles and came to the mouth of a rocky cañon leading up
+west to the summit of the range. This cañon was too rough for wagons to
+pass over. Out in the valley near its mouth was a mound about four feet
+high and in the top of this a little well that held about a pailful of
+water that was quite strong of sulphur. When stirred it would look quite
+black. About the mouth of the well was a wire grass that seemed to
+prevent it caving in. It seems the drifting sand had slowly built this
+little mound about the little well of water in a curious way. We spent
+the night here and kept a man at the well all night to keep the water
+dipped out as fast as it flowed, in order to get enough for ourselves
+and cattle. The oxen drank this water better than they did the brackish
+water of the former camp.
+
+The plain was thinly scattered with sage brush, and up near the base of
+the mountain some greasewood grew in little bunches like currant bushes.
+
+The men with wagons decided they would take this cañon and follow it up
+to try to get over the range, and not wait for me to go ahead and
+explore, as they said it took too much time and the provisions,
+consisting now of only ox meat were getting more precarious every day.
+To help them all I could and if possible to be forewarned a little of
+danger, I shouldered my gun and pushed on ahead as fast as I could. The
+bottom was of sharp broken rock, which would be very hard for the feet
+of the oxen, although we had rawhide moccasins for them for some time,
+and this was the kind of foot-gear I wore myself. I walked on as rapidly
+as I could, and after a time came to where the cañon spread out into a
+kind of basin enclosed on all sides but the entrance, with a wall of
+high, steep rock, possible to ascend on foot but which would apparently
+bar the further progress of the wagons, and I turned back utterly
+disappointed. I got on an elevation where I could look over the country
+east and south, and it looked as if there was not a drop of water in its
+whole extent, and there was no snow on the dark mountains that stretched
+away to the southward and it seemed to me as if difficulties beset me on
+every hand. I hurried back down the cañon, but it was nearly dark before
+I met the wagons. By a mishap I fell and broke the stock of my gun, over
+which I was very sorry, for it was an excellent one, the best I ever
+owned. I carried it in two pieces to the camp and told them the way was
+barred, at which they could hardly endure their disappointment. They
+turned in the morning, as the cattle had nothing to eat here and no
+water, and not much of any food since leaving the spring; they looked
+terribly bad, and the rough road coming up had nearly finished them.
+They were yoked up and the wagons turned about for the return. They went
+better down hill, but it was not long before one of Bennett's oxen lay
+down, and could not be persuaded to rise again. This was no place to
+tarry in the hot sun, so the ox was killed and the carcass distributed
+among the wagons. So little draft was required that the remaining oxen
+took the wagon down. When within two or three miles of the water hole
+one of Arcane's oxen also failed and lay down, so they turned him out
+and when he had rested a little he came on again for a while, but soon
+lay down again.
+
+Arcane took a bucket of water back from camp and after drinking it and
+resting awhile the ox was driven down to the spring.
+
+This night we had another meeting to decide upon our course and
+determine what to do. At this meeting no one was wiser than another, for
+no one had explored the country and knew what to expect. The questions
+that now arose were "How long can we endure this work in this situation?
+How long will our oxen be able to endure the great hardship on the small
+nourishment they receive? How long can we provide ourselves with food?"
+
+We had a few small pieces of dry bread. This was kept for the children
+giving them a little now and then. Our only food was in the flesh of the
+oxen, and when they failed to carry themselves along we must begin to
+starve. It began to look as if the chances of leaving our bones to
+bleach upon the desert were the most prominent ones.
+
+One thing was certain we must move somewhere at once. If we stay here we
+can live as long as the oxen do, and no longer, and if we go on it is
+uncertain where to go, to get a better place. We had guns and ammunition
+to be sure, but of late we had seen no living creature in this desert
+wild. Finally Mr. Bennett spoke and said:--
+
+"Now I will make you a proposition. I propose that we select two of our
+youngest, strongest men and ask them to take some food and go ahead on
+foot to try to seek a settlement, and food, and we will go back to the
+good spring we have just left and wait for their return. It will surely
+not take them more than ten days for the trip, and when they get back we
+shall know all about the road and its character and how long it will
+take us to travel it. They can secure some other kind of food that will
+make us feel better, and when the oxen have rested a little at the
+spring we can get out with our wagons and animals and be safe. I think
+this is the best and safest way."
+
+"Now what do you all say?" After a little discussion all seemed to agree
+that this was the best, and now it remained to find the men to go. No
+one offered to accept the position of advance messengers. Finally Mr.
+Bennett said he knew one man well enough to know that he would come back
+if he lived, and he was sure he would push his way through. "I will take
+Lewis (myself) if he will consent to go." I consented, though I knew it
+was a hazardous journey, exposed to all sorts of things, Indians,
+climate and probable lack of water, but I thought I could do it and
+would not refuse. John Rogers a large strong Tennessee, man was then
+chosen as the other one and he consented also.
+
+Now preparations began, Mr. Arcane killed the ox which had so nearly
+failed, and all the men went to drying and preparing meat. Others made
+us some new mocassins out of rawhide, and the women made us each a
+knapsack.
+
+Our meat was closely packed, and one can form an idea how poor our
+cattle were from the fact that John and I actually packed seven-eighths
+of all the flesh of an ox into our knapsacks and carried it away. They
+put in a couple of spoonfuls of rice and about as much tea. This seemed
+like robbery to the children, but the good women said that in case of
+sickness even that little bit might save our lives. I wore no coat or
+vest, but took half of a light blanket, while Rogers wore a thin summer
+coat and took no blanket. We each had a small tin cup and a small camp
+kettle holding a quart. Bennett had me take his seven-shooter rifle, and
+Rogers had a good double barreled shot gun. We each had a sheath knife,
+and our hats were small brimmed, drab affairs fitting close to the head
+and not very conspicuous to an enemy as we might rise up from behind a
+hill into possible views. We tried on our packs and fitted the straps a
+little so they would carry easy. They collected all the money there was
+in camp and gave it to us. Mr. Arcane had about $30 and others threw in
+small amounts from forty cents upward. We received all sorts of advice.
+Capt. Culverwell was an old sea faring man and was going to tell us how
+to find our way back, but Mr. Bennett told the captain that he had known
+Lewis as a hunter for many years, and that if he went over a place in
+the daytime he could find his way back at night every time. Others
+cautioned us about the Indians and told us how to manage. Others told us
+not to get caught in deep snow which we might find on the mountains.
+
+This advice we received in all the kindness in which it was given, and
+then we bade them all good bye. Some turned away, too much
+affected to approach us and others, shook our hands with deep feeling,
+grasping them firmly and heartily hoping we would be successful and be
+able to pilot them out of this dreary place into a better land. Every
+one felt that a little food to make a change from the poor dried meat
+would be acceptable. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and J.B. Arcane and wife were
+the last to remain when the others had turned away. They had most faith
+in the plan and felt deeply. Mrs. Bennett was the last, and she asked
+God to bless us and bring some food to her starving children.
+
+We were so much affected that we could not speak and silently turned
+away and took our course again up the canyon we had descended the night
+before.
+
+After a while we looked back and when they saw us turn around, all the
+hats and bonnets waved us a final parting.
+
+Those left in the camp were Asabel, Bennett and Sarah his wife, with
+three children, George, Melissa, and Martha; J.B. Arcane and wife with
+son Charles. The youngest children were not more than two years old.
+There were also the two Earhart brothers, and a grown son, Capt.
+Culverwell, and some others I cannot recall; eleven grown people in all,
+besides a Mr. Wade, his wife and three children who did not mingle with
+our party, but usually camped a little distance off, followed our trail,
+but seemed to shun company. We soon passed round a bend of the cañon,
+and then walked on in silence.
+
+We both of us meditated some over the homes of our fathers, but took new
+courage in view of the importance of our mission and passed on as fast
+as we could.
+
+By night we were far up the mountain, near the perpendicular rough peak,
+and far above us on a slope we could see some bunches of grass and sage
+brush. We went to this and found some small water holes. No water ran
+from them they were so small. Here we staid all night. It did not seem
+very far to the snowy peak to the north of us. Just where we were seemed
+the lowest pass, for to the south were higher peaks and the rocks looked
+as if they were too steep to be got over.
+
+Through this gap came a cold breeze, and we had to look round to get a
+sheltered place in which to sleep. We lay down close together, spoon
+fashion, and made the little blanket do as cover for the both of us. In
+the morning we filled our canteens, which we had made by binding two
+powder cans together with strips of cloth, and started for the summit
+near by. From this was the grandest sight we ever beheld. Looking east
+we could see the country we had been crawling over since November 4th.
+"Just look at the cursed country we have come over!" said Rogers as he
+pointed over it. To the north was the biggest mountain we ever saw,
+peaks on peaks and towering far above our heads, and covered with snow
+which was apparently everlasting.
+
+This mountain seemed to have very few trees on it, and in extent, as it
+reached away to the north seemed interminable. South was a nearly level
+plain, and to the west I thought I could dimly see a range of mountains
+that held a little snow upon their summits, but on the main range to the
+south there was none. It seemed to me the dim snowy mountains must be as
+far as 200 miles away, but of course I could not judge accurately. After
+looking at this grand, but worthless landscape long enough to take in
+its principal features we asked each other what we supposed the people
+we left behind would think to see mountains so far ahead. We knew that
+they had an idea that the coast range was not very far ahead, but we saw
+at once to go over all these mountains and return within the limits of
+fifteen days which had been agreed upon between us, would probably be
+impossible, but we must try as best we could, so down the rocky steep we
+clambered and hurried on our way. In places the way was so steep that we
+had to help each other down, and the hard work made us perspire freely
+so that the water was a prime necessity. In one place near here, we
+found a little water and filled our canteens, besides drinking a good
+present supply. There were two low, black rocky ranges directly ahead of
+us which we must cross.
+
+When part way down the mountain a valley or depression opened up in that
+direction up which it seemed as if we could look a hundred miles. Near
+by and a short distance north was a lake of water and when we reached
+the valley we crossed a clear stream of water flowing slowly toward the
+lake.
+
+Being in need of water, we rushed eagerly to it and prepared to take a
+big drink, but the tempting fluid was as salt as brine and made our
+thirst all the more intolerable. Nothing grew on the bank of this stream
+and the bed was of hard clay, which glistened in the sun.
+
+We now began the ascent of the next ridge, keeping a westernly course,
+and walked as fast as we could up the rough mountain side. We crossed
+the head of a cañon near the summit about dark, and here we found a
+trail, which from indications we knew to be that of the Jayhawkers, who
+had evidently been forced to the southward of the course they intended
+to take. They had camped here and had dug holes in the sand in search of
+water, but had found none.
+
+We staid all night here and dug around in some other places in the
+bottom of the cañon, in the hope to have better luck than they did, but
+we got no water anywhere.
+
+We seemed almost perishing for want of water, the hard exercise made us
+perspire so freely. In the morning we started on, and near the summit we
+came to the dead body of Mr. Fish, laying in the hot sun, as there was
+no material near here with which his friends could cover the remains.
+This Mr. Fish was the man who left camp some two weeks before in company
+with another and who carried the long whiplash wound about his body, in
+hope he could somewhere be able to trade it for bread. No doubt in this
+very place where he breathed his last, his bones still lie.
+
+As we came in sight of the next valley, we could see a lake of water
+some distance south of our western course.
+
+We had followed the Jayhawkers trail thus far, but as we found no water
+in small holes in the rocks as we were likely to do when we were the
+first to pass, we decided to take a new route in the hope to find a
+little water in this way, for we had no hope of finding it in any other.
+This valley we now crossed seemed to come to an end about ten miles to
+the north of us. To the south it widened out, enclosing the lake spoken
+of. This valley was very sandy and hard to walk over. When about halfway
+across we saw some ox tracks leading toward the lake, and in the hope we
+might find the water drinkable we turned off at right angles to our
+course and went that way also. Long before we reached the water of the
+lake, the bottom became a thin, slimy mud which was very hard on our
+mocassins. When we reached the water we found it to be of a wine color,
+and so strongly alkaline as to feel slippery to the touch, and under our
+feet.
+
+This side trip, had cost us much exertion and made us feel more thirsty
+than ever.
+
+We turned now west again, making for a cañon, up which we passed in the
+hope we should at some turn find a little basin of rain water in some
+rock. We traveled in it miles and miles, and our mouths became so dry we
+had to put a bullet or a small smooth stone in and chew it and turn it
+around with the tongue to induce a flow of saliva. If we saw a spear of
+green grass on the north side of a rock, it was quickly pulled and eaten
+to obtain the little moisture it contained.
+
+Thus we traveled along for hours, never speaking, for we found it much
+better for our thirst to keep our mouths closed as much as possible, and
+prevent the evaporation. The dry air of that region took up water as a
+sponge does. We passed the summit of this ridge without finding any
+water, and on our way down the western side we came to a flat place
+where there was an Indian hut made of small brush. We now thought there
+surely must be some water near and we began a thorough search. The great
+snow mountain did not seem far off, but to the south and southwest a
+level or inclined plain extended for a long distance. Our thirst began
+to be something terrible to endure, and in the warm weather and hard
+walking we had secured only two drinks since leaving camp.
+
+We were so sure that there must be water near here that we laid our
+knapsacks down by the little hut and looked around in every possible
+place we could think of. Soon it got dark and then we made a little fire
+as a guide and looked again. Soon the moon arose and helped us some, and
+we shouted frequently to each other so as not to get lost.
+
+We were so nearly worn out that we tried to eat a little meat, but after
+chewing a long time, the mouth would not moisten it enough so we could
+swallow, and we had to reject it. It seemed as if we were going to die
+with plenty of food in our hand, because we could not eat it.
+
+We tried to sleep but could not, but after a little rest we noticed a
+bright star two hours above the horizon, and from the course of the moon
+we saw the star must be pretty truly west of us. We talked a little, and
+the burden of it was a fear that we could not endure the terrible thirst
+a while longer. The thought of the women and children waiting for our
+return made us feel more desperate than if we were the only ones
+concerned. We thought we could fight to the death over a water hole if
+we could only secure a little of the precious fluid. No one who has ever
+felt the extreme of thirst can imagine the distress, the dispair, which
+it brings. I can find no words, no way to express it so others can
+understand.
+
+The moon gave us so much light that we decided we would start on our
+course, and get as far as we could before the hot sun came out, and so
+we went on slowly and carefully in the partial darkness, the only hope
+left to us being that our strength would hold out till we could get to
+the shining snow on the great mountain before us. We reached the foot of
+the range we were descending about sunrise. There was here a wide wash
+from the snow mountain, down which some water had sometime run after a
+big storm, and had divided into little rivulets only reaching out a
+little way before they had sunk into the sand.
+
+We had no idea we could now find any water till we at least got very
+near the snow, and as the best way to reach it we turned up the wash
+although the course was nearly to the north. The course was up a gentle
+grade and seemed quite sandy and not easy to travel. It looked as if
+there was an all day walk before us, and it was quite a question if we
+could live long enough to make the distance. There were quite strong
+indications that the water had run here not so very long ago, and we
+could trace the course of the little streams round among little sandy
+islands. A little stunted brush grew here but it was so brittle that the
+stems would break as easy as an icicle.
+
+In order to not miss a possible bit of water we separated and agreed
+upon a general course, and that if either one found water he should fire
+his gun as a signal. After about a mile or so had been gone over I heard
+Roger's gun and went in his direction. He had found a little ice that
+had frozen under the clear sky. It was not thicker than window glass.
+After putting a piece in our mouths we gathered all we could and put it
+into the little quart camp kettle to melt. We gathered just a kettle
+full, besides what we ate as we were gathering, and kindled a little
+fire and melted it.
+
+I can but think how providential it was that we started in the night for
+in an hour after the sun had risen that little sheet of ice would have
+melted and the water sank into the sand. Having quenched our thirst we
+could now eat, and found that we were nearly starved also. In making
+this meal we used up all our little store of water, but we felt
+refreshed and our lives renewed so that we had better courage to go on.
+
+We now took our course west again taking a bee line for a bluff that lay
+a little to the south of the big snow mountain. On and on we walked till
+the dark shadow of the great mountain in the setting sun was thrown
+about us, and still we did not seem more than half way to the bluff
+before us.
+
+All the way had been hill and very tiresome walking. There was
+considerable small brush scattered about, here and there, over this
+steeply inclined plain.
+
+We were still several miles from the base of this largest of the
+mountains and we could now see that it extended west for many miles. The
+buttes to the south were low, black and barren, and to the west as far
+as we could see there were no mountains with any snow. As the sun got
+further down we could see a small smoke curling up near the base of the
+mountain, and we thought it must be some signal made by the Indians, as
+we had often seen them signal in that way, but we stopped and talked the
+matter over, and as we were yet a long way from the bluff which had been
+our objective point, we concluded we would investigate the smoke signal
+a little closer. So we set off toward it in the dusk and darkness and
+when within about a mile we found we were in a tract that had been
+somewhat beaten. Feeling with my fingers I was quite sure I could
+distinguish ox tracks, and then was quite sure that we had overtaken the
+Jayhawkers, or at least were on their trail. And then I thought perhaps
+they had fallen among the Indians, who now might be feasting on their
+oxen and it became necessary to use great caution in approaching the
+little smoke.
+
+We took a circuitous route and soon saw that the persons were on a
+little bench above us and we kept very cautious and quiet, listening for
+any sounds that might tell us who they were.
+
+If they were Indians we should probably hear some of their dogs, but we
+heard none, and kept creeping closer and closer, till we were within
+fifty yards without hearing a sound to give us any idea of who they
+were.
+
+We decided to get our guns at full cock and then hail the camp, feeling
+that we had a little the advantage of position. We hailed and were
+answered in English. "Don't Shoot" said we and they assured us they had
+no idea of such a thing, and asked us to come in. We found here to our
+surprise, Ed Doty, Tom Shannon, L.D. Stevens, and others whom I do not
+recollect, the real Jayhawkers. They gave us some fresh meat for supper,
+and near the camp were some water holes that answered well for camp
+purposes.
+
+Here an ox had given out and they had stopped long enough to dry the
+meat, while the others had gone on a day ahead.
+
+Coming around the mountain from the north was quite a well defined
+trail, leading to the west and they said they were satisfied some one
+lived at the end of it, and they were going to follow it if it lead to
+Mexico or anywhere else. They said that Mr. Brier and his family were
+still on behind, and alone. Every one must look out for himself here,
+and we could not do much for another in any way.
+
+We inquired of them about the trail over which they had come, and where
+they had found water, and we told them of our experience in this
+respect. We then related how our train could not go over the mountains
+with wagons, how they had returned to the best spring, and that we
+started to go through to the settlements to obtain relief while they
+waited for our return. We explained to them how they must perish without
+assistance. If we failed to get through, they could probably live as
+long as the oxen lasted and would then perish of starvation. We told
+them how nearly we came to the point of perishing that very morning, of
+thirst, and how we were saved by finding a little patch of ice in an
+unexpected place, and were thus enabled to come on another days travel.
+
+These men were not as cheerful as they used to be and their situation
+and prospects constantly occupied their minds. They said to us that if
+the present trail bore away from the mountain and crossed the level
+plain, that there were some of them who could not possibly get along
+safely to the other side. Some were completely discouraged, and some
+were completely out of provisions and dependent on those who had either
+provisions or oxen yet on hand. An ox was frequently killed, they said,
+and no part of it was wasted. At a camp where there was no water, for
+stewing, a piece or hide would be prepared for eating by singeing off
+the hair and then roasting in the fire. The small intestines were drawn
+through the fingers to clean them, and these when roasted made very fair
+food.
+
+They said they had been without water for four or five days at a time
+and came near starving to death, for it was impossible to swallow food
+when one became so thirsty. They described the pangs of hunger as
+something terrible and not to be described. They were willing to give us
+any information we desired and we anxiously received all we could, for
+on our return we desired to take the best possible route, and we thus
+had the experience of two parties instead of one. They told us about the
+death of Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham, and where we would find their bodies if
+we went over their trail.
+
+In the morning we shouldered our packs again and took the trail leading
+to the west, and by night we had overtaken the advance party of the
+Jayhawkers, camped in a cañon where there was a little water, barely
+sufficient for their use. We inquired why they did not take the trail
+leading more directly west at the forks, and they said they feared it
+would lead them into deep snow which would be impassible. They said they
+considered the trail they had taken as altogether the safest one.
+
+We met Bennett and Arcane's teamsters, and as we expected they were
+already out of grub and no way to get anymore. When the party killed an
+ox they had humbly begged for some of the poorest parts, and thus far
+were alive. They came to us and very pitifully told us they were
+entirely out, and although an ox had been killed that day they had not
+been able to get a mouthful. We divided up our meat and gave them some
+although we did not know how long it would be before we would ourselves
+be in the same situation.
+
+Thus far we had not seen anything to shoot, big or little although we
+kept a sharp lookout.
+
+The whole camp was silent, and all seemed to realize their situation.
+Before them was a level plain which had the appearance of being so broad
+as to take five or six days to cross. Judging by the look from the top
+of the mountain as we came over, there was little to hope for in the way
+of water. We thought it over very seriously. All the water we could
+carry would be our canteens full, perhaps two drinks apiece and the poor
+meat had so little nourishment that we were weak and unable to endure
+what we once could.
+
+We were alone, Rogers and I, in interest at any rate, even if there were
+other men about. For the time it really seemed as if there was very
+little hope for us and I have often repeated the following lines as very
+closely describing my own feelings at that time.
+
+
+    Oh hands, whose loving, gentle grasp I loosed.
+  When first this weary journey was begun.
+    If I could feel your touch as once I could.
+  How gladly would I wish my work undone.
+
+  _Harriet Keynon_.
+
+
+During the evening, I had a talk with Capt. Asa Haines, in which he said
+he left a good home in Illinois, where he had everything he could wish
+to eat, and every necessary comfort, and even some to spare, and now he
+felt so nearly worn out that he had many doubts whether he could live to
+reach the mountains, on the other side. He was so deeply impressed that
+he made me promise to let his wife and family know how I found him and
+how he died, for he felt sure he would never see the California mines. I
+said I might not get through myself, but he thought we were so young and
+strong that we would struggle through. He said if he could only be home
+once more he would be content to stay. This was the general tenor of the
+conversation. There was no mirth, no jokes, and every one seemed to feel
+that he was very near the end of his life, and such a death as stood
+before them, choking, starving in a desert was the most dreary outlook I
+ever saw.
+
+This camp of trouble, of forlorn hope, on the edge of a desert
+stretching out before us like a small sea, with no hope for relief
+except at the end of a struggle which seemed almost hopeless, is more
+than any pen can paint, or at all describe. The writer had tried it
+often. Picture to yourself, dear reader the situation and let your own
+imagination do the rest. It can never come up to the reality.
+
+In the morning, as Rogers and I were about to start, several of the
+oldest men came to us with their addresses and wished us to forward them
+to their families if we ever got within the reach of mails. These men
+shed tears, and we did also as we parted. We turned silently away and
+again took up our march.
+
+As we went down the cañon we came to one place where it was so narrow,
+that a man or a poor ox could barely squeeze through between the rocks,
+and in a few miles more reached the open level plain. When three or four
+miles out on the trail and not far from the hills we came to a bunch of
+quite tall willows. The center of the bunch had been cut out and the
+branches woven in so as to make a sort of corral. In the center of this
+was a spring of good water and some good grass growing around. This was
+pretty good evidence that some one had been here before. We took a good
+drink and filled our canteens anew, for we did not expect to get another
+drink for two or three days at least.
+
+We took the trail again and hurried on as the good water made us feel
+quite fresh. After a few miles we began to find the bones of animals,
+some badly decayed and some well preserved. All the heads were those of
+horses, and it puzzled us to know where they came from. As we passed
+along we noticed the trail was on a slight up grade and somewhat
+crooked. If we stepped off from it the foot sank in about two inches in
+dirt finer than the finest flour. The bones were scattered all along,
+sometimes the bones of several animals together. Was it the long drive,
+poison water, or what? It was evident they had not been killed but had
+dropped along the way.
+
+It was a dreary trail at best, and these evidences of death did not help
+to brighten it in the least. We wondered often where it led to and what
+new things would be our experience. After walking fast all day we came
+to quite an elevation, where we could stand and look in all directions.
+The low black range where we left the Jayhawkers was in sight, and this
+spur of the great snowy mountains extended a long way to the south, and
+seemed to get lower and lower, finally ending in low rocky buttes, a
+hundred miles away. Some may think this distance very far to see, but
+those who have ever seen the clear atmosphere of that region will bear
+me out in these magnificent distances. Generally a mountain or other
+object seen at a distance would be three or four times as far off as one
+would judge at first sight, so deceptive are appearances there. The
+broad south end of the great mountain which we first saw the next
+morning after we left the wagons, was now plain in sight, and peak after
+peak extending away to the north, all of them white with snow. Standing
+thus out in the plain we could see the breadth of the mountain east and
+west, and it seemed as though it must have been nearly a hundred miles.
+The south end was very abrupt and sank as one into a great plain in
+which we stood, twenty miles from the mountain's base.
+
+To the northwest we could see a clay lake, or at least that was what we
+called it, and a line of low hills seemed to be an extension of the
+mountain in a direction swinging around to the south to enclose this
+thirsty, barren plain before us, which was bounded by mountains or hills
+on these sides. To the south this range seemed to get higher, and we
+could see some snow capped mountains to the south of our westerly
+course. The low mountains as those seen in the northwest direction is
+the same place now crossed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and known
+as the Tehachipi pass, the noted loop, in which the railroad crosses
+itself, being on the west slope and Ft. Tejon being on the same range a
+little further south where the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Coast
+Range join. The first mountain bearing snow, south of our course was
+probably what is known as Wilson's peak, and the high mountains still
+farther south, the San Bernardino mountains. There were no names there
+known to us nor did we know anything of the topography of the country
+except that we supposed a range of mountains was all that separated us
+from California.
+
+We were yet in the desert, and if we kept our due west course, we must
+cross some of the snow before us which if steep gave us some doubts
+whether we could get through or not.
+
+We did not know exactly what the people left behind would do if we were
+gone longer than we intended, but if they started on it was quite plain
+to us they would be lost, and as seven days had already passed we were
+in serious trouble for fear we could not complete the trip in the time
+allotted to us. We surveyed the plain and mountains to learn its
+situation and then started, on following our trail. As we went on we
+seemed to be coming to lower ground, and near our road stood a tree of a
+kind we had not seen before. The trunk was about six or eight inches
+through and six or eight feet high with arms at the top quite as large
+as the body, and at the end of the arms a bunch of long, stiff bayonet
+shaped leaves.
+
+It was a brave little tree to live in such a barren country. As we
+walked on these trees were more plenty and some were much larger than
+the first. As we came to the lowest part of the valley there seemed to
+be little faint water ways running around little clouds of stunted
+shrubs, but there was no signs that very much water ever run in them. We
+thought that these were the outlet of the big sandy lake which might get
+full of water and overflow through these channels after some great
+storm.
+
+As this low ground was quite wide we lost our trail in crossing it, and
+we separated as we went along, looking to find it again, till nearly
+dark when we looked for a camping place. Fortunately we found a little
+pond of rain water, and some of our strange trees that were dead gave us
+good material for a fire, so that we were very comfortable indeed,
+having both drink and fire.
+
+Starting on again our course was now ascending slightly, and we came
+across more and more of the trees, and larger ones than at first. We saw
+some that seemed to have broken down with their own weight. The bayonet
+shaped leaves seemed to fall off when old and the stalk looked so much
+like an old overgrown cabbage stump that we name them "Cabbage trees,"
+but afterward learned they were a species of Yucca. We were much worried
+at loosing our trail and felt that it would be quite unsafe to try to
+cross the mountain without finding it again, so we separated, Rogers
+going northwest, and I southwest, agreeing to swing round so as to meet
+again about noon, but when we met, neither of us had found a trail, and
+we were still about 10 miles from the foothills. Rogers said he had
+heard some of the people say that the trail leading from Salt Lake to
+Los Angeles crossed such a mountain in a low pass, with very high
+mountains on each side, and he supposed that the high mountain to the
+south must be the one where the trail crossed, but as this would take us
+fully fifty miles south of our course as we supposed it was we hesitated
+about going there, and concluded we would try the lowest place in the
+mountain first, and if we failed we could then go and try Roger's route,
+more to the south.
+
+So we pushed on, still keeping a distance apart to look out for the
+trail, and before night, in the rolling hills, we saw here and there
+faint traces of it, which grew plainer as we went along, and about
+sundown we reached some water holes and from some old skulls of oxen
+lying around the ground showing that it had at some previous time been a
+camping ground. We found some good large sage brush which made a pretty
+good fire, and if we could have had a little fresh meat to roast we
+thought we were in a good position for supper. But that poor meat was
+pretty dry food. However it kept us alive, and we curled up together and
+slept, for the night was cool, and we had to make the little blanket do
+its best. We thought we ought to find a little game, but we had not seen
+any to shoot since we started.
+
+In the morning the trail led us toward the snow, and as we went along, a
+brave old crow surprised us by lighting on a bush near the trail, and we
+surprised him by killing him with a charge of shot. "Here's your fresh
+meat," said Rogers as he put it into his knapsack to cook for supper,
+and marched on. As we approached the summit we could see, on the high
+mountains south of us, some trees, and when we came near the highest
+part of our road there were some juniper trees near it, which was very
+encouraging. We crossed over several miles of hard snow, but it
+moistened up our moccassins and made them soft and uncomfortable. After
+we had turned down the western slope we killed a small hawk. "Here's
+your meat" said I, as the poor thin fellow was stowed away for future
+grub, to cook with the crow.
+
+When we got out of the snow we had lost the trail again but the hills on
+the sides were covered with large brush, and on a higher part of the
+mountain south, were some big trees, and we began to think the country
+would change for the better pretty soon. We followed down the ravine for
+many miles, and when this came out into a larger one, we were greatly
+pleased at the prospect, for down the latter came a beautiful little
+running brook of clear pure water, singing as it danced over the stones,
+a happy song and telling us to drink and drink again, and you may be
+sure we did drink, for it had been months and months since we had had
+such water, pure, sweet, free from the terrible alkali and stagnant
+taste that had been in almost every drop we had seen. Rogers leveled his
+shot gun at some birds and killed a beautiful one with a top knot on his
+head, and colors bright all down his neck. It was a California quail. We
+said birds always lived where human beings did, and we had great hopes
+born to us of a better land. I told John that if the folks were only
+there now I could kill game enough for them.
+
+We dressed our three birds and got them boiling in the camp kettle, and
+while they were cooking talked over the outlook which was so flattering
+that our tongues got loose and we rattled away in strange contrast to
+the ominous silence of a week ago. While eating our stew of crow and
+hawk, we could see willows alders and big sage brush around and we had
+noticed what seemed to be cottonwoods farther down the cañon, and green
+trees on the slope of the mountain. We were sure we were on the edge of
+the promised land and were quite light hearted, till we began to tell of
+plans to get the good people out who were waiting for us beside the
+little spring in the desert. We talked of going back at once, but our
+meat was too near gone, and we must take them something to encourage
+them a little and make them strong for the fearful trip. As to these
+birds--the quail was as superb a morsel as ever a man did eat; the hawk
+was pretty fair and quite good eating; but that abominable crow! His
+flesh was about as black as his feathers and full of tough and bony
+sinews. We concluded we did not want any more of that kind of bird, and
+ever since that day, when I have heard people talk of "eating crow" as a
+bitter pill, I think I know all about it from experience.
+
+There seemed to be no other way for us but to push on in the morning and
+try to obtain some relief for the poor women and children and then get
+back to them as fast as ever we could, so we shouldered our packs and
+went on down the cañon as fast as we could. We came soon to evergreen
+oaks and tall cottonwoods, and the creek bottom widened out to two
+hundred yards. There were trees on the south side and the brush kept
+getting larger and larger. There was a trail down this cañon, but as it
+passed under fallen trees we knew it could not have been the same one we
+had been following on the other side of the summit, and when we
+discovered a bear track in a soft place we knew very well it was not a
+trail intended for human beings, and we might be ordered out almost any
+moment.
+
+On the high bold grassy point about four hundred yards we saw two horses
+that held their heads aloft and gave a snort, then galloped away out of
+sight. About 10 o'clock I felt a sudden pain in my left knee, keen and
+sharp, and as we went along it kept growing worse. I had to stop often
+to rest, and it was quite plain that if this increased or continued I
+was sure enough disabled, and would be kept from helping those whom we
+had left. Nerved with the idea we must get help to them, and that right
+soon, I hobbled along as well as I could, but soon had to say to Rogers
+that he had better go on ahead and get help and let me come on as best I
+could, for every moment of delay was a danger of death to our party who
+trusted us to get them help. Rogers refused to do this, he said he would
+stay with me and see me out, and that he could not do much alone, and
+had better wait till I got better. So we worked along through the
+tangled brush, being many times compelled to wade the stream to get
+along, and this made our moccasins soft and very uncomfortable to wear.
+I endured the pain all day, and we must have advanced quite a little
+distance in spite of my lameness, but I was glad when night came and we
+camped in the dark brushy cañon, having a big fire which made me quite
+comfortable all night, though it was quite cold, and we had to keep
+close together so as to use the blanket. I felt a little better in the
+morning and after eating some of our poor dried meat, which was about as
+poor as crow, and I don't know but a little worse, we continued on our
+way.
+
+The tangle got worse and worse as we descended, and at times we walked
+in the bed of the stream in order to make more headway, but my lameness
+increased and we had to go very slow indeed. About noon we came to what
+looked like an excavation, a hole four feet square or more it looked to
+be, and on the dirt thrown out some cottonwood trees had grown, and one
+of the largest of these had been cut down sometime before. This was the
+first sign of white men we had seen and it was evidently an attempt at
+mining, no one knows how long ago. It encouraged us at any rate, and we
+pushed on through brush and briers, tangles of wild rose bushes and
+bushes of every sort, till all of a sudden we came out into an open
+sandy valley, well covered with sage brush and perhaps a hundred yards
+wide; probably more.
+
+The hills on the south side had on them some oak trees and grassy spots,
+but the north side was thickly covered with brush. Our beautiful little
+brook that had kept us company soon sank into the dry sand out of sight,
+and we moved rather slowly along every little while we spoke of the
+chances of wagons ever getting through the road we had come, and the
+hope that my lameness might not continue to retard our progress in
+getting back to the place of our starting, that the poor waiting people
+might begin to get out of the terrible country they were in and enjoy as
+we had done, the beautiful running stream of this side of the mountain.
+If I did not get better the chances were that they would perish, for
+they never could come through alone, as the distance had proved much
+greater than we had anticipated, and long dry stretches of the desert
+were more than they would be prepared for. As it was we feared greatly
+that we had consumed so much time they would get impatient and start out
+and be lost.
+
+I continued to hobble along down the barren valley as well as I could
+and here and there some tracks of animals were discovered, but we could
+not make out whether they were those of domestic cattle or elk. Soon, on
+the side of a hill, rather high up a pack of prairie wolves were
+snarling around the carcass of some dead animal, and this was regarded
+as another sign that more and better meat could be found, for these
+animals only live where some sort of game can be found, and they knew
+better than we that it was not for their health to go into the barren
+desert.
+
+Before us now was a spur from the hills that reached nearly across our
+little valley and shut out further sight in that direction and when we
+came to it we climbed up over it to shorten the distance. When the
+summit was reached a most pleasing sight filled our sick hearts with a
+most indescribable joy. I shall never have the ability to adequately
+describe the beauty of the scene as it appeared to us, and so long as I
+live that landscape will be impressed upon the canvas of my memory as
+the most cheering in the world. There before us was a beautiful meadow
+of a thousand acres, green as a thick carpet of grass could make it, and
+shaded with oaks, wide branching and symmetrical, equal to those of an
+old English park, while all over the low mountains that bordered it on
+the south and over the broad acres of luxuriant grass was a herd of
+cattle numbering many hundreds if not thousands. They were of all colors
+shades and sizes. Some were calmly lying down in happy rumination,
+others rapidly cropping the sweet grass, while the gay calves worked off
+their superfluous life and spirit in vigorous exercise or drew rich
+nourishment in the abundant mother's milk. All seemed happy and content,
+and such a scene of abundance and rich plenty and comfort bursting thus
+upon our eyes which for months had seen only the desolation and sadness
+of the desert, was like getting a glimpse of Paradise, and tears of joy
+ran down our faces. If ever a poor mortal escapes from this world where
+so many trials come, and joys of a happy Heaven are opened up to him,
+the change cannot be much more that this which was suddenly opened to us
+on that bright day which was either one of the very last of December
+1849 or the first of January 1850, I am inclined to think it was the
+very day of the new year, but in our troubles, the accuracy of the
+calendar was among the least of our troubles. If it was, as I believe
+the beginning of the year, it was certainly a most auspicious one and
+one of the most hopeful of my life.
+
+And _now if the others were only here_, was the burden of our thought,
+and a serious awakening from the dream of beauty and rich plenty spread
+out before us. This ring-streaked and speckled herd might be descended
+directly from Jacob's famous herd, blessed of the Lord, and while we
+could not keep our thoughts from some sad doubts as to the fate of those
+whom we had left behind, we tried to be generally hopeful and courageous
+and brightened up our steps to prepare for a relief and return to the
+hot dry plain beyond the mountains where they were awaiting us, no doubt
+with much tribulation.
+
+I now thought of myself and my failing knee and we sat down under the
+shade of an oak to rest, and after a little, better feeling seemed to
+come. Down by a deep gully cut by the rains a yearling steer was
+feeding, and I took the rifle and crawled down near him and put first
+one ball through him, and then another, before he fell dead on the other
+side of the wash, when we sprang with all the agility of a deer. We
+quickly got some good meat and had it roasted and eaten almost quicker
+than can be told. We hardly realized how near starved we were till we
+had plenty before us again. We ate till we were satisfied for once, and
+for the first time in many long dreary weeks. We kindled a fire and
+commenced drying the meat, one sleeping while the other kept the fire,
+and changing off every few hours. What a rest that was! One who has
+never been nearly worn out and starved, down nearly to the point of
+death can never know what it is to rest in comfort. No one can tell. It
+was like a dream, a sweet, restful dream where troubles would drown
+themselves in sleep. How we felt the strength come back to us with that
+food and the long draughts of pure clear water.
+
+The miserable dried meat in our knapsacks was put away and this splendid
+jerked beef put in its place. The wolves came to our camp and howled in
+dreadful disappointment at not getting a meal. Rogers wanted me to shoot
+the miserable howlers, but I let them have their concert out, and
+thought going without their breakfast must be punishment enough for
+them. As our moccasins were worn out we carefully prepared some sinews
+from the steer and made new foot gear from the green hide which placed
+us in shape for two or three week's walking.
+
+The morning was clear and pleasant. We had our knapsacks filled with
+good food we had prepared, and were enjoying the cool breeze which came
+up the valley, when we heard faintly the bark of a dog, or at least we
+thought we did. If this were true there must be some one living not very
+far away and we felt better. I was still very lame and as we started
+along the walking seemed to make it worse again, so that it was all I
+could do to follow John on the trail down the valley. As we went along a
+man and woman passed us some distance on the left, and they did not seem
+to notice us, though we were in plain sight. They were curiously
+dressed. The woman had no hoops nor shoes, and a shawl wound about her
+neck and one end thrown over her head, was a substitute bonnet. The man
+had sandals on his feet, with white cotton pants, a calico shirt, and a
+wide rimmed, comical, snuff-colored hat. We at once put them down as
+Spaniards, or then descendants of Mexico, and if what we had read about
+them in books was true, we were in a set of land pirates, and blood
+thirsty men whom we might have occasion to be aware of. We had never
+heard a word of Spanish spoken, except perhaps a word or two upon the
+plains which some fellow knew, and how we could make ourselves known and
+explain who we were was a puzzle to us.
+
+Difficulties began to arise in our minds now we were in an apparent land
+of plenty, but in spite of all we went along as fast as my lame knee
+would permit me to do. A house on higher ground soon appeared in sight.
+It was low, of one story with a flat roof, gray in color, and of a
+different style of architecture from any we had ever seen before. There
+was no fence around it, and no animals or wagons in sight, nor person to
+be seen. As we walked up the hill toward it I told John our moccasins
+made of green hide would betray us as having recently killed an animal,
+and as these people might be the owners and detain us by having us
+arrested for the crime, and this would be especially bad for us just
+now. We determined to face the people, and let the fact of our close
+necessities be a sufficient excuse for us, if we could make them
+understand our circumstances.
+
+As we came near the house no person was seen, but a mule tied to a post
+told us there was some one about, and a man soon made an appearance,
+dressed about the same style as the one we had passed a short time
+before. As we came near we saluted him, bidding him good morning, and he
+in turn touched his hat politely, saying something in reply which we
+were not able to understand. I showed him that I was lame, and taking
+out some money pointed to the mule, but he only shook his head and said
+something I could not comprehend. Rogers now began looking around the
+house, which was built of sun-dried bricks about one by two feet in
+size, and one end was used as a storehouse. As he looked in, a man came
+to him and wanted a black, patent leather belt which Rogers wore, having
+a watch-pocket attached to it. He offered a quart or more of coarse corn
+meal, and Rogers made the trade.
+
+We tried to inquire where we were or where ought to go, but could get no
+satisfactory answer from the man, although when we spoke San Francisco
+he pointed to the north. This was not very satisfactory to us and we
+seemed as badly lost as ever, and where or which way to go we did not
+seem very successful in finding out. So we concluded to go on a little
+way at least, and I hobbled off in the direction he pointed, which was
+down the hill and past a small, poorly fenced field which was sometimes
+cultivated, and across the stream which followed down the valley.
+Passing on a mile or two we stopped on a big patch of sand to rest.
+
+I told Rogers I did not think this course would lead us to any place in
+a month, and just now a delay was ruinous to us and to those who were
+waiting for us, and it would not do for us to go off to the north to
+find a settlement. While I was expressing my opinion on matters and
+things, Rogers had wet up a part of his meal with water and put it to
+bake on the cover of his camp kettle. There was a fair sized cake for
+each of us, and it was the first bread of any kind we had eaten for
+months, being a very acceptable change from an exclusively meat diet.
+Looking up the valley we could see a cloud of dust, thick and high, and
+soon several men on horseback who came at a rushing gallop. I told
+Rogers they were after us, and believed them to be a murderous set who
+might make trouble for us. I hastily buried our little store of money in
+the sand, telling him that if they got us, they would not get our money.
+Putting our guns across our laps in an easy position we had them cocked
+and ready for business, and our knives where we could get them handy,
+and awaited their arrival.
+
+They came on with a rush until within a short distance and halted for
+consultation just across the creek, after which one of them advanced
+toward us and as he came near us we could see he was a white man, who
+wished us good evening in our own language. We answered him rather
+cooly, still sitting in the sand and he no doubt saw that we were a
+little suspicious of the crowd. He asked us where we were from, and we
+told him our circumstances and condition and that we would like to
+secure some means of relief for the people we had left in the desert,
+but our means were very limited and we wanted to do the best we could.
+He said we were about 500 miles from San Francisco, not far from 100
+miles from the coast and thirty miles from Los Angeles. We were much
+afraid we would not be able to get anything here, but he told us to go
+across the valley to a large live oak tree which he pointed out, and
+said we would find an American there, and we should wait there till
+morning. He said he would go back and stay at the house we had passed,
+and would do what he could to assist us to go to Los Angeles where we
+could get some supplies. Then he rode away, and as we talked it over we
+saw no way but to follow the directions of our newfound friend.
+
+It seemed now that my lameness had indeed been a blessing. If I had been
+able to walk we would now have been well on toward the seashore, where
+we could have found no such friend as this who had appeared to us. The
+way seemed clearer to us, but the time for our return was almost up and
+there was no way of getting back in fifteen days as we had agreed upon,
+so there was great danger to our people yet. It seemed very likely to
+take us twenty four or thirty days at best, and while they probably had
+oxen enough to provide them food for so long a time they might take a
+notion to move on, which would be fatal.
+
+At the big live oak tree we found an American camper, who was on his way
+to the gold mines. He was going a new route and said the mines could be
+reached much quicker than by going up the coast by way of San Francisco.
+A new company with wagons was soon to start out to break the road, and
+when they crossed the east end of the valley he would follow them. I
+think this man's name was Springer. He had come by way of the Santa Fe
+route, and the people of Los Angeles had told him this route was an easy
+one being often traveled by saddle horses, and if the company could make
+it possible for wagons they could have all the cattle they wanted to
+kill along the road as their pay for doing the work. Our new friend lay
+down early, and as he saw we were scant in blankets he brought some to
+us for our use, which were most thankfully received.
+
+As soon as we were alone Rogers mixed up some more of the meal which we
+baked in our friend's frying pan, and we baked and ate and baked and ate
+again, for our appetites were ravenous, and the demand of our stomachs
+got the better of the judgment of our brains.
+
+It was hard to find time to sleep, we were so full of the plans about
+the way, which we must manage to get relief for the people. We had many
+doubts if animals could ever come over the route we had come over, from
+deliberation we decided that by selecting a route with that idea in our
+minds, we could get mules and perhaps horses over the country. We
+perhaps could go more to the north and take the Jayhawkers trail, but
+this would take us fully a hundred miles farther and four or five days
+longer, at the best, and every moment of delay was to be carefully
+avoided as a moment of danger to our friends.
+
+Thus again, our sleep was troubled from another cause. Being so long
+unaccustomed to vegetable food, and helped on, no doubt, by our poor
+judgment in gauging the quantity of our food, we were attacked by severe
+pains in the stomach and bowels, from which we suffered intensely. We
+arose very early and with a very light breakfast, for the sickness
+admonished us, we started back for the house we had first passed, at
+which our friend on horseback, said he would spend the night and where
+we were to meet him this morning. He said he could talk Spanish all
+right and would do all he could to help us.
+
+Our suffering and trouble caused us to move very slowly, so that it was
+nine or ten o'clock before we reached the house, and we found they had
+two horses all ready for us to go to Los Angeles. There were no saddles
+for us, but we thought this would be a good way to cure my lameness. The
+people seemed to be friends to us in every way. We mounted, having our
+packs on our backs, and our guns before us, and with a friendly parting
+to the people who did not go, all four of us started on a trip of thirty
+miles to the town of Los Angeles.
+
+When we reached the foot of the mountain which was very steep but not
+rocky, John and I dismounted and led our animals to the top, where we
+could see a long way west, and south, and it looked supremely beautiful.
+We could not help comparing it to the long wide, desert we had crossed,
+and John and myself said many times how we wished the folks were here to
+enjoy the pleasant sight, the beautiful fertile picture.
+
+There appeared to be one quite large house in sight, and not far off,
+which the man told us was the Mission of San Fernando, a Roman Catholic
+Church and residence for priests and followers. The downward slope of
+the mountain was as steep as the other side and larger, and John and I
+did not attempt to mount till we were well down on the level ground
+again, but the other two men rode up and down without any trouble. We
+would let our leaders get half a mile or so ahead of us and then mount
+and put our horses to a gallop till we overtook them again. We had
+walked so long that riding was very tiresome to us, and for comfort
+alone we would have preferred the way on foot, but we could get along a
+little faster, and the frequent dismounting kept us from becoming too
+lame from riding.
+
+We passed the Mission about noon or a little after, and a few miles
+beyond met a man on horseback who lived up to the north about a hundred
+miles. His name was French and he had a cattle range at a place called
+Tejon (Tahone). Our friends told him who we were, and what assistance we
+needed. Mr. French said he was well acquainted in Los Angeles and had
+been there some time, and that all the travelers who would take the
+Coast route had gone, those who had come by way of Salt Lake had got in
+from two to four weeks before, and a small train which had come the
+Santa Fe Route was still upon the road. He said Los Angeles was so clear
+of emigrants that he did not think we could get any help there at the
+present time.
+
+"Now," said Mr. French--"You boys can't talk Spanish and it is not very
+likely you will be able to get any help. Now I say, you boys turn back
+and go with me and I will give you the best I have, I will let you have
+a yoke of gentle oxen, or more if you need them, and plenty of beans,
+which are good food for I live on them; besides this I can give an
+Indian guide to help you back. Will that do?" After a moment we said we
+doubted if oxen could be got over the road, and if they were fat now
+they would soon get poor, and perhaps not stand it as well as the oxen
+which had became used to that kind of life, and of those they had in
+camp all they needed. We wanted to get something for the women and
+children to ride, for we knew they must abandon the wagons, and could
+not walk so far over that dry, rough country. "Well," said Mr.
+French:--"I will stop at the place you were this morning--I know them
+well--and they are good folks, and I am sure when I tell them what you
+want they will help you if they possibly can. This looks to me to be the
+most sensible course." After talking an hour our two companions advised
+us that the proposition of Mr. French seemed the most reasonable one
+that appeared. But for us to go clear back to his range would take up so
+much valuable time that we were almost afraid of the delay which might
+mean the destruction of our friends. French said he had a pack saddle,
+with him taking it home, and we could put it on one of our horses, and
+when we came back to Los Angeles could leave it at a certain saloon or
+place he named and tell them it belonged to him and to keep it for him.
+I have forgotten the name of the man who kept the saloon. We agreed to
+this, and bidding our two companions farewell, we turned back again with
+Mr. French.
+
+When night came we were again at the Mission we had passed on the way
+down. We were kindly treated here, for I believe Mr. French told them
+about us. They sent an Indian to take our horses, and we sat down beside
+the great house. There were many smaller houses, and quite a large piece
+of ground fenced in by an adobe wall. The roof of the buildings was like
+that of our own buildings in having eaves on both, sides, but the
+covering was of semi circular tiles made and burned like brick. Rows of
+these were placed close together, the hollow sides up, and then another
+course over the joints, placed with the round side up, which made a roof
+that was perfectly waterproof, but must have been very heavy. These
+tiles were about two feet long. All the surroundings, and general make
+up of the place were new to us and very wonderful. They gave us good
+dried meat to eat and let us sleep in the big house on the floor, which
+was as hard as granite, and we turned over a great many times before
+daylight, and were glad when morning came. We offered to pay them, but
+they would take nothing from us, and we left leading our horses over the
+steep mountain, and reaching the house again late in the day. They
+turned our horses loose and seemed disposed to be very friendly and
+disposed to do for us what they could.
+
+We were very tired and sat down by the side of the house and rested,
+wondering how we would come out with our preparations. They were talking
+together, but we could not understand a word. A dark woman came out and
+gave each of us a piece of cooked squash. It seemed to have been roasted
+in the ashes and was very sweet and good. These were all signs of
+friendship and we were glad of the good feeling. We were given a place
+to sleep in the house, in a store room on a floor which was not soft.
+This was the second house we had slept in since leaving Wisconsin, and
+it seemed rather pent-up to us.
+
+In the morning we were shown a kind of mill like a coffee mill, and by
+putting in a handful of wheat from a pile and giving the mill a few
+turns we were given to understand we should grind some flour for
+ourselves. We went to work with a will, but found it, hard, slow work.
+
+After a little, our dark woman came and gave us each a pancake and a
+piece of meat, also another piece of roasted squash, for our breakfast,
+and this, we thought, was the best meal we had ever eaten. The lady
+tried to talk to us but we could not understand the words, and I could
+convey ideas to her better by the sign language than any other way. She
+pointed out the way from which we came and wanted to know how many day's
+travel it might be away, and I answered by putting my hand to my head
+and closing my eyes, which was repeated as many times as there had been
+nights on our journey, at which she was much surprised that the folks
+were so far away. She then place her hand upon her breast and then held
+it up, to ask how many women there were, and I answered her by holding
+up three fingers, at which she shrugged her shoulders and shook her
+head. Then pointing to a child by her side, four or five years old, and
+in the same way asked how many children, I answered by holding up four
+fingers, and she almost cried, opening her mouth in great surprise, and
+turned away.
+
+I said to Rogers that she was a kind, well meaning woman, and that Mr.
+French had no doubt told her something of our story. Aside from her dark
+complexion her features reminded me of my mother, and at first sight of
+her I thought of the best woman on earth my own far off mother, who
+little knew the hardships we had endured. We went to work again at the
+mill and after a while the woman came again and tried to talk and to
+teach us some words of her own language. She place her finger on me and
+said _ombre_ and I took out my little book and wrote down _ombre_ as
+meaning man, and in the same way she taught me that _mujer_, was woman;
+_trigo_, wheat; _frijoles_, beans; _carne_, meat; _calazasa_, pumpkin;
+_caballo_, horse; _vaca_, cow; _muchacho_, boy, and several other words
+in this way.
+
+I got hold of many words thus to study, so that if I ever came back I
+could talk a little and make myself understood as to some of the common
+objects and things of necessary use. Such friendly, human acts shown to
+us strangers, were evidences of the kindest disposition. I shall never
+forget the kindness of those original Californians. When in Walker's
+camp and finding he was friendly to Mormonism we could claim that we
+were also Mormons, but the good people though well known Catholics, did
+not so much as mention the fact nor inquire whether we favored that sect
+or not. We were human beings in distress and we represented others who
+were worse even than we, and those kind acts and great good will, were
+given freely because we were fellow human beings.
+
+The provisions we prepared were, a sack of small yellow beans; a small
+sack of wheat, a quantity of good dried meat, and some of the coarse,
+unbolted flour we had made at the mills. They showed us how to properly
+pack the horse, which was a kind of work we had not been use to, and we
+were soon ready for a start. I took what money we had and put it on a
+block, making signs for them to take what the things were worth. They
+took $30, and we were quite surprised to get two horses, provisions,
+pack-saddles and ropes, some of the latter made of rawhide and some of
+hair, so cheaply, but we afterward learned that the mares furnished were
+not considered of much value, and we had really paid a good fair price
+for everything. To make it easy for us they had also fixed our knapsacks
+on the horses.
+
+The good lady with the child, came out with four oranges and pointed to
+her own child and then to the East, put them in the pack meaning we
+should carry them to the children. With a hearty good bye from them, and
+a polite lifting of our hats to them we started on our return, down
+toward the gentle decline of the creek bottom, and then up the valley,
+the way we came. Toward night we came to a wagon road crossing the
+valley, and as we well knew we could not go up the tangled creek bed
+with horses we took this road to the north, which took a dry ravine for
+its direction, and in which there was a pack trail, and this the wagons
+were following. We kept on the trail for a few miles, and overtook them
+in their camp, and camped with them over night. We told them we
+considered our outfit entirely too small for the purpose intended, which
+was to bring two women and four children out of the desert, but that
+being the best we could get, we were taking this help to them and hoped
+to save their lives. Our mission became well known and one man offered
+to sell us a poor little one-eyed mule, its back all bare of covering
+from the effect of a great saddle sore that had very recently healed. He
+had picked it up somewhere in Arizona where it had been turned out to
+die, but it seemed the beast had enough of the good Santa Ana stock in
+it to bring it through and it had no notion of dying at the present
+time, though it was scarcely more than a good fair skeleton, even then.
+The beast became mine at the price of $15, and the people expressed
+great sympathy with us and the dear friends we were going to try to
+save.
+
+Another man offered a little snow-white mare, as fat as butter, for $15,
+which I paid, though it took the last cent of money I had. This little
+beauty of a beast was broken to lead at halter, but had not been broken
+in any other way. Rogers said he would ride her where he could, and
+before she got to the wagons she would be as gentle as a lamb. He got a
+bridle and tried her at once, and then there was a scene of rearing,
+jumping and kicking that would have made a good Buffalo Bill circus in
+these days. No use, the man could not be thrown off, and the crowd
+cheered and shouted to Rogers to--"Hold her level."
+
+After some bucking and backing on the part of the mare and a good deal
+of whipping and kicking on the part of the man, and a good many furious
+clashes in lively, but very awkward ways, the little beast yielded the
+point, and carried her load without further trouble.
+
+The people gave us a good supper and breakfast, and one man came and
+presented us with 25 pounds of unbolted wheat flour. They were of great
+assistance to us in showing us how to pack and sack our load, which was
+not heavy and could be easily carried by our two animals which we had at
+first. However we arranged a pack on the mule and this gave me a horse
+to ride and a mule to lead, while Rogers rode his milk-white steed and
+led the other horse. Thus we went along and following the trail soon
+reached the summit from which we could see off to the East a wonderful
+distance, probably 200 miles, of the dry and barren desert of hill and
+desolate valley over which we had come.
+
+The trail bearing still to the north from this point, we left and turned
+due east across the country, and soon came to a beautiful lake of sweet
+fresh water situated well up toward the top of the mountain. This lake
+is now called Elizabeth Lake. Here we watered our animals and filled our
+canteens, then steered a little south of east among the Cabbage trees,
+aiming to strike the rain water hole where we had camped as we came
+over. We reached the water hole about noon and here found the Jayhawkers
+trail, which we took. They had evidently followed us and passed down the
+same brushy cañon while we having taken a circuitous route to the north,
+had gone around there. Getting water here for ourselves and horses, we
+went back to the trail and pushed on as fast as the animals could walk,
+and as we now knew where we could get water, we kept on till after dark,
+one of us walking to keep the trail, and some time in the night reached
+the Willow corral I have spoken of before. There was good water here,
+but the Jayhawker's oxen had eaten all the grass that grew in the little
+moist place around, and our animals were short of feed. One of us agreed
+to stand guard the fore part of the night and the other later, so that
+we might not be surprised by Indians and lose our animals. I took the
+first watch and let the blaze of the fire go out so as not to attract
+attention and as I sat by the dull coals and hot ashes I fell asleep.
+Rogers happened to wake and see the situation, and arose and waked me
+again saying that we must be more careful or the Indians would get our
+horses. You may be sure I kept awake the rest of my watch.
+
+Next day we passed the water holes at the place where we had so
+stealthily crawled up to Doty's camp when coming out. These holes held
+about two pails of water each, but no stream run away from them. Our
+horses seemed to want water badly for when they drank they put their
+head in up to their eyes and drank ravenously.
+
+Thirty miles from here to the next water, Doty had told us, and night
+overtook us before we could reach it, so a dry camp was made. Our horses
+began now to walk with drooping heads and slow, tired steps, so we
+divided the load among them all and walked ourselves. The water, when
+reached proved so salt the horses would not drink it, and as Doty had
+told us the most water was over the mountain ahead of us, we still
+followed their trail which went up a very rocky cañon in which it was
+hard work for the horses to travel. The horses were all very gentle now
+and needed some urging to make them go. Roger's fat horse no longer
+tried to unseat its rider or its pack, but seemed to be the most
+downhearted of the train. The little mule was the liveliest, sharpest
+witted animal of the whole. She had probably traveled on the desert
+before and knew better how to get along. She had learned to crop every
+spear of grass she came to, and every bit of sage brush that offered a
+green leaf was given a nip. She would sometimes leave the trail and go
+out to one side to get a little bunch of dry grass, and come back and
+take her place again as if she knew her duty. The other animals never
+tried to do this. The mule was evidently better versed in the art of
+getting a living than the horses.
+
+Above the rough bed of the cañon the bottom was gravelly and narrow, and
+the walls on each side nearly perpendicular. Our horses now poked slowly
+along and as we passed the steep wall of the cañon the white animal left
+the trail and walked with full force, head first, against the solid
+rock. She seemed to be blind, and though we went quickly to her and took
+off the load she carried, she had stopped breathing by the time we had
+it done. Not knowing how far it was to water, nor how soon some of our
+other horses might fall, we did not tarry, but pushed on as well as we
+could, finding no water. We reached the summit and turned down a ravine,
+following the trail, and about dark came to the water they had told us
+about, a faint running stream which came out of a rocky ravine and sank
+almost immediately in the dry sand. There was water enough for us, but
+no grass. It seemed as if the horses were not strong enough to carry a
+load, and as we wanted to get them through if possible, we concluded to
+bury the wheat and get it on our return. We dug a hole and lined it
+with fine sticks, then put in the little bag and covered it with dry
+brush, and sand making the surface as smooth as if it had never been
+touched, then made our bed on it. The whole work was done after dark so
+the deposit could not be seen by the red men and we thought we had done
+it pretty carefully.
+
+Next morning the little mule carried all the remaining load, the horses
+bearing only their saddles, and seemed hardly strong enough for that.
+There was now seven or eight miles of clean loose sand to go over,
+across a little valley which came to an end about ten miles north of us,
+and extended south to the lake where we went for water on our outward
+journey and found it red alkali. Near the Eastern edge of the valley we
+turned aside to visit the grave of Mr. Isham, which they had told us of.
+They had covered his remains with their hands as best they could, piling
+up a little mound of sand over it. Our next camp was to be on the summit
+of the range just before us, and we passed the dead body of Mr. Fish, we
+had seen before, and go on a little to a level sandy spot in the ravine
+just large enough to sleep on. This whole range is a black mass rocky
+piece of earth, so barren that not a spear of grass can grow, and not a
+drop of water in any place. We tied our horses to rocks and there they
+staid all night, for if turned loose there was not a mouthful of food
+for them to get.
+
+In the morning an important question was to be decided, and that was
+whether we should continue to follow the Jayhawker's trail which led far
+to the north to cross the mountain, which stood before us, a mass of
+piled-up rocks so steep that it seemed as if a dog could hardly climb
+it. Our wagons were nearly due east from this point over the range, and
+not more than fifty miles away, while to go around to the north was
+fully a hundred miles, and would take us four or five days to make. As
+we had already gone so long we expected to meet them any day trying to
+get out, and if we went around we might miss them. They might have all
+been killed by Indians or they might have already gone. We had great
+fears on their account. If they had gone north they might have perished
+in the snow.
+
+The range was before us, and we must get to the other side in some way.
+We could see the range for a hundred miles to the north and along the
+base some lakes of water that must be salt. To the south it got some
+lower, but very barren and ending in black, dry buttes. The horses must
+have food and water by night or we must leave them to die, and all
+things considered it seemed to be the quickest way to camp to try and
+get up a rough looking cañon which was nearly opposite us on the other
+side. So we loaded the mule and made our way down the rocky road to the
+ridge, and then left the Jayhawker's trail, taking our course more south
+so as to get around a salt lake which lay directly before us. On our way
+we had to go close to a steep bluff, and cross a piece of ground that
+looked like a well dried mortar bed, hard and smooth as ice, and thus
+got around the head of a small stream of clear water, salt as brine. We
+now went directly to the mouth of the cañon we had decided to take, and
+traveled up its gravelly bed. The horses now had to be urged along
+constantly to keep them moving and they held their heads low down as
+they crept along seemingly so discouraged that they would much rather
+lie down and rest forever than take another step. We knew they would do
+this soon in spite of all our urging, if we could not get water for
+them. The cañon was rough enough where we entered it, and a heavy up
+grade too, and this grew more and more difficult as we advanced, and the
+rough yellowish, rocky walls closed in nearer and nearer together as we
+ascended.
+
+A perpendicular wall, or rather rise, in the rocks was approached, and
+there was a great difficulty to persuade the horses to take exertion to
+get up and over the small obstruction, but the little mule skipped over
+as nimbly as a well-fed goat, and rather seemed to enjoy a little
+variety in the proceedings. After some coaxing and urging the horses
+took courage to try the extra step and succeeded all right, when we all
+moved on again, over a path that grew more and more narrow, more and
+more rocky under foot at every moment. We wound around among and between
+the great rocks, and had not advanced very far before another
+obstruction, that would have been a fall of about three feet had water
+been flowing in the cañon, opposed our way. A small pile of lone rocks
+enabled the mule to go over all right, and she went on looking for every
+spear of grass, and smelling eagerly for water, but all our efforts were
+not enough to get the horses along another foot. It was getting nearly
+night and every minute without water seemed an age. We had to leave the
+horses and go on. We had deemed them indispensable to us, or rather to
+the extrication of the women and children, and yet the hope came to us
+that the oxen might help some of them out as a last resort. We were sure
+the wagons must be abandoned, and such a thing as women riding on the
+backs of oxen we had never seen, still it occurred to us as not
+impossible and although leaving the horses here was like deciding to
+abandon all for the feeble ones, we saw we must do it, and the new hope
+arose to sustain us for farther effort. We removed the saddles and
+placed them on a rock, and after a few moments hesitation, moments in
+which were crowded torrents of wild ideas, and desperate thoughts, that
+were enough to drive reason from its throne, we left the poor animals to
+their fate and moved along. Just as we were passing out of sight the
+poor creatures neighed pitifully after us, and one who has never heard
+the last despairing, pleading neigh of a horse left to die can form no
+idea of its almost human appeal. We both burst into tears, but it was no
+use, to try to save them we must run the danger of sacrificing
+ourselves, and the little party we were trying so hard to save.
+
+We found the little mule stopped by a still higher precipice or
+perpendicular rise of fully ten feet. Our hearts sank within us and we
+said that we should return to our friends as we went away, with our
+knapsacks on our backs, and the hope grew very small. The little mule
+was nipping some stray blades of grass and as we came in sight she
+looked around to us and then up the steep rocks before her with such a
+knowing, intelligent look of confidence, that it gave us new courage. It
+was a strange wild place. The north wall of the cañon leaned far over
+the channel, overhanging considerably, while the south wall sloped back
+about the same, making the wall nearly parallel, and like a huge crevice
+descending into the mountain from above in a sloping direction.
+
+We decided to try to get the confident little mule over this
+obstruction, Gathering all the loose rocks we could we piled them up
+against the south wall, beginning some distance below, putting up all
+those in the bed of the stream and throwing down others from narrow
+shelves above we built a sort of inclined plane along the walls
+gradually rising till we were nearly as high as the crest of the fall.
+Here was a narrow shelf scarcely four inches wide and a space of from
+twelve to fifteen feet to cross to reach the level of the crest. It was
+all I could do to cross this space, and there was no foundation to
+enable us to widen it so as to make a path for an animal. It was forlorn
+hope but we made the most of it. We unpacked the mule and getting all
+our ropes together, made a leading line of it. Then we loosened and
+threw down all the projecting points of rocks we could above the narrow
+shelf, and every piece that was likely to come loose in the shelf
+itself. We fastened the leading line to her and with one above and one
+below we thought we could help her to keep her balance, and if she did
+not make a misstep on that narrow way she might get over safely. Without
+a moments hesitation the brave animal tried the pass. Carefully and
+steadily she went along, selecting a place before putting down a foot,
+and when she came to the narrow ledge leaned gently on the rope, never
+making a sudden start or jump, but cautiously as a cat moved slowly
+along. There was now no turning back for her. She must cross this narrow
+place over which I had to creep on hands and knees, or be dashed down
+fifty feet to a certain death. When the worst place was reached she
+stopped and hesitated, looking back as well as she could. I was ahead
+with the rope, and I called encouragingly to her and talked to her a
+little. Rogers wanted to get all ready and he said, "holler" at her as
+loud as he could and frighten her across, but I thought the best way to
+talk to her gently and let her move steadily.
+
+I tell you, friends, it was a trying moment. It seemed to be weighed
+down with all the trails and hardships of many months. It seemed to be
+the time when helpless women and innocent children hung on the trembling
+balance between life and death. Our own lives we could save by going
+back, and sometimes it seemed as if we would perhaps save ourselves the
+additional sorrow of finding them all dead to do so at once. I was so
+nearly in despair that I could not help bursting in tears, and I was not
+ashamed of the weakness. Finally Rogers said, "Come Lewis" and I gently
+pulled the rope, calling the little animal, to make a trial. She smelled
+all around and looked over every inch of the strong ledge, then took one
+careful step after another over the dangerous place. Looking back I saw
+Rogers with a very large stone in his hand, ready to "holler" and
+perhaps kill the poor beast if she stopped. But she crept along trusting
+to the rope to balance, till she was half way across, then another step
+or two, when calculating the distance closely she made a spring and
+landed on a smooth bit of sloping rock below, that led up to the highest
+crest of the precipice, and safely climbed to the top, safe and sound
+above the falls. The mule had no shoes and it was wonderful how her
+little hoofs clung to the smooth rock. We felt relieved. We would push
+on and carry food to the people; we would get them through some way;
+there could be no more hopeless moment than the one just past, and we
+would save them all.
+
+It was the work of a little while to transfer the load up the precipice,
+and pack the mule again, when we proceeded. Around behind some rocks
+only a little distance beyond this place we found a small willow bush
+and enough good water for a camp. This was a strange cañon. The sun
+never shown down to the bottom in the fearful place where the little
+mule climbed up, and the rocks had a peculiar yellow color. In getting
+our provisions up the precipice, Rogers went below and fastened the rope
+while I pulled them up. Rogers wished many times we had the horses up
+safely where the mule was, but a dog could hardly cross the narrow path
+and there was no hope. Poor brutes, they had been faithful servants, and
+we felt sorrowful enough at their terrible fate.
+
+We had walked two days without water, and we were wonderfully refreshed
+as we found it here. The way up this cañon was very rough and the bed
+full of sharp broken rocks in loose pieces which cut through the bottoms
+of our moccasins and left us with bare feet upon the acute points and
+edges. I took off one of my buckskin leggins, and gave it to Rogers, and
+with the other one for myself we fixed the moccasins with them as well
+as we could, which enabled us to go ahead, but I think if our feet had
+been shod with steel those sharp rocks would have cut through.
+
+Starting early we made the summit about noon, and from here we could see
+the place where we found a water hole and camped the first night after
+we left the wagons. Down the steep cañon we turned, the same one in
+which we had turned back with the wagons, and over the sharp broken
+pieces of volcanic rock that formed our only footing we hobbled along
+with sore and tender feet. We had to watch for the smoothest place for
+every step, and then moved only with the greatest difficulty. The
+Indians could have caught us easily if they had been around for we must
+keep our eyes on the ground constantly and stop if we looked up and
+around. But we at last got down and camped on some spot where we had set
+out twenty-five days before to seek the settlements. Here was the same
+little water hole in the sand plain, and the same strong sulphur water
+which we had to drink the day we left. The mule was turned loose
+dragging the same piece of rawhide she had attached to her when we
+purchased her, and she ranged and searched faithfully for food finding
+little except the very scattering bunches of sage brush. She was
+industrious and walked around rapidly picking here and there, but at
+dark came into camp and lay down close to us to sleep.
+
+There was no sign that any one had been here during our absence, and if
+the people had gone to hunt a way out, they must either have followed
+the Jayhawker's trail or some other one. We were much afraid that they
+might have fallen victims to the Indians. Remaining in camp so long it
+was quite likely they had been discovered by them and it was quite
+likely they had been murdered for the sake of the oxen and camp
+equipage. It might be that we should find the hostiles waiting for us
+when we reached the appointed camping place, and it was small show for
+two against a party. Our mule and her load would be a great capture for
+them. We talked a great deal and said a great many things at that camp
+fire for we knew we were in great danger, and we had many doubts about
+the safety of our people, that would soon be decided, and whether for
+joy or sorrow we could not tell.
+
+From this place, as we walked along, we had a wagon road to follow, in
+soft sand, but not a sign of a human footstep could we see, as we
+marched toward this, the camp of the last hope. We had the greatest
+fears the people had given up our return and started out for themselves
+and that we should follow on, only to find them dead or dying. My pen
+fails me as I try to tell the feelings and thoughts of this trying hour.
+I can never hope to do so, but if the reader can place himself in my
+place, his imagination cannot form a picture that shall go beyond
+reality.
+
+We were some seven or eight miles along the road when I stopped to fix
+my moccasin while Rogers went slowly along. The little mule went on
+ahead of both of us, searching all around for little bunches of dry
+grass, but always came back to the trail again and gave us no trouble.
+When I had started up again I saw Rogers ahead leaning on his gun and
+waiting for me, apparently looking at something on the ground. As I came
+near enough to speak I asked what he had found and he said--"Here is
+Capt. Culverwell, dead." He did not look much like a dead man. He lay
+upon his back with arms extended wide, and his little canteen, made of
+two powder flasks, lying by his side. This looked indeed as if some of
+our saddest forebodings were coming true. How many more bodies should we
+find? Or should we find the camp deserted, and never find a trace of the
+former occupants.
+
+We marched toward camp like two Indians, silent and alert, looking out
+for dead bodies and live Indians, for really we more expected to find
+the camp devastated by those rascals than to find that it still
+contained our friends. To the east we could plainly see what seemed to
+be a large salt lake with a bed that looked as if of the finest, whitest
+sand, but really a wonder of salt crystal. We put the dreary steps
+steadily one forward of another, the little mule the only unconcerned
+one of the party, ever looking for an odd blade of grass, dried in the
+hot dry wind, but yet retaining nourishment, which she preferred.
+
+About noon we came in sight of the wagons, still a long way off, but in
+the clear air we could make them out, and tell what they were, without
+being able to see anything more. Half a mile was the distance between us
+and the camp before we could see very plainly, as they were in a little
+depression. We could see the covers had been taken off, and this was an
+ominous sort of circumstance to us, for we feared the depredations of
+the Indians in retaliation for the capture of their squashes. They had
+shot our oxen before we left and they have slain them this time and the
+people too.
+
+We surely left seven wagons. Now we could see only four and nowhere the
+sign of an ox. They must have gone ahead with a small train, and left
+these four standing, after dismantling them.
+
+No signs of life were anywhere about, and the thought of our hard
+struggles between life and death to go out and return, with the
+fruitless results that now seemed apparent was almost more than human
+heart could bear. When should we know their fate? When should we find
+their remains, and how learn of their sad history if we ourselves should
+live to get back again to settlements and life? If ever two men were
+troubled, Rogers and I surely passed through the furnace.
+
+We kept as low and as much out of sight as possible, trusting very much
+to the little mule that was ahead, for we felt sure she would detect
+danger in the air sooner than we, and we watched her closely to see how
+she acted. She slowly walked along looking out for food, and we followed
+a little way behind, but still no decisive sign to settle the awful
+suspense in which we lived and suffered. We became more and more
+convinced that they had taken the trail of the Jayhawkers, and we had
+missed them on the road, or they had perished before reaching the place
+where we turned from their trail.
+
+One hundred yards now to the wagons and still no sign of life, no
+positive sign of death, though we looked carefully for both. We fear
+that perhaps there are Indians in ambush, and with nervous irregular
+breathing we counsel what to do. Finally Rogers suggested that he had
+two charges in his shot gun and I seven in the Coll's rifle, and that I
+fire one of mine and await results before we ventured any nearer, and if
+there are any of the red devils there we can kill some of them before
+they get to us. And now both closely watching the wagons I fired the
+shot. Still as death and not a move for a moment, and then as if by
+magic a man came out from under a wagon and stood up looking all around,
+for he did not see us. Then he threw up his arms high over his head and
+shouted--"The boys have come. The boys have come!" Then other bare heads
+appeared, and Mr. Bennett and wife and Mr. Arcane came toward us as fast
+as ever they could. The great suspense was over and our hearts were
+first in our mouths, and then the blood all went away and left us almost
+fainting as we stood and tried to step. Some were safe perhaps all of
+those nearest us, and the dark shadow of death that had hovered over us,
+and cast what seemed a pall upon every thought and action, was lifted
+and fell away a heavy oppression gone. Bennett and Arcane caught us in
+their arms and embraced us with all their strength, and Mrs. Bennett
+when she came fell down on her knees and clung to me like a maniac in
+the great emotion that came to her, and not a word was spoken. If they
+had been strong enough they would have carried us to camp upon their
+shoulders. As it was they stopped two or three times, and turned as if
+to speak, but there was too much feeling for words, convulsive weeping
+would choke the voice.
+
+All were a little calmer soon, and Bennett soon found voice to say:--"I
+know you have found some place, for you have a mule," and Mrs. Bennett
+through her tears, looked staringly at us as she could hardly believe
+our coming back was a reality, and then exclaimed:--"Good boys! O, you
+have saved us all! God bless you forever! Such boys should never die!"
+It was some time before they could talk without weeping. Hope almost
+died within them, and now when the first bright ray came it almost
+turned reason from its throne. A brighter happier look came to them than
+we had seen, and then they plied us with questions the first of which
+was:--"Where were you?"
+
+We told them it must be 250 miles yet to any part of California where we
+could live. Then came the question;--"Can we take our wagons?" "You will
+have to walk," was our answer, for no wagons could go over that unbroken
+road that we had traveled. As rapidly and carefully as we could we told
+them of our journey, and the long distance between the water holes; that
+we had lost no time and yet had been twenty six days on the road; that
+for a long distance the country was about as dry and desolate as the
+region we had crossed east of this camp. We told them of the scarcity of
+grass, and all the reasons that had kept us so long away from them.
+
+We inquired after the others whom we had left in camp when we went away,
+and we were told all they knew about them. Hardly were we gone before
+they began to talk about the state of affairs which existed. They said
+that as they had nothing to live on but their oxen it would be certain
+death to wait here and eat them up, and that it would be much better to
+move on a little every day and get nearer and nearer the goal before the
+food failed. Bennett told them they would know surely about the way when
+the boys returned, and knowing the road would know how to manage and
+what to expect and work for, and could get out successfully. But the
+general opinion of all but Mr. Bennett and Mr. Arcane and their families
+was, as expressed by one of them:--"If those boys ever get out of this
+cussed hole, they are d----d fools if they ever come back to help
+anybody."
+
+Some did not stay more than a week after we were gone, but took their
+oxen and blankets and started on. They could not be content to stay idly
+in camp with nothing to occupy their minds or bodies. They could see
+that an ox when killed would feed them only a few days, and that they
+could not live long on them, and it stood them in hand to get nearer the
+western shore as the less distance the more hope while the meat lasted.
+Bennett implored them to stay as he was sure we would come back, and if
+the most of them deserted him he would be exposed to the danger of the
+Indians, with no hope of a successful resistance against them.
+
+But the most seemed to think that to stay was to die, and it would be
+better to die trying to escape than to set idly down to perish. These
+men seemed to think their first duty was to save themselves, and if
+fortunate, help others afterward, so they packed their oxen and left in
+separate parties, the last some two weeks before. They said that Capt.
+Culverwell went with the last party. I afterward learned that he could
+not keep up with them and turned to go back to the wagons again, and
+perished, stretched out upon the sand as we saw him, dying all alone,
+with no one to transmit his last words to family or friends. Not a
+morsel to eat, and the little canteen by his side empty. A sad and
+lonely death indeed!
+
+There was no end to the questions about the road we had to answer, for
+this was uppermost on their minds, and we tried to tell them and show
+them how we must get along on our return. We told them of the great snow
+mountains we had seen all to the north of our road, and how deep the
+snow appeared to be, and how far west it extended. We told them of the
+black and desolate ranges and buttes to the south, and of the great dry
+plains in the same direction. We told them of the Jayhawkers trail; of
+Fish's dead body; of the salt lake and slippery alkali water to which we
+walked, only to turn away in disappointment; of the little sheets of ice
+which saved our lives; of Doty's camp and what we knew of those gone
+before; of the discouraged ones who gave us their names to send back to
+friends; of the hawk and crow diet; of my lameness; of the final coming
+out into a beautiful valley, in the midst of fat cattle and green
+meadows, and the trouble to get the help arranged on account of not
+knowing the language to tell the people what we needed. They were deeply
+impressed that my lameness had been a blessing in disguise, or we would
+have gone on to the coast and consumed more time than we did in walking
+slowly to favor the cripple knee. Our sad adventures and loss of the
+horses in returning was sorrowfully told and we spoke of the provisions
+we had been able to bring on the little mule which had clambered over
+the rocks like a cat; that we had a little flour and beans, and some
+good dried meat with fat on it which we hoped would help to eke out the
+poorer fare and get them through at last. They were so full of
+compliments that we really began to think we had been brought into the
+world on purpose to assist some one, and the one who could forecast all
+things had directed us, and all our ways, so that we should save those
+people and bring them to a better part of God's footstool, where plenty
+might be enjoyed, and the sorrows of the desert forgotten. It was
+midnight before we could get them all satisfied with their knowledge of
+our experience.
+
+[Illustation: Leaving Death Valley.--The Manly Party on Foot After
+Leaving Their Wagons.]
+
+It was quite a treat to us to sleep again between good blankets,
+arranged by a woman's hand, and it was much better resting than the
+curled up, cramped position we had slept in while away, with only the
+poor protection of the half blanket for both of us, in nights that were
+pretty chilly.
+
+We had plenty of water here, and there being no fear of the mule going
+astray we turned her loose. As the party had seen no Indians during our
+absence we did not concern ourselves much about them. At breakfast we
+cautioned them about eating too much bread, remembering, our own
+experience in that way.
+
+They said they had about given up our coming back a week before, and had
+set about getting ready to try to move on themselves. Bennett said he
+was satisfied that they never could have got through alone after what we
+had told them of the route and its dangers. He said he knew it now that
+not one of them would have lived if they had undertaken the journey
+alone without knowledge of the way.
+
+They had taken off the covers of the wagons to make them into houses for
+the oxen, so they could be used as pack animals. The strong cloth had
+been cut into narrow strips and well made into breast straps and
+breeching, for the cattle were so poor and their hide so loose it was
+almost impossible to keep anything on their backs. They had emptied the
+feathers out of the beds to get the cloth to use, and had tried to do
+everything that seemed best to do to get along without wagons. The oxen
+came up for water, and the mule with them. They looked better than when
+we left, but were still poor. They had rested for some time and might
+feel able to go along willingly for a few days at least. I was handy
+with the needle, and helped them to complete the harness for the oxen,
+while Bennett and John went to the lake to get a supply of salt to take
+along, a most necessary article with our fresh meat. I looked around a
+little at our surroundings, and could see the snow still drifting over
+the peak of the snowy mountain as we had seen it farther east, where we
+were ourselves under the burning sun. This was now pretty near February
+first, or midwinter. The eastern side of this great mountain was too
+steep to be ascended, and no sign of a tree could be seen on the whole
+eastern slope. The range of mountains on the east side of this narrow
+valley were nearly all the volcanic, barren in the extreme, and the
+roughest of all the mountains we had ever seen. I had now looked pretty
+thoroughly, and found it to be pretty nearly a hundred miles long, and
+this was the only camp I had seen where water could be had.
+
+When Mrs. Bennet was ready to show me what to do on the cloth harness,
+we took a seat under the wagon, the only shady place and began work. The
+great mountain, I have spoken of as the snow mountain has since been
+known as Telescope Peak, reported to be 11,000 feet high. It is in the
+range running north and south and has no other peak so high. Mrs.
+Bennett questioned me closely about the trip, and particularly if I had
+left anything out which I did not want her to know. She said she saw her
+chance to ride was very slim, and she spoke particularly of the
+children, and that it was impossible for them to walk. She said little
+Martha had been very sick since we had been gone, and that for many days
+they had expected her to die. They had no medicine to relieve her and
+the best they could do was to select the best of the ox meat, and make a
+little soup of it and feed her, they had watched her carefully for many
+days and nights, expecting they would have to part with her any time and
+bury her little body in the sands. Sometimes it seemed as if her breath
+would stop, but they had never failed in their attentions, and were at
+last rewarded by seeing her improve slowly, and even to relish a little
+food, so that if no relapse set in they had hopes to bring her through.
+They brought the little one and showed her to me, and she seemed so
+different from what she was when we went away. Then she could run about
+camp climb out and in the wagons, and move about so spry that she
+reminded one of a quail. Now she was strangely misshapen. Her limbs had
+lost all the flesh and seemed nothing but skin and bones, while her body
+had grown corpulent and distended, and her face had a starved pinched
+and suffering look, with no healthy color in it.
+
+She told me of their sufferings while we were gone, and said she often
+dreamed she saw us suffering fearfully for water, and lack of food and
+could only picture to herself as their own fate, that they must leave
+the children by the trail side, dead, and one by one drop out themselves
+in the same way. She said she dreamed often of her old home where bread
+was plenty, and then to awake to find her husband and children starving
+was a severe trial indeed, and the contrast terrible. She was anxious to
+get me to express an opinion as to whether I thought we could get the
+oxen down the falls where we had so much trouble.
+
+I talked to her as encouragingly as I could, but she did not cheer up
+much and sobbed and wept over her work most all the time. It was not
+possible to encourage her much, the outlook seemed so dark. Mrs. Arcane
+sat under another wagon and said nothing, but she probably heard all we
+had to say, and did not look as if her hopes were any brighter. Bennett
+and Rogers soon returned with a supply of salt and said the whole shore
+of the lake was a winrow of it, that could be shoveled up in enormous
+quantities.
+
+We now in a counsel of the whole, talked over the matter, and the way
+which seemed most promising. If we went by the Jayhawkers trail, there
+was a week of solid travel to get over the range and back south again as
+far as a point directly opposite our camp, and this had taken us only
+three days to come over as we had come. The only obstacle in the way was
+the falls, and when we explained that there was some sand at the bottom
+of them, Bennett said he thought we could get them over without killing
+them, and that, as we knew exactly where the water was, this was the
+best trail to take. Arcane was quite of the same opinion, the saving of
+a week of hard and tiresome travel being in each case the deciding
+reason. They then explained to me what they had decided on doing if we
+had not come back. They had selected two oxen for the women to ride one
+to carry water and one to carry the four children. There were no saddles
+but blankets enough to make a soft seat, and they proposed to put a band
+or belt around the animals for them to hold on by, and the blankets
+would be retained in place by breast and breeching straps which we had
+made. They had found out that it was very difficult to keep a load of
+any kind upon an ox, and had devised all this harness to meet the
+trouble.
+
+Bennett had one old bridle ox called Old Crump, which had been selected
+to carry the children, because he was slow and steady. How in the world
+do you expect it to keep the children on?--said I. "Well"--said Bennett,
+with a sort of comical air, about the first relief from the sad line of
+thought that had possessed us all--"We have taken two strong hickory
+shirts, turned the sleeves inside, sewed up the necks, then sewed the
+two shirts together by the tail, and when these are placed on the ox
+they will make two pockets for the youngest children, and we think the
+two others will be able to cling to his back with the help of a band
+around the body of the ox to which they can cling to, with their hands."
+Now if Old Crump went steady and did not kick up and scatter things, he
+thought this plan would operate first rate. Now as to the mule they
+proposed as we knew how to pack the animal, that we should use her to
+pack our provisions so they would go safe.
+
+From a piece of hide yet remaining John and I made ourselves some new
+moccasins, and were all ready to try the trip over our old trail for now
+the third time, and the last, we hoped.
+
+Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane had taken our advice, and in cooking had
+not put too much of the flour or beans into the soup for the children
+and they had gotten along nicely, and even began to smile a little with
+satisfaction after a full meal. They got along better than John and I
+did when we got hold of the first nutritions after our arrival on the
+other side.
+
+We must leave everything here we can get along without. No clothing
+except that on our backs. Only a camp kettle in which to make soup, a
+tin cup for each one, and some knives and spoons which each happen to
+have. Each one had some sort of a canteen for water, which we must fill
+up at every opportunity, and we decided to carry a shovel along, so we
+might bury the body of Capt. Culverwell, and shovel up a pile of sand at
+the falls to enable us to get the oxen over. Every ox had a cloth halter
+on his head, so he might be led, or tied up at night when we had a dry
+camp, and they would most assuredly wander off if not secured. Old Crump
+was chosen to lead the train, and Rogers was to lead him. We had made an
+extra halter for this old fellow, and quite a long strip of bed ticking
+sewed into a strap to lead him by.
+
+This packing business was a new idea, and a hard matter to get anything
+firmly fixed on their backs.
+
+We had made shoulder straps, hip straps, breast straps and breeching as
+the correct idea for a harness. The only way we could fasten the band
+around the animals was for one to get on each side and pull it as tight
+as possible then tie a knot, as we had no buckles or ring in our
+harness.
+
+The loads of the oxen consisted of blankets and bedding and a small,
+light tent of their sheeting about four by six feet in size. We rose
+early and worked hard till about the middle of the forenoon getting all
+things ready. They had been in a state of masterly inactivity so long in
+this one camp that they were anxious to leave it now forever. Only in
+progress was there hope, and this was our last and only chance. We must
+succeed or perish. We loaded the animals from the wagons, and some of
+the oxen seemed quite afraid at this new way of carrying loads. Old
+Crump was pretty steady, and so was the one with the two water kegs one
+on each side but the other oxen did not seem to think they needed any
+blankets on these warm days.
+
+Mrs. Arcane was from a city, and had fondly conveyed thus far some
+articles of finery, of considerable value and much prized. She could not
+be persuaded to leave them here to deck the red man's wife, and have her
+go flirting over the mountains with, and as they had little weight she
+concluded she would wear them and this perhaps would preserve them. So
+she got out her best hat and trimmed it up with extra ribbon leaving
+some with quite long ends to stream out behind. Arcane brought up his ox
+Old Brigham, for he had been purchased at Salt Lake and named in honor
+of the great Mormon Saint.
+
+Mrs. Arcane also dressed her little boy Charlie up In his best suit of
+clothes, for she thought they might as well wear them out as to throw
+them away. She made one think of a fairy in gay and flying apparel. In
+the same way all selected their best and most serviceable garments, for
+it was not considered prudent to carry any load, and poor clothes were
+good enough to leave for Indians. We set it down as a principle that we
+must save ourselves all we could, for it would be a close contested
+struggle with us and death, at the very best, and we wanted to get all
+the advantage for ourselves we could. As we were making the preparations
+the women grew more hopeful, as it seemed as if something was really
+going to be accomplished.
+
+Bennett and Arcane were emphatic in their belief and expressions that we
+would succeed, "I know it--Don't you Sally?" said Bennett very
+cheerfully, but after all Mrs. Bennett could not answer quite as
+positively, but said "I hope so."--Mrs. Bennett's maiden name was Sarah
+Dilley, which I mention here as I may otherwise forget it afterward. She
+realized that hers was no easy place to ride, that they would have hard
+fare at best, and that it must be nearly or quite a month before they
+could reach a fertile spot on which to place her feet. One could easily
+see that the future looked quite a little dark to her, on account of her
+children, as a mother naturally would.
+
+High overhead was the sun, and very warm indeed on that day in the fore
+part of February 1850, when the two children were put on Old Crump to
+see if he would let them ride. The two small children were placed in the
+pockets on each side, face outward, and they could stand or sit as they
+should choose. George and Melissa were placed on top and given hold of
+the strap that was to steady them in their place. I now led up Mrs.
+Bennett's ox and Mr. Bennett helped his wife to mount the animal, on
+whose back as soft a seat as possible had been constructed. Mrs. Arcane
+in her ribbons was now helped to her seat on the back of Old Brigham and
+she carefully adjusted herself to position, and arranged her dress and
+ornaments to suit, then took hold of the strap that served to hold on by
+as there were no bridles on these two.
+
+Rogers led the march with his ox; Bennett and I started the others
+along, and Arcane followed with Old Crump and the children. Bennett and
+Arcane took off their hats and bade the old camp good bye. The whole
+procession moved, and we were once more going toward our journey's end
+we hoped. The road was sandy and soft, the grade practically level, and
+everything went well for about four miles, when the pack on one of the
+oxen near the lead got loose and and turned over to one side, which he
+no sooner saw thus out of position, then he tried to get away from it by
+moving sidewise. Not getting clear of the objectionable load in this way
+he tried to kick it off, and thus really got his foot in it, making
+matters worse instead of better. Then he began a regular waltz and
+bawled at the top of his voice in terror. Rogers tried to catch him but
+his own animal was so frisky that he could not hold him and do much
+else, and the spirit of fear soon began to be communicated to the others
+and soon the whole train seemed to be taken crazy.
+
+They would jump up high and then come down, sticking their fore feet as
+far as possible into the sand after which, with elevated tails, and
+terrible plunges would kick and thrash and run till the packs came off,
+when they stopped apparently quite satisfied. Mrs. Bennett slipped off
+her ox as quick as she could, grabbed her baby from the pocket on Old
+Crump, and shouting to Melissa and George to jump, got her family into
+safe position in pretty short order. Arcane took his Charley from the
+other pocket and laid him on the ground, while he devoted his own
+attention to the animals. Mrs. Arcane's ox followed suit, and waltzed
+around in the sand, bawled at every turn, fully as bad as any of the
+others, but Mrs. Arcane proved to be a good rider, and hard to unseat,
+clinging desperately to her strap as she was tossed up and down, and
+whirled about at a rate enough to to make any one dizzy. Her many fine
+ribbons flew out behind like the streamers from a mast-head, and the
+many fancy fixin's she had donned fluttered in the air in gayest
+mockery. Eventually she was thrown however, but without the least injury
+to herself, but somewhat disordered in raiment. When I saw Bennett he
+was standing half bent over laughing in almost hysterical convulsion at
+the entirely impromptu circus which had so suddenly performed an act not
+on the program. Arcane was much pleased and laughed heartily when he saw
+no one was hurt. We did not think the cattle had so much life and so
+little sense as to waste their energies so uselessly. The little mule
+stepped out one side and looked on in amazement, with out disarranging
+any article of her load.
+
+Mrs. Bennett, carrying her baby and walking around to keep out of the
+way, got very much exhausted, and sat down on the sand, her face as red
+as if the blood were about to burst through the skin, and perspiring
+freely. We carried a blanket and spread down for her while we gathered
+in the scattered baggage. Then the oxen were got together again, and
+submitted to being loaded up again as quietly as if nothing had
+happened. Myself and the women had to mend the harness considerably, and
+Arcane and his ox went back for some water, while Rogers and Bennett
+took the shovel and went ahead about a mile to cover up the body of
+Capt. Culverwell, for some of the party feared the cattle might be
+terrified at seeing it. All this took so much time that we had to make a
+camp of it right here.
+
+We put the camp kettle on two stones, built a fire, put in some beans
+and dried meat cut very fine, which cooked till Arcane came with more
+water, which was added, and thickened with a little of the unbolted
+flour, making a pretty good and nutritious soup which we all enjoyed. We
+had to secure the animals, for there was neither grass nor water for
+them, and we thought they might not be in so good spirits another day.
+
+We had little trouble in packing up again in the morning, and concluded
+to take a nearer route to the summit, so as to more quickly reach the
+water holes where Rogers and I camped on our first trip over the
+country. This would be a hard rocky road on its course leading up a
+small rocky cañon, hard on the feet of the oxen, so they had to be
+constantly urged on, as they seemed very tender footed. They showed no
+disposition to go on a spree again and so far as keeping the loads on,
+behaved very well indeed. The women did not attempt to ride but followed
+on, close after Old Crump and the children who required almost constant
+attention, for in their cramped position they made many cries and
+complaints. To think of it, two children cramped up in narrow pockets,
+in which they could not turn around, jolted and pitched around over the
+rough road, made them objects of great suffering to themselves and
+anxiety and labor on the part of the mothers.
+
+Mrs. Bennett said she would carry her baby if she could, but her own
+body was so heavy for her strength that she could not do it. Bennett,
+Rogers and myself hurried the oxen all we could, so that we could reach
+the water, and let Bennett go back with some to meet the rest and
+refresh them for the end of the day's march, and he could take poor
+little Martha from the pocket and carry her in his arms, which would be
+a great relief to her. Arcane also took his child when he met them,
+throwing away his double barrel gun, saying:--"I have no use for you."
+
+When the women reached camp we had blankets already spread down for
+them, on which they cast themselves, so tired as to be nearly dead. They
+were so tired and discouraged they were ready to die, for they felt they
+could not endure many days like this.
+
+We told them this was the first day and they were not used to exercise
+therefore more easily tired than after they became a little used to it.
+We told them not to be discouraged, for we knew every water hole, and
+all the road over which we would pilot them safely. They would not
+consent to try riding again, after their circus experience, and Mrs.
+Arcane said her limbs ached so much she did not think she could even go
+on the next day. They had climbed over the rocks all day, and were lame
+and sore, and truly thought they could not endure such another day. The
+trail had been more like stairs than a road in its steep ascent, and our
+camp was at a narrow pass in the range. The sky was clear and cloudless,
+as it had been for so long for thus far upon this route no rain had
+fallen, and only once a little snow, that came to us like manna in the
+desert. For many days we had been obliged to go without water both we
+and our cattle, and over the route we had come we had not seen any signs
+of a white man's presence older than our own. I have no doubt we were
+the first to cross the valley in this location, a visible sink hole in
+the desert.
+
+The women did not recover sufficient energy to remove their clothing,
+but slept as they were, and sat up and looked around with uncombed hair
+in the morning, perfect pictures of dejection. We let them rest as long
+as we could, for their swollen eyes and stiffened joints told how sadly
+unprepared they were to go forward at once. The sun came out early and
+made it comfortable, while a cool and tonic breeze, came down from the
+great snow mountain the very thing to brace them up after a thorough
+rest.
+
+The slope to the east was soon met by a high ridge and between this and
+the main mountain was a gentle slope scattered over with sage brush, and
+a few little stools of bunch grass here and there between. This gave our
+oxen a little food and by dipping out the water from the holes and
+letting them fill up again we managed to get water for camp use and to
+give the animals nearly all they wanted.
+
+While waiting for the women Bennett and Arcane wanted to go out and get
+a good view of the great snowy mountain I had told them so much about.
+The best point of view was near our camp, perhaps three or four hundred
+yards away, and I went with them. This place where we now stood was
+lower than the mountains either north or south, but were difficult to
+climb, and gave a good view in almost every direction, and there, on the
+back bone of the ridge we had a grand outlook, but some parts of it
+brought back doleful recollections. They said they had traveled in sight
+of that mountain for months and seen many strange formations, but never
+one like this, as developed from this point. It looked to be
+seventy-five miles to its base, and to the north and west there was a
+succession of snowy peaks that seemed to have no end. Bennett and Arcane
+said they never before supposed America contained mountains so grand
+with peaks that so nearly seemed to pierce the sky. Nothing except a
+bird could ever cross such steep ranges as that one.
+
+West and south it seemed level, and low, dark and barren buttes rose
+from the plain, but never high enough to carry snow, even at this season
+of the year. I pointed out to them the route we were to follow, noting
+the prominent points, and it could be traced for fully one hundred and
+twenty-five miles from the point on which we stood. This plain, with its
+barren ranges and buttes is now known as the Mojave Desert. This part of
+the view they seemed to study over, as if to fix every point and water
+hole upon their memory. We turned to go to camp, but no one looked back
+on the country we had come over since we first made out the distant snow
+peak, now so near us, on November 4th 1849. The only butte in this
+direction that carried snow was the one where we captured the Indian and
+where the squashes were found.
+
+The range next east of us across the low valley was barren to look upon
+as a naked, single rock. There were peaks of various heights and colors,
+yellow, blue firery red and nearly black. It looked as if it might
+sometime have been the center of a mammoth furnace. I believe this range
+is known as the Coffin's Mountains. It would be difficult to find earth
+enough in the whole of it to cover a coffin.
+
+Just as we were ready to leave and return to camp we took off our hats,
+and then overlooking the scene of so much trial, suffering and death
+spoke the thought uppermost saying:--"_Good bye Death Valley!"_ then
+faced away and made our steps toward camp. Even after this in speaking
+of this long and narrow valley over which we had crossed into its nearly
+central part, and on the edge of which the lone camp was made, for so
+many days, it was called Death Valley.
+
+Many accounts have been given to the world as to the origin of the name
+and by whom it was thus designated but ours were the first visible
+footsteps, and we the party which named it the saddest and most dreadful
+name that came to us first from its memories.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Out of Death Valley we surely were. To Rogers and I, the case seemed
+hopeful, for we had confidence in the road and believed all would have
+power to weather difficulties, but the poor women--it is hard to say
+what complaints and sorrows were not theirs. They seemed to think they
+stood at death's door, and would about as soon enter, as to take up a
+farther march over the black, desolate mountains and dry plains before
+them, which they considered only a dreary vestibule to the dark door
+after all. They even had an idea that the road was longer than we told
+them, and they never could live to march so far over the sandy, rocky
+roads. The first day nearly satisfied them that it was no use to try,
+Rogers and I counted up the camps we ought to reach each day and in this
+way could pretty near convince them of time that would be consumed in
+the trip. We encouraged them in every way we could; told them we had
+better get along a little every day and make ourselves a little nearer
+the promised land, and the very exercise would soon make them stronger
+and able to make a full day's march.
+
+John and I told them we felt in much better spirits now than we did when
+we set out alone, and now that nothing but the arrows of an Indian could
+stop us. We said to them. "We are not going to leave you two ladies out
+here to die for there is not a sign of a grave to put you in,--" and it
+was a pretty tough place to think of making one. We told them of the
+beautiful flowery hillsides over the other side and begged them to go
+over there to die, as it would be so much better and easier to perform
+the last sad rites there instead of here on the top of the dismal
+mountain. It seemed quite like a grim joke, but it produced a reaction
+that turned the tide of thoughts and brought more courage. We only laid
+out the march for this day as far as the falls and after a little
+prepared to move. The cattle seemed to have quit their foolishness, and
+they were loaded without trouble. The children fitted into the pockets
+better than usual, and the mothers with full canteens strapped across
+their shoulders picked out soft places on which to place their poor
+blistered feet at every step. They walked as if they were troubled with
+corns on every toe and on their heels into the bargain, and each foot
+was so badly affected, that they did not know on which one to limp. But
+still they moved, and we were once more on our way westward. They often
+stopped to rest, and Arcane waited for them with Old Crump, while they
+breathed and complained awhile and then passed on again.
+
+[Illustration: The Oxen Get Frisky.]
+
+The route was first along the foot of the high peak, over bare rocks and
+we soon turned south somewhat so as to enter the cañon leading down to
+the falls. The bottom of this was thick with broken rock, and the oxen
+limped and picked out soft places about as bad as the women did. A pair
+of moccasins would not last long in such rocks and we hoped to get out
+of them very soon. Rogers and I hurried along, assisting Arcane and his
+party as much as we could, while Bennett staid behind and assisted the
+women as much as possible, taking their arms, and by this means they
+also reached camp an hour behind the rest.
+
+A kettle of hot steaming soup, and blankets all spread out on which to
+rest, was the work Rogers and I had done to prepare for them, and they
+sank down on the beds completely exhausted. The children cried some but
+were soon pacified and were contented to lie still. A good supper of hot
+soup made them feel much better all around.
+
+The first thing Bennett and Arcane did was to look round and see the
+situation at the falls, and see if the obstacle was enough to stop our
+progress, or if we must turn back and look for a better way. They were
+in some doubt about it, but concluded to try and get the animals over
+rather than to take the time to seek another pass, which might take a
+week of time. We men all went down to the foot of the fall, and threw
+out all the large rocks, then piled up all the sand we could scrape
+together with the shovel, till we had quite a pile of material that
+would tend to break a fall. We arranged everything possible for a forced
+passage in the morning, and the animals found a few willows to browse
+and a few bunches of grass here and there, which gave them a little
+food, while the spring supplied them with enough water to keep them from
+suffering with thirst.
+
+Early in the morning we took our soup hastily and with ropes lowered our
+luggage over the small precipice, then the children, and finally all the
+ropes were combined to make a single strong one about thirty feet long.
+They urged one of the oxen up to the edge of the falls, put the rope
+around his horns, and threw down the end to me, whom they had stationed
+below. I was told to pull hard when he started so that he might not
+light on his head and break his neck. We felt this was a desperate
+undertaking, and we fully expected to lose some of our animals, but our
+case was critical and we must take some chances. Bennett stood on one
+side of the ox, and Arcane on the other, while big Rogers was placed in
+the rear to give a regular Tennessee boost when the word was given. "Now
+for it," said Bennett, and as I braced out on the rope those above gave
+a push and the ox came over, sprawling, but landed safely, cut only a
+little by some angular stones in the sand pile. "Good enough," said some
+one and I threw the rope back for another ox. "We'll get 'em all over
+safely" said Arcane, "if Lewis down there, will keep them from getting
+their necks broken." Lewis pulled hard every time, and not a neck was
+broken. The sand pile was renewed every time and made as high and soft
+as possible, and very soon all our animals were below the falls. The
+little mule gave a jump when they pushed her and lighted squarely on her
+feet all right. With the exception of one or two slight cuts, which bled
+some, the oxen were all right and we began loading them at once.
+
+Bennett and Arcane assisted their wives down along the little narrow
+ledge which we used in getting up, keeping their faces toward the rocky
+wall, and feeling carefully for every footstep. Thus they worked along
+and landed safely by the time we had the animals ready for a march. We
+had passed without disaster, the obstacle we most feared, and started
+down the rough cañon, hope revived, and we felt we should get through.
+After winding around among the great boulders for a little while we came
+to the two horses we had left behind, both dead and near together. We
+pointed to the carcasses, and told them those were the horses we brought
+for the women to ride, and that is the way they were cheated out of
+their passage. The bodies of the animals had not been touched by bird or
+beast. The cañon was too deep and dark for either wolves or buzzards to
+enter, and nothing alive had been seen by us in the shape of wild game
+of any sort. Firearms were useless here except for defence against
+Indians, and we expected no real trouble from them.
+
+From what we could see, it was my opinion that no general rain ever fell
+in that region. There was some evidence that water had at times flowed
+down them freely after cloud bursts, or some sudden tempest, but the
+gravel was so little worn that it gave no evidence of much of a stream.
+
+We hurried on as rapidly as possible so as to get into the Jayhawker's
+beaten trail which would be a little easier to follow. When we reached
+the lowest part of the valley we had to turn south to get around a
+little, slow running stream of salt water, that moved north and emptied
+into a Salt Lake. No source of the stream could be seen from this point,
+but when we reached a point where we could cross, we had a smooth, hard
+clay bed to march over. It seemed to have been, some day, a bed of
+mortar, but now baked hard, and the hoofs of the oxen dented into it no
+more than half an inch. On our left hand was a perpendicular cliff,
+along which we traveled for quite a little way. The range of mountains
+now before us to cross was black, nothing but rocks, and extremely
+barren, having no water in it that we knew of, so when we reached the
+summit we camped, tied all our animals to rocks, where they lay down and
+did not rise till morning. The women were so tired they were over two
+hours late, and we had the fire built, the soup cooked and the beds
+made. As we did not stop at noon all were very hungry, and ate with a
+relish. The poor animals had to go without either grass or water. When
+Old Crump and the party came in the men were carrying the babies, and
+their wives were clinging to their arms, scarcely able to stand. When
+they reached the beds they fell at full length on them, saying their
+feet and limbs ached like the tooth ache. It seemed to be best for them
+to rest a little before eating. Mrs. Bennett said that the only
+consolation was that the road was getting shorter every day, but were it
+not for the children she would sooner die than follow the trail any
+farther. Their soup was carried to them in the bed, and they were
+covered up as they lay, and slept till morning. This day's walk was the
+hardest one yet, and probably the longest one of the whole journey, but
+there was no other place where we could find a place large enough to
+make a camp and free enough of rocks so that a bed could be made.
+
+Rogers and I had the kettle boiling early, and put in the last of the
+meat, and nearly all that was left of the flour. At the next camp an ox
+must be killed. Just as it was fairly light I went about 200 yards south
+where the dead body of Mr. Fish lay, just as he died more than a month
+before. The body had not been disturbed and looked quite natural. He was
+from Oscaloosa, Iowa.
+
+The folks arose very reluctantly this morning, and appeared with swollen
+eyes and uncombed hair, for there was no means of making a toilet,
+without a drop of water, except what we had used in getting breakfast.
+We set the soup kettle near the foot of the bed so the women could feed
+the children and themselves. Now as we loaded the oxen, it was agreed
+that Rogers and I should go ahead with all but Old Crump, and get in
+camp as soon as possible, and they were to follow on as best they could.
+There was a little water left in the canteens of Bennett and Arcane, to
+be given only to the children, who would cry when thirsty, the very
+thing to make them feel the worst.
+
+We were to kill an ox when we reached camp, and as each of the men had
+an equal number on the start each was to furnish one alternately and no
+disputing about whose were better or stronger, in any emergency.
+
+Our road now led down the western slope of the mountain, and loose,
+hard, broken rocks were harder on the feet of our animals than coming
+up, and our own moccasins were wearing through. The cattle needed shoes
+as well as we. Any one who has never tried it can imagine how hard it is
+to walk with tender feet over broken rock. It was very slow getting
+along at the best, and the oxen stumbled dreadfully in trying to protect
+their sore feet. At the foot of the mountain we had several miles of
+soft and sandy road. The sun shone very hot, and with no water we
+suffered fearfully. A short way out in the sandy valley we pass again
+the grave of Mr. Isham, where he had been buried by his friends. He was
+from Rochester, N.Y. He was a cheerful, pleasant man, and during the
+forepart of the journey used his fiddle at the evening camps to increase
+the merriment of his jolly companions. In those days we got no rain, see
+no living animals of any kind except those of our train, see not a bird
+nor insect, see nothing green except a very stunted sage, and some dwarf
+bushes. We now know that the winter of 1849-50 was one of the wettest
+ever seen in California, but for some reason or other none of the wet
+clouds ever came to this portion of the State to deposit the most
+scattering drops of moisture.
+
+Quite a long way from the expected camp the oxen snuffed the moisture,
+and began to hurry towards it with increased speed. A little while
+before it did not seem as if they had ambition enough left to make a
+quick move, but as we approached the water those which had no packs
+fairly trotted in their haste to get a drink. This stream was a very
+small one, seeping out from a great pile of rocks, and maintaining
+itself till it reached the sands, where it disappeared completely. A few
+tufts of grass grew along the banks, otherwise everything surrounding
+was desolate in the extreme.
+
+As soon as we could get the harness off the oxen, we went to look for
+our little buried sack of wheat, which we were compelled to leave and
+hide on our way out. We had hidden it so completely, that it took us
+quite a little while to strike its bed but after scratching with our
+hands awhile, we hit the spot, and found it untouched. Although the sand
+in which it was buried seemed quite dry, yet the grain had absorbed so
+much moisture from it, that the sack was nearly bursting. It was emptied
+on a blanket, and proved to be still sound and sweet.
+
+Our first work now was to kill an ox and get some meat to cook for those
+who were coming later. We got the kettle over boiling with some of the
+wheat in it, for the beans were all gone. We killed the ox saving the
+blood to cook. Cutting the meat all off the bones, we had it drying over
+a fire as soon as possible, except what we needed for this meal and the
+next. Then we made a smooth place in the soft sand on which to spread
+the blankets, the first good place we had found to sleep since leaving
+Death Valley.
+
+The next job was to make moccassins for ourselves and for the oxen, for
+it was plain they could not go on another day barefooted. We kept busy
+indeed, attending the fires under the meat and under the kettle, besides
+our shoemaking, and were getting along nicely about sundown, when Old
+Christian Crump appeared in sight followed by the women and the rest of
+the party. The women were just as tired as ever and dropped down on the
+blankets the first thing. "How many such days as this can we
+endure?"--they said. We had them count the days gone by, and look around
+to see the roughest part of the road was now behind them. They said that
+only five days had passed, and that two thirds of the distance still
+remained untraveled, and they knew they could never endure even another
+five day's work like the last. We told them to be brave, and be
+encouraged, for we had been over the road and knew what it was, and that
+we felt sure of being able to do it nicely. They were fed in bed as
+usual, and there they lay till morning. We men went to making moccasins
+from the green hide, and when we had cut out those for the men and women
+the balance of the hide was used in preparing some also for the oxen,
+particularly the worst ones, for if I remember correctly there was not
+enough to go round.
+
+The morning came, bright and pleasant, as all of them were, and just
+warm enough for comfort in the part of the day. The women were as usual,
+and their appearance would remind one quite strongly of half-drowned
+hens which had not been long out of trouble. Hair snarled, eyes red,
+nose swollen, and out of fix generally. They did not sleep well so much
+fatigued, for they said they lived over their hard days in dreams at
+night, and when they would close their eyes and try to go to sleep, the
+visions would seem to come to them half waking and they could not rest.
+
+There was now before us a particularly bad stretch of the country as it
+would probably take us four or five days to get over it, and there was
+only one water hole in the entire distance. This one was quite salt, so
+much so that on our return trip the horses refused to drink it, and the
+little white one died next day. Only water for one day's camp could be
+carried with us, and that was for ourselves alone and not for the
+animals.
+
+When the moccasins were finished in the morning we began to get our
+cattle together when it was discovered that Old Brigham was gone, and
+the general belief was that the Indians had made a quiet raid on us and
+got away with the old fellow. We circled around till we found his track
+and then Arcane followed it while we made ready the others. Arcane came
+in with the stray namesake of the polygamous saint about this time
+shouting:--"I've got him--No Indians." The ox had got into the wash
+ravine below camp and passed out of sight behind, in a short time. He
+had been as easily tracked as if he walked in snow. There was larger
+sage brush in the wash than elsewhere, and no doubt Brigham had thought
+this a good place to seek for some extra blades of grass.
+
+Immediately south of this camp now known as Providence Springs, is the
+salt lake to which Rogers and I went on the first trip and were so sadly
+disappointed in finding the water unfit to use.
+
+As soon as ready we started up the cañon, following the trail made by
+the Jayhawkers who had proceeded us, and by night had reached the
+summit, but passed beyond, a short distance down the western slope,
+where we camped in a valley that gave us good large sage brush for our
+fires, and quite a range for the oxen without their getting out of
+sight. This being at quite a high elevation we could see the foot as
+well as the top, of the great snow mountain, and had a general good view
+of the country.
+
+This proved to be the easiest day's march we had experienced, and the
+women complained less than on any other night since our departure. Their
+path had been comparatively smooth, and with the new moccasins their
+feet had been well protected, they had come through pretty nicely. We
+told them they looked better, and if they would only keep up good
+courage they would succeed and come out all right to the land where
+there was plenty of bread and water, and when safely out, they might
+make good resolutions never to get in such a trap again. Mrs. Bennett
+said such a trip could never be done over again, and but for the fact
+that Rogers and I had been over the road, and that she believed all we
+had said about it; she never would have had the courage to come thus
+far. Now, for the children's sake, she wished to live, and would put
+forth any effort to come through all right.
+
+The next day we had a long cañon to go down, and in it passed the dead
+body of the beautiful white mare Rogers had taken such a fancy to. The
+body had not decomposed, nor had it been disturbed by any bird or beast.
+Below this point the bed of the cañon was filled with great boulders,
+over which it was very difficult to get the oxen along. Some of them had
+lost their moccasins and had to suffer terribly over the rocks.
+
+Camp was made at the salt water hole, and our wheat and meat boiled in
+it did not soften and get tender as it did in fresh water. There was
+plenty of salt grass above; but the oxen did not eat it any more than
+the horses did, and wandered around cropping a bite of the bitter brush
+once in awhile, and looking very sorry. This was near the place where
+Rogers and I found the piece of ice which saved our lives. The women did
+not seriously complain when we reached this camp, but little Charley
+Arcane broke out with a bad looking rash all over his body and as he
+cried most of the time it no doubt smarted and pained him like a mild
+burn. Neither his mother nor any one else could do anything for him to
+give him any relief. We had no medicines, and if he or any one should
+die, all we could do would be to roll the body in a blanket and cover it
+with a light covering of sand.
+
+From this camp to the next water holes at the base of the great snow
+mountain, it was at least 30 miles, level as to surface, and with a
+light ascending grade. The Jayhawkers had made a well marked trail, and
+it it was quite good walking. The next camp was a dry one, both for
+ourselves and the oxen, nothing but dry brush for them, and a little
+dried meat for ourselves, but for all this the women did not complain so
+very much. They were getting use to the work and grew stronger with the
+exercise. They had followed Old Crump and the children every day with
+the canteens of water and a little dried meat to give them if they cried
+too much with hunger, and Arcane had led his ox day after day with a
+patience that was remarkable, and there was no bad temper shown by any
+one. This was the way to do, for if there were any differences, there
+was no tribunal to settle them by.
+
+In all this desert travel I did not hear any discontent and serious
+complaint, except in one case, and that was at the Jayhawker's camp,
+where they burned their wagons at the end of the wagon road, in Death
+Valley. Some could not say words bad enough to express their contempt,
+and laid all the trouble of salt water to Lot's wife. Perhaps she was in
+a better position to stand the cursing than any of the party present.
+
+The next day we reached the water holes at the place where Rogers and I
+stole up to camp fire in the evening, supposing it to be Indians, but
+finding there Capt. Doty and his mess, a part of the Jayhawker's band.
+By dipping carefully from these holes they filled again, and thus,
+although there was no flow from them we gradually secured what water we
+needed for the camp, which was a small amount after so long a time
+without. There was some low brush here called greasewood, which grew
+about as high as currant bushes, and some distance up the mountain the
+oxen could find some scattery bunch grass, which, on the whole, made
+this camp a pretty good one. The women, however, were pretty nearly
+exhausted, and little Charley Arcane cried bitterly all day and almost
+all night. All began to talk more and feel more hopeful of getting
+through. The women began to say that every step brought them so much
+nearer to the house we had told them about on the other side and often
+said the work was not so very hard after all. Really it was not so bad
+travelling as we had at first. We were now nine days from the wagons.
+"Are we half way?" was the question they began to ask. We had to answer
+them that more than one half the hard days were over, if one half the
+distance had not been traveled, and with the better walking and getting
+hardened to the work, they would get over the last half better than the
+first. One thing was a little hard. All of our beans and flour had been
+used up, and now the wheat was about gone also. We had cooked it, and it
+seemed best, trying to build up our strength, where it was most needed
+for the greatest trials, and now we thought they would be able to get
+along on the meat. We had reached the base of the great snow mountain.
+It seems strange with the mass of snow resting above, and which must be
+continually thawing more or less, no ravines or large streams of water
+were produced flowing down this side. It seemed dry all around its base,
+which is is very singular, with the snow so near.
+
+We had now our barren cañon to go down, and right here was the big trail
+coming down from the north, which we took and followed. We said all
+these good things about the road, and encouraged the people all we could
+to keep in good spirits and keep moving. We told them we thought we knew
+how to manage to get them safe over the road if they only fully
+endeavored to do it. We were all quite young, and not in the decline of
+life as were most of them who had perished by the way. No reader can
+fully realize how much we had to say and do to keep up courage, and it
+is to this more than anything else that we did which kept up the lagging
+energies and inspired the best exertion. I don't know but we painted
+some things a little brighter than they were, and tried to hide some of
+the most disheartening points of the prospects ahead, for we found the
+mind had most to do with it after all. We have no doubt that if we had
+not done all we could to keep up good courage, the women would have
+pined away and died before reaching this far. Whenever we stopped
+talking encouragingly, they seemed to get melancholy and blue.
+
+There was some pretty good management to be exercised still. The oxen
+were gradually growing weaker, and we had to kill the weakest one every
+time, for if the transportation of our food failed, we should yet be
+open to the danger of starvation. As it was, the meat on their frames
+was very scarce, and we had to use the greatest economy to make it last
+and waste nothing. We should now have to kill one of our oxen every few
+days, as our other means of subsistence had been so completely used up.
+The women contracted a strange dislike to this region and said they
+never wanted to see any part of it again.
+
+As the sun showed its face over the great sea of mountains away to the
+east of Death Valley, and it seemed to rise very early for winter season
+we packed up and started west on the big trail. Rogers and I took the
+oxen and mule and went on, leaving the others to accompany Old Crump and
+his little charges. Arcane had found it best to carry Charley on his
+back, as it relieved the burning sensation, caused by the eruption on
+his skin, which was aggravated by the close quarters of the pockets.
+Thus leaving the pockets unbalanced, Bennett had to carry his baby also.
+This made it harder for them, but every one tried to be just as
+accommodating as they could and each one would put himself to trouble to
+accommodate or relieve others.
+
+Rogers and I made camp when we reached the proper place which was some
+distance from the mountain, on a perfectly level plain where there was
+no water, no grass, nothing but sage brush would grow on the dry and
+worthless soil. We let the oxen go and eat as much of this as they
+chose, which was very little and only enough to keep them from absolute
+starvation. The great trail had a branch near here that turned north,
+and went up a ravine that would seem to reach the snow in a little
+while. This was believed to be impassable at this time of year. This
+route is known as Walker's Pass, leading over a comparatively low ridge,
+and coming out the south fork of the Kern River.
+
+We made our camp here because it was as long a march as the women could
+make, and, for a dry one, was as good a location as we could find. The
+cool breeze came down from the snow to the north of us, not so very many
+miles away, and after a little it became uncomfortably cold. We gathered
+greasewood bushes and piled them up to make a wind-break for our heads.
+The oxen, even, would come and stand around the fire, seeming greatly to
+enjoy the warm smoke, which came from burning the greasewood brush,
+which by the way, burns about the best of any green wood. When we were
+ready to lie down we tied the animals to bunches of brush, and they lay
+contentedly till morning.
+
+To the north of us, a few miles away we could see some standing, columns
+of rock, much reminding one of the great stone chimney of the boiler
+house at Stanford Jr., University; not quite so trim and regular in
+exterior appearance, but something in that order. We reckon the only
+students in the vicinity would be lizards.
+
+When the women arrived in camp they were very tired, but encouraged
+themselves that they were much nearer the promised land than they were
+in the morning. Mrs. Bennett said she was very careful never to take a
+step backward, and to make every forward one count as much as possible.
+"That's a good resolution, Sally," said Mr Bennett. "Stick to it and we
+will come out by and bye."
+
+From near this camp we have a low range of mountains to cross, a sort of
+spur or offshoot of the great snow mountain that reaches out twenty
+miles or more to the southeast, and its extremity divides away into what
+seems from our point of view a level plain. We had attained quite an
+elevation without realizing it, so gradual had been the ascent, and our
+course was now down a steep hillside and into a deep cañon. In its very
+bottom we found a small stream of water only a few yards long, and then
+it sank into the sands. Not a spear of grass grew there, and if any had
+grown it had been eaten by the cattle which had gone before. This was
+the same place, where Rogers and I had overtaken the advance portion of
+the Jayhawkers when we were on our outward trip in search of relief, and
+where some of the older men were so discouraged that they gave us their
+home addresses in Illinois so that we could notify their friends of
+their precarious situation, and if they were never otherwise heard from
+they could be pretty sure they had perished from thirst and starvation
+when almost at their journey's end.
+
+The scenes of this camp on that occasion made so strong an impression on
+my memory that I can never forget it. There were poor dependent fellows
+without a morsel to eat except such bits of poor meat as they could beg
+from those who were fortunate enough to own oxen. Their tearful
+pleadings would soften a heart of stone. We shared with some of them
+even when we did not know the little store upon our backs would last us
+through. Our oxen here had water to drink, but nothing more. It might be
+a little more comfortable to drink and starve, than both choke and
+starve, but these are no very pleasant prospects in either one.
+
+Both ourselves and the oxen were getting barefoot and our feet very
+tender. The hill we had just come down was very rough and rocky and our
+progress very slow, every step made in a selected spot. We could not
+stop here to kill an ox and let the remainder of them starve, but must
+push on to where the living ones could get a little food. We fastened
+the oxen and the mule to keep them from wandering, and slept as best we
+could. The women and children looked worse than for some time, and could
+not help complaining. One of the women held up her foot and the sole was
+bare and blistered. She said they ached like toothache. The women had
+left their combs in the wagons, and their hair was getting seriously
+tangled. Their dresses were getting worn off pretty nearly to their
+knees, and showed the contact with the ground that sometimes could not
+be avoided. They were in a sad condition so far as toilet and raiment
+were concerned. Life was in the balance, however, and instead of talking
+over sad things, we talked of the time when we would reach the little
+babbling brook where Rogers and I took such long draughts of clear,
+sweet water and the waiter at our dinner gave us the choice of _Crow_,
+_Hawk_ or _Quail_, and where we took a little of all three.
+
+[Illustation: Pulling the Oxen Down the Precipice.]
+
+In the morning we were off again down the cañon, limping some as we trod
+its coarse gravelly bed with our tender feet and stiffened joints, but
+getting limbered up a little after a bit, and enduring it pretty well.
+We set out to try to reach the bunch of willows out on the level plain,
+where the cattle could get some water and grass, but night overtook us
+at the mouth of the cañon, and we were forced to go into camp. This
+cañon is now called Red Cañon. This was on an elevated plain, with a
+lake near by, but as we had been so often deceived by going to the lake
+for water, and finding them salt in every instance, or poison on account
+of strong alkali, we did not take the trouble to go and try this one.
+
+Near us was some coarse grass and wet ground where we found water enough
+for our moderate use, and the oxen, by perseverance, could get something
+to eat and drink. After supper we were out of meat and we would have to
+kill an ox to get some food for breakfast. In the night a storm came on,
+much to our surprise, for we had seen none since the night on the
+mountain east of Death Valley more than two months before. We tried to
+fix up a shelter to protect the children and ourselves, but were not
+very successful. We tried to use our guns for tent poles, but could not
+keep them in place. We laid down as close as pigs in cold weather, and
+covered up as best we could, but did not keep dry, and morning found us
+wet to the skin, cold and shivering. We gathered big sage brush for a
+fire in the morning, and the tracks of our nearly bare feet could be
+plainly seen in the snow which lay like a blanket awhile over the
+ground, about two inches deep. Some lay in bed and we warmed blankets
+before the fire and put over them to keep them comfortable till the sun
+should rise and warm the air. We selected an ox and brought him up
+before the fire where I shot him, and soon there was meat roasting over
+the fire and blood cooking in the camp kettle. We had nothing to season
+the blood pudding with but salt, and it was not very good, but answered
+to sustain life. We ate a hasty meal, then packed our animals and
+started for the willow patch about four miles away. The snow was about
+gone.
+
+I staid in camp to keep it till they could get through to the willows
+and some one to come back with the mule to carry forward the portion of
+meat that could not be taken at first. We intended to dry it at the
+willows, and then we could carry it along as daily food over the wide
+plain we had yet to cross. Having carried the meat forward, we made a
+rack of willows and dried it over the fire, making up a lot of moccasins
+for the barefooted ones while we waited. We were over most of the rocky
+road, we calculated that our shoemaking would last us through. This was
+a very pleasant camp. The tired ones were taking a rest. No one needed
+it more than our women and children, who were tired nearly out. They
+were in much better condition to endure their daily hardships than when
+they started out, and a little rest would make them feel quite fresh
+again. They understood that this was almost on the western edge of this
+desert country and this gave them good hope and courage.
+
+This wonderful spot in the level plain, with a spring of pure water
+making an oasis of green willows and grass has been previously spoken of
+as:--"A spring of good water, and a little willow patch in a level
+desert away from any hill." In all our wanderings we had never seen the
+like before. No mountaineer would ever think of looking here for water,
+much less ever dream of finding a lone spring away out in the desert,
+several miles from the mountain's base. Where the range we just came
+through leaves the mother mountain stands a peak, seemingly alone, and
+built up of many colored rocks, in belts, and the whole looks as if
+tipped with steel.
+
+Arcane's boy Charley still suffered from his bogus measles or whatever
+else his disorder might be, and Bennett's little Martha grew more quiet
+and improved considerably in health, though still unable to walk, and
+still abdominally corpulent. The other two children George and Melissa
+seemed to bear up well and loved to get off and walk in places where the
+trail was smooth and level. Bennett, Arcane and Old Crump usually
+traveled with the same party as the women, and as each of them had a
+small canteen to carry water, they could attend to the wants of the
+children and keep them from worrying and getting sick from fretfulness.
+They often carried the two younger ones on their backs to relieve and
+rest them from their cramped position on the ox.
+
+Arcane used to say he expected the boys--meaning Rogers and I--would try
+to surprise the party by letting them get very near the house before
+they knew how near they were. "Be patient Mr. Arcane," said we, "we can
+tell you just how many camps there must be before we reach it, and we
+won't fool you or surprise you in any way." "Well," said he. "I was
+almost in hopes you would, for I like to be disappointed in that way."
+"What do you think the folks will say when we tell them that our little
+mule packed most of the meat of an ox four miles from one camp to
+another?" "What will they say when we tell them that the oxen were so
+poor that there was no marrow in the great thigh bones?" Instead of
+marrow there was a thick dark liquid something like molasses in
+consistency, but streaked with different colors which made it look very
+unwholesome. Arcane said the whole story was so incredible, that he
+never should fight anyone, even if he should tell him he lied when he
+related the strange sad truth. He said he had no doubt many a one would
+doubt their story, it was so much beyond what people had ever seen or
+heard of before, and they might be accused of very strong romancing in
+the matter.
+
+They all felt more like talking; for we were thus far safe and sound,
+and though there was a desperate struggle of seventy-five miles or more,
+from this place to the next water in the foot-hills. Possibly the snow
+storms had left a little in some of the pools, but we made no
+calculations on any. The promised land we had so steadily been
+approaching, and now comparatively so near, gave us great hope, which
+was better than food and drink to give us strength.
+
+There were surely two camps between this and the little pond John and I
+found, among the Cabbage trees, and not more than six by ten feet
+square. As we worked away at our foot-wear we talked more in an hour
+than we had in a whole day before. We were slowly leaving Death Valley
+behind us with its sad memories and sufferings. We were leaving behind
+the dead bodies of several who had traveled with us and been just as
+strong and hopeful as we. We had left behind us all in our possession in
+that terrible spot, and simply with our lives we hoped to escape, and
+trust to Providence and humanity on the other side. Arcane now admitted
+that they could not have got along half as well, if we had not gone
+ahead and looked out the land. It was such a gain to know exactly where
+the next water hole was, so it could be steered for and struggled
+toward. He even went so far as to say they would have no chance alone,
+and that as he now saw the road, he was sure they have would all
+perished even before reaching as far as this. We had strong hopes of the
+morrow, when we would be all rested, all were shod, and would make every
+footstep count in our western progress.
+
+It seems quite a strange occurrence that the only two storms we had had
+since we turned westward on this route, Nov. 4th, were snow storms, and
+that both had come while we were asleep, so that all our days were
+cloudless. Sometimes the sun was uncomfortably warm even in the heart of
+the winter. One would have naturally expected that the great rainfall
+all over the California coast in the winter of 1849-50, and the deep
+snows that came in the Sierra Nevada mountains the same winter, would
+have extended southerly the few hundred miles that separated the two
+places. Modern science has shown the tracks of the storms and partially
+explains the reasons for this dry and barren nature of this region. When
+rains do come they are so out of the regular order, that they are called
+cloud-bursts or waterspouts, and the washes in the cañons and their
+mouths show how great has been the volume of water that sometimes rushed
+down the slope. If clouds at a warm or moderate temperature float
+against these snow peaks all the water they contain is suddenly
+precipitated. The country is an arid one and unless wealth should appear
+in the shape of mines, the country can never be inhabited. We considered
+ourselves very fortunate in finding the little pools and holes of water
+which kept us alive. It was not very good drinking water, but to us
+thirsty folks it was a blessing and we never passed it by on account of
+any little stagnant bitter taste. Salt water we could not drink of
+course, though we sometimes used it to cook with.
+
+We were as well prepared next morning as possible for a move, and the
+long walk before us, the last one between us and the fertile land. They
+all talked of how delighted they would be to see once more a running
+brook, green grass and trees, and such signs of life as they had seen
+and been used to in the good land they had left behind. The women said
+they could endure the march of four or five days, if when all over, they
+could sleep off the terrible fatigue and for once drink all the pure
+sweet water they could desire. No more forced marches. No more grey
+road, stretching out its dusty miles as far as the eye could reach. The
+ladies thought the oxen would be as happy as themselves, and the little
+mule, the most patient one of the whole train deserved a life of ease
+for her valuable services. This little black, one-eyed lady wandered
+here and there at will seeking for grass, but never going astray or
+getting far enough from the track to alarm us in the least. She seldom
+drank much water, was always ready, never got foot-sore, and seemed made
+expressly for such a life and for such a desert.
+
+A good kettleful of soup for breakfast, dried meat fixed in packages,
+kegs and canteens filled with water, and we were ready for an advance.
+
+There is one less ox to lead, and very little load for those we have,
+still the load is all such poor weak fellows ought to bear. Old Crump
+was not thus favored by a gradually lightened load. He bore the same
+four children every day, faithfully, carefully, with never a stumble nor
+fall, as though fully aware of the precious nature of his burden.
+
+In this new march John and I took the oxen and pushed on as usual,
+leaving the families to follow on, at a slower pace, the trail we made.
+The trail was slightly inclined. The bushes stunted at the best, getting
+smaller as we proceeded, and the horse bones, new and ancient are now
+thickly scattered along the way. The soil is different from that we have
+had. We can see the trail, winding gently here and there, swept clean by
+the wind, and the surface is hard and good; but when the mule gets the
+least bit off of it she sinks six inches deep into the soft sand, and
+the labor of walking is immense. I stepped out to examine the peculiar
+soil, and found it finer than superfine flour. It was evident that a
+strong wind would lift it in vast clouds which might even darken the
+sky, but we were fortunate in this respect, for during all the time we
+were on this peculiar soil, there was no wind at all, and we escaped a
+sand-storm, a sort of storm as peculiar to this region as are blizzards
+to some of the states of the great west.
+
+Our first night's camp was out on the barren waterless plain, now known
+as the Mojave Desert. There were no shrubs large enough to make a fire
+of, and nothing to tie our cattle to, so we fastened all our animals
+together to keep them from scattering and getting lost. We ate a little
+dry meat and drank sparingly of the water, for our scanty stock was to
+last us another day, when we might reach prospective water holes.
+Starting early, John and I took all but Old Crump and the other
+travelers, and hurried on to try and find the water holes as early as
+possible. We, as well as the oxen were very dry, for we left all the
+water we had with the party, for the children, for they cannot endure
+the thirst as the older people can. We reached the camping place before
+night. Quite a time before we reached it, the cattle seemed to scent the
+water and quickened their pace, so we were confident it had not dried
+up. We got ahead of the oxen and kept there until we reached the little
+pond and then guarded it to keep them from wading into it, in their
+eagerness to reach some drink. They all satisfied their thirst, and then
+we removed the harness, built a fire of the dead cabbage trees which we
+found round about, laid down the beds and arranged them neatly, and had
+all nicely done before the rear guard came up, in charge of Captain
+Crump. The party was eager for water and all secured it. It was rain
+water and no doubt did not quench thirst as readily as water from some
+living spring or brook. There was evidence that there had been a recent
+shower or snow to fill this depression up for our benefit. The
+Jayhawkers had passed not more than a half mile north of this spot, but
+no sign appeared that they had found it, and it was left to sustain the
+lives of the women and children.
+
+It often occurs to me that many may read incredulously when I speak of
+our party eating the entire flesh of an ox in four or five days. To such
+I will say that one cannot form an idea how poor an ox will get when
+nearly starved so long. Months had passed since they had eaten a
+stomachful of good nutritious food. The animals walked slowly with heads
+down nearly tripping themselves up with their long, swinging legs. The
+skin loosely covered the bones, but all the flesh and muscles had shrunk
+down to the smallest space. The meat was tough and stringy as basswood
+bark, and tasted strongly of bitter sage brush the cattle had eaten at
+almost every camp. At a dry camp the oxen would lie down and grate their
+teeth, but they had no cud to chew. It looked almost merciless to shoot
+one down for food, but there was no alternative. We killed our poor
+brute servants to save ourselves. Our cattle found a few bunches out
+among the trees at this camp and looked some better in the morning. They
+had secured plenty of water and some grass.
+
+Young Charlie Arcane seemed to grow worse rather than better. His whole
+body was red as fire, and he screamed with the pain and torment of the
+severe itching. Nothing could be done to relieve him, and if his
+strength lasted till we could get better air, water and food he might
+recover, but his chances were very poor.
+
+Not much rest at this camp for in the morning we aimed to start early
+and reach the water in the foothills. We thought we could do it if we
+started early, walked rapidly and took no resting spell at noon. Such a
+poor soil as this we were anxious to get away from, and walk once more
+on a soil that would grow something besides stunted sage brush. From all
+appearances the Jayhawkers were here in about the same predicament
+Rogers and I were when we lost the trail. By their tracks we could see
+they had scattered wide and there was no road left for us to follow, and
+they had evidently tried to follow our former tracks. Having no trail to
+follow we passed on as best we could and came to a wide piece of land on
+which were growing a great many cabbage trees. The soil was of the
+finest dust with no grit in it, and not long before a light shower had
+fallen, making it very soft and hard to get along in with the moccasins.
+The women had to stop to rest frequently, so our progress was very slow.
+Rogers and I had feet about as hard as those of the oxen, so we removed
+our moccasins and went barefoot, finding we could get along much easier
+in that way, but the others had such tender feet they could not endure
+the rough contact with the brush and mud. Only a few miles had been made
+before the women were so completely tired out that we had to stop and
+eat our little bit of dried meat and wait till morning. The little mule
+now carried all our stock of food, and the precious burden lightened
+every day. This delay was not expected, but we had to endure it and bear
+it patiently, for there was a limit to strength of the feeble ones of
+our party. We had therefore to make another barren camp. Relief seemed
+so near at hand we kept good courage and talked freely of the happy
+ending which would soon come. If we had any way to set a good table we
+would feast and be merry like the prodigal son, but at any rate we shall
+be safe if we can reach the fertile shore.
+
+When the sun went down we tied the mule and oxen to cabbage trees, and
+shortly after dusk lay down ourselves, for we had enjoyed a good fire
+made of the trunks of cabbage trees, the first really comfortable one in
+a long time. The air was cooler here, for we were on higher ground, and
+there was some snow on the range of mountains before us, which sent
+these cool breezes down to us, a change of climate quite pleasing.
+
+For breakfast in the morning we had only dried meat roasted before the
+fire, without water, and when we started each one put a piece in his or
+her pocket to chew on during the day as we walked along. As we went
+ahead the ground grew dryer and the walking much improved. The morning
+overhead was perfectly lovely, as away east, across the desert the sun
+early showed his face to us. Not a cloud anywhere, not even over the
+tops of the high peaks where great white masses sometimes cluster but
+dissolve as soon as they float away, and there was not wind enough to be
+perceptible. We remarked the same lack of animal life which we had
+noticed on our first passage over this section, seeing not a rabbit,
+bird, or living thing we could use for food. Bennett had the same load
+in his gun he put there when we left the wagons, and all the powder I
+had burned was that used in killing the oxen we had slain whenever it
+became necessary to provide for our barren kitchen.
+
+As we approached the low foot-hills the trail became better travelled
+and better to walk in, for the Jayhawkers who had scattered, every one
+for himself apparently, in crossing the plain, seemed here to have drawn
+together and their path was quite a beaten one. We saw from this that
+they followed the tracks made by Rogers and myself as we made our first
+trip westward in search of bread. Quite a little before the sun went out
+of sight in the west we reached our camping place in the lower hills at
+the eastern slope of a range we must soon cross. Here was some standing
+water in several large holes, that proved enough for our oxen, and they
+found some large sage brush and small bushes round about, on which they
+browsed and among which they found a few bunches of grass. Lying about
+were some old skulls of cattle which had sometime been killed, or died.
+These were the first signs of the sort we had seen along this route.
+They might have been killed by Indians who doubtless used this trail.
+
+The next day in crossing the range before us, we reached the edge of the
+snow, which the sun had softened, and we dare not attempt to cross.
+Early in the morning, when it was frozen hard the cattle could travel it
+very well. The snow belt was five or six miles wide, and the snow two or
+three feet deep. This was a very good camping place except that we had
+to melt snow for all our water, but this being coarse and icy it was not
+a great job as we found enough dry juniper trees and twigs to make a
+very good fire. Here we also had to kill another ox. This one in its
+turn was Arcane's, and left him only two, and Bennett three, but we
+think that if we have no accident we shall get them along with us till
+we can get other food, as they have very light loads to pack. When the
+ox is killed and the meat prepared the mule has, for a time, a larger
+load than all the oxen have, but seems content and nips a bite of food
+whenever it can see a chance anywhere along the road, giving us no more
+trouble than a dog. And by the way, I think I have not mentioned our
+faithful camp dog, a worthy member of our party who stood watch always
+and gave us a sure alarm if anything unusual happened anywhere about. He
+was perhaps only one of a hundred that tried to cross the plains and had
+to be abandoned when they reached the upper Platte, where the alkali
+dust made their feet so sore they could not travel, and as they could
+not be hauled on wagons they were left behind. But this dog Cuff did not
+propose to be left behind to starve, and crippled along after us, we
+doing all we could for him, and proved as tough as the best of us.
+Bennett and I had trained him as a hunting dog in the East, and he was
+very knowing and handy in every particular.
+
+We were out of this camp at daylight. Very little rest for some of us,
+but we must make the best of the cool morning while the snow is hard,
+and so move on as soon as we can see the way. As it gets lighter and the
+sun comes up red and hot out of the desert we have a grand view of the
+great spread of the country to south and of the great snow mountain to
+the north and east, the peak standing over the place where we left our
+wagons nineteen days before, on the edge of Death Valley. The glare of
+the snow on the sun makes us nearly blind, but we hurry on to try to
+cross it before it becomes so soft as to slump under our feet. It is two
+or three feet in the deepest places, and probably has been three times
+as deep when freshly fallen, but it is now solid and icy. Our rawhide
+moccasins protect our feet from cold, and both we and the animals got
+along fairly well, the oxen breaking through occasionally as the snow
+softened up, but generally walking on the top as we did ourselves. The
+snow field reached much farther down the western slope than we had
+hoped, much farther than on the eastern side. Before we got out of it,
+we saw the track of some animal which had crossed our route, but as it
+had been made some days before and now could be seen only as some holes
+in the surface, we could not determine what sort of an animal it was.
+
+A mile or two down the hill we were at last out of the snow, and a
+little farther on we came to the little babbling brook Rogers and I had
+so long painted in the most refreshing colors to the tired women, with
+water, wood and grass on every hand, the three greatest blessings of a
+camper's life. Here was where Rogers and I had cooked and eaten our meat
+of crow, quail and hawk, pretty hard food, but then, the blessed water!
+
+There it danced and jumped over the rocks singing the merriest song one
+ever heard, as it said--Drink, drink ye thirsty ones your fill--the
+happiest sweetest music to the poor starved, thirsty souls, wasted down
+almost to haggard skeletons. O! if some poet of wildest imagination
+could only place himself in the position of those poor tired travelers
+to whom water in thick muddy pools had been a blessing, who had eagerly
+drank the fluid even when so salt and bitter us to be repulsive, and now
+to see the clear, pure liquid, distilled from the crystal snow,
+abundant, free, filled with life and health--and write it in words--the
+song of that joyous brook and set it to the music that it made as it
+echoed in gentle waves from the rocks and lofty walls, and with the
+gentle accompaniment of rustling trees--a soft singing hush, telling of
+rest, and peace, and happiness.
+
+New life seemed to come to the dear women. "O! What a beautiful stream!"
+say they, and they dip in a tin cup and drink, then watch in dreaming
+admiration the water as it goes hurrying down; then dip and drink again,
+and again watch the jolly rollicking brook as if it were the most
+entertaining thing in the whole wide earth. "Why can't such a stream as
+that run out of the great Snow Mountain in the dry Death Valley?" say
+they--"so we could get water on the way."
+
+The men have felt as glad as any of them, but have gathered wood and
+made a fire, and now a camp kettle of cut up meat is boiling for our
+supper. It was not yet night, but we must camp in so beautiful a place
+as this, and though the food was poor, we were better off than we had
+been before.
+
+Bennett proposed that I take the mule and go back to where we saw the
+track of the animal in the snow and follow it in hope that we might get
+some game for we had an idea it might be an elk or bear or some large
+game, good to kill and give us better meat: So I saddled the mule and
+took the trail back till I came to the track, then followed it as best I
+could, for it was very dull and gave me no idea what it was. I traced
+out of the snow and then in a blind way through bushes as high as the
+mule's back--Chaparral we called it now--among which I made my way with
+difficulty. I could now see that the track was made by an ox or
+cow--perhaps an elk--I could not tell for sure it was so faint. This
+chaparral covered a large piece of table land, and I made my way through
+it, following the track for a mile or two, till I came to the
+top of a steep hill sloping down into a deep cañon and a creek, on the
+bank of which grew sycamore and alder trees, with large willows. I
+stopped here some minutes to see if I could see or hear the movement of
+of anything. Across the creek I could see a small piece of perhaps half
+an acre of natural meadow, and in it some small bunches of sycamore
+trees. After a little I discovered some sort of a horned animal there,
+and I reckoned this was good enough game for me to try and capture, so
+led the mule out to one side and down the hill near the creek, then tied
+her, and crept along the bank, about four feet high, toward the little
+meadow. When about right, as I thought, I climbed up behind a bunch of
+sycamores, and when I slowly and cautiously raised up I was within fifty
+yards of a cow or steer of some sort which I could dimly see. I put a
+ball square in its forehead and it fell without a struggle. I loaded
+again quick as possible, and there saw two other smaller cattle stepping
+very high as though terrified, but not aware of the nature or location
+of the danger. I gave a low whistle and one of them looked toward me
+long enough for me to put a ball in it. The third one was now behind a
+clump of sycamores, and I soon saw its face through a little opening not
+more than three inches wide. I made a shot, and wounded it, and then
+rushed up and gave it a fatal one.
+
+I examined my game and found the first one was a poor old cow, but the
+others were yearlings, one of them very fat and nice, and I soon had the
+hind quarters skinned out, and all the fat I could find, which made a
+big load for the mule. It was now almost dark, and the next problem was
+to get back to camp again. The brushy hills would be terrible to cross
+with a load of meat, and by the way the ground lay I concluded our camp
+was on this same creek farther down.
+
+The only way that seemed at all feasible was to follow the course of the
+stream if possible, rather than return the course over which I had come.
+There were so many bushes and trees along the bank that I had to take to
+the bed and follow in the water, and as it was rocky and rough, and so
+dark I could not see well how to step, I stumbled into holes and pools
+up to my waist, wet as a rat. Coming to a small open place I decided I
+had better camp for the night and not attempt further progress in the
+darkness, and the decision was hastened by dark clouds, which began to
+gather and a few sprinkles of rain began to come. There was a good patch
+of grass for the mule, but all was uncomfortable for me, with the
+prospect for a rainy night, but as wood was plenty I decided to make a
+fire and take the chances. I looked for matches and scratched one. No
+go--they were damp, and scratch as careful and quickly as I could, there
+was no answering spark or flame, and darkness reigned supreme. A camp
+without a fire in this wet place was not to be thought of, so I
+concluded I might as well be slowly working my way down along the
+stream, through thick brush and cold water, as to sit here in the cold
+and wait.
+
+So the little mule and I started on, wading the creek in thick darkness,
+getting only the most dim reflected light from the sky through now and
+then an opening in the trees. I did not know then how easy it was for a
+grizzly to capture myself, the mule and meat and have quite a variety
+for supper. But the grizzly stayed at home and we followed on through
+brambles and hard brush, through which it was almost impossible to force
+one's way. As it turned out, I was not in the track of the storm and did
+not suffer much from it. Soon the cañon grew wider, and I could make out
+on the right hand a piece of table land covered with brush that seemed
+easier to get through than the creek bed.
+
+The hill up to the table land was very steep, but not more than fifty
+yards high, and when the mule tried to get up she got along very well
+till near the top, when she slipped in the wet earth and never stopped
+till she reached the bottom and lay down. She was helped up to her feet
+again and we tried it in another place, I holding her from slipping when
+she stopped to rest, and at last we reached the top. The mule started
+on, seeming to follow a trail, but I could not see whether there was a
+trail or not, so thick was the darkness, but there was evidently
+something of the kind, for the brush was two or three feet high and very
+thick.
+
+After proceeding some distance the mule stopped and did not seem to wish
+to go any farther. I was pretty sure there was something in front of her
+that blocked the way, and so worked my way through the brush and
+carefully past her. I could partly see and partly hear something just
+ahead, and in a moment found it was our good faithful Cuff, and no
+frightful spook at all. The good fellow had discovered our approach and
+came out to meet us, and I am sure the mule was as glad as I was to see
+him. He crawled through the brush and smelled at the mule's load and
+then went forward in the trail, which we followed. It was a long time
+after midnight when we reached camp. There was a good fire burning, but
+all were asleep till I led the mule up to the fire and called out--"Wake
+Up," when they were most of them on their feet in a minute without
+stopping to dress, for all had slept a long time without taking off
+their clothes.
+
+John took charge of the mule and unloaded it, telling me to get into his
+warm bed. I took off my wet clothes and told him to dry them, and then
+got between the dry, warm blankets in greatest comfort. Daylight came
+very quickly, it seemed to me, and before I finally rose, the sun had
+been up some hours before me. Before I fell asleep I could hear the
+women say, as they cut off the pieces of meat to roast--"See the fat!
+Only see how nice it is!" Quickly roasted on the coals they ate the
+delicate morsels with a relish and, most of all, praised the sweet fat.
+"We like to have it all fat," said they, showing how their system craved
+the nourishment the poor starved beef could not give. No one went to bed
+after I came, but all sat and roasted meat and ate till they were
+satisfied.
+
+This sporting trip was quite different from deer hunting in Wisconsin,
+and nothing like looking for game in Death Valley where nothing lived.
+It was the hardest night's work that ever came to me in many a day, and
+not the wild sport I generally looked for when on the chase. I felt
+pretty well when I got up, and a chunk of my last night's prize which
+had been toasted for me was eaten with a relish, for it was the best of
+meat and I, of course, had a first class appetite. I had to tell them my
+last hunting story, and was much praised as a lucky boy.
+
+We would not be compelled to kill any more of our poor oxen in order to
+live. So far we had killed six of them, and there were five left. Our
+present situation was much appreciated, compared with that of a few days
+ago when we were crawling slowly over the desert, hungry, sore-footed
+and dry, when to lie was far easier than to take steps forward. We felt
+like rejoicing at our deliverance and there was no mourning now for us.
+The surrounding hills and higher mountains seemed more beautiful to us.
+They were covered with green trees and brush, not a desert place in
+sight. The clear little singing brook ran merrily on its way, the
+happiest, brightest stream in all my memory. Wild birds came near us
+without fear, and seemed very friendly. All was calm, and the bright
+sunshine exactly warm enough so that no one could complain of heat or
+cold.
+
+When ready to move it was announced that I had lost my saddle blanket in
+my adventure, so they substituted another one and I took the back track
+to the place where the mule slipped down the bank, and there I found it.
+I soon overtook them again just as they were going to camp on Mrs.
+Bennett's account, as she had been suddenly taken sick with severe pain
+and vomiting, something as Rogers and I had been after eating our first
+California corn meal. The rich, fat meat was too strong for her weak
+stomach.
+
+Arcane all along had an idea that Rogers and I meant to surprise them by
+leading them to believe the house we had visited was quite a distance
+off, and then to so manage it that it should appear upon their sight
+suddenly. We assured them it would take two or more camps before we
+could get there, and if Mrs. Bennett did not soon recover, even more
+than that. Our camp here was under a great live oak, the ground deep
+covered with dry leaves, and near by a beautiful meadow where our cattle
+and mule ate, drank and rested, the oxen chewing their cud with such an
+air of comfort as had not come to them since leaving their far-off
+eastern pastures. They seemed as much pleased as any one. They would lie
+down and rest and eat at the same time in perfectly enjoyable laziness.
+
+Here we all rested and washed such clothes as we could do without long
+enough to dry, and washed our faces and hands over and over again to
+remove the dirt which had been burned and sweated in so completely as
+not to come off readily. We sat on the bank of the brook with our feet
+dangling in the water, a most refreshing bath, and they too began to
+look clean again. We often saw tracks of the grizzly bear about, but in
+our ignorance had no fear of them, for we did not know they were a
+dangerous animal. An owl came and hooted in the night, but that was the
+only challenge any wild beast or bird gave to our peaceful and restful
+camp. We were out of the dreadful sands and shadows of Death Valley, its
+exhausting phantoms, its salty columns, bitter lakes and wild, dreary
+sunken desolation. If the waves of the sea could flow in and cover its
+barren nakedness, as we now know they might if a few sandy barriers were
+swept away, it would be indeed, a blessing, for in it there is naught of
+good, comfort or satisfaction, but ever in the minds of those who braved
+its heat and sands, a thought of a horrid Charnel house, a corner of the
+earth so dreary that it requires an exercise of strongest faith to
+believe that the great Creator ever smiled upon it as a portion of his
+work and pronounced it "Very good." We had crossed the great North
+American Continent, from a land of plenty, over great barren hills and
+plains, to another mild and beautiful region, where, though still in
+winter months, we were basking in the warmth and luxuriance of early
+summer. We thought not of the gold we had come to win. We were dead
+almost, and now we lived. We were parched with thirst, and now the
+brightest of crystal streams invited us to stoop and drink. We were
+starved so that we had looked at each other with maniac thoughts, and
+now we placed in our mouth the very fat of the land. We had seen our
+cattle almost perishing; seen them grow gaunt and tottering; seen them
+slowly plod along with hanging heads and only the supremacy of human
+will over animal instinct had kept them from lying down never to rise
+again. Now they were in pastures of sweet grass, chewing the cud of
+content and satisfaction. Life which had been a burden grew sweet to us,
+and though it may be that our words of praise to Him, whose will was to
+deliver us out of the jaws of death, were not set nor formal, yet His
+all-seeing eye saw the truth in our hearts, and saw there the fullest
+expression of our gratitude and thankfulness. Who shall say the thanks
+that arose were less acceptable, because not given on bended knees
+before gilded altars?
+
+Though across the desert and evidently in the long promised land our
+troubles and trials were not through by any means, but evidently we were
+out of danger. Our lives seemed to be secure, and we were soon to meet
+with settlers who would no doubt extend to us the hand of human
+sympathy. Many long miles yet remained between us and the rivers in
+whose sands were hidden the tiny grains of gold we came to seek.
+
+The rest in the lovely camp had answered to cause Mrs. Bennett to feel
+quite well again by the next morning, and we made ready to proceed. We
+had the trail of the Jayhawkers to follow, so the vines, brambles and
+tangles which had perplexed Rogers and myself in our first passage were
+now somewhat broken down, and we could get along very well without
+further clearing of the road until the hills came down so close on both
+sides that there was no room except in the very bed of the stream. There
+was no other way, so we waded among after the oxen as best we could.
+Sometimes the women fell down, for a rawhide moccasin soaked soft in
+water was not a very comfortable or convenient shoe, however it might be
+adapted to hot, dry sands. The creek was shaded and the water quite
+cool. The trail, such as it was, crossed the creek often and generally
+was nothing else than the stream itself. The constant wading, and wet,
+cold clothing caused the women to give out soon and we selected the
+first dry suitable place which offered food for the oxen, as a place to
+camp.
+
+Wood was plenty and dry, so a good fire was soon burning, and the poor
+women, wet to the waist and even higher, were standing before it,
+turning round and round to get warm and dry. Someone remarked that they
+resembled geese hanging before the fire to roast, as they slowly
+revolved, and it was all owing to their fatigue that the suggester did
+not receive merited punishment then and there at their hands. As they
+got a little dry and comfortable they remarked that even an excess of
+water like this was better than the desert where there was none at all,
+and as to their looks, there were no society people about to point their
+fingers at them, and when they reached a settled country they hoped to
+have a chance to change their clothes, and get two dresses apiece, and
+that these would be long enough to hide their knees which these poor
+tatters quite failed to do. One remarked that she was sure she had been
+down in the brook a dozen times and that she did not consider cold water
+baths so frequently repeated were good for the health.
+
+Young Charley Arcane had been getting better for some days. No medicine
+had been given him, and it was no doubt the change of air and water that
+had begun to effect a cure. Arcane had a hard time of it to keep the
+brush from pulling George and Melissa off of Old Crump into the water.
+It was indeed one of the hardest day's work of the whole journey, but no
+one was low spirited, and all felt very well. The camping place was in a
+deep cañon, surrounded by thick brush, so that no wind came in to chill
+us. Everybody was cook and nobody was boss. Not a cent of money among
+us, nor any chance to use any if we had possessed it. We had nice,
+sweet, fat meat, cooked rare or well done as each one preferred, and no
+complaints about the waiters. The conditions were so favorable, compared
+with the terrible Death Valley and its surroundings that every one
+remarked about it, and no one felt in the least like finding fault with
+the little inconveniences we were forced to put up with. It might cure
+an inveterate fault-finder to take a course of training in the desert.
+
+The next day we did not wade half as much, and after a few hours of
+travel we suddenly emerged from the brush into a creek bottom which was
+much wider, with not a tree to obstruct our way. The soil was sandy and
+covered more or less with sage brush, and the stream which had been
+strong and deep enough to make us very wet now sank entirely out of
+sight in the sandy bottom. The hills were thinly timbered on the left
+side but quite brushy on the right, and we could see the track of cattle
+in the sand. No signs of other animals, but some small birds came near,
+and meadow larks whistled their tune, quite familiar to us, but still
+sounding slightly different from the song of the same bird in the East.
+High in the air could be seen a large sailing hawk or buzzard.
+
+We stopped to rest at noon and noticed that the water ran a little in
+the creek bed; but, by the time we were ready to start we found none
+with which to fill our canteens. No doubt this water was poured into the
+cañon somewhere near the place where we killed the three cattle, and we
+had got out of it before the flood came down. It was astonishing to see
+how the thirsty sand drank up the quite abundant flow.
+
+The next day we came down to the point of hill that nearly crossed the
+valley, and we crossed the low ridge rather than make a longer trip to
+get around by way of the valley. As we reached the summit there appeared
+before us as beautiful a rural picture as one ever looked upon. A large
+green meadow, of a thousand acres, more or less; its southwest side
+bounded by low mountains, at the base of which oak trees were plenty,
+but no brush or undergrowth. It was like a grand old park, such as we
+read of in English tales. All over the meadow cattle of all sorts and
+sizes grazed, the "Ring-streaked and speckled" of old Jacob's breed
+being very prominent. Some lazily cropped the grass; some still more
+lazily reclined and chewed their cud; while frisky calves exercised
+their muscles in swift races and then secured their dinner from anxious
+mothers. We camped at once and took the loads from all the animals that
+they might feed in comfort on the sweet grass that lay before them.
+
+We tarried here perhaps two hours, till the cattle stopped eating, and
+amply enjoyed the scene. Never again would any one of the party go back
+over that dreary desert, they said, and everyone wondered why all places
+could not be as green and beautiful as this one. I cannot half tell how
+we felt and acted, nor what we said in our delight over this picture of
+plenty. The strong contrasts created strong impressions, and the tongues
+so long silent in our dry and dreary trouble were loosened to say
+everything the heart inspired. Think as much as you can; you cannot
+think it all.
+
+We felt much better after our rest, and the oxen seemed stronger and
+better able, as well as more willing to carry their loads, so we soon
+prepared to move on down the valley, toward the house we had spoken of
+as the goal we were to reach. It was now the 7th day of March 1850, and
+this date, as well as the 4th day of November 1849 will always remain an
+important one in memory. On the last named day we left the trail to take
+the unfortunate cut-off, and for four long months we had wandered and
+struggled in terrible hardship. Every point of that terrible journey is
+indelibly fixed upon my memory and though seventy-three years of age on
+April 6th 1893 I can locate every camp, and if strong enough could
+follow that weary trail from Death Valley to Los Angeles with unerring
+accuracy. The brushy cañon we have just described is now occupied by the
+Southern Pacific Railroad, and the steep and narrow ridge pierced by a
+tunnel, through which the trains pass. The beautiful meadow we so much
+admired has now upon its border a railroad station, Newhall, and at the
+proper season some portion of it is covered with thousands of trays of
+golden apricots, grown in the luxuriant orchards just beyond the hills
+toward the coast, and here drying in the bright summer sun. The cattle
+in the parti-colored coats are gone, but one who knows the ground can
+see our picture.
+
+Loaded up again we start down the beautiful grassy valley, the women
+each with a staff in hand, and everything is new and strange to us.
+Rogers and I know that we will soon meet people who are strangers to us;
+who speak a strange language of which we know nothing, and how we,
+without a dollar, are to proceed to get our food and things we need, are
+questions we cannot answer nor devise any easy way to overcome. The
+mines are yet five hundred miles away, and we know not of any work for
+us to do nearer. Our lives have been given back to us, and now comes the
+problem of how to sustain them manfully and independently as soon as
+possible. If worse comes to worst we can walk to San Francisco, probably
+kill enough game on the way and possibly reach the gold mines at last,
+but the way was not clear. We must trust much to luck and fortune and
+the ever faithful Providence which rarely fails those who truly try to
+help themselves.
+
+We began to think some very independent thoughts. We had a mule to carry
+our camp kettle and meat. Our cattle were now beginning to improve and
+would soon get fat; these could carry our blankets and odd loads, while
+Old Crump the christian could still carry the children; Bennett and I
+knew how to hunt, and had good rifles; so we could still proceed, and we
+determined that, come what may, _we will be victorious_.
+
+These were some of the plans we talked over at our camps and resting
+places, and as we walked along. If we could get the two families fixed
+in some way so they could do without Rogers and I, we could strike for
+the mines quite rapidly and no doubt soon get ourselves on good footing.
+We were younger than the rest and could endure more hardship. We decide
+to remain together till we get to Los Angeles, and then see what is
+best.
+
+We reached our camping place at the foot of the hill, about a hundred
+yards from the house we have so long striven to reach. Here we unloaded
+in the shade of a large willow tree, and scarcely had we removed the
+harness from the oxen when the good lady of the house and her little
+child came down to see us. She stood for a moment and looked around her
+and at the two small children on the blankets, and we could hear her
+murmur _mucha pobre_ (very poor.) She could see our ragged clothes and
+dirty faces and everything told her of our extreme destitution. After
+seeing our oxen and mule which were so poor she said to herself "_flaco,
+flaco_" (so thin.) She then turned to us, Rogers and I, whom she had
+seen before, and as her lively little youngster clung to her dress, as
+if in fear of such queer looking people as we were, she took an orange
+from her pocket and pointing to the children of our party, wanted to
+know if we had given them the four oranges she sent to them by us. We
+made signs that we had done as she requested, when she smiled and said
+"_Buenos Muchachos_" (good boys.) In all this talk neither could say a
+word the other could understand, and the conversation was carried on by
+signs.
+
+Arcane said to her--"Me Catholic" which she seemed partly to comprehend
+and seemed more friendly. About this time two men rode up and took a
+look at us. Arcane, who was a mason, gave the masonic sign, as he told
+me afterward, but neither of them recognized it. We used such words of
+Spanish as I had taken down in my pass book and committed to memory and
+by motions in addition to these made them understand something of the
+state of affairs and that Mr. French who had assisted us before had told
+us we could get some meat (_carne_) from them. These men were finely
+mounted, wore long leggins made of hide, dressed with the hair on, which
+reached to their hips, stiff hats with a broad rim, and great spurs at
+their heels. Each had a coil of braided rawhide rope on the pommel of
+the saddle, and all these arrangements together made a very dashing
+outfit.
+
+They seemed to understand what we had said to them, for they rode off
+with a rush and came back in a short time, leading a fine, fat
+two-year-old heifer. When near our camp the rider who was behind threw
+his _riata_ and caught both hind feet of the animal when by a sudden
+movement of the horses the heifer was thrown. One of them dismounted,
+and at the command the horse backed up and kept the rope tight while the
+man went up to the prostrate beast and cut its throat. As soon as it had
+ceased struggling, they loosened their ropes and coiled them up: they
+came to us and pointed to the dead heifer in a way which said--"Help
+yourselves."
+
+We were much gratified at the generosity of the people, and at once
+dressed the animal as it lay, cutting off some good fat pieces which we
+roasted over the fire and ate with a relish. It seemed as if meat never
+tasted so good as that did sweet, fragrant, and juicy. If some French
+cook could only cook a steak that would smell and taste to his customers
+as that meal tasted to us, his art would be perfect. We separated a hind
+quarter and hung it to a tree, and when the lady came back we told her
+that the piece we had selected was enough for our present use, so she
+caused the remainder with the hide to be taken to the house. Toward
+night they drove up a lot of cows and calves and other cattle into their
+cattle yard or corral, as it is called all over California, a stockade
+of strong oak posts set deep in the ground and close together, enclosing
+a space of about half an acre. The horsemen now rode in and began to
+catch the calves with their ropes. It seemed as if they were able to
+throw a rope over a calf's head or around either leg they desired, with
+better aim, and at as great a distance as one could shoot a Colt's
+revolver, and we saw at once that a good raw-hide rope, in the hands of
+an experienced man and well-trained horse, was a weapon in many respects
+superior to firearms of any kind. A man near the gate loosened the ropes
+and pushed the calves into a separate corral till they had as many as
+they desired.
+
+Rogers watched the circus till it was over and then returned to camp,
+meeting on the way Bennett and Arcane, with their wives and children,
+carrying some blankets, for the good lady had invited them to come up to
+the house and sleep. They said we could go down and keep camp if old dog
+Cuff was willing, for they had left him guarding the property. He was
+pleased enough to have us come and keep him company, and we slept
+nicely, disturbed only a little by the barking of the house dogs and the
+hooting of an owl that came to visit our tree.
+
+The people came back to camp in the morning and had their experience to
+relate. Their hosts first baked some kind of flapjacks and divided them
+among their guests; then gave them beans seasoned hot with pepper: also
+great pieces of squash cooked before the fire, which they said was
+delicious and sweet--more than good. Then came a dish of dried meat
+pounded fine, mixed with green peppers and well fried in beef tallow.
+This seemed to be the favorite dish of the proprietors, but was a little
+too hot for our people. They called it _chili cum carne_--meat with
+pepper--and we soon found this to be one of the best dishes cooked by
+the Californians. The children were carefully waited on and given
+special attention to by these good people, and it was nearly ten o'clock
+before the feast was over: then the household had evening worship by
+meeting in silence, except a few set words repeated by some in turn, the
+ceremony lasting half an hour or more. Then they came and wished them
+_buenos noches_ in the most polite manner and left them to arrange their
+blankets on the floor and go to sleep.
+
+The unaccustomed shelter of a roof and the restless worrying of the
+children, who required much attention, for the change of diet had about
+the same effect on them as on Rogers and myself when we first partook of
+the California food, gave them little sleep, but still they rested and
+were truly grateful for the most perfect hospitality of these kind
+hearted people.
+
+In the morning the two horsemen and two Indians went to the corral, when
+the riders would catch a cow with their ropes and draw her head up to a
+post, binding it fast, while an Indian took a short piece of rope and
+closely tied the hind legs together above the gambrel joint, making the
+tail fast also. They had a large bucket and several gourds. The Indians
+then milked the cows they had made fast, getting from a pint to two
+quarts from each one, milking into a gourd and pouring into the bucket
+till they had all they desired. The calves were separated the night
+before so they could secure some milk. Cows were not trained to stand
+and be milked as they were at home. Setting down the bucket of milk
+before us, with some small gourds for dippers, we were invited to drink
+all we wished. This was a regular banquet to us, for our famished
+condition and good appetites made food relish wonderfully.
+
+When we made a sign of wishing to pay them for their great kindness they
+shook their heads and utterly refused. It was genuine sympathy and
+hospitality on their part, and none of us ever forgot it; the sight of a
+native Californian has always brought out thoughts of these good people,
+and respect and thankfulness to the race. This rancho, at which we were
+so kindly entertained was called San Francisquito, or Little San
+Francisco Rancho.
+
+This morning Mr. Arcane, with our assistance, made an arrangement with
+these people to give them his two oxen; and they were to take him and
+his wife and child, to the sea-shore, at a place called San Pedro, from
+which place he hoped, in some way, to get passage to San Francisco in a
+sailing vessel. He had no money, and no property to sell, except perhaps
+his spy-glass, worth about ten dollars. With this poor prospect before
+him he started for the sea. He bade Bennett's folks good-bye, then came
+to me and put a light gold ring on my finger, saying that it and his
+interest in the little mule were mine. Then he gave his silver watch to
+Rogers and said it was all he had to give him, but if he had a million
+dollars, he would divide, and still think it a small compensation for
+the faithful services we had rendered him. "I can never repay you," said
+he, "for I owe you a debt that is beyond compensation. You have saved
+our lives, and have done it when you knew you could get nothing for it.
+I hope we will meet again, and when we do you will be welcome. If you
+hear of me anywhere, come and see me, for I want to tell my friends who
+Manly and Rogers are, and how you helped us. Good Bye!" There were tears
+in his eyes, voice full of emotion, and the firm clasp of his hand told
+how earnest he was, and that he felt more than he could speak.
+
+He helped Mrs. Arcane on her horse, then gave Charlie to her, and, amid
+waving hands and many _adios_ from our new-found friends, with repeated
+"good byes" from the old ones, they rode away. Mrs. Arcane could hardly
+speak when she bade us farewell, she was so much affected. They had
+about sixty miles to ride to reach the sea, and as she rode on a man's
+saddle, and was unused to riding, I knew she would be sadly wearied
+before she reached the coast.
+
+Our little train now seemed much smaller. Three oxen and a mule were all
+our animals, and the adults must still walk, as they had done on our
+desert route. But we were comparatively happy, for we had plenty of good
+meat to eat, plenty of sweet water to drink, and our animals were
+contented and improving every day; grass and water seemed plenty
+everywhere. We put our luggage on the oxen and the mule, loaded the
+children on Old Crump as we had done before, and were ready to move
+again. Our good friends stood around and smiled good-naturedly at our
+queer arrangements, and we, not knowing how to say what our hearts would
+prompt us to, shook their hands and said good bye in answer to their
+"_adios amigos_" as we moved away, waving hands to each other.
+
+The men then detained me a little while to ask me more about the road we
+had come over, how far it was, and how bad the Indians were, and other
+particulars. I told him by signs that we had been twenty-two days on the
+road, and that the _Indianos_, as they called them, had not troubled us,
+but that there was very little grass or water in all that land. He made
+a sort of map on the ground and made me understand he would like to go
+back and try to bring out the wagons we had left behind, and he wanted
+me to go back with him and help him. I explained to him by the map he
+had made, and one which I made myself, that I considered it impossible
+to bring them over. He seemed much disappointed, and with a shrug of his
+shoulders said "_mucho malo_" (very bad) and seemed to abandon the idea
+of getting a Yankee wagon. They very much admired an American wagon, for
+their own vehicles were rude affairs, as I shall bye-and-bye describe.
+We bade each other many _adios_, and I went on my way, soon catching up
+with the little party. We had been informed that it was ten leagues, or
+thirty miles to Los Angeles, whither we were now headed.
+
+We had now been a whole year on the road between Wisconsin and
+California, much of the time with the ground for a bed, and though our
+meals had been sometimes scanty and long between, very few of us had
+missed one on account of sickness. Some, less strong than we, had lain
+down to perish, and had been left behind, without coffin or grave; but
+we were here, and so far had found food to nourish us in some degree
+with prospects now of game in the future if nothing better offered. We
+still talked of going to the gold mines on foot, for with good food and
+rest our courage had returned, and we wanted to succeed.
+
+Our camp this night was in a nice watering place, where dry oak wood was
+plenty and grass abundant. It was at the foot of the San Fernando
+Mountain, not rocky, as we had found our road some time before, but
+smooth and covered with grass. It was rather steep to climb, but an
+infant compared with the great mountains so rough and barren, we had
+climbed on our way from Death Valley. Our present condition and state of
+mind was an anomalous one. We were happy, encouraged, grateful and quite
+contented in the plenty which surrounded us, and still there was a sort
+of puzzling uncertainty as to our future, the way to which seemed very
+obscure. In the past we had pushed on our very best and a kind
+Providence had kept us. This we did now, but still revolved the best
+plans and the most fortunate possibilities in our minds. We talked of
+the time when we should be able to show hospitality to our friends, and
+to strangers who might need our open hand as we had needed the favors
+which strangers had shown us in the last few days.
+
+We ate our supper of good meat, with a dessert of good beans our kind
+friends had given us, and enjoyed it greatly. As we sat in silence a
+flock of the prettiest, most graceful birds came marching along, and
+halted as if to get a better view of our party. We admired them so much
+that we made not a move, but waited, and they fearlessly walked on
+again. We could see that there were two which were larger than the rest,
+and from twelve to twenty smaller ones. The little top-knot on the head
+and their symmetrical forms made them specially attractive, and Mrs.
+Bennett and the children were much pleased. The beauty of the California
+quail is especially striking to one who sees them for the first time.
+
+In the morning we began to climb the hill, getting along very well
+indeed, for our raw-hide moccasins were now dry and hard and fitted the
+foot perfectly. We did not try to make great speed, but kept steadily
+on, and as we were used to climbing, we reached the summit easily. From
+this elevation we could get a fine view of the big grassy plain that
+seemed to extend as far as the eye could reach and, not far from us, the
+buildings and gardens of the San Fernando Mission. If we could shut out
+the mountains the landscape would remind us of a great Western prairie.
+We never could get over comparing this country with the desolate Death
+Valley, for it seemed as if such strange and striking opposites could
+hardly exist.
+
+We rested here a little while and then wound our way down the hill to
+the level land. A few miles brought us to the mission houses and the
+church of San Fernando. There was not much life about them, in fact they
+seemed comparatively deserted, for we saw only one man and a few
+Indians. The man brought some oranges and gave the children one each.
+After a little rest we moved on over our road which was now quite smooth
+and gently descending. Night overtook us in a place where there was no
+water, but we camped and suffered no inconvenience. A stream was passed
+next day, and a house near by unoccupied. The road now began to enter
+gently rolling hills covered with big grass and clover, which indicated
+rich soil, and we never get tired of talking about it.
+
+At the top of these hills we had another beautiful view as far south and
+west as the eye could reach. Small objects, probably horses and cattle,
+were scattered about the plain, grazing in the midst of plenty. Our own
+animals were given frequent opportunities to eat, and again and again we
+rejoiced over the beauty. Of course it was not such a surprise and
+wonder as it was when such a view first burst upon our sight, but it
+pleased and delighted us ever. On the east was a snow-capped peak, and
+here we were in the midst of green fields of grass and wild flowers, in
+the softest climate of an early spring. These strong contrasts beat
+anything we had ever seen. Perhaps the contrast between the great snow
+mountain and the hot Death Valley was greater in point of temperature,
+but there the heat brought only barrenness, and of the two the snow
+seemed the more cheerful. Here the vegetation of all sorts was in full
+balance with the balmy air, and in comparison the snow seemed a strange
+neighbor. It was quite a contrast to our cold, windy March in Wisconsin,
+and we wonder if it is always summer here. We were satisfied that even
+if we could get no further we could live in such a land as this. The
+broad prairie doubtless belonged to the United States, and we could have
+our share and own a little piece of it on very easy terms, and raise our
+own cattle and corn. If the people were all as kind as those we had met
+we were sure at least of neighborly treatment. I have endeavored to
+write this just as it seemed to us then and not clothe the impressions
+with the cover of later experience. The impressions we then daily
+received and the sights we saw were stranger than the wildest fiction,
+and if it so strikes you, my friendly reader, do not wonder.
+
+As we came over the hills we could see a village near the southern base
+and it seemed quite near us. It was a new and strange sight to us as we
+approached. The houses were only one story high and seemed built of mud
+of a gray color, the roofs flat, and the streets almost deserted.
+Occasionally a man could be seen, sometimes a dog, and now and then an
+Indian, sitting with his back to the house. The whole view indicated a
+thinly populated place, and the entire absence of wagons or animals was
+a rather strange circumstance to us. It occurred to us at first that if
+all the emigrants were gone our reception might be a cool one in this
+city of mud. One thing was in its favor and that was its buildings were
+about fire proof for they had earthen floors and flat roofs.
+
+We rested half an hour or so just outside, and then ventured down the
+hill into the street. We met an American almost the first man, and when
+we asked about a suitable camping place, he pointed out the way and we
+marched on. Our strange appearance attracted the attention of the
+children and they kept coming out of the houses to see the curious
+little train with Old Crump carrying the children and our poor selves
+following along, dirty and ragged. Mrs. Bennett's dress hardly reached
+below her knees, and although her skirts were fringed about the bottom
+it was of a kind that had not been adopted as yet in general circle of
+either Spanish-American or good United States society. The shortness of
+the dress made the curious raw-hide moccasins only the more prominent,
+and the whole make-up of the party was a curious sight.
+
+We went down the hill a little further to the lower bottom to camp,
+while the barefooted, bareheaded urchins followed after to get a further
+look at the strangers. Before we selected a suitable place, we saw two
+tents and some wagons which looked like those of overland travelers, and
+we went toward them. When within fifty yards two men suddenly came to
+their feet and looked at our little party approaching as if in wonder,
+but at twenty steps they recognized Bennett and came rushing forward.
+"My God! It's Bennett" said they, and they clasped hands in silence
+while one greeted Mrs. Bennett warmly. The meeting was so unexpected
+they shed tears and quietly led the way back to camp. This was the camp
+of R.G. Moody and H.C. Skinner, with their families. They had traveled
+together on the Platte and became well acquainted, the warmest of
+friends, and knowing that Bennett had taken the cut off, they more than
+suspected he and his party had been lost, as no sight of them had come
+to their eyes. They had been waiting here six weeks in order to get some
+reliable news, and now Mr. Bennet answered for himself. Rogers and I,
+belonging to another party, were of course strangers.
+
+Leaving them to compare notes, Rogers and I took charge of Old Crump,
+the oxen, and the mule, unpacked them, and arranged camp under a
+monstrous willow tree. Bennett and his wife were taken into Mr. Moody's
+tent, and an hour or so later when Mrs. Bennett appeared again, she had
+her face washed clean, her hair combed, and a new clean dress. It was
+the first time we had found soap, and the improvement in her looks and
+feelings was surprising. Bennett looked considerably cleaned up too, and
+appeared bright and fresh. The children had also been taken in hand and
+appeared in new clothes selected from the wardrobe of the other
+children, and the old dirty clothes were put in process of washing as
+soon as possible.
+
+Supper came, and it was so inviting. There was real bread and it looked
+so nice we smiled when it was offered to us. Mrs. Bennett broke pieces
+for the children and cautioned them not to eat too much. It did seem so
+good to be among friends we could talk with and be understood. After
+supper was over and the things cleared away we all sat down in a circle
+and Bennett told the story of where he had been these many days on the
+cut off that was to shorten the trail. Mr. Moody said he had about given
+the party up and intended to start up the coast to-morrow. The story was
+so long that they talked till they were sleepy and then began again
+after breakfast, keeping it up till they had a good outline of all our
+travels and tribulations. This Mr. R.G. Moody, his wife and daughter,
+Mrs. Quinby, and son Charles, all lived in San Jose and are now dead.
+H.C. Skinner was a brother-in-law of Moody and also lived a long time in
+San Jose, but himself, son and one daughter, are now dead.
+
+Rogers and I now took the pack-saddle we had borrowed of Mr. French to
+use on our trip to Death Valley and return, and carried it to the saloon
+on the east side of the plaza, where we were to place it if we got back
+safely, and delivered it to the man in charge, with many thanks to Mr.
+French for his favors to us, and sent him word that we would always
+remember him and be ready to do him a similar or equal favor if ever we
+were able. We considered him a good benevolent man, and such he proved
+to be when he offered us fat oxen, good beans, and any other thing we
+needed. He told the people in the house who we were, which no doubt
+influenced them kindly in our favor when we arrived.
+
+At the saloon there was a large room with tables in it and gambling
+going on actively. Money changed hands very rapidly, drinks at the bar
+were frequent, and the whole affair moved forward with the same
+regularity as any mercantile business. The door stood wide open and any
+one could come and go at his pleasure. Quite a number of black-eyed,
+fair looking women circulated among the crowd, and this, to us, seemed
+quite out of place, for we had never seen women in saloons before. We
+watched the game awhile to see some losing and some gaining, the result
+being quite exciting; but as neither of us had any money, we could not
+have joined in the game had we been so disposed; so we looked on awhile
+and then took a seat on the ground outside of the house.
+
+Here we talked over our chances of getting to the mines. All the clothes
+we had were on our backs and feet and those were the poorest of the
+poor. We had no money. I had the little black-eyed mule, and Rogers had
+the watch Arcane had given him. Mr. Moody had said it was 500 miles to
+San Francisco, and 150 miles further to the mines, so that after the
+hard travel of a year we were still a long way off from the place we
+started for.
+
+We could not see any way to make a living here. There was no land
+cultivated, not a fence, nothing to require labor of any kind. The
+valley was rich enough and produced great crops of grass, and the cattle
+and horses we had seen grazing seemed to be about all the use they put
+it to. It looked as if the people must live principally on meat. I
+thought if we could manage to get a little provision together, such as
+flour and beans, that I could pack there on the mule, and I was pretty
+sure I could find game that would be better meat than we had lived on
+during the last two months on the desert.
+
+We looked around to see if we could find something to do to earn a
+little for a start, but were not successful. In our walk about this city
+of mud we saw many things that seemed strange to us. There were more
+women than men, and more children than grown-up people, while the dogs
+were plenty. At the edge of the town, near the river were some grape
+vines fenced in with living willows, interlaced in some places with dry
+vines. The Indians moved very moderately around and no doubt had plenty
+of beef to eat, with very few wants to provide for. We noticed some few
+people paying for small things at the stores with small money. The women
+all dressed much alike. The dress was of some cheap material, sandals on
+feet, and a kind of long shawl worn over the head and thrown over the
+shoulder. There seemed to be neither hoops nor corsets in their
+fashions. The men wore trousers of white cotton or linen, with a calico
+shirt, sandals, and a broad rimmed snuff colored hat. The Indians and
+their wives went bareheaded.
+
+Near the end of the street we came to a boarding house and went in and
+sat down in the empty room. Soon a man came in, better dressed than
+ourselves, and much to our surprise it was one of the old Death Valley
+travelers, the Rev. J.W. Brier whom I last saw in his lone camp in the
+desert, discoursing to his young sons on the benefits of an early
+education. I know the situation struck me very strangely, with death
+staring them in the face and he preaching!
+
+We had a long talk about the hard journey we had each experienced. As
+his party had not waited they had come through ahead of us. He said
+himself and Mr. Granger had started a boarding house when they arrived,
+and had been doing a good business. He said that as long as the
+emigrants continued to come he could get along very well. We asked him
+if there was any chance for us to work and get money to get some
+provisions to help us on the way to the mines. He said he could give
+work to one of us hauling water for the house with oxen and cart, and
+the one who could manage oxen was the man. I was an ox driver and so
+told him I would take his team and cart and set out with the work. He
+said he could pay fifty dollars a month, and I accepted the offer
+quickly as I saw it was a good chance to build up my exhausted strength
+and flesh.
+
+I turned the little mule out in the hills near by, and began my work. It
+was not hard, for the boarders were thinning out. The natives did not
+patronize this hotel very much, but grub disappeared pretty fast at my
+corner of the table, for my appetite began to be ravenous. There was not
+much variety to the food and very few luxuries or delicacies, which were
+hard to obtain on such a bare market, but all seemed satisfied with the
+food, and to me it tasted extra good.
+
+Rogers went back to the old camp and helped them there, and I often went
+over after dark, when my work was done. Moody and Skinner had been
+active in trying to get Mr. Bennett ready to go up the coast with them.
+Bennett had sold his repeating rifle and with the proceeds and the help
+of his friends had got another ox, making two yoke for him. They fixed
+up a wagon for him, and yokes enough could be found where people had
+traded off their oxen for horses. Provisions enough had been gathered by
+Moody and Skinner for them all, and Rogers would go along with the party
+to help them with the teams.
+
+I was left alone after they started, and it was my idea to quit when I
+had worked a month, and if my mule staid with me, to start for the mines
+even if I went alone. The majority of the male inhabitants of this town
+had gone to the mines, and this accounted for the unusual proportion of
+women. We learned that they would return in November, and then the
+gambling houses would start up in full blast, for these native
+Californians seemed to have a great natural desire to indulge in games
+of chance, and while playing their favorite game of monte would lay down
+their last reale (12-1/2 cents) in the hope of winning the money in
+sight before them on the table.
+
+As the boarding house business got dull I was taken over to a vineyard
+and set to work, in place of hauling water. The entire patch was as
+green as a meadow with weeds, and I was expected to clean them out. I
+inquired of Brier how he came to get hold of this nice property, and he
+said that during the war the soldiers had taken possession of this piece
+of ground, and had their camp here, so he considered it was government
+land, and therefore had squatted on it and was going to hold it, and pay
+for it as regular government land, and that he already considered it his
+own, for said he, "I am an American, and this is a part of the public
+domain." "All right," said I, "I will kill weeds for you, if you wish,
+when I have time to spare, and you don't want the oxen worked at any
+other work ".
+
+I could see every day that I was improving in health and weight and
+would soon become myself again, able to take the road to the mines. When
+about two weeks of my time had expired two oldish men came to the house
+to stop for a few days and reported themselves as from Sacramento,
+buying up some horses for that market. Thus far they had purchased only
+six or eight, as they had found the price too high to buy and then drive
+so far to a market to sell again. They had about decided to go back with
+what they had and undertake some other kind of business. I thought this
+would be a pretty good chance for me to go, as I would have company, and
+so went to Brier and Granger and told them what I would like to do, and
+that with their permission I would quit and go on with them. They
+readily consented, for their money was coming in rather slow, and they
+paid me twenty five dollars for half a month's work. This made me feel
+pretty rich and I thought this would give me food enough to reach the
+mines.
+
+Having two or three days to get ready in, I began doing the best I
+could. I found an old saddle tree which had been thrown away, and
+managed to fix it up so I could use it. I also found an old gun some
+traveler had left, and with a little work I fitted the breech of that to
+my own gun which was broken, and had been roughly tied together with
+strips of raw-hide. I now had a good sound gun if it was not very
+handsome. I bought a Spanish blanket, not so wide as ours, but coarse
+and strong, and having a hole in the center through which to put the
+head and wear it as a garment in case of storm, or at night. I went to a
+native store and bought a supply of carné seca (dried beef) and some
+crackers, put some salt in my pocket and was now provisioned for another
+trip. I found my mule in the hills back of town, not far from where I
+left her, and the rest and good feed had made her look better and feel
+better, as well as myself.
+
+The drovers had found two other men who wanted to go with them and help
+drive the horses for their board. I put my blanket on under the saddle,
+packed my little sack of meat and crackers on behind, and when I was in
+the saddle with my gun before me I considered I was pretty well fixed
+and able to make my way against almost anything. I said to myself that
+the only way now to keep me from getting to the gold mines was to kill
+me. I felt that there was not a mountain so high I could not climb, and
+no desert so wide and dry that I could not cross it. I had walked and
+starved and choked and lived through it, and now I felt so strong and
+brave I could do it again--any way to reach the gold mines and get some
+of the "dust."
+
+I had not much idea how the gold from the mines looked. Everybody called
+it gold dust, and that conveyed an idea to me that it was fine as flour,
+but how to catch it I did not know. I knew other people found a way to
+get it, and I knew I could learn if any body could. It was a great
+longing that came to me to see some of the yellow dust in its native
+state, before it had been through the mint.
+
+At the last meal I took at the house there were only a few at the table.
+Among them was a well dressed Californian who evidently did not greatly
+fancy American cooking, but got along very well till Mrs. Brier brought
+around the dessert, a sort of duff. This the Californian tasted a few
+times and then laid down his spoon saying it was no bueno, and some
+other words I did not then understand, but afterward learned that they
+meant "too much grease." The fellow left the table not well pleased with
+what we generally consider the best end of a Yankee dinner, the last
+plate.
+
+While here I had slept in a small store room, where I made my pallet out
+of old rags and blankets. While I was looking round for material to make
+my bed I came across a bag partly full of sugar, brought from Chili. It
+was in very coarse crystals, some as large as corn. There were some
+other treasures end luxuries there that perhaps I was expected guard. I
+however had a sweet tooth and a handful or so of the sweet crystals
+found their way into my pocket.
+
+I bade Mr. Brier and the rest good bye and rode away to join my company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Leaving the little party whose wanderings we have followed so closely,
+safely arrived in Los Angeles, their further history in California will
+be taken up later on, and this narrative will go back to points when the
+original party was broken up and trace the little bands in their varied
+experience. It will be remembered that the author and his friends, after
+a perilous voyage down Green River, halted at the camp of the Indian
+chief, Walker, and there separated, the Author and four companions
+striking for Salt Lake, while McMahon and Field remained behind, fully
+determined to go on down the river.
+
+The story of these two men is told by McMahon in the following
+interesting letter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dear Manley:--
+
+Yours requesting me to give you a synopsis of the history of incidents,
+experience, and observations of our mutual friend, Richard Field and
+myself, from the time you, John Rogers, Alfred Walton, and the Hazelrig
+brothers left us at the camp of the generous old chief Walker on the
+west bank of the river near the mouth of the "great seven days cañon" is
+at hand.
+
+You no doubt distinctly, and with pleasure, remember that unbroken
+friendship which existed among us up to the time of our separation and
+that we parted warm and tried friends.
+
+Well, after you and your companions had left us we set to work to
+prepare the canvas for the continuation of the voyage down the river. We
+drilled holes through the sides of the "Pilot"--you, I have no doubt
+remember which that was, yours and mine, in which we took so many
+fearful risks, and "No. 2," so that we might in case of necessity lash
+the two together. After a day or two Field lost courage and finally
+determined to go no further down the river. Walker in the meantime had
+repeated his friendly warnings appertaining to the great danger in going
+further down the river. You will remember what he had told us about it
+before you left us.
+
+You know that I was the biggest coward of the whole seven; but I assumed
+courage and told Field that I would go down the river alone; and, for a
+time, I thought I would do so; but after some reflection I concluded
+that, perhaps, discretion was the better part of valor, and reluctantly
+gave it up. We now decided to follow you, or to take some other unknown
+route and try to make our escape out of this most perilous condition.
+
+We then set about, as you had done, to trade with Walker for a pony or
+two, and after much dickering Field succeeded in getting the, afterwards
+famous, big, old, sore-backed mule. You may not remember him, but I do;
+and, notwithstanding his sore back, he made pretty good beef. I, with
+pins, needles, thread, a pocket-knife, a handkerchief, etc., succeeded
+in getting a very nice, round, three-year-old, iron-gray pony.
+
+After making pack-saddles, and getting almost ready to start, we were,
+through Walker's kindness and persuasiveness, overcome, and consented to
+go with him, feeling confident that we would not starve to death while
+with him. We did not now have Manley with his long experience, and his
+old rusty, but always trusty, rifle as a sure defence against possible
+hunger and starvation.
+
+The old chief, and, in fact, the whole tribe, seemed pleased when we
+consented to go with them. Preparations were now made, and all except
+the horses and four head of cattle, was conveyed across the river in the
+two canoes which were lashed together, while the horses and cattle were
+forced to swim to the other side where we camped for the night. Next
+morning the clever old chief had two good horses fitted up in good style
+for Field and I, which we rode all of the nine days that we remained
+with the band, while our own run with the herd. Our baggage was carried
+on some of the chief's pack-horses. We were, in fact, his honored
+guests, as will hereafter appear.
+
+All were soon mounted and off to the buffalo fields, Walker having
+informed us that he intended going up into the buffalo country on the
+head-waters of Grand River where he would remain until snow fell, when
+he would go to Salt Lake City, or vicinity.
+
+Leaving the river, we set out across a not entirely barren plain, for
+there was much sage-brush, and several varieties of cactus. Towards
+evening we came close up to the foot of a range of rugged, rocky
+mountains, where we found water and camped for the night. Field and I
+usually pitched our little muslin tent somewhere near our friends where
+we could sleep without fear of man or beast, for I think some one of the
+reds was always on guard.
+
+All went well for four or five days, when we all got entirely out of
+food except a few ounces of flour which we had hidden away for a
+possible emergency. During the following two days and nights all were
+entirely without food except the two little children, whom you no doubt
+remember. We gave their mother a little flour now and then which she
+mixed with a little milk which one of the cows afforded, for the little
+ones. These Indians did not seem to suffer for want of food; even when
+we were starving, they appeared happy and contented; and one young
+fellow would sing all day long while we were starving. Daring the second
+day of starvation and hard traveling over hot and barren deserts, the
+Indians killed a wild-cat and two small rabbits. We got nothing. You
+will remember that all the arms of the seven men were lost in the river
+when the canoes were sunk, except your rifle and my double barreled
+shot-gun and revolver, so that Field and I had only the one gun, and
+neither of us knew anything about hunting. When we camped, one of the
+boys brought over to our tent a quarter of the cat, which was more than
+a fair share of the whole supply, as twenty-two of them had only the two
+little rabbits and three quarters of the unfortunate cat. We boiled and
+boiled and boiled that cat's hind leg, but never got it done. We waited
+as long as we possibly could, gave up in despair and put a little flour
+into the broth to thicken it, and drank it. It was not good, but much
+better the meat of the cat. That cat and the rabbits were all the
+twenty-four of us had to eat, after fasting two days, until late in the
+evening of the next day.
+
+My people were religious, and when I was young the family was wont to
+observe fast days, but never did we have any such long fasts as these
+were. In the afternoon of the next day the old chief left the caravan
+and went on ahead of the train toward a chain of mountains, first giving
+some directions to the band, and taking one son with him. When we
+arrived in a small cañon in the edge of the mountains we found them with
+a fine mountain sheep which they had killed and brought down to the dim,
+little-used trail where we camped; and after we had set up our little
+tent as usual, a short distance away from our friends, one of the young
+men brought to us about one fourth of the sheep, while the twenty-two
+Indians had the rest.
+
+You know that a good-sized mountain sheep would make a fair supper for
+twenty-four people, even though they had been starving three or four
+days; but this was a small one, and I think Field and I ate about half
+of the quarter. The twenty-two Indians soon devoured the three-fourths
+and all of the soft viscera, including the stomach and intestines, after
+which some of the boys came to our tent while we were stuffing our, what
+had been for several days empty, stomachs. We offered them part of our
+bounteous supply of mutton, having much more than we could eat; but no,
+they would not touch it until we were filled full, when they accepted
+what was left, and soon stowed it away. All were now pretty well filled
+up once more.
+
+The next day was spent without food, traveling over rough mountains.
+Within a pass, late in the afternoon, we crossed the fresh trail of some
+other band of roving red-skins, and Walker suspected who they were, and
+went into camp early. The Indians had killed nothing that day, but I had
+killed a small rabbit which, unfortunately for it, came in my way during
+the day. This we offered to the women for themselves and the little
+children; but they positively refused to accept it, insisting that they
+did not want it or need it, and that the small supply of milk from the
+cow was quite sufficient for the little ones, and the others spurned the
+offer to divide so little a thing, so we had it all to ourselves.
+
+It appeared that these people were accustomed to go for long periods
+without food, and with little apparent inconvenience; but Field and I
+began to feel as I suppose Dr. Tanner felt after a few days' fasting,
+and began to wish that the old chief would get hungry and kill one of
+his large, fat steers, but he still held them in reserve.
+
+Early the next morning, now nine days from the time we had left the
+river, the old chief took two of the young men and left camp, as we
+afterwards learned, to go in search of the Indians whose trail we had
+crossed the evening before. Some time in the early part of the night,
+one of the young men returned and informed us that they had found the
+wandering tribe, and that we were to go back to their trail and follow
+it to their camp up in a Southeast direction, Walker and one of the
+young men having remained with their new-found friends.
+
+Field and I both felt greatly disappointed in not being able to proceed
+north; and in the meantime we had become very tired of the society of
+these people, notwithstanding the fact that they were exceedingly
+clever; but we were almost starved to death, and had about come to the
+conclusion that we would be obliged to make some change. We were still
+on the east side of, and considerable distance from the river, and
+probably not more than one hundred, or one hundred and twenty miles from
+the place where we parted from you.
+
+The chief had sent particular instructions for us to go with the tribe;
+but, after canvassing the whole situation, we decided to part company
+with our good friends, proceed northward, and try to reach Fort Bridger
+or some other settlement in the northwest, and so informed them, and
+requested the boys to bring in our mule and horse, which they did after
+failing to induce us to go with them.
+
+Bright and early the next morning, they all, even the polygamous wives
+and little children, in apparent sorrow, bade us good-bye, and were off,
+leaving us alone with our two poor, lonely, four-footed companions, who
+were very anxious to follow the band of horses. After the rather
+melancholy parting we arranged our packs, and about ten o'clock started
+out on what then seemed, and afterwards proved, to be a perilous voyage
+through deserts, and over rough mountains. To avoid a high range of
+mountains, our course was for a time northeast but, after passing that
+range we bore to the northwest.
+
+The days were quite warm, but the nights were cold. During the first day
+we killed and ate one small rabbit, and this, with a few seed buds
+gathered from wild rose bushes, constituted two days' rations. On the
+third we did not have even the rabbit or rose seed buds, but late in the
+afternoon we found some small red berries, similar in appearance to what
+I, in my childhood, knew and relished as Solomon's seal berries. I being
+a natural coward, and fearing that they might poison me, did not eat any
+of them, but generously allowed my good friend to eat them all.
+
+We had now been almost entirely without water for two days and nights.
+When night came on we picketed our animals in a grass plot and lay down
+near them to see that they did not get tangled in the ropes and hurt, or
+that some red skin, not having the fear of the Lord in his heart, did
+not come and take them away. About ten o'clock my companion began to
+complain of pain in his stomach and bowels, and was soon vomiting at a
+fearful rate; so violently, indeed, that I was apprehensive that he
+might die. If I had had an emetic I would have given it to him to have
+assisted nature in pumping those devilish little red berries out of him,
+for I felt quite sure that they were the cause of his illness. Perhaps
+it was fortunate that there was no medecine at hand, for if there had
+been I might have killed him with it.
+
+He suffered most intensely, and soon became very thirsty, and, there
+being no water within many miles of us, he appealed to me to bleed one
+of the animals and let him drink the blood; I refused: he insisted; I
+again refused: he commanded; I still refused. He swore, and called me
+almost everything except a good Christian; he even expressed the wish
+that I, his friend, might be sent to a certain place where the heat is
+most intense, and the fire is never quenched.
+
+At about eleven o'clock, when his pains were most severe, a dark cloud,
+the first we had seen for months, came over us, and a little rain began
+to fall, when I at once opened our little camp kettle and turned the lid
+upside down, and into both kettle and lid there fell perhaps two or
+three teaspoonfuls of pure water, every drop of which I gave to the
+sufferer, whereupon he expressed thanks for another God-send, and at
+once apologized for bestowing unmerited abuse on me. He afterwards often
+asserted that he believed that the little rain-cloud was sent by God for
+his special benefit, and that the water caught from that cloud was the
+sweetest and best that he had ever tasted. I did not doubt the latter
+half of the above statement, but I did have some doubt about the truth
+of the former half when I called to mind the scene which followed my
+refusal to bleed the horse. Whether the small quantity of water gave him
+much relief, or not, I do not know, but I do know that he soon became
+better and slept some while I watched. He was quite feeble next morning
+when I put him on the old sore-backed mule, where he rode most of the
+time for the next four days, while the little horse carried our baggage,
+and I led the way as usual, on foot.
+
+For four days from the time Field ate the little red berries we did not
+have a drop of water except the two or three teaspoonfuls which the
+stingy cloud left to save the life of the "berry-eater." We were still
+on the desert, or in the mountains east of the river, traveling hard
+during the day, and burning up with fever in the night. There was plenty
+of drying grass in places, but our poor animals could not eat it any
+longer, for they, too, were burning up for want of water. Oh, how much I
+did wish that we had some camels from Arabia, which could have gone so
+much longer without water, and traveled so much faster.
+
+On the morning of the third day of starvation, we determined to change
+our course, and, if possible, reach the river once more. Bearing to the
+left over a high, barren range of rocky mountains, and down into a plain
+of sand, sage brush, and cactus. During the afternoon I shot a small
+rabbit, not much larger than a rat, which we carried until night, then
+broiled and tried to eat it, not because our appetites craved it, but
+hoping that it might strengthen and sustain us, at least a little while
+longer. We were, however, so nearly burned up that there was not a
+sufficient flow of saliva to moisten the little bits of broiled meat in
+the mouth. Late that afternoon we fancied that our fast failing brute
+companions scented water, or that they instinctively knew that it was
+not far away. They would raise their heads, and extend their noses as if
+smelling, while their physical force and energy seemed renewed, and they
+certainly traveled faster.
+
+That night we ate the little, as before stated, more as a duty than as a
+pleasure. There was some green grass round about where we camped, or,
+more properly speaking, where we lay, for we did not erect our little
+tent,--but the poor starving animals did not eat a bite of it, but stood
+over us as if in sympathy with us in our deplorable condition. We rose
+before the sun, being somewhat rested and refreshed, for the night had
+been cool, and took up our line of march, I, as usual, in the lead, then
+came the old mule guided by its precious owner, and lastly, the faithful
+little horse with the pack on his still quite round back;--on over the
+still dry and barren plain we went, without a Moses, cloud, or pillar of
+fire to lead us.
+
+About ten o'clock, through the hot glimmer of the down-pouring rays of
+the sun, we saw what appeared, and afterwards proved, to be a clump of
+cottonwood trees. Our hopes and courage were renewed, for we well knew
+the cottonwood usually grows near flowing water. There was no beaten
+pathway, no signs of animal life, no quails, no manna in that desert;
+but on we went, almost without a halt, and at one o'clock reached the
+cottonwood grove, immediately on the bank of the great river down which
+we had floated in our canoes more than a month before. On reaching the
+bank of the river we recognized objects which we had seen while on our
+way down.
+
+We remembered that both men and horses might be water-foundered, and
+that self-preservation is said to be the first law of nature; but it was
+difficult to prevent the famishing brutes from plunging into the river.
+We allowed them to take only a small quantity at first, and each of us
+took only a small cupful; then after a little time all took more, and
+the thirst was soon quenched. We were surprised to find how little water
+it took to satisfy the raging thirst of four days of continued fasting.
+The animals, after taking comparatively small quantities, seemed
+satisfied, and went off in search of grass.
+
+We now had an abundance of water, but we well knew that water alone
+would not sustain life very long: therefore our next, and most serious
+business was to determine how to prolong our lives. According to our
+map, our recollections of different objects, and present appearances we
+were now a little above the mouth of the Uinta river which comes in from
+the northwest, all of which proved true. Our little map pictured Fort
+Uinta on the Uinta river about one hundred miles from where we were; but
+whether or not there were any human beings there, we did not know, and
+in order to determine we must cross this great river and travel a
+hundred miles, and this seemed a perilous undertaking for us in our
+present starving condition; but after being refreshed by plenty of good
+water we determined to undertake it, hoping that good fortune might
+attend us.
+
+After a little rest, the animals with grass, we packed up, and after
+Field had put on his, once serviceable, life preserver he mounted the
+old mule behind the small pack and started to swim across the river. He
+took the lead in this instance for three reasons: first, we thought that
+the mule, being much older than the horse, had probably had more
+experience and therefore might be a much better swimmer; then Field had
+the advantage in having the life preserver; but the last, and most
+potent, reason was my fear of getting drowned. It was understood that I
+was to remain on shore and be ready to assist him if necessary, or until
+he had safely landed on the other side.
+
+In he went, and the trusty old mule was swimming faithfully, and had
+reached the middle of the river, when Field, as he afterwards told me,
+to hurry the mule, gave a gentle jerk on the bridle, when, to his utter
+astonishment, the mule made a complete somerset backwards plunging
+Field, the pack, and himself entirely under the water, except his heels
+which appeared above the water as his head went under. In a moment Field
+popped up and, after shaking his head as a swimmer will do after taking
+a plunge, cast about to take his bearings, or to determine just where he
+was, and began to paddle with his hands, much as he did when the canoes
+were upset on the river, or somewhat after the style of a swimming dog.
+On coming to the surface, the mule cast a glance at the still living,
+but unloaded portion of his cargo, then made a bee line for the shore
+which he had so recently left. While Field continued to paddle and float
+down the river, I dismounted and followed along the bank, trying to
+encourage him to renewed efforts to float ashore. Finally he passed
+behind a clump of willows out of sight; but soon I heard him call for
+help and on going a little further down, found him stuck fast in the
+mud. I waded waist deep into that mud, and literally dragged him out,
+almost a mile below his starting point.
+
+As we were struggling in this muddy swamp, Field said he wondered why
+some of this superfluous water was not distributed over those dry
+deserts from which we had so recently come. I told him, politely, that I
+thought that a man of his age, ability, opportunities, and nationality,
+(you know he was quite proud of being an Englishman) ought to know why
+the moisture was not so distributed, and that I was too illiterate to
+enlighten him on that point, but that, when opportunity offered, he
+might consult some one who knew more of natural science than I did. I
+informed him that I had an idea that if any considerable portion of the
+water of that river had been distributed over that desert that we would
+not have had the experience of the last fifteen days, whereupon he very
+plainly intimated that I did not have much sense, or, in other words, he
+called me a d--d fool.
+
+After reaching solid ground and resting for a little while, we returned
+to the place from which he had started out on his perilous voyage, and
+where I had hastily left my horse. We found the horse and mule quietly
+grazing with their packs on their backs. The faithful old mule had the
+appearance of having been wet, but was now almost dry, yet not so dry,
+internally, as he had been several days before.
+
+What shall we do now? We are perhaps two hundred or more miles from any
+white settlement. We do not know that Fort Uinta is occupied. Shall we
+make another attempt to cross the river? I asked my brave friend if he
+was willing to again mount the mule and make another attempt, when he
+again exclaimed, "You must be a d--d fool!" I then, pretending to have a
+little courage, asked him if he would follow provided I would lead,
+whereupon he declared most emphatically that under no conditions would
+he again attempt to swim across that river. I had not had his
+experience, but fear of being drowned was quite sufficient to prevent me
+from undertaking the perilous task, more especially after witnessing his
+failure.
+
+Well, what next? We could not depend upon fishing and hunting, for we
+had no fish-hooks, nor means of catching fish, and not more than a dozen
+loads of shot, and a little powder; so the matter of slaying one of our
+animal friends was now seriously debated, and, after thoroughly
+canvassing the whole situation, it was most reluctantly determined that,
+however hard, this must be done. No doubt our starving condition at that
+particular time had some weight in making this decision.
+
+Then the question was, which of the animals shall be sacrificed? The
+mule was quite thin, and probably tough, while the little horse was
+young, and, notwithstanding the many days it had, with all of us,
+starved and traveled without water, was still quite plump and round, and
+probably tender, or, at the worst, not so tough as the poor old docile
+mule; so, at length we decided to kill the innocent little creature,
+jerk his flesh, pack it on the mule, and thereby try to save our own
+lives, for a time at least, and endeavor to reach some place of safety.
+
+The matter of slaying the horse was determined by casting lots, neither
+being willing to perform that melancholy, but now absolutely necessary,
+act. It fell to my lot, and that was one of, if not the most revolting
+act in my whole life's experience, for I had, probably, become as
+strongly attached to that little horse as man ever becomes attached to
+animal. I most reluctantly took the bridle in my left hand, my revolver
+in my right, stood directly in front of the poor, unsuspecting, innocent
+creature with the murderous pistol close to, and a little above a line
+extending from eye to eye, and fired. When the smoke of the powder had
+cleared off a little, I saw at my feet the quivering, dying body. I
+staggered off a few steps and sat down, sick at heart.
+
+Field walked several steps away, and turned his back upon the scene
+until after the fatal shot had been fired; then, after some little time,
+he entered upon his share of the enforced duty, and, after having
+removed a portion of the skin, cut off some slices of flesh and brought
+them to a fire I had started. We broiled and ate a little of it, not
+through desire or relish for it, but from a sense of duty, knowing that
+our lives depended upon it.
+
+It is said that for many years Dr. Franklin refrained from eating flesh,
+having an idea that it was wrong to slay and eat the flesh of other
+creatures; but that he changed his mind, and his diet, too, after having
+seen large fish devour small ones. I strongly suspect that if the doctor
+had been with us, or in a like condition, even before his conversion, he
+would, more than likely have taken a little flesh, even though it had
+been a piece of his own favorite horse.
+
+I said we only ate a little at first: I only ate a little for two
+reason; first, I did not relish the food; second, I had heard of persons
+being killed by eating too much after fasting for a long time, and I had
+no desire to commit suicide just then. Field ate too much. Night came
+on, work was suspended, and we retired. The poor old lone, and, no
+doubt, now lonely, mule, having filled himself with grass, came up near
+the now terribly-mutilated remains of his late companion, and looked on
+as Field continued his bloody work. Field, with an expression of sorrow,
+said, "If that mule could reason and look forward to the time when his
+body might be in a like condition as that of this horse, he would, no
+doubt, take to his heels, bid us a final farewell, and seek other
+society." But, fortunately for us, he did not know that he was to be
+held in reserve for our future security. He was securely tied up every
+night from that time until the day he was slain for our salvation.
+
+Early in the night following that eventful day, my companion began to
+complain much as he had done on the night after he had eaten the little
+red berries; but there was no lack of water now, no need of a special
+rain-cloud. I got up, heated water in our little camp kettle, applied
+hot cloths to his aching belly, and did everything else that either of
+us could think of for his relief. The pain was intense, and we feared
+that he would surely die, and earnestly prayed all the rest of the night
+that he might be relieved, and get well. Towards morning most violent
+vomiting came on, which continued for thirty hours, or more. He was not
+able to walk for three days, and during that time I nursed him, finished
+jerking the meat, and built a raft of some partly rotten logs, which I
+found in the vicinity, on which we floated across the river, on the
+fourth day after our arrival here. I also looked to the welfare of the
+mule, and prepared some bags in which to carry our jerk. Manley, I am
+sure that you know the meaning of the term "jerk" so that a definition
+of the word is not at all necessary.
+
+The old logs of which the raft was made were remnants of log cabins, a
+number of which had been built and occupied more than half a century
+before, but by whom I do not know. Field remarked that the finding of
+these old rotting logs there was another "God send," as we then had
+neither ax, hammer, nor any tool of iron with which to cut down a tree.
+I bound these logs together with long strips cut from the hide of the
+dead horse. Paddles and poles were also provided. The mule was with
+difficulty driven across the river.
+
+When the raft was landed on the west bank, the mule packed, and all
+about ready to start, I took the long strip of raw-hide from the raft
+and tied one end of it around the mule's neck, mounted Field on the mule
+behind the large pack, which made the whole outfit look quite comical
+indeed. Before leaving the other side of the river I had discovered that
+the saddle girth was not very strong, so I cut a wide belt from the hide
+of the lately slaughtered horse and fitted it to the saddle as a girth,
+knowing that the pack, now containing all of our goods and a supply of
+more than a bushel of jerk, would be quite bulky, if not heavy, and more
+difficult to keep on the back of a mule than it is for the camel to
+maintain his hump on his back. This girth afterwards made us two or
+three pretty substantial meals, as did also the long strip of green, wet
+hide, one end of which I had tied round the mule's neck, allowing it to
+drag for a long distance through the hot dry sand.
+
+All being ready, I, as usual, took the lead with my shot gun, which I
+always carried, but with which I seldom killed anything, on my shoulder.
+The old mule followed with his high, towering pack, and Field almost
+hidden behind. It was noon, but we did not stop for dinner, but simply
+reached into one of the great bulging sacks, took out a piece of jerk
+and ate it as we went marching on; no more trouble now about cooking.
+Late in the afternoon we reached Uinta river, and, as my two-legged
+companion had grown very tired of the back of the four-legged one, we
+went into camp early. Our objective point was Fort Uinta, where we hoped
+to find military. We could not risk turning the mule loose at night, and
+the long strip of raw-hide was designed and used to secure him, and yet
+to afford him liberty to graze while we slept. As you will see a little
+further on, both girth and lariat were used for a purpose not
+anticipated.
+
+The second, third, fourth, and fifth days came and went, and we were
+trudging on, up the Uinta, through a mostly very barren country, with
+some little rich and fertile land. We saw signs of Indians often, but no
+Indians. There was much cottonwood, but little other timber. We saw some
+fish in the river which we coveted, but could not get. The main course
+of this river is from north-west to south-east. We traveled most of the
+way to the fort on Indian trails, some of which were much worn, but
+mostly at some much earlier period. Of course we had plenty of good
+water, and food, such as it was. Field did not walk two miles during
+those five days, but seemed to be fattening fast. I sometimes thought he
+might be just a little lazy, but I never told him so, for I realized
+that he had recently had a severe tussle with death.
+
+Early in the morning of the sixth day we arrived at the abandoned old
+fort. There were only three log buildings, and they were in the shape of
+three sides of a hollow square, with port-holes on the outer faces of
+the buildings, and doors entering each of them from the hollow square or
+court. Facing the vacant side of the court, the port-hole from which I
+shot the wolf on the night after we had killed the mule, would be on
+right hand side. We were unable to determine whether this fort had been
+constructed and occupied by Americans or Mexicans, but, from its
+apparent age, we were inclined to the opinion that it was Mexicans. It
+had not been occupied for, probably, three or four years. Some little
+farming had been done immediately around the fort. Surrounding the fort
+is a large body of fine, fertile land which I have no doubt has long
+since been occupied by mormons, or other enterprising people.
+
+Having no means of subsistence here we soon decided to push on towards
+Fort Bridger, and, after resting a few hours set out following the
+larger fork of the river which comes almost directly from the north. We
+now believed that we were almost, if not exactly, due south of Fort
+Bridger. The river is small, and very crooked; we crossed it many times
+within three days, and, at the end of that time, found ourselves in the
+mouth of a rocky cañon, and after struggling for one whole day, we came
+to where the steep, high, stone walls closed the little river in on both
+sides, rendering it impossible for us to proceed any further.
+
+We were now nearly out of food; the jerk was almost gone. A council was
+held, and it was decided that we should return to the fort and take
+chances of being rescued, or scalped by some roving band of reds, or
+starving to death. We at once set out on our return, full of
+disappointment and melancholy forebodings.
+
+The next day found us without food: and now came into use the long,
+narrow strip of raw-hide which first bound together the old, rotting
+logs of which the raft was made, then to secure the mule of nights. It
+was now almost as hard as bone, and nearly round, having been dragged
+through the hot sand while it was yet green and wet, closed up like a
+hollow tube with sand inside. Two or three yards of it at a time, was
+cut into pieces about five inches long, the hair singed off, the sand
+scratched out, and these pieces were dropped into our camp kettle and
+cooked until the whole formed one mass of jelly or gluten which was, to
+us, quite palatable. When the lasso had all been thus prepared and
+eaten, the broad girth which had served so well in holding the
+pack-saddle on the mule's back, was cleaned, cooked, and eaten. These
+substitutes for jerk sustained us very well till we again arrived at the
+fort.
+
+Another consultation was now held, and the question was--what shall we
+do now? We were again, apparently, at the starting point of another
+long, enforced fast. Our path seemed hedged in. The prospect was,
+indeed, very gloomy. Our only reasonable hope for even the temporary
+prolongation of our lives was centered in our ever faithful, and always
+reliable old mule. We revolted at the idea of killing and eating him,
+but the last bit of the girth was gone. After canvassing the whole
+situation over and over, again and again, we finally, but most
+reluctantly decided to kill the mule, and preserve all the soft parts,
+even the skin with all of its old scars, and then gather in whatever
+else we could find, and stay here until spring, or until good fortune
+might afford us some means escape; till some Moses might come and lead
+us out of this wilderness, notwithstanding the fact that we had not
+borrowed any jewelry which we had failed to return.
+
+There were signs of wolves in that vicinity, and it was decided that the
+mule be slain about ten paces distant and directly in front of one of
+the port-holes of the fort, with the idea that wolves might smell the
+blood and come there and subject themselves to being shot, and thereby
+afford us a chance to increase our stock of winter supplies in the form
+of wolf steak, or jerk. Accordingly the victim was lead to the spot
+indicated, and there slain in the same manner, and with quite as much
+reluctance on the part of the slayer, as on the occasion of the
+sacrifice of the little horse, more than three weeks before. The body
+was skinned, cut up, and all taken within the building, nothing being
+left except the blood which had been spilled on the ground, and which
+was intended to attract wolves or, possibly, bears or other animals.
+
+My now only living associate ridiculed the idea of killing wolves, and
+insisted that the flesh could not be eaten, stating the fact that even
+hogs would not eat the dead body of a dog, and insisted that a dog was
+only a tamed wolf. I reminded him of a cat which had been eaten. He
+finally agreed that, if I killed a wolf, he would get up and dress it,
+but said most emphatically that he would not sit up and watch for it; so
+he went to bed, that is, rolled himself up in a blanket on the ground in
+front of a good fire inside of the fort, and went to sleep, while I sat
+with my rather untrustworthy double barreled shot-gun protruding through
+the port-hole in full view of the spot before indicated. The night was
+clear, and the moon was shining in full splendor. It was probably eleven
+o'clock; Field had been snoring for a long time, when I heard something
+in the tall, dry grass, and soon a large, brownish-gray wolf came into
+full view, with head up, apparently sniffing, or smelling, and
+cautiously approaching the fatal spot. When he reached it, and began to
+lick up the blood which was still on the surface of the ground, standing
+with his left side toward the fort, and in full view, I took deliberate
+aim, and fired, and he fell upon the ground without making any
+considerable noise.
+
+The tired, sleeping man was aroused by the report of the gun, and rushed
+into the room where I was in great excitement, thinking, perhaps, that
+some enemy had appeared, and had just then commenced to bombard the
+fort; but when I explained to him that I had simply killed a wolf, he
+ran out towards it, and, arriving close to it, the wounded creature rose
+up on its hind feet and growled quite vigorously, which seemed to
+frighten Field as much as did the noise of the gun. He dashed back to
+the fort, and, after having time to recover from his speechless
+condition, abused me most fearfully for having told him that I had
+killed a wolf. I then went out and put a load of shot into the wolf's
+head, and found that my first charge had passed through and broke both
+of its fore legs near the body. Field was so thoroughly frightened that
+I could not induce him to approach the dead animal for some time, and I
+do believe that that wolf haunted him as long as I knew him, for he
+seemed never to forget it. After dressing it by the light of the moon
+assisted by a torch, we retired. On viewing the plump body next morning
+Field exclaimed, "That's another God-send!" and notwithstanding his
+opinion that wolf could not be eaten, he found that wolf to be the best
+food we had eaten since we had assisted Walker and his tribe in eating
+the mountain sheep.
+
+The French may eat their horses, but I do not want more horse flesh. The
+old mule made fair but quite coarse beef. While out on this little
+pleasure excursion we ate horse, mule, wolf, wild-cat, mountain
+sheep, rose seed buds, raw-hide, a squirrel, fatty matter from the
+sockets of the mule's eyes and the marrow from his bones; but that ham
+of wild-cat was certainly the most detestable thing that I ever
+undertook to eat. The marrow from the mule's bones was a real luxury.
+
+We now had a pretty good stock of food, such as it was, but not enough
+to carry us through the winter on full rations; therefore we determined
+to try to add to it by hunting. One was to go out and hunt while the
+other would remain at home: we now had undisputed possession of the fort
+and it was our home. Field took the first day's outing while I occupied
+my time in drying and smoking meat. Late in the evening he returned,
+tired and worn out, having seen nothing worth shooting.
+
+Next day came my turn to hunt. I took a lunch, as he had done,
+consisting of jerked mule. I did not tell him so, but I had determined
+to make an excursion up the river to a point where we had seen some
+fresh trails and deer tracks some days before. When I was putting up my
+lunch my friend intimated that I was taking a very large amount for one
+lunch, but I told him that I might stay out late and that I did not
+intend to starve. I went, stayed all day, all night, and part of the
+next day, and returned as he had done, tired and discouraged, not having
+seen anything worth bringing in. In the evening of the first day out I
+found a trail which appeared to have been used daily by deer going to
+and from the river.
+
+It occurred to me that they might go out early in the morning, so I
+secreted myself within gun shot of the trail behind an old, moss-covered
+log where I slept comfortably; and when it was light enough in the
+morning to see a deer, I leveled my gun across the log in a position
+commanding the trail and waited and watched until nine o'clock, but
+nothing came upon that pathway that morning. After getting tired of
+watching and waiting I went down to the trail where, to my astonishment,
+I found the fresh tracks of a large bear which must have passed by that
+way while I was sleeping. As a rule I do not like to be treated
+discourteously, but in this instance I felt glad that this stranger had
+passed me by.
+
+On arriving at the fort late in the evening I found my friend in a
+terrible state of mental excitement. He said that he had not slept a
+minute during the whole of the night before. He had filled the door of
+his room with rails, and sharpened one end of a long stick, which he
+intended to use if necessary as a weapon of defence. When I arrived he
+was again filling the door with rails. I had the gun, pistol and big
+knife with me so this was his only means of defence. He said he would
+not stay alone another night for all the gold in California.
+
+I was much discouraged by our failures in hunting, and after a lengthy
+discussion we decided to make another attempt to cross the mountains and
+escape from what then seemed to us certain starvation. This was Thursday
+night and we set Monday as the time for starting. By Saturday night
+everything was in readiness for the start and Sunday we devoted to Bible
+reading, for we each still had a pocket Bible. As much of the flesh of
+the wolf and the lamented mule as we thought we could carry had been
+thoroughly jerked, and finding that we would not be overburdened by it,
+we economized by roasting and eating little scraps of flesh, the marrow
+from the bones, and even the head of the mule was roasted, the fragments
+of flesh scraped off and eaten, and Field found a rich fatty substance
+in behind the eyes, which he ate.
+
+We had a canteen in which our powder was carried, but the powder was
+nearly all gone so we emptied it and used the canteen to carry water in.
+Early Monday morning we loaded ourselves, mostly with jerked mule and
+wolf, leaving many useful things behind, bid adieu to Fort Uinta and
+took up our line of march rather reluctantly.
+
+My companion was not strong and we soon found it expedient for me to
+take on part of his burden. We rested often and yet long before night he
+became so tired that we had to go into camp. Most of the day we had
+traveled on an old deserted trail. The nights being cold we were under
+the necessity of keeping up a fire as we had left our blankets at the
+fort. The next morning we made an early start and rested often. At about
+noon we found good shade and water, and the sun being quite hot we
+stopped and rested in the shade for more than three hours, then trudged
+on till nearly night when we found water, and plenty of old dry timber
+for fuel and camped. Field expressed a wish that he had his old mule
+again, and I reminded him that he had a portion of it left in his
+knapsack, and that turn about was fair play: as the mule had carried him
+for a long time when he was unable to walk he should not object to
+carrying a portion of the mule now; whereupon he again plainly intimated
+that he thought I was a d--- d fool. I kept up the fire and he slept
+until morning.
+
+Another day was passed without any unusual occurrence; we traveled and
+ate at the same time as usual. Another day of pretty hard travel over
+sandy plains and rocky hills brought us to the foot of the mountain
+where we had plenty of good water and an abundance of fuel. A little
+sprinkle of rain early in the evening was the first we had seen since
+the memorable night after Field had eaten the little red berries.
+
+Early Saturday morning we filled our canteen with water and started up
+the mountain. I had been carrying most of the jerk, but the stock was
+running down quite rapidly. My companions bag now being almost empty,
+and as he had little else to carry while I had the gun and some other
+things, including his heavy overcoat, I divided the jerk, putting about
+half of it into his sack. All day long we were climbing the mountain.
+Late in the afternoon I was several rods ahead of Field when he called
+to me to stop: I did so and when he came up he appeared to be a little
+cross and insisted that we were not traveling in the direction formerly
+agreed upon. I requested him to let me see the little compass which he
+had in his pocket, and on examining it he found that he was mistaken;
+whereupon he muttered something which I thought was "swear words," and
+then we went marching on. In a little while we were within the old snow
+limits where we found large bodies of old icy looking snow in places
+shaded by trees and rocks, and a little before dark went into camp. We
+gathered some old dry timber and made a large fire, then some green fir
+limbs for a bed. When I began to prepare our bed on one side of the
+flaming logs, to my surprise Field began to prepare one on the other
+side of the fire. Neither had spoken since the occurrence of the little
+unpleasantness in the afternoon about the course of travel. Mutely each
+took his side of the fire.
+
+We had always slept together except when he was sick and the night I had
+left him alone at the fort. Some time in the night I became thirsty and
+got up and procured some snow, put it in our only tin cup and set it on
+some live coals to melt and went to sleep. The snow melted, the water
+evaporated, the solder melted and left the tin. While I slept, my dumb
+friend woke up thirsty, took the tin cup, filled it with snow and put it
+on coals. The snow melted and the water run out on the coals; his tongue
+let loose and he then denounced me as a knave, an ass, a fool, an
+unregenerate heathen, and what else I don't want to remember. I woke up
+alarmed and did not at first fully understand what had created the
+storm, but after having the bottomless cup dashed at my head I realized
+the situation, and began to try to apologize and explain the unavoidable
+and unfortunate circumstance; but no explanation would satisfy his now
+thoroughly "Johnny Bull" temper. After this little nocturnal disturbance
+had subsided, I, on my bed of fir branches with my feet towards the
+fire, soon fell into a sound sleep and knew nothing more of the world
+until the sun was shining. Whether or not my friend had cooled off I did
+not inquire; but I do know that there was an unusual coldness between
+us, for neither spoke to the other until about twelve o'clock and then,
+as will appear, our conversation was very short.
+
+As we did not rise until late no delay was made, but when each had his
+bag on his back and a nugget of jerk in his hand we started up the side
+of the mountain as quiet as two deaf mutes. There was no water to be
+had; our camp kettle had been left at the fort, and through my stupidity
+the cup had become useless, therefore we were obliged to eat the icy
+snow or endure the thirst. No new snow had yet fallen in this high
+altitude although it was now nearing the end of October. These mountains
+were then heavily covered with pine and fir but the timber was not
+large. In some places where the snow had melted away, short green grass
+was found quite close to great banks of snow.
+
+At about twelve o'clock we reached the summit of the great Uinta range,
+and I, being a little in advance of my still mute companion, halted to
+take a survey of the field before me. The top of the range here is bare
+of timber and there was no snow. When Field came up I broke the silence
+which had lasted since the little unpleasantness of the night before, by
+suggesting that we attempt to cross the snow-covered range of mountains
+which now appeared north of us and probably fifty miles away, through
+what appeared to be a gap or low place in the great range of mountains.
+He replied, "You may go that way if you want to, but I am going this
+way," pointing in another direction and quickly started off at an angle
+of about 45 degrees to the right, or directly north-east. I also started
+immediately, and when we were a few rods apart I said, "Good-by; we may
+not meet again very soon." He replied "Good-by," and within a few
+minutes we were out of sight, and in a very short time beyond hailing
+distance.
+
+This was the last I saw or heard of him until after each of us had
+undergone many more hardships, so I will now drop my friend but will
+hereafter devote a chapter to him, and give you an account of his
+experience as he afterwards gave it to me, detailing an account of many
+most interesting incidents. Fortunately we had divided the jerk, for
+nothing was said at this sudden and unexpected parting about anything
+which either had in his possession. I had an idea when I bade him
+good-by that he would soon turn about and follow me.
+
+After the unceremonious parting I immediately began to descend the north
+side of the mountain which was very rough, rocky and steep; but down,
+down, down I went into a deep, dark cañon where I slept on the leaves
+under a fir tree, after having taken some landmarks. When it was light
+enough to see the objects I had noted to guide me, I set out and spent
+the day in crossing over hills and through deep cañons. In the evening I
+arrived at the foot of the range of mountains which I had seen from the
+point of our parting. The sun disappeared, dark clouds began to float
+over the mountains and it was evident that a storm was approaching.
+
+While it was yet light enough I took some landmarks or guiding points;
+and it was well I did so, for on the following morning when I woke I
+found it snowing quietly but heavily, and before it was light enough for
+me to see my guiding objects there must have been six or more inches of
+new snow on the ground beyond my snug retreat under a sheltering pine.
+When it was light enough I rose from my comfortable bed, took my
+bearings as best I could without a compass and started up the mountain
+through the rapidly accumulating bed of snow. The snow continued to fall
+nearly all day, and before night it was more than a foot deep.
+
+All day long I struggled through a dense forest. Some time in the
+forenoon I crossed the fresh trail of a large herd of elk which forcibly
+reminded me that my sack was almost empty, and I vainly wished that one
+of these wild creatures might come in my way, but I did not dare to
+follow the herd with the uncertainty of killing one, and the certainty
+of losing my way this dark, snowy day. In order to maintain my course
+during such dark days I was under the necessity of looking ahead and
+observing trees or other objects in my line of travel.
+
+That night I, as usual, slept under a pine tree where there was no snow.
+I saw no sign of fire in either of these ranges of mountains, nor did I
+see any signs of Indians on my trip over these two ranges. The next day
+as I approached the top of the mountain I found the timber much smaller,
+and mostly pine. There is much fertile land in some of the valleys
+between the two great ranges of mountains.
+
+Early on the following morning I arrived at the bald, snow-covered
+summit. On my right and on my left were high, untimbered, snow-covered
+peaks. From this point I could overlook a vast territory extending over
+many hills, valleys, and smaller mountains where there was no snow; in
+fact, the snow only extended a few miles down the steep sides of the
+great range. As a rule there is more timber on the north than on the
+south side of mountains west of the Rockies; but it was the reverse
+here, for there was little timber on the north side of this range.
+
+One more day's tramping brought me down into a large barren plain where
+I gathered some dry weeds for a bed, and slept, without food or water;
+the last bit of the mule or wolf, I know not which, I had eaten during
+the afternoon. I had had very little jerk for the last two or three
+days, and began to wish that I had another horse, mule, or even a wolf.
+For many days I had seen no living thing except when I looked into a
+small glass which I carried in my pocket, and then only saw a familiar
+shadow.
+
+I spent another day without food, but had plenty of water; another night
+on a bed of green brush beside a good fire. The next day was bright and
+sunny, quite a contrast to the gloomy days I had spent in the mountains.
+For want of food I was becoming quite weak and was not able to travel as
+fast as usual. During the early part of the day I saw some tracks of an
+unshod horse, which renewed my courage and hope of redemption; and at
+about two o'clock in the afternoon I saw some dark spots on the plain a
+long distance away, but almost in the direction I was going. Hoping that
+these objects might be living creatures, I hurried on for a time, then
+sat down and after having watched them for a time I found that they
+changed positions and that satisfied me to a moral certainty that they
+were living creatures, but what I could not tell. They might be horses,
+cattle, elk, deer, antelope or buffalo; but no matter what, I must hurry
+on and try to reach them before night.
+
+Late in the evening I determined that they were horses but could not yet
+tell whether they belonged to whites or Indians, or were wild. As I
+approached them they stopped grazing and started toward me, but soon
+disappeared in a deep gulch between us which I had not noticed before.
+On arriving at the edge of the gulch or narrow valley I saw the horses
+in the vicinity of about fifteen or twenty wigwams which were all in a
+row on the bank of a little creek that ran through the gulch. Many
+Indians were sitting outside of their lodges, the weather being warm.
+
+On first sight of the village, being not more than 200 yards away, my
+heart fluttered just a little, not knowing whether the savages would
+scalp me or not; but, notwithstanding my natural cowardice, I at once
+determined to "beard the lion in his den," and walked as boldly as I
+could up to the lower end of the row of wigwams. Within a few feet of
+the nearest one three young bucks met me and seemed to be anxious to
+know whence I came and whither I was going; whether right down from
+Heaven, and if so what was my mission. They seemed as much surprised at
+my sudden appearance as I was on coming so suddenly upon them. My first
+and most important business was to determine whether they would give me
+something to eat, or eat me.
+
+As the men, women, and children began to gather around me I heard some
+one half way up the line of lodges call out saying something which I did
+not understand, but on looking that way saw a man beckoning to me, as I
+thought, when the young men motioned for me to move on up the line. On
+arriving at the place indicated I found myself in the presence of one
+whom I then suspected, and afterwards found to be the chief, who
+extended to his royal right hand and greeted me in a most courteous and
+polite manner, and then with a graceful wave of his hand and a slight
+bow indicated that I should precede him at the low open door into his
+Royal Palace where he very politely introduced me to his wife who proved
+to be a sensible, clever, courteous woman. She soon prepared some thing
+for me to eat, and after I had finished my supper an Indian brought in
+two pistols and wanted me to take the cap tube from one and put it into
+the other, which I soon accomplished. He was much pleased, went out, and
+soon returned with ten or more pounds of elk meat which he tendered to
+me as compensation for my work, but the chief objected, and insisted, as
+I understood him, that he had plenty and that I was his guest, but
+finally consented for me to accept part of the meat. I gave him to
+understand that I wanted to go to Fort Bridger.
+
+A case of nice new blankets was opened, as it appeared to me, for my
+especial benefit. The chief, his lady, two sons almost grown, two or
+three wolfish looking dogs which forcibly reminded me of Field's
+terrible scare, and myself made up the number of lodgers in that mansion
+that night. Late that night some warriors who had been out on a campaign
+came home, and learning that there was a stranger within the gates came
+to the king's palace to see him, and also to report that they had
+discovered some white barbarians in the vicinity who had dared to enter
+his domain without a special permit, and that they had sent a message to
+his highness informing him that they had a good assortment of blankets,
+cutlery, pins, needles, beads, etc., which his people might need or
+desire, and also a limited amount of "fire-water," and that they would
+be pleased to receive his order for anything he might desire.
+
+The fact of the presence of these pale-faces in the vicinity was at once
+communicated to me, and early on the following morning I was informed
+that if it was my desire to cut short my stay at the palace, the king
+would take great pleasure in furnishing me means of conveyance, a proper
+escort, and a reliable guide who would safely conduct me to the camp of
+the accommodating merchants or Indian traders, (but, in fact, Indian
+robbers.) Notwithstanding my reluctance in leaving the society of the
+noble ruler and his people I most readily accepted his generous offer,
+and after breakfast, which consisted of elk meat and tobacco root in a
+combination stew which was very palatable, a fine steed with a good
+Mexican saddle and bridle was at the door. My escort, consisting of four
+mounted warriors, was ready, and after bidding my good friends farewell,
+I with some assistance mounted my charger and we were all off on a full
+run, up and down hill and across valley, at what seemed to me a fearful
+rate.
+
+In less than two hours we entered the camp of the traders at full speed,
+dismounted, and found one man, a long Jake from Illinois, who could
+speak English. He had two wives, (squaws,) and several children which he
+claimed, but some of them were quite dark. His name was John Smith; not
+a very uncommon one. He was a very clever man, about 35 years old, was
+not a Mormon, but had taken the women in order to become popular with
+the Indians and to improve his opportunities for trade.
+
+After getting something to eat, and learning something, through Smith,
+of my adventures, my escort made ready to return to their camp. Their
+trip, as Smith told me, was made solely for my accommodation and now I
+had nothing with which to compensate them; but as they were about to
+leave I took a large "bandanna," the only one I had left, and tied it
+around the neck of the chief's son, he being one of the clever escorts.
+He at first refused to accept it, but when Smith told him that I desired
+him to take it as a token of regard, he accepted it with an expression
+of thanks, and after I had bidden them all good-bye, they rode away as
+rapidly as we had come. I will always hold that chief and his people in
+kindly remembrance.
+
+All of the other white men with Smith were French, and all had plenty of
+wives (squaws) and numerous slaves. The wives were not slaves, but they
+had slaves all around them. The whole tribe traveled about and lived
+much as other tribes did, only much better, for they lived by trading
+while the others lived by hunting and fishing. In this camp I ate bread
+for the first time in many weeks. At the end of three days after my
+arrival here a caravan was ready to start for Fort Bridger for winter
+supplies for the traders. I was furnished with a good horse and saddle,
+and Smith, one of the Frenchmen, five slaves, 20 horses, and myself made
+up the caravan, and on the evening of the third day we reached the fort
+where I was very kindly received.
+
+Smith was a large man, had a good head, and some cultivation and
+apparent refinement, and treated his women and children well. He said he
+had been to his old home in Illinois since he had entered upon this kind
+of life, but was not contented there and soon returned to his Indian
+friends. He and those Frenchmen were as generous and hospitable as old
+Southern planters, and their kindness to me will not be forgotten while
+my memory lasts.
+
+I was well treated at the fort which is 116 miles from the point where
+the seven dug up the little flat-boat from its sandy bed on the fifth
+day of August, just three mouths before, since which I had undergone
+many hardships, took many fearful risks, and traveled more than a
+thousand miles, far enough to have taken me from Green River to San
+Francisco.
+
+On the morning of the seventh day of November I started with a
+Government train for Salt Lake City where I arrived on the fifteenth. I
+soon found a home with a prominent Mormon, a Scotchman named Archie
+Gardner, living in the fifth ward, on Mill Creek, one of the many small
+streams coming down from the mountains east of the city. Mr. Gardner was
+a clever gentleman about 45 years old, had a saw-mill up in, the
+mountains, and was then building a flour mill only a few rods from his
+dwelling. I assisted him in completing the little flour mill and in
+attending it during the winter. Mr. Gardner had three wives, all living
+in one house, but occupying separate rooms at night. I usually attended
+the little mill until midnight, and Gardner made it part of my duty to
+go to his house and call him. He usually told me where I could find him,
+but not always, so at times I was under the necessity of rapping at more
+than one door before I found him.
+
+He had the largest house in the ward, and the religious services were
+held there by Bishop Johnson who also acted as Justice of the Peace in
+that ward. Gardner's family all ate at the same table over which the
+first wife presided. She was, indeed, mistress of the house, the other
+wives treating her with great respect, and all were, to all outward
+appearance, quite friendly. Gardner bestowed much attention on his first
+wife, though I always suspected that he was just a little more fond of
+the youngest one, and I did not blame him much for she manifested strong
+affection for him even in the presence of the others, and yet there was
+no outward manifestation of jealousy.
+
+The second, or the one I will call the second because she was in age
+between the others, and was the mother of the third or youngest, a
+widowed mother and her daughter having been sealed to Gardner at the
+same time, the first wife having given her consent and standing with
+them at the triple matrimonial altar, and then and there joining in the
+sacred ceremony. As I was about to say, the second wife seemed to be
+pleased at the manifestation of affection for the common husband by the
+youngest wife, and No. 1 would in a good-humored way say:--"My, Annie,
+don't be so demonstrative in the presence of other people," when the
+husband would laugh and go and kiss No. 1.
+
+Gardner spent most of his leisure time, particularly during the day and
+evening, in his first wife's apartments with her and her children. He
+was a very religious man, and always had family prayers before retiring
+at night, and all persons about the house were expected to join, at
+least formally, in this service. The use of profane language was not
+allowed in or about the house.
+
+Many of the higher church officers were entertained at Gardner's house
+and table, among whom were Brigham Young, George A. Smith, Heber C.
+Kimble, George Taylor, and Parley P. Pratt, with all of whom I formed
+some acquaintance. Brigham was a dignified, clever gentleman, not
+austere but kind and affable. Kimble was also a nice, genteel, genial,
+redheaded gentleman. Smith was a heavy man with a very large abdomen,
+dark hair full beard, exceedingly jovial and apparently always happy.
+Pratt was a small, rather slim, quick and athletic man, rather austere,
+refined, active and energetic. Taylor was a large man, highly
+intellectual, and rather unsocial. Kimble was my favorite
+notwithstanding the fact that he had fifteen wives, mostly young and
+handsome, all in one house, and my impression is that none of them had
+any children. I think it was conceded that his was the finest harem in
+Utah. He called me his young Gentile, was very kind and affable, but he
+never invited me to inspect his harem.
+
+About the first of December, 1849, Field arrived in Salt Lake City, and
+I will allude to a little matter in which he was concerned, after which
+I will give you a short account of his trip from the time we parted
+company until he arrived in Salt Lake as he afterwards gave it to me.
+Soon after he arrived in the City of the Saints he heard of another who
+had recently arrived from the south and that he was located in the fifth
+ward on Mill creek at the house of one Gardner, and at which house he
+soon arrived.
+
+After staying with me for two or three days he found employment in the
+family of the Apostle John Taylor. The family consisted of seven wives
+living in seven different houses. How many children there were I never
+knew, but there was one wife who did not have any. She was a fine
+specimen of English beauty. Taylor's women were nearly all English. It
+was the business of my friend to cut wood, and do chores generally for
+the Taylor family living in seven different places at the same time.
+Taylor was in Europe that winter looking after the interest of the
+church, and possibly after a few more wives, and consequently could not,
+in person, attend to all of the necessities of the seven branches of his
+family. In his daily rounds looking after the seven wood-piles and other
+little matters appertaining to the comfort of the family in so many
+places Field happened to come in contact with the English beauty, and
+the result was, mutual love at first sight, notwithstanding the fact
+that this woman had passed, and taken all of the solemn vows of the Lym
+house with the Apostle and his six other wives.
+
+I do not think that my English friend had lost one iota of the fond
+recollection of his long since dead English wife, the picture of whom he
+still carried near his heart; but, nevertheless, he and this seventh
+wife of the noted Apostle fell heels over head in love. Field, as you
+know, was a well developed, good-looking, intelligent man of forty. The
+woman was well developed, good-looking, and as smart as a steel-trap,
+and both being English I was not at all surprised at their mutual
+admiration and infatuation, nor did I blame them much. I was entrusted
+with many closely-sealed envelopes which I carried from one to the
+other. With my feeble assistance they tried to devise some method by
+which they might escape from the city before the Apostle should return
+home; but the Danites were always on the alert, and they well knew that
+detection by the Danites of an attempt to get away together would lead
+to certain death to him, and if not to her she would certainly have been
+returned to her polygamous state of bondage. Spring came with little
+hope of escape, and they reluctantly parted with the mutual
+understanding that, if possible, she would make her escape and go to
+Sacramento where he promised to keep his address. Ten months after the
+parting they had not met yet, and if they ever did it was after I had
+lost all further knowledge of him.
+
+Mormon morals, exclusive of polygamy, are very good. I never saw a
+drunken man in Salt Lake City, and heard very little profane language
+there. The people were industrious and seemed happy. Their hospitality
+rivaled that of the old Southern planters, and their charity was equal
+to that of other Christians.
+
+I will now go back to the place where Field and I separated on the
+mountain top and give you a short statement as he gave it to me, and
+while some things may border on the miraculous, and seem somewhat
+incredible, I do not question the truth of his statements. When we
+parted so unexpectedly he had about half of the jerked wolf and mule
+combined. I went north while he bore off in a northeasterly direction,
+and after traveling for three days came to the river at a point above
+where we lost our flat-boat. He struggled on up the river without road
+or trail, and nothing to guide him except the little compass which he
+still carried in his pocket.
+
+Two days more and his last bit of jerk was gone, starvation began to
+stare him in the face once more. He saw signs of Indians having crossed
+his pathless course which gave him renewed courage. Soon after starting
+out next morning he was delighted to see a pony in the distance grazing,
+and on coming up to it found one of its front legs broken. This, he said
+was another God-send. The poor pony seemed to fear him. It was probably
+an Indian pony, had its leg broken and was left to die. He followed it
+for some time and finally got close to it and fired his revolver at its
+chest and wounded it, but it then left him with the blood flowing from
+its wound. After resting for a time he followed on and soon found it
+lying down, but not dead. He told me how innocent and helpless it
+appeared, and looked at him as if pleading with him not to inflict any
+more pain; but he felt that his life was in a balance with its, and
+after a little meditation he put the revolver to its forehead and ended
+its life and suffering. Then came the usual process of skinning, cutting
+up and jerking which took the balance of that day and part of the next.
+
+Eight days more and he was again starving. On the ninth he arrived at
+the spot where we had dug up the little ferry-boat which carried the
+seven adventurers far down the river more than three very long dreary
+months before. Snow now covered the entire country, and all emigrants
+had long since gone by. His strength was failing fast but it would not
+do to linger there, so he arose and was about to start when he saw a
+poor old ox slowly coming towards him, and when it had come up near to
+him he discovered a wolf not far behind which seemed to be following the
+ox, but it soon turned and went away. Night was coming on and he was
+very hungry. Something must be done. The last cartridge had been
+exploded in killing the poor, broken legged Indian pony, and the
+revolver was no longer of use. The ox, though feeble, was probably yet
+stronger than the starving man.
+
+Field feared that he was not able to catch the ox by the horns and hold
+it until he could cut its throat, so the next plan was to get hold of
+the animal's tail with one hand, and with the big knife in the other cut
+his hamstrings so as to disable him, and then cut his throat. The ox
+seemed fond of being rubbed and petted, so after a little time a firm
+hold on the tail was secured, and the big knife vigorously applied, but
+it was so very dull that he could not sever the tough old tendons. After
+sawing with the dull knife and being literally dragged for some
+distance, he became so much exhausted that he was obliged to relinquish
+his hold and see the excited old ox disappear.
+
+In almost complete despair Field spent the night beside a fire under one
+of those large cottonwoods which I have no doubt you will remember even
+though it is now more than forty years since you saw them. He rose early
+next morning and started out on the well beaten road towards the Golden
+West, but had only gone a few hundred yards when he was agreeably
+surprised to again behold the old ox approaching him, but so much
+exhausted that it could scarcely walk. The same, or some other, wolf was
+near by, and had probably followed the poor old ox all night. When the
+ox came close to Field the wolf growled and again turned away as on the
+evening before. After the wolf had left the ox seemed to be relieved.
+
+It then occurred to the starving emigrant that he had a sharp razor in
+his "kitt" with which he knew he could cut those tough tendons, provided
+he could get another hold on that tail. Field, as you probably remember,
+always kept his face cleanly shaved. Even while we were starving he
+would shave almost every day. The ox was tired and worn out and so was
+Field; but he got the razor ready and soon had hold of that tail again.
+Off went the ox, the keen razor was applied, soon the tendons parted and
+down went the ox. But only half the victory was won, for the ox would
+raise up on his front feet and show fight; but after resting awhile the
+would-be victor rushed up, caught the poor beast by the horns, pushed
+him over on his side, held him down and cut his throat.
+
+After a long, much needed rest he cut out a piece of the poor beef,
+broiled and ate it, and then spent the remainder of the day in hunting
+out the small, lean muscles that still remained between the skin and
+bones of the poor old ox. The poor beef was jerked and put into the sack
+which on the following morning was thrown upon the back of its owner,
+and from which he fed for the next six days, at the end of which he
+arrived at Fort Bridger. From there he soon obtained a passage for Salt
+Lake City, arriving there on the second day of December, seventeen days
+after I had reached there, and finding me as before stated.
+
+Some time in the winter we formed an acquaintance of a gentleman named
+Jesse Morgan, a Gentile, who had left Illinois in the spring of 1849 for
+California, but for some cause had been delayed and obliged to winter in
+the city of the Latter Day Saints. Morgan had a wife, a little child, a
+wagon and two yoke of oxen, but no food nor money. Field and I arranged
+to furnish food for all for the trip from there to Sacramento, and
+assist in camp duties, drive the team, &c. We made the trip together and
+arrived in Sacramento in good condition on the fourth day of July, 1850,
+and pitched our tent under a large oak tree where the State Capitol now
+stands.
+
+I spent five months with a wholesale grocery and miners supply firm,
+Elder and Smith, Fourth and J streets, Sacramento, and three months in
+the mines as a drummer, or solicitor and collector for the same firm. I
+returned to Sacramento and was almost ready to start home when the Scots
+River excitement broke out. I then went to the mines on Trinity River
+and associated myself in mining with Hiram Gould, a young Presbyterian
+clergyman who had laid aside the "cloth" for the time and engaged in
+mining. I remained in the mines until July fourth, 1851, exactly one
+year from the time I entered Sacramento, when I started home by way of
+Nicaragua. In due time, after an interesting trip, I arrived home and
+again entered upon the study of my chosen profession, graduated from an
+honorable college, and am now, as you know, practicing my profession on
+the sea shore.
+
+M.S. MCMAHON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+STORY OF THE JAYHAWKERS.
+
+
+In the foregoing chapters describing the trip across the deserts and
+mountains, the author has had occasion many times to refer to the
+"Jayhawkers." Their history is in many respects no less remarkable and
+intensely interesting than that of his own party. The author has
+therefore collected many notes and interviews with prominent members and
+presents herewith the only written history of their travels.
+
+The little train afterward known by this name was made up in the state
+of Illinois in 1849, of industrious, enterprising young men who were
+eager to see and explore the new country then promising gold to those
+who sought. The young men were from Knoxville, Galesburg and other
+towns. Not all were influenced by the desire for gold. It was said that
+California had a milder climate and that pleasant homes could there be
+made, and the long, cold winter avoided.
+
+They placed some of the best men in position to manage for the whole.
+The outfit was placed on a steam-boat and transported to Kanesville, on
+the Missouri River above Council Bluffs. Some of the company went with
+the goods while others bought teams and wagons in Western Missouri and
+drove to the appointed place. Kanesville was a small Mormon camp, while
+Council Bluffs was a trading post of a few log cabins on the river bank,
+inhabited mostly by Indians. There was no regular ferry at either place,
+and our party secured a log raft which they used to get their wagons and
+provisions across, making the oxen swim.
+
+They asked all the questions they could think of from everyone who
+pretended to know anything about the great country to the west of them,
+for it seemed a great undertaking to set out into the land they could
+see stretching out before them across the river. Other parties bound the
+same way, also arrived and joined them. They chose a guide who claimed
+to have been over the road before. When all were gathered together the
+guide told them that they were about to enter an Indian country, and
+that the dusky residents did not always fancy the idea of strangers
+richer than themselves passing through, and sometimes showed out some of
+the bad traits the Indians had been said to possess. It would therefore
+be better to organize and travel systematically. He would divide the
+company into divisions and have each division choose a captain, and the
+whole company unite in adopting some rules and laws which they would all
+agree to observe. This arrangement was satisfactorily accomplished, and
+they moved out in a sort of military style. And then they launched out
+on the almost endless western prairie, said then to be a thousand miles
+wide, containing few trees, and generally unknown.
+
+These Illinois boys were young and full of mirth and fun which was
+continually overflowing. They seemed to think they were to be on a sort
+of every day picnic and bound to make life as merry and happy as it
+could be. One of the boys was Ed Doty who was a sort of model traveler
+in this line. A camp life suited him; he could drive an ox team, cook a
+meal of victuals, turn a pan of flap-jacks with a flop, and possessed
+many other frontier accomplishments. One day when Doty was engaged in
+the duty of cooking flap-jacks another frolicsome fellow came up and
+took off the cook's hat and commenced going through the motions of a
+barber giving his customer a vigorous shampoo, saying:--"_I am going to
+make a Jayhawker out of you, old boy_." Now it happened at the election
+for captain in this division that Ed Doty was chosen captain, and no
+sooner was the choice declared than the boys took the newly elected
+captain on their shoulders and carried him around the camp introducing
+him as the _King Bird of the Jayhawkers_. So their division was
+afterwards known as The Jayhawkers, but whether the word originated with
+them, and John Brown forgot to give them credit, or whether it was some
+old frontier word used in sport on the occasion is more than I will
+undertake to say; however the boys felt proud of their title and the
+organization has been kept up to this day by the survivors, as will be
+related further on.
+
+The first few days they got along finely and began to lose all feeling
+of danger and to become rather careless in their guard duty. When the
+cattle had eaten enough and lain down, the guards would sometimes come
+into camp and go to sleep, always finding the stock all right in the
+morning and no enemy or suspicious persons in sight. But one bright
+morning no cattle were in sight, which was rather strange as the country
+was all prairie. They went out to look, making a big circuit and found
+no traces till they came to the river, when they found tracks upon the
+bank and saw some camps across the river, a mile or so away. Doty had a
+small spy glass and by rigging up a tripod of small sticks to hold it
+steady they scanned the camps pretty closely and decided that there were
+too many oxen for the wagons in sight.
+
+Some of the smartest of them stripped off their clothes and started to
+swim the stream, but landed on the same side they started from. Captain
+Doty studied the matter a little and then set out himself, being a good
+swimmer, and by a little shrewd management and swimming up stream when
+the current was strongest, soon got across to where he could touch
+bottom and shouted to the others to do the same. Soon all the swimmers
+were across.
+
+They could now see that there were two trains on that side and that the
+farther one had already begun to move and was about a mile in advance of
+the nearest one, Doty said something must be done, and although they
+only were clothed in undershirts they approached the nearest camp and
+were handed some overalls for temporary use. The men in this camp on
+hearing about the missing oxen said the fellows in the forward train
+went over and got them, for, as they said there were no wagons in sight
+and they must be strays. He said the forward train was from Tennessee,
+and that they had some occasion to doubt their honesty and had refused
+to travel with them any further. They said they were all old
+Missourians, and did not want other people's property and if the boys
+found their cattle with the Tenneseans, and wanted any help to get them
+back again to call on them, and putting in some good strong swear words
+for emphasis.
+
+The boys, barefooted and with only overalls and shirts, started after
+the moving train which they called to a halt when overtaken. The coarse
+grass was pretty hard to hurry through, clothed as they were. The train
+men were pretty gruff and wanted to know what was wanted. Capt. Doty
+very emphatically told them he could see some of his oxen in their
+train, and others in the herd, and he proposed to have them all back
+again. The Jayhawker boys were unarmed but were in a fighting mood and
+determined to have the stock at all hazards, and if not peaceably, war
+might commence. The boys saw that the two trains were of about equal
+strength, and if worse came to worst they could go back and get their
+guns and men and come over in full force after their property, and they
+were assured the Missourians would help them and a combination of forces
+would give them a majority and they could not be beaten by the Tennessee
+crowd. There was a good deal of talk, but finally when Doty demanded
+that their cattle be unyoked and the others separated from the herd,
+they yielded and gave them all their stock, some seventy head.
+
+The Missourians had come up and heard the talk, and some of them went
+back and helped drive the cattle to the river, and deal out some double
+shotted thunder against the biggest scamps they had come across. It was
+quite a job to get the cattle across the river. They would go in a
+little way and then circle round and round like a circus, making no
+progress. They finally put a rope on one of them and a man led him as
+far as he could, which was more than half way, and although they landed
+a good ways down stream, they got them all across safely, left their
+borrowed overalls in the hands of their friends, with a thousand thanks
+for valuable assistance, and plunged into the swift running Platte, and
+swam back again to the northern side. They drove the straggling oxen
+back to camp with a sense of great satisfaction, and in turn received
+the praise of their friends who said that Ed Doty was the best Jayhawker
+of the border.
+
+This was the first unpleasantness and they were afterwards more cautious
+and stood guard all night, watching closely all the time, both night and
+day, for for any signs of danger. Thus in time they reached Salt Lake,
+rather late in the season, but safe and sound, having escaped cholera or
+other disease, and in good spirits to surmount any further difficulties
+which might be met.
+
+When the Jayhawkers reached Salt Lake it was found that it was not safe
+to try to go the regular northern route to California, as they were
+advised by those who seemed to know, as they might be snowed in on the
+Sierra Nevada Mountains and perish. The Mormons told them that the snow
+often fell there twenty feet deep, and some other stories likely to
+deter them from making the attempt. They also told them of a route
+farther south by which they could come into California at Los Angeles,
+or they could remain in Salt Lake until May when it would be safe to try
+the mountain route again. After listening to the talk of the
+mountaineers who claimed to have been over the route and to know all
+about it, and camping some time to rest and learn all they could, they
+finally decided on taking the southern route. One Mormon told them of a
+place where they could make a cut-off and save five hundred miles, and,
+if they would follow his instructions, they would find the route fully
+as good as the one usually traveled which was not much better than a
+trail. The cut-off was so instilled into their minds that they had great
+confidence in the report and talked very favorably of taking it.
+
+The man Williams made for them a map of the proposed route and explained
+it to them and others who had gathered at Salt Lake, and from the map
+they could see how much was to be gained in time and distance by taking
+that route. A month or two of travel was indeed something to gain, and
+as the roads seemed similar in quality the reasoning was very plausible
+The map explained all the watering places and favorable things but said
+nothing about a desert, and as there was no one to tell them any
+unfavorable side to this plan there were many who quite concluded to go
+this way, and among those who did so were the Jayhawkers, and the
+"Williams Short Route" was freely talked about as a settled thing by
+them.
+
+They now set about preparing to move. They sold, traded, and bought oxen
+till they had the best and fattest teams in Salt Lake Valley; selected
+good provisions, and plenty of them so as to be safe in case of delay,
+and contended that nothing could stop them in a country where but little
+snow could be, and water was as plentiful as shown on the map. They
+wanted to reach the gold mines and this was the shortest route and even
+if it was still considerably longer than the northern way they said they
+would rather be moving along and thus gain time than to so long in camp
+with nothing to do by which they could earn a cent. There were here in
+Salt Lake ten times as many men as could find employment, and Brigham's
+saints would be pretty sure to get all of the odd jobs to the exclusion
+of the heretics.
+
+To bring the matter to a determination a paper was drawn up for those to
+sign who wanted to go the southern route and it was pretty generally
+signed. The Mormon elder, John Hunt, was consulted, and as he seemed to
+know the general southern route better than any one else, he was
+prevailed upon to guide the train through on the old Spanish Trail. This
+had never been used as a wagon road, but he thought it could be without
+much difficulty, and he said if they could secure him a fair sized train
+he would go and conduct them through for ten dollars a wagon. This
+proposition was accepted after some consideration, and all who wished to
+do so were given permission to join the train. In a few days there were
+one hundred and seven wagons enlisted for this route, including seven
+Mormons bound for San Bernardino.
+
+Preparations for the trip now began in good earnest, and the Saints were
+liberally patronized in purchase of flour and meat which were the
+principal things they had to sell. As their several wagons were loaded
+they moved out in small lots to the south to keep in good fresh feed for
+their animals, and to move on slowly till all were ready, when they
+would join in one large body and proceed. The guide was in no special
+haste as he said he wanted to wait a little later so the weather in the
+south would be cooler than they would be likely to find it if they
+pressed on at once. He said that in summer it was so hot that no white
+man could endure the heat. He said they could work slowly along the
+trail, and when the right time came he would move out himself, and that
+they might be assured that it would then be the coolest and best time in
+which to travel down there. So the company dallied along, and it was
+October before the whole train was made up at a point about a hundred
+miles south of Salt Lake.
+
+The complete organization was divided into seven divisions, each with
+its captain, and division No. 1 was to lead the march the first day and
+then fall to the rear while No. 2 took the advance, and so continued
+till all had taken their turn. The leading party was to guard and care
+for the cattle and deliver them in the morning. The regulations were
+read aloud to the captains, and this rather large army of men, women and
+children, with about five hundred head of stock, moved out very
+systematically. It would sometimes be fully ten o'clock before the rear
+division could make a start, and correspondingly late before they could
+get up with the main camp at night. They got along very well, but
+cleaned the country of grass for some distance each side of the trail,
+as they swept along.
+
+About the first of November Capt. Smith overtook us with the pack train,
+and camped with us at night. He formed many acquaintances and told them
+he was going to take a shorter route and save five hundred miles, rather
+than take the long route by way of Los Angeles. He had a map of his
+proposed route, and it was very much like the one we had. He also stated
+that it could probably be as easily traveled as the one by way of Los
+Angeles, and as a consequence of his talk, cut-off fever began to rage
+in camp again. Some got very enthusiastic in the matter and spoke
+publicly in favor of following Capt. Smith when he should come to the
+place when his short route turned away from the other trail. His plan
+grew so much in favor that when the place was reached a hundred wagons
+turned out into the Smith trail, leaving Capt. Hunt only the seven
+Mormon wagon bound for San Bernardino, Hunt stood at the forks of the
+road as the wagons went by and said to them;--"Good-bye, friends. I
+cannot, according to my agreement go with you, for I was hired for this
+road, and no other was mentioned. I am in duty bound to go even if only
+one wagon decides to go." When the last wagon had passed him he still
+stood talking with several who had chosen the new way and told them they
+were taking a big risk, for they did not know very much about the route,
+and he had been thinking that they might find it pretty rough and hard
+to get over the first time. He said that if all decided to go that way
+he would go and help them, even if they went to h-ll, but as it was he
+could not. He wished them luck and the two trains parted company.
+
+At the end of three days of travel on the Smith trail they came to the
+top of a long steep hill. The trail went down and down, and they see no
+way of crossing the terribly deep cañon that was before them. So they
+went into camp and sent explorers out to investigate and find a crossing
+if possible.
+
+On the second day the explorers began to return with very unfavorable
+reports, and many who found their progress thus blocked turned about and
+started to follow Hunt. Most of the wagons which remained had each one
+or more of their men out exploring and could not turn back until their
+return. Several of the Jayhawkers having once started on this route were
+very anxious to get through on it if a way could be found for them to do
+it, and therefore searched farther and with greater determination than
+the others. When they returned they reported they had found a way around
+the head of the cañon and they believed it to be the right way. The map
+Williams had given them did not show this cañon and they believed it to
+be correct, and that the real road led around at the place which they
+had found, and no further trouble would be met.
+
+Acting on this report about twenty wagons, including the Jayhawkers,
+concluded to go ahead. "We can beat the other fellows a month," said
+they, and so they hitched up and pulled out in a northerly direction,
+feeling in good spirits and hopeful of success.
+
+They named this place Mt. Misery. While camped here a lone and seemingly
+friendless man died and was buried. None seem now to remember his name,
+but think he was from Kentucky. He was low with consumption and not
+strong enough to endure the hardships of the journey.
+
+About the third night the Jayhawkers were overtaken by seven more wagons
+owned by A. Bennett and friends, J.B. Arcane and family, two men named
+Earhart and a son of one of them, and one or two other wagons.
+
+The Jayhawker's train was made up of men from many states, but seemed
+well united and was as complete as when they first started. The Author
+was with the party that came up in the rear, which had started later but
+traveled faster on account of having a road broken for them. He visited
+the leaders in camp when they were discussing the necessity of forming a
+new travelling compact to help and protect each other on the road. Those
+who had no families were objecting to being bound to those who had women
+and children with them. They argued that the road would be hard and
+difficult and those wagons with women and children would require more
+assistance than they would be able to render in return. They said they
+could go back and follow Hunt who was on a better road and they could
+proceed with more safely.
+
+Among those with this train was Rev. J.W. Brier, his wife and three
+children. He objected to being turned back and said he did not want to
+be assisted, but would go with them and do his part and take care of
+himself. The Author listened to the various speeches without speaking
+and became satisfied that it would end in every one looking out for
+himself in case of hard times. He went over to their camp again the next
+night and wished to ask them why they were steering so nearly due north.
+He said to them that they were going toward Salt Lake rather than
+California, and that the Bennet party did not feel inclined to follow
+them any farther in that direction. They replied that their map told
+them to go north a day or more and then they would find the route as
+represented. They would then turn west and reach Owen's Lake and from
+there there would be no more trouble. The Jayhawker crowd seemed to
+think they could go anywhere and no difficulty could happen which they
+couldn't overcome. Bennett's little train turned west from this point
+and the Jayhawkers went on north, but before night they changed their
+minds and came following on after Bennett whom they overtook and passed,
+again taking the lead.
+
+Thus far the country had been well watered and furnished plenty of
+grass, and most of them talked and believed that this kind of rolling
+country would last all the way through. The men at leisure scattered
+around over the hills on each side of the route taken by the train, and
+in advance of it, hunting camping places and making a regular picnic of
+it. There were no hardships, and one man had a fiddle which he tuned up
+evenings and gave plenty of fine music. Joy and happiness seemed the
+rule, and all of the train were certainly having a good time of it.
+
+But gradually there came a change as the wagon wheels rolled westward.
+The valleys seemed to have no streams in them, and the mountain ranges
+grew more and more broken, and in the lower ground a dry lake could be
+found, and water and grass grew scarce--so much so that both men and
+oxen suffered. These dry lake beds deceived them many times. They seemed
+as if containing plenty of water, and off the men would go to explore.
+They usually found the distance to them about three times as far as they
+at first supposed, and when at last they reached them they found no
+water, but a dry, shining bed, smooth as glass, but just clay, hard as a
+rock. Most of these dry lakes showed no outlet, nor any inlet for that
+matter, though at some period in the past they must have been full of
+water. Nothing grew in the shape of vegetables or plants except a small,
+stunted, bitter brush.
+
+Away to the west and north there was much broken country, the mountain
+ranges higher and rougher and more barren, and from almost every sightly
+elevation there appeared one or more of these dry lake beds. One night
+after about three days of travel the whole of the train of twenty seven
+wagons was camped along the bank of one of these lakes, this one with a
+very little water in it not more than one fourth or one half an inch in
+depth, and yet spread out to the width of a mile or more. It was truly
+providential, for by digging holes along the border the water would run
+into them and prove abundant for all, both oxen and men. If it had
+proved dry, as so many before had proved, or if we had been a few days
+earlier or later we might not have found a drop. This proved to be the
+last time the whole twenty seven wagons were gathered in one camp
+together.
+
+The Author came into camp about nine o'clock in the evening after
+climbing many peaks and taking a survey of the surrounding country with
+a field glass. Men from nearly every mess came to him to inquire what he
+had seen. They asked all sorts of questions and wanted an opinion as to
+the advisability of trailing across the prairie directly west, which
+then seemed easy. They were told that from what could be seen from the
+summit of buttes both north and south of the camp, ranging a hundred or
+so miles in almost every direction, it was believed no water could be
+found, between the present camp and a range of mountains which could be
+seen crossing the route far to the west. "Well," said Capt. Doty of the
+Jayhawkers, "I don't like to hear such discouraging talk from Manley,
+but I think we will have to steer straight ahead. The prospect for water
+seems to be about the same, west or south, and I cannot see that we
+would better ourselves, by going north." When morning came Capt. Doty
+and his party yoked up and set out straight across the desert, leaving
+seven wagons of the Bennett party still in camp.
+
+For some time all of us had seen in the range ahead an appearance of a
+pass, or lower place in the mountain, and we had got to calling it
+Martin's Pass, naming it after Jim Martin. There was a snow-capped peak
+just to the south of it and the pass, now apparently exactly west of the
+lake camp, seemed to the Jayhawkers easy to reach. Their wills were
+strong enough and they were running over with determination and energy
+enough to carry them over any plain, no matter how dry or barren, or
+over any mountain no matter how rugged and steep.
+
+Five days they traveled, without finding water, and small supply they
+took along had been consumed. For lack of water they could not eat or
+sleep. The oxen gathered round the little fire and seemed to beg for
+water, they had no cud to chew unless it was the cud of disappointment.
+The range of mountains they had been aiming for still seemed far away
+and the possible show for reaching it seemed very poor indeed, and the
+prospect of any water hole between them and the mountains poorer yet.
+Hope was pretty near gone. Martins mess unyoked their oxen from the
+wagons, put some small packs on their own backs, and loaded some upon
+the backs of the oxen, and turned south toward the nearest snowy
+mountain they could see, the same one towards which the Bennett party
+steered from the lake camp.
+
+The Doty party kept their courage longer and kept on straight ahead for
+another day, and then camped, almost without hope. No rest came to them,
+nor sleep. Towards morning as they stood around the fire a stray cloud
+appeared and hid the stars, and shortly after began to unload a cargo of
+snow it carried. They spread out every blanket, and brushed up every bit
+they could from the smooth places, kindled a little fire of brush under
+the camp kettles and melted all the snow all of them could gather,
+besides filling their mouths as fast as ever they could, hoping that it
+would full in sufficient quantities to satisfy themselves and the oxen,
+and quench their dreadful thirst. Slowly the cloud moved scattering the
+snowflakes till they felt relieved. The last time the Author conversed
+with a member of this party was in 1892, and it was conceded that this
+storm saved the lives of both man and beast in that little band of
+Jayhawkers. It was like manna falling from Heaven, and as surely saved
+their lives as did the manna of the Bible save the lives of the tribes
+of Israel. They had no reason to expect a storm of rain or snow, but
+came to them just as they were perishing. A little further on they came
+to a small stream of water, and as the bed showed only a recent flow it
+must also have come from the little local storm further up the mountain.
+They used this water freely, even though it was not very good, and it
+acted on them very much like a solution of Glanber Salts.
+
+They decided at first that they had better follow the stream southward,
+but after a little time, feeling the sickness caused by the water, they
+saw it was no advantage and turned west again, bearing to the north
+toward a sort of pass they could now see in the mountains in that
+direction. This stream is now known as the Amargosa, or bitter, river.
+
+The new direction in which they marched gave them an up-hill route for
+thirty or forty miles, rough and barren, with no water or grass. There
+was no road or trail to follow, the oxen were as weak as their owners
+from drinking the bitter water, and the road needed some clearing and
+breaking in places before the wagons could pass. They moved quite slowly
+and reached the summit on the second night with the loss of a single ox.
+The Author would say here that this was the last ox which was allowed to
+die without using the flesh for food, and it was from this same one he
+cut a steak to eat on Christmas eve, 1849.
+
+From the summit they took a way down a dark, deep cañon having a steep
+slope, and very rocky and bad, but down which the oxen drew their loads
+much easier than when they came up, reaching water on the third day,
+where there were many springs, and a sort of coarse grass for the oxen.
+The place is now known as Furnace Creek. The Jayhawkers passed on, and
+here at these very springs was where the Author overtook the Rev. J.W.
+Brier delivering a lecture to his children on the benefits of an early
+education, as referred to in his narrative.
+
+As the Jayhawkers drove out of this Furnace Creek Cañon the valley into
+which they came was very narrow, the high, snow-capped mountain before
+them seemed steeper and rougher than ever, so steep in fact that it
+could not be ascended by a man on foot. A short distance below could be
+seen a lake containing water, and the pass toward which they had been
+directing their course seemed to the north of them. They therefore
+turned their course in that direction. The road was sandy, and the brush
+that grew on it was only a few inches high. On their way they came to an
+abandoned Indian camp occupied by one poor old blind red man. He would
+hold his mouth open like a young bird begging for something to eat. One
+man dropped kernels of parched corn into his mouth, but instead of
+eating them he quickly spit them out; it seemed that he had been left to
+die and could not or would not. His hair was white as snow. His skin
+looked about the color of a smoked ham, and so crippled was he that he
+crawled about like a beast, on all fours. It was barely possible that he
+had been left to watch, and that his great infirmities were only
+pretended, but they seemed genuine enough, and were doubtless true. They
+left him in peaceable possession of the spot and traveled on.
+
+They approached the base of the mountain in front of what they had all
+along supposed to be a pass, and found, as they had lately begun to
+suspect, that there was no pass that their wagons could be taken
+through, and they must be abandoned. The camp was poor. What little
+water there was had a salty taste, and they could only find here and
+there a bunch of the poorest grass. The oxen stood around as if utterly
+dispirited, and would sometimes make a faint effort to pick up and eat
+some of the dry brush that grew around the desolate camp. This camp is
+now known to be in the northern part of Death Valley, but then they knew
+no names for anything, but if dreariness and absence of life, and
+threatened danger all around were any indication, they might well have
+named it Death Valley as was afterwards done by the party with whom the
+Author traveled.
+
+The party had been brave till now, but when they realized that they must
+make pack animals of themselves, and trudge on, they knew not where,
+perhaps to only a lingering death, the keen edge of disappointment cut
+close, and they realized how desolate they were. They felt much inclined
+to attribute all their troubles to the advice of the Mormons. Some said
+that the plan was thus to wipe so many more hated Gentiles out of the
+way, and wishes were deep and loud that the Mormons might all be buried
+out of sight in the Great Salt Lake. They thought Lot's wife must have
+been turned to salt in the neighborhood, everything was so impregnated
+with saline substances, and the same result might come to them. But the
+inherent manhood of the little band came to their relief and they
+determined not to die without a struggle for escape and life.
+
+They killed some of their oxen, and took the wood of their wagons and
+kindled fires to dry and smoke the flesh so it would be light and easy
+to carry with them. They scattered all surplus baggage around the
+ground, carefully storing and saving the bit of bread that yet remained
+and dividing it equally among the party. They also divided the tea,
+coffee, rice and some such things, and each one agreed that he could not
+ask aught of his neighbor more. Knapsacks were improvised from parts of
+the wagon canvas, and long strips of canvas were made into a sort of
+pack harness for the oxen. It was a sad sight to see the strong and
+vigorous young men of a few days ago reduced to such straits; almost
+skeletons now, with no hope of nourishment to invigorate them. They made
+canteens by sewing a couple of small powder cans in cloth, with a band
+to go over the shoulders.
+
+The Jayhawkers were still making their preparations when the Martin
+party and Rev. J.W. Brier and family came up to their camp, having taken
+a circuit around farther to the south. The Martin party was already in
+marching order and this camp was so poor that they did not wait, but
+gave all their oxen they had left to Mr. Brier and said they could get
+on faster without them. They took a straight course over the hills and
+up the mountain, saying they believed they had provisions enough upon
+their backs to last them through, and that nothing should check their
+progress till they reached the other side, where they said were fertile
+valleys and plenty of chance to live.
+
+The Doty party, or Jayhawkers, when they were ready started first a
+northerly course to find a more favorable place to cross the range and
+drove their oxen with them, each with a small pack. They soon came to
+some good water, and after refreshing themselves turned westward to
+cross the great mountain before them. Both men and oxen were shod with
+moccasins made of raw-hide to protect the feet against sharp rocks. They
+could see no trail but merely picked out the best way to go. While
+climbing the steep mountain side they came across a dead ox left by some
+party that had gone before them. They cut out the tongue and some of the
+best meat and ate it to eke out their own small stock, and carried some
+pieces with them, but soon threw it all away but enough for a roast for
+supper.
+
+When it was getting dark they were almost at the summit, but there was
+no good camping place, and they saw a small fire light at a little
+distance and went to it, finding a poor lone camper taking care of
+himself. They camped here also. It seemed as if there were many men from
+the various parties scattered all around the country, each one seeking
+out the path which seemed to suit best his tender feet or present fancy,
+steering west as well as mountains and cañon would permit, some farther
+north, some farther south and generally demoralized, each thinking that
+as a last resort he would be able to save his own life. It seemed to be
+a question of will and endurance, strong hearts and keeping the body in
+motion. The weak and faint must fail, and the strong said to the
+weak;--"Stand up; be a man; don't fall down;" and so the strong spurred
+on the weak and kept them up as best they could.
+
+Down the mountain they went, on the west side and instead of Los
+Angeles, which some of them expected to see, they saw only a salt lake
+in the midst of a barren desert valley and their route lay directly
+across it. They traveled in several directions as they went across. One
+went across the valley on a strip of dried mud between two small lakes.
+Others followed down along the east side of the lake near the foot of
+the mountain, where they found some good water and an old Indian camp.
+They found some mosquite beans, which they did not know were of much
+use, but really, if they had known how to fix them up a little they
+would have been good food.
+
+Capt. Doty's mess crossed between the lakes on the strip of dry mud
+while others went on where it was still soft and left marks of their
+foot-steps. Both parties turned up a small cañon on the west side and
+began the ascent of a black and barren range, containing no water, but
+in the bed of the ravine near the summit they found some damp sand and
+tried to dig with their hands to find some of the precious fluid. But no
+water came, and in the morning one of their number Mr. Fish died and was
+left unburied on the barren rocks. No doubt his bones could be found
+there to-day.
+
+Turning west again, they had a down grade over a most barren and rocky
+road for many miles. The prospect from this point was any thing but
+cheering. To the left a large lake could be seen, and from their
+previous experience they concluded it to be salt, and the valley they
+were coming to was very sandy, and the hardest sort of footing for men
+and animals as weak as those of the party were. It must be crossed
+before there was any possibility of water, and when across it was quite
+uncertain whether they could obtain any. One of their number had already
+died of thirst and fatigue and all were suffering terribly.
+
+The valley seemed about eight miles across, and before they were half
+way over Mr. Ischam, one of their party sat down, perfectly exhausted,
+and said he could not take another step. No one was able to assist him
+or give him a drink of water, and they could not tarry to see if rest
+would refresh him. They could only look sadly at him and pass on in
+silence, for he seemed fast wasting away. The thought came to everyone
+that perhaps it would be his turn next to sit down and see the others
+pass on. In fact the probability of any more of them living another day
+was very poor, for they all grew weaker and weaker with every hour, and
+no one knew how many hours must pass before they could hope for water.
+There was not moisture enough in their poor bodies to make tears, and no
+one dare open his mouth, lest all the moisture suddenly evaporate and
+respiration cease.
+
+Those who had no cattle took different courses to reach the hills and
+mountains on the west side of this valley, hoping there to find water
+and signal to the others if they were successful. All except the two men
+managed to get across, and finding no water the packs were taken from
+the oxen and they were driven to the lake which appeared on the left.
+Reaching the lake they found the water red in color and so strong of
+alkali that no man or beast could take a single swallow. They drove the
+cattle back again with sad hearts, and almost despondent, for in the
+rough, dry rocks of the mountains there seemed no signs of water. But
+they were saved again. Those who bore farthest to the right in their
+course to the mountains, steering toward a pile of tremendous rocks,
+found a little stream of good water which flowed only a short distance
+and then sank into the sand. This good news spread rapidly, and all soon
+gathered at the little streamlet. It was slow work getting water for
+them all, but by being patient they were all filled up. Some took two
+canteens of water and hurried back to Mr. Ischam, whom they found still
+alive but his mouth and throat so dry and parched, and his strength so
+small that he was unable to swallow a single drop, and while they waited
+he breathed his last. With their hands and feet they dug away the sand
+for a shallow grave, placed the body in it, covered it with his
+blankets, and then scraped the sand back over again to make a little
+mound over their dead comrade. Perhaps if he could have walked a mile
+farther he might have lived, and but for the little trickling stream of
+water from the rocks they might all be dead, so slight were the
+circumstances that turned the scale to balance toward life or death.
+
+There was so little feed for oxen that they could gain no strength, but
+were much refreshed by the water and could still travel. One was killed
+here, and the meat, poor as it was, gave the men new strength. They all
+guessed it to be at least fifty miles to the base of the great snow
+mountain before them, and what there was between no one could tell, for
+there were hills and valleys between. Leaving the little spring their
+course led first up a small cañon, and when they reached the summit of
+the ridge a small valley covered with sage brush was before them, the
+most fertile spot they had seen for a long time. The descent to this
+valley was through another cañon which was filled with large boulders
+for much of the way, and over these it seemed almost impossible to get
+the cattle. They had seen no water since leaving the little stream, and
+the plain they were now approaching seemed thirty miles wide, with no
+signs of streams or springs. However just at the foot of the cañon they
+found a small water hole, but the water was so salt that even the oxen
+refused to drink it.
+
+They decided to make a push across the plain and endeavor to reach the
+other side in two days, and they knew there could be no water on its
+even expanse. The plain seemed quite an up grade from where they were to
+the base of the mountain.
+
+On the second day they all reached the point they were aiming for except
+Rev. J.W. Brier and family, and they came in one day behind. Every one
+looked out for himself and had no time nor strength to spare to help
+others. Here on a small bench overlooking the country to the south and
+east but still a long distance from the snow, they found some holes of
+water, and some bunch grass a little farther up the hill. Here was a
+large trail coming from the north and leading from this point westward.
+There were no signs of recent use, but there were many indications that
+it was quite ancient and had been considerably traveled in time past.
+This was quite encouraging to many of them and they declared they would
+follow this trail which would surely lead to some place well known, in a
+better country. They cared not whether it led to California, Mexico, or
+Texas, only that they might get out of this country which seemed
+accursed. Any place where they could get something to eat and drink
+would be better than this.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Brier had some pretty hard struggles to get along, and
+everyone of this party has ever been loud in praise of the energy and
+determination of the brave little woman of the Brier mess. All agreed
+that she was by far the best man of the party. She was the one who put
+the packs on the oxen in the morning. She it was who took them off at
+night, built the fires, cooked the food, helped the children, and did
+all sorts of work when the father of the family was too tired, which was
+almost all of the time. They all said that he, like other ministers, had
+fallen out with any work but that of the tongue, and seemed perfectly
+willing for some one else to do the work. Mrs. Brier had the sympathy of
+everyone, and many would have helped her if they could. She waited on
+her big husband with untiring zeal, and still had time to care for the
+children with all of a mother's love. It seemed almost impossible that
+one little woman could do so much. It was entirely to her untiring
+devotion that her husband and children lived. Mr. Brier had but little
+sympathy or help from any one but her. Some were quite sarcastic in
+their remarks about the invalid preacher who never earned his bread by
+the sweat of his brow, and by their actions showed that they did not
+care very much whether he ever got through or not. They thought he ought
+to have asserted his manliness and taken the burden on himself, and not
+lean upon his delicate and trusting wife as he seemed to do. All are
+sure that it is to his faithful wife the Rev. J.W. Brier owed his succor
+from the sands of that desert.
+
+Looking back on the scenes of that day, the way the selfish dispositions
+of people were made manifest is almost incredible. Every one seemed to
+think only of saving his own life, and every spark of human sympathy and
+kindness seemed extinguished. A man would drink the last cup of water
+even if his neighbor choked.
+
+This camp was the same one which the Author mentions in his narrative,
+to which Rogers and himself crept so silently and carefully at night to
+ascertain whether the occupants were friends or foes. They were much
+pleased to find it was Capt. Doty of the Jayhawkers and his mess who had
+remained behind to dry the flesh of an ox they had killed when it could
+travel no longer. The others had gone on ahead, following the trail,
+leaving these to follow. They staid here two days, and it was while
+waiting here that the Rev. J.W. Brier came up as before related, and
+they all went on together when they moved.
+
+Nearly every man had carried a gun in the early days of the expedition,
+hoping to kill game, and to be well armed in case of attack by Indians
+or enemies, but they began to find that they were useless encumbrances,
+and first one and then another would throw away his fire-arms as a
+burden too great for a weary man to bear. There was no game, and the
+poor weak men hardly deemed their own lives worth defending against an
+enemy when a day or two of lack of water would end the matter of life at
+any rate.
+
+As they slept they dreamed the most tantalizing dreams of clear,
+rippling brooks of water; of wading knee deep in the most beautiful of
+ponds; of hoisting the old moss-covered bucket from some deep old well;
+of breaking and eating great white loaves of bread; of surrounding the
+home table with its load of steaming beans and bacon, fragrant coffee
+and delicious fried cakes. With such dreams of comfort, they awoke to
+realize more fully the terrors of their dry and swollen throats, the
+discomfort of empty stomachs. Water and food were the great riches of
+life to them then. Had piles of twenty-dollars pieces been on the one
+hand and a bucket of cold water on the other there is no doubt of the
+choice that would have been made.
+
+Seven or eight miles from this place were two branches to the trail. One
+led into the mountains toward the snow, and the other still bore
+southerly. They could see that some other party who had no oxen to drive
+had taken the more northerly route, which seemed to lead more directly
+in the direction of the mines of California. Those who came later, with
+animals thought it would be folly to try to cross the deep snow they
+could see on the mountains before them and concluded that it would be
+safer to the south of the snow line, braving the danger of scarcity of
+water, rather than to perish in the snow. Capt. Doty was willing to
+attempt the northern branch of the trail if the others so decided, but
+the general feeling was in favor of the more plain and open trail which
+led away from the snows. It is known that this Northern branch led over
+what is known as Walker's Pass, coming out at the Kern River.
+
+Taking then the southern branch, the party passed through a range of low
+mountains, and then the country before them seemed quite level for a
+hundred miles.
+
+They expected they would find much difficulty on account of water, as
+their experience had taught them that it was very scarce in such
+locations, but this trail when they came to follow it led them for eight
+or ten miles over a level piece of high land that looked as if it might
+have slid down from the high mountain at some day long past, and this
+easily traveled road brought them at last to the top of a steep hill,
+down which they went and found near the bottom, a small weak stream of
+water, but no grass, and but little fuel of any kind. (This was the same
+camp at which Rogers and the Author overtook the advance party.) Here
+they killed an ox, which made a good meal for all, and not much remained
+over, for many had no oxen and were getting out of all sorts of
+provisions. They depended much on the generosity of their fellow
+travelers. Many of them stood back, and waited till those who owned the
+food were satisfied, and were very grateful when they were invited to
+take even the poorest morsels.
+
+They could count the oxen and make a pretty close guess of how many days
+they could live in this way, even with the best probable fortune
+favoring them, and to the best of them there was but little hope, and to
+those who were dependent it seemed as if the fate of Fish and Ischam
+might be theirs almost any day. When the Author conversed with them at
+this camp he found them the first really heart-broken men he had ever
+seen. Some were men of middle age who had left good farms that gave them
+every need, and these they had left to seek a yellow phantom, and now
+there were yellow phantoms of a different sort rearing their dreadful
+forms all about them. They called themselves foolish gold hunters to
+forsake a land of plenty for a chance to leave their bones in a hot
+desert. More eyes than one filled with tears, and hopes in more than one
+breast vanished to almost nothing. More than one would gladly have
+placed himself back where he could have been assured of the poorest fare
+he ever saw upon his farm, for bread and water would have been an
+assurance of life, of which there seemed to be really but little
+expectation here.
+
+When they left this camp in the cañon the trail was between two high
+rocks, rising like walls on each side. In one place they were so near
+together that an ox could hardly squeeze through. In a very short time
+they came to a bunch of willows growing out in the open ground. The
+little bunch or grove was forty or fifty feet in diameter, and in the
+center was a spring of water. The center of the clump had been cleared
+out, making a sort of corral of bushes, enclosing the spring. On the
+outside there was quite a little growth of grass, which was a fortunate
+thing for their poor beasts.
+
+Away in the distance, rising up a little against the western sky they
+could see mountains with snow on them, and it seemed as if it were a
+journey of five or six days to reach them, but the good water and the
+grass bolstered up their spirits wonderfully for there was present
+relief and rather better prospects ahead. They were pretty sure that the
+wide plain held no water. Everything that would hold the precious drink
+was filled, and the best preparations made for what they believed was to
+be the final struggle for life. They rested one day and prepared for the
+very worst that might before them. Early in the morning when they could
+see plainest, they looked across the expanse before them and really it
+did not seem quite so barren, hot and desolate as the region they had
+passed, and they talked and hoped that this would be the last desert
+they must cross and that Los Angeles lay just beyond the sunny ridge
+they could dimly see ahead. There were some tears that more than one
+would not live to answer roll call on the other side, but it was the
+last hope, and worth an earnest, active trial.
+
+Early in the morning, much refreshed, they started on again with rather
+sober faces. That night one man insisted on sleeping with his clothes
+and boots all on, for he said if he died he wanted to die in full dress.
+Another day and some thought they could see trees on the mountains ahead
+of them, and this renewed their courage greatly. In the middle of the
+day they suffered greatly with the heat and the dry air seemed to drink
+up every bit of moisture from everybody. When they killed an ox they
+saved the blood and ate it. The intestines, cleaned with the fingers,
+made food when roasted on the fire, and pieces of hide, singed and
+roasted, helped to sustain life. The water was nearly all gone. Only
+power of will and strength of body had kept any. Capt. Asa Haines sat
+down one day and said he could go no farther, but his comrade, L.D.
+Stephens, who had kept a little rice, a little tea, and a dry crust of
+bread for time of need, took a little water in a cup and made some soup
+which he forced his friend to eat and soon he revived and was able to
+move on again. That was true friendship.
+
+The next night Stevens himself awoke and seemed perishing with thirst.
+He crawled over to Doty's bed and begged for just one sup of water, Doty
+in the goodness of his heart, took his canteen from under his head
+divided the last few drops with him and the death which threatened him
+was held off. Capt. Doty found it necessary to talk very seriously to
+those who mourned and talked of failing. He never gave up in the least.
+He encouraged all to make every step they could and know no such word as
+fail. When they said that death would be easier than life, he told them
+so, but that life was possible if they only willed it, and a better life
+than had been theirs. And so he kept them encouraged and kept them
+putting one foot before the other, pointing out the ever lessening
+distance to the mountain before them. He appealed to their manhood. "Be
+men," said he, "Be brave and courageous, and you have more strength than
+you believe." Thus by example and words he proved to be a true captain
+to his little band.
+
+Their water was all gone, every drop, and still the foot-hills seemed
+far away. The supply of meat ran out. Tom Shannon killed an ox, and when
+those who had cattle had taken some, the others who had none were told
+to divide the rest. There was no water to dress or cook it, but it
+helped to sustain life. Entrails, bones, sinews, bits of hide and
+everything was used. One man was seen with an ox horn, burning the end
+in the fire and gnawing away at the softened portion. It was something
+terrible to see human beings eating what the dogs would cast aside. One
+man saw some moist looking earth on the shady side of a bunch of brush
+and he dug down and got a handful of it, from which he tried to suck the
+moisture. He failed, and the bad taste of the earth made him suffer more
+than before. Many bones of horses and cattle now appeared along the
+trail. They seemed to have been there a long time, and some were partly
+decayed. On this waterless stretch one of their number, a Frenchman,
+wandered off, searching for water in little hollows or puddles, and
+never came back to camp. He was supposed to be dead, but ten years
+afterward some surveyors found him in a Digger Indian camp.
+
+An idea how selfish men will get under such circumstances may be gained
+by relating that on one occasion when an ox was killed the liver was
+carried to the brave little Mrs. Brier for herself and children, and she
+laid it aside for a few moments till she could attend to some other
+duties before cooking it. Darkness coming on meanwhile, some
+unprincipled, ungallant thief stole it, and only bits of offal and
+almost uneatable pieces were left to sustain their lives. That any one
+could steal the last morsel from a woman and her children surpasses
+belief, but yet it was plain that there was at least one man in the
+party who could do it. No one can fully understand or describe such
+scenes as this unless he has looked into just such hungry looking,
+haggard eyes and faces, a mixture of determination and despair, the
+human expression almost vanishing, and the face of a starving wolf or
+jackal taking its place, There are no words to paint such a state of
+things to him who has never seen and known.
+
+But there were true men, true, charitable hearts in that little band.
+Though death stared them in the face they never forgot their fellow men.
+As they slowly crawled along many would wander here and there beside the
+trail and fall behind, especially the weaker ones, and many were the
+predictions that such and such a one would never come up again, or reach
+the camp. Then it was that these noble souls, tired almost beyond
+recovery themselves, would take water and go back to seek the wandering
+ones and give them drink and help them on. More than one would thus have
+perished in the sands but for the little canteen of water carried back
+by some friend. Only a swallow or two would often revive their failing
+strength and courage, and with slow step they would move on again. How
+much good a crust of bread would have done such a poor creature. Bread
+there was none--nothing but the flesh of their poor oxen, wasted and
+consumed by days of travel and lack of food till it had no goodness in
+it. Even the poor oxen, every night seemed to be the end of their
+walking; every morning it was feared that that would be the last time
+they would be able to rise upon their feet.
+
+Already five or six days had passed since they left the camp at the
+willows where they had their last supply of water, and still they were
+on the desert. The journey was longer than they had expected, partly
+owing to the slow progress they had made for there were frequent stops
+to rest or they could not move at all. The mountains seemed nearer every
+day, and the trees were outlined more plainly each morning as they
+started out. Capt. Doty used every circumstance to encourage them. He
+would remark upon the favorable signs of water in the hills before them,
+and the hope that there might be some game to provide better meat than
+that of starving oxen. Thus he renewed their hope and kept alive their
+courage. He must have had a great deal of fortitude to hide his own sad
+feelings, for they must as surely have come to him as to any one, and to
+keep up always an air of hope, courage, and determination to succeed. If
+he had been a man of less spirit and good judgment it is very probable
+that many more would have been left by the wayside to die.
+
+About this point the trail which had been growing fainter and fainter,
+seemed to vanish entirely. One could move in almost any direction to
+right or left as he chose, and because of this, previous travel had
+doubtless scattered and thus left no trail. It was thought best that
+this company should spread out and approach the mountains in as broad a
+front as possible so as to multiply the chances of finding water, and so
+they started out in pairs, some to the right and some to the left, each
+selecting the point where water seemed most probable.
+
+Tom Shannon and a companion were one of these pairs. Tom was one of the
+few who still stuck to his gun, for he felt that it might save his life
+sometime. He and his companion separated about a mile, each looking at
+all points that showed the least sign of water. Suddenly a jack rabbit
+started from a bush, the first game Shannon had seen for more than a
+month. He pulled the rifle on him as he was making some big bound and
+had the good luck to nearly split his head open. Rushing up to his game
+he put his mouth to the wound and sucked the warm blood as it flowed,
+for it was the first liquid he had seen; but instead of allaying his
+fearful thirst it seemed to make it worse and he seemed delirious. A
+little way up the gulch he saw a rock and a green bush and steered for
+it, but found no water. He sat down with his back to the rock, his rifle
+leaning up near by, pulled his old worn hat over his eyes, and suffered
+an agony of sickness. He realized that life was leaving his body, and
+there he sat with no power to move and no desire to make an effort. It
+seemed as if he could see plain before him all the trail from where he
+sat, back over all the deserts, mountains and rivers to the old place in
+Illinois. He entirely forgot the present, and seemed unconscious of
+everything but the pictures of the past. The mind seemed growing freer
+from its attachment to the body and at liberty to take in his whole past
+life, and bright scenes that had gone before. How long he sat thus he
+knows not. His companion was fortunate in finding water, and when he had
+refreshed himself he set out to find poor Tom of whom he could see
+nothing. Going toward where he heard the shot he followed on till he saw
+him at the rock, almost doubled up, with his face concealed by his hat.
+"O! Tom!" said he, but there came no answering motion, and going nearer
+he called again and still no answer and no sign. Poor Tom had surely
+passed on to the better land, thought he, and salvation was so near. He
+approached and lifted the hat rim. There was a movement of the eyes, a
+quivering of the muscles of the face, and a sort of semi-unconscious
+stare such as precedes approaching dissolution.
+
+Quickly holding back his head he poured water between his lips from his
+canteen and it was swallowed. Then a little more, and then some more,
+and life seemed coming back again into a troublesome world, bringing
+pain with it, and the consciousness of a suffering body. After a time he
+felt better and was helped to his feet, and together they went to the
+water hole where they made a fire and cooked the rabbit which was the
+first savory meat they had tasted for a long time. Tom felt better and
+told his companion how he felt after tasting the warm rabbit's blood,
+and how he had nearly gone off into the sleep of death.
+
+"If you had been a little longer finding me," said Tom, "I should soon
+have been out of this sad world." They fired a signal gun, looked down
+at the bones of the rabbit, drank more water, and gradually felt new
+life coming to them. The mountains seemed more fertile, and there was
+brush and grass near by, timber farther up, and still higher a cap of
+snow extending far along the range, both north and south. Towards night
+on this eventful day the scattered travelers began to come slowly into
+camp attracted by the guns and the smoke of the fire made by those who
+first found the water. Some were nearly as far gone as Tom Shannon was,
+and great caution had to used in giving them water on their empty
+stomach. One man named Robinson became so weak before he got near camp
+that his companions placed him on the back of one of the animals and a
+man walked on either side to catch him if he fell off. When they got
+within a mile of the water he insisted that he was strong enough to take
+care of himself and not be watched every minute, and they relaxed their
+vigilance. He soon fell off, and when they went to him he refused to be
+put back on the animal again or to walk any farther. "Just spread my
+blankets down," said he, "and I will lie down and rest a little and
+after a while I will come along into camp." So they left him and pushed
+on to water, and when they were a little refreshed went back to him with
+water, and to help him to come in, but when they came to him they found
+him dead. He did not seem to have moved after he had lain down. He did
+not seem so bad off as Shannon was when he lay down, and probably a few
+swallows of water at that time would have saved his life. It seemed sad
+indeed, after so much suffering and striving to get along, that he
+should die within a mile of water that would have saved his life. If he
+had possessed a little more strength so that the spark of life could
+have remained a little longer, the cooling moisture from the canteen
+would have revived it, and a little rest would have placed him on his
+feet again. They had no tools to dig a grave, not even a knife for they
+had left every weight in camp, so they covered him closely in his
+blankets and sadly returned to their friends. They had all along hoped
+that the Frenchman who had wandered away would come in, but he never
+came. There were several water holes scattered around at this point
+which seemed to be a sort of sunken place in the hills, and quite large
+brush could be obtained for fire, and grass for the oxen. Those who had
+been good hunters and had thrown away their rifles as useless burdens,
+now began to look at hills before them and think that game might be
+found in them, as well as water. There were only one or two guns in the
+whole party, They thought that this must surely be the edge of the great
+desert they had crossed, and only the snow range before them could be
+the obstacle that separated them from Los Angeles.
+
+One day from here would bring them to the edge of the snow, and they
+debated as to the best course to pursue. Some of them were fearful they
+could not cross the snow with the oxen, for it seemed to be quite deep.
+The best place to cross seemed directly west of them. South was a higher
+peak, and to the north it was surely impassible. There seemed to be a
+faint sign of a trail from this point towards the lowest point in the
+snow mountains. There were some bones of cattle around the springs which
+they thought was an indication that in years gone by there had been some
+traveling on this trail. There surely would be water in the snow which
+could be got by melting it, and on the whole it seemed best to make the
+attempt to cross at the lowest place. There were no signs of travel
+except the trail which had not been used in years, not signs of
+civilization except the bones.
+
+Starting from the water holes which showed no signs of having been used
+for several years, their next camp was, as they had calculated, on the
+edge of the snow where they found plenty of dry juniper trees for fire.
+and of course plenty of water. Here they killed an ox and fed the hungry
+so that they were pretty well refreshed. This was an elevated place and
+they could look back over the trail across the desert for, what seemed
+to them, a hundred miles, and the great dangers of their journey were
+discussed. Said one of them to Tom Shannon:--"Tom, you killed the first
+game we have come across in two months. Even the buzzards and coyotes
+knew better than to go out in into the country where the cursed Mormon
+saint sent us numbskulls." Another said that while they had been seeking
+a heaven on earth they had passed through purgatory, or perhaps a worse
+place still nearer the one from which sulphurous fumes arise, and now
+they hoped that there might be a somewhat more heavenly place beyond the
+snow. One who had been silent seemed awakened by inspiration and spoke
+in impromptu lines somewhat as follows, as he pointed out to the dim
+distance:--
+
+
+  "Yonder in mountains' gray beauty,
+      Wealth and fame decay.
+  Yonder, the sands of the desert,
+  Yonder, the salt of the sea,
+  Yonder, a fiery furnace,
+  Yonder, the bones of our friends,
+  Yonder the old and the young
+     Lie scattered along the way."
+
+
+Some even confessed the desperate thoughts that had come to their minds
+when they were choking and starving. We have mentioned four of the train
+who had perished beside the trail and it will be remembered that one
+party of eleven started out on foot before the wagons were abandoned by
+the rest of the party. Nothing was heard of these for seven years, but
+long afterward nine skeletons were found at the remains of a camp, and
+the other two were afterward seen in the gold fields. When spoken to
+about this party, they burst into tears and could not talk of it. So it
+is known that at least thirteen men perished in the country which has
+well been named Death Valley.
+
+People who have always been well fed, and have never suffered from
+thirst till every drop of moisture seemed gone from the body, so they
+dare not open their mouth lest they dry up and cease to breathe, can
+never understand, nor is there language to convey the horrors of such a
+situation. The story of these parties may seem like fairy fables, but to
+those who experienced it all, the strongest statements come far short of
+the reality. No one could believe how some men, when they are starving
+take on the wild aspect of savage beasts, and that one could never feel
+safe in their presence. Some proved true and kind and charitable even
+with death staring them in the face, and never forgot their fellow men.
+Some that seemed weakest proved strongest in the final struggle for
+existence.
+
+Early next morning before the sun rose they started to cross the snow,
+leaving their comrade Robinson behind, rolled up in his blankets, taking
+his everlasting sleep so far as the troubles of this world are
+concerned. What the day would bring forth very few could have any idea.
+Go on they must, and this direction seemed most promising. If the snow
+should prove hard enough to hold up the oxen they could probably cross
+before night, but if compelled to camp in the snow it was a doubtful
+case for them.
+
+The snow held them as they advanced on it, but grew a little softer as
+the sun got higher. The tracks of both men and animals were stained with
+blood from their worn-out feet. When they turned the summit they found
+more timber and the ravine they followed was so shaded that the force of
+the sun was broken, and they really did not suffer very much from
+slumping through the snow, and so got safely over. Not far below the
+snow they found a running brook of clear, sweet water, with willows
+along the banks and trees on the hills, the first really good water for
+a month or two. This is the same camp where Rogers and his companion ate
+their meal of quail, hawk and crow a few days before, and these
+travelers knew by the remains of the little camp fire that they were
+following on the trail of the two men who had gone before.
+
+This place was so great an improvement on the camps of the past that all
+hands began to talk and act more rational as hope dawned more brightly
+on them. Those who had guns branched off to search for game, but found
+they were too weak for that kind of work, and had to sit down very often
+to rest. When they tried to run they stumbled down and made very poor
+progress.
+
+Capt. Doty, Tom Shannon and Bill Rude sat down to rest on a bold point
+above the creek. While there three wild horses came along within easy
+range, and thinking they would form better meat than the oxen each man
+picked his animal and all fired simultaneously, bringing them all to the
+ground. This seemed a piece of glorious luck, and all rushed in like
+wolves lifter a wounded animal. It was not very long before each had a
+chunk of meat in his hand, and many a one did not stop from eating
+because it was not cooked. Such declared they never ate anything so
+delicious in all their lives before, and wondered why horses were not
+used as food instead of hogs and cattle. As they satisfied their
+ravenous appetites they ate more like beasts than like men, so nearly
+were they starved, and so nearly had their starving condition made them
+fall from their lofty estate.
+
+As they passed on down this cañon they found it very brushy and on the
+dry leaves under the wide-spreading trees they saw signs of bear and
+perhaps other animals. There were some swampy places where it was
+grassy, and into these the cattle rushed with great eagerness for the
+food they had so long suffered for. Some of Mr. Brier's cattle went in,
+and in tramping around for food sank deep into the mud and could not be
+coaxed out again. Mrs. Brier threw clubs at them but they did not seem
+inclined to pay much attention to her attacks so she was forced to go in
+after them herself, and in so doing also sank into the mud and could not
+get out without assistance. All this time her reverend husband sat
+outside on the hard ground at a safe distance, but did not offer any
+help. Probably if an extended and learned lecture on the effects of
+gravitation would have done any good he would have been ready with
+prompt and extended service to one whom he had promised to love and
+cherish.
+
+About this time L.D. Stevens came along and seeing the condition of the
+unfortunate woman, at once went to her assistance and helped her to dry
+land. Brier himself never made a move nor said a word. Stevens looked
+terribly cross at him and remarked to his companions that if the
+preacher himself had been the one stuck in the mud he would have been
+quite inclined to leave him there for all of helping him.
+
+The cañon grew narrow as they descended, and the brush thicker, so that
+to follow the bed of the stream was the only way to get along. The
+cattle seemed to scent a bear and stampeded in terror through the brush
+in various directions, all except one which was being led by a rope.
+They tried to follow the animals in a desperate effort to recover them
+and a few blankets they had upon their backs, but could only make slow
+progress. Tom Shannon and two others found a fresh bear track and
+determined to follow it awhile in the hope of having revenge on the
+cause of their mishap with the oxen. They took their blankets and kept
+the trail till night when they camped, but were at so great an elevation
+that a snowstorm came with six inches of snow so they could no longer
+follow the track.
+
+They were very hungry and on the way back came across some wild cherries
+which had dried perfectly dry as they hung on the bushes. These they
+picked and ate, cracking the seeds with their teeth, and declaring them
+to be the best of fruit. Good appetites made almost anything taste good
+then. They got back to the creek next day pretty nearly starved, and
+with neither a bear nor runaway oxen to reward them for their two days'
+hard work.
+
+Wood and water were plenty, but grass was scarce and their ox had to
+live on brush and leaves, but this was infinitely better than the
+stunted and bitter shrubs of the desert. They came out of the brush at
+last into the open bottom land where the brook sank out of sight in the
+sand, and sage brush appeared all about. From this on, over the elevated
+point which projected out nearly across the valley, their experience and
+emotions in coming in sight of vast herds of cattle feeding on rolling
+grassy hills, or reclining under great oak trees scattered over the more
+level lands, were much the same as came to the Author and his party when
+the same scene was suddenly opened to them. Signs of civilization and of
+plenty so suddenly appearing after so many weeks of suffering and
+desolation was almost enough to turn their heads, and more than one of
+the stout-hearted pioneers shed tears of joy. Only a few days before and
+they could scarcely have believed it possible to find a spot so lovely.
+
+But to hungry, more than half starved men, points of artistic beauty and
+sober reflections over the terrors of the past found little place, and
+their first thought was to satisfy the cravings of hunger which were
+assuredly none the less when they beheld the numerous fat cattle all
+around them. There was no one to ask or to buy from and to kill and eat
+without permission might be wrong and might get them into difficulty,
+but one might as well ask a starving wolf to get permission to slay and
+eat when a fat lamb came across his path as to expect these men to take
+very much time to hunt up owners. When life or death are the questions
+that present themselves men are not so apt to discuss the right or wrong
+of any matter.
+
+Tom Shannon and a couple of others did not wait long at any rate, but
+crawled down the creek bed till they were opposite a few fine animals
+and then crept up the bank very near to them. Two or three shots rang
+out and as many fine cattle were brought down. The live cattle ran away
+and the hungry men soon had the field to themselves. Much quicker than
+can be told the men had fat pieces of meat in their hands which they
+devoured without cooking. The men acted like crazy creatures at a
+barbacue--each one cut for himself with very little respect for anyone.
+The boldest got in first and the more retiring came in later, but all
+had enough and gradually resumed more human actions and appearance.
+
+They had hardly finished their bloody feast when they saw a small squad
+of men on horseback advancing toward them, and as they came near it was
+quite plain that they were all armed in some way. All had lassoes at
+their saddles, some had old-fashioned blunderbusses, and nearly every
+one had a _macheta_ or long bladed Spanish knife. As the horsemen drew
+near they formed into something like military order and advanced slowly
+and carefully. It was pretty evident they thought they were about to
+encounter a band of thieving Indians, but as they came closer they
+recognized the strangers as Americans and passed the compliments with
+them in a rather friendly manner.
+
+Some of the Jayhawkers had been in the Mexican War and understood a few
+words of Spanish, and by a liberal use of signs were able to communicate
+with the armed party and tell them who they were, where they were going,
+and the unfortunate condition in which they found themselves. The men
+did not seem angry at losing so few of their cattle, and doubtless
+considered themselves fortunate in not suffering to the extent of some
+hundreds as they did sometimes by Indian raids, and invited the whole
+party down to the ranch house of the San Francisquito Rancho of which
+this was a part. Arrived at the house the ranch men brought in a good
+fat steer which they killed and told the poor Americans to help
+themselves and be welcome. This was on the fourth day of February, 1850.
+
+The whole party remained here to rest themselves and their oxen for
+several days, and were royally entertained by the people at the ranch.
+They talked over the plans for the future, and considered the best
+course to pursue. They thought it would be wise to keep their oxen for
+these would now improve in flesh, and as they had no money with which to
+buy food they might still rely on them in further travels. The best oxen
+had survived, for the failing ones were selected to be killed when they
+were forced to have food. The weaker of their comrades had perished in
+the desert, and the remainder of the train consisted of the strongest
+men and the strongest oxen, and there seemed to be no question but that
+they could all live in this country where grass and water were both
+abundant, and every sign of more or less wild game.
+
+Those of the company who had no cattle made their way directly to Los
+Angeles, and from thence to the coast from which most of them reached
+San Francisco by sailing vessel. Those who had no money were given a
+passage on credit, and it is believed that all such debts were
+afterwards honestly paid.
+
+Capt. Doty made a proposition to buy out the oxen of some who had only
+one or two, giving his note for them payable in San Francisco or
+anywhere up north they might chance to meet, and many of them accepted
+and went to the coast. In this way Doty secured oxen enough to supply
+one for each of those who decided to go with him. They decided to use
+them for pack animals to carry their blankets, and to proceed slowly
+toward the mines, killing game, if possible, and permitting their
+animals to graze and improve in condition as they moved.
+
+There must have been from twenty-five to forty people gathered at the
+ranch. Among them was the Rev. J.W. Brier who seemed to want to impress
+it on the new California friends that he was the man of all others to be
+honored. The ranchman was a good Catholic, and Brier tried to make him
+understand that he, also, was very devout. He said, and repeated to him
+very often--"Me preacher," but he did not succeed very well in
+impressing the good Californian with the dignity of his profession, for
+he could talk no Spanish and was not highly gifted in sign language.
+
+When they went away they had no way to reward their good friends who had
+been friends indeed to them. They could only look their thanks and
+express themselves in a very few words of Spanish. "_Adios Amigos_,"
+said they to the scantily clothed travelers as they set out on their way
+to the mines.
+
+They followed down the course of the river that flowed through the
+valley, the Santa Clara River, and knew that it would take them to the
+sea at last. Before they reached the mission of San Buena Ventura, near
+the sea, they ran out of meat again, for they had failed to find game as
+they had expected, and Capt. Asa Haynes took the chances of killing a
+Spanish cow that looked nice and fat. They camped around the carcass and
+ate, and smoked the meat that was left. While thus engaged two horsemen
+approached, and after taking a good look at the proceedings, galloped
+off again. When the party arrived at the Mission they were arrested and
+taken before the alcalde to give an account of their misdeeds. They
+realized that they were now in a bad fix, and either horn of the dilemma
+was bad enough. They could not talk Spanish; they had no money; they had
+killed somebody's cow; they were very hungry; they might be willing to
+pay, but had no way of doing it; they did not want to languish in jail,
+and how to get out of it they could not understand. Luck came to them,
+however, in the shape of a man who could speak both English and Spanish,
+to whom they told their story and who repeated it to the alcalde,
+telling him of their misfortunes and unfortunate condition, and when
+that officer found out all the circumstances he promptly released them
+as he did not consider them as criminals. The cow was probably worth no
+more than ten dollars.
+
+At Santa Barbara they found a chance to trade off some of their oxen for
+mares, which were not considered worth much, and managed the barter so
+well that they came out with a horse apiece and a few dollars besides,
+with which to buy grub along the road. They depended mostly on their
+guns for supplying them with food. They supposed they were about three
+hundred miles from San Francisco, and expected to meet with but few
+people except at the Missions, of which they had learned there were a
+few along the road. At these there was not much to be had except dried
+beef. However, they managed to use the guns with fair success, and at
+last arrived safely at Stockton where they sold some of their horses for
+more than double what they cost, and with a small number of horses they
+packed on to the gold mines.
+
+Those of the party who went to Los Angeles managed in one way or another
+to get through on schooners, and many of them, after a year or two of
+hard work, made some money and returned to their homes in Illinois. It
+is hardly necessary to add that they did not return via Death Valley.
+
+Some years afterward the members of this party who had returned to their
+Eastern homes formed themselves into an organization which they called
+the Jayhawkers' Union, appointed a chairman and secretary, and each year
+every one whose name and residence could be obtained was notified to be
+present at some designated place on the fourth day of February which was
+the date on which they considered they passed from impending death into
+a richly promising life. They always had as good a dinner as Illinois
+could produce, cooked by the wives and daughters of the pioneers, and
+the old tales were told over again.
+
+One part of the program was the calling of the roll, and such reports
+and letters as had come to hand. The following is a list of the members
+of the party so far as can be ascertained, as gathered from
+recollections and from the reports of the meetings of the reunions.
+
+LIST OF JAYHAWKERS.
+
+The following named were living, so far as known, in 1893:--John B.
+Colton and Alonzo C. Clay, of Galesburg, Ill., Luther A. Richards, of
+Woodhull, Ill., Chas. B. Mecum, of Ripley, Iowa, John W. Plummer, of
+Tulon, Ill., Edward Bartholomew, Urban P. Davidson, John Crosscup and L.
+Dow Stephens, of San Jose, California, Harrison Frans and Thomas
+Shannon, of Los Gatos, Cal., J.W. Brier and wife, Lodi, Cal., three
+children of Mr. Brier.
+
+The following are supposed to be dead:--Ann Haines, Knoxville, Ill.,
+Sidney P. Edgerton, formerly of Blair, Nebraska, Thomas McGrew, John
+Cole, Wm. B. Rude, Wm. Robinson and Alex. Palmer, of Knoxville, Ill.,
+Marshall B. Edgerton, late of Galesburg, Ill. Wm. Ischam, of Rochester,
+N.Y., Mr. ---- Fish, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, John L. West, Aaron Larkin,
+Capt. Edwin Doty and Brien Byram, of Knoxville, Ill., Mr. ---- Carter,
+of Wisconsin, Geo. Allen, Leander Woolsey and Chas. Clark, of Henderson,
+Ill., Mr. ---- Gretzinger, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and a Frenchman whose
+name is unknown.
+
+There were some others connected more or less with the party at some
+part of the trip, but not coming in with the Jayhawker organization. So
+far as learned, their names are as follows:--John Galler, Jim Woods and
+Jim Martin of Miss., Ed Croker of N.Y., David Funk, Mr. Town, Henry
+Wade, wife and three children, Nat Ward, John D. Martin, of Texas, Old
+Francis, a Frenchman, Fred Carr and Negro "Joe," from Miss.
+
+There were a great many reports about finding rich mines about this
+time, and these stories have been magnified and told in all sorts of
+ways since then, and parties have returned to try to find the great
+riches.
+
+Among the Jayhawkers were two Germans who could speak but little English
+and probably for this reason, kept apart from the remainder of the
+party.
+
+One day, after the wagons were abandoned these German fellows were
+marching along alone with their packs on their backs in the warm sun,
+suffering very much for want of water and food, when one of them sat
+down on a hill-side in pretty nearly absolute despair, while the other
+man went down into a ravine hoping to find a puddle of water in the
+rocky bottom somewhere, though it was almost a forlorn hope. All at once
+he called out to his partner on the hill--"John, come down here and get
+some of this gold. There is a lot of it." To this poor John Galler only
+replied:--"No, I won't come. I don't want any gold, but I would like
+very much to have some water and some bread." And so they left the
+valuable find and slowly walked on, pulling through at last with the
+rest of them, and reaching Los Angeles.
+
+The man who found the gold went to the Mission of San Luis Rey and
+started a small clothing store, and some time afterward was killed. John
+Galler settled in Los Angeles and established a wagon shop in which he
+did a successful business. He was an honest, industrious man and the
+people had great confidence in him. He often told them about what his
+partner had said about finding the gold in the desert, and the people
+gave him an outfit on two or three occasions to go back and re-locate
+the find, but he did not seem to have much idea of location, and when he
+got back into the desert again things looked so different to him that he
+was not able to identify the place, or to be really certain they were on
+the same trail where his companion found the gold.
+
+The Author saw him in 1862 and heard what he had to say about it, and is
+convinced that it was not gold at all which they saw. I told him that I
+more than suspected that what he saw was mica instead of gold and that
+both he and his partner had been deceived, for more than one man not
+used to gold had been deceived before now. "No sir!" said he, "I saw
+lots of gold in Germany, and when I saw that I knew what it was." The
+Author went back over that trail in 1862 and sought out the German on
+purpose to get information about the gold. He could not give the name of
+a single man who was in the party at that time, but insisted that it was
+gold he saw and that he knew the trail.
+
+The Author was able to identify with reasonable certainty the trails
+followed by the different parties, but found no signs of gold formation
+except some barren quartz, and this after an experience of several years
+in both placer and quartz mines. So honest John Galler's famous placer
+mine still remains in the great list of lost mines, like the Gunsight
+Lead and other noted mines for which men have since prospected in vain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+Alexander Combs Erkson was one of the pioneers of 1849, having left the
+state of Iowa in the month of May, when he assisted in organizing a
+company known as the "Badger Company" at Kanesville, the object being
+mutual assistance and protection. This company joined the Bennett party
+mentioned so prominently in this history, at the Missouri, and traveled
+with them or near them to the rendezvous near Salt Lake where the new
+company was organized for the southern trip taken by the Death Valley
+party, the Jayhawkers and others. As the experience of Mr. Erkson was in
+some respects different to that of the parties mentioned, he having
+taken a different route for a part of the way, it was thought best to
+embody it in this history. The following was dictated to the editor of
+this book, and as Mr. Erkson died before the written account could be
+revised by him, it is the best that can possibly be obtained.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MR. ERKSON'S STATEMENT.
+
+"We arrived at the Mormon camp near Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, in the
+month of August. Several of us went to work getting out lumber for
+Brigham Young while we were waiting and resting. The mormons all advised
+us not to undertake to go on by the northern route, and as the travelers
+gathered at this point they canvassed the situation. We used our teams
+when we were at work for Brigham and assisted in building a dam across a
+cañon where he intended to build a woolen mill. I earned about a hundred
+dollars by my work, which was paid to me in ten-dollar pieces of a gold
+coin made by the Mormons. They were not like the U.S. coins. I remember
+one side had an eye and the words--'Holiness to the Lord.'
+
+We entered into an agreement with Capt. Hunt, a Mormon, to pilot us
+through, and turned all our gold into that company, thus bringing none
+of the Mormon gold with us. We went on with the company as has been
+related in the foregoing pages, till we arrived at Mt. Misery, so named
+by us, when we took the back track, while Mr. Manley and the others went
+on as they have related. We had meetings by the light of a greenwood
+fire, and the matter was talked up in little knots of people, and then
+some one would get up and speak. One J.W. Brier, a preacher, was the
+principal blower. 'You are going wrong!' said he, We should go west, and
+in six weeks we will be loaded with gold!'
+
+Hunt got a little confused at a place called Beaver Meadows, or Mountain
+Meadows, and thought perhaps he could find a new road. Several men were
+sent out to look, and some of us in camp played ball for amusement while
+we were waiting. Hunt's men came back and said there were no prospects
+of a new road, and he said he knew the southern route and believed it
+would be safe to go that way.
+
+He told us that we must decide the next day. When we came to the road
+where we were to separate he filed off on his road and the others filed
+off on their road and then came back with their whips in their hands. I
+had filed in after Hunt, and they tried to convince me that I was very
+wrong. A Mr. Norton of Adrian, Mich., promised Mrs. Erkson a horse to
+ride if she would go, and so I left Hunt and turned in on the other
+road, the hindmost wagon. This is going back a little with the history
+and bringing it up to Mt. Misery. On my way back from Mt. Misery I
+climbed up on a big rock and inscribed the date--Nov. 10, 1849.
+
+In our journey we came to what is called 'The rim of the Basin,' and
+traveled along on that a distance till we came to the Santa Clara River
+and saw where the Indians had raised corn and melons. We followed on
+down that stream and found our teams gradually failing. Noting this we
+decided to overhaul our loads and reject a lot of things not strictly
+necessary to preserve life. I know I threw out a good many valuable and
+pretty things by the roadside. I remember six volumes of Rollin's
+Ancient History, nicely bound, with my name on the back, that were piled
+up and left. We followed along near the Santa Clara River till it
+emptied into the Virgin River. It was somewhere along here that we first
+saw some Yucca trees. The boys often set fire to them to see them burn.
+
+The Virgin River was a small stream running on about the course we
+wanted to travel, and we followed this course for thirty or forty miles.
+We found plenty of wood and water and mesquite. After awhile the river
+turned off to the left, while we wanted to keep to the right, so we
+parted company there. We heard of a river beyond which they called the
+'Big Muddy' and we went up a little arroyo, then over a divide to some
+table land that led us down to the Big Muddy. We made our wagons as
+light as possible, taking off all the boards and stakes we could
+possibly get along without. Wm. Philipps and others were placed on short
+allowance. They had an idea that I had more provisions in my wagon than
+I ought to have, but I told them that it was clothing that we used to
+sleep on. I divided among them once or twice. When we reached the Muddy
+we stopped two or three days for there was plenty of feed. It was a
+narrow stream that seemed as if it must come from springs. It was narrow
+between banks, but ran pretty deep, and a streak of fog marked its
+course in the morning. We understood it was not very far from where we
+left the Virgin River to the Colorado, some said not more than fourteen
+miles and that the Colorado turned sharply to the south at that point.
+Mr. Rhynierson and wife had a child born to them on the Virgin River,
+and it was named Virginia.
+
+It was a gloomy trip the whole time on the Muddy. I lost three or four
+head of cattle, all within a day and a night. Mrs. Erkson walked to
+lighten the load, and would pick all the bunches of grass she saw and
+put them on the wagon to feed the oxen when we stopped. I let them pass
+me and stopped and fed the cattle, and slept ourselves. It was said that
+we ran great risks from Indians, but we did not see any. I had at this
+time only two yoke of oxen left.
+
+We overtook the party next morning at nine o'clock, having met some of
+them who were coming back after us. All were rejoiced that we had come
+on safely. Here I met Elisha Bennett and told him my story. He said he
+could sell me a yoke of oxen. He had a yoke in J.A. Philipps' team and
+was going to take them out. He said nothing in particular as to price. I
+said that I wanted to see Mr. Philipps and talk with him about the
+matter, for he had said Bennett should not have the cattle. I went over
+to see him and spoke to him about Bennett's cattle and he told me they
+had quarreled and I could have them, and so we made a bargain. I gave
+twenty dollars for the cattle, the last money I had, and as much
+provisions as he could carry on his back. They were making up a party to
+reach the settlements at the Williams ranch, and I made arrangements for
+them to send back provisions for us. About thirty started that
+way--young men and men with no families with them.
+
+I got along very well with my new team after that. It was about forty
+miles from water to water, and I think we camped three times. At one
+place we found that provisions had been left, with a notice that the
+material was for us, but the red-skins got the provisions. We struck a
+spring called-----, a small spring of water, and a child of some of the
+party died there and was buried.
+
+We then went more nearly south to find the Mojave River, for we hoped to
+find water there. It was very scarce with us then, We had one pretty
+cold day, but generally fine weather, and to get along we traveled at
+night and a party struck the Mojave. Here there was some grass, and the
+mustard was beginning to start up and some elder bushes to put forth
+leaves. I picked some of the mustard and chewed it to try to get back my
+natural taste. Here the party divided, a part going to the left to San
+Bernardino and the remainder to the right to Cucamunga. I was with the
+latter party and we got there before night.
+
+Rhynierson said to one of the party--'Charlie, you had better hurry on
+ahead and try to get some meat before the crowd comes up.' Charlie went
+on ahead and we drove along at the regular gait which was not very fast
+about these times. We saw nothing of Charlie and so I went to the house
+to look for him and found him dead drunk on wine. He had not said a word
+to them about provisions. That wine wrecked us all. All had a little
+touch of scurvy, and it seemed to be just what we craved. I bought a big
+tumbler of it for two bits and carried it to my wife. She lasted it at
+first rather gingerly, then took a little larger sup of it, and then put
+it to her lips and never slopped drinking till the last drop was gone. I
+looked a little bit surprised and she looked at me and innocently
+asked--'Why! Haven't you had any?' I was afraid she would be the next
+one to be dead drunk, but it never affected her in that way at all. We
+bought a cow here to kill, and used the meat either fresh or dried, and
+then went on to the Williams, or Chino ranch. Col. Williams was glad to
+see us, and said we could have everything we wanted. We wanted to get
+wheat, for we had lived so long on meat that we craved such food. He
+told us about the journey before us and where we would find places to
+camp. Here we found one of the Gruwells. We camped here a week, meeting
+many emigrants who came by way of Santa Fe.
+
+We went on from here to San Gabriel where we staid six weeks to rest and
+recuperate the cattle. In the good grass we found here they all became
+about as fat as ever in a little while. Here the party all broke up and
+no sort of an organization was kept up beyond here. Some went to Los
+Angeles, some went on north, trading off their cattle for horses, and
+some went directly to the coast. We went to the Mission of San Fernando
+where we got some oranges which were very good for us. There is a long,
+tedious hill there to get over. We made up ten wagons. By the time we
+reached the San Francisquito Ranch I had lost my cattle. I went down to
+this ranch and there met Mr. and Mrs. Arcane getting ready to go to San
+Pedro. We came north by way of Tejon pass and the Kern River, not far
+from quite a large lake, and reached the mines at last. I remember we
+killed a very fat bear and tried out the grease, and with this grease
+and some flour and dried apples Mrs. Erkson made some pretty good pies
+which the miners were glad to get at a dollar and even two dollars
+apiece."
+
+Mr. Erkson followed mining for about a year and then went into other
+business until he came to Santa Clara Valley and began farming near
+Alviso. He has been a highly respected citizen and progressive man, He
+died in San Jose in the spring of 1893.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE EXPERIENCE OF EDWARD COKER.
+
+Edward Coker was one of a party of twenty-one men who left their wagons,
+being impatient of the slow progress made by the ox train, and organized
+a pack train in which they were themselves the burden carriers. They
+discarded everything not absolutely necessary to sustain life, packed
+all their provisions into knapsacks, bravely shouldered them and started
+off on foot from the desert to reach California by the shortest way.
+
+Among those whom Mr. Coker can recollect are Capt. Nat. Ward, Jim Woods,
+Jim Martin of Missouri, John D. Martin of Texas, "Old Francis," a French
+Canadian, Fred Carr, Negro "Joe" and some others from Coffeeville,
+Miss., with others from other states.
+
+Mr. Coker related his experience to the Author somewhat as follows:--
+
+"One other of the party was a colored man who joined us at the camp when
+we left the families, he being the only remaining member of a small
+party who had followed our wagon tracks after we had tried to proceed
+south. This party was made up of a Mr. Culverwell who had formerly been
+a writer in a Government office at Washington, D.C., a man named Fish
+claiming to be a relative of Hamilton Fish of New York, and another man
+whose name I never knew. He, poor fellow, arrived at our camp in a
+starving condition and died before our departure. The other two
+unfortunates ones died on the desert, and the colored man reported that
+he simply covered their remains with their blankets.
+
+I well remember that last night in camp before we started with our
+knapsacks and left the families, for it was plain the women and children
+must go very slow, and we felt we could go over rougher and shorter
+roads on foot and get through sooner by going straight across the Sierra
+Nevada Mountains. Our condition was certainly appalling. We were without
+water, all on the verge of starvation, and the three poor cattle which
+yet remained alive were objects of pity. It seemed almost a crime to
+kill the poor beasts, so little real food was there left on their
+skeleton frames. They had been so faithful and had plodded along when
+there seemed no hope for them. They might still serve to keep the party
+from starvation.
+
+It was at this camp that Mr. Ischam died. The night before our departure
+he came wandering into camp and presented such an awful appearance,
+simply a living skeleton of a once grand and powerful man. He must have
+suffered untold agony as he struggled on to overtake the party, starving
+and alone, with the knowledge that two of his companions had perished
+miserably of starvation in that unknown wilderness of rocks and alkali.
+
+Our journey on foot through the mountains was full of adventure and
+suffering. On our arrival at the shores of Owen's Lake not a man of the
+party had a mouthful of food left in his pack, and to add to our
+difficulties we had several encounters with the hostile Indians. There
+was a fearful snow storm falling at Owen's Lake on the evening that we
+arrived there, and we could make no fire. The Indians gathered around us
+and we did not know exactly what to make of them, nor could we determine
+whether their intentions were good or bad. We examined the lake and
+determined to try to ford it, and thus set out by the light of the moon
+that occasionally peeped out from behind the clouds, while the red
+devils stood howling on the shore.
+
+The following morning we found what was then known as the Fremont Trail,
+and by the advice of some friendly Indians who came into our camp, we
+kept the "big trail" for three days and came to Walker's Pass. While on
+this trail we were followed at night by a number of wild Indians, but we
+prudently avoided any collisions with them and kept moving on. Going on
+through the pass we followed the right hand branch of the trail, the
+left hand branch leading more to the south and across a wide plain. We
+soon came to a fair-sized stream, now known to be the south fork of the
+Kern River, which we followed until we came to its junction with a
+larger river, the two making the Kern River. Here we were taken across
+by some friendly Indians who left the Missions farther west during the
+Mexican war and took to their own village located at the foot of the
+Sierra Nevada Mountains. At this village we were on exhibition for
+several hours with an audience of five hundred people or more, of the
+red men, and on the following morning we commenced the ascent of the
+mountains again, the Indians furnishing us with a guide in the person of
+an old Pi-Ute. He brought us over the range, through the snow and over
+the bleak ridges, in the month of December, 1849, and we made our first
+camp at an Indian village in Tulare Valley, a few miles south of where
+Porterville now stands.
+
+From this Indian village we walked on until we arrived at the present
+site of Millerton on the south bank of the San Joaquin River. Our
+sufferings were terrible from hunger, cold, and wet, for the rains were
+almost continual at this elevation, and we had been forced several times
+to swim. The sudden change from the dried-up desert to a rainy region
+was pretty severe on us. On our arrival at the San Joaquin River we
+found a camp of wealthy Mexicans who gave us a small amount of food, and
+seemed to want us to pass on that they might be rid of us. I can well
+believe that a company of twenty-one starving men was the cause of some
+disquietude to them. They gave us some hides taken from some of the
+cattle they had recently slain, and from these we constructed a boat and
+ferry rope in which we crossed the river, and then continued our journey
+to the mining camp on Aqua Frio, in Mariposa county.
+
+It is very strange to think that since that time I have never met a
+single man of that party of twenty-one. I had kept quite full notes of
+the whole trip from the state of New York to the mines, and including my
+early mining experience up to the year 1851. Unfortunately this
+manuscript was burned at the Russ House fire in Fresno, where I also
+lost many personal effects."
+
+In the year 1892 Mr. Coker was living in Fresno, or near that city, in
+fairly comfortable health, and it is to be hoped that the evening of his
+days, to which all the old pioneers are rapidly approaching, may be to
+him all that his brightest hopes pictured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+Having followed the various little parties into which the great train
+had resolved itself when it began to feel the pressure of suffering and
+trouble which came with contact with the desert, followed them in their
+various ways till they came through to the Pacific Slope, the travels
+and experiences of the Author are again resumed.
+
+It will be remembered that he had rested at Los Angeles, working for Mr.
+Brier who had temporarily turned boarding house keeper, and finally made
+arrangements with some drovers to assist in taking a small stock of
+horses north to the mines. His story is thus continued:--
+
+We followed the wagon road which the companies that had gone on before
+had made, and got along very well. At night I acted
+independently--staked out my mule and ate my meal of dried meat and
+crackers--then joined the others around a large fire, and all seemed to
+enjoy the company. After a few days the two men who owned the horses
+proposed to me to let my mule carry the provisions, and they wanted me
+to ride one of their horses that was not carrying a pack, as they said
+it would keep it more gentle to ride it.
+
+To please the old gentleman from Sacramento I agreed to the proposition,
+for I thought perhaps by being accommodating I could get along more
+pleasantly.
+
+Thus we traveled on, over rolling hills covered with grass and wild
+flowers, and I was much pleased with all that I could see. For the first
+two days we did not pass a house, which shows how thinly settled the
+country was. Cattle were often seen, and sometimes horses, but people
+were very scarce. In time we went down a long, steep hill, then across a
+wide valley that supported a rank growth of vegetation, and came to a
+Mission called San Buena Ventura (good luck.) Here the men seemed
+scarce, but Indians and dogs plenty. The houses were of the same sort as
+at Los Angeles, except the church, all made of dried mud, and never more
+than one story high.
+
+As we journeyed along we came to the sea shore, the grandest sight in
+the world to me, for I had never before seen the ocean. What a wide
+piece of water it was! Far out I could see small waves coming toward the
+shore, and the nearer they came the faster they seemed to rush and at
+last turned into great rollers and breakers which dashed upon the rocks
+or washed far up the sandy shore with a force that made the ground
+tremble. There was no wind and I could not see what it could be that so
+strangely agitated the water. Here the waves kept coming, one after
+another, with as much regularity as the slow strokes of a clock. This
+was the first puzzle the great sea propounded to me, and there under the
+clear blue sky and soft air I studied over the ceaseless, restless
+motion and the great power that was always beating on the shore. I
+tasted the water and found it exceedingly salt, and I did not see how
+anything could live in it and not become in the condition of pickled
+pork or fish. Where was the salt to make this mighty brine pond, and why
+did it keep so when the great rivers kept pouring in their torrents of
+fresh waters? I did not understand, and these are some of the thoughts
+that came to the boy who had been raised upon the prairie, and to whom
+the great ocean was indeed an unknown sea.
+
+We followed along the road and in time came to another village and
+Mission called Santa Barbara. The village was near the shore, and the
+church farther back upon an elevated piece of ground near the foot of
+the mountain, overlooking the town and sea and much of the country to
+the south, west and east. The mountain was high and rough, and a point
+ran out into the sea making a sort of harbor. This town was built much
+as the others had been except perhaps the Mission which seemed better.
+The roofs were as flat as the floors and were covered with a sort of tar
+which made them water-proof. The material of the houses was sun-dried
+bricks, two feet long by one foot wide and four to six inches thick.
+There was no lime in the mortar of this mason work, and the openings in
+the walls had iron bars across them instead of sash and glass. Dried
+hides were spread upon the floors, and there was a large earthen jar for
+water, but not a table, bedstead or chair could be seen in the rooms we
+saw. A man came along, rode right in at the door, turned around and rode
+out again. The floor was so hard that the horse's feet made no
+impression on it. Very few men, quite a number of Indians, more women,
+and a still larger quantity of dogs made up the inhabitants.
+
+Leaving here the road led back from the sea shore and over quite a level
+table land, covered with a big growth of grass and some timber, and then
+down to the sandy shore again where the mountain comes so close that we
+were crowded down to the very water's edge. Here the never-tiring waves
+were still following each other to the shore and dashing themselves to
+pieces with such a noise that I felt awed to silence. What a strange
+difference in two parts of the earth so little distance from each other!
+Here was a waste of waters, there was a waste of sands that may some
+time have been the bottom of just such a dashing, rolling sea as this.
+And here, between the two, was a fertile region covered with trees,
+grass and flowers, and watered with brooks of fresh, sweet water.
+Paradise and Desolation! They surely were not far apart. Here I saw some
+of the queer things that wash on shore, for we camped close to the
+beach.
+
+It was a circumstance of great interest to me to see the sun slowly go
+down into the great ocean. Slowly and steadily it went, getting redder
+and redder as it went down, then it just touched the distant water and
+the waves dashed over more and more of its face till all was covered.
+Were it not for the strong, bright rays that still shot up across the
+sky one might think it was drowned forever, but in the morning it came
+up over the mountain top, having apparently made half the circuit of the
+globe.
+
+Soon after this the road left the shore and turned into the mountains.
+Another Mission was on this road, Santa Ynez, situated in a beautiful
+place but apparently in decay, for the men had gone to the mines,
+leaving the Indians, women, and dogs as in other places. San Luis Obispo
+was another Mission similarly inhabited, but the surroundings did not
+seem so pleasant as those we had seen before, although it bore signs
+that considerable had been done. From here our road bore still more
+north and we had a long mountain to work over, very rocky, and in some
+places barren.
+
+San Miguel was a Mission situated on the bank of a dry stream that
+evidently had seen plenty of water earlier in the season. The
+surrounding country was covered with scattering timber. Soledad was
+another place where there were some improvements, located on a small
+river, but nearly deserted like the other places. Prospects at the gold
+mines were so favorable that every man felt an irresistible desire to
+enrich himself, and so they left their families at the Missions and in
+the towns and rushed off to the mines. Nearly all of them expected to
+return by winter.
+
+I think I must stop right here and tell about the California carriages
+of which I had seen several at Los Angeles and at the Missions along our
+road. The first time I saw one it was a great curiosity, I assure you.
+The wheels were cut off the end of a sycamore log a little over two feet
+in diameter and each section about a foot long. The axle was a piece of
+wood eight inches square with a tongue fastened to it long enough to be
+used with a yoke of oxen, and the ends of the axle were roughly rounded,
+leaving something of a shoulder. The wheels were retained in place by a
+big lynch-pin. On the axle and tongue was a strong frame of square hewed
+timbers answering for bed pieces, and the bottom was of raw-hide tightly
+stretched, which covered the whole frame. Tall stakes at each corner of
+the frame held up an awning in hot weather. The yoke was fastened to the
+horns of the oxen by strong, narrow strips of raw-hide, and the tongue
+was fastened to the yoke in the same way. The driver was generally an
+Indian, armed with a small pole six or eight feet long, who marched on
+before, the oxen following after. I saw many a wagon like this, the
+platform well filled up with women and children, and a pack of dogs
+following along behind, slowly rolling over the country, and this is the
+way they traveled when they went visiting friends who lived a few miles
+in the country. Sometimes the wheels gave perfectly agonizing shrieks as
+they revolved, and when they made so much noise that their strong
+Spanish nerves could stand it no longer, if there was any green grass to
+be found the drivers would crowd in a quantity around the axle, and
+there was generally room for a good lot of it, to answer for a
+lubricator.
+
+We passed on from Soledad and shortly rose into the table land we had
+seen for some time before us. From here we could look north for a long
+way with no hill or mountain in sight; but our road led along on the
+east side of this treeless plain, so thickly covered with grass that we
+recalled some of the old tales of the grassy plains. We passed a
+landholder's house on the road, then crossed a range of low mountains
+and came to the Mission of San Juan (St. John) situated near the
+foot-hills, overlooking a level, rich appearing extent of valley land
+with a big vegetable growth all over it; in some places wild mustard
+which stood thickly and was from four to ten feet high. I thought what a
+splendid place it would be for the Yankees who are fond of greens.
+
+This was the first place since we left Los Angeles where we could buy
+any kind of breadstuff, and we were here enabled to get a change of
+diet, including greens. This seemed to be one end or side of another
+valley, and as we went along it seemed to widen away to the east; but
+our course was to the north, and we followed the road. The architecture
+of all the buildings except the churches was all the same, being built
+of the sun dried adobes or bricks made by mixing up a clay mud with
+tough grass and letting it get dry and hard. We saw the same kind of
+roof material as before, a sort of mineral tar which I supposed they
+must find somewhere about.
+
+I could imagine why the houses were built in this way, for when the
+Jesuit missionaries first came in they found the country occupied by
+Indians who used their arrows to good effect, as they were jealous of
+all outside occupation. The early settlers evidently made the walls of
+their dwellings thick and strong enough to resist all kinds of weapons
+used by Indians. They could not set fire to them for they were fire
+proof and arrow proof, and the hostile Indian could dance on the roof
+without being able to get in or do any injury. Thus the poor Indian was
+fairly beat and eventually became a better Indian.
+
+The Indians of what is now Nevada and Arizona used to come over into
+these rich valleys and clandestinely capture a band of a hundred or more
+head of cattle or horses and make their escape. They were often followed
+by the herders, but if they did not overtake the thieves before they got
+into the deep cañons of the mountains, they would usually turn back and
+let them go rather than be led into ambush in some strange narrow place
+where escape would be impossible and they might be filled with arrows.
+No doubt the trail we had followed across the plains, where there were
+so many horses' bones, was one of these trails along which the thieving
+Indians took their booty which died upon the trip.
+
+Our road from here was near the foot-hills on the west side of a level,
+grassy, thinly timbered valley, and as we advanced we noticed that the
+timber grew more plentiful and the trees larger, without much
+underbrush. We also noticed that the vegetation was ranker and no doubt
+the soil was very rich. We then came to a point where the mountain
+reaches out almost across the valley to meet the mountain on the east
+side. Here we found a gravelly creek with but little water, but as soon
+as we passed this point we saw the valley suddenly widening out, and
+beautiful groves of live oak trees scattered all around. The vegetation
+here was very rank, the mustard ten feet high in places, making it
+difficult to see out of the road. This was perhaps the strongest
+contrast to the arid desert that we had seen.
+
+As we went on down the valley the hills seemed to stand farther and
+farther back as if to make more room for those who would soon settle in
+this fertile place, and we soon came in sight of the village or pueblo
+of San Jose (St. Joseph) where we camped. Here we learned that the two
+owners of the horses intended to go to San Francisco instead of
+Sacramento, and as we considered the former place a very poor one for a
+penniless person to go we concluded to break up the company camp and
+each do the best he could for himself, for our objective point was the
+gold mines, and the sooner we reached them the better.
+
+The drovers who had been anxious to have us go with them and help them
+now began to talk about a settlement with us, as if they had done us
+great favors, and called on the other fellows to help pay for their
+board upon the way. When they came to me they said my share would be an
+ounce. This struck me hard, but they said I had ridden their horse all
+the way and the charge was very low. I told them I had furnished the
+most of the provisions I had eaten, and my mule had packed a good load
+all the way, which I considered worth as much as the use of the horse.
+But they refused to allow me anything for the use of the mule and became
+very urgent in their demand for money.
+
+These men were evidently of the tribe of Skinflint, who had no souls, or
+they would not have attempted to rob an almost penniless emigrant in
+this way of the last few dollars he had, and all the hope he had of
+reaching the mines. I did not desire to give up to such narrow
+principles as this and hesitated, but they were bound to have the money
+or make a quarrel, and talked pretty loud of the way they collected
+debts in Sacramento, so that to avoid trouble and get out of the
+clutches of such mean scoundrels as these I counted out sixteen dollars,
+almost every cent I had, and reluctantly gave them to my enemy. I
+immediately mounted my mule, and without stopping to say goodbye rode
+off. I may have quoted a part of the speech Capt Hunt made when the
+party wanted to leave the trail and take the cut-off, especially that
+part where he alluded to their going to h--l. I very much fear the
+little piety my mother taught me was badly strained on that occasion,
+and I thought of a good many swear words if I did not say them, which I
+suppose is about as bad. I could see how cunningly they had managed to
+get me to ride their horse that it might serve as the foundation for a
+claim on me for about all the money I had in the world.
+
+I hitched my mule in the edge of the town and went in to look at the
+place. The houses were situated very much as in other places we had come
+through--scattered around over much ground and built low, but had a
+different style of roof, a peaked or sloping one, and covered with half
+round tile two feet or more long and an inch thick. One course of these
+would be laid with the hollow side up, and then a course with the hollow
+side down, covering the joints of the lower course. This allowed the air
+to circulate freely and was proof against rain. I saw no flat roofs such
+as I had seen down along the coast. I saw one gambling house and about
+all the men in town were gathered there, and some women, too. This was
+the busiest place in town and situated near the plaza. This was the
+largest town I had yet been in. There seemed to be plenty of women and
+lots of dogs, but the men were as scarce as they had been in any of the
+towns--gone to the gold mines to make a stake. I took in the sights
+pretty well, and there were a great many new things for me to see, and
+when pretty well satisfied concluded I would go back to my mule and camp
+in some place just out of town for the night.
+
+Before I reached my animal whom should I meet but my old traveling
+companion John Rogers whom I thought to be a hundred miles away by this
+time. We shook hands heartily and he told me that Bennett, Moody and
+Skinner were camped not far off, and he was still with them. He wore a
+pair of blue overalls, a blue woolen shirt and the same little narrow
+rimmed hat he had worn so long. I observed, too, that he was barefoot,
+and told him I had a dollar or two which he could take and get some
+shoes. He said it was no use for there was not a pair of shoes in the
+town to buy, and he had not found any material of which he could make
+himself a pair of moccasins. I told him how I had been swindled coming
+up, and he was about as angry as I had been. I think if I had known that
+my friend John Rogers had been so near I should have bidden the rascals
+an unceremonious good-bye and we would have been able to hold our own on
+a claim for the services of myself and mule.
+
+We went up to the place where our people were camped, perhaps a mile
+above town on the bank of a river, nearly dry, but where plenty of wood,
+water and grass were at hand; such a place as we had looked for in vain
+for many a weary day upon the desert. This was as far above Death Valley
+as a king above a pauper, and we hoped never to see such a country
+again.
+
+In camp we talked about moving on to the mines. Rogers said he was going
+to start next day, and in answer to exclamations of surprise that he
+should start off alone, he said that some fellows camped a little way
+down the river were going to start and he had made arrangements to go
+with them, as the Bennett party would not go yet for a week. In the
+morning he shook hands and bade us good-bye and good luck, and started
+off down the river bank, lost to us, as it proved, for many years.
+
+The next day as we were all sitting on the ground I felt a sort of
+moving of the earth under me and heard a rumbling sound that seemed very
+queer. It seemed there was a motion also to the trees around us. We all
+started and looked a little frightened, and Skinner said he believed it
+was an earthquake, for he said he could see the motion in a sort of
+wave. It was gone in half a minute. Moody said:--"How do you like
+California now?" I said I thought this part of it was a pretty good
+place for there was plenty of wood, water and grass, and that was better
+than we had seen in some places.
+
+He then went on to say that he had heard Mr. Bennett's story of their
+sufferings and narrow escape from death, and it was the most wonderful
+story he had ever heard. He said the idea of Mrs. Bennett walking over
+such a country for twenty-two days was almost beyond belief, for he
+would not have thought her able to walk one-third the distance. He never
+knew before how much women could do when they were called to do it, and
+they proved in emergencies to be as tough as any body. He said if he
+ever got back home he should move to give them all the rights and
+privileges of men for sure.
+
+One day I mounted my mule for a ride to the eastern foothills, and sat
+down on a little incline and overlooked the valley, a beautiful
+landscape, while my mule cropped the rich grasses in a circle described
+by the rope which confined him. I was always a great admirer of nature,
+and as I sat there alone I could see miles on miles of mammoth mustard
+waving in the strong breeze which came down over the San Francisco Bay
+just visible to the northward, and on the mountain summits to the west
+could see tall timber reaching up into the deep blue of the sky. It was
+a real contented comfort to be thus in the midst of luxuriance and
+beauty, and I enjoyed it, coming as it did at the end of the long and
+dreary road I had been traveling for the past twelve months. Up the
+Platte; across the Rockies; down the Green River cañons in my canoe;
+across the mountains to Salt Lake; out over the "Rim of the Basin," and
+across the desert, guided only by the fact that we knew the Pacific
+Ocean was to the west of us, and choosing our road as best we could in
+view of the lofty, snow-clad, impassible mountains; seeing thirteen of
+our comrades lie down never to rise again, and, when hope and strength
+were almost gone, to suddenly come out into a fertile region on the
+seventh of March, 1850. How I wished the fellows who slept in Death
+Valley could have seen this view. The change from all that barrenness
+and desolation to this beautiful, fertile country, covered with wild
+flowers and luxuriant live oaks, was as strong a contrast as one could
+imagine a sudden coming from purgatory to paradise in the space of a
+single hour.
+
+I waked up from my dreamy thoughts, mounted my mule and rode to camp. As
+I rode along the nimble ground squirrel, with his keen black eye, would
+climb to the top of the high mustard stalks to get a better view and,
+suspicious of an enemy within his almost undisputed territory, disappear
+in a wink to his safe underground fortress. Fat cattle and horses would
+appear before me a moment, and then, with a wild look and high heads,
+dash through the tall mustard out of sight.
+
+Next day my trip was toward the western hills, and before I came to them
+was confronted with an extensive stretch of chaparral brush, absolutely
+impenetrable, which I must go around or stop my progress in this
+direction. These thickets were a regular paradise for grizzly bears, for
+within the protection of this matted and thorny growth he is as safe as
+is the soldier in the rocky fort of Gibraltar. I soon found a way around
+the brush and rose high enough so that a backward look over the valley
+was charming, quite as much so as the eastern side. I wandered over the
+grassy hills covered with great scattering oaks, and came to a grove of
+mammoth trees, six feet or more in diameter, with tops reaching two
+hundred or three hundred feet toward the blue sky. They seemed to me to
+be a kind of cedar, and were far larger and taller than any trees I had
+ever seen in the forests of Vermont, Michigan or Wisconsin, and in my
+long journey from the East the route had been principally through a
+country devoid of good timber. A stranger in a strange land, everything
+was new and wonderful. After satisfying my inquiring mind I returned to
+camp again, and soon learned that my newly discovered trees were the
+famous redwoods, so greatly prized for their valuable qualities.
+
+Taking the most direct course to camp I came, when within two or three
+miles of San Jose, to a large extent of willows so thick, and so thickly
+woven together with wild blackberry vines, wild roses and other thorny
+plants, that it appeared at first as if I never could get through. But I
+found a winding trail made by the cattle through the bushes and mustard,
+and this I followed, being nearly scared occasionally by some wild
+steers as they rushed off through the thickets. I got through safely,
+though it would have been difficult to escape a wild, enraged steer, or
+a grizzly had I met him face to face even with a rifle in hand. I could
+see nowhere but by looking straight up, for the willows were in places
+fifty feet high and a foot in diameter. The willows where I came from
+were mere bushes, and these astonished me. This bit of brush is still
+locally known as "The Willows," but the trees are all gone, and the
+ground thickly covered with orchards and fine residences, the land
+selling at from one thousand to two thousand dollars per acre.
+
+The sun rose without a cloud, and a little later the sea breeze from the
+bay blew gently over the valley, making the climate perfectly delightful
+in its temperate coolness, a true paradise on earth it seemed to me, if
+I was able to judge or set a value upon so beautiful a spot; and surely
+I had seen all sorts, good and poor, desert and valley, mountain and
+plain.
+
+But I was poor in purse, and resolved I would seek first the gold mines
+and secure gold enough to buy a piece of this valley afterward.
+
+When I had seen what was to be seen about San Jose I had a talk with my
+friends and found that Mr. Bennett favored going on to the mines at once
+and that Moody and Skinner thought they would remain a little while at
+least.
+
+I went along in company with Bennett, and when we got a little way from
+San Jose, on the road to the Mission, the road seemed walled in on both
+sides with growing mustard ten or twelve feet high and all in blossom.
+How so much mustard could grow, and grow so large, I could not
+understand. I had seen a few plants in the gardens or fields which
+people used for greens, and here seemed to be enough to feed the nation,
+if they liked mustard greens.
+
+The second day out we passed the big church at Mission San Jose and soon
+left the valley and turned into the mountains and when part way over we
+came to a stream which we followed up and came out into Livermore
+valley, where we found a road to follow. Houses were scarce, and we
+camped a mile or so before we got to the Livermore ranch buildings.
+There was very little sign of life about the place, and we soon went out
+of the valley and into the mountains again.
+
+The first sign of settlement we saw when part way through the mountains
+was a stone corral, but no house or other improvements. The next place
+was a small house made of willow poles set in the ground and plastered
+over with mud. This rejoiced in the name of "Mountain House." This
+wayside inn looked like a horse thief's glory; only one or two men, a
+quarter of an elk hanging on a pole, and no accommodations for man or
+beast. There was very little water, nothing to sell as well as nothing
+wanted. On the summits of the mountains as we passed through we saw,
+standing like guards, many large buck elks.
+
+It was now fifteen miles to the San Joaquin river, and a level plain lay
+before us. When our road turned into the river bottom we found the water
+too deep to get through safely, so we concluded to go on and try to find
+some place where we could cross. On our way droves of antelopes could be
+seen frolicking over the broad plains, while in the distance were herds
+of elk winding their way from the mountains towards the river for water.
+When far away their horns were the first things visible, and they much
+resembled the dry tops of dead pine trees, but a nearer view showed them
+to us as the proud monarchs of the plain.
+
+When we came up opposite the mouth of the Merced river we concluded to
+try again to cross. The river here, as below, was out of its banks, and
+the overflowed part was quite wide which we had to pass through before
+we could reach the river proper.
+
+I waded in ahead of the team and sounded the depth of the river so as
+not to get in too deep water, and avoid if possible such accidents as
+might otherwise occur. Sometimes the water was up to the wagon bed and
+it looked a little doubtful of our getting through in safety, but we
+made it at last.
+
+We found a narrow strip of dry land along the river bank. A town was on
+the east side of the San Joaquin. river, just below where the Merced
+river came in. I think this place was called Merced City. This so-called
+city contained but one residence, a tent occupied by the ferryman. We
+crossed the sluggish stream and for the privilege paid the ferryman, ten
+dollars for toll. The road was not much used and the ferry business
+seemed lonesome.
+
+Here we camped for the night. The mosquitoes soon found us, and they
+were all very hungry and had good teeth. They annoyed me so that I moved
+my lodgings to the ferryboat, but here they quickly found me and
+troubled me all night. These insects were the first I had seen since I
+left the lower Platte river, and I thought them as bad as on the
+Mississippi.
+
+From here the road led up the Merced river near the bottom, and as we
+came near groves of willows, big, stately elk would start out and trot
+off proudly into the open plains to avoid danger. These proud,
+big-horned monarchs of the plains could be seen in bunches scattered
+over the broad meadows, as well as an equal amount of antelope. They all
+seemed to fear us, which was wise on their part, and kept out of rifle
+shot. As were not starving as we were once, I did not follow them out on
+the open plain, for I thought I could get meat when we were more in
+need.
+
+We followed up the river bottom and saw not a single house until we
+reached the road leading from Stockton to the Mariposa mines, where we
+found a ferry and a small store. Here we learned that some men were
+mining a few miles up the river, so we drove on until we found a little
+work being done in a dry gulch near the river bank. We made our camp at
+this spot and had plenty of wood, water and grass. We found there was
+something to be learned in the art of gold mining. We had no tools nor
+money, and had never seen a speck of native gold and did not know how to
+separate it from the dirt nor where to search for it. We were poor,
+ignorant emigrants. There were two or three men camped here. One of them
+was more social than the rest and we soon got acquainted. His name was
+Williams, from Missouri. He came down to the river with a pan of dirt,
+and seeing me in my ignorance trying to wash some as well, he took the
+pan from me and very kindly showed me how to work so as to let the dirt
+go and save the gold. When he had the pan finished a few small, bright
+scales remained. These to me were curious little follows and I examined
+them closely and concluded there was a vast difference between gold and
+lead mining. Williams became more friendly and we told him something
+about our journey across the plains, and he seemed to think that we
+deserved a good claim. He went to a dry gulch where a Spaniard was
+working and told him that all of California, now that the war was over,
+belonged to Americans and he must leave. Williams had his gun in his
+hand and war might follow, so Mr. Spaniard left and his claim was
+presented to Bennett and myself.
+
+Williams had been twice to Santa Fe from Missouri and had learned the
+Spanish language and could swear at them by note if necessary. We now
+began work almost without tools, but our ground we had to work was quite
+shallow and Williams helped us out by loaning us some of his tools at
+times. We soon succeeded in scratching together some of the yellow stuff
+and I went down to the store and bought a pan for five dollars, a shovel
+for ten dollars, and a poor pick cost me ten dollars more. This took
+about two ounces of my money.
+
+We now worked harder than ever for about three weeks, but we could not
+save much and pay such high prices as were charged. Our gulch claim was
+soon worked out, and as the river had fallen some we tried the bar, but
+we could only make four or five dollars a day, and the gold was very
+fine and hard to save. We bought a hind quarter of an elk and hung it up
+in a tree and it kept fresh till all of it was eaten.
+
+Some others came and took up claims on the bar, and as the prospects
+were not as good as was wished, three of us concluded to go and try to
+find a better place. The next day was Sunday and all lay in bed late.
+Before I rose I felt something crawling on my breast, and when I looked
+I found it to be an insect, slow in motion, resembling a louse, but
+larger. He was a new emigrant to me and I wondered what he was. I now
+took off my pants and found many of his kind in the seams. I murdered
+all I could find, and when I got up I told Williams what I had found. He
+said they hurt nobody and were called _piojos_, more commonly known as
+body lice.
+
+We started on our prospecting tour and went northeast to a place now
+called Big Oak Flat. This was at the head of a small stream and there
+were several small gulches that emptied into it that paid well. This
+flat was all taken up and a ditch was cut through to drain it. A ship
+load of gold was expected to be found when it was worked. A small town
+of tents had been pitched on both sides of the flat. One side was
+occupied by gamblers, and many games were constantly carried on and were
+well patronized. On the opposite side of the flat were many small tents,
+and around on the hillside some mules and jacks were feeding. One of the
+little long-eared donkeys came down among the tents and went in one and
+commenced eating flour from the sack. The owner of the flour ran to the
+tent, took his shot gun and fired a load of buck-shot into the donkey's
+hams. The animal reeled and seemed shot fatally. I now looked for a
+battle to commence, but the parties were more reasonable. The price of
+the animal was fully paid, and no blood shed as I expected there surely
+would be.
+
+We now prospected further east, but nothing good enough was found. The
+place we looked over was where the town of Garota now stands. We
+concluded to go back, have a council, and go somewhere else. On our way
+back we stopped to get dinner. While I was around the fire, barefooted,
+I felt something crawl up my instep, and it proved to be another of
+those _piojos_ of Williams'. I now thought these torments must be all
+over this country.
+
+Gold dust was used to transact all business; all the coin was in the
+hands of the gentlemen gamblers. Most miners found it necessary to have
+a small pair of scales in the breast pocket to weigh the dust so as not
+to have to trust some one who carried lead weights and often got more
+than his just dues. Gold dust was valued at sixteen dollars an ounce.
+
+We now thought it would be best for two of us to take our mules and go
+down in the small hills and try to get some elk meat to take with us, as
+our route would be mostly through the unsettled part of the country, and
+no provisions could likely be procured, so Mr. Bradford of New Orleans
+and myself took our mules and went down where the hills were low and the
+game plenty. We camped in a low ravine, staked out our mules and staid
+all night without a fire, believing that when we woke in the early
+morning some of the many herd of elk then in sight would be near us at
+daylight, and we could easily kill all we wanted without leaving camp;
+but we were disappointed. Hundreds of the big-horned fellows were in
+sight, but none in rifle shot, and there was no chance for us to get any
+nearer to them. We got near a couple of antelope and Mr. Bradford, who
+was a brag shot and had the best gun, proposed to kill them as we stood.
+The larger of the two was on his side and much nearer than the smaller
+one, but we fired together just as we stood. Bradford's antelope ran off
+unhurt: mine fell dead in its tracks. Bradford bragged no more about his
+fine gun and superior marksmanship.
+
+We went back to camp with the little we had killed and soon got ready to
+start north. Bennett was to go with his team to Sacramento and wait
+there until he heard from us.
+
+Four of us, mounted on mules, now started on our journey along the
+foothills without a road. We struck the Tuolumne river at a ferry. The
+stream was high and rapid and could not be forded, so we had to
+patronize the ferryman, and give him half an ounce apiece. We thought
+such charges on poor and almost penniless emigrants were unjust.
+
+The point we were seeking to reach was a new discovery called Gold Lake
+on Feather River, where many rich gulches that emptied into it had been
+worked, and the lake was believed to have at least a ship load of gold
+in it. It was located high in the mountains and could be easily drained
+and a fortune soon obtained if we got there in time and said nothing to
+anyone we might meet on the road. We might succeed in getting a claim
+before they were all taken up. We followed along the foothills without a
+road, and when we came to the Stanislaus River we had to patronize a
+ferry and pay half an ounce each again. We thought their scale weights
+were rather heavy and their ferrymen well paid.
+
+We continued along the foothills without any trail until we struck the
+road from Sacramento to Hangtown. This sounded like a bad name for a
+good village, but we found it was fittingly named after some ugly devils
+who were hanged there. The first house that we came to on this road was
+the Mormon Tavern. Here were some men playing cards for money, and two
+boys, twelve or fourteen years old, playing poker for the same and
+trying in every way to ape the older gamblers and bet their money as
+freely and swear as loud as the old sports. All I saw was new and
+strange to me and became indelibly fixed on my mind. I had never before
+seen such wicked boys, and the men paid no attention to these fast
+American boys. I began to wonder if all the people in California were
+like these, bad and wicked.
+
+Here we learned that Gold Lake was not as rich as reported, so we
+concluded to take the road and go to Coloma, the place where gold was
+first found on the American River.
+
+We camped at Coloma all night. Mr. Bradford got his mule shod and paid
+sixteen dollars, or in the mining phrase, an ounce of gold dust. I
+visited the small town and found that the only lively business place in
+it was a large gambling house, and I saw money (gold dust) liberally
+used--sometimes hundreds of dollars bet on a single card. When a few
+hundred or thousand were lost more would be brought on. The purse would
+be set in the center of the table and the owners would take perhaps
+twenty silver dollars or checks, and when they were lost the deposited
+purse would be handed to the barkeeper, the amount weighed out and the
+purse returned. When the purse was empty a friend of the better would
+bring another, and so the game went on almost in silence. The game
+called Monte seemed to be the favorite. How long these sacks of gold
+lasted or who eventually got the whole I never knew. This was a new
+country with new people, and many seemed to be engaged in a business
+that was new, strange and hazardous. The final result of all this was
+what puzzled me.
+
+We now followed the road up the mountain to Georgetown. Here was a small
+village on the summit of the ridge and it seemed to be in a prosperous
+mining section. After some inquiry about a good place to work we
+concluded to go down a couple of miles northeast of town on Cañon creek
+and go to work if vacant ground could be found. There was a piece of
+creek bottom here that had not been much worked. Georgia Flat above had
+been worked and paid well, and the Illinois and Oregon cañons that
+emptied into the bottom here were rich, so we concluded to locate in the
+bottom. Claims here in the flat were only fifteen feet square. I located
+one and my notice told others that I would go to work on it as soon my
+partner came from Sacramento. I sent my partner, Mr. Bennett a note
+telling him to come up.
+
+While waiting for Mr. Bennett I took my pan and butcher knife and went
+into a dry gulch out of sight of the other campers and began work. As
+the ground was mostly bare bed rock by scratching around I succeeded in
+getting three or four pans of dirt a day. The few days I had to wait for
+Bennett I made eight dollars a day until my claim was worked out.
+
+I then went to Georgetown to meet Bennett and family, and soon after my
+arrival they came well and safe. All of them, even to the faithful camp
+dog, Cuff, were glad to see me. Old Cuff followed me all around town,
+but when we got ready to start for camp the dog was gone and could not
+be found. Some one had hidden him away knowing he could not be gotten
+any other way, for six ounces would not have bought him. We had raised
+him in Wisconsin, made him a good deer dog, and with us he had crossed
+the dry and sandy deserts. He had been a great protection to Bennett's
+children on the plains, and company for us all.
+
+We now located claims on the creek bottom. The channel of the creek was
+claimed by Holman of Alabama and the Helms brothers of Missouri. They
+had turned the stream into a ditch in order to work the bed of the
+stream, believing that their claims had all the gold in them. Our claims
+joined theirs.
+
+Mr. W.M. Stockton, who left his family in Los Angeles, came with Mr.
+Bennett and went to work with us. As everything here was very high we
+concluded to let Mr. Stockton take the team and go to Sacramento for
+provisions for our own use. Flour and meat were each fifty cents a
+pound, potatoes twenty-five cents a pound and onions one dollar and
+twenty-five cents each. Onions and potatoes eaten raw were considered
+very necessary to prevent and cure scurvy, which was quite a common
+complaint. Whiskey, if not watered, cost one dollar a drink.
+
+Our claims were about ten feet deep. The bottom was wet and a pump
+needed, so we went to a whip saw-mill and got four narrow strips one by
+three and one by five and twelve feet long, paying for them by weight,
+the price being twelve cents a pound. Out of these strips we made a good
+pump by fixing a valve at the end and nailing a piece of green rawhide
+on a pole, which answered for a plunger, and with the pump set at
+forty-five degrees it worked easily and well. One man could easily keep
+the water out and we made fair wages.
+
+In the creek bottom Mr. Bush of Missouri had a saloon. The building was
+made mainly of brush, with a split piece for a counter, and another one
+for a shelf for his whiskey keg, a box of cigars, a few decks of cards
+and half a dozen glasses, which made up the entire stock of trade for
+the shop. In front was a table made of two puncheons with a blanket
+thrown over all, and a few rough seats around. There was no roof except
+the brush, and through the dry season none was needed except for shade.
+
+There was also at this place five brothers by the name of Helms, also
+from Missouri. Their names were Jim, Davenport, Wade, Chet and Daunt.
+These men, with Mr. Holman, owned the bed of the stream, and their
+ground proved to be quite wet and disagreeable to work. Mr. Holman could
+not well stand to work in the cold water, so he asked the privilege of
+putting in a hired man in his place, which was agreed to. He then took
+up a claim for himself outside of the other claims, and this proved to
+be on higher bed rock and dry, and paid even better than the low claims
+where the Helms brothers were at work. This was not what the Helms boys
+considered exactly fair, as Holman seemed to be getting rich the
+fastest, and as there was no law to govern them they held a free country
+court of their own, and decided the case to suit themselves; so they
+ordered Holman to come back and do his own work. No fault was found with
+the hired man but what he did his work well enough, but they were
+jealous and would not be bound by their agreement.
+
+But this decision did not satisfy all parties, and it was agreed to
+submit the case to three men, and I was chosen one of them. We held
+Court on the ground and heard both sides of the story, after which we
+retired to the shade of a bunch of willows to hold council over the
+matter with the result that we soon came to a decision in favor of Mr.
+Holman. About this time one of the Helms boys began to quarrel with
+Holman and grew terribly mad, swearing all kinds of vengeance, and
+making the cañon ring with the loudest kind of Missouri oaths. Finally
+he picked up a rock to kill Holman, but the latter was quick with his
+pistol, a single shot duelling piece, and as they were not more than ten
+feet apart Helms would have had a hole in him large enough for daylight
+to shine through if the pistol had not missed fire. We stopped the
+quarrel and made known our decision, whereupon Helms went off muttering
+vengeance.
+
+We now went back to our work again at our claims, mine being between
+Helms' cabin and the saloon. Holman stopped to talk a little while on my
+claim, while I was down below at work, and soon Helms came back again in
+a terrible rage, stopping on the opposite side of the hole from Holman,
+swearing long and loud, and flourishing a big pistol with which he
+threatened to blow Holman into purgatory. He was so much enraged that he
+fairly frothed at the mouth like a rabid dog. The men were about twenty
+feet apart, and I at the bottom of the hole ten feet below, but exactly
+between them. It seemed to me that I was in some little danger for Helms
+had his big pistol at full cock, and as it pointed at me quite as often
+as it did at anybody, I expect I dodged around a little to keep out of
+range. Helms was terribly nervous, and trembled as he cursed, but Holman
+was cool and drew his weapon deliberately, daring Helms to raise his
+hand or he would kill him on the instant. Helms now began to back off,
+but carefully kept his eye on Holman and continued his abuse as he went
+on to the saloon to get something to replenish his courage. Holman,
+during the whole affair, talked very calmly and put considerable
+emphasis into his words when he dared Helms to make a hostile motion. He
+was a true Alabamian and could be neither scared nor driven. He soon
+sold out, however, and went to a more congenial camp for he said these
+people were cowardly enough to waylay and kill him unawares.
+
+Soon after this unpleasantness a man and wife who lived in Georgetown
+came into notice, and while the man made some money mining his wife did
+a good stroke of business washing for the boys who paid her a dollar a
+shirt as laundry fees. As she began to make considerable money the
+bigger, if not better, half of this couple began to feel quite rich and
+went off on a drunk, and when his own money was spent he went to his
+wife for more, but she refused him, and he, in his drunken rage, picked
+up a gun near by and shot her dead.
+
+All of a sudden the Helms boys and others gathered at the saloon, took
+drinks all around, and did a good deal of swearing, which was the
+biggest portion of the proceedings of the meeting; and then they all
+started off toward town, swearing and yelling as they struggled up the
+steep mountain side--a pack of reckless, back-woods Missourians who
+seemed to smell something bloody.
+
+It was near night when they all came back and gathered around the saloon
+again. They were all in unusual good humor as they related the
+adventures of the afternoon, and bragged of their bravery and skill in
+performing the little job they had just completed, which consisted in
+taking the murderer out to the first convenient oak tree, and with the
+assistance of some sailors in handling the ropes, hoisting the fellow
+from the ground with a noose around his neck, and to the "Heave, yo
+heave" of the sailor boys, pulling the rope that had been passed over an
+elevated limb. They watched the suspended body till the last spark of
+life went out, and then went back to town leaving the corpse hanging for
+somebody else to cut down and bury. They whooped and yelled at the top
+of their voices as they came down along the mountain trail, and at the
+saloon they related to the crowd that had gathered there how they had
+helped to hang the ---- who had killed his wife. They said justice must
+be done if there was no law, and that no man could kill a woman and live
+in California. They imagined they were very important individuals, and
+veritable lords of Creation.
+
+These miners, many of them, were inveterate gamblers and played every
+night till near day-light, with no roof over them, and their only
+clothes a woolen shirt and overalls which must have been a little scanty
+in the cool nights which settled down over the mountain camp; but they
+bore it all in their great desire for card playing.
+
+Near by there were three men who worked and slept together, every night
+dividing the dust which each put into a purse at the head of his bed.
+One day the news came to the saloon that one of the purses had been
+stolen. The Helms boys talked it over and concluded that as one of the
+men had gone to town, he might know something about the lost dust; so
+they went to town and there, after a little search, found their man in a
+gambling house. After a little while they invited him to return to camp
+with them, and all started together down the mountain; but when about
+half way down they halted suddenly under an oak tree and accused their
+man of knowing where his partner's money was. This he strongly denied,
+and was very positive in his denial till he felt the surprise of a rope
+around his neck, with the end over a limb, and beginning to haul pretty
+taut in a direction that would soon elevate his body from the ground,
+when he weakened at their earnestness and asked them to hold on a
+minute. As the rope slackened he owned up he had the dust and would give
+it up if they would not send the news to his folks in Missouri. This was
+agreed to and the thief was advised to leave at once for some distant
+camp, or they might yet expose him. He was not seen afterward.
+
+The boys bragged a good deal of their detective ability after this, and
+said that a little hanging would make a ---- thief tell the truth even
+if it did not make an honest man of him, and that a thief would be lucky
+if he got through with them and saved his life. Their law was "Hanging
+for stealing."
+
+The Helms brothers were said to be from western Missouri, and in early
+days were somewhat of the border ruffian order, and of course preferred
+to live on the frontier rather than in any well regulated society. As
+the country became settled and improved around them they moved on. A
+school house was an indication that the country was getting too far
+advanced for them.
+
+They crossed the plains in 1849 and began mining operations near
+Georgetown in Placer county. It was well known that they were foremost
+in all gambling, and in taking a hand in any excitement that came up,
+and as a better class of miners came in they moved on, keeping ahead
+with the prospectors, and just out of reach of law and order. If anyone
+else committed a crime they were always quite eager to be on the
+vigilance committee, and were remarkably happy when punishing a
+wrong-doer. When any of their number was suspected it was generally the
+case that they moved quickly on and so escaped. It was reported,
+however, that one of their number was in the hands of the vigilance
+committee and hanged in Montana.
+
+After a time, it is said, they went down to southern California and
+settled on the border of the Colorado desert, about seventy-five miles
+east of San Diego, in a mountainous and desert region. Here they found a
+small tribe of Indians, and by each marrying a squaw they secured rights
+equal to any of them in the occupation of the land. This was considered
+pretty sharp practice, but it suited them and they became big chiefs and
+midecine men, and numerous dusky descendants grew up around them.
+
+It is said that their property consists of extensive pasture lands on
+which they raise cattle, and that they always go well armed with pistol,
+rifle and riata. It is said that some of the Indians undertook to claim
+that the Helms brothers were intruders, but that in some mysterious way
+accidents happened to most of them and they were left without any
+serious opposition.
+
+They are very hospitable and entertaining to people who visit them,
+provided they do not know too much about the men or their former deeds
+or history. In this case ignorance is bliss and it is folly, if not
+dangerous, to be too wise. They have made no improvements, but live in
+about the same style as the Indians and about on a level with them
+morally and intellectually.
+
+There may be those who know them well, but the writer only knows them by
+hearsay and introduces them as a certain type of character found in the
+early days.
+
+As I was now about barefoot I went to town to look for boots or shoes.
+There were no shoes, and a pair of the cheapest boots I found hanging at
+the door were priced to me at two ounces. This seemed a wonderful sum
+for a pair of coarse cow-hide boots that would sell in the state for two
+dollars and fifty cents; but I had to buy them at the price or go
+barefoot.
+
+While rambling around town I went into a round tent used as a gambling
+saloon. The occupants were mostly men, and one or two nice appearing
+ladies, but perhaps of doubtful reputation. The men were of all
+classes--lawyer, doctors, preachers and such others as wanted to make
+money without work. The miners, especially sailors, were eager to try to
+beat the games. While I was here the table was only occupied by a sailor
+lying upon it and covered with a green blanket. All at once the fellow
+noticed a large _piojo_ walking slowly across the table, and drawing his
+sheath knife made a desperate stab at him, saying "You kind of a deck
+hand can't play at this game."
+
+Our claims, by this time were nearly worked out, and I thought that I
+had upward of two thousand dollars in gold, and the pile looked pretty
+big to me. It seemed to me that these mines were very shallow and would
+soon be worked out, at least in a year or two. I could not see that the
+land would be good for much for farming when no irrigation could be
+easily got, and the Spanish people seemed to own all the best land as
+well as the water; so that a poor fellow like myself would never get
+rich at farming here.
+
+Seeing the matter in this light I thought it would be best to take my
+money and go back to Wisconsin where government land was good and
+plenty, and with even my little pile I could soon be master of a good
+farm in a healthy country, and I would there be rich enough. Thus
+reasoning I decided to return to Wisconsin, for I could not see how a
+man could ever be a successful farmer in a country where there were only
+two seasons, one wet and the other long and dry.
+
+I went out and hunted up my mule which I had turned out to pasture for
+herself, and found her entirely alone. After a little coaxing I caught
+her and brought her with me to camp, where I offered her for sale. She
+was sleek and fat and looked so well that Helms said that if I could
+beat him shooting he would buy both mule and gun; so three or four of us
+tried our skill. My opponents boasted a good deal of their superior
+marksmanship, but on the trial, which began at short range, I beat them
+all pretty badly. Helms was as good as his word and offered me twelve
+ounces for my gun and mule, which I took. I thought a great deal of my
+fat little one-eyed mule, and I thought then, as I think now, how well
+she did her part on the fearful road to and from Death Valley.
+
+Helms was now going to the valley to have a winter's hunt, for here the
+snow would fall four feet deep and no mining work could be done till
+spring, when he would return and work his claim again.
+
+I now had all in my pocket, and when I got ready to go Mrs. Bennett was
+much affected at knowing that I would now leave them, perhaps never to
+return to them again. She clasped me in her arms, embraced me as she
+would her own son, and said "Good luck to you--God bless you, for I know
+that you saved all our lives. I don't suppose you will ever come back,
+but we may come back to Wisconsin sometime and we will try to find a
+better road than the one we came over. Give my best regards to all who
+inquire after us." She shook my hand again and again with earnest
+pressure, and cried and sobbed bitterly. As I climbed the mountain she
+stood and watched me so long as I was in sight, and with her
+handkerchief waved a final adieu. I was myself much affected at this
+parting, for with Mr. and Mrs. Bennett had been really a home to me; she
+had been to me as a mother, and it was like leaving a home fireside to
+go away from them. I was now starting out among strangers, and those I
+should meet might be the same good friends as those whom I had left
+behind. Mr. Bennett and I had for many years been hunting companions; I
+had lived at his house in the East, and we never disagreed but had
+always been good friends. I had now a traveling companion whose home was
+in Iowa Co., Wis., where I had lived for several years, and we went
+along together by way of Greenwood where there was a small mining town
+built of tents, many of which were used as gambling places. These places
+were occupied by gentlemen, some of whom wore white shirts to
+distinguish them, I presume, from the common herd of miners from whom
+they won their dust.
+
+We crossed the American River at Salmon Falls, and walked thence on to
+Sacramento City, which was the largest town we had seen on the coast.
+The houses were all small wooden ones, but business seemed to be brisk,
+and whiskey shops and gambling houses plenty. One game played with three
+cards, called three card Monte, was played openly on the streets, with
+goods boxes for tables. Every one who came along was urged to bet by the
+dealer who would lay out his cards face up so all could see them, then
+turn them over and shuffle them and say "I'll bet six ounces that no one
+can put his finger on the queen." I watched this a while and saw that
+the dealer won much oftener than he lost, and it seemed to be a simple
+and easy way to make a living when money was plenty.
+
+We strolled around town looking at the sights, and the different
+business places, the most lively of which had plenty of music inside,
+lots of tables with plenty of money on them, and many questionable lady
+occupants. These business places were liberally patronized and every
+department flourishing, especially the bar. Oaths and vulgar language
+were the favorite style of speech, and very many of the people had all
+the whiskey down them that they could conveniently carry.
+
+We got through the town safely and at the river we found a steamboat
+bound for San Francisco and the fare was two ounces. The runners were
+calling loudly for passengers, and we were told we could never make the
+trip any cheaper for they had received a telegram from below saying that
+no boat would come up again for two days. I said to him "I can't see
+your telegram. Where is it?" At this he turned and left us. He had
+thought, no doubt, that miners were green enough to believe anything. In
+the course of an hour the smoke of a steamer was seen down the river,
+and this beat out the runners who now offered passage for half an ounce.
+
+At this time there was no telegraph and the delay was a lucky one for
+us. We took passage and went to San Francisco that night, where we put
+up at a cheap tavern near where the Custom House now stands.
+
+Here we learned that we would have to wait two days before a ship would
+sail for Panama, and during this time we surveyed the town from the
+hill-tops and walked all over the principal streets. It was really a
+small, poorly built, dirty looking place, with few wharves, poor, cheap
+hotels, and very rough inhabitants. There were lots of gambling houses
+full of tables holding money, and the rooms filled with pretty rough
+looking people, except the card dealers, most of whom wore white shirts,
+and a few sported plug hats. There was also a "right smart sprinkling"
+of ladies present who were well dressed and adorned with rich jewelry,
+and their position seemed to be that of paying teller at the gambling
+tables.
+
+The buildings seemed to be rather cheap, although material was very
+expensive, as well as labor, mechanics of all sorts getting as much as
+ten or twelve dollars per day for work. Coin seemed to be scarce, and a
+great deal of the money needed on the gambling tables was represented by
+iron washers, each of which represented an ounce of gold.
+
+I noticed some places in the streets where it was muddy and a narrow
+walk had been made out of boxes of tobacco, and sometimes even bacon was
+used for the same purpose. Transportation from the city to the mines was
+very slow and made by schooner. Ship loads of merchandise had arrived
+and been unloaded, and the sailors having run away to the mines,
+everything except whiskey and cards was neglected. Whiskey sold at this
+place for fifty cents a drink.
+
+A man at the tavern where we stopped tried hard to sell me a fifty-vara
+lot there in the edge of the mud (near where the Custom House now
+stands) for six hundred dollars. I thought this a pretty high price and
+besides such a lot was no use to me, for I had never lived in town and
+could not so easily see the uses to which such property could be put. It
+seemed very doubtful to me that this place would ever be much larger or
+amount to much, for it evidently depended on the mines for a support,
+and these were so shallow that it looked as if they would be worked out
+in a short time and the country and town both be deserted. And I was not
+alone in thinking that the country would soon be deserted, for
+accustomed as we all had been to a showery summer, these dry seasons
+would seem entirely to prevent extensive farming. Some cursed the
+country and said they were on their way to "good old Missouri, God's own
+country." Hearing so much I concluded it would be wise not to invest,
+but to get me back to Wisconsin again.
+
+The steamer we took passage in was the Northerner, advertised to sail on
+the twenty-ninth day of November, 1850. The cabin room was all engaged,
+and they charged us nine ounces for steerage passage; but I did not care
+as much about their good rooms and clean sheets as I would have done at
+one time, for I had been a long time without either and did not care to
+pay the difference. When we were at the ship's office we had to take our
+turns to get tickets. One man weighed out the dust, and another filled
+out certificates. When the callers began to get a little scarce I looked
+under the counter where I saw a whole panful of dust to which they added
+mine to make the pile a little higher. They gave out no berths with
+these tickets, but such little things as that did not trouble us in the
+least. It was far better fare than we used to have in and about Death
+Valley, and we thought we could live through anything that promised
+better than the desert.
+
+The passenger list footed up four hundred and forty, and when all got on
+board, at about ten o'clock in the morning, there was hardly room for
+all to stand up comfortably. It seemed to me to be a very much
+over-crowded boat in which to put to sea, but we floated out into the
+current, with all the faces toward the shore, and hats and handkerchiefs
+waving goodbye to those who had come down to see the home-goers safely
+off.
+
+As we passed out through the wonderful Golden Gate and the out going
+current met the solid sea, each seemed wrestling for the mastery, and
+the waves beat and dashed themselves into foam all around us, while the
+spray came over the bows quite lively, frightening some who did not
+expect such treatment. When we had passed this scene of watery commotion
+and got out into the deeper water, the sea smoothed down a great deal;
+but sea-sickness began to claim its victims, at first a few, then more
+and more, till the greater part were quite badly affected. I had a touch
+of it myself, but managed to keep my feet by bracing out pretty wide,
+and hugging everything I could get hold of that seemed to offer a steady
+support, and I did not lie down until after I had thrown my breakfast
+overboard.
+
+By the time dark came nearly every one was on his back, mostly on deck,
+and no one asleep. All were retching and moaning bitterly. Some who had
+a few hours before cursed California now cursed the sea, and declared
+that if they could induce the Captain to turn about and put them back on
+shore again, they would rather creep on their hands and knees clear back
+to old Missouri over rocks and sand, than to ride any further on such a
+miserable old boat as this one was.
+
+Next morning the decks looked pretty filthy, and about all the food the
+passengers had eaten was now spread about the decks in a half digested
+condition. Most of the passengers were very sick. With the early
+daylight the sailors coupled the hose to the big steam pump, and began
+the work of washing and scrubbing off the decks, and though many begged
+hard to be left alone as they were, with all the filth, a good flood of
+salt water was the only answer they received to their pleading, and they
+were compelled to move, for the sailors said they could not change their
+orders without the Captain, and he would not be out of bed till ten
+o'clock or later. So the cursing and swearing went for naught, and the
+decks were clean again. There were no deaths to report, but there were
+very few to do duty at the tables in eating the food prepared for them.
+After a few days the tables filled up again, and now it took them so
+long to eat that there had to be an order for only two meals a day or
+there would not have been a chance for all to get something. They were
+terribly hungry now, and every one seemed to try his best to take in
+provisions enough to last him for at least twelve hours.
+
+As the fellows began to get their sea legs on, they began to talk as if
+they were still in California, and could easily manage any little boat
+like this, and could run things as they did when they crossed the
+plains, where no sheriff, court or judge had anything to say about
+matters, and all law was left behind. They began to act as if they were
+lords over all they could see, and as many of them were from the
+Southern states, they seemed to take an especial pride in boasting of
+how they did as they pleased, about like the Helms brothers. They talked
+as if they could run the world, or the universe even, themselves without
+assistance.
+
+One morning at breakfast, when the table was full and the waiters
+scarce, some of these fellows swore and talked pretty rough, and as a
+waiter was passing a blue-blood from New Orleans rose in his seat and
+called for sugar, holding the empty bowl in his hand, but the waiter
+passed on and paid no attention, and when a mulatto waiter came along
+behind him the angry man damned him the worst he could, ordering him to
+bring a bowl of sugar, quick. This waiter did not stop and the Louisiana
+man threw the bowl at the waiter's head, but missed it, and the bowl
+went crashing against the side of the ship. I expected surely the
+Captain and his men would come and put the unruly fellow in irons, and
+there might be a fight or a riot, so I cut my meal short and went on
+deck about as soon as I could do so, thinking that would be a safer
+place. But the Captain seemed to know about how to manage such fellows,
+and never left his stateroom, which I think was a wise move. The darky
+did not make his appearance at table afterwards, and the man who threw
+the bowl said that colored folks had to mind a gentleman when he spoke
+to them, or fare worse.
+
+The Captain now got out his passenger list, and we all had to pass
+through a narrow space near the wheel-house and every one answer to his
+name and show his ticket. This made work for about one day. Some
+stowaways were found and put down into the hole to heave coal. One day
+the Captain and mate were out taking an observation on the sun when a
+young Missourian stepped up to see what was being done, and said to the
+Captain:--"Captain, don't you think I could learn how to do that kind of
+business?" The Captain took the young man's hand and looked at his nails
+which were very rough and dirty and said:--"No my lad; boys with such
+finger nails can't learn navigation." This made a big laugh at the brave
+lubber's expense.
+
+Many of the sea-sick ones did not get up so soon, and some died of that,
+or something else, and their bodies were sewed up in blankets with a
+bushel of coal at their feet to sink them, and thrown overboard. The
+bodies were laid out on a plank at the ship's side, the Captain would
+read a very brief service, and the sailors would, at the appropriate
+time, raise the end of the plank so that the body slid off and went down
+out of sight in a moment.
+
+In due time we went into the harbor of Acapulco for water and coal. Here
+nearly every one went on shore, and as there was no wharf for the vessel
+to lie to, the native canoes had many passengers at a dollar apiece for
+passage money. Out back of town there was a small stream of clear water
+which was warm and nice to bathe in, and some places three or four feet
+deep, so that a great many stripped off for a good wash which was said
+to be very healthful in this climate. Many native women were on hand
+with soap and towels ready to give any one a good scrubbing for _dos
+reales_, (twenty-five cents) and those who employed them said they did a
+good, satisfactory job.
+
+As I returned to town the streets seemed to be deserted, and I saw one
+man come out on an adjoining street, and after running a few steps, fall
+down on his face. Hearing the report of a gun at the same time, I
+hurried on to get out of danger, but I afterward learned that the man
+was a travelling gambler who had come across the country from Mexico,
+and that he was killed as he fell. No one seemed to care for him.
+
+Near the beach were some large trees, and under them dancing was going
+on to the music of the guitar. There were plenty of pretty Spanish girls
+for partners, and these and our boys made up an interesting party. The
+girls did not seem at all bashful or afraid of the boys, and though they
+could not talk together very much they got along with the sign language,
+and the ladies seemed very fond of the _Americanos_.
+
+There was a fort here, a regular moss-backed old concern, and the
+soldiers were bare footed and did not need much clothing.
+
+The cattle that were taken on board here were made to swim out to the
+ship, and then, with a rope around their horns, hoisted on deck, a
+distance of perhaps forty feet above the water. The maddened brutes were
+put into a secure stall ready for the ship's butcher. The small boys
+came around the ship in canoes, and begged the passengers to throw them
+out a dime, and when the coin struck the water they would dive for it,
+never losing a single one. One man dropped a bright bullet and the boy
+who dove for it was so enraged that he called him a d----d Gringo
+(Englishman.) None of these boys wore any clothes.
+
+This town, like all Spanish towns, was composed of one-story houses,
+with dry mud, fire-proof walls. The country around looked very
+mountainous and barren, and comfortably warm.
+
+After two days we were called on board, and soon set sail for sea again;
+and now, as we approached the equator, it became uncomfortably warm and
+an awning was put over the upper deck. All heavy clothing was laid
+aside, and anyone who had any amount of money on his person was unable
+to conceal it; but no one seemed to have any fear of theft, for a thief
+could not conceal anything he should steal, and no one reported anything
+lost. There was occasionally a dead body to be consigned to a watery
+grave.
+
+A few days out from here and we were again mustered as before to show
+our tickets, which were carefully examined.
+
+It seemed strange to me that the water was the poorest fare we had. It
+was sickish tasting stuff, and so warm it would do very well for
+dish-water.
+
+There were many interesting things to see. Sometimes it would be
+spouting whales; sometimes great black masses rolling on the water,
+looking like a ship bottom upward, which some said were black-fish. Some
+fish seemed to be at play, and would jump ten feet or more out of the
+water. The flying fish would skim over the waves as the ship's wheels
+seemed to frighten them; and we went through a hundred acres of
+porpoises, all going the same way. The ship plowed right through them,
+but none seemed to get hurt by the wheels. Perhaps they were emigrants
+like ourselves in search of a better place.
+
+It now became terribly hot, and the sun was nearly overhead at noon.
+Sometimes a shark could be seen along-side, and though he seemed to make
+no effort, easily kept up with the moving ship. Occasionally we saw a
+sea snake navigating the ocean all by himself. I did not understand how
+these fellows went to sea and lived so far from land. The flying fish
+seemed to be more plentiful as we went along, and would leave the water
+and scud along before us.
+
+We had evening concerts on the forecastle, managed by the sailors. Their
+songs were not sacred songs by any means, and many of them hardly fit to
+be heard by delicate ears. We again had to run the gauntlet of the
+narrow passage and have our tickets looked over, and this time a new
+stowaway was found, and he straightway made application for a job. "Go
+below, sir" was all the Captain said. Several died and had their sea
+burial, and some who had been so sick all the way as not to get out of
+bed, proved tough enough to stand the climate pretty well.
+
+As we were nearing Panama the doctor posted a notice to the mast
+cautioning us against eating much fruit while on shore, as it was very
+dangerous when eaten to excess. We anchored some little distance from
+the shore and had to land in small boats managed by the natives. I went
+in one, and when the boat grounded at the beach the boatman took me on
+his back and set me on shore, demanding two dollars for the job, which I
+paid, and he served the whole crowd in the same way. The water here was
+blood warm, and they told me the tide ran very high.
+
+This was a strange old town to me, walled in on all sides, a small plaza
+in the center with a Catholic church on one side, and the other houses
+were mostly two story. On the side next to the beach was a high, thick
+wall which contained cells that were used for a jail, and on top were
+some dismounted cannon, long and old fashioned.
+
+The soldiers were poor, lazy fellows, barefooted, and had very poor
+looking guns. Going out and in all had to pass through a large gateway,
+but they asked no questions. The streets were very narrow and dirty and
+the sleeping rooms in the second story of the houses seemed to be
+inhabited by cats. For bed clothes was needed only a single sheet. On
+the roofs all around sat turkey buzzards, and anything that fell in the
+streets that was possible for them to eat, was gobbled up very quickly.
+They were as tame as chickens, and walked around as fearless and lordly
+as tame turkeys. In consideration of their cleaning up the streets
+without pay, they were protected by law. One of the passengers could not
+resist the temptation to shoot one, and a small squad of soldiers were
+soon after him, and came into a room where there were fifty of us, but
+could not find their man. He would have been sent to jail if he had been
+caught. We had to pay one dollar a night for beds in these rooms, and
+they counted money at the rate of eight dimes to the dollar.
+
+The old town of Panama lies a little south in the edge of the sea, and
+was destroyed by an earthquake long ago I was told. To me, raised in the
+north, everything was very new and strange in way of living, style of
+building and kind of produce. There were donkeys, parrots and all kinds
+of monkeys in plenty. Most of the women were of very dark complexion,
+and not dressed very stylishly, while the younger population did not
+have even a fig leaf, or anything to take its place. The adults dressed
+very economically, for the days are summer days all the year round, and
+the clothing is scanty and cheap for either sex.
+
+The cattle were small, pale red creatures, and not inclined to be very
+fat, and the birds mostly of the parrot kind. The market plaza is
+outside the walls, and a small stream runs through it, with the banks
+pretty thickly occupied by washerwomen. All the washing was done without
+the aid of a fire.
+
+On the plaza there were plenty of donkeys loaded with truck of all
+sorts, from wood, green grass, cocoa-nuts and sugar-cane to parrots,
+monkeys and all kinds of tropical fruits. Outside the walls the houses
+were made of stakes interwoven with palm leaves, and everything was
+green as well as the grass and trees. Very little of the ground seemed
+to be cultivated, and the people were lazy and idle, for they could live
+so easily on the wild products of the country. A white man here would
+soon sweat out all his ambition and enterprise, and would be almost
+certain to catch the Panama yellow fever. The common class of the people
+here, I should say, were Spanish and negro mixed, and they seem to get
+along pretty well; but the country is not suitable for white people. It
+seems to have been made on purpose for donkeys, parrots and long-heeled
+negroes.
+
+The cabin passengers engaged all the horses and mules the country
+afforded on which to ride across the Chagres River, so it fell to the
+lot of myself and companion to transfer ourselves on foot, which was
+pretty hard work in the hot and sultry weather. My gold dust began to
+grow pretty heavy as I went along, and though I had only about two
+thousand dollars, weighing about ten pounds, it seemed to me that it
+weighed fifty pounds by the way that it bore down upon my shoulders and
+wore sore places on them. It really was burdensome. I had worn it on my
+person night and day ever since leaving the mines, and I had some little
+fear of being robbed when off the ship.
+
+Our road had been some day paved with cobble stones. At the outskirts of
+the town we met a native coming in with a big green lizard, about two
+feet long, which he was hauling and driving along with a string around
+its neck. I wondered if this was not a Panama butcher bringing in a
+fresh supply of meat.
+
+When we reached the hills on our way from Panama, the paved road ended
+and we had only a mule trail to follow. The whole country was so densely
+timbered that no man could go very far without a cleared road. In some
+places we passed over hills of solid rock, but it was of a soft nature
+so that the trail was worn down very deep, and we had to take the same
+regular steps that the mules did, for their tracks were worn down a foot
+or more. On the road we would occasionally meet a native with a heavy
+pack on his back, a long staff in each hand, and a solid half-length
+sword by his side. He, like the burro, grunted every step he took. They
+seemed to carry unreasonably heavy loads on their backs, such as boxes
+and trunks, but there was no other way of getting either freight or
+baggage across the isthmus at that time.
+
+It looked to me as if this trail might be just such a one as one would
+expect robbers to frequent, for it would of course be expected that
+Californians would carry considerable money with them, and we might
+reasonably look out for this sort of gentry at any turn of the trail. We
+were generally without weapons, and we should have to deliver on demand,
+and if any one was killed the body could easily be concealed in the
+thick brush on either side of the trail, and no special search for
+anyone missing would occur.
+
+About noon one day we came to a native hut, and saw growing on a tree
+near by something that looked like oranges, and we made very straight
+tracks with the idea of picking some and having a feast, but some of the
+people in the shanty called out to us and made motions for us not to
+pick them for they were no good; so we missed our treat of oranges and
+contented ourselves with a big drink of water and walked on.
+
+After a little more travel we came to another shanty made of poles and
+palm leaves, occupied by an American. He was a tall, raw-boned,
+cadaverous looking way-side renegade who looked as if the blood had all
+been pumped out of his veins, and he claimed to be sick. He said he was
+one of the Texas royal sons. We applied for some dinner and he lazily
+told us there were flour, tea and bacon and that we could help
+ourselves. I wet up some flour and baked some cakes, made some poor tea,
+and fried some bacon. We all got a sort of dinner out of his pantry
+stuff, and left him a dollar apiece for the accommodation. As we walked
+on my companion gave out and could carry his bundle no longer, so I took
+it, along with my own, and we got on as fast as we could, but darkness
+came on us before we reached the Chagres River and we had to stay all
+night at a native hut. We had some supper consisting of some very poor
+coffee, crackers, and a couple of eggs apiece, and had to sleep out
+under a tree where we knew we might find lizards, snakes, and other
+poisonous reptiles, and perhaps a thieving monkey might pick our pockets
+while we slept.
+
+Before it was entirely dark many who rode horses came along, many of
+them ladies, and following the custom of the country, they all rode
+astride. Among this crowd was one middle-aged and somewhat corpulent old
+fellow, by profession a sea-captain, who put on many airs. The old
+fellow put on his cool white coat--in fact, a white suit throughout--and
+in this tropical climate he looked very comfortable, indeed, thus
+attired. He filled his breast pocket with fine cigars, and put in the
+other pocket a flask with some medicine in it which was good for snake
+bites, and also tending to produce courage in case the man, not used to
+horse-back riding, should find his natural spirits failing. The rest of
+his luggage was placed on pack animals, and in fact the only way luggage
+was carried in those days was either on the backs of donkeys or men.
+
+All was ready for a start, and the captain in his snow-white suit was
+mounted on a mule so small that his feet nearly touched the ground. The
+little animal had a mind of his own, and at first did not seem inclined
+to start out readily, but after a bit concluded to follow his fellow
+animals, and all went well.
+
+The rider was much amused at what he saw; sometimes a very lively
+monkey, sometimes a flock: of paroquets or a high-colored lizard--and so
+he rode along with a very happy air, holding his head up, and smoking a
+fragrant Havana with much grace. The road was rough and rocky, with a
+mud-hole now and then of rather uncertain depth. At every one of these
+mud-holes the Captain's mule would stop, put down his head, blow his
+nose and look wise, and then carefully sound the miniature sea with his
+fore-feet, being altogether too cautious to suit his rider who had never
+been accustomed to a craft that was afraid of water.
+
+At one of these performances the mule evidently concluded the sea before
+him was not safe, for when the captain tried to persuade him to cross
+his persuasions had no effect. Then he coaxed him with voice gentle,
+soft and low, with the result that the little animal took a few very
+short steps and then came to anchor again. Then the captain began to get
+slightly roiled in temper, and the voice was not so gentle, sweet and
+low, but it had no greater effect upon his craft. He began to get
+anxious, for the others had gone on, and he thought perhaps he might be
+left.
+
+Now, this sea-faring man had armed his heels with the large Spanish
+spurs so common in the country, and bringing them in contact with the
+force due to considerable impatience, Mr. Mule was quite suddenly and
+painfully aware of the result. This was harsher treatment than he could
+peaceably submit to, and at the second application of the spurs a pair
+of small hoofs were very high in the air and the captain very low on his
+back in the mud and water, having been blown from the hurricane deck of
+his craft in a very sudden and lively style. The philosophical mule
+stood very still and looked on while the white coat and pantaloons were
+changing to a dirty brown, and watched the captain as he waded out, to
+the accompaniment of some very vigorous swear words.
+
+Both the man and beast looked very doubtful of each other's future
+actions, but the man shook the water off and bestowed some lively kicks
+on his muleship which made him bounce into and through the mud-hole, and
+the captain, still holding the bridle, followed after. Once across the
+pool the captain set his marine eye on the only craft that had been too
+much for his navigation and said "Vengeance should be mine," and in this
+doubtful state of mind he cautiously mounted his beast again and fully
+resolved to stick to the deck, hereafter, at all hazards, he hurried on
+and soon overtook the train again, looking quite like a half drowned
+rooster. The others laughed at him and told him they could find better
+water a little way ahead, at the river, and they would see him safely
+in. The captain was over his pet, and made as much fun as any of them,
+declaring that he could not navigate such a bloody craft as that in such
+limited sea room, for it was dangerous even when there was no gale to
+speak of.
+
+The ladies did not blush at the new and convenient costumes which they
+saw in this country, and laughed a good deal over the way of traveling
+they had to adopt. Any who were sick were carried in a kind of chair
+strapped to the back of a native. Passengers were strung along the road
+for miles, going and coming. We would occasionally sit down awhile and
+let the sweat run off while a party of them passed us. Some were mounted
+on horses, some on mules, and some on donkeys, and they had to pay
+twelve dollars for the use of an animal for the trip.
+
+Our night at this wayside deadfall was not much better than some of the
+nights about Death Valley, but as I was used to low fare, I did not
+complain as some did. This seemed a wonderful country to a northern
+raised boy. The trail was lined on both sides with all kinds of palms
+and various other kinds of trees and shrubs, and they were woven
+together in a compact mass with trailing and running vines. The trees
+were not tall, and the bark was as smooth as a young hickory. The roots
+would start out of the tree three feet above the ground and stand out at
+an angle, and looked like big planks placed edgewise.
+
+It seemed as if there were too many plants for the ground to support,
+and so they grew on the big limbs of the trees all around, the same as
+the mistletoe on the oak, only there were ever so many different kinds.
+
+The weather was very clear, and the sun so hot that many of the
+travelers began to wilt and sit down by the roadside to rest. Many
+walked along very slowly and wore long faces. The road from Panama to
+Crucez, on the Chagres River, was eighteen miles long, and all were glad
+when they were on the last end of it. The climate here seems to take all
+the starch and energy out of a man's body, and in this condition he must
+be very cautious or some disease will overtake him and he will be left
+to die without burial for his body if he has no personal friends with
+him.
+
+We started on the next morning, and on our way stepped over a large ship
+anchor that lay across the trail. I suppose the natives had undertaken
+to pack it across the isthmus and found it too heavy for them. Perhaps
+it was for Capt. Kidd, the great pirate, for it is said that he often
+visited Panama in the course of his cruising about in search of
+treasures.
+
+Passing along a sandy place in the trail, a snake crossed and left his
+track, big as a stovepipe it seemed to be, and after this we kept a
+sharp watch for big snakes that might be in waiting to waylay us for
+game.
+
+There were plenty of monkeys and parrots climbing and chattering around
+in the trees. The forest is here so dense that the wind never blows, and
+consequently it never gets cool. The sun, ever since we got down near
+the equator, was nearly overhead, and the moon seemed to be even north
+of us.
+
+When we reached the Chagres River we hired a boat of an Irishman for the
+trip down. I wondered if there was a place on earth so desolate that the
+"Paddy" would not find it. The boat for the journey cost two hundred
+dollars, and would hold passengers enough so that it would cost us ten
+dollars each, at any rate, and perhaps a little more. Two natives had
+charge of the boat and did the navigating. There were two ladies among
+the passengers, and when the two natives, who I suppose were the captain
+and mate of the craft, came on board, clad very coolly in Panama hats,
+the ladies looked at them a little out of the corners of their eyes and
+made the best of it. Our two navigators took the oars and pulled slowly
+down the stream.
+
+Nothing but water and evergreen trees could we see, for the shore on
+either hand was completely hidden by the dense growth that hung over and
+touched the water. On a mud bar that we passed a huge alligator lay,
+taking a sun bath, and though many shots were fired at him he moved away
+very leisurely. No one could get on shore without first clearing a road
+through the thick brushes and vines along the bank. On the way one of
+our boatmen lost his hat, his only garment, into the river, and
+overboard he went, like a dog, and soon had it and climbed on board
+again. I wondered why some of the big alligators did not make a snap at
+him.
+
+The water in the run looked very roily and dirty, and no doubt had fever
+in it. The only animals we saw were monkeys and alligators, and there
+were parrots in the trees. The farther we went down the stream the wider
+it became, and the current slacker so that we moved more slowly with the
+same amount of rowing. At a place called Dos Hermanos (two brothers) we
+could see a little cleared spot near the bank, which seemed to be three
+or four feet above the water. There were no mountains nor hills in
+sight, and the whole country seemed to be an extensive swamp. It was
+near night that we came to a small native village of palm huts, and here
+our boatmen landed and hid themselves, and not being able to find them
+we were compelled to stay all night, for we dare not go on alone. The
+place looked like a regular robbers' roost, and being forced to sleep
+outside the huts, we considered it safest to sleep with one eye open. We
+would have gone on with the boat only that we were afraid the river
+might have more than one outlet, and if we should take the wrong one we
+might be too late for the steamer, which even now we were afraid would
+not wait for us, and getting left would be a very serious matter in this
+country.
+
+We had very little to eat, and all we could buy was sugar cane, bananas,
+monkeys and parrots. We kept a sharp eye out for robbers, keeping
+together as much as we could, for we knew that all returning
+Californians would be suspected of having money. Most all of them were
+ready for war except myself who had no weapon of any kind. All of these
+people had a bad name, and every one of them carried a long bladed knife
+called a Macheta, with which they could kill a man at a single blow. But
+with all our fears we got through the night safely, and in the morning
+found our boatmen who had hidden away. We waited not for breakfast, but
+sailed away as soon as we could, and reached Chagres, near the mouth of
+the river, before night.
+
+The river banks here are not more than three feet high, and farther back
+the land fell off again into a wet swamp of timber and dense vegetable
+growth. The town was small and poorly built, on the immediate bank, and
+the houses were little brush and palm affairs except the boarding house
+which was "T" shaped, the front two stories high, with a long dining
+room running back, having holes for windows, but no glass in them.
+
+Before the bell rung for meals a long string of hungry men would form in
+line, and at the first tap would make a rush for the table like a flock
+of sheep. After all were seated a waiter came around and collected a
+dollar from each one, and we thought this paid pretty well for the very
+poor grub they served afterwards.
+
+No ship had as yet been in sight to take us away from this lowest,
+dirtiest, most unhealthful place on earth, and the prospect of remaining
+here had nothing very charming about it. The river was full of
+alligators, so the bathing was dangerous, and the whole country was
+about fit for its inhabitants, which were snakes, alligators, monkeys,
+parrots and lazy negroes. It could not have been more filthy if the
+dregs of the whole earth had been dumped here, and cholera and yellow
+fever were easy for a decent man to catch.
+
+My companion and I went out on the beach a mile or two to get the salt
+water breeze, and leave the stinking malaria for those who chose to stay
+in the hot, suffocating village, and here we would stay until nearly
+night. Across a small neck of water was what was called a fort. It could
+hardly be seen it was so covered with moss and vines, but near the top
+could be seen something that looked like old walls. There was no sign of
+life about it, and I should judge it was built at some very early day.
+Surely there was nothing here to protect, for the whole country did not
+seem able to support even a few barefooted soldiers.
+
+Some men who wandered along up the river bank, following a path, said
+they had seen some dead human bodies thrown into the swamp and left,
+probably because it was easier than putting them under ground.
+
+For a bedroom I hired a little platform which a store keeper had placed
+before his store, where I slept, and paid a dollar for the privilege.
+Some one walked around near me all night, and I dared not close more
+than one eye at a time for fear of losing a little bag of gold dust.
+This little bag of gold was getting to be a great burden to me in this
+sickly climate, and the vigilant guard I had to keep over so small a
+treasure was very tiresome.
+
+The second night no steamer came, but on the third morning the steamer
+was riding at anchor three or four miles out, and soon after a ship came
+in from the Atlantic end of the Nicaragua route with one thousand
+passengers, there being no steamer there for them to take a passage home
+on, and so they had to come here for a start. This filled the little
+town to overflowing, but as the ship that had arrived was the Georga,
+one of the largest afloat, all could go if they only could endure the
+fare.
+
+We now had to go in small boats from the shore to the ship, and the trip
+cost two dollars and a half. I waited till I had seen some of the boats
+make a trip or two, and then choosing one that had a sober skipper, I
+made the venture. It was said that one drunken boatman allowed his boat
+to drift into some breakers and all were lost.
+
+I tell you I was over anxious to get out of this country, for I well
+knew that if I stayed very long I should stay forever, for one like
+myself raised in a healthful climate, could not remain long without
+taking some of the fatal diseases the country was full of.
+
+We made the trip to the vessel safely, and as our boat lay under the
+ship's quarter, the men holding the ropes, I looked up, and when I saw
+the swinging rope ladder on which I was expected to climb up to the
+ship's deck, it seemed a pretty dangerous job; but I mustered up courage
+and made the attempt. The sea was pretty rough out here for the small
+boats, and the ship rolled some, so that when persons tried to get hold
+of the ladder they were thrown down and sometimes hurt a little. A man
+held on to the lower end of the ladder so that the one who was climbing
+might not get banged against the side of the ship and have his breath
+knocked out of him, I mounted the ladder safely and climbed away like a
+monkey, reaching the deck all right. Ladies and weak people were hauled
+up in a sort of chair with a block and rope.
+
+It took the most of two days to get the people on board, and when they
+were counted up there were one thousand four hundred and forty, all
+told. This steamer had a very long upper deck and a comparatively short
+keel, and rolled very badly; and as for me, I had swallowed so much of
+the deadly malaria of the isthmus that I soon got very seasick, and the
+first day or two were very unpleasant. I went to the bar and paid two
+bits for a glass of wine to help my appetite, but it staid with me no
+longer than time enough to reach the ship's side. When night came the
+decks were covered with sleepy men, and if the weather had been rough
+and all sick, as was the case when we left San Francisco, we should have
+had more filthy decks than we had even on that occasion.
+
+Approaching the harbor at Havana, Cuba, we seemed to be going head
+foremost against a wall of solid rock, but when within speaking distance
+an officer came in sight on the fort right before us, and shouted
+through his speaking trumpet, saying:--"Why don't you salute us?" Our
+officer said, "You know us well enough without." Our ship had a small
+cannon on the forecastle, but did not choose to use it, and I suppose
+the Cuban officer felt slighted. We now turned short to the right and
+entered the beautiful harbor, which is perfectly landlocked and as still
+as a pond. The city is all on the right side of the bay and our coal
+yard was on the left at a short wharf at which we landed.
+
+A lot of armed soldiers were placed a short distance back on the high
+ground and no one was allowed to go beyond them. We now had a port
+officer on board who had entire charge of the ship, and if anyone wanted
+to go to the city, across the bay two or three miles, he had to pay a
+dollar for a pass. This pass business made the blue bloods terribly
+angry, and they swore long and loud, and the longer they talked the
+madder they got, and more bitter in their feelings, so that they were
+ready to fight (not with sugar-bowls this time.)
+
+The weather here was very warm and the heat powerful, and as these
+fellows saw there was only one course to be pursued if they wanted to
+get on shore, they slowly took passes good for all day and paid their
+dollar for them, and also another dollar each to the canoe men to take
+them to the city. Myself and companion also took passes and went over.
+
+Arriving at the city we walked a short distance and came to the plaza,
+which is not a very large one. Here was a single grave nicely fenced in,
+and across the plaza were some large two-story houses in front of which
+was stationed a squad of cavalry standing as motionless as if every man
+of them was a marble statue. We kept on the opposite side of the street,
+and chancing to meet a man whom we rightly supposed to be an Englishman,
+we inquired about the grave on the plaza and were informed that it was
+that of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America.
+
+Just then we noticed the cavalry moving up the street at a slow gallop,
+and so formed that a close carriage was in the center of the squad. As
+they rushed by and we gazed at them with purely American curiousity, our
+new English friend raised our hats for us and held them till the
+cavalcade had passed, merely remarking that the Governor General was
+within the carriage. We spoke perhaps a bit unpleasantly when we asked
+him why he was so ungentlemanly in his treatment of us as to remove our
+hats, but he said:--"My friends, if I had not taken off your hats for
+you as a friend, some of those other fellows would have knocked them
+off, so I did for you an act of greatest kindness, for every one removes
+his hat when the Governor General passes." He also informed us that the
+special occasion for this rather pompous parade was the execution of
+some criminals at a park or prison not far away, and that this was done
+by beheading them.
+
+Our friend proposed that we also walk out in that direction, and we went
+with him to the edge of the city, but when he turned into a by path that
+did not seem much frequented, we declined to follow farther, and turned
+back along the open road. The path looked to us a sort of robber's
+route, and not exactly safe for unarmed men like us in a strange
+country.
+
+The man followed us back and took us into a large, airy saloon, in the
+center of which a big fountain was playing, and the great basin in which
+the water fell was filled with beautiful fish. Our friend called for an
+iced drink for each of us, and as we sat at the table we tasted it and
+found it rather intoxicating. For this they charged us one dollar each,
+but we noticed that our friend paid nothing, and we set him down as a
+sort of capper, after the style we had seen at the gold mines. We sat a
+few minutes and then so coolly bade our friend good-bye that he had not
+the face to follow us further, and continued our walk about the streets
+which seemed to us very narrow, and the houses generally two stories
+high.
+
+A chaise passed us, containing two young ladies with complexions white
+and fair, and eyes and hair black, in striking contrast. The carriage
+was drawn by two horses tandem, the horse in the shafts being mounted by
+a big negro of very dignified appearance, dressed in livery and having
+top boots that came to his knees. This was the only vehicle of the kind
+we saw on the streets.
+
+We did not dare to go very far alone, for with our ignorance of the
+Spanish language we might go astray and not get back to the ship within
+the lifetime of our passes, and not knowing how much trouble that might
+cause us, we were naturally a little timid; so we took a boat back to
+the ship, and when on board again we felt safe. We had only about four
+dollars cash left.
+
+A big gang of darkies were coaling the ship. Each one carried a large
+tub full of coal upon his head and poured it down into the ship's hold.
+All the clothes these fellows wore was a strip of cloth about their
+middle. When they were let off for dinner they skimmed off all they
+could get from the ship's slop barrel which stood on the wharf
+alongside, to help out their very scanty food. The overseer stood by
+them all the time with a big whip and made them hurry up as fast as
+possible, talking Spanish pretty vigorously, and though we could not
+understand, we made up our minds that a good part of it was swearing.
+
+The next morning the steamship Prometheus came in and tied up near us,
+and soon word was brought that she would take the New Orleans passengers
+on board and sail immediately for that port. It now occurred to me that
+I could get nearer home by going up the Mississippi River than by way of
+New York, so I went on board the Prometheus, and we soon sailed out of
+the harbor, passing under the gate of the fortress called, I think, San
+Juan de Ulloa.
+
+Nothing special occurred during our passage till we were near the mouth
+of the Mississippi River, when, in the absence of a pilot boat or tug,
+our Captain thought he would try to get in alone, and as a consequence
+we were soon fast in the mud. The Captain now made all the passengers go
+aft, and worked the engine hard but could not move her at all. The tide
+was now low, and there was a prospect that we should have to wait full
+six hours to get away. We worked on, however, and after a few hours a
+tug came to our assistance and pulled us out of the mud and towed us
+into the right channel, up which we steamed on our way to New Orleans,
+one-hundred-twenty miles away.
+
+The country on both sides of us was an immense marsh--no hills in sight,
+no timber, nothing but the same level marsh or prairie. When we were
+nearer the Crescent City some houses came in sight; then we passed
+General Jackson's battle-field, and in due time reached the city.
+
+On board this ship I became acquainted with Dick Evans who lived in the
+same county that I used to in Wisconsin, near Mineral Point, so the
+three of us now concluded to travel together.
+
+New Orleans seemed to be a very large city. Near the levee a large
+government building was in course of construction for a Custom House. It
+was all of stone, and the walls were up about two stories. We put up at
+a private boarding house, and the first business was to try and sell our
+gold dust. So we went to the mint and were told we would have to wait
+ten days to run it through the mill, and we did not like to wait so
+long. We were shown all through the mint and saw all the wonders of coin
+making. Every thing seemed perfect here. Beautiful machinery was in
+operation making all sizes of gold coins, from a twenty dollar piece
+down. Strips of gold bands about six feet long and of the proper
+thickness for twenty dollar pieces are run through a machine which cuts
+out the pieces, and when these are cut they can stamp out the pieces as
+fast as one can count.
+
+This was the most ingenious work I ever saw, and very wonderful and
+astonishing to a backwoodsman like myself, for I supposed that money was
+run in moulds like bullets.
+
+As we could not wait we went to a bank and sold our dust, getting only
+sixteen dollars per ounce, the same price they paid in California. We
+now took the cars and rode out to Lake Ponchartrain--most of the way
+over a trestle work. We found a wharf and warehouse at the lake, and a
+steamer lay there all ready to go across to the other side. The country
+all about looked low, with no hills in sight.
+
+When we returned to the city we looked all about, and in the course of
+our travels came to a slave market. Here there were all sorts of black
+folks for sale; big and little, old and young and all sorts. They all
+seemed good-natured, and were clean, and seemed to think they were worth
+a good deal of money. Looking at them a few minutes sent my mind back to
+St. Joseph, Missouri, where I saw a black sold at auction. From my
+standpoint of education I did not approve of this way of trading in
+colored people.
+
+We continued our stroll about the city, coming to a cemetery, where I
+looked into a newly dug grave to find it half full of water. On one side
+were many brick vaults above ground. The ground here is very low and
+wet, and seemed to be all swamp. The drainage was in surface gutters,
+and in them the water stood nearly still. It seemed to me such water
+must have yellow fever in it.
+
+For a long way along the levee the steamboats lay thick and close
+together, unloading cotton, hemp, sugar, hoop poles, bacon and other
+products, mostly the product of negro labor.
+
+Here our friend Evans was taken sick, and as he got no better after a
+day or two, we called a doctor to examine him. He pronounced it a mild
+case of yellow fever. His skin was yellow in places, and he looked very
+badly. The doctor advised us to go on up the river, saying it was very
+dangerous staying here with him. Evans gave me most of his money and all
+of his gold specimens to take to his wife, and when he got well he would
+follow us. We bade him good-bye, and with many wishes for his speedy
+recovery, we took passage on a steamer for St. Louis. This steamer, the
+Atlantic, proved to be a real floating palace in all respects. The table
+was supplied with everything the country afforded, and polite and
+well-dressed darkies were numerous as table waiters. This was the most
+pleasant trip I had ever taken, and I could not help comparing the
+luxuriance of my coming home to the hardships of the outward journey
+across the plains, and our starvation fare.
+
+Our boat was rather large for the stage of water this time of year, and
+we proceeded rather slowly, but I cared little for speed as bed and
+board were extra good, and a first cabin passage in the company of
+friends, many of whom were going to the same part of Wisconsin as
+myself, was not a tedious affair by any means.
+
+At night gambling was carried on very extensively, and money changed
+hands freely as the result of sundry games of poker, which was the
+popular game.
+
+We reached St. Louis in time, and here was the end of our boat's run.
+The river had some ice floating on its surface, and this plainly told us
+that we were likely to meet more ice and colder weather as we went
+north. We concluded to take the Illinois River boat from here to Peoria,
+and paid our passage and stepped on board. We were no more than half way
+through this trip when the ice began to form on the surface of the
+water, and soon became so thick and strong that the boat finally came to
+a perfect standstill, frozen in solid.
+
+We now engaged a farm wagon to take us to Peoria, from which place we
+took regular stages for Galena. Our driver was inclined to be very
+merciful to his horses, so we were two days in reaching that town, but
+perhaps it was best, for the roads were icy and slippery, and the
+weather of the real winter sort. From here we hired a team to take four
+of us to Plattville, and then an eighteen-mile walk brought me to
+Mineral Point, the place from which I started with my Winnebago pony in
+1849. I had now finished my circle and brought both ends of the long
+belt together.
+
+I now went to a drug store and weighed Mr. Evans' specimens, wrapping
+each in a separate piece of paper, with the value marked on each, and
+took them to his wife, to whom I told the news about her husband. In two
+week's time he came home sound and well.
+
+I was quite disappointed in regard to the looks and business appearance
+of the country. It looked thinly settled, people scarce, and business
+dull. I could not get a day's work to do, and I could not go much
+farther on foot, for the snow was eight or ten inches deep, and I was
+still several hundred miles from my parents in Michigan. So my journey
+farther east was delayed until spring. The hunting season was over, and
+when I came into Mineral Point without a gun, and wore good clothes,
+making a better appearance than I used to, they seemed to think I must
+be rich and showed me marked attention, and made many inquiries about
+their neighbors who started for California about the same time I did.
+The young ladies smiled pleasantly when near me, and put on their best
+white aprons, looking very tidy and bright, far superior to any of the
+ladies I had seen in my crooked route from San Francisco through
+Acapulco, Panama, the West Indies and along the Mississippi.
+
+After a few days in town I went out into the neighborhood where I used
+to live and stopped with Mr. E.A. Hall, who used to be a neighbor of Mr.
+Bennett, as he had invited me to stay with himself and wife, who were
+the only occupants of a good house, and all was pleasant. But
+notwithstanding all the comfort in which I was placed, I grew lonesome,
+for the enforced idleness, on account of the stormy weather, was a new
+feature in my life, and grew terribly monotonous.
+
+After some delay I concluded to write to my parents in Michigan and give
+them a long letter with something of a history of my travels, and to
+refresh my memory I got out my memorandum I had kept through all my
+journey.
+
+As my letter was liable to be quite lengthy I bought a quantity of
+foolscap paper and begun. I took my diary as my guide, and filled out
+the ideas suggested in it so they would understand them. I soon ran
+through with my paper and bought more, and kept on writing. The weather
+was cold and stormy, and I found it the best occupation I could have to
+prevent my being lonesome; so I worked away, day after day, for about a
+month, and I was really quite tired of this sort of work before I had
+all the facts recorded which I found noted down in my diary. My notes
+began in March, 1849, in Wisconsin, and ended in February, 1852, on my
+return to Mineral Point. I found, as the result of my elaboration, over
+three hundred pages of closely written foolscap paper, and I felt very
+much relieved when it was done. By the aid of my notes I could very
+easily remember everything that had taken place during my absence, and
+it was recorded in regular form, with day and date, not an incident of
+any importance left out, and every word as true as gospel. I had neither
+exaggerated nor detracted from any event so far as I could recollect.
+
+I now loaned Mr. Hall, with whom I lived, six hundred dollars to enable
+him to cross the plains to California and try to make his fortune. To
+secure this I took a mortgage on his eighty-acre farm, and he set out to
+make the journey. I had another eighty acres of land near here which I
+bought at government price before going to California, but I could not
+now sell it for what it cost me. When I went away I had left my chest
+and contents with my friend Samuel Zollinger, and he had kept it safely,
+so I now made him my lawful agent. I placed my narrative and some other
+papers in the chest and gave the key into his charge, while I went
+north, across the Wisconsin River, to visit my old hunting and trapping
+friend, Robert McCloud. Here I made a very pleasant visit of perhaps a
+week, and the common prospects of the country were freely talked over.
+It seemed to us as if the good times were still far off; every day was
+like Sunday so far as anything going on; no money in circulation, many
+places abandoned, and, like myself, many had gone to California to seek
+gold instead of lead. (The mines at Mineral Point are mostly of lead,
+with some copper.)
+
+Looking at matters in this light it did not need a great deal of
+McCloud's persuasion to induce me to go back with him to California, all
+the more so as my little pile seemed to look smaller every day, while
+three or four years ago it would have seemed quite large. Deciding to
+go, I wrote to Mr. Zollinger to send the account I had written to my
+parents in Michigan, reading it first himself, and admonishing him not
+to lend it. I also wrote to my parents telling them what they might look
+for in the mails, and cautioning them never to have it printed, for the
+writing was so ungrammatical and the spelling so incorrect that it would
+be no credit to me.
+
+I afterward learned that in time they received the bundle of paper and
+read it through and through, and circulated it around the neighborhood
+till it was badly worn, and laid it away for future perusal when their
+minds should incline that way. But the farm house soon after took fire
+and burned, my labor going up in smoke.
+
+When the news of this reached me I resolved to try to forget all the
+trials, troubles and hardships I had gone through, and which I had
+almost lived over again as I wrote them down, and I said to myself that
+I would not talk about them more than I could help, the sooner to have
+them vanish, and never write them down again, but a few years ago an
+accident befell me so that I could not work, and I back-slid from my
+determination when I was persuaded so earnestly by many friends to write
+the account which appeared a few years ago in the Santa Clara Valley now
+the Pacific Tree and Vine, edited by H.A. Brainard, at San Jose,
+California. The diary was lost, and from memory alone the facts have
+been rehearsed, and it is but fair to tell the reader that the hardest
+and worst of it has never been told nor will it ever be.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+McCloud and I now took his skiff, and for two days floated down the
+Wisconsin River till we reached the Mississippi, boarded the first
+steamboat we could hail, and let our own little craft adrift. In due
+time we reached St. Louis and boarded another steamer for New Orleans.
+
+At a wood-yard, about dark, a lot of negroes, little and big, came on
+board to sell brooms. The boat's clerk seemed to know negro character
+pretty well, so he got out his violin and played for them. For a while
+the young colored gentry listened in silence, but pretty soon he struck
+a tune that suited them, and they began to dance in their own wild
+style.
+
+In seven days from St. Louis we landed in New Orleans, and found the
+government steamer, Falcon, advertised to sail in two days. We went
+together to one of the slave warehouses. Outside and in all was neat end
+clean, and any day you could see men, women and children standing under
+the shed as a sign of what they had within, and the painted signs "For
+Sale" displayed conspicuously. We were very civilly treated, and invited
+to examine the goods offered for sale. There were those of all ages and
+all colors, for some were nearly white and some intensely black, with
+all the shades between. All were to be sold, separately, or in families,
+or in groups as buyers might desire. All were made to keep themselves
+clean and neatly dressed, and to behave well, with a smile to all the
+visitors whether they felt like smiling or not. Some seemed really
+anxious to get a good master, and when a kind, pleasant looking man came
+along they would do their utmost to be agreeable to him and inquire if
+he did not want to buy them. We talked it over some between ourselves,
+and when we thought of the market and the human chattels for sale there,
+McCloud spoke up and said:--"I am almost persuaded to be an
+abolitionist."
+
+I now went on board the steamer Falcon, in command of a government
+officer, to try to learn something about the family of Capt. Culverwell
+who perished alone in Death Valley. He told me he had once belonged to
+the Navy and had his life insured, and as I was an important witness for
+his family I wanted to learn where they lived. The Captain looked over a
+list of officers, but Culverwell's name was not there. I then wrote a
+letter to Washington stating the facts of his death, and my own address
+in Sacramento, California. I also stated that I would assist the widow
+if I could, but I never received an answer.
+
+We soon started down the river, having on board about one hundred
+passengers, men going to work on the Panama Railroad. At Chagres we
+found a small stern wheeled river steamer and took passage on it for
+Gorgona, as far as the steamer could well go up the river. While going
+up we met a similar boat coming down, and being near a short bend they
+crashed together, breaking down our guards severely, but fortunately
+with no damage to our wheel. A few miles above this a dark passing cloud
+gave us rain in streams, and we had to drift in near shore to wait for
+the storm to pass. I never before saw water fall so fast, and yet in
+half an hour the sun was out and burning hot.
+
+Before we reached Gorgona we got acquainted with a man named John Briggs
+from Wisconsin, and Lyman Ross from Rhode Island, and concluded to
+travel in company. Our fare thus far was ten dollars, and two horses to
+Panama for which we paid twelve dollars each. We now rode and walked
+turn about, and when we inquired about the road we were told that being
+once in it we could not possibly get out except at the other end, and
+would need no guide, and at the end of a very disagreeable day's work we
+reached the big gate at Panama and entered the ancient city.
+
+We waited but little here before taking the steamer Southerner, bound
+for San Francisco. Three days after we sailed away one of our passengers
+went overboard, a corpse, and three or four more died and were buried
+alongside before we reached Acapulco.
+
+Here we took on water and coal and were soon at sea again. McCloud soon
+had to take his place in the sick ward, and I attended him most of the
+time, but was not allowed to give him anything without a permit from the
+doctor, and the long delays between the administrations of medicine made
+the sickness hard to endure. The sick could see the dead sewed up in
+blankets with a bucket of coal for a weight; then resting on a plank
+with sailors on each side, the mate would read the brief services
+appropriate to a burial at sea, the plank was tilted, and the lifeless
+body slid down into the depths. Such scenes were no benefit to the
+suffering, for each might think his turn was next, when a bright hope
+and prospect would be better for his recovery.
+
+One forenoon the fire gong rang out sharply, and all was in confusion,
+supposing the ship to be on fire, but nothing could be seen but a dense
+fog, except as a gentle wind lifted it a little and there, dead ahead,
+was a rocky island, against which it seemed we must dash to destruction,
+for there was no beach and very little chance for any one to be saved.
+Ten minutes more in this direction and we were lost, but the officers
+quickly changed the course, and we passed the pile of rocks scarcely a
+rifle shot away. Whose fault it was, this danger so miraculously
+avoided, we did not know, the captain's or the imperfect chart, and
+opinions were freely given both ways.
+
+About those days the air felt cooler the fog less dense, and the foggy
+rain-bows we had seen so much when the sun tried to shine, were scarce,
+while a more northern wind created a coolness that made sick folks feel
+refreshed and hopeful. It gave me a chance to cheer up my sick friend
+who was still in bed, and tell him it would continue to be cooler as we
+went.
+
+On the Fourth of July the officers produced the ship's full supply of
+flags, and the sailors climbed high and low, fastening them to every
+rope till we had a very gay Independence day appearance. In this gay
+dress we steamed into San Diego harbor to leave the mail for a few
+soldiers stationed there, and get their letters in return.
+
+I could see no town in San Diego, but a beautiful harbor, and some poor
+looking mustard wigwams some way off seemed to contain the good people
+of that place.
+
+A boat with a small crew pulled out and came alongside to get the mail
+and deliver theirs, and then we turned to sea again. The country all
+around this beautiful little harbor looked mountainous and extremely
+barren, and no one wanted to go on shore.
+
+About dark we had made sufficient offing and turned northward, plowing
+through large fields of kelp. The next morning the forward watch
+announced land ahead, which could dimly be seen as the fog rose. The
+officers rushed on deck and could see not far ahead a sandy beach, and a
+moment more showed that we were headed directly for it, and that it was
+not more than a quarter of a mile away. Quickly the helmsman was given
+orders to steer almost west instead of the north course he had been
+following. He was asked why he kept on his north course when he saw
+danger ahead, and answered:--"It is my business to steer according to
+orders, even if the ship goes ashore, and I can not change course unless
+ordered to." The Captain now examined his chart and decided he was in
+San Pedro harbor, off Los Angeles.
+
+The sun came out bright and clear a little later, and I got McCloud out
+of his bed and gave him a seat at the ship's side where he could see the
+green grassy hills near the beach, and larger hills and mountains
+farther back. We could see cattle feeding in the nearest pastures, and
+the whole scene was a pleasant one; and as we sat on the eastern side of
+the ship and snuffed the cool breeze which came from the north, we
+thought we were comparatively happy people, and hoped that, if no
+accident befell, we would soon be at the end of our voyage.
+
+On the seventh day of July, 1851, we entered the Golden Gate, this being
+my second arrival in California. On our trip from Panama seven or more
+had died and been buried at sea, but the remainder of us were quite safe
+and sound. We found the heart of the city still smoking, for a fire had
+broken out on July fourth and burned extensively, and these broad,
+blackened ruins were the result. Some said the work had been done by the
+Sidney "ducks" and their numerous helpers, who were really the rulers of
+the city. The place now looked much worse than it did when I left in
+November before. These Sidney "ducks" were English convicts from
+Australia, and other thieves and robbers joined them as agreeable
+companion, making a large class that seemed to glory in destruction and
+a chance for booty.
+
+I walked around over the hills where I could see the burned district and
+the destruction of so much valuable property, and when I thought the
+civil law was not strong enough to govern, it seemed to me it would be a
+good place for such men as the Helms brothers of Georgetown to come down
+and do a little hanging business, for they could here find plenty to do,
+and they could carry out their plan of letting no guilty man escape.
+
+About four o'clock one afternoon we went aboard the Sacramento steamer,
+Antelope, paying our passage with half an ounce apiece, and were soon on
+our way past the islands and up the bay. When we were beyond Benicia,
+where the river banks were close, McCloud sat watching the shore, and
+remarked that the boat ran like a greyhound, and it seemed to him, beat
+the old ocean steamer pretty bad.
+
+He seemed to be nearly well again, and complimented me as the best
+doctor he ever saw. Since he had been sick I had paid him all the
+attention I could, and he gave me all the praise I deserved, now that he
+was getting to feel himself again.
+
+At Sacramento we changed to another boat bound for Marysville, which
+place we reached without special incident. Here we invested in a
+four-ounce donkey, that is, we paid four ounces of gold for him, just an
+ounce apiece for four of us--W.L. Manley, Robert McCloud, Lyman Ross and
+John Briggs. We piled our blankets in a pack upon the gentle, four-ounce
+donkey, and added a little tea and coffee, dried beef and bread, then
+started for the Yuba River, ourselves on foot. We crossed the river at
+Park's Bar, then went up the ridge by way of Nigger Tent, came down to
+the river again at Goodyear Bar, then up the stream to Downieville. This
+town was named after John Downie, a worthless drunkard. I remember that
+he once reformed, but again back-slid and died a drunkard's death.
+
+We found this a lively mining town about sixty miles above Marysville,
+on the north fork of the Yuba River, and only reached by a pack trail,
+but everything was flush here, even four aces. The location was a
+veritable Hole-in-the-Ground, for the mountains around were very high,
+and some of them wore their caps of snow all summer, particularly those
+on the east. The gold dust we found here was coarser than it was where I
+worked before, down south on the Merced River. Before I came to
+California I always supposed that gold dust was really dust, and about
+as fine as flour.
+
+We went up the North Fork about a mile or two above town and camped on
+Wisconsin Flat to begin our mining operations. Our luck was poor at
+first, and all except myself were out of money, and more or less in debt
+to me. We made expenses, however, and a little more, and as soon as Mr.
+Ross got his small debt paid he said he was discouraged mining, and with
+blankets on his shoulders started up the trail towards Galloway's ranch,
+on the summit south of town. Mr. Ross said the work was too hard for
+him, for he was not strong enough to handle pick and shovel, and he
+believed he could go down to Sacramento and make more by his wits than
+he could here. I went with him to town and saw him start off with a fair
+load on his back, and watched him as he toiled up the steep mountain
+trail for about two miles, when he went out of sight.
+
+The rest of us kept on mining. Our luck was not very good, but we
+persevered, for there was nothing to be gained by fainting by the way. I
+went into an old abandoned shaft about ten feet deep and found the
+bottom filled with a big quartz boulder, and as I had been a lead miner
+in Wisconsin, I began drifting, and soon found bed rock, when I picked
+up a piece of pure gold that weighed four ounces. This was what I called
+a pretty big find, and not exactly what I called gold dust. It was quite
+a surprise to me, for the gravel on the bed rock was only about three or
+four inches thick.
+
+We kept on drifting for some time, sometimes making good wages, and on
+the whole so satisfactory that we concluded to stay. We now located some
+claims back in the flat where the ground would be thirty feet deep, and
+would have to be drifted. These we managed to hold until winter, and in
+the meantime we worked along the river and could make something all the
+time.
+
+We put in a flume between two falls on the Middle Fork, but made only
+wages, and I got my arm nearly broken, and had to work with one hand for
+nearly a month.
+
+One afternoon I went crevicing up the river, and found a crevice at the
+water's edge about half an inch wide, and the next day we worked it out
+getting forty ounces, and many of the pieces were about an inch long and
+as large around as a pipe-stem.
+
+Winter was now near by, and we set to work to build a cabin and lay in a
+stock of grub, which cost quite a good deal, for the self-raising flour
+which we bought was worth twenty cents a pound, and all kinds of hog
+meat fifty cents, with other supplies in proportion. Our new claims now
+paid very well. Snow came down to the depth of about four feet around
+our cabin, but as our work was under ground, we had a comfortable place
+all winter.
+
+In the spring McCloud and I went to Sacramento and sold our chunks of
+gold (it was all very coarse) to Page, Bacon & Co. who were themselves
+surprised at the coarseness of the whole lot. When our savings were
+weighed up we found we had made half an ounce a day, clear of all
+expenses, for the entire year.
+
+We now took a little run down to San Francisco, also to Santa Clara
+where we staid a night or two with Mr. McCloud's friend, Mr. Otterson,
+and then went back to our claims again. In taking care of our money we
+had to be our own bankers, and the usual way was to put the slugs we
+received for pay into a gallon pickle jar, and bury this in some place
+known only to our particular selves, and these vaults we considered
+perfectly safe. The slugs were fifty dollar pieces, coined for
+convenience, and were eight-sided, heavy pieces. In the western counties
+the people called them "Adobies," but among the miners they were
+universally known as "Slugs."
+
+The winter proved a little lonesome, the miners mostly staid at home and
+worked. During the year we had been here I had not seen a respectable
+woman in this mining country. There were few females here, and they were
+said to be of very doubtful character. As a general thing people were
+very patient with their wickedness, but not always.
+
+Twice only in the history of California were women made the victims of
+mob violence, once at Los Angeles and once at Downieville. The affair at
+the last-named place occurred in 1851, and the victim was a pretty
+little Spanish woman named Juanita. She and her husband, like many
+another couple at that time, kept a monte game for the delectation of
+the miners who had more money than sense, but beyond this fact
+absolutely nothing was said against her character.
+
+There was an English miner named Cannon living in town, who was very
+popular among a large number of gamblers and others. He got drunk one
+night and about midnight went to the house occupied by the Spanish woman
+and her husband and kicked the door down. Early the following morning he
+told his comrades that he was going to apologize to the woman for what
+he had done. He went alone to the house, and, while talking with the
+husband and wife, the woman suddenly drew a knife and stabbed Cannon to
+the heart. What had been said that provoked the deed was never known,
+further than that Juanita claimed she had been grossly insulted.
+
+She was given a mock trial, but the facts of the case were not brought
+out, as the men who were with Cannon were too drunk to remember what had
+happened the previous night. It was a foregone conclusion that the poor
+woman was to be hanged, and the leaders of the mob would brook no
+interference. A physician examined Juanita and announced to the mob that
+she was in a condition that demanded the highest sympathy of every man,
+but he was forced to flee from town to save his life. A prominent
+citizen made an appeal for mercy, but he was driven down the main street
+and across the river by a mob with drawn revolvers, and with threats of
+instant death. The well-known John B. Weller was in town at the time,
+and was asked to reason with the mob, but refused to do so.
+
+The execution was promptly carried out. A plank was put across the
+supports of the bridge over the Yuba, and a rope fastened to a beam
+overhead. Juanita went calmly to her death. She wore a Panama hat, and
+after mounting the platform she removed it, tossed it to a friend in the
+crowd, whose nickname was "Oregon," with the remark, "Adios amigo." Then
+she adjusted the noose to her own neck, raising her long, loose tresses
+carefully in order to fix the rope firmly in its place, and then, with a
+smile and wave of her hand to the bloodthirsty crowd present, she
+stepped calmly from the plank into eternity. Singular enough, her body
+rests side by side, in the cemetery on the hill, with that of the man
+whose life she had taken.
+
+On Sundays Downieville was full of men, none very old, and none very
+young, but almost every one of middle age. Nearly every man was coarsely
+dressed, with beard unshaved and many with long hair, but on any
+occasion of excitement it was not at all strange to see the coarsest,
+roughest looking one of all the party mount a stump and deliver as
+eloquent an address as one could wish to hear. On Sunday it was not at
+all unusual for some preacher to address the moving crowd, while a few
+feet behind him would be a saloon in full blast, and drinking, gambling,
+swearing and vulgar language could be plainly seen and heard at the same
+time, and this class of people seemed to respect the Sunday preacher
+very little. The big saloon was owned by John Craycroft, formerly a mate
+on a Mississippi River steamboat, who gained most of his money by
+marrying a Spanish woman and making her a silent partner.
+
+One enterprising man who was anxious to make money easily, took a notion
+to try his luck in trade, so, as rats and mice were troublesome in shops
+and stores, he went down to the valley and brought up a cargo of cats
+which he disposed of at prices varying from fifty to one hundred dollars
+each, according to the buyer's fancy.
+
+During the summer Kelley the fiddler came up in the mines to make a
+raise, and Craycroft made him a pulpit about ten feet above the floor in
+his saloon, having him to play nights and Sundays at twenty dollars per
+day. He was a big uneducated Irishman, who could neither read nor write,
+but he played and sang and talked the rich Irish brogue, all of which
+brought many customers to the bar. In the saloon could be seen all sorts
+of people dealing different games, and some were said to be preachers.
+Kelley staid here as long as he could live on his salary, and left town
+much in debt, for whiskey and cards got all his money.
+
+One of the grocers kept out a sign, "CHEAP JOHN, THE PACKER," and kept a
+mule to deliver goods, which no other merchant did, and in this way
+gained many friends, and many now may praise the enterprise of Cheap
+John, the Packer. Prices were pretty high in those days. Sharpening
+picks cost fifty cents, a drink of whiskey one dollar, and all kinds of
+pork, fifty cents per pound. You could get meals at the McNutty house
+for one dollar. The faro and monte banks absorbed so much of the small
+change that on one occasion I had to pay five dollars for a two dollar
+pair of pants in order to get a fifty dollar slug changed.
+
+No white shirts were worn by honest men, and if any man appeared in such
+a garment he was at once set down as a gambler, and with very little
+chance of a mistake. One Langdon had the only express office, and
+brought letters and packages from Sacramento. I paid one dollar simply
+to get my name on his letter list, and when a letter came I had to pay
+one dollar for bringing it up, as there was no Post Office at
+Downieville.
+
+Newspapers were eagerly sought for, such was the hunger for reading. The
+Western folks bought the St. Louis papers, while Eastern people found
+the New York Tribune a favorite. One dollar each for such papers was the
+regular price. It may seem strange, but aside from the news we got from
+an occasional newspaper, I did not hear a word from the East during the
+two years I remained on Yuba river. Our evenings were spent in playing
+cards for amusement, for no reading could be got. The snow between
+Marysville and Downieville was deep and impassable in winter, but we
+could work our drifting claims very comfortably, having laid in a stock
+of provisions early in the season, before snowfall. The nights seemed
+tediously long and lonesome, for when the snow was deep no one came to
+visit us, and we could go nowhere, being completely hemmed in. All the
+miners who did not have claims they could work underground, went down
+below the winter snow-line to find work, and when the snow went off came
+back again and took possession of the old claims they had left.
+
+After the snow went off three German sailors came up and took a river
+claim a short distance above us on a north fork of the north fork of the
+stream, where one side of the cañon was perpendicular and the other
+sloped back only slightly. Here they put logs across the river, laid
+stringers on these, and covered the bottom with fir boughs. Then they
+put stakes at the sides and rigged a canvas flume over their bridge
+through which they turned the whole current of the river, leaving a
+nearly dry bed beneath. This we called pretty good engineering and
+management on the part of the sailor boys, for no lumber was to be had,
+and they had made themselves masters of the situation with the material
+on hand.
+
+They went to work under their log aqueduct, and found the claim very
+rich in coarse gold. They went to town every Saturday night with good
+big bags of dust, and as they were open-hearted fellows, believing that
+a sailor always has the best of luck, they played cards freely, always
+betting on the Jack and Queen, and spent their money more easily than
+they earned it. They were quite partial to the ladies, and patronizing
+the bar and card tables as liberally as they did, usually returned to
+camp on Monday or Tuesday with a mule load of grub and whiskey as all
+the visible proceeds of a week's successful mining; but when Saturday
+night came around again we were pretty sure to see the jolly sailors
+going past with heavy bags of gold. They left one nearly pure piece of
+gold at Langdon's Express office that weighed five pounds, and another
+as large as a man's hand, of the shape of a prickly pear leaf.
+
+They worked their claim with good success until the snow water came down
+and forced them out. I went one day to see them, and they took a pan of
+dirt from behind a big rock and washed it out, getting as much as two
+teacupfuls of nuggets, worth perhaps a thousand dollars. When they went
+away they said they would go to Germany to see their poor relatives and
+friends, and one of them really went home, but the other two had spent
+all their money before they were ready to leave San Francisco. These men
+were, without doubt, the inventors of the canvas flume which was
+afterward used so successfully in various places.
+
+While I was still here the now famous Downieville Butte quartz mine was
+discovered, but there was no way then of working quartz successfully,
+and just at that time very little was done with it, but afterward, when
+it was learned how to work it, and the proper machinery introduced, it
+yielded large sums of bullion.
+
+The miners had a queer way of calling every man by some nickname or
+other instead of his true name, and no one seemed offended at it, but
+answered to his new name as readily as to any.
+
+It was nearly fall when we found we had worked our claims out, and there
+were no new ones we could locate here, so we concluded to go prospecting
+for a new locality. I bought a donkey in town of a Mr. Hawley, a
+merchant, for which I paid sixty dollars, and gave the little fellow his
+old master's name. We now had two animals, and we packed on them our
+worldly goods, and started south up the mountain trail by way of the
+city of six, where some half dozen men had located claims, but the
+ground was dry and deep, so we went on.
+
+We still went south, down toward the middle Yuba River and when about
+half way down the mountain side came to a sort of level bench where some
+miners were at work, but hardly any water could be had. They called this
+Minnesota. We stayed here a day or two, but as there seemed to be no
+possible further development of water, concluded to go on further.
+Across the river we could see a little flat, very similar to the one we
+were on, and a little prospecting seemed to have been done on the side
+of the mountain. We had a terribly steep cañon to cross, and a river
+also, with no trail to follow, but our donkeys were as good climbers as
+any of us, so we started down the mountain in the morning, and arrived
+at the river about noon. Here we rested an hour or two and then began
+climbing the brushy mountain side. The hill was very steep, and the sun
+beat down on us with all his heat, so that with our hard labor and the
+absence of any wind we found it a pretty hot place.
+
+It was pretty risky traveling in some places, and we had to help the
+donkeys to keep them from rolling down the hill, pack and all. It took
+us four hours to make a mile and a half or two miles in that dense
+brush, and we were nearly choked when we reached the little flat. Here
+we found some water, but no one lived here. From here we could see a
+large flat across a deep cañon to the west, and made up our minds to try
+to go to it. We went around the head of the cañon, and worked through
+the brush and fallen timber, reaching our objective point just as night
+was coming on. This flat, like the one we had left, was quite level, and
+contained, perhaps, nearly one hundred acres. Here we found two men at
+work with a "long tom"--a Mr. Fernay and a Mr. Bloat. They had brought
+the water of a small spring to their claim and were making five or six
+dollars per day. We now prospected around the edge of this flat, and
+getting pretty fair prospects concluded we would locate here if we could
+get water.
+
+We then began our search for water and found a spring about three
+quarters of a mile away, to which we laid claim, and with a triangle
+level began to survey out a route for our ditch. The survey was
+satisfactory, and we found we could bring the water out high on the
+flat, so we set to work digging at it, and turned the water in. The
+ground was so very dry that all the water soaked up within two hundred
+yards of the spring.
+
+By this time we were out of grub, and some one must go for a new supply,
+and as we knew the trail to Downieville was terribly rough, I was chosen
+as the one to try to find Nevada City, which we thought would be nearer
+and more easily reached. So I started south with the donkeys, up the
+mountain toward the ridge which lies between the middle and south Yuba
+Rivers, and when I got well on the ridge I found a trail used some by
+wagons, which I followed till I came to a place where the ridge was only
+wide enough for a wagon, and at the west end a faint trail turned off
+south into the rolling hills. I thought this went about the course I
+wanted to go, so I followed it, and after two or three miles came to the
+south Yuba river. This seemed to be an Indian trail, no other signs on
+it. I climbed the mountain here, and when I reached the top I found a
+large tent made of blue drilling, and here I found I was four or five
+miles from Nevada City with a good trail to follow. The rolling hills I
+then passed through are now called North Bloomfield, and at one time
+were known as "Humbug."
+
+I started along the trail and soon reached the city where I drove my
+donkeys up to a store which had out the sign "Davis & Co.." I entered
+and inquiring the prices of various sorts of provisions such as flour,
+bacon, beans, butter, etc., soon had selected enough for two donkey
+loads. They assisted me in putting them in pack, and when it was ready I
+asked the amount of my bill, which was one hundred and fifty dollars.
+This I paid at once, and they gave me some crackers and dried beef for
+lunch on the way. Davis said--"That is the quickest sale I ever made,
+and here the man is ready to go. I defy any one to beat it." Before sun
+down I was two or three miles on my way back where I found some grass
+and camped for the night, picketed the animals, ate some of Mr. Davis'
+grub for supper, and arranged a bed of saddle blankets. I arrived at
+camp the next day about sun down.
+
+Next day I went on up the divide and found a house on the trail leading
+farther east, where two men lived, but they seemed to be doing nothing.
+There were no mines and miners near there, and there seemed to be very
+little travel on the trail. The fellows looked rough, and I suspected
+they might be bad characters. The stream they lived near was afterward
+called Bloody Run, and there were stories current that blood had been
+shed there.
+
+Here was a section of comparatively level land, for the mountain divide,
+and a fine spring of good cold water, all surrounded by several hundred
+acres of the most magnificent sugar pines California ever raised, very
+large, straight as a candle, and one hundred feet or more to the lowest
+limbs. This place was afterward called Snow Tent, and S.W. Churchill
+built a sawmill at the spring, and had all this fine timber at the mercy
+of his ax and saw, without anyone to dispute his right. He furnished
+lumber to the miners at fifty dollars or more per thousand feet. Bloody
+Run no doubt well deserves its name, for there was much talk of killing
+done there.
+
+I, however, went up and talked to the men and told them I wished to hire
+a cross cut saw for a few days to get out stuff for a cabin, and agreed
+to pay two dollars a day for the use of it till it came back.
+
+We cut down a large sugar pine, cut off four six feet cuts, one twelve
+feet, and one sixteen feet cut, and from these we split out a lot of
+boards which we used to make a V-shaped flume which we placed in our
+ditch, and thus got the water through. We split the longer cuts into two
+inch plank for sluice boxes, and made a small reservoir, so that we
+succeeded in working the ground. We paid wages to the two men who
+worked, and two other men who were with us went and built a cabin.
+
+I now went and got another load of provisions, and as the snow could be
+seen on the high mountains to the east, I thought the deer must be
+crowded down to our country, so I went out hunting and killed a big fat
+buck, and the next day three more, so fresh meat was plenty.
+
+About this time a man came down the mountain with his oxen and wagon,
+wife and three or four children, the eldest a young lady of fifteen
+years. The man's name was H. M. Moore. We had posted notices, according
+to custom, to make mining laws, and had quite a discussion about a name
+for the place. Some of the fellows wanted to name it after the young
+lady, "Minda's Flat," but we finally chose "Moore's Flat" instead, which
+I believe is the name it still goes by. Our laws were soon completed,
+and a recorder chosen to record claims. We gave Mr. Moore the honor of
+having a prospecting town named after him because he was the first man
+to be on hand with a wife.
+
+I became satisfied after a little that this place would be a very snowy
+place, and that from all appearances it would fall from two to four feet
+deep, and not a very pleasant place to winter in. An honest acquaintance
+of mine came along, Samuel Tyler and to him I let my claim to work on
+shares and made McCloud my agent, verbally, while I took my blankets and
+started for the valley.
+
+The first town I passed through was a newly discovered mining town
+called French Corral. Here I found an old Wisconsin friend Wm. Sublet,
+the foster father of the accomplishen wife of Mayor S.W. Boring of San
+Jose. From here I went to Marysville. The storm had been raging high in
+the mountains for some days, and the Yuba river rising fast, overflowing
+its banks as I walked into town, and the next day the merchants were
+very busy piling their goods above high water mark. I went to a hotel
+and called for a bed. "Yes," says the landlord "Is your name John or
+Peter?" I told him William, which he set down in his book and we went up
+stairs to the best room which was fitted up with berths three tiers high
+on each side, and only one or two empty ones. He looked around for
+covers, but none could be found unoccupied, but one fellow who was sound
+asleep and snoring awfully, so he took the blanket off from him saying:
+"He wont know a thing about it till morning, be jabers, so don't say a
+word."
+
+Next morning the river was booming, its surface covered with all sorts
+of mining outfit such as flume timber, rockers, various qualities of
+lumber, pieces of trees as well as whole ones, water wheels and other
+traps. The river between Downieville and here must have been swept clean
+of all material that would float, including "long Toms." The water
+continued to rise till it covered the Plaza, and in two days a steamer
+came up and sailed across the public square. This looked like a wet
+season to me, and when the boat was ready to go down the river I went on
+board, bound for Sacramento. Here it was also getting terrible wet and
+muddy, and the rain kept pouring down. In the morning I worked my way up
+J street and saw a six-mule team wading up the streets the driver on
+foot, tramping through the sloppy mud, occasionally stepping in a hole
+and falling his whole length in the mud. On the street where so much
+trouble was met by the teamsters, a lot of idlers stood on the sidewalk,
+and when a driver would fall and go nearly out of sight, they would,
+like a set of loafers, laugh at him and blackguard him with much noise,
+and as they were numerous they feared nothing.
+
+Suddenly a miner, who had lately arrived from the mountains, raised his
+room window in the second story of a house, put out one leg and then his
+body, as far as he could, and having nothing on but his night clothes,
+shouted to the noisy crowd below:--"Say can't you d----d farmers plow
+now?" At this he dodged back quickly into his window as if he expected
+something might be thrown at him. The rain continued, and the water rose
+gradually till it began to run slowly through the streets, and all the
+business stopped except gambling and drinking whisky, which were freely
+carried on in the saloons day and night.
+
+While here in Sacramento I was sufficiently prompted by curiosity to go
+around to the place on J street where the Legislature was in session. I
+stood sometime outside the enclosure listening to the members who were
+in earnest debate over a question concerning the size of mining claims.
+They wanted them uniform in size all over the state, but there was some
+opposition, and the debate on this occasion was between the members from
+the mining counties on one side and the "cow" counties on the other. The
+miners took the ground that the claims were of different richness in the
+different mining localities and that the miners themselves were the best
+judges of the proper size of claims, and were abundantly able to make
+their own laws as they had done under the present mining customs, and
+their laws had always been respected, making any further legislative
+action unnecessary.
+
+While this wrangle was going on. Capt. Hunt, of San Bernardino (our
+guide from Salt Lake in 1849), came along and stopped where I stood,
+shaking me heartily by the hand, inquiring where I was from, and when I
+told him I was from the mines he said he thought the cow county fellows
+were trying to make the miners some trouble. I told him the present
+mining regulations suited us very well, and after he had talked with me
+a little he went inside and whispered to some of the silent members that
+the miners wanted no change, for he had just consulted a miner to that
+effect. When occasion offered he called for a vote which resulted in the
+defeat of the cow counties and a postponement of the measure
+indefinitely.
+
+My next move was to try to find a dryer place so I took a boat for
+Benicia, then for Stockton, where I found a sea of mud, so that a man
+needed stilts or a boat to cross the street.
+
+Here in a livery stable I found my old Platte River boss, Chas. Dallas,
+for whom I drove in 1849, but he did not seem to know me and took no
+notice of me, but talked "horse" and horse-racing to the bystanders very
+loudly. I suppose that Dallas had made money and did not care for a poor
+ox driver, and on my part I did not care very much for his friendship,
+so I walked away and left him without a word.
+
+Every way I looked was a sea of black, sticky mud; dogs mired in the
+streets and died, and teams and animals had forsaken the usual route of
+travel. The gambling houses and saloons were crowded, gum boots in
+demand, and the only way to get out of town was by water. I took this
+way out, and on the same boat by which I came, going to San Francisco.
+This was high and dry enough to be above the highest floods of Yuba,
+Sacramento or San Joaquin, but all business except the saloons was dull.
+Fronting on Portsmouth Square was the Hall of Corruption. Inside was a
+magnificently furnished bar, more than one keeper and various gambling
+tables, most of them with soiled doves in attendance. The room was
+thronged with players and spectators, and coin and dust were plenty. The
+dealers drew off their cards carefully, and seemed to have the largest
+pile of coin on their side.
+
+I climbed Russian Hill and to take a look over the city. It seemed
+poorly built, but the portion that had been burned in July 1852, had
+been built up again. The business part was near the beach and north of
+Market street.
+
+I had never lived in a town and did not know its ways, so I strolled
+around alone, for without acquaintance I did not know where to go nor
+what to look for. I therefore thought I would see some other part of the
+country. I found that a schooner was about to sail for San Pedro, near
+Los Angeles. I took hold of a rope to help myself on board, when it gave
+way and I found myself floundering in the water. They helped me out and
+the Captain gave me a dry suit to put on, I was profoundly grateful for
+the favor, and found him a generous man.
+
+We sailed away and stopped at Monterey for 24 hours which gave me a good
+chance for a good look at the old Capitol houses, which were of adobe,
+and to find that this city was also liberally supplied with gambling,
+card and billiard tables. The majority of the people were Spanish and
+fond of gaming, and the general appearance of the place was old and
+without good improvements, though there were more two-story houses than
+in most places in California.
+
+Some houses were of stone, but more of adobe, and there seemed to be no
+fertile country round, and the hills about had small pines on them.
+
+Some of the sailors went out and gathered a large bag of mussels and
+clams, from which they made a liberal allowance of chowder for the
+table. After seven or eight days we arrived in San Pedro, and found the
+town to consist of one long adobe house. The beach was low and sandy,
+and we were wet somewhat in wading through a light surf to get on shore.
+We had on board a Mr. Baylis, who we afterward learned came down with
+Capt. Lackey on a big speculation which was to capture all the wild
+goats they could on Catalina Island, and take them to San Francisco for
+slaughtering.
+
+The goats were easily captured and taken on board the schooner, and
+thence to shore but many were drowned in the transit, and when driven to
+San Francisco the dead were scattered all along the route. Although wild
+they seemed to lack the vitality that tame goats possess. The
+speculation proved a disappointment to the projectors.
+
+At the adobe house, kept by a Spaniard we had breakfast, then shouldered
+our packs for the march of ten leagues to Los Angeles for there was no
+chance to ride. It was night before we reached the City of Angels, and
+here I staid a day to take a look at the first city I saw in California
+in March 1850.
+
+I inquired for my mining companion, W.M. Stockton who worked with
+Bennett and myself near Georgetown in 1850, and found he lived near the
+old mission of San Gabriel nine miles away, whither I walked and found
+him and family well and glad to see me. He had jumped an old pear
+orchard which was not claimed by the Mission Fathers, although it was
+only three-fourths of a mile away. The trees were all seedlings and very
+large, probably 50 or more years old. Some of the Mission buildings were
+falling down since they had been abandoned, and the Americans would go
+to these houses and remove the tile flooring from the porches and from
+the pillars that supported them. These tiles were of hard burned clay,
+in pieces about a foot square, and were very convenient to make fire
+places and pavements before the doors of their new houses. Out-side the
+enclosed orange and fig orchard at this place were some large olive and
+fig trees, apparently as old as the mission, being a foot or more in
+diameter and about 50 feet high. I had never seen olives, and when I saw
+these trees covered with plenty of fruit about the size of damson plums
+I took the liberty of tasting it and found it very disagreeable, and
+wondered of what use such fruit could be.
+
+Mr. Stockton fenced his orchard by setting posts and tying sycamore
+poles to them to keep the stock away, built an adobe house on the claim
+and called the property his. I went to work for him at once, pruning the
+trees, which improved their appearance, and then turned on a little
+stream of water which ran through the place, and on down to the mission.
+With this treatment the trees did well without cultivation.
+
+I bought one half the stock consisting of some Spanish cows, one yoke of
+oxen and some horses, worked enough to pay my board, watched the stock
+and still had plenty of time to ride around over the adjoining country.
+
+When the pears were ripe the Spanish men, women and children eagerly
+bought them at 25 cents per dozen and some Sundays the receipts for
+fruit sold would be as high as $100. That taken to town would bring from
+$5. to $8. per box, the boxes being a little larger than those in
+present use. An Indian woman, widow of a Mr. Reed, claimed a vineyard
+near the orchard, and laid claim to the whole property, so Stockton gave
+her $1000 for a quit claim deed.
+
+Near by was a small artificial lake made by a dam of cobble stones, laid
+in cement across a ravine, which was built perhaps 50 years before, and
+yet the tracks of a child who had walked across before the cement was
+dry, were plainly seen.
+
+Stockton and I visited Mr. Roland, an old settler who lived south of San
+Gabriel river, and staid all night with him, finding him very sociable
+and hospitable. All his work was done by Indians who lived near by, and
+had been there as long as he. He had a small vineyard, and raised corn,
+squashes, melons and all that are necessary for his table, having also a
+small mill near by for grinding corn and wheat without bolting. The
+Indians made his wine by tramping the grapes with their feet in a
+rawhide vat hung between four poles set in the ground. The workmen were
+paid off every Saturday night, and during Sunday he would generally sell
+them wine enough to get about all the money back again. This had been
+his practice for many years, and no doubt suited Mr. Roland as well as
+the red men.
+
+Roland was an old Rocky Mountain trapper who came to California long
+before gold was discovered, and during the evening the talk naturally
+ran to the subject of early days.
+
+Mr. Roland related that while his party were in camp in the upper
+Colorado they were visited by a small band of Indians who professed
+friendship and seated themselves around the fire. Suddenly they made an
+attack and each trapper had an Indian to contend with, except Mr. Roland
+who was left to be dispatched afterwards. But as he ran, a squaw among
+them followed him, and after a while overtook him and showed friendship.
+He had neither gun or knife and so concluded to put faith in the woman
+who safely guided him in a long tramp across the desert where they both
+came near starving, but finally reached Los Angeles Valley, when the
+brave squaw mingled with her own people and he lost sight of her
+forever.
+
+No white man could alone have traversed that desert waste and found food
+enough to last him half the journey.
+
+He gradually learned to speak Spanish, and was granted the piece of land
+he applied for, and where he then lived; married a Spanish girl, with
+whom he had a happy home and raised a large family, and grew rich, for
+they were both industrious and economical. The first wife died, and he
+was persuaded to marry a Texas widow, and now had to buy the first
+carriage he ever owned, and furnish a fine turn-out and driver for the
+lady, who wore much jewelry and fine clothes, and spent money freely.
+Roland was not a society man, his thoughts and habits were different
+from his wife, and he staid at home, better contented there.
+
+There were many other pioneers in the neighborhood, Dan Sexton, Col.
+Williams, of Chino ranch, Workman, B.D. Wilson, Abel Stearns, Temple,
+Wolfskill and many others, Scott and Granger were lawyers. Granger was
+the same man who read the preamble and resolutions that were to govern
+our big train as we were about to start from Utah Lake.
+
+Scott was quite a noted member of the bar, and when Gen. Winfield Scott
+ran for President, some wide awake politicians caused the uneducated
+Spaniards to vote for their favorite lawyer instead of the redoubtable
+general, and they did this with a good will for they thought the famous
+avocado was the best man, and thus the manipulators lost many votes to
+the real candidate. Scott was afterward retained by many of the
+Spaniards to present their claims for their land to the U.S. Government
+and was considered a very able man.
+
+Mr. Stockton related that when he left his family here to go to the
+mines he rented one half a house of Michael Blanco who had a Spanish
+wife and children, and these and his own were of course constant
+playmates. When he returned in the fall he found his children had
+learned to speak Spanish and nearly forgotten English, so that he had to
+coax them a great deal to get them to talk to him at all, and he could
+not understand a word they said.
+
+I now tried to learn the language myself. I had money to loan, and the
+borrowers were Spanish who gave good security and paid from 5 to 25 per
+cent interest per month, on short time. Mrs. Stockton assisted me very
+much as an interpreter.
+
+I bought young steers for $8. each and gradually added to my herd. I got
+along well until next spring when the beef eating population began to
+steal my fat cattle, and seemed determined I should get no richer. The
+country was over-stocked with desperate and lawless renegades in Los
+Angeles and from one to four dead men was about the number picked up in
+the streets each morning. They were of low class, and there was no
+investigation, simply a burial at public expense.
+
+The permanent Spanish population seemed honest and benevolent, but there
+were many bad ones from Chili, Sonora, Mexico, Texas, Utah and Europe,
+who seemed always on an errand of mischief a murder, thieving or
+robbery.
+
+Three or four suspicious looking men came on horseback and made their
+camp near the Mission under an oak tree, where they staid sometime. They
+always left someone in camp while the others went away every day on
+their horses, and acted so strangely that the report soon became current
+that they were stealing horses and running them off to some safe place
+in the mountains till a quantity could be accumulated to take to the
+mines to sell. On this information the Vigilance Committee arrested the
+man in camp and brought him to a private room, where he was tried by
+twelve men, who found him guilty of horse stealing, and sentenced to be
+hung at once, for horse stealing was a capital offence in those days.
+
+To carry out the sentence they procured a cart, put a box on it for a
+seat, and with a rope around his neck and seated on the box, the
+condemned man was dragged off by hand to an oak tree not far away,
+whither he was followed by all the men, women and children of the place,
+who where nearly all natives. While preparations were being made under
+the tree some one called out that men were riding rapidly from the
+direction of Los Angeles, and from the dust they raised seemed to be
+more than usually in haste. So it was proposed to wait till they came
+up. It was soon known that an Indian had been sent to Los Angeles to
+give news to the man's friends there, and they had come with all the
+speed of their horses to try to save his life. They talked and inquired
+around a little and then proposed the question whether to hang him or to
+turn him over to the lawful authorities for regular trial. This was put
+to a vote and it was decided to spare him now. So the rope was taken off
+his neck, and he was turned over to Mr. Mallard the Mission Justice of
+the Peace, much to the relief of the fellow who saw death staring him in
+the face.
+
+The Santa Anita ranch, now owned by E.J. Baldwin, was owned by Henry
+Dalton, an Englishman, who came with a stock of goods worth $75,000,
+years before, but now had only the ranch left. The Azuza, a short
+distance south was occupied by his brother.
+
+I became well acquainted with many of these old California natives, and
+found them honest in their dealings, good to the needy and in all my
+travels never found more willing hands to bestow upon relatives, friends
+or strangers ready relief than I saw among these simple natives. Their
+kindness to our party when we came starving on the desert in 1850, can
+never be praised enough, and as long as I shall live my best wishes
+shall go with them.
+
+I was one day riding with Vincent Duarte down toward Anaheim when he
+suddenly dismounted to kill a large tarantula by pelting him with
+stones. It was the first one I had seen, and seemed an over-grown
+spider. I asked him if the thing was harmful, and he replied with
+considerable warmth, "Mucho malo por Christianos" and I wondered if the
+insect knew saints from sinners.
+
+This spring we concluded to go to the Mormon settlement at San
+Bernardino and secure some American bulls to improve our stock, and
+starting late one day I rode as far as the Azuza Rancho where I staid
+all night with Mr. Dalton, reaching the holy city, a branch of Brigham
+Young's harem next day. Here I found a town of log houses in a circle,
+enclosing a plaza. There was a passage between the houses. I stopped at
+the principal hotel kept by a vigorous and enthusiastic Mormon woman,
+who delighted to preach the doctrine.
+
+Walking around on the outside of the fortifications I came across Capt.
+Hunt, the man who was hired in the fall of 1849 to bring the big train
+from Salt Lake to San Bernardino.
+
+I told him who I was, and what I wanted, and he seemed to know me,
+inviting me in the most friendly and social manner to take supper with
+him, which I did. He sat at the head of the table and introduced me to
+his three wives. The furnishing of the house was cheap and common, but
+the table was fairly provided for. He said he would help me to find the
+animals I wanted, and in the morning showed me two which he had, that
+were young and suitable, and a larger one which he said I could have if
+I could drive him.
+
+I soon found out that I had better move or sell my cattle, for with all
+my watching I could do they gradually disappeared, and hungry thieves
+who could live on beef alone, visited my little band of cattle too often
+and took what they wanted, and I could not detect them. I soon sold to
+four buyers from the north, L.D. Stevens, David Grant, Sam Craig and Mr.
+Wilson, and hired out with my two horses to help them drive the band
+north, at a salary of $100 per month.
+
+Disposing most of my money with Palmer, Cook & Co., I went to see my
+mine at Moore's Flat. There were two boats leaving at about the same
+time, one for Stockton, and one for Sacramento, the latter of which I
+took, and Rogers the other. Both landed at Benecia, and when we swung
+away from that wharf Rogers and I saluted each other with raised and
+swinging hats, shouted a good bye, and I have never seen him since.
+
+At Moore's Flat I found my mine well and profitably worked by Mr. Tyler
+and as his lease was not out I returned to San Jose, as I had learned
+from Rogers that Mr. A. Bennett was at Watsonville, and Mr. Arcane at
+Santa Cruz, and I desired to visit them. I rode back across the country
+and found Mr. Bennett and family at the point where the Salinas river
+enters Monterey Bay. They were all well, and were glad to see me for
+they did not know I was in California. Mrs. Bennett was greatly affected
+at our meeting and shed tears of joy as she shook hands.
+
+Bennett had a nice Whitehall boat and we had a genuine happy time
+hunting, fishing and gathering clams, and also in social visits among
+the neighbors and old acquaintances, among them one Jacob Rhodehouse of
+Wisconsin.
+
+While here I rode my horse around to Monterey and to Carmel Mission,
+where I staid two or three days, with Mr. Gourley, a brother of Mrs.
+William M. Stockton, who was here engaged in raising potatoes. I walked
+along the beach near some rocky islands near the shore, and on these
+rocks were more sea lions and seals than I supposed the whole ocean
+contained--the most wonderful show of sea life on the California coast.
+Returning I staid all night at the crossing of the Salinas with a
+colored family who gave me good accommodations for self and horse. I
+heard afterward that this family was attacked by robbers and all but one
+murdered.
+
+Mrs. Bennett's father D.J. Dilley lived near here also, and I had not
+seen him since the time in Wisconsin, when he hauled my canoe over to
+the river in 1849. One day while fishing on the beach we found the body
+of a man, which we carried above the tide and buried in the sand.
+
+I gave one of my horses to Geo. Bennett, and went over to Santa Cruz,
+where I found Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Arcane and son Charles in a comfortable
+home, well situated, and overjoyed to see me.
+
+He knew everyone in town, and as we went about he never missed to
+introduce me to every one we met, as the man who helped himself and
+family out of Death Valley, and saved their lives. Arcane was a very
+polite Frenchman and knew how to manage such things very gracefully, but
+with all his grace and heartiness it made me feel quite a little
+embarrassed to be made so much of publicly and among strangers. He took
+me in his buggy and we drove along the beach, and to the lime-kiln of
+Cowel & Jordan, also to the court house when court was in session.
+
+Upon the hill I met Judge Watson, the father of Watsonville, and a Mr.
+Graham, an old settler and land owner, and on this occasion he pulled a
+sheet of ancient, smoky looking paper from beneath his arm, pointed to a
+dozen or so of written lines in Spanish and then with a flourish of the
+precious document in Watson's face dared him to beat that, or get him
+off his land. I must say that never in my life was I better entertained
+than here.
+
+From Santa Cruz I crossed the mountain on a lonely and romantic trail to
+San Jose again, finding very few houses on the road. Here I went to work
+for R. G. Moody building a gristmill on the banks of the Coyote Creek,
+to be run by water from artesian wells. When the mill was done I went
+for my horse, and on my return I ran very unexpectedly upon Davenport
+Helms, to whom I had sold my little black mule in 1850. Our talk was
+short but he told me he had killed a man in Georgetown, and the sheriff
+was looking for him. He was now venturing to town for tobacco, and would
+hurry back to the hills again where he was herding cattle.
+
+He said he kept them off at one time by getting in a piece of chaparral
+and presenting his gun to them when they came near, they dare not
+advance on him. Then he laughed and said--"And all the time my gun was
+empty, for I did not have a d----d thing to put into it." "I tell you
+they don't catch old Davenport. Now don't you tell on me. Good-bye." I
+saw him no more after that.
+
+The town of San Jose was now more of a town than it was a few years
+before. The "Forty Thieves," and others, commenced building a city hall
+of brick on the top of old adobe walls, and this was the principal
+improvement, except the Moody mill near the Sutter house, one street
+north of Julian.
+
+After finishing work on the mill I drew my money from the bank in San
+Francisco and started for the mines on horseback. Near French Camp, on
+the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, many cattle were feeding on the
+plains, and among them, much to my surprise I found "Old Crump," the ox
+that brought Bennett's and Arcane's children safe through from Death
+Valley in February, 1850. He was now fat and sleek and as kind and
+gentle as when so poor upon the terrible journey. I got off my horse and
+went up to him, and patted my old friend. I was glad to find him so
+contented and happy, and I doubt not that he too was glad. I met a man
+near by and asked him about the ox, and he said that the owner would not
+sell him nor allow him to be worked, for he knew of the faithful part he
+performed in the world, and respected him for it.
+
+At Sacramento I deposited my money with Page, Bacon & Co., a branch of
+the St. Louis firm of the same name, considered the safest bank in the
+United States. Their bills were taken in payment of Government land.
+Some rascals had some counterfeit bills on their bank, and traded them
+off for gold with the Missourians who were going home, and the poor
+fellows found themselves poor on arrival.
+
+Going to my mine, where I left only a cabin or two, I found quite a
+village with two hotels and a post office.
+
+News soon came that the banks had closed their door, and Page and Bacon
+also, so I concluded that I was broke. The "Pikers" said Page and Bacon
+could not, nor would not fail, but news was against them. The boys now
+tried to persuade me to go to Sacramento, and try to get my money and if
+I succeeded, to bring up a good stock of goods and they would buy of me
+in preference to any one else. On this showing I went down, and finding
+my old friend Lyman Ross (well known in San Jose) who was keeping a
+fruit store. I told him my business and he took me to L.A. Booth, Carrol
+& Co., and I stated to him the facts about my money in the bank and the
+doors closed. I told him if he would assist me I would buy $2000 worth
+of his goods, and send them to Moore's Flat. I endorsed the certificate
+over to him, and in half an hour he came back with the coin. How he got
+it I never knew, but he did me a great favor, and we have been good
+friends ever since. I was no merchant, nor had I any mercantile
+education, so I took lessons from Mr. Booth, and allowed him to make out
+for me a bill of goods such as he well knew I needed. With these we
+loaded up two 6 mule teams, and started for the mountain.
+
+I had about $700 left besides paying for the goods, but I felt a very
+little troubled as to my prospect for success, for it was a new business
+to me. Mr. Booth in a business way was a true father to me, and the much
+needed points in trade which he gave me were stored away for the use I
+knew I would make of them. Of all those whom I bear in grateful
+remembrance none stand higher than this worthy man.
+
+I went first direct to Nevada City to take out a license that I might
+best protect myself against oppositions and from there I had a walk of
+18 miles over a rough mountain trail to my selected place of business.
+Climbing the great hill of the S. Yuba river I often tired and sat down
+to rest, and I used this time to study my bill of goods, and add the
+freight and profit to the cost, so as to be well posted, and able to
+answer all questions readily when I unloaded the stock. The new trade
+seemed quite a task to learn, but I felt that I was compelled to
+succeed, and I worked manfully at it.
+
+When I reached Moore's Flat I found that the boys had rented a store for
+me, and their welcome was very hearty when they found how lucky I had
+been in securing my money and starting out as their "grub supplier."
+
+Four of us now located some mining claims, and began a tunnel both to
+drain the ground, and to work through the bed-rock. This we named The
+Paradise, and we expected that three or four months would elapse before
+we made it pay, but there was in truth two years of solid rock-work
+before we got under the ground, but it paid well in the end.
+
+The largest nugget of gold ever found before this time was a quartz
+boulder from the Buckeye sluice, about 8 by 10 inches in size, and when
+cleaned up at the San Francisco mint the value was about $10,000.
+
+Two of my partners in the work, L.J. Hanchett, and Jas. Clark ran out of
+funds at the end of the first year, and I took as much of the expense as
+I could upon my own shoulders.
+
+About this time learning by a letter from her father that Mrs. Bennett
+was lying at the point of death at Mr. L.C. Bostic's in San Jose, I left
+H. Hanchett in charge of my business, and in four days I stood beside
+the bedside of my friend, endeared through the trials when death by
+thirst, starvation and the desert sands, stared us in the face with all
+its ghastliness.
+
+She reached out her arms and drew me down to her, and embraced me and
+said in a faint whisper--"God bless you:--you saved us all till now, and
+I hope you will always be happy and live long." She would have said
+more, but her voice was so weak she could not be heard. She was very low
+with consumption, and easily exhausted. I sat with her much of the time
+at her request and though for her sake I would have kept back the tears
+I could not always do it. Two doctors came, one of them Dr. Spencer, and
+as I sat with my face partly turned away I over heard Dr. S. say to his
+assistant--"He is a manly man."
+
+This presence and the circumstances brought back the trying Death Valley
+struggles, when this woman and her companions, and the poor children, so
+nearly starved they could not stand alone, were only prevented from
+sitting down to die in sheer despair by the encouraging words of Rogers
+and myself who had passed over the road, and used every way to sustain
+their courage.
+
+She died the following day; with Mr. Bennett, I followed her remains to
+Oak Hill cemetery, where she was buried near the foot of the hill, and a
+board marked in large letters, "S.B." (Sarah Bennett) placed to mark the
+mound. The grave cannot now be found, and no records being then kept it
+is probably lost.
+
+I went home with Mr. Bennett to his home near Watsonville, and spent
+several days, meeting several of our old Death Valley party, and Mr.
+D.J. Dilley, Mrs. Bennett's father. Mrs. Bennett left surviving her a
+young babe.
+
+I returned to Moore's Flat, and soon sold out my store, taking up the
+business of purchasing gold dust direct from the miners, which I
+followed for about two years, and in the fall of 1859 sold out the
+business to Marks & Powers. I looked about through Napa and Sonoma
+Counties, and finally came to San Jose, where I purchased the farm I now
+own, near Hillsdale, of Bodley & McCabe, for which I paid $4,000.
+
+In the fall of the same year my old friend W.M. Stockton of Los Angeles
+Co. persuaded me to come down and pay him a visit. His wife had died and
+he felt very lonely. I had been there but a few days when my old friend
+A. Bennett and his children also came to Stockton's. The children had
+grown so much I hardly knew them, but I was glad indeed to meet them.
+
+I found Mr. Bennett to be a poor man. He had been persuaded to go to
+Utah, being told that a fortune awaited his coming there, or could be
+accumulated in a short time. He gave away the little babe left by his
+wife to Mrs. Scott, of Scott's Valley, in Santa Cruz Co. and sold his
+farm near the mouth of the Salinas River. With what money he had
+accumulated he loaded two 4 mule teams with dry goods, put his four
+children into his wagon, and went to Cedar City, Utah.
+
+He gave a thrilling account of passing through Mountain Meadows, where
+he saw, here and there little groups of skeletons of the unhappy victims
+of the great massacre at that place of men, women and children, by J.D.
+Lee, and his Mormon followers and told me the terrible story, which I
+here omit.
+
+Smarting under the terrible taxation of one tenth of everything, Bennett
+grew poorer and poorer and at last resolved that he must go away, but
+his wife could not leave her own people, and so he set off with his
+children, somewhat afraid he might be shot down, but he reached Los
+Angeles Co. in safety. One daughter married a lawyer in San Bernardino,
+and died a few years afterwards. The other married a Capt. Johnson of
+Wilmington, and Bennett and two sons went to Idaho.
+
+A few years ago in passing from San Jose to the Coast, my wife and I
+spent Sunday at Scott's Valley. Mrs. Scott invited us to visit them in
+the evening at the house when all would be at home. Mrs. Scott was the
+lady to whom Bennett gave his girl baby when he started away for Utah,
+and I felt very anxious to see her now she was grown up. Mrs. Scott
+introduced us, and I sat and looked at the little woman quite a long
+time, but could not see that she resembled either father or mother. My
+mind ran back over the terrible road we came and I pictured to myself
+the woman as she then appeared.
+
+I studied over our early trials, crossing the plains over the deserts
+and our trying scenes out of Death Valley and turned all over in my mind
+for some time and finally all came to me like a flash and I could
+clearly see that the little lady was a true picture of her mother; I now
+began to ask questions about her folks, she said her father lived near
+Belmont, Nevada, and her grand-father died at the Monte, Los Angeles
+county Cal.. Our visit now became very interesting and we kept a late
+hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Since writing the connected story which has thus far appeared, I turn
+back to give some incidents of life in the mines, and some description
+of those pioneer gold days.
+
+I have spoken of Moore's Flat, Orleans Flat and Woolsey's Flat, all
+similarly situated on different points of the mountain, on the north
+side of the ridge between the South and Middle Yuba River, and all at
+about the same altitude. A very deep cañon lies between each of them,
+but a good mountain road was built around the head of each cañon,
+connecting the towns. When the snow got to be three or four feet deep
+the roads must be broken out and communication opened, and the boys used
+to turn out _en masse_ and each one would take his turn in leading the
+army of road breakers. When the leader got tired out some one would take
+his place, for it was terrible hard work to wade through snow up to
+one's hips, and the progress very slow. But the boys went at it as if
+they were going to a picnic, and a sort of picnic it was when they
+reached the next town, for whisky was free and grub plenty to such a
+party, and jollity and fun the uppermost thoughts. On one such occasion
+when the crowd came through Orleans Flat to Moore's Flat, Sid Hunt, the
+butcher, was in the lead as they came in sight of the latter place, and
+both he and his followers talked pretty loud and rough to the Moore's
+Flat fellows calling them "lazy pups" for not getting their road clear.
+Hunt's helper was a big stout, loud talking young man named Williams,
+and he shouted to the leader--"Sid Hunt, toot your horn if you don't
+sell a clam." This seemed to put both sides in good humor, and the
+Orleans fellows joined in a plenty to eat and drink, rested and went
+home. Next day, both camps joined forces and broke the road over to
+Woolsey's Flat, and the third day crowded on toward Nevada City, and
+when out and across Bloody Run, a stream called thus because some dead
+men had been found at the head of the stream by the early settlers, and
+it was suspected the guilty murderers lived not far off, they turned
+down into Humbug, a town now called Bloomfield, and as they went down
+the snow was not so deep. They soon met Sam Henry, the express man,
+working through with letters and papers, and all turned home again.
+
+A young doctor came to Moore's Flat and soon became quite popular, and
+after a little while purchased a small drug store at Orleans Flat. In
+this town there lived a man and his family and among them a little curly
+headed girl perhaps one or two years old. She was sick and died and
+buried while the ground was covered thick with snow. A little time
+after, it was discovered that the grave had been disturbed, and on
+examination no body was found in the grave.
+
+Then it was a searching party was organized, and threats of vengeance
+made against the grave robber if he should be caught. No tracks were
+found leading out of town so they began to look about inside, and there
+began to be some talk about this Dr. Kittridge as the culprit. He was
+the very man, and he went to his drug store and told his clerk to get a
+saddle horse and take the dead child's body in a sack to his cabin at
+Moore's Flat, and conceal it in a back room. The clerk obeyed, and with
+the little corpse before him on the horse started from the back door and
+rode furiously to Moore's Flat, and concealed the body as he had been
+directed.
+
+Some noticed that he had ridden unusually fast, and having a suspicion
+that all was not right, told their belief to the Orleans Flat people,
+who visited the Doctor at his store and accused him of the crime, and
+talked about hanging him on the spot without a trial. At this the Doctor
+began to be greatly frightened and begged piteously for them to spare
+his life, confessing to the deed, but pleading in extenuation that it
+was for the purpose of confirming a question in his profession, and
+wholly in the interest of science that he did it, and really to spare
+the feelings of the parents that he did it secretly. He argued that no
+real harm had been done, and some of his friends sided with him in this
+view. But the controversy grew warmer, and the house filled up with
+people. Some were bloodthirsty and needed no urging to proceed to buy a
+rope and use it. Others argued, and finally the Doctor said that the
+body had not been dissected, and if they would allow him, and appoint a
+committee to go with him, he would produce the body, and they could
+decently bury it again and there it might remain forever. This he
+promised to do, and all agreed to it, and he kept his word, thus ending
+the matter satisfactorily and the Doctor was released. But the feeling
+never died out. The Doctor's friends deserted him, and no one seemed to
+like to converse with him. At the saloon he would sit like a perfect
+stranger, no one noticing him, and he soon left for new fields.
+
+The first tunnel run at Moore's Flat was called the Paradise, and had to
+be started low on the side of the mountain in order to drain the ground,
+and had to be blasted through the bed rock for about 200 feet.
+
+Four of us secured ground enough by purchase so we could afford to
+undertake this expensive job and we worked on it day and night. Jerry
+Clark and Len Redfield worked the day shifts, and Sam King and Wm. Quirk
+the night shift. When the tunnel was completed about 100 feet, the night
+shift had driven forward the top of the tunnel as a heading, leaving the
+bottom, which was about a foot thick, or more, to be taken out by the
+day shift. They drilled a hole about two feet horizontally to blast out
+this bench. King would sit and hold the drill between his feet, while
+Quirk would strike with a heavy sledge. When the hole was loaded they
+tramped down the charge very hard so as to be sure it would not blow
+out, but lift the whole bench. One day when they were loading a hole,
+King told Quirk to come down pretty heavy on the tamping, so as to make
+all sure, and after a few blows given as directed, there was an
+explosion, and Quirk was forced some distance out of the tunnel, his
+eyes nearly put out with dirt blown into them, and his face and body cut
+with flying pieces of rock. He was at first completely stunned, but
+after awhile recovered so as to crawl out, and was slowly making his way
+up the hill on hands and knees when he was discovered and helped to his
+cabin where his wounds were washed and dressed.
+
+Then a party with lighted candles entered the tunnel to learn the fate
+of King, and they found him lying on the mass of rock the blast had
+lifted, dead. On a piece of board they bore the body to his cabin. There
+was hardly a whole bone remaining. A cut diagonally across his face,
+made by a sharp stone, had nearly cut his head in two. He had been
+thrown so violently against the roof of the tunnel, about 6 feet high,
+that he was completely mashed.
+
+He had a wife in Mass. and as I had often heard him talk of her, and of
+sending her money, I bought a $100 check and sent it in the same letter
+which bore the melancholy news. King had a claim at Chip's Flat which he
+believed would be very rich in time, so I kept his interest up in it
+till it amounted to $500 and then abandoned the claim and pocketed the
+loss.
+
+We made a pine box, and putting his body in it, laid it away with
+respect. I had often heard him say that if he suffered an accident, he
+wished to be killed outright and not be left a cripple, and his wish
+came true.
+
+After this accident the blacksmith working for the Paradise Co., was
+making some repairs about the surface of the air shaft, and among his
+tools was a bar of steel an inch square, and 8 or 10 feet long, which
+was thrown across the shaft, and while working at the whim wheel he
+slipped and struck this bar which fell to the bottom of the shaft, 100
+feet deep and the blacksmith followed. When the other workmen went down
+to his assistance they found that the bar of steel had stuck upright in
+the bottom of the shaft, and when the man came down it pierced his body
+from hip to neck, killing him instantly. He was a young man, and I have
+forgotten his name.
+
+Those who came to California these later years will not many of them see
+the old apparatus and appliances which were used in saving the gold in
+those primitive days. Among them was the old "Rocker." This had a bottom
+about 5 feet long and 16 inches wide, with the sides about 8 inches high
+for half the length, and then sloped off to two inches at the end. There
+was a bar about an inch high across the end to serve as a riffle, and on
+the higher end of this box is a stationary box 14 inches square, with
+sides 4 inches high and having a sheet iron bottom perforated with half
+inch holes. On the bottom of the box are fastened two rockers like those
+on the baby cradle, and the whole had a piece of board or other solid
+foundation to stand on, the whole being set at an angle to allow the
+gravel to work off at the lower end with the water. A cleat was fastened
+across the bottom to catch the gold, and this was frequently examined to
+see how the work was paying, and taking out such coarse pieces as could
+be readily seen. To work the rocker a pan of dirt would be placed in the
+square screen box, and then with one hand the miner would rock the
+cradle while he poured water with the other from a dipper to wash the
+earth. After he had poured on enough water and shaken the box
+sufficiently to pass all the small stuff through he would stir over what
+remained in the screen box, examining carefully for a nugget too large
+to pass through the half inch holes. If the miner found that the dirt
+did not pay he took his rocker on his back and went on in search of a
+better claim.
+
+Another way to work the dirt was to get a small head of water running in
+a ditch, and then run the water and gravel through a series of boxes a
+foot square and twelve feet long, using from one to ten boxes as
+circumstances seemed to indicate. At the lower end of these boxes was
+placed the "Long Tom" which was about two feet wide at the lower end,
+and having sides six inches high at the same point. The side pieces
+extend out about 3 feet longer than the wooden bottom, and are turned up
+to a point, some like a sled runner, and this turned up part has a
+bottom of sheet iron punched full of holes, the size of the sheet iron
+being about 3 feet by 16 inches.
+
+The miners shovel dirt into the upper end of the boxes slowly, and
+regulate the water so that it dissolves the lumps and chunks very
+thoroughly before it reaches the long tom where a man stands and stirs
+the gravel over, and if nothing yellow is seen throws the washed gravel
+away, and lets the rest go through the screen. Immediately below this
+screen was placed what was called a "riffle box," 2 by 4 feet in size
+with bars 4 inches high across the bottom and sides, and this box is set
+at the proper angle. Now when the water comes through the screen it
+falls perpendicularly in this box with force enough to keep the contents
+continually in motion, and as the gold is much heavier than any other
+mineral likely to be found in the dirt, it settles to the bottom, and
+all the lighter stuff is carried away by the water. The gold would be
+found behind the bars in the riffle box.
+
+These methods of working were very crude, and we gradually became aware
+that the finest dust was not saved, and many improvements were brought
+into use. In my own mine the tailings that we let go down the mountain
+side would lodge in large piles in different places, and after lying a
+year, more gold could be washed out of it than was first obtained, and
+some of it coarser, so that it was plainly seen that a better way of
+working would be more profitable. There was plenty of ground called poor
+ground that had much gold in it but could not be profitably worked with
+the rocker and long tom. The bed rock was nearly level and as the land
+had a gradual rise, the banks kept getting higher and higher as they dug
+farther in. Now it was really good ground only down close to the bed
+rock, but all the dirt had some gold in it, and if a way could be
+invented to work it fast enough, such ground would pay. So the plan of
+hydraulic mining was experimented upon.
+
+The water was brought in a ditch or flume to the top of a high bank, and
+then terminated in a tight box. To this box was attached a large hose
+made by hand out of canvas, and a pipe and nozzle attached to the lower
+end of the hose. Now as the bank was often 100 feet or more high the
+water at this head, when directed through the nozzle against the bank,
+fairly melted it away into liquid mud. Imagine us located a mile above
+the river on the side of a mountain. We dug at first sluices in the rock
+to carry off the mud and water, and after it had flowed in these a
+little way a sluice box was put in to pass it through. These were made
+on a slope of one in twelve, and the bottom paved with blocks, 3 inches
+thick, so laid as to make a cavity or pocket at the corner of the
+blocks. After passing the first sluice box the water and gravel would be
+run in a bed rock sluice again, and then into another sluice box and so
+on for a mile, passing through several sluice boxes on the way.
+Quicksilver was placed in the upper sluice boxes, and when the particles
+of gold were polished up by tumbling about in the gravel, they combined
+with the quicksilver making an amalgam.
+
+The most gold would be left in the first sluice boxes but some would go
+on down to the very last, where the water and dirt was run off into the
+river. They cleaned up the first sluices every week, a little farther
+down every month, while the lower ones would only be cleaned up at the
+end of the season.
+
+In cleaning up, the blocks would be taken out of the boxes, and every
+little crevice or pocket in the whole length of the sluice cleaned out,
+from the bottom to the top, using little hooks and iron spoons made for
+the purpose.
+
+The amalgam thus collected was heated in a retort which expelled the
+quicksilver in vapor, which was condensed and used again.
+
+When they first tried hydraulic work a tinsmith made a nozzle out of
+sheet iron, but when put in practice, instead of throwing a solid
+stream, it scattered like an shotgun, and up at Moore's Flat they called
+the claims where they used it the "shotgun" claims.
+
+From that time great improvements were made in hydraulic apparatus until
+the work done by them was really wonderful.
+
+In 1850 there lived at Orleans Flat and Moore's Flat, in Nevada County a
+few young, energetic and very stirring pioneers in the persons of lads
+from 10 to 15 years of age, always on the search for a few dimes to
+spend, or add to an already hoarded store, and the mountain air, with
+the wild surroundings, seemed to inspire them always with lively vigor,
+and especially when there was a prospect of a two-bit piece not far
+ahead.
+
+In winter when the deep snow cut off all communication with the valley,
+our busy tinner ran short of solder, and seeing a limited supply in the
+tin cans that lay thick about, he engaged the boys to gather in a supply
+and showed them how they could be melted down to secure the solder with
+which they had been fastened, and thus provide for his immediate wants.
+So the boys ransacked every spot where they had been thrown, under the
+saloon and houses, and in old dump holes everywhere, till they had
+gathered a pretty large pile which they fired as he had told them, and
+then panned out the ashes to secure the drops of metal which had melted
+down and cooled in small drops and bits below. This was re-melted and
+cast into a mould made in a pine block, and the solder made into regular
+form. About one-third was made up thus in good and honest shape.
+
+But the boys soon developed a shrewdness that if more fully expanded
+might make them millionaires, but in the present small way they hoped to
+put to account in getting a few extra dimes. They put a big chunk of
+iron in the mould and poured in the melted solder which enclosed it
+completely, so that when they presented the bright silvery bar to the
+old tinker he paid the price agreed upon and they divided the money
+between them, and then, in a secure place, they laughed till their sides
+ached at the good joke on the tinman.
+
+In due time the man found out the iron core in his bar of solder, and
+thought the joke such a good one that he told of it in the saloon, and
+had to spend at least $5 in drinks to ease off the laugh they had on him
+as the victim of the young California pioneers. And these young
+fellows--some have paddled their own canoe successfully into quiet
+waters and are now in the fullness of life, happy in their possessions,
+while some have been swamped on the great rushing stream of business,
+and dwell in memory on the happy times gone by.
+
+The older pioneers in these mining towns were, in many respects a
+peculiar class of men. Most of them were sober and industrious, fearless
+and venturesome, jolly and happy when good luck came to them, and in
+misfortune stood up with brave, strong, manly hearts, without a tear or
+murmur. They let the world roll merrily by, were ever ready with joke,
+mirth and fun to make their surroundings cheerful.
+
+Fortunes came and went; they made money easily, and spent it just as
+freely, and in their generosity and kindly charity the old
+expression--"He has a heart like an ox" fitted well the character of
+most of them.
+
+When luck turned against them they worked the harder, for the next turn
+might fill their big pockets with a fortune, and then the dream of
+capturing a wife and building up a home could be realized, and they
+would move out into the world on a wave of happiness and plenty. This
+kind of talk was freely carried on around the camp fire in the long
+evenings, and who knows how many of these royal good fellows realized
+those bright hopes and glorious anticipations? Who knows?
+
+The names come back in memory of some of them, and others have been
+forgotten. I recall Washington Work, H. J. Kingman, A. J. Henderson, L.
+J. Hanchett, Jack Hays, Seth Bishop, Burr Blakeslee, Jim Tyler, who was
+the loudest laugher in the town, and as he lived at the Clifton House he
+was called "The Clifton House Calf." These and many others might be
+mentioned as typical good fellows of the mining days. The biggest kind
+of practical joke would be settled amicably at the saloon after the
+usual style.
+
+One day Jack Hays bought a pair of new boots, set them down in the store
+and went to turn off the miners supply of water. When he returned he
+found his boots well filled with refuse crackers and water. This he
+discovered when he took them up to go to dinner, and as he poured out
+the contents at the door, a half dozen boys across the street raised a
+big laugh at him, and hooted at his discomfiture. Jack scowled an awful
+scowl, and if he called them "pukes" with a few swear words added, it
+was a mild way of pouring out his anger. But after dinner the boys
+surrounded him and fairly laughed him into a good humor, so that he set
+up drinks for the crowd.
+
+Foot races were a great Sunday sport, and dog fights were not uncommon.
+One dog in our camp was champion of the ridge, and though other camps
+brought in their pet canines to eat him up, he was always the top dog at
+the end of the scrimmage, and he had a winning grip on the fore foot of
+his antagonist.
+
+A big "husky" who answered to the name of Cherokee Bob came our way and
+stopped awhile. He announced himself a foot racer, and a contest was
+soon arranged with Soda Bill of Nevada City, and each went into a course
+of training at his own camp. Bob found some way to get the best time
+that Bill could make, and comparing it with his own, said he could beat
+in that race. So when it came off our boys gathered up their money, and
+loaded down the stage, inside and out, departing with swinging hats and
+flying colors, and screaming in wild delight at the sure prospect of
+doubling their dust. In a few days they all came back after the style of
+half drowned roosters.
+
+Bob had 'thrown' the race and skipped with his money before they could
+catch him. Had he been found he would have been urgently hoisted to the
+first projecting limb, but he was never seen again. The boys were sad
+and silent for a day or two, but a look of cheerful resignation soon
+came upon their faces as they handled pick and shovel, and the world
+rolled on as before.
+
+One fall we had a county election, and among the candidates for office
+was our townsman, H.M. Moore, from whom Moore's Flat secured its name.
+He was the Democratic nominee for County Judge, and on the other side
+was David Belden, he whom Santa Clara County felt proud to honor as its
+Superior Judge, and when death claimed him, never was man more sincerely
+mourned by every citizen.
+
+The votes were counted, and Belden was one ahead. Moore claimed another
+count, and this time a mistake was discovered in the former count, but
+unfortunately it gave Belden a larger majority than before, and his
+adversary was forced to abandon the political fight.
+
+In the fifties I traveled from the North Yuba River to San Bernardino on
+different roads, and made many acquaintances and friends. I can truly
+say that I found many of these early comers who were the most noble men
+and women of the earth. They were brave else they had never taken the
+journey through unknown deserts, and through lands where wild Indians
+had their homes. They were just and true to friends, and to real
+enemies, terribly bitter and uncompromising. Money was borrowed and
+loaned without a note or written obligation, and there was no mention
+made of statute laws as a rule of action. When a real murderer or
+horsethief was caught no lawyers were needed nor employed, but if the
+community was satisfied as to the guilt and identity of the prisoner,
+the punishment was speedily meted out, and the nearest tree was soon
+ornamented with his swinging carcass.
+
+Many of these worthy men broke the trail on the rough way that led to
+the Pacific Coast, drove away all dangers, and made it safer for those
+who dared not at first risk life and fortune in the journey, but,
+encouraged by the success of the earliest pioneers, ventured later on
+the eventful trip to the new gold fields. I cannot praise these noble
+men too much; they deserve all I can say, and much more, too; and if a
+word I can say shall teach our new citizens to regard with reverent
+respect the early pioneers who laid the foundations of the glory,
+prosperity and beauty of the California of to-day, I shall have done all
+I hope to, and the historian of another half century may do them
+justice, and give to them their full need of praise.
+
+As long as I have lived in California I have never carried a weapon of
+defense, and never could see much danger. I tried to follow the right
+trail so as to shun bad men, and never found much difficulty in doing
+so. We hear much of the Vigilance Committee of early days. It was an
+actual necessity of former times. The gold fields not only attracted the
+good and brave, but also the worst and most lawless desperadoes of the
+world at large. England's banished convicts came here from the penal
+colonies of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. They had wonderful ideas of
+freedom. In their own land the stern laws and numerous constabulary had
+not been able to keep them from crime. A colony of criminals did not
+improve in moral tone, and when the most reckless and daring of all
+these were turned loose in a country like California, where the
+machinery of laws and officers to execute them was not yet in order,
+these lawless "Sidney Ducks," as they were called, felt free to rob and
+murder, and human life or blood was not allowed to stand between them
+and their desires. Others of the same general stripe came from Mexico
+and Chili, and Texas and Western Missouri furnished another class almost
+as bad.
+
+The Vigilance Committee of San Francisco was composed of the best men in
+the world. They endured all that was heaped upon them by these lawless
+men, and the law of self protection forced them to organize for the
+swift apprehension and punishment of crime, and the preservation of
+their property and lives. No one was punished unjustly, but there was no
+delay, and the evil-doer met his fate swiftly and surely. Justice was
+strict, and the circumstances were generally unfavorable to thoughts of
+mercy. I was in San Francisco the day after Casey and Cory were hung by
+the Vigilance Committee. Things looked quite military. Fort Gunny-bags
+seemed well protected, and no innocent man in any danger. I was then a
+customer of G.W. Badger and Lindenberger, clothiers, and was present one
+day in their store when some of the clerks came in from general duty,
+and their comrades shouldered the same guns and took their places on
+guard. The Committee was so truly vigilant that these fire-bugs, robbers
+and cut-throats had to hide for safety.
+
+Those who came early to this coast were, mostly, brave, venturesome,
+enduring fellows, who felt they could outlive any hardship and overcome
+all difficulties; they were of no ordinary type of character or habits.
+They thought they saw success before them, and were determined to win it
+at almost any cost. They had pictured in their minds the size of the
+"pile" that would satisfy them, and brought their buckskin bags with
+them, in various sizes, to hold the snug sum they hoped to win in the
+wonderful gold fields of the then unknown California.
+
+These California pioneers were restless fellows, but those who came by
+the overland trail were not without education and refinement; they were,
+indeed, many of them, the very cream of Americans. The new scenes and
+associations, the escape from the influence of home and friends, of wife
+and children, led some off the dim track, and their restlessness could
+not well be put down. Reasonable men could not expect all persons under
+these circumstances to be models of virtue. Then the Missouri River
+seemed to be the western boundary of all civilization, and as these gold
+hunters launched out on the almost trackless prairies that lay westward
+of that mighty stream, many considered themselves as entering a country
+of peculiar freedom, and it was often said that "Law and morality never
+crossed the Missouri River." Passing this great stream was like the
+crossing of the Rubicon in earlier history, a step that could not be
+retraced, a launching to victory or death. Under this state of feeling
+many showed the cloven foot, and tried to make trouble, but in any
+emergency good and honest men seemed always in the majority, and those
+who had thoughts or desires of evil were compelled to submit to
+honorable and just conclusions.
+
+There were some strange developments of character among these travelers.
+Some who had in long attendance at school and church, listened all their
+lives to teachings of morality and justice, and at home seemed to be
+fairly wedded to ideas of even rights between man and man, seemed to
+experience a change of character as they neared the Pacific Coast.
+Amiable dispositions became soured, moral ideas sadly blunted, and their
+whole make-up seemed changed, while others who at home seemed to be of
+rougher mould, developed principles of justice and humanity, affection
+almost unbounded, and were true men in every trial and in all places. A
+majority of all were thus fair-minded and true.
+
+Men from every state from New Hampshire to Texas gathered on the banks
+of the Missouri to set out together across the plains. These men reared
+in different climates, amid different ways and customs, taught by
+different teachers in schools of religion and politics, made up a
+strange mass when thus thrown together; but the good and true came to
+the surface, and the turbulent and bad were always in a hopeless
+minority. Laws seemed to grow out of the very circumstances, and though
+not in print, flagrant violations would be surely punished.
+
+Some left civilization with all the luxuries money could buy--fine,
+well-equipped trains of their own, and riding a fat and prancing steed,
+which they guided with gloved hands, and seemed to think that water and
+grass and pleasant camping places would always be found wherever they
+wished to stop for rest, and that the great El Dorado would be a grand
+pleasure excursion, ending in a pile of gold large enough to fill their
+big leather purse. But the sleek, fat horse grew poor; the gloves with
+embroidered gauntlet wrists were cast aside; the trains grew small, and
+the luxuries vanished, and perhaps the plucky owner made the last few
+hundred miles on foot, with blistered soles and scanty pack, almost
+alone. Many of these gay trains never reached California, and many a
+pioneer who started with high hopes died upon the way, some rudely
+buried, some left where they fell upon the sands or rocks.
+
+Those who got through found a splendid climate and promising prospects
+before them of filling empty stomachs and empty pockets, and were soon
+searching eagerly for yellow treasure. When fortunate they recovered
+rapidly their exhausted bodies to health and strength, and gained new
+energy as they saw prosperity.
+
+Prospectors wandered through the mountains in search of new and suitable
+gold diggings, and when they came to a miner's cabin the door was always
+open, and whether the owner was present or absent they could go in, and
+if hungry, help themselves to anything they found in shape of food, and
+go away again without fear of offense, for under such circumstances the
+unwritten law said that grub was free.
+
+By the same unwritten law, stealing and robbery, as well as murder, were
+capital offences, and lawless characters were put down. Favors were
+freely granted, and written obligations were never asked or given, and
+business was governed by the rules of strictest honor. The great
+majority of these pioneers were the bone and sinew of the nation, and
+possessed a fair share of the brains. In a personal experience with them
+extending from early days to the present time I have found them always
+just and honorable, and I regret that it is not within my ability to
+give the praise they deserve. When a stranger and hungry I was never
+turned away without food, and my entertainment was free, and given
+without thought of compensation or reward.
+
+In the chambers of my mind are stored up the most pleasant recollections
+of these noble men whose good deeds in days gone by have earned for them
+the right to a crown of glory of greatest splendor.
+
+These noble souls who came here 40 years ago are fast passing away
+across the Mystic River, and those who trod on foot the hot and dusty
+trail are giving way to those who come in swiftly rolling palace cars,
+and who hardly seem to give a thought to the difference between then and
+now. Those who came early cleared the way and started the great stream
+of gold that has made America one of the richest nations of the world.
+
+I have a suggestion to make to the descendants of these noble pioneers,
+that to perpetuate the memory of their fathers, and do reverence to
+their good and noble deeds in the early history of this grand State,
+there should be erected upon the highest mountain top a memorial
+building wherein may be inscribed the names and histories of the brave
+pioneers, so they may never be blotted out.
+
+THE JAYHAWKERS.
+
+The most perfect organization of the pioneers who participated more or
+less in the scenes depicted in this volume, is that of the Jayhawkers,
+and, strange to say, this organization is in the East, and has its
+annual meetings there, although the living members are about equally
+divided between the East and the Pacific Coast. As related elsewhere,
+February 4th is the day of the annual meeting, for on that day they
+reached the Santa Clara Valley.
+
+It is greatly regretted that a more direct and complete account of the
+Death Valley experience of the Jayhawkers could not have been obtained
+for this work. To be sure it was from the lips of a living witness told
+in many conversations, but no doubt many striking incidents were left
+out. It is, however, a settled thing that these, and other individuals
+with whom he was immediately connected, were more intimately connected
+with the horrors of the sunken valley which was given its name by them,
+than were any other persons who ever crossed that desert region.
+
+It will be considered that this was the most favorable time of year
+possible, and that during the spring or summer not one would have lived
+to tell the tale.
+
+The Author, to his best, has done his duty to all, and concludes with
+the hope that this mite may authenticate one of the saddest chapters in
+the history of the Golden State.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+This story is not meant to be sensational, but a plain, unvarnished tale
+of truth--some parts hard and very sad. It is a narrative of my personal
+experience, and being in no sense a literary man or making any pretense
+as a writer, I hope the errors may be overlooked, for it has been to me
+a difficult story to tell, arousing as it did sad recollections of the
+past. I have told it in the plainest, briefest way, with nothing
+exaggerated or overdone. Those who traveled over the same or similar
+routes are capable of passing a just opinion of the story.
+
+Looking back over more than 40 years, I was then a great lover of
+liberty, as well as health and happiness, and I possessed a great desire
+to see a new country never yet trod by civilized man, so that I easily
+caught the gold fever of 1849, and naught but a trip to that land of
+fabled wealth could cure me.
+
+Geography has wonderfully changed since then. Where Omaha now stands
+there was not a house in 1849. Six hundred miles of treeless prairie
+without a house brought us to the adobe dwellings at Fort Laramie, and
+400, more or less, were the long miles to Mormondom, still more than 700
+miles from the Pacific Coast. Passing over this wilderness was like
+going to sea without a compass.
+
+Hence it will be seen that when we crossed a stream that was said to
+flow to the Pacific Ocean, myself and comrades were ready to adopt
+floating down its current as an easier road than the heated trail, and
+for three weeks, over rocks and rapids, we floated and tumbled down the
+deep cañon of Green River till we emerged into an open plain and were
+compelled to come on shore by the Indians there encamped. We had
+believed the Indians to be a war-like and cruel people, but when we made
+them understand where we wanted to go, they warned us of the great
+impassable Colorado Cañon only two days ahead of us, and pointed out the
+road to "Mormonie" with their advice to take it. This was Chief Walker,
+a good, well meaning red man, and to him we owed our lives.
+
+Out of this trouble we were once again on the safe road from Salt Lake
+to Los Angeles, and again made error in taking a cutoff route, and
+striking across a trackless country because it seemed to promise a
+shorter distance, and where thirteen of our party lie unburied on the
+sands of the terribly dry valley. Those who lived were saved by the
+little puddles of rain water that had fallen from the small rain clouds
+that had been forced over the great Sierra Nevada Mountains in one of
+the wettest winters ever known. In an ordinary year we should have all
+died of thirst, so that we were lucky in our misfortune.
+
+When we came out to the fertile coast near Los Angeles, we found good
+friends in the native Californians who, like good Samaritans, gave us
+food and took us in, poor, nearly starved creatures that we were,
+without money or property from which they could expect to be rewarded.
+Their deeds stand out whiter in our memories than all the rest,
+notwithstanding their skins were dark. It seems to me such people do not
+live in this age of the world which we are pleased to call advanced. I
+was much with these old Californians, and found them honest and
+truthful, willing to divide the last bit of food with a needy stranger
+or a friend. Their good deeds have never been praised enough, and I feel
+it in my heart to do them ample justice while I live.
+
+The work that was laid out for me to do, to tell when and where I went,
+is done. Perhaps in days to come it may be of even more interest than
+now, and I shall be glad I have turned over the scenes in my memory and
+recorded them, and on some rolling stone you may inscribe the name of
+WILLIAM LEWIS MANLEY, born near St. Albans, Vermont, April 20th, 1820,
+who went to Michigan while yet it was a territory, as an early pioneer;
+then onward to Wisconsin before it became a state, and for twelve long,
+weary months traveled across the wild western prairies, the lofty
+mountains and sunken deserts of Death Valley, to this land which is now
+so pleasant and so fair, wherein, after over 40 years of earnest toil, I
+rest in the midst of family and friends, and can truly say I am content.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Several variant spellings of, for example,
+"medecine" and "Mormon", have been retained from the original.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Death Valley in '49
+
+Author: William Lewis Manly
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2004 [EBook #12236]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEATH VALLEY IN '49 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry Mittell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+DEATH VALLEY IN '49.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+IMPORTANT CHAPTER OF California Pioneer History.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+--THE--
+
+AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PIONEER, DETAILING HIS LIFE FROM A HUMBLE HOME IN THE
+GREEN MOUNTAINS TO THE GOLD MINES OF CALIFORNIA; AND PARTICULARLY
+RECITING THE SUFFERINGS OF THE BAND OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO GAVE
+"DEATH VALLEY" ITS NAME.
+
+BY WILLIAM LEWIS MANLY.
+
+1894.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by WM. L.
+MANLEY, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TO THE PIONEERS OF CALIFORNIA, THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, THIS
+BOOK IS DEDICATED, WITH THAT HIGH RESPECT AND REGARD SO OFTEN EXPRESSED
+IN ITS PAGES, BY THE AUTHOR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I. Birth, Parentage.--Early Life in Vermont.--Sucking Cider
+through a Straw.
+
+CHAPTER II. The Western Fever.--On the Road to Ohio.--The Outfit.--The
+Erie Canal.--In the Maumee Swamp.
+
+CHAPTER III. At Detroit and Westward.--Government Land.--Killing
+Deer.--"Fever 'N Agur."
+
+CHAPTER IV. The Lost Filley Boy.--Never Was Found.
+
+CHAPTER V. Sickness.--Rather Catch Chipmonks in the Rocky Mountains than
+Live in Michigan.--Building the Michigan Central R.R.--Building a
+Boat.--Floating down Grand River.--Black Bear.--Indians Catching
+Mullet.--Across the Lake to Southport.--Lead Mining at Mineral
+Point.--Decides to go Farther West.--Return to Michigan.
+
+CHAPTER VI. Wisconsin.--Indian Physic.--Dressed for a Winter Hunting
+Campaign.--Hunting and Trapping in the Woods.--Catching Otter and
+Marten.
+
+CHAPTER VII. Lead Mining.--Hears about Gold in California.--Gets the
+Gold Fever.--Nothing will cure it but California.--Mr. Bennett and the
+Author Prepare to Start.--The Winnebago Pony.--Agrees to Meet Bennett at
+Missouri River.--Delayed and Fails to Find Him.--Left with only a Gun
+and Pony.--Goes as a Driver for Charles Dallas.--Stopped by a Herd of
+Buffaloes.--Buffalo Meat.--Indians.--U.S. Troops.--The Captain and the
+Lieutenant.--Arrive at South Pass.--The Waters Run toward the
+Pacific.--They Find a Boat and Seven of them Decide to Float down the
+Green River.
+
+CHAPTER VIII. Floating down the River.--It begins to roar.--Thirty Miles
+a Day.--Brown's Hole.--Lose the Boat and make two Canoes.--Elk.--The
+Canons get Deeper.--Floundering in the Water.--The Indian Camp.--Chief
+Walker proves a Friend.--Describes the Terrible Canon below
+Them.--Advises Them to go no farther down.--Decide to go
+Overland.--Dangerous Route to Salt Lake.--Meets Bennett near
+there.--Organize the Sand Walking Company.
+
+CHAPTER IX. The Southern Route.--Off in Fine Style.--A Cut-off
+Proposed.--Most of Them Try it and Fail.--The Jayhawkers.--A New
+Organization.--Men with Families not Admitted.--Capture an Indian Who
+Gives Them the Slip.--An Indian Woman and Her Children.--Grass Begins to
+Fail.--A High Peak to the West.--No Water.--An Indian Hut.--Reach the
+Warm Spring.--Desert Everywhere.--Some One Steals Food.--The Water Acts
+Like a Dose of Salts.--Christmas Day.--Rev. J.W. Brier Delivers a
+Lecture to His Sons.--Nearly Starving and Choking.--An Indian in a
+Mound.--Indians Shoot the Oxen.--Camp at Furnace Creek.
+
+CHAPTER X. A Long, Narrow Valley.--Beds and Blocks of Salt.--An Ox
+Killed.--Blood, Hide and Intestines Eaten.--Crossing Death Valley.--The
+Wagons can go no farther.--Manley and Rogers Volunteer to go for
+Assistance.--They Set out on Foot.--Find the Dead Body of Mr. Fish.--Mr.
+Isham Dies.--Bones along the Road.--Cabbage Trees.--Eating Crow and
+Hawk.--After Sore Trials They Reach a Fertile Land.--Kindly
+Treated.--Returning with Food and Animals.--The Little Mule Climbs a
+Precipice, the Horses are Left Behind.--Finding the Body of Captain
+Culverwell.--They Reach Their Friends just as all Hope has Left
+Them.--Leaving the Wagons.--Packs on the Oxen.--Sacks for the
+Children.--Old Crump.--Old Brigham and Mrs. Arcane.--A Stampede
+[Illustrated.]--Once more Moving Westward.--"Good-bye, Death Valley."
+
+CHAPTER XI. Struggling Along.--Pulling the Oxen Down the Precipice
+[Illustrated.]--Making Raw-hide Moccasins.--Old Brigham Lost and
+Found.--Dry Camps.--Nearly Starving.--Melancholy and Blue.--The Feet of
+the Women Bare and Blistered.--"One Cannot form an Idea How Poor an Ox
+Will Get."--Young Charlie Arcane very Sick.--Skulls of Cattle.--Crossing
+the Snow Belt.--Old Dog Cuff.--Water Dancing over the Rocks.--Drink, Ye
+Thirsty Ones.--Killing a Yearling.--- See the Fat.--Eating Makes Them
+Sick.--Going down Soledad Canon--A Beautiful Meadow.--Hospitable Spanish
+People.--They Furnish Shelter and Food.--The San Fernando
+Mission.--Reaching Los Angeles.--They Meet Moody and Skinner.--Soap and
+Water for the First Time in Months.--Clean Dresses for the Women.--Real
+Bread to Eat.--A Picture of Los Angeles.--Black-eyed Women.--The Author
+Works in a Boarding-house.--Bennett and Others go up the Coast.--Life in
+Los Angeles.--The Author Prepares to go North.
+
+CHAPTER XII. Dr. McMahon's Story.--McMahon and Field, Left behind with
+Chief Walker, Determine to go down the River.--Change Their Minds and go
+with the Indians.--Change again and go by themselves.--Eating Wolf
+Meat.--After much Suffering they reach Salt Lake.--John Taylor's Pretty
+Wife.--Field falls in Love with her.--They Separate.--Incidents of
+Wonderful Escapes from Death.
+
+CHAPTER XIII. Story of the Jayhawkers.--Ceremonies of Initiation--Rev.
+J.W. Brier.--His Wife the best Man of the Two.--Story of the Road across
+Death Valley.--Burning the Wagons.--Narrow Escape of Tom Shannon.--Capt.
+Ed Doty was Brave and True.--They reach the Sea by way of Santa Clara
+River.--Capt. Haynes before the Alcalde.--List of Jayhawkers.
+
+CHAPTER XIV. Alexander Erkson's Statement.--Works for Brigham Young at
+Salt Lake.--Mormon Gold Coin.--Mt. Misery.--The Virgin River and Yucca
+Trees.--A Child Born to Mr, and Mrs. Rynierson.--Arrive at
+Cucamonga.--Find some good Wine which is good for Scurvy.--San Francisco
+and the Mines.--Settles in San Jose.--Experience of Edward Coker.--Death
+of Culverwell, Fish and Isham.--Goes through Walker's Pass and down Kern
+River.--Living in Fresno in 1892.
+
+CHAPTER XV. The Author again takes up the History.--Working in a
+Boarding House, but makes Arrangements to go North.--Mission San Bueno
+Ventura.--First Sight of the Pacific Ocean.--Santa Barbara in
+1850.--Paradise and Desolation.--San Miguel, Santa Ynez and San Luis
+Obispo.--California Carriages and how they were used.--Arrives in San
+Jose and Camps in the edge of Town.--Description of the place.--Meets
+John Rogers, Bennett, Moody and Skinner.--On the road to the
+Mines.--They find some of the Yellow Stuff and go Prospecting for
+more--Experience with _Piojos_--Life and Times in the Mines--Sights and
+Scenes along the Road, at Sea, on the Isthmus, Cuba, New Orleans, and up
+the Mississippi--A few Months Amid Old Scenes, then away to the Golden
+State again.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI St. Louis to New Orleans, New Orleans to San Francisco--Off
+to the Mines Again--Life in the Mines and Incidents of Mining Times and
+Men--Vigilance Committee--Death of Mrs. Bennett.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII Mines and Mining--Adventures and Incidents of the Early
+Days--The Pioneers, their Character and Influence--- Conclusion.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+DEATH VALLEY IN '49
+
+THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PIONEER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+St. Albans, Vermont is near the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, and
+only a short distance south of "Five-and-forty north degrees" which
+separates the United States from Canada, and some sixty or seventy miles
+from the great St. Lawrence River and the city of Montreal. Near here it
+was, on April 6th, 1820, I was born, so the record says, and from this
+point with wondering eyes of childhood I looked across the waters of the
+narrow lake to the slopes of the Adirondack mountains in New York, green
+as the hills of my own Green Mountain State.
+
+The parents of my father were English people and lived near Hartford,
+Connecticut, where he was born. While still a little boy he came with
+his parents to Vermont. My mother's maiden name was Phoebe Calkins, born
+near St. Albans of Welch parents, and, being left an orphan while yet in
+very tender years, she was given away to be reared by people who
+provided food and clothes, but permitted her to grow up to womanhood
+without knowing how to read or write. After her marriage she learned to
+do both, and acquired the rudiments of an education.
+
+Grandfather and his boys, four in all, fairly carved a farm out of the
+big forest that covered the cold rocky hills. Giant work it was for them
+in such heavy timber--pine, hemlock, maple, beech and birch--the
+clearing of a single acre being a man's work for a year. The place where
+the maples were thickest was reserved for a sugar grove, and from it was
+made all of the sweet material they needed, and some besides. Economy of
+the very strictest kind had to be used in every direction. Main strength
+and muscle were the only things dispensed in plenty. The crops raised
+consisted of a small flint corn, rye oats, potatoes and turnips. Three
+cows, ten or twelve sheep, a few pigs and a yoke of strong oxen
+comprised the live stock--horses, they had none for many years. A great
+ox-cart was the only wheeled vehicle on the place, and this, in winter,
+gave place to a heavy sled, the runners cut from a tree having a natural
+crook and roughly, but strongly, made.
+
+In summer there were plenty of strawberries, raspberries, whortleberries
+and blackberries growing wild, but all the cultivated fruit was apples.
+As these ripened many were peeled by hand, cut in quarters, strung on
+long strings of twine and dried before the kitchen fire for winter use.
+They had a way of burying up some of the best keepers in the ground, and
+opening the apple hole was quite an event of early spring.
+
+The children were taught to work as soon as large enough. I remember
+they furnished me with a little wooden fork to spread the heavy swath of
+grass my father cut with easy swings of the scythe, and when it was dry
+and being loaded on the great ox-cart I followed closely with a rake
+gathering every scattering spear. The barn was built so that every
+animal was housed comfortably in winter, and the house was such as all
+settlers built, not considered handsome, but capable of being made very
+warm in winter and the great piles of hard wood in the yard enough to
+last as fuel for a year, not only helped to clear the land, but kept us
+comfortable. Mother and the girls washed, carded, spun, and wove the
+wool from our own sheep into good strong cloth. Flax was also raised,
+and I remember how they pulled it, rotted it by spreading on the green
+meadow, then broke and dressed it, and then the women made linen cloth
+of various degrees of fineness, quality, and beauty. Thus, by the labor
+of both men and women, we were clothed. If an extra fine Sunday dress
+was desired, part of the yarn was colored and from this they managed to
+get up a very nice plaid goods for the purpose.
+
+In clearing the land the hemlock bark was peeled and traded off at the
+tannery for leather, or used to pay for tanning and dressing the hide of
+an ox or cow which they managed to fat and kill about every year. Stores
+for the family were either made by a neighboring shoe-maker, or by a
+traveling one who went from house to house, making up a supply for the
+family--whipping the cat, they called it then. They paid him in
+something or other produced upon the farm, and no money was asked or
+expected.
+
+Wood was one thing plenty, and the fireplace was made large enough to
+take in sticks four feet long or more, for the more they could burn the
+better, to get it out of the way. In an outhouse, also provided with a
+fireplace and chimney, they made shingles during the long winter
+evenings, the shavings making plenty of fire and light by which to work.
+The shingles sold for about a dollar a thousand. Just beside the
+fireplace in the house was a large brick oven where mother baked great
+loaves of bread, big pots of pork and beans, mince pies and loaf cake, a
+big turkey or a young pig on grand occasions. Many of the dishes used
+were of tin or pewter; the milk pans were of earthenware, but most
+things about the house in the line of furniture were of domestic
+manufacture.
+
+The store bills were very light. A little tea for father and mother, a
+few spices and odd luxuries were about all, and they were paid for with
+surplus eggs. My father and my uncle had a sawmill, and in winter they
+hauled logs to it, and could sell timber for $8 per thousand feet.
+
+The school was taught in winter by a man named Bowen, who managed forty
+scholars and considered sixteen dollars a month, boarding himself, was
+pretty fair pay. In summer some smart girl would teach the small
+scholars and board round among the families.
+
+When the proper time came the property holder would send off to the
+collector an itemized list of all his property, and at another the taxes
+fell due. A farmer who would value his property at two thousand or three
+thousand dollars would find he had to pay about six or seven dollars.
+All the money in use then seemed to be silver, and not very much of
+that. The whole plan seemed to be to have every family and farm
+self-supporting as far as possible. I have heard of a note being given
+payable in a good cow to be delivered at a certain time, say October 1,
+and on that day it would pass from house to house in payment of a debt,
+and at night only the last man in the list would have a cow more than
+his neighbor. Yet those were the days of real independence, after all.
+Every man worked hard from early youth to a good old age. There were no
+millionaires, no tramps, and the poorhouse had only a few inmates.
+
+I have very pleasant recollections of the neighborhood cider mill. There
+were two rollers formed of logs carefully rounded and four or five feet
+long, set closely together in an upright position in a rough frame, a
+long crooked sweep coming from one of them to which a horse was hitched
+and pulled it round and round, One roller had mortices in it, and
+projecting wooden teeth on the other fitted into these, so that, as they
+both slowly turned together, the apples were crushed, A huge box of
+coarse slats, notched and locked together at the corners, held a vast
+pile of the crushed apples while clean rye straw was added to strain the
+flowing juice and keep the cheese from spreading too much; then the
+ponderous screw and streams of delicious cider. Sucking cider through a
+long rye straw inserted in the bung-hole of a barrel was just the best
+of fun, and cider taken that way "awful" good while it was new and
+sweet.
+
+The winter ashes, made from burning so much fuel and gathered from the
+brush-heaps and log-heaps, were carefully saved and traded with the
+potash men for potash or sold for a small price. Nearly every one went
+barefoot in summer, and in winter wore heavy leather moccasins made by
+the Canadian French who lived near by.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+About 1828 people began to talk about the far West. Ohio was the place
+we heard most about, and the most we knew was, that it was a long way
+off and no way to get there except over a long and tedious road, with
+oxen or horses and a cart or wagon. More than one got the Western fever,
+as they called it, my uncle James Webster and my father among the rest,
+when they heard some traveler tell about the fine country he had seen;
+so they sold their farms and decided to go to Ohio, Uncle James was to
+go ahead, in the fall of 1829 and get a farm to rent, if he could, and
+father and his family were to come on the next spring.
+
+Uncle fitted out with two good horses and a wagon; goods were packed in
+a large box made to fit, and under the wagon seat was the commissary
+chest for food and bedding for daily use, all snugly arranged. Father
+had, shortly before, bought a fine Morgan mare and a light wagon which
+served as a family carriage, having wooden axles and a seat arranged on
+wooden springs, and they finally decided they would let me take the
+horse and wagon and go on with uncle, and father and mother would come
+by water, either by way of the St. Lawrence river and the lakes or by
+way of the new canal recently built, which would take them as far as
+Buffalo.
+
+So they loaded up the little wagon with some of the mentioned things and
+articles in the house, among which I remember a fine brass kettle,
+considered almost indispensable in housekeeping. There was a good lot of
+bedding and blankets, and a quilt nicely folded was placed on the spring
+seat as a cushion.
+
+As may be imagined I was the object of a great deal of attention about
+this time, for a boy not yet ten years old just setting out into a
+region almost unknown was a little unusual. When I was ready they all
+gathered round to say good bye and my good mother seemed most concerned.
+She said--"Now you must be a good boy till we come in the spring. Mind
+uncle and aunt and take good care of the horse, and remember us. May God
+protect you." She embraced me and kissed me and held me till she was
+exhausted. Then they lifted me up into the spring seat, put the lines in
+my hand and handed me my little whip with a leather strip for a lash.
+Just at the last moment father handed me a purse containing about a
+dollar, all in copper cents--pennies we called them then. Uncle had
+started on they had kept me so long, but I started up and they all
+followed me along the road for a mile or so before we finally separated
+and they turned back. They waved hats and handkerchiefs till out of
+sight as they returned, and I wondered if we should ever meet again.
+
+I was up with uncle very soon and we rolled down through St. Albans and
+took our road southerly along in sight of Lake Champlain. Uncle and aunt
+often looked back to talk to me, "See what a nice cornfield!" or, "What
+nice apples on those trees," seeming to think they must do all they
+could to cheer me up, that I might not think too much of the playmates
+and home I was leaving behind.
+
+I had never driven very far before, but I found the horse knew more than
+I did how to get around the big stones and stumps that were found in the
+road, so that as long as I held the lines and the whip in hand I was an
+excellent driver.
+
+We had made plans and preparations to board ourselves on the journey. We
+always stopped at the farm houses over night, and they were so
+hospitable that they gave us all we wanted free. Our supper was
+generally of bread and milk, the latter always furnished gratuitously,
+and I do not recollect that we were ever turned away from any house
+where we asked shelter. There were no hotels, or taverns as they called
+them, outside of the towns.
+
+In due time we reached Whitehall, at the head of Lake Champlain, and the
+big box in Uncle's wagon proved so heavy over the muddy roads that he
+put it in a canal boat to be sent on to Cleveland, and we found it much
+easier after this for there were too many mud-holes, stumps and stones
+and log bridges for so heavy a load as he had. Our road many times after
+this led along near the canal, the Champlain or the Erie, and I had a
+chance to see something of the canal boys' life. The boy who drove the
+horses that drew the packet boat was a well dressed fellow and always
+rode at a full trot or a gallop, but the freight driver was generally
+ragged and barefoot, and walked when it was too cold to ride, threw
+stones or clubs at his team, and cursed and abused the packet-boy who
+passed as long as he was in hearing. Reared as I had been I thought it
+was a pretty wicked part of the world we were coming to.
+
+We passed one village of low cheap houses near the canal. The men about
+were very vulgar and talked rough and loud, nearly every one with a
+pipe, and poorly dressed, loafing around the saloon, apparently the
+worse for whisky. The children were barefoot, bare headed and scantly
+dressed, and it seemed awfully dirty about the doors of the shanties.
+Pigs, ducks and geese were at the very door, and the women I saw wore
+dresses that did not come down very near the mud and big brogan shoes,
+and their talk was saucy and different from what I had ever heard women
+use before. They told me they were Irish people--the first I had ever
+seen. It was along here somewhere that I lost my little whip and to get
+another one made sad inroads into the little purse of pennies my father
+gave me. We traveled slowly on day after day. There was no use to hurry
+for we could not do it. The roads were muddy, the log ways very rough
+and the only way was to take a moderate gait and keep it. We never
+traveled on Sunday. One Saturday evening my uncle secured the privilege
+of staying at a well-to do farmer's house until Monday. We had our own
+food and bedding, but were glad to get some privileges in the kitchen,
+and some fresh milk or vegetables. After all had taken supper that night
+they all sat down and made themselves quiet with their books, and the
+children were as still as mice till an early bed time when all retired.
+When Sunday evening came the women got out their work--their sewing and
+their knitting, and the children romped and played and made as much
+noise as they could, seeming as anxious to break the Sabbath as they had
+been to have a pious Saturday night. I had never seen that way before
+and asked my uncle who said he guessed they were Seventh Day Baptists.
+
+After many days of travel which became to me quite monotonous we came to
+Cleveland, on Lake Erie, and here my uncle found his box of goods,
+loaded it into the wagon again, and traveled on through rain and mud,
+making very slow headway, for two or three days after, when we stopped
+at a four-corners in Medina county they told us we were only 21 miles
+from Cleveland. Here was a small town consisting of a hotel, store,
+church, schoolhouse and blacksmith shop, and as it was getting cold and
+bad, uncle decided to go no farther now, and rented a room for himself
+and aunt, and found a place for me to lodge with Daniel Stevens' boy
+close by. We got good stables for our horses.
+
+I went to the district school here, and studied reading, spelling and
+Colburn's mental arithmetic, which I mastered. It began very easy--"How
+many thumbs on your right hand?" "How many on your left?" "How many
+altogether?" but it grew harder further on.
+
+Uncle took employment at anything he could find to do. Chopping was his
+principal occupation. When the snow began to go off he looked around for
+a farm to rent for us and father to live on when he came, but he found
+none such as he needed. He now got a letter from father telling him that
+he had good news from a friend named Cornish who said that good land
+nearly clear of timber could be bought of the Government in Michigan
+Territory, some sixty or seventy miles beyond Detroit, and this being an
+opportunity to get land they needed with their small capital, they would
+start for that place as soon as the water-ways were thawed out, probably
+in April.
+
+We then gave up the idea of staying here and prepared to go to Michigan
+as soon as the frost was out of the ground. Starting, we reached Huron
+River to find it swollen and out of its bank, giving us much trouble to
+get across, the road along the bottom lands being partly covered with
+logs and rails, but once across we were in the town and when we enquired
+about the road around to Detroit, they said the country was all a swamp
+and 30 miles wide and in Spring impassible. They called it the Maumee or
+Black Swamp, We were advised to go by water, when a steamboat came up
+the river bound for Detroit we put our wagons and horses on board, and
+camped on the lower deck ourselves. We had our own food and were very
+comfortable, and glad to have escaped the great mudhole.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+We arrived in Detroit safely, and a few minutes answered to land our
+wagons and goods, when we rolled outward in a westerly direction. We
+found a very muddy roads, stumps and log bridges plenty, making our rate
+of travel very slow. When out upon our road about 30 miles, near
+Ypsilanti, the thick forest we had been passing through grew thinner,
+and the trees soon dwindled down into what they called oak openings, and
+the road became more sandy. When we reached McCracken's Tavern we began
+to enquire for Ebenezer Manley and family, and were soon directed to a
+large house near by where he was stopping for a time.
+
+We drove up to the door and they all came out to see who the new comers
+were. Mother saw me first and ran to the wagon and pulled me off and
+hugged and kissed me over and over again, while the tears ran down her
+cheeks, Then she would hold me off at arm's length, and look me in the
+eye and say--"I am so glad to have you again"; and then she embraced me
+again and again. "You are our little man," said she, "You have come over
+this long road, and brought us our good horse and our little wagon." My
+sister Polly two years older than I, stood patiently by, and when mother
+turned to speak to uncle and aunt, she locked arms with me and took me
+away with her. We had never been separated before in all our lives and
+we had loved each other as good children should, who have been brought
+up in good and moral principles. We loved each other and our home and
+respected our good father and mother who had made it so happy for us.
+
+We all sat down by the side of the house and talked pretty fast telling
+our experience on our long journey by land and water, and when the sun
+went down we were called to supper, and went hand in hand to surround
+the bountiful table as a family again. During the conversation at supper
+father said to me--"Lewis, I have bought you a smooth bore rifle,
+suitable for either ball or shot." This, I thought was good enough for
+any one, and I thanked him heartily. We spent the greater part of the
+night in talking over our adventures since we left Vermont, and sleep
+was forgotten by young and old.
+
+Next morning father and uncle took the horse and little wagon and went
+out in search of Government land. They found an old acquaintance in
+Jackson county and Government land all around him, and, searching till
+they found the section corner, they found the number of the lots they
+wanted to locate on--200 acres in all. They then went to the Detroit
+land office and secured the pieces they had chosen.
+
+Father now bought a yoke of oxen, a wagon and a cow, and as soon as we
+could get loaded up our little emigrant train started west to our future
+home, where we arrived safely in a few days and secured a house to live
+in about a mile away from our land. We now worked with a will and built
+two log houses and also hired 10 acres broken, which was done with three
+or four yoke of oxen and a strong plow. The trees were scattered over
+the ground and some small brush and old limbs, and logs which we cleared
+away as we plowed. Our houses went up very fast--all rough oak logs,
+with oak puncheons, or hewed planks for a floor, and oak shakes for a
+roof, all of our own make. The shakes were held down upon the roof by
+heavy poles, for we had no nails, the door of split stuff hung with
+wooden hinges, and the fire place of stone laid up with the logs, and
+from the loft floor upward the chimney was built of split stuff
+plastered heavily with mud. We have a small four-paned window in the
+house. We then built a log barn for our oxen, cow and horse and got
+pigs, sheep and chickens as fast as a chance offered.
+
+As fast as possible we fenced in the cultivated land, father and uncle
+splitting out the rails, while a younger brother and myself, by each
+getting hold of an end of one of them managed to lay up a fence four
+rails high, all we small men could do. Thus working on, we had a pretty
+well cultivated farm in the course of two or three years, on which we
+produced wheat, corn and potatoes, and had an excellent garden. We found
+plenty of wild cranberries and whortleberries, which we dried for winter
+use. The lakes were full of good fish, black bass and pickerel, and the
+woods had deer, turkeys, pheasants, pigeons, and other things, and I
+became quite an expert in the capture of small game for the table with
+my new gun. Father and uncle would occasionally kill a deer, and the
+Indians came along and sold venison at times.
+
+One fall after work was done and preparations were made for the winter,
+father said to me:--"Now Lewis, I want you to hunt every day--come home
+nights--but keep on till you kill a deer." So with his permission I
+started with my gun on my shoulder, and with feelings of considerable
+pride. Before night I started two deer in a brushy place, and they
+leaped high over the oak bushes in the most affrighted way. I brought my
+gun to my shoulder and fired at the bounding animal when in most plain
+sight. Loading then quickly, I hurried up the trail as fast as I could
+and soon came to my deer, dead, with a bullet hole in its head. I was
+really surprised myself, for I had fired so hastily at the almost flying
+animal that it was little more than a random shot. As the deer was not
+very heavy I dressed it and packed it home myself, about as proud a boy
+as the State of Michigan contained. I really began to think I was a
+capital hunter, though I afterward knew it was a bit of good luck and
+not a bit of skill about it.
+
+It was some time after this before I made another lucky shot. Father
+would once in a while ask me:--"Well can't you kill us another deer?" I
+told him that when I had crawled a long time toward a sleeping deer,
+that I got so trembly that I could not hit an ox in short range. "O,"
+said he, "You get the buck fever--don't be so timid--they won't attack
+you." But after awhile this fever wore off, and I got so steady that I
+could hit anything I could get in reach of.
+
+We were now quite contented and happy. Father could plainly show us the
+difference between this country and Vermont and the advantages we had
+here. There the land was poor and stony and the winters terribly severe.
+Here there were no stones to plow over, and the land was otherwise easy
+to till. We could raise almost anything, and have nice wheat bread to
+eat, far superior to the "Rye-and-Indian" we used to have. The nice
+white bread was good enough to eat without butter, and in comparison
+this country seemed a real paradise.
+
+The supply of clothing we brought with us had lasted until now--more
+than two years--and we had sowed some flax and raised sheep so that we
+began to get material of our own raising, from which to manufacture some
+more. Mother and sister spun some nice yarn, both woolen and linen, and
+father had a loom made on which mother wove it up into cloth, and we
+were soon dressed up in bran new clothes again. Domestic economy of this
+kind was as necessary here as it was in Vermont, and we knew well how to
+practice it. About this time the emigrants began to come in very fast,
+and every piece of Government land any where about was taken. So much
+land was ploughed, and so much vegetable matter turned under and
+decaying that there came a regular epidemic of fever and ague and
+bilious fever, and a large majority of the people were sick. At our
+house father was the first one attacked, and when the fever was at its
+height he was quite out of his head and talked and acted like a crazy
+man. We had never seen any one so sick before, and we thought he must
+surely die, but when the doctor came he said:--"Don't be alarmed. It is
+only 'fever 'n' agur,' and no one was ever known to die of that." Others
+of us were sick too, and most of the neighbors, and it made us all feel
+rather sorrowful. The doctor's medicines consisted of calomel, jalap and
+quinine, all used pretty freely, by some with benefit, and by others to
+no visible purpose, for they had to suffer until the cold weather came
+and froze the disease out. At one time I was the only one that remained
+well, and I had to nurse and cook, besides all the out-door work that
+fell to me. My sister married a man near by with a good farm and moved
+there with him, a mile or two away. When she went away I lost my real
+bosom companion and felt very lonesome, but I went to see her once in a
+while, and that was pretty often, I think. There was not much going on
+as a general thing. Some little neighborhood society and news was about
+all. There was, however, one incident which occurred in 1837, I never
+shall forget, and which I will relate in the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+About two miles west father's farm in Jackson county Mich., lived Ami
+Filley, who moved here from Connecticut and settled about two and a half
+miles from the town of Jackson, then a small village with plenty of
+stumps and mudholes in its streets. Many of the roads leading thereto
+had been paved with tamarac poles, making what is now known as corduroy
+roads. The country was still new and the farm houses far between.
+
+Mr. Filley secured Government land in the oak openings, and settled
+there with his wife and two or three children, the oldest of which was a
+boy named Willie. The children were getting old enough to go to school,
+but there being none, Mr. Filley hired one of the neighbor's daughters
+to come to his house and teach the children there, so they might be
+prepared for usefulness in life or ready to proceed further with their
+education--to college, perhaps in some future day.
+
+The young woman he engaged lived about a mile a half away--Miss Mary
+Mount--and she came over and began her duties as private school ma'am,
+not a very difficult task in those days. One day after she had been
+teaching some time Miss Mount desired to go to her father's on a visit,
+and as she would pass a huckleberry swamp on the way she took a small
+pail to fill with berries as she went, and by consent of Willie's
+mother, the little boy went with her for company. Reaching the berries
+she began to pick, and the little boy found this dull business, got
+tired and homesick and wanted to go home. They were about a mile from
+Mr. Filley's and as there was a pretty good foot trail over which they
+had come, the young woman took the boy to it, and turning him toward
+home told him to follow it carefully and he would soon see his mother.
+She then filled her pail with berries, went on to her own home, and
+remained there till nearly sundown, when she set out to return to Mr.
+Filley's, reaching there yet in the early twilight. Not seeing Willie,
+she inquired for him and was told that he had not returned, and that
+they supposed he was safe with her. She then hastily related how it
+happened that he had started back toward home, and that she supposed he
+had safely arrived.
+
+Mr. Filley then started back on the trail, keeping close watch on each
+side of the way, for he expected he would soon come across Master Willie
+fast asleep. He called his name every few rods, but got no answer nor
+could he discover him, and so returned home again, still calling and
+searching, but no boy was discovered. Then he built a large fire and put
+lighted candles in all the windows, then took his lantern and wont out
+in the woods calling and looking for the boy. Sometimes he thought he
+heard him, but on going where the sound came from nothing could be
+found. So he looked and called all night, along the trail and all about
+the woods, with no success. Mr. Mount's home was situated not far from
+the shore of Fitch's Lake, and the trail went along the margin, and in
+some places the ground was quite a boggy marsh, and the trail had been
+fixed up to make it passably good walking.
+
+Next day the neighbors were notified, and asked to assist, and although
+they were in the midst of wheat harvest, a great many laid down the
+cradle and rake and went out to help search. On the third day the whole
+county became excited and quite an army of searchers turned out, coming
+from the whole country miles around.
+
+Mr. Filley was much excited and quite worn out an beside himself with
+fatigue and loss of sleep. He could not eat. Yielding to entreaty he
+would sit at the table, and suddenly rise up, saying he heard Willie
+calling, and go out to search for the supposed voice, but it was all
+fruitless, and the whole people were sorry indeed for the poor father
+and mother.
+
+The people then formed a plan for a thorough search. They were to form
+in a line so near each other that they could touch hands and were to
+march thus turning out for nothing except in passable lakes, and thus we
+marched, fairly sweeping the county in search of a sign. I was with this
+party and we marched south and kept close watch for a bit of clothing, a
+foot print or even bones, or anything which would indicate that he had
+been destroyed by some wild animal. Thus we marched all day with no
+success, and the next went north in the same careful manner, but with no
+better result. Most of the people now abandoned the search, but some of
+the neighbors kept it up for a long time.
+
+Some expressed themselves quite strongly that Miss Mount knew where the
+boy was, saying that she might have had some trouble with him and in
+seeking to correct him had accidentally killed him and then hidden the
+body away--perhaps in the deep mire of the swamp or in the muddy waters
+on the margin of the lake. Search was made with this idea foremost, but
+nothing was discovered. Rain now set in, and the grain, from neglect
+grew in the head as it stood, and many a settler ate poor bread all
+winter in consequence of his neighborly kindness in the midst of
+harvest. The bread would not rise, and to make it into pancakes was the
+best way it could be used.
+
+Still no tidings ever came of the lost boy. Many things were whispered,
+about Mr. Mount's dishonesty of character and there were many suspicions
+about him, but no real facts could be shown to account for the boy. The
+neighbors said he never worked like the rest of them, and that his patch
+of cultivated land was altogether too small to support his family, a
+wife and two daughters, grown. He was a very smooth and affable talker,
+and had lots of acquaintances. A few years afterwards Mr. Mount was
+convicted of a crime which sent him to the Jackson State Prison, where
+he died before his term expired. I visited the Filley family in 1870,
+and from them heard the facts anew and that no trace of the lost boy had
+ever been discovered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+The second year of sickness and I was affected with the rest, though it
+was not generally so bad as the first year. I suffered a great deal and
+felt so miserable that I began to think I had rather live on the top of
+the Rocky Mountains and catch chipmuncks for a living than to live here
+and be sick, and I began to have very serious thoughts of trying some
+other country. In the winter of 1839 and 1840 I went to a neighboring
+school for three months, where I studied reading, writing and spelling,
+getting as far as Rule of Three in Daboll's arithmetic. When school was
+out I chopped and split rails for Wm. Hanna till I had paid my winter's
+board. After this, myself and a young man named Orrin Henry, with whom I
+had become acquainted, worked awhile scoring timber to be used in
+building the Michigan Central Railroad which had just then begun to be
+built. They laid down the ties first (sometimes a mudsill under them)
+and then put down four by eight wooden rails with a strips of band iron
+half an inch thick spiked on top. I scored the timber and Henry used the
+broad axe after me. It was pretty hard work and the hours as long as we
+could see, our wages being $13 per month, half cash.
+
+In thinking over our prospect it seemed more and more as if I had better
+look out for my own fortune in some other place. The farm was pretty
+small for all of us. There were three brothers younger than I, and only
+200 acres in the whole, and as they were growing up to be men it seemed
+as if it would be best for me, the oldest, to start out first and see
+what could be done to make my own living. I talked to father and mother
+about my plans, and they did not seriously object, but gave me some good
+advice, which I remember to this day--"Weigh well every thing you do;
+shun bad company; be honest and deal fair; be truthful and never fear
+when you know you are right." But, said he, "Our little peach trees will
+bear this year, and if you go away you must come back and help us eat
+them; they will be the first we ever raised or ever saw." I could not
+promise.
+
+Henry and I drew our pay for our work. I had five dollars in cash and
+the rest in pay from the company's store. We purchased three nice
+whitewood boards, eighteen inches wide, from which we made us a boat and
+a good sized chest which we filled with provisions and some clothing and
+quilts. This, with our guns and ammunition, composed the cargo of our
+boat. When all was ready, we put the boat on a wagon and were to haul it
+to the river some eight miles away for embarkation. After getting the
+wagon loaded, father said to me;--"Now my son, you are starting out in
+life alone, no one to watch or look after you. You will have to depend
+upon yourself in all things. You have a wide, wide world to operate
+in--you will meet all kinds of people and you must not expect to find
+them all honest or true friends. You are limited in money, and all I can
+do for you in that way is to let you have what ready money I have." He
+handed me three dollars as he spoke, which added to my own gave me seven
+dollars as my money capital with which to start out into the world among
+perfect strangers, and no acquaintances in prospect on our Western
+course.
+
+When ready to start, mother and sister Poll came out to see us off and
+to give us their best wishes, hoping we would have good health, and find
+pleasant paths to follow. Mother said to me:--"You must be a good boy,
+honest and law-abiding. Remember our advice, and honor us for we have
+striven to make you a good and honest man, and you must follow our
+teachings, and your conscience will be clear. Do nothing to be ashamed
+of; be industrious, and you have no fear of punishment." We were given a
+great many "Good byes" and "God bless you's" as with hands, hats and
+handkerchiefs they waved us off as far as we could see them. In the
+course of an hour or so we were at the water's edge, and on a beautiful
+morning in early spring of 1840 we found ourselves floating down the
+Grand River below Jackson.
+
+The stream ran west, that we knew, and it was west we thought we wanted
+to go, so all things suited us. The stream was small with tall timber on
+both sides, and so many trees had fallen into the river that our
+navigation was at times seriously obstructed. When night came we hauled
+our boat on shore, turned it partly over, so as to shelter us, built a
+fire in front, and made a bed on a loose board which we carried in the
+bottom of the boat. We talked till pretty late and then lay down to
+sleep, but for my part my eyes would not stay shut, and I lay till break
+of day and the little birds began to sing faintly.
+
+I thought of many things that night which seemed so long. I had left a
+good dear home, where I had good warm meals and a soft and comfortable
+bed. Here I had reposed on a board with a very hard pillow and none too
+many blankets, and I turned from side to side on my hard bed, to which I
+had gone with all my clothes on. It seemed the beginning of another
+chapter in my pioneer life and a rather tough experience. I arose,
+kindled a big fire and sat looking at the glowing coals in still further
+meditation.
+
+Neither of us felt very gleeful as we got our breakfast and made an
+early start down the river again. Neither of us talked very much, and no
+doubt my companion had similar thoughts to mine, and wondered what was
+before us. But I think that as a pair we were at that moment pretty
+lonesome. Henry had rested better than I but probably felt no less
+keenly the separation from our homes and friends. We saw plenty of
+squirrels and pigeons on the trees which overhung the river, and we shot
+and picked up as many as we thought we could use for food. When we fired
+our guns the echoes rolled up and down the river for miles making the
+feeling of loneliness still more keen, as the sound died faintly away.
+We floated along generally very quietly. We could see the fish dart
+under our boat from their feeding places along the bank, and now and
+then some tall crane would spread his broad wings to get out of our way.
+
+We saw no houses for several days, and seldom went on shore. The forest
+was all hard wood, such as oak, ash, walnut, maple, elm and beech.
+Farther down we occasionally passed the house of some pioneer hunter or
+trapper, with a small patch cleared. At one of these a big green boy
+came down to the bank to see who we were. We said "How d'you do," to
+him, and, getting no response, Henry asked him how far is was to
+Michigan, at which a look of supreme disgust came over his features as
+he replied--"'Taint no far at all."
+
+The stream grew wider as we advanced along its downward course, for
+smaller streams came pouring in to swell its tide. The banks were still
+covered with heavy timber, and in some places with quite thick
+undergrowth. One day we saw a black bear in the river washing himself,
+but he went ashore before we were near enough to get a sure shot at him.
+Many deer tracks were seen along the shore, but as we saw very few of
+the animals themselves, they were probably night visitors.
+
+One day we overtook some canoes containing Indians, men, women and
+children. They were poling their craft around in all directions spearing
+fish. They caught many large mullet and then went on shore and made
+camp, and the red ladies began scaling the fish. As soon as their lords
+and masters had unloaded the canoes, a party started out with four of
+the boats, two men in a boat, to try their luck again. They ranged all
+abreast, and moved slowly down the stream in the still deep water,
+continually beating the surface with their spear handles, till they came
+to a place so shallow that they could see the bottom easily, when they
+suddenly turned the canoes head up stream, and while one held the craft
+steady by sticking his spear handle down on the bottom, the other stood
+erect, with a foot on either gunwale so he could see whatever came down
+on either side. Soon the big fish would try to pass, but Mr. Indian had
+too sharp an eye to let him escape unobserved, and when he came within
+his reach he would turn his spear and throw it like a dart, seldom
+missing his aim. The poor fish would struggle desperately, but soon came
+to the surface, when he would be drawn in and knocked in the head with a
+tomahawk to quiet him, when the spear was cut out and the process
+repeated. We watched them about an hour, and during that time some one
+of the boats was continually hauling in a fish. They were sturgeon and
+very large. This was the first time we had ever seen the Indian's way of
+catching fish and it was a new way of getting grub for us. When the
+canoes had full loads they paddled up toward their camp, and we drifted
+on again.
+
+When we came to Grand Rapids we had to go on shore and tow our boat
+carefully along over the many rocks to prevent accident. Here was a
+small cheap looking town. On the west bank of the river a water wheel
+was driving a drill boring for salt water, it seemed through solid rock.
+Up to this time the current was slow, and its course through a dense
+forest. We occasionally saw an Indian gliding around in his canoe, but
+no houses or clearings. Occasionally we saw some pine logs which had
+been floated down some of the streams of the north. One of these small
+rivers they called the "Looking-glass," and seemed to be the largest of
+them.
+
+Passing on we began to see some pine timber, and realized that we were
+near the mouth of the river where it emptied into Lake Michigan. There
+were some steam saw mills here, not then in operation, and some houses
+for the mill hands to live in when they were at work. This prospective
+city was called Grand Haven. There was one schooner in the river loaded
+with lumber, ready to sail for the west side of the lake as soon as the
+wind should change and become favorable, and we engaged passage for a
+dollar and a half each. While waiting for the wind we visited the woods
+in search of game, but found none. All the surface of the soil was clear
+lake sand, and some quite large pine and hemlock trees were half buried
+in it. We were not pleased with this place for it looked as if folks
+must get their grub from somewhere else or live on fish.
+
+Next morning we were off early, as the wind had changed, but the lake
+was very rough and a heavy choppy sea was running. Before we were half
+way across the lake nearly all were sea-sick, passengers and sailors.
+The poor fellow at the helm stuck to his post casting up his accounts at
+the same time, putting on an air of terrible misery.
+
+This, I thought was pretty hard usage for a land-lubber like myself who
+had never been on such rough water before. The effect of this
+sea-sickness was to cure me of a slight fever and ague, and in fact the
+cure was so thorough that I have never had it since. As we neared the
+western shore a few houses could be seen, and the captain said it was
+Southport. As there was no wharf our schooner put out into the lake
+again for an hour or so and then ran back again, lying off and on in
+this manner all night. In the morning it was quite calm and we went on
+shore in the schooner's yawl, landing on a sandy beach. We left our
+chest of clothes and other things in a warehouse and shouldered our
+packs and guns for a march across what seemed an endless prairie
+stretching to the west. We had spent all our lives thus far in a country
+where all the clearing had to be made with an axe, and such a broad
+field was to us an entirely new feature. We laid our course westward and
+tramped on. The houses were very far apart, and we tried at every one of
+them for a chance to work, but could get none, not even if we would work
+for our board. The people all seemed to be new settlers, and very poor,
+compelled to do their own work until a better day could be reached. The
+coarse meals we got were very reasonable, generally only ten cents, but
+sometimes a little more.
+
+As we travelled westward the prairies seemed smaller with now and then
+some oak openings between. Some of the farms seemed to be three or four
+years old, and what had been laid out as towns consisted of from three
+to six houses, small and cheap, with plenty of vacant lots. The soil
+looked rich, as though it might be very productive. We passed several
+small lakes that had nice fish in them, and plenty of ducks on the
+surface.
+
+Walking began to get pretty tiresome. Great blisters would come on our
+feet, and, tender as they were, it was a great relief to take off our
+boots and go barefoot for a while when the ground was favorable. We
+crossed a wide prairie and came down to the Rock river where there were
+a few houses on the east side but no signs of habitation on the west
+bank. We crossed the river in a canoe and then walked seven miles before
+we came to a house where we staid all night and inquired for work. None
+was to be had and so we tramped on again. The next day we met a real
+live Yankee with a one-horse wagon, peddling tin ware in regular Eastern
+style, We inquired of him about the road and prospects, and he gave us
+an encouraging idea--said all was good. He told us where to stop the
+next night at a small town called Sugar Creek. It had but a few houses
+and was being built up as a mining town, for some lead ore had been
+found there. There were as many Irish as English miners here, a rough
+class of people. We put up at the house where we had been directed, a
+low log cabin, rough and dirty, kept by Bridget & Co. Supper was had
+after dark and the light on the table was just the right one for the
+place, a saucer of grease, with a rag in it lighted and burning at the
+edge of the saucer. It at least served to made the darkness apparent and
+to prevent the dirt being visible. We had potatoes, beans and tea, and
+probably dirt too, if we could have seen it. When the meal was nearly
+done Bridget brought in and deposited on each plate a good thick pancake
+as a dessert. It smelled pretty good, but when I drew my knife across it
+to cut it in two, all the center was uncooked batter, which ran out upon
+my plate, and spoiled my supper.
+
+We went to bed and soon found it had other occupants beside ourselves,
+which, if they were small were lively and spoiled our sleeping. We left
+before breakfast, and a few miles out on the prairie we came to a house
+occupied by a woman and one child, and we were told we could have
+breakfast if we could wait to have it cooked. Everything looked cheap
+but cheery, and after waiting a little while outside we were called in
+to eat. The meal consisted of corn bread, bacon, potatoes and coffee. It
+was well cooked and looked better than things did at Bridget's. I
+enjoyed all but the coffee, which had a rich brown color, but when I
+sipped it there was such a bitter taste I surely thought there must be
+quinine in it, and it made me shiver. I tried two or three times to
+drink but it was too much for me and I left it. We shouldered our loads
+and went on again. I asked Henry what kind of a drink it was. "Coffee,"
+said he, but I had never seen any that tasted like that and never knew
+my father to buy any such coffee as that.
+
+We labored along and in time came to another small place called
+Hamilton's Diggings where some lead mines were being worked. We stopped
+at a long, low log house with a porch the entire length, and called for
+bread and milk, which was soon set before us. The lady was washing and
+the man was playing with a child on the porch. The little thing was
+trying to walk, the man would swear terribly at it--not in an angry way,
+but in a sort of careless, blasphemous style that was terribly shocking.
+I thought of the child being reared in the midst of such bad language
+and reflected on the kind of people we were meeting in this far away
+place. They seemed more wicked and profane the farther west we walked. I
+had always lived in a more moral and temperate atmosphere, and I was
+learning more of some things in the world than I had ever known before.
+I had little to say and much to see and listen to and my early precepts
+were not forgotten. No work was to be had here and we set out across the
+prairie toward Mineral Point, twenty miles away. When within four miles
+of that place we stopped at the house of Daniel Parkinson, a fine
+looking two-story building, and after the meal was over Mr. Henry hired
+out to him for $16 per month, and went to work that day. I heard of a
+job of cutting cordwood six miles away and went after it, for our money
+was getting very scarce, but when I reached the place I found a man had
+been there half an hour before and secured the job. The proprietor, Mr.
+Crow, gave me my dinner which I accepted with many thanks, for it saved
+my coin to pay for the next meal. I now went to Mineral Point, and
+searched the town over for work. My purse contained thirty-five cents
+only and I slept in an unoccupied out house without supper. I bought
+crackers and dried beef for ten cents in the morning and made my first
+meal since the day before, felt pretty low-spirited. I then went to
+Vivian's smelting furnace where they bought lead ore, smelted it, and
+run it into pigs of about 70 pounds each. He said he had a job for me if
+I could do it. The furnace was propelled by water and they had a small
+buzz saw for cutting four-foot wood into blocks about a foot long. These
+blocks they wanted split up in pieces about an inch square to mix in
+with charcoal in smelting ore. He said he would board me with the other
+men, and give me a dollar and a quarter a cord for splitting the wood. I
+felt awfully poor, and a stranger, and this was a beginning for me at
+any rate, so I went to work with a will and never lost a minute of
+daylight till I had split up all the wood and filled his woodhouse
+completely up. The board was very coarse--bacon, potatoes, and bread--a
+man cook, and bread mixed up with salt and water. The old log house
+where we lodged was well infested with troublesome insects which worked
+nights at any rate, whether they rested days or not, and the beds had a
+mild odor of pole cat. The house was long, low and without windows. In
+one end was a fireplace, and there were two tiers of bunks on each side,
+supplied with straw only. In the space between the bunks was a
+stationary table, with stools for seats. I was the only American who
+boarded there and I could not well become very familiar with the
+boarders.
+
+The country was rolling, and there were many beautiful brooks and clear
+springs of water, with fertile soil. The Cornish miners were in the
+majority and governed the locality politically. My health was excellent,
+and so long as I had my gun and ammunition I could kill game enough to
+live on, for prairie chickens and deer could be easily killed, and meat
+alone would sustain life, so I had no special fears of starvation. I was
+now paid off, and went back to see my companion, Mr. Henry. I did not
+hear of any more work, so I concluded I would start back toward my old
+home in Michigan, and shouldered my bundle and gun, turning my face
+eastward for a long tramp across the prairie. I knew I had a long tramp
+before me, but I thought best to head that way, for my capital was only
+ten dollars, and I might be compelled to walk the whole distance. I
+walked till about noon and then sat down in the shade of a tree to rest
+for this was June and pretty warm. I was now alone in a big territory,
+thinly settled, and thought of my father's home, the well set table, all
+happy and well fed at any rate, and here was my venture, a sort of
+forlorn hope. Prospects were surely very gloomy for me here away out
+west in Wisconsin Territory, without a relative, friend or acquaintance
+to call upon, and very small means to travel two hundred and fifty miles
+of lonely road--perhaps all the way on foot. There were no laborers
+required, hardly any money in sight, and no chance for business. I knew
+it would be a safe course to proceed toward home, for I had no fear of
+starving, the weather was warm and I could easily walk home long before
+winter should come again. Still the outlook was not very pleasing to one
+in my circumstances.
+
+I chose a route which led me some distance north of the one we travelled
+when we came west, but it was about the same. Every house was a new
+settler, and hardly one who had yet produced anything to live upon. In
+due time I came to the Rock River, and the only house in sight was upon
+the east bank. I could see a boat over there and so I called for it, and
+a young girl came over with a canoe for me. I took a paddle and helped
+her hold the boat against the current, and we made the landing safely. I
+paid her ten cents for ferriage and went on again. The country was now
+level, with burr-oak openings. Near sundown I came to a small prairie of
+about 500 acres surrounded by scattering burr-oak timber, with not a
+hill in sight, and it seemed to me to be the most beautiful spot on
+earth. This I found to belong to a man named Meachem, who had an octagon
+concrete house built on one side of the opening. The house had a hollow
+column in the center, and the roof was so constructed that all the rain
+water went down this central column into a cistern below for house use.
+The stairs wound around this central column, and the whole affair was
+quite different from the most of settlers' houses. I staid here all
+night, had supper and breakfast, and paid my bill of thirty-five cents.
+He had no work for me so I went on again. I crossed Heart Prairie,
+passed through a strip of woods, and out at Round Prairie. It was level
+as a floor with a slight rise in one corner, and on it were five or six
+settlers. Here fortune favored me, for here I found a man whom I knew,
+who once lived in Michigan, and was one of our neighbors there for some
+time. His name was Nelson Cornish. I rested here a few days, and made a
+bargain to work for him two or three days every week for my board as
+long as I wished to stay. As I got acquainted I found some work to do
+and many of my leisure hours I spent in the woods with my gun, killing
+some deer, some of the meat of which I sold. In haying and harvest I got
+some work at fifty cents to one dollar per day, and as I had no clothes
+to buy, I spent no money, saving up about fifty dollars by fall. I then
+got a letter from Henry saying that I could get work with him for the
+winter and I thought I would go back there again.
+
+Before thinking of going west again I had to go to Southport on the lake
+and get our clothes we had left in our box when we passed in the spring.
+So I started one morning at break of day, with a long cane in each hand
+to help me along, for I had nothing to carry, not even wearing a coat.
+This was a new road, thinly settled, and a few log houses building. I
+got a bowl of bread and milk at noon and then hurried on again. The last
+twenty miles was clear prairie, and houses were very far apart, but
+little more thickly settled as I neared Lake Michigan. I arrived at the
+town just after dark, and went to a tavern and inquired about the
+things. I was told that the warehouse had been broken into and robbed,
+and the proprietor had fled for parts unknown. This robbed me of all my
+good clothes, and I could now go back as lightly loaded as when I came.
+I found I had walked sixty miles in that one day, and also found myself
+very stiff and sore so that I did not start back next day, and I took
+three days for the return trip--a very unprofitable journey.
+
+I was now ready to go west, and coming across a pet deer which I had
+tamed, I knew if I left it it would wander away with the first wild ones
+that came along, and so I killed it and made my friends a present of
+some venison. I chose still a new route this time, that I could see all
+that was possible of this big territory when I could do it so easily. I
+was always a great admirer of Nature and things which remained as they
+were created, and to the extent of my observation, I thought this the
+most beautiful and perfect country I had seen between Vermont and the
+Mississippi River. The country was nearly level, the land rich, the
+prairies small with oak openings surrounding them, very little marsh
+land and streams of clear water. Rock River was the largest of these,
+running south. Next west was Sugar River, then the Picatonica. Through
+the mining region the country was rolling and abundantly watered with
+babbling brooks and health-giving springs.
+
+In point of health it seemed to me to be far better than Michigan. In
+Mr. Henry's letter to me he had said that he had taken a timber claim in
+"Kentuck Grove," and had all the four-foot wood engaged to cut at
+thirty-seven cents a cord. He said we could board ourselves and save a
+little money and that in the spring he would go back to Michigan with
+me. This had decided me to go back to Mineral Point. I stopped a week or
+two with a man named Webb, hunting with him, and sold game enough to
+bring me in some six or seven dollars, and then resumed my journey.
+
+On my way I found a log house ten miles from a neighbor just before I
+got to the Picatonica River. It belonged to a Mr. Shook who, with his
+wife and three children, lived on the edge of a small prairie, and had a
+good crop of corn. He invited me to stay with him a few days, and as I
+was tired I accepted his offer and we went out together and brought in a
+deer. We had plenty of corn bread, venison and coffee, and lived well.
+After a few days he wanted to kill a steer and he led it to a proper
+place while I shot it in the head. We had no way to hang it up so he
+rolled the intestines out, and I sat down with my side against the steer
+and helped him to pull the tallow off.
+
+It was now getting nearly dark and while he was splitting the back bone
+with an axe, it slipped in his greasy hands and glancing, cut a gash in
+my leg six inches above the knee. I was now laid up for two or three
+weeks, but was well cared for at his house. Before I could resume my
+journey snow had fallen to the depth of about six inches, which made it
+rather unpleasant walking, but in a few days I reached Mr. Henry's camp
+in "Kentuck Grove," when after comparing notes, we both began swinging
+our axes and piling up cordwood, cooking potatoes, bread, bacon, coffee
+and flapjacks ourselves, which we enjoyed with a relish.
+
+I now went to work for Peter Parkinson, who paid me thirteen dollars per
+month, and I remained with him till spring. While with him a very sad
+affliction came to him in the loss of his wife. He was presented by her
+with his first heir, and during her illness she was cared for by her
+mother, Mrs. Cullany, who had come to live with them during the winter.
+When the little babe was two or three weeks old the mother was feeling
+in such good spirits that she was left alone a little while, as Mrs.
+Cullany was attending to some duties which called her elsewhere. When
+she returned she was surprised to see that both Mrs. Parkinson and the
+babe were gone. Everyone turned out to search for her. I ran to the
+smokehouse, the barn, the stable in quick order, and not finding her a
+search was made for tracks, and we soon discovered that she had passed
+over a few steps leading over a fence and down an incline toward the
+spring house, and there fallen, face downward, on the floor of the house
+which was covered only a few inches deep with water lay the unfortunate
+woman and her child, both dead. This was doubly distressing to Mr.
+Parkinson and saddened the whole community. Both were buried in one
+grave, not far from the house, and a more impressive funeral I never
+beheld.
+
+I now worked awhile again with Mr. Henry and we sold our wood to Bill
+Park, a collier, who made and sold charcoal to the smelters of lead ore.
+When the ice was gone in the streams, Henry and I shouldered our guns
+and bundles, and made our way to Milwaukee, where we arrived in the
+course of a few days. The town was small and cheaply built, and had no
+wharf, so that when the steamboat came we had to go out to it in a small
+boat. The stream which came in here was too shallow for the steamer to
+enter. When near the lower end of the lake we stopped at an island to
+take on food and several cords of white birch wood. The next stopping
+place was at Michilamackanac, afterward called Mackinaw. Here was a
+short wharf, and a little way back a hill, which seemed to me to be a
+thousand feet high, on which a fort had been built. On the wharf was a
+mixed lot of people--Americans, Canadians, Irish, Indians, squaws and
+papooses. I saw there some of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen.
+They would weigh twenty pounds or more, and had bright red and yellow
+spots all over them. They called them trout, and they were beauties,
+really. At the shore near by the Indians were loading a large white
+birch bark canoe, putting their luggage along the middle lengthways, and
+the papooses on top. One man took a stern seat to steer, and four or
+five more had seats along the gunwale as paddlers and, as they moved
+away, their strokes were as even and regular as the motions of an
+engine, and their crafts danced as lightly on the water as an egg shell.
+They were starting for the Michigan shore some eight or ten miles away.
+This was the first birch bark canoe I had ever seen and was a great
+curiosity in my eyes.
+
+We crossed Lake Huron during the night, and through its outlet, so
+shallow that the wheels stirred up the mud from the bottom; then through
+Lake St. Clair and landed safety at Detroit next day. Here we took the
+cars on the Michigan Central Railroad, and on our way westward stopped
+at the very place where we had worked, helping to build the road, a year
+or more before. After getting off the train a walk of two and one half
+miles brought me to my father's house, where I had a right royal
+welcome, and the questions they asked me about the wild country I had
+traveled over, how it looked, and how I got along--were numbered by the
+thousand.
+
+I remained at home until fall, getting some work to do by which I saved
+some money, but in August was attacked with bilious fever, which held me
+down for several weeks, but nursed by a tender and loving mother with
+untiring care, I recovered, quite slowly, but surely. I felt that I had
+been close to death, and that this country was not to be compared to
+Wisconsin with its clear and bubbling springs of health-giving water.
+Feeling thus, I determined to go back there again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+With the idea of returning to Wisconsin I made plans for my movements. I
+purchased a good outfit of steel traps of several kinds and sizes,
+thirty or forty in all, made me a pine chest, with a false bottom to
+separate the traps from my clothing when it was packed in traveling
+order, the clothes at the top. My former experience had taught me not to
+expect to get work there during winter, but I was pretty sure something
+could be earned by trapping and hunting at this season, and in summer I
+was pretty sure of something to do. I had about forty dollars to travel
+on this time, and quite a stock of experience. The second parting from
+home was not so hard as the first one. I went to Huron, took the steamer
+to Chicago, then a small, cheaply built town, with rough sidewalks and
+terribly muddy streets, and the people seemed pretty rough, for sailors
+and lake captains were numerous, and knock downs quite frequent. The
+country for a long way west of town seemed a low, wet marsh or prairie.
+
+Finding a man going west with a wagon and two horses without a load, I
+hired him to take me and my baggage to my friend Nelson Cornish, at
+Round Prairie. They were glad to see me, and as I had not yet got strong
+from my fever, they persuaded me to stay a while with them and take some
+medicine, for he was a sort of a doctor. I think he must have given me a
+dose of calomel, for I had a terribly sore mouth and could not eat any
+for two or three weeks. As soon as I was able to travel I had myself and
+chest taken to the stage station on the line for the lake to Mineral
+Point. I think this place was called Geneva. On the stage I got along
+pretty fast, and part of the time on a new road. The first place of note
+was Madison the capital of the territory, situated on a block of land
+nearly surrounded by four lakes, all plainly seen from the big house.
+Further on at the Blue Mounds I left the stage, putting my chest in the
+landlord's keeping till I should come or send for it.
+
+I walked about ten miles to the house of a friend named A. Bennett, who
+was a hunter and lived on the bank of the Picatonica River with his wife
+and two children. I had to take many a rest on the way, for I was very
+weak.
+
+Resting the first few days, Mrs. Bennett's father, Mr. J.P. Dilly, took
+us out about six miles and left us to hunt and camp for a few days. We
+were quite successful, and killed five nice, fat deer, which we dressed
+and took to Mineral Point, selling them rapidly to the Cornish miners
+for twenty-five cents a quarter for the meat. We followed this business
+till about January first, when the game began to get poor, when we hung
+up our guns for a while. I had a little money left yet. The only money
+in circulation was American silver and British sovereigns. They would
+not sell lead ore for paper money nor on credit. During the spring I
+used my traps successfully, so that I saved something over board and
+expenses.
+
+In summer I worked in the mines with Edwin Buck of Bucksport, Maine, but
+only found lead ore enough to pay our expenses in getting it. Next
+winter I chopped wood for thirty-five cents per cord and boarded myself.
+This was poor business; poorer than hunting. In summer I found work at
+various things, but in the fall Mr. Buck and myself concluded that as we
+were both hunters and trappers, we would go northward toward Lake
+Superior on a hunting expedition, and, perhaps remain all winter. We
+replenished our outfit, and engaged Mr. Bennett to take us well up into
+the north country. We crossed the Wisconsin River near Muscoda, went
+then to Prairie du Chien, where we found a large stone fur trading
+house, owned by Mr. Brisbois, a Frenchman, from whom we obtained some
+information of the country further on. He assured us there was no danger
+from the Indians if we let them alone and treated them fairly.
+
+We bought fifty pounds of flour for each of us, and then started up the
+divide between the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. On one side flowed
+the Bad River, and on the other the Kickapoo. We traveled on this divide
+about three days, when Mr. Bennett became afraid to go any further, as
+he had to return alone and the Indians might capture him before he could
+get back to the settlement. We camped early one night and went out
+hunting to get some game for him. I killed a large, black bear and Mr.
+Bennett took what he wanted of it, including the skin, and started back
+next morning.
+
+We now cached our things in various places, scattering them well. Some
+went in hollow logs, and some under heaps of brush or other places,
+where the Indians could not find them. We then built a small cabin about
+six by eight feet in size and four feet high, in shape like a A. We were
+not thoroughly pleased with this location and started out to explore the
+country to the north of us, for we had an idea that it would be better
+hunting there.
+
+The first day we started north we killed a bear, and filled our stomachs
+with the fat, sweet meat. The next night we killed another bear after a
+little struggling. The dog made him climb a tree and we shot at him; he
+would fall to the ground as if dead, but would be on his feet again in
+an instant, when, after the dog had fastened to his ham, he would climb
+the tree again. In the third trial he lay in the fork and had a good
+chance to look square at his tormentor. I shot him in the head, and as
+he lay perfectly still, Buck said:--"Now you have done it--we can't get
+him." But in a moment he began to struggle, and soon came down,
+lifeless.
+
+Here we camped on the edge of the pine forest, ate all the fat bear meat
+we could, and in the morning took separate routes, agreeing to meet
+again a mile or so farther up a small brook. I soon saw a small bear
+walking on a log and shot him dead. His mate got away, but I set my dog
+on him and he soon had to climb a tree. When I came up to where the dog
+was barking I saw Mr. Bear and fired a ball in him that brought him
+down. Just then I heard Mr. Buck shoot close by, and I went to him and
+found he had killed another and larger bear. We stayed here another
+night, dressed our game and sunk the meat in the brook and fastened it
+down, thinking we might want to get some of it another time.
+
+We were so well pleased with this hunting ground that we took the bear
+skins and went back to camp. When we got there our clothes were pretty
+well saturated with bear's oil, and we jokingly said it must have soaked
+through our bodies, we had eaten so much bear meat. I began to feel
+quite sick, and had a bad headache. I felt as if something must be done,
+but we had no medicine. Mr. Buck went down by the creek and dug some
+roots he called Indian Physic, then steeped them until the infusion
+seemed as black as molasses, and, when cool told me to take a swallow
+every fifteen minutes for an hour, then half as much for another hour as
+long as I could keep it down. I followed directions and vomited freely
+and for a long time, but felt better afterward, and soon got well. It
+reminded me some of the feelings I had when I was seasick on Lake
+Michigan.
+
+It may be interesting to describe how we were dressed to enter on this
+winter campaign. We wore moccasins of our own make. I had a buckskin
+jumper, and leggins that came up to my hips. On my head a drab hat that
+fitted close and had a rim about two inches wide. In fair weather I went
+bare-headed, Indian fashion. I carried a tomahawk which I had made. The
+blade was two inches wide and three inches long--the poll two inches
+long and about as large round as a dime; handle eighteen or twenty
+inches long with a knob on the end so it would not easily slip from the
+hand. Oiled patches for our rifle balls on a string, a firing wire, a
+charger to measure the powder, and a small piece of leather with four
+nipples on it for caps--all on my breast, so that I could load very
+rapidly. My bed was a comfort I made myself, a little larger than usual.
+I lay down on one side of the bed and with my gun close to me, turned
+the blanket over me. When out of camp I never left my gun out of my
+reach. We had to be real Indians in custom and actions in order to be
+considered their equals. We got our food in the same way they did, and
+so they had nothing to ask us for. They considered themselves the real
+kings of the forest.
+
+We now determined to move camp, which proved quite a job as we had to
+pack everything on our backs; which we did for ten or fifteen miles to
+the bank of a small stream where there were three pine trees, the only
+ones to be found in many miles. We made us a canoe of one of them. While
+we were making the canoe three Indians came along, and after they had
+eaten some of our good venison, they left us. These were the first we
+had seen, and we began to be more cautious and keep everything well hid
+away from camp and make them think we were as poor as they were, so they
+might not be tempted to molest us.
+
+We soon had the canoe done and loaded, and embarked on the brook down
+stream. We found it rather difficult work, but the stream grew larger
+and we got along very well. We came to one place where otter signs
+seemed fresh, and stopped to set a trap for them. Our dog sat on the
+bank and watched the operation, and when we started on we could not get
+him to ride or follow. Soon we heard him cry and went back to find he
+had the trap on his fore foot. To get it off we had to put a forked
+stick over his neck and hold him down, he was so excited over his
+mishap. When he was released he left at full speed and was never seen by
+us after.
+
+When we got well into the pine woods we camped and cached our traps and
+provisions on an island, and made our camp further down the stream and
+some little distance from the shore. We soon found this was very near a
+logging camp, and as no one had been living there for a year, we moved
+camp down there and occupied one of the empty cabins. We began to set
+dead-fall traps in long lines in many different directions, blazing the
+trees so we could find them if the snow came on. West of this about ten
+miles, where we had killed some deer earlier, we made a A-shaped cabin
+and made dead falls many miles around to catch fishes, foxes, mink and
+raccoons. We made weekly journeys to the places and generally staid
+about two nights.
+
+One day when going over my trap lines I came to a trap which I had set
+where I had killed a deer, and saw by the snow that an eagle had been
+caught in the trap and had broken the chain and gone away. I followed on
+the trail he made and soon found him. He tried to fly but the trap was
+too heavy, and he could only go slowly and a little way. I fired and put
+a ball in him and he fell and rolled under a large log on the hillside.
+As I took the trap off I saw an Indian coming down the hill and brought
+my gun to bear on him. He stopped suddenly and made signs not to shoot,
+and I let him come up. He made signs that he wanted the feathers of the
+bird which I told him to take, and then he wanted to know where we
+slept. I pointed out the way and made him go ahead of me there, for I
+did not want him behind me. At camp he made signs for something to eat,
+but when I showed him meat he shook his head. However he took a leg of
+deer and started on, I following at a good distance till satisfied that
+he would not come back.
+
+We had not taken pains to keep track of the day of the week or month;
+the rising and setting of the sun and the changes of the moon were all
+the almanacs we had. Then snow came about a foot deep, and some days
+were so cold we could not leave our camp fire at all. As no Indians
+appeared we were quite successful and kept our bundle of furs in a
+hollow standing tree some distance from camp, and when we went that way
+we never stopped or left any sign that we had a deposit there.
+
+Some time after it was all frozen up solid, some men with two yoke of
+oxen came up to cut and put logs in the river to raft down when the ice
+went out. With them came a shingle weaver, with a pony and a small sled,
+and some Indians also. We now had to take up all of our steel traps, and
+rob all our dead-falls and quit business generally--even then they got
+some of our traps before we could get them gathered in. We were now
+comparatively idle.
+
+Until these loggers came we did not know exactly where we were situated,
+but they told us we were on the Lemonai river, a branch of the
+Wisconsin, and that we could get out by going west till we found the
+Mississippi river and then home. We hired the shengle man with his pony
+to take us to Black River, farther north which we reached in three days,
+and found a saw mill there in charge of a keeper. Up the river farther
+we found another mill looked after by Sam Ferguson. Both mills were
+frozen up. The Indians had been here all winter. They come from Lake
+Superior when the swamps froze up there, to hunt deer, till the weather
+gets warm, then they returned to the Lake to fish.
+
+Of course the presence of the Indians made game scarce, but the mill men
+told us if we would go up farther into the marten country they thought
+we would do well. We therefore made us a hand sled, put some provisions
+and traps on board, and started up the river on the ice. As we went the
+snow grew deeper and we had to cut hemlock boughs for a bed on top of
+the snow. It took about a half a cord of wood to last us all night, and
+it was a trouble to cut holes in the ice to water, for it was more than
+two feet thick. Our fire kindled on the snow, would be two or three feet
+below on the ground, by morning. This country was heavily timbered with
+cedar, or spruce and apparently very level.
+
+One day we saw two otters coming toward us on the ice. We shot one, but
+as the other gun missed fire, the other one escaped, for I could not
+overtake it in the woods. We kept on up the river till we began to hear
+the Indians' guns, and then we camped and did not fire a gun for two
+days, for we were afraid we might be discovered and robbed, and we knew
+we could not stay long after our grub was gone. All the game we could
+catch was the marten or sable, which the Indians called _Waubusash_. The
+males were snuff color and the female much darker. Mink were scarce, and
+the beaver, living in the river bank, could not be got at till the ice
+went out in the spring.
+
+We now began to make marten traps or dead-falls, and set them for this
+small game. There were many cedar and tamarack swamps, indeed that was
+the principal feature, but there were some ridges a little higher where
+some small pines and beech grew. Now our camp was one place where there
+was no large timber caused by the stream being dammed by the beaver.
+Here were some of the real Russian Balsam trees, the most beautiful in
+shape I had ever seen. They were very dark green, the boughs very thick,
+and the tree in shape like an inverted top. Our lines of trips led for
+miles in every direction marked by blazed trees. We made a trap of two
+poles, and chips which we split from the trees. These were set in the
+snow and covered with brush, We sometimes found a porcupine in the top
+of a pine tree. The only signs of his presence were the chips he made in
+gnawing the bark for food. They never came down to the ground as we saw.
+They were about all the game that was good to eat. I would kill one,
+skin it and drag the carcass after me all day as I set traps, cutting
+off bits for bait, and cooking the rest for ourselves to eat. We tried
+to eat the marten but it was pretty musky and it was only by putting on
+plenty of salt and pepper that we managed to eat them. We were really
+forced to do it if we remained here. We secured a good many of these
+little fellows which have about the the best fur that is found in
+America.
+
+We were here about three weeks, and our provisions giving out and the
+ice becoming tender in the swamp were two pretty strong reasons for our
+getting out, so we shouldered our packs of fur and our guns and, getting
+our course from a pocket-compass, we started out. As we pushed on we
+came to some old windfalls that were troublesome to get through. The
+dense timber seemed to be six feet deep, and we would sometimes climb
+over and sometimes crawl under, the fallen trees were so thickly mixed
+and tangled.
+
+Mr. Buck got so completely tired that he threw away his traps. We
+reached our starting place at O'Neil's saw-mill after many days of the
+hardest work, and nearly starved, for we had seen no game on our trip.
+We found our traps and furs all safe here and as this stream was one of
+the tributaries of the Mississippi, we decided to make us a boat and
+float down toward that noted stream. We secured four good boards and
+built the boat in which we started down the river setting traps and
+moving at our leisure. We found plenty of fine ducks, two bee trees, and
+caught some cat-fish with a hook and line we got at the mill. We also
+caught some otter, and, on a little branch of the river killed two
+bears, the skin of one of them weighing five pounds. We met a keel boat
+being poled up the river, and with the last cent of money we possessed
+bought a little flour of them.
+
+About the first of May we reached Prairie du Chien. Here we were met
+with some surprise, for Mr. Brisbois said he had heard we were killed or
+lost. He showed us through his warehouses and pointed out to us the many
+bales of different kinds of furs he had on hand. He told us we were the
+best fur handlers he had seen, and paid us two hundred dollars in
+American gold for what we had. We then stored our traps in the garret of
+one of his warehouses, which was of stone, two stories and an attic, as
+we thought of making another trip to this country if all went well.
+
+We now entered our skiff again and went on down the great river till we
+came to a place nearly opposite Mineral Point, when we gave our boat to
+a poor settler, and with guns and bundles on our backs took a straight
+shoot for home on foot. The second day about dark we came in the edge of
+the town and were seen by a lot of boys who eyed us closely and with
+much curiosity, for we were dressed in our trapping suits. They followed
+us, and as we went along the crowd increased so that when we got to
+Crum. Lloyd's tavern the door was full of boys' heads looking at us as
+if we were a circus. Here we were heartily welcomed, and every body was
+glad to see us, as they were about to start a company to go in search of
+their reported murdered friends. It seems a missionary got lost on his
+way to Prairie La Crosse and had come across our deserted cabin, and
+when he came in he reported us as no doubt murdered.
+
+I invested all of my hundred dollars in buying eighty acres of good
+Government land. This was the first $100 I ever had and I felt very
+proud to be a land owner. I felt a little more like a man now than I had
+ever felt before, for the money was hard earned and all mine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Mr. Buck and myself concluded we would try our luck at lead mining for
+the summer and purchased some mining tools for the purpose. We camped
+out and dug holes around all summer, getting just about enough to pay
+our expenses--not a very encouraging venture, for we had lived in a tent
+and had picked and shoveled and blasted and twisted a windlass hard
+enough to have earned a good bit of money.
+
+In the fall we concluded to try another trapping tour, and set out for
+Prairie du Chien. We knew it was a poor place to spend money up in the
+woods, and when we got our money it was all in a lump and seemed to
+amount to something. Mr. Brisbois said that the prospects were very poor
+indeed, for the price of fur was very low and no prospect of a better
+market. So we left our traps still on storage at his place and went back
+again. This was in 1847, and before Spring the war was being pushed in
+Mexico. I tried to enlist for this service, but there were so many ahead
+of me I could not get a chance.
+
+I still worked in the settlement and made a living, but had no chance to
+improve my land. The next winter I lived with Mr A. Bennett, hunted deer
+and sold them at Mineral Point, and in this way made and saved a few
+dollars.
+
+There had been from time to time rumors of a better country to the west
+of us and a sort of a pioneer, or western fever would break out among
+the people occasionally. Thus in 1845 I had a slight touch of the
+disease on account of the stories they told us about Oregon. It was
+reported that the Government would give a man a good farm if he would go
+and settle, and make some specified improvement. They said it was in a
+territory of rich soil, with plenty of timber, fish and game and some
+Indians, just to give a little spice of adventure to the whole thing.
+The climate was very mild in winter, as they reported, and I concluded
+it would suit me exactly. I began at once to think about an outfit and a
+journey, and I found that it would take me at least two years to get
+ready. A trip to California was not thought of in those days, for it did
+not belong to the United States.
+
+In the winter of 1848-49 news began to come that there was gold in
+California, but not generally believed till it came through a U.S.
+officer, and then, as the people were used to mines and mining, a
+regular gold fever spread as if by swift contagion. Mr. Bennett was
+aroused and sold his farm, and I felt a change in my Oregon desires and
+had dreams at might of digging up the yellow dust. Nothing would cure us
+then but a trip, and that was quickly decided on.
+
+As it would be some weeks yet before grass would start, I concluded to
+haul my canoe and a few traps over to a branch of the Wisconsin, and
+make my way to Prairie du Chien, do a little trapping, get me an Indian
+pony on which to ride to California. There were no ponies to be had at
+Mineral Point. Getting a ride up the river on a passing steamboat I
+reached Prairie La Crosse, where the only house was that of a Dutch
+trader from whom I bought a Winnebago pony, which he had wintered on a
+little brushy island, and I thought if he could winter on brush and
+rushes he must be tough enough to take me across the plains. He cost me
+$30, and I found him to be a poor, lazy little fellow. However, I
+thought that when he got some good grass, and a little fat on his ribs
+he might have more life, and so I hitched a rope to him and drove him
+ahead down the river. When I came to the Bad Axe river I found it
+swimming full, but had no trouble in crossing, as the pony was as good
+as a dog in the water.
+
+Before leaving Bennett's I had my gun altered over to a pill lock and
+secured ammunition to last for two years. I had tanned some nice
+buckskin and had a good outfit of clothes made of it, or rather cut and
+made it myself. Where I crossed the Bad Axe was a the battle ground
+where Gen. Dodge fought the Winnebago Indians. At Prairie du Chien I
+found a letter from Mr. Bennett, saying that the grass was so backward
+he would not start up for two or three weeks, and I had better come back
+and start with them; but as the letter bore no date I could only guess
+at the exact time. I had intended to strike directly west from here to
+Council Bluffs and meet them there, but now thought perhaps I had better
+go back to Mineral Point and start out with them there, or follow on
+rapidly after them if by any chance they had already started.
+
+On my way back I found the Kickapoo river too high to ford, so I pulled
+some basswood bark and made a raft of a couple of logs, on which to
+carry my gun and blanket; starting the pony across I followed after. He
+swam across quickly, but did not seem to like it on the other side, so
+before I got across, back he came again, not paying the least attention
+to my scolding. I went back with the raft, which drifted a good way down
+stream, and caught the rascal and started him over again, but when I got
+half way across he jumped and played the same joke on me again. I began
+to think of the old puzzle of the story of the man with the fox, the
+goose and a peck of corn, but I solved it by making a basswood rope to
+which I tied a stone and threw across, then sending the pony over with
+the other end. He staid this time, and after three days of swimming
+streams and pretty hard travel reached Mineral Point, to find Bennett
+had been gone two weeks and had taken my outfit with him as we first
+planned.
+
+I was a little troubled, but set out light loaded for Dubuque, crossed
+the river there and then alone across Iowa, over wet and muddy roads,
+till I fell in with some wagons west of the Desmoines River. They were
+from Milwaukee, owned by a Mr. Blodgett, and I camped with them a few
+nights, till we got to the Missouri River.
+
+I rushed ahead the last day or two and got there before them. There were
+a few California wagons here, and some campers, so I put my pony out to
+grass and looked around. I waded across the low bottom to a strip of dry
+land next to the river, where there was a post office, store, and a few
+cabins. I looked first for a letter, but there was none. Then I began to
+look over the cards in the trading places and saloons, and read the
+names written on the logs of the houses, and everywhere I thought there
+might be a trace of the friends I sought. No one had seen or knew them.
+After looking half a day I waded back again to the pony--pretty blue. I
+thought first I would go back and wait another year, but there was a
+small train near where I left the pony, and it was not considered very
+safe to go beyond there except with a pretty good train. I sat down in
+camp and turned the matter over in my mind, and talked with Chas. Dallas
+of Lynn, Iowa, who owned the train. Bennett had my outfit and gun, while
+I had his light gun, a small, light tent, a frying pan, a tin cup, one
+woolen shirt and the clothes on my back. Having no money to get another
+outfit, I about concluded to turn back when Dallas said that if I would
+drive one of his teams through, he would board me, and I could turn my
+pony in with his loose horses; I thought it over, and finally put my
+things in the wagon and took the ox whip to go on. Dallas intended to
+get provision here, but could not, so we went down to St. Jo, following
+the river near the bluff. We camped near town and walked in, finding a
+small train on the main emigrant road to the west. My team was one yoke
+of oxen and one yoke of cows. I knew how to drive, but had a little
+trouble with the strange animals till they found I was kind to them, and
+then they were all right.
+
+This was in a slave state, and here I saw the first negro auction. One
+side of the street had a platform such as we build for a political
+speaker. The auctioneer mounted this with a black boy about 18 years
+old, and after he had told all his good qualities and had the boy stand
+up bold and straight, he called for bids, and they started him at $500.
+He rattled away as if he were selling a steer, and when Mr. Rubideaux,
+the founder of St. Jo bid $800, he went no higher and the boy was sold.
+With my New England notions it made quite an impression on me.
+
+Here Dallas got his supplies, and when the flour and bacon was loaded up
+the ferryman wanted $50 to take the train across. This Dallas thought
+too high and went back up the river a day's drive, where he got across
+for $30. From this crossing we went across the country without much of a
+road till we struck the road from St. Jo, and were soon on the Platte
+bottom.
+
+We found some fine strawberries at one of the camps across the country.
+We found some hills, but now the country was all one vast prairie, not a
+tree in sight till we reached the Platte, there some cottonwood and
+willow. At the first camp on the Platte I rolled up in my blanket under
+the wagon and thought more than I slept, but I was in for it and no
+other way but to go on. I had heard that there were two forts, new Ft.
+Kearny and Ft. Laramie, on the south side of the river, which we must
+pass before we reached the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, and beyond
+there there would be no place to buy medicine or food. Our little train
+of five wagons, ten men, one woman and three children would not be a
+formidable force against the Indians if they were disposed to molest us,
+and it looked to me very hazardous, and that a larger train would be
+more safe, for Government troops were seldom molested on their marches.
+
+If I should not please Mr. Dallas and get turned off with only my gun
+and pony I should be in a pretty bad shape, but I decided to keep right
+on and take the chances on the savages, who would get only my hair and
+my gun as my contribution to them if they should be hostile. I must
+confess, however, that the trail ahead did not look either straight or
+bright to me, but hoped it might be better than I thought. So I yoked my
+oxen and cows to the wagon and drove on. All the other teams had two
+drivers each, who took turns, and thus had every other day off for
+hunting if they chose, but I had to carry the whip every day and leave
+my gun in the wagon.
+
+When we crossed Salt Creek the banks were high and we had to tie a
+strong rope to the wagons and with a few turns around a post, lower them
+down easily, while we had to double the teams to get them up the other
+side.
+
+Night came on before half the wagons were over, and though it did not
+rain the water rose before morning so it was ten feet deep. We made a
+boat of one of the wagon beds, and had a regular ferry, and when they
+pulled the wagons over they sank below the surface but came out all
+right. We came to Pawnee Village, on the Platte, a collection of mud
+huts, oval in shape, and an entrance low down to crawl in at. A ground
+owl and some prairie dogs were in one of them, and we suspected they
+might be winter quarters for the Indians.
+
+Dallas and his family rode in the two-horse wagon. Dick Field was cook,
+and the rest of us drove the oxen. We put out a small guard at night to
+watch for Indians and keep the stock together so there might be no delay
+in searching for them. When several miles from Ft. Kearney I think on
+July 3rd, we camped near the river where there was a slough and much
+cottonwood and willow. Just after sundown a horse came galloping from
+the west and went in with our horses that were feeding a little farther
+down. In the morning two soldiers came from the fort, inquiring after
+the stray horse, but Dallas said he had seen none, and they did not hunt
+around among the willows for the lost animal. Probably it would be the
+easiest way to report back to the fort--"Indians got him." When we
+hitched up in the morning he put the horse on the off side of his own,
+and when near the fort, he went ahead on foot and entertained the
+officers while the men drove by, and the horse was not discovered. I did
+not like this much, for if we were discovered, we might be roughly
+handled, and perhaps the property of the innocent even confiscated.
+Really my New England ideas of honesty were somewhat shocked.
+
+Reaching the South Platte, it took us all day to ford the sandy stream,
+as we had first to sound out a good crossing by wading through
+ourselves, and when we started our teams across we dare not stop a
+moment for fear the wagons would sink deep into the quicksands. We had
+no mishaps in crossing, and when well camped on the other side a
+solitary buffalo made his appearance about 200 yards away and all hands
+started after him, some on foot. The horsemen soon got ahead of him, but
+he did not seem inclined to get out of their way, so they opened fire on
+him. He still kept his feet and they went nearer, Mr. Rogers, being on a
+horse with a blind bridle, getting near enough to fire his Colt's
+revolver at him, when he turned, and the horse, being unable to see the
+animal quick enough to get out of the way, suffered the force of a
+sudden attack of the old fellow's horns, and came out with a gash in his
+thigh six inches long, while Rogers went on a flying expedition over the
+horse's head, and did some lively scrambling when he reached the ground.
+The rest of them worried him along for about half a mile, and finally,
+after about forty shots he lay down but held his head up defiantly,
+receiving shot after shot with an angry shake, till a side shot laid him
+out. This game gave us plenty of meat, which though tough, was a
+pleasant change from bacon. I took no part in this battle except as an
+observer. On examination it was found that the balls had been many of
+them stopped by the matted hair about the old fellow's head and none of
+them had reached the skull.
+
+A few days after this we were stopped entirely by a herd of buffaloes
+crossing our road. They came up from the river and were moving south.
+The smaller animals seemed to be in the lead, and the rear was brought
+up by the old cows and the shaggy, burly bulls. All were moving at a
+smart trot, with tongues hanging out, and seemed to take no notice of
+us, though we stood within a hundred yards of them. We had to stand by
+our teams and stock to prevent a stampede, for they all seemed to have a
+great wonder, and somewhat of fear at their relatives of the plains.
+After this we often saw large droves of them in the distance. Sometimes
+we could see what in the distance seemed a great patch of brush, but by
+watching closely we could see it was a great drove of these animals.
+Those who had leisure to go up to the bluffs often reported large droves
+in sight. Antelopes were also seen, but these occupied the higher
+ground, and it was very hard to get near enough to them to shoot
+successfully. Still we managed to get a good deal of game which was very
+acceptable as food.
+
+One prominent land mark along the route was what they called Court House
+Rock, standing to the south from the trail and much resembled an immense
+square building, standing high above surrounding country. The farther we
+went on the more plentiful became the large game, and also wolves and
+prairie dogs, the first of which seemed to follow the buffaloes closely.
+
+About this time we met a odd looking train going east, consisting of
+five or six Mormons from Salt Lake, all mounted on small Spanish mules.
+They were dressed in buckskin and moccasins, with long spurs jingling at
+their heels, the rowels fully four inches long, and each one carried a
+gun, a pistol and a big knife. They were rough looking fellows with
+long, matted hair, long beards, old slouch hats and a generally back
+woods get-up air in every way. They had an extra pack mule, but the
+baggage and provisions were very light. I had heard much about the
+Mormons, both at Nauvoo and Salt Lake, and some way or other I could not
+separate the idea of horse thieves from this party, and I am sure I
+would not like to meet them if I had a desirable mule that they wanted,
+or any money, or a good looking wife. We talked with them half an hour
+or so and then moved on.
+
+We occasionally passed by a grave along the road, and often a small head
+board would state that the poor unfortunate had died of cholera. Many of
+these had been torn open by wolves and the blanket encircling the corpse
+partly pulled away. Our route led a few miles north of Chimney Rock,
+standing on an elevated point like a tall column, so perfect and regular
+on all sides, that from our point it looked as if it might be the work
+of the stone cutters. Some of the party went to see it and reported
+there was no way to ascend it, and that as far as a man could reach, the
+rocks were inscribed with the names of visitors and travelers who passed
+that way.
+
+At Scott's Bluffs, the bluffs came close to the river, so there was
+considerable hill climbing to get along, the road in other places
+finding ample room in the bottom. Here we found a large camp of the
+Sioux Indians on the bank of a ravine, on both sides of which were some
+large cottonwood trees. Away up in the large limbs platforms had been
+made of poles, on which were laid the bodies of their dead, wrapped in
+blankets and fastened down to the platform by a sort of a network of
+smaller poles tightly lashed so that they could not be dragged away or
+disturbed by wild animals. This seemed a strange sort of cemetery, but
+when we saw the desecrated earth-made graves we felt that perhaps this
+was the best way, even if it was a savage custom.
+
+These Indians were fair-sized men, and pretty good looking for red men.
+Some of our men went over to their camp, and some of their youths came
+down to ours, and when we started on they seemed quite proud that they
+had learned a little of the English language, but the extent of their
+knowledge seemed to be a little learned of the ox-drivers, for they
+would swing their hands at the cattle and cry out "Whoa! haw, g--d
+d--n." Whether they knew what was meant, I have my doubts. They seemed
+pretty well provided for and begged very little, as they are apt to do
+when they are hard pressed.
+
+We saw also some bands of Pawnee Indians on the move across the
+prairies. They would hitch a long, light pole on each side of a pony,
+with the ends dragging behind on the ground, and on a little platform at
+the hind end the children sat and were dragged along.
+
+As we passed on beyond Scott's Bluff the game began to be perceptibly
+scarcer, and what we did find was back from the traveled road, from
+which it had apparently been driven by the passing hunters.
+
+In time we reached Ft. Laramie, a trading post, where there were some
+Indian lodges, and we noticed that some of the occupants had lighter
+complexions than any of the other Indians we had seen. They had cords of
+dried buffalo meat, and we purchased some. It was very fat, but was so
+perfectly cured that the clear tallow tasted as sweet as a nut. I
+thought it was the best dried meat I had ever tasted, but perhaps a good
+appetite had something to do with it.
+
+As we passed Ft. Laramie we fell in company with some U.S. soldiers who
+were going to Ft. Hall and thence to Oregon. We considered them pretty
+safe to travel with and kept with them for some time, though their rate
+of travel was less than ours. Among them were some Mormons, employed as
+teamsters, and in other ways, and they told us there were some
+Missourians on the road who would never live to see California. There
+had been some contests between the Missourians and the Mormons, and I
+felt rather glad that none of us hailed from Pike county.
+
+We turned into what they called the Black Hills, leaving the Platte to
+the north of us. The first night on this road we had the hardest rain I
+ever experienced, and the only one of any account on our journey. Our
+camp was on a level piece of ground on the bank of a dry creek, which
+soon became a very wet creek indeed, for by morning it was one hundred
+yards wide and absolutely impassible. It went down, however, as quickly
+as it rose, and by ten o'clock it was so low that we easily crossed and
+went on our way. We crossed one stream where there were great drifts or
+piles of hail which had been brought down by a heavy storm from higher
+up the hills. At one place we found some rounded boulders from six to
+eight inches in diameter, which were partly hollow, and broken open were
+found to contain most beautiful crystals of quartz, clear as purest ice.
+The inside was certainly very pretty, and it was a mystery how it came
+there. I have since learned that such stones are found at many points,
+and that they are called geodes.
+
+We came out at the river again at the mouth of Deer Creek, and as there
+was some pretty good coal there quite easy to get, we made camp one day
+to try to tighten our wagon tires, John Rogers acting as blacksmith.
+This was my first chance to reconnoiter, and so I took my gun and went
+up the creek, a wide, treeless bottom. In the ravines on the south side
+were beautiful groves of small fir trees and some thick brush, wild rose
+bushes I think. I found here a good many heads and horns of elk, and I
+could not decide whether they had been killed in winter during the deep
+snow, or had starved to death.
+
+There was a ferry here to cross the river and go up along north side.
+Mr. Dallas bought the whole outfit for a small sum and when we were
+safely over he took with him such ropes as he wanted and tied the boat
+to the bank The road on this side was very sandy and led over and among
+some rolling hills. In talking with the men of the U.S. troops in whose
+company we still were, I gathered much information concerning our road
+further west. They said we were entirely too late to get through to
+California, on account of crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains, which,
+they said would be covered with snow by November, or even earlier, and
+that we would be compelled to winter at Salt Lake. Some of the drivers
+overheard Mr. Dallas telling his family the same thing, and that if he
+should winter at Salt Lake, he would discharge his drivers as soon as he
+arrived, as he could not afford to board them all winter.
+
+This was bad news for me, for I had known of the history of them at
+Nauvoo and in Missouri, and the prospect of being thrown among them with
+no money to buy bread was a very sorry prospect for me. From all I could
+learn we could not get a chance to work, even for our board there, and
+the other drivers shared my fears and disappointment. In this dilemma we
+called a council, and invited the gentleman in to have an understanding.
+He came and our spokesman stated the case to him, and our fears, and
+asked him what he had to say to us about it. He flew quite angry at us,
+and talked some and swore a great deal more, and the burden of his
+speech was:--"This train belongs to me and I propose to do with it just
+as I have a mind to, and I don't care a d--n what you fellows do or say.
+I am not going to board you fellows all winter for nothing, and when we
+get to Salt Lake you can go where you please, for I shall not want you
+any longer." We talked a little to him and under the circumstances to
+talk was about all we could do. He gave us no satisfaction and left us
+apparently much offended that we had any care for ourselves.
+
+Then we had some talk among ourselves, at the time, and from day to day
+as we moved along. We began to think that the only way to get along at
+all in Salt Lake would be to turn Mormons, and none of us had any belief
+or desire that way and could not make up our minds to stop our journey
+and lose so much time, and if we were not very favored travelers our lot
+might be cast among the sinners for all time.
+
+We were now on the Sweetwater River, and began to see the snow on the
+Rocky Mountains ahead of us, another reminder that there was a winter
+coming and only a little more than half our journey was done. We did not
+feel very happy over it, and yet we had to laugh once in a while at some
+of the funny things that would happen.
+
+The Government party we were with had among them a German mule driver
+who had a deal of trouble with his team, but who had a very little
+knowledge of the English language. When the officers tried to instruct
+him a little he seemed to get out of patience and would say something
+very like _Sacramento_. We did not know exactly what this meant. We had
+heard there was a river of that name or something very near like that;
+and then again some said that was the Dutch for swearing. If this latter
+was the truth then he was a very profane mule driver when he got mad.
+
+The Captain of the company had a very nice looking lady with him, and
+they carried a fine wall tent which they occupied when they went into
+camp. The company cook served their meals to them in the privacy of
+their tent, and they seemed to enjoy themselves very nicely. Everybody
+thought the Captain was very lucky in having such an accomplished
+companion, and journey along quietly to the gold fields at government
+expense.
+
+There seemed to be just a little jealousy between the Captain and the
+Lieutenant, and one day I saw them both standing in angry attitude
+before the Captain's quarters, both mounted, with their carbines lying
+across their saddles before them. They had some pretty sharp, hot words,
+and it looked as if they both were pretty nearly warmed up to the
+shooting point. Once the Lieutenant moved his right hand a little, and
+the Captain was quick to see it, shouting;--"Let your gun alone or I
+will make a hole through you," at the same time grasping his own and
+pointing it straight at the other officer. During all this time the
+Captain's lady stood in the tent door, and when she saw her favorite had
+the drop on the Lieutenant she clapped her delicate, little hands in a
+gleeful manner:--"Just look at the Captain! Ain't he spunky?" and then
+she laughed long and loud to see her lord show so much military courage.
+She seemed more pleased at the affair than any one else. I don't know
+exactly what the others thought, but I never could believe that the lady
+and the Captain were ever married.
+
+The Lieutenant was no coward, but probably thinking that prudence was
+the better part of valor, refrained from handling his gun, and the two
+soon rode away in opposite directions.
+
+We passed a lone rock standing in the river bottom on the Sweetwater,
+which they named Independence Rock. It was covered with the names of
+thousands of people who had gone by on that road. Some were pretty
+neatly chiseled in, some very rudely scrawled, and some put on with
+paint. I spent all the time I could hunting Mr. Bennett's name, but I
+could not find it anywhere. To have found his name, and thus to know
+that he had safely passed this point would have been a little
+re-assuring in those rather doubtful days. Some had named the date of
+their passing, and some of them were probably pretty near the gold
+fields at this time.
+
+All along in this section we found alkali water near the road, some very
+strong and dangerous for man or beast to use. We traveled on up the
+Sweetwater for some time, and at last came to a place where the road
+left the river, and we had a long, hard hill to pull up. When we reached
+the top of this we were in the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, the
+backbone of the American continent. To the north of us were some very
+high peaks white with snow, and to the south were some lower hills and
+valleys. The summit of the mountains was not quite as imposing as I
+expected, but it was the summit, and we were soon surely moving down the
+western side, for at Pacific Springs the water ran to the westward,
+toward the Pacific coast. The next day we came to the nearly dry bed of
+the river--the Big Sandy. The country round about seemed volcanic, with
+no timber, but plenty of sage brush, in which we were able to shoot an
+occasional sage hen. The river bed itself was nothing but sand, and
+where there was water enough to wet it, it was very miry and hard
+traveling over it. There are two streams, the Big Sandy and Little
+Sandy, both tributaries to Green River, which we soon reached and
+crossed.
+
+It was a remarkable clear and rapid stream and was now low enough to
+ford. One of the Government teams set out to make the crossing at a
+point where it looked shallow enough, but before the lead mules reached
+the opposite shore, they lost their footing and were forced to swim. Of
+course the wagon stopped and the team swung round and tangled up in a
+bad shape. They were unhitched and the wagon pulled back, the load was
+somewhat dampened, for the water came into the wagon box about a foot.
+We camped here and laid by one day, having thus quite a little chance to
+look around.
+
+When we came to the first water that flowed toward the Pacific Coast at
+Pacific Springs, we drivers had quite a little talk about a new scheme.
+We put a great many "ifs" together and they amounted to about this:--If
+this stream were large enough; if we had a boat; if we knew the way: if
+there were no falls or bad places; if we had plenty of provisions; if we
+were bold enough set out on such a trip, etc., we might come out at some
+point or other on the Pacific Ocean. And now when we came to the first
+of the "ifs," a stream large enough to float a small boat; we began to
+think more strongly about the other "ifs".
+
+In the course of our rambles we actually did run across the second "if"
+in the shape of a small ferry boat filled up with sand upon a bar, and
+it did not take very long to dig it out and put it into shape to use,
+for it was just large enough to hold one wagon at a time. Our military
+escort intended to leave us at this point, as their route now bore off
+to the north of ours. I had a long talk with the surgeon who seemed well
+informed about the country, and asked him about the prospects. He did
+not give the Mormons a very good name. He said to me:--"If you go to
+Salt Lake City, do not let them know you are from Missouri, for I tell
+you that many of those from that State will never see California. You
+know they were driven from Missouri, and will get revenge if they can."
+Both the surgeon and the captain said the stream came out on the Pacific
+Coast and that we had no obstacles except cataracts, which they had
+heard were pretty bad. I then went to Dallas and told him what we
+proposed doing and to our surprise he did not offer any objections, and
+offered me $60 for my pony. He said he would sell us some flour and
+bacon for provisions also.
+
+We helped them in crossing the river, which was somewhat difficult,
+being swift, with boulders in the bottom but we got all safely over and
+then made the trade we had spoken of. Dallas paid me for my pony and we
+took what flour and bacon he would let go. He gave us some ropes for
+head and stern lines to our boat and a couple of axes, and we laid
+these, and our provisions in a pile by the roadside. Six of us then gave
+up our whips. Mr. S. McMahon, a driver, hesitated for some time, but
+being pressed by Dallas for a decision, at last threw down his whip and
+said:--"I will go with the boys." This left Dallas with only one driver,
+but he took a whip himself, and with the aid of the children and his
+wife who drove the two-horse wagon, they got along very well. I paid for
+such provisions as we had taken, as the rest of the fellows had almost
+no money.
+
+So we parted company, the little train slowly moving on its way
+westward. Our military captain, the soldier boys, and the gay young lady
+taking the route to Oregon, and we sitting on the bank of the river
+whose waters flowed to the great Pacific. Each company wished the other
+good luck, we took a few long breaths and then set to work in earnest to
+carry out our plans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+About the first thing we did was to organize and select a captain, and,
+very much against my wishes, I was chosen to this important position.
+Six of us had guns of some sort, Richard Field, Dallas's cook, was not
+armed at all. We had one regular axe and a large camp hatchet, which was
+about the same as an axe, and several very small hatchets owned by the
+men. All our worldly goods were piled up on the bank, and we were alone.
+
+An examination of the old ferry boat showed it to be in pretty good
+condition, the sand with which it had been filled keeping it very
+perfectly. We found two oars in the sand under the boat, and looked up
+some poles to assist us in navigation. Our cordage was rather scant but
+the best we could get and all we could muster. The boat was about twelve
+feet long and six or seven feet wide, not a very well proportioned
+craft, but having the ability to carry a pretty good load. We swung it
+up to the bank and loaded up our goods and then ourselves. It was not a
+heavy load for the craft, and it looked as if we were taking the most
+sensible way to get to the Pacific, and almost wondered that everybody
+was so blind as not to see it as we did.
+
+This party was composed of W.L. Manley, M.S. McMahon, Charles and Joseph
+Hazelrig, Richard Field, Alfred Walton and John Rogers. We untied the
+ropes, gave the boat a push and commenced to move down the river with
+ease and comfort, feeling much happier than we would had we been going
+toward Salt Lake with the prospect of wintering there.
+
+At the mouth of Ham's Fork we passed a camp of Indians, but we kept
+close to the opposite shore to avoid being boarded by them. They
+beckoned very urgently for us to come ashore, but I acted as if I did
+not understand them, and gave them the go-by.
+
+As we were floating down the rapid stream it became more and more a
+rapid, roaring river, and the bed contained many dangerous rocks that
+were difficult to shun. Each of us had a setting-pole, and we ranged
+ourselves along the sides of the boat and tried to keep ourselves clear
+from the rocks and dangers. The water was not very deep and made such a
+dashing noise as the current rushed among the rocks that one had to talk
+pretty loud to be heard. As we were gliding along quite swiftly, I set
+my pole on the bottom and gave the boat a sudden push to avoid a
+boulder, when the pole stuck in the crevice between two rocks, and
+instead of losing the pole by the sudden jerk I gave, I was the one who
+was very suddenly yanked from the boat by the spring of the pole, and
+landed in the middle of the river. I struck pretty squarely on my back,
+and so got thoroughly wet, but swam for shore amid the shouts of the
+boys, who waved their hats and hurrahed for the captain when they saw he
+was not hurt. I told them that was nothing as we were on our way to
+California by water any way, and such things must be expected.
+
+The next day after this I went on shore and sighted a couple of
+antelope, one of which I shot, which gave us good grub, and good
+appetites we already had. As near as we could estimate we floated about
+thirty miles a day, which beat the pace of tired oxen considerably. In
+one place there was a fringe of thick willows along the bank, and a
+little farther back a perpendicular bluff, while between the two was a
+strip of fine green grass. As we were passing this we scared up a band
+of elk in this grass meadow, and they all took a run down the river like
+a band of horses. One of them turned up a small ravine with walls so
+steep he could not get out, so we posted a guard at the entrance, and
+three of us went up the canon after him, and after the others had each
+fired a shot, I fired the third and brought him down. This was about the
+finest piece of Rocky Mountain beef that one could see. We took the
+carcass on board and floated on again.
+
+Thus far we had a very pleasant time, each taking his turn in working
+the boat while the others rested or slept. About the fifth day when we
+were floating along in very gently running water, I had lay down to take
+a rest and a little sleep. The mountains here on both sides of the river
+were not very steep, but ran gradually for a mile or so. While I was
+sleeping the boat came around a small angle in the stream, and all at
+once there seemed to be a higher, steeper range of mountains right
+across the valley. The boys thought the river was coming to a rather
+sudden end and hastily awoke me, and for the life of me I could not say
+they were not right, for there was no way in sight for it to go to. I
+remembered while looking over a map the military men had I found a place
+named Brown's Hole, and I told the boys I guessed we were elected to go
+on foot to California after all, for I did not propose to follow the
+river down any sort of a hole into any mountain. We were floating
+directly toward a perpendicular cliff, and I could not see any hole any
+where, nor any other place where it could go. Just as we were within a
+stone's throw of the cliff, the river turned sharply to the right and
+went behind a high point of the mountain that seemed to stand squarely
+on edge. This was really an immense crack or crevice, certainly 2000
+feet deep and perhaps much more, and seemed much wider at the bottom
+than it did at the top, 2000 feet or more above our heads. Each wall
+seemed to lean in toward the water as it rose.
+
+We were now for some time between two rocky walls between which the
+river ran very rapidly, and we often had to get out and work our boat
+over the rocks, sometimes lifting it off when it caught. Fortunately we
+had a good tow line, and one would take this and follow along the edge
+when it was so he could walk. The mountains seemed to get higher and
+higher on both sides as we advanced, and in places we could see quite a
+number of trees overhanging the river, and away up on the rocks we could
+see the wild mountain sheep looking down at us. They were so high that
+they seemed a mile away, and consequently safe enough. This was their
+home, and they seemed very independent, as if they dared us fellows to
+come and see them. There was an old cottonwood tree on bank with marks
+of an axe on it, but this was all the sign we saw that any one had ever
+been here before us. We got no game while passing through this deep
+canon and began to feel the need of some fresh provisions very sorely.
+
+We passed many deep, dark canons coming into the main stream, and at one
+place, where the rock hung a little over the river and had a smooth
+wall, I climbed up above the high water mark which we could clearly see,
+and with a mixture of gunpowder and grease for paint, and a bit of cloth
+tied to a stick for a brush, I painted in fair sized letters on the
+rock, CAPT. W.L. MANLEY, U.S.A. We did not know whether we were within
+the bounds of the United States or not, and we put on all the majesty we
+could under the circumstances. I don't think the sun ever shone down to
+the bottom of the canon, for the sides were literally sky-high, for the
+sky, and a very small portion of that was all we could see.
+
+Just before night we came to a place where some huge rocks as large as
+cabins had fallen down from the mountain, completely filling up the
+river bed, and making it completely impassible for our boat. We unloaded
+it and while the boys held the stern line, I took off my clothes and
+pushed the boat out into the torrent which ran around the rocks, letting
+them pay the line out slowly till it was just right. Then I sang out
+to--"Let go"--and away it dashed. I grasped the bow line, and at the
+first chance jumped overboard and got to shore, when I held the boat and
+brought it in below the obstructions. There was some deep water below
+the rocks; and we went into camp. While some loaded the boat, others
+with a hook and line caught some good fish, which resembled mackerel.
+
+While I was looking up toward the mountain top, and along down the rocky
+wall, I saw a smooth place about fifty feet above where the great rocks
+had broken out, and there, painted in large black letters, were the
+words "ASHLEY, 1824." This was the first real evidence we had of the
+presence of a white man in this wild place, and from this record it
+seems that twenty-five years before some venturesome man had here
+inscribed his name. I have since heard there were some persons in St.
+Louis of this name, and of some circumstances which may link them with
+this early traveler.
+
+When we came to look around we found that another big rock blocked the
+channel 300 yards below, and the water rushed around it with a terrible
+swirl. So we unloaded the boat again and made the attempt to get around
+it as we did the other rocks. We tried to get across the river but
+failed. We now, all but one, got on the great rock with our poles, and
+the one man was to ease the boat down with the rope as far as he could,
+then let go and we would stop it with our poles and push it out into the
+stream and let it go over, but the current was so strong that when the
+boat struck the rock we could not stop it, and the gunwale next to us
+rose, and the other went down, so that in a second the boat stood
+edgewise in the water and the bottom tight against the big rock, and the
+strong current pinned it there so tight that we could no more move it
+than we could move the rock itself.
+
+This seemed a very sudden ending to our voyage and there were some very
+rapid thoughts as to whether we would not safer among the Mormons than
+out in this wild country, afoot and alone. Our boat was surely lost
+beyond hope, and something must be done. I saw two pine trees, about two
+feet through, growing on a level place just below, and I said to them
+that we must decide between going afoot and making some canoes out of
+these pine trees. Canoes were decided on, and we never let the axes
+rest, night or day till we had them completed. While my working shift
+was off, I took an hour or two, for a little hunting, and on a low
+divide partly grown over with small pines and juniper I found signs, old
+and new, of many elk, and so concluded the country was well stocked with
+noble game. The two canoes, when completed were about fifteen feet long
+and two feet wide, and we lashed them together for greater security.
+When we tried them we found they were too small to carry our load and
+us, and we landed half a mile below, where there were two other pine
+trees--white pine--about two feet through, and much taller than the ones
+we had used. We set at work making a large canoe of these. I had to
+direct the work for I was the only one who had ever done such work. We
+worked night and day at these canoes, keeping a big fire at night and
+changing off to keep the axes busy. This canoe we made twenty-five or
+thirty feet long, and when completed they made me captain of it and into
+it loaded the most valuable things, such as provisions, ammunition, and
+cooking utensils. I had to take the lead for I was the only skillful
+canoeist in the party. We agreed upon signals to give when danger was
+seen, or game in sight, and leading off with my big canoe we set sail
+again, and went flying down stream.
+
+This rapid rate soon brought us out of the high mountains and into a
+narrow valley when the stream became more moderate in its speed and we
+floated along easily enough. In a little while after we struck this
+slack water, as we were rounding a point, I saw on a sand bar in the
+river, five or six elk, standing and looking at us with much curiosity.
+I signaled for those behind to go to shore, while I did the same, and
+two or three of us took our guns and went carefully down along the bank,
+the thick brush hiding us from them, till we were in fair range, then
+selecting our game we fired on them. A fine doe fell on the opposite
+bank, and a magnificent buck which Rogers and I selected, went below and
+crossed the river on our side. We followed him down along the bank which
+was here a flat meadow with thick bunches of willows, and soon came
+pretty near to Mr. Elk who started off on a high and lofty trot. As he
+passed an opening in the bushes I put a ball through his head and he
+fell. He was a monster. Rogers, who was a butcher, said it would weigh
+five hundred or six hundred pounds. The horns were fully six feet long,
+and by placing the horns on the ground, point downwards, one could walk
+under the skull between them. We packed the meat to our canoes, and
+staid up all night cutting the meat in strips and drying it, to reduce
+bulk and preserve it, and it made the finest kind of food, fit for an
+epicure.
+
+Starting on again, the river lost more and more of of its rapidity as it
+came out into a still wider valley, and became quite sluggish. We picked
+red berries that grew on bushes that overhung the water. They were sour
+and might have been high cranberries. One day I killed an otter, and
+afterward hearing a wild goose on shore, I went for the game and killed
+it on a small pond on which there were also some mallard duck. I killed
+two of these. When I fired, the ones not killed did not fly away, but
+rather swam toward me. I suppose they never before had seen a man or
+heard the report of a gun. On the shore around the place I saw a small
+bear track, but I did not have time to look for his bearship, and left,
+with the game already killed, and passed on down through this beautiful
+valley.
+
+We saw one place where a large band of horses had crossed, and as the
+men with them must have had a raft, we were pretty sure that the men in
+charge of them were white men. Another day we passed the mouth of a
+swollen stream which came in from the west side. The water was thick
+with mud, and the fish, about a foot long, came to the top, with their
+noses out of water. We tried to catch some, but could not hold them. One
+night we camped on an island, and I took my gun and went over toward the
+west side where I killed a deer. The boys hearing me shoot, came out,
+guns in hand, thinking I might need help, and I was very glad of their
+assistance. To make our flour go as far as possible we ate very freely
+of meat, and having excellent appetites it disappeared very fast.
+
+It took us two or three days to pass this beautiful valley, and then we
+began to get into a rougher country again, the canons deeper and the
+water more tumultuous. McMahon and I had the lead always, in the big
+canoe. The mountains seemed to change into bare rocks and get higher and
+higher as we floated along. After the first day of this the river became
+so full of boulders that many times the only way we could do was to
+unload the canoes and haul them over, load up and go ahead, only to
+repeat the same tactics in a very short time again. At one place where
+the river was more than usually obstructed we found a deserted camp, a
+skiff and some heavy cooking utensils, with a notice posted up on an
+alder tree saying that they had found the river route impracticable, and
+being satisfied that the river was so full of rocks and boulders that it
+could not be safely navigated, they had abandoned the undertaking and
+were about to start overland to make their way to Salt Lake. I took down
+the names of the parties at the time in my diary, which has since been
+burned, but have now forgotten them entirely. They were all strangers to
+me. They had taken left such heavy articles as could not be carried on
+foot. This notice rather disconcerted us, but we thought we had better
+keep on and see for ourselves, so we did not follow them, but kept on
+down the rocky river. We found generally more boulders than water, and
+the down grade of the river bed was heavy.
+
+Some alders and willows grew upon the bank and up quite high on the
+mountains we could see a little timber. Some days we did not go more
+than four or five miles, and that was serious work, loading and
+unloading our canoes, and packing them over the boulders, with only
+small streams of water curling around between them. We went barefoot
+most of the time, for we were more than half of the time in the water
+which roared and dashed so loud that we could hardly heard each other
+speak. We kept getting more and more venturesome and skillful, and
+managed to run some very dangerous rapids in safety.
+
+On the high peaks above our heads we could see the Rocky Mountain sheep
+looking defiantly at us from their mountain fastnesses, so far away they
+looked no larger than jack rabbits. They were too far off to try to
+shoot at, and we had no time to try to steal up any nearer for at the
+rate we were making, food would be the one thing needful, for we were
+consuming it very fast. Sometimes we could ride a little ways, and then
+would come the rough-and-tumble with the rocks again.
+
+One afternoon we came to a sudden turn in the river, more than a right
+angle, and, just below, a fall of two feet or more. This I ran in
+safety, as did the rest who followed and we cheered at our pluck and
+skill. Just after this the river swung back the other way at a right
+angle or more, and I quickly saw there was danger below and signaled
+them to go on shore at once, and lead the canoes over the dangerous
+rapids. I ran my own canoe near shore and got by the rapid safely,
+waiting for the others to come also. They did not obey my signals but
+thought to run the rapid the same as I did. The channel here was
+straight for 200 yards, without a boulder in it, but the stream was so
+swift that it caused great, rolling waves in the center, of a kind I
+have never seen anywhere else. The boys were not skillful enough to
+navigate this stream, and the suction drew them to the center where the
+great waves rolled them over and over, bottom side up and every way. The
+occupants of our canoe let go and swam to shore. Fields had always been
+afraid of water and had worn a life preserver every day since we left
+the wagons. He threw up his hands and splashed and kicked at a terrible
+rate, for he could not swim, and at last made solid ground. One of the
+canoes came down into the eddy below, where it lodged close to the
+shore, bottom up. Alfred Walton in the other canoe could not swim, but
+held on to the gunwale with a death grip, and it went on down through
+the rapids. Sometimes we could see the man and sometimes not, and he and
+the canoe took turns in disappearing. Walton had very black hair, and as
+he clung fast to his canoe his black head looked like a crow on the end
+of a log. Sometimes he would be under so long that we thought he must be
+lost, when up he would come again still clinging manfully.
+
+McMahon and I threw everything out of the big canoe and pushed out after
+him. I told Mc. to kneel down so I could see over him to keep the craft
+off the rocks, and by changing his paddle from side to side as ordered,
+he enabled me to make quick moves and avoid being dashed to pieces. We
+fairly flew, the boys said, but I stood up in the stern and kept it
+clear of danger till we ran into a clear piece of river and overtook
+Walton clinging to the overturned boat; McMahon seized the boat and I
+paddled all to shore, but Walton was nearly dead and could hardly keep
+his grasp on the canoe. We took him to a sandy place and worked over him
+and warmed him in the sun till he came to life again, then built a fire
+and laid him up near to it to get dry and warm. If the canoe had gone on
+20 yards farther with him before we caught it, he would have gone into
+another long rapid and been drowned. We left Walton by the fire and
+crossing the river in the slack water, went up to where the other boys
+were standing, wet and sorry-looking, say-that all was gone and lost.
+Rogers put his hand in his pocket and pulled out three half dollars and
+said sadly:--"Boys, this is all I am worth in the world." All the
+clothes he had were a pair of overalls and a shirt. If he had been
+possessed of a thousand in gold he would have been no richer, for there
+was no one to buy from and nothing to buy. I said to them: "Boys, we
+can't help what has happened, we'll do the best we can. Right your
+canoe, get the water out, and we'll go down and see how Walton is." They
+did as I told them, and lo and behold when the canoe rolled right side
+up, there were their clothes and blankets safe and sound. These light
+things had floated in the canoe and were safe. We now tried by joining
+hands to reach out far enough to recover some of the guns, but by
+feeling with their feet they found the bottom smooth as glass and the
+property all swept on below, no one knew where. The current was so
+powerful that no one could stand in it where it came up above his knees.
+The eddy which enabled us to save the first canoe with the bedding and
+clothes was caused by a great boulder as large as a house which had
+fallen from above and partly blocked the stream. Everything that would
+sink was lost.
+
+We all got into the two canoes and went down to Walton, where we camped
+and staid all night for Walton's benefit. While we were waiting I took
+my gun and tried to climb up high enough to see how much longer this
+horrible canon was going to last, but after many attempts, I could not
+get high enough to see in any direction. The mountain was all bare rocks
+in terraces, but it was impossible to climb from one to the other, and
+the benches were all filled with broken rocks that had fallen from
+above.
+
+By the time I got back to camp, Walton was dry and warm and could talk.
+He said he felt better, and pretty good over his rescue. When he was
+going under the water, it seemed sometimes as if he never would come to
+the top again, but he held on and eventually came out all right. He
+never knew how he got to shore, he was so nearly dead when rescued.
+
+The next morning Walton was so well we started on. We were now very
+poorly armed. My rifle and McMahon's shotgun were all the arms we had
+for seven of us, and we could make but a poor defence if attacked by man
+or beast, to say nothing of providing ourselves with food. The mountains
+on each side were very bare of timber, those on the east side
+particularly so, and very high and barren. Toward night we were floating
+along in a piece of slack water, the river below made a short turn
+around a high and rocky point almost perpendicular from the water. There
+was a terrace along the side of this point about fifty feet up, and the
+bench grew narrower as it approached the river. As I was coming down
+quite close under this bank I saw three mountain sheep on the bench
+above, and, motioning to the boys, I ran on shore and, with my gun in
+hand, crept down toward them, keeping a small pine tree between myself
+and the sheep. There were some cedar bushes on the point, and the pines
+grew about half way up the bank. I got in as good a range as possible
+and fired at one of them which staggered around and fell down to the
+bottom of the cliff. I loaded and took the next largest one which came
+down the same way. The third one tried to escape by going down the bend
+and then creeping up a crevice, but it could not get away and turned
+back, cautiously, which gave me time to load again and put a ball
+through it. I hit it a little too far back for instant death, but I
+followed it up and found it down and helpless, and soon secured it. I
+hauled this one down the mountain, and the other boys had the two others
+secure by this time. McMahon was so elated at my success that he said:
+"Manley, if I could shoot as you do I would never want any better
+business." And the other fellows said they guessed we were having better
+luck with one gun than with six, so we had a merry time after all. These
+animals were of a bluish color, with hair much finer than deer, and
+resembled a goat more than a sheep. These three were all females and
+their horns were quite straight, not curved like the big males. We cut
+the meat from the bones and broke them up, making a fine soup which
+tasted pretty good. They were in pretty good order, and the meat like
+very good mutton.
+
+We kept pushing on down the river. The rapids were still dangerous in
+many places, but not so frequent nor so bad as the part we had gone
+over, and we could see that the river gradually grew smoother as we
+progressed.
+
+After a day or two we began to get out of the canons, but the mountains
+and hills on each side were barren and of a pale yellow caste, with no
+chance for us to climb up and take a look to see if there were any
+chances for us further along. We had now been obliged to follow the
+canon for many miles, for the only way to get out was to get out
+endwise, climbing the banks being utterly out of the question. But these
+mountains soon came to an end, and there was some cottonwood and willows
+on the bank of the river, which was now so smooth we could ride along
+without the continual loading and unloading we had been forced to
+practice for so long. We had begun to get a little desperate at the lack
+of game, but the new valley, which grew wider all the time, gave us hope
+again, if it was quite barren everywhere except back of the willow
+trees.
+
+We were floating along very silently one day, for none of us felt very
+much in the mood for talking, when we heard a distant sound which we
+thought was very much like the firing of a gun. We kept still, and in a
+short time a similar sound was heard, plainer and evidently some ways
+down the stream. Again and again we heard it, and decided that it must
+be a gun shot, and yet we were puzzled to know how it could be. We were
+pretty sure there were no white people ahead of us, and we did not
+suppose the Indians in this far-off land had any firearms. It might be
+barely possible that we were coming now to some wagon train taking a
+southern course, for we had never heard that there were any settlements
+in this direction and the barren country would preclude any such thing,
+as we viewed it now. If it was a hostile band we could not do much with
+a rifle and a shot gun toward defending ourselves or taking the
+aggressive. Some of the boys spoke of our scalps ornamenting a spear
+handle, and indulged in such like cheerful talk which comforted us
+wonderfully.
+
+Finally we concluded we did not come out into that wild country to be
+afraid of a few gunshots, and determined to put on a bold front, fight
+if we had to, run away if we could not do any better, and take our
+chances on getting scalped or roasted. Just then we came in sight of
+three Indian lodges just a little back from the river, and now we knew
+for certain who had the guns. McMahon and I were in the lead as usual,
+and it was only a moment before one of the Indians appeared, gun in
+hand, and made motions for us to come on shore. A cottonwood tree lay
+nearly across the river, and I had gone so far that I had to go around
+it and land below, but the other boys behind were afraid to do otherwise
+than to land right there as the Indian kept his gun lying across his
+arm. I ran our canoe below to a patch of willows, where we landed and
+crawled through the brush till we came in sight of the other boys, where
+we stood and waited a moment to see how they fared, and whether our red
+men were friends or enemies. There were no suspicious movements on their
+part, so we came out and walked right up to them. There was some little
+talk, but I am sure we did not understand one another's language, and so
+we made motions and they made motions, and we got along better. We went
+with them down to the tepee, and there we heard the first word that was
+at all like English and that was "Mormonee," with a sort of questioning
+tone. Pretty soon one said "Buffalo," and then we concluded they were on
+a big hunt of some sort. They took us into their lodges and showed us
+blankets, knives, and guns, and then, with a suggestive motion, said all
+was "Mormonee," by which we understood they had got them from the
+Mormons. The Indian in the back part of the lodge looked very pleasant
+and his countenance showed a good deal of intelligence for a man of the
+mountains. I now told the boys that we were in a position where we were
+dependent on some one, and that I had seen enough to convince me that
+these Indians were perfectly friendly with the Mormons, and that for our
+own benefit we had better pass ourselves off for Mormons, also. So we
+put our right hand to our breast and said "Mormonee," with a cheerful
+countenance, and that act conveyed to them the belief that we were
+chosen disciples of the great and only Brigham and we became friends at
+once, as all acknowledged. The fine-looking Indian who sat as king in
+the lodge now, by motions and a word or two, made himself known as Chief
+Walker, and when I knew this I took great pains to cultivate his
+acquaintance.
+
+I was quite familiar with the sign language used by all the Indians, and
+found I could get along pretty well in making him understand and knowing
+what he said. I asked him first how many "sleeps" or days it was from
+there to "Mormonee." In answer he put out his left hand and then put two
+fingers of his right astride of it, making both go up and down with the
+same motion of a man riding a horse. Then he shut his eyes and laid his
+head on his hand three times, by which I understood that a man could
+ride to the Mormon settlement in three sleeps or four days. He then
+wanted to know where we were going, and I made signs that we were
+wishing to go toward the setting sun and to the big water, and I said
+"California." The country off to the west of us now seemed an open,
+barren plain, which grew wider as it extended west. The mountains on the
+north side seemed to get lower and smaller as they extended west, but on
+the south or east side they were all high and rough. It seemed as if we
+could see one hundred miles down the river, and up to the time we met
+the Indians we thought we had got through all our troublesome navigation
+and could now sail on, quietly and safely to the great Pacific Ocean and
+land of gold.
+
+When I told Chief Walker this he seemed very much astonished, as if
+wondering why we were going down the river when we wanted to get west
+across the country. I asked him how many sleeps it was to the big water,
+and he shook his head, pointed out across the country and then to the
+river and shook his head again; by which I understood that water was
+scarce, out the way he pointed. He then led me down to a smooth sand bar
+on the river and then, with a crooked stick, began to make a map in the
+sand. First he made a long crooked mark, ten feet long or so, and
+pointing to the river to let me know that the mark in the sand was made
+to represent it. He then made a straight mark across near the north end
+of the stream, and showed the other streams which came into the Green
+river which I saw at once was exactly correct. Then he laid some small
+stones on each side of the cross mark, and making a small hoop of a
+willow twig, he rolled it in the mark he had made across the river, then
+flourished his stick as if he were driving oxen. Thus he represented the
+emigrant road. He traced the branches off to the north where the
+soldiers had gone, and the road to California, which the emigrants took,
+all of which we could see was correct. Then he began to describe the
+river down which we had come. A short distance below the road he put
+some small stones on each side of the river to represent mountains. He
+then put down his hands, one on each side of the crooked mark and then
+raised them up again saying e-e-e-e-e-e as he raised them, to say that
+the mountains there were very high. Then he traced down the stream to a
+place below where we made our canoes; when he placed the stone back from
+the river farther, to show that there was a valley there; then he drew
+them in close again farther down, and piled them up again two or three
+tiers high, then placing both fists on them he raised them higher than
+the top of his head, saying e-e-e-e-e-e and looking still higher and
+shaking his head as if to say:--"Awful bad canon", and thus he went on
+describing the river till we understood that we were near the place
+where we now were, and then pointed to his tepee, showing that I
+understood him all right. It was all correct, as I very well knew and
+assured me that he knew all about the country.
+
+I became much interested in my new found friend, and had him continue
+his map down the river. He showed two streams coming in on the east side
+and then he began piling up stones on each side of the river and then
+got longer ones and piled them higher and higher yet. Then he stood with
+one foot on each side of his river and put his hands on the stones and
+then raised them as high as he could, making a continued e-e-e-e-e-e as
+long as his breath would last, pointed to the canoe and made signs with
+his hands how it would roll and pitch in the rapids and finely capsize
+and throw us all out. He then made signs of death to show us that it was
+a fatal place. I understood perfectly plain from this that below the
+valley where we now were was a terrible canon, much higher than any we
+had passed, and the rapids were not navigable with safety. Then Walker
+shook his head more than once and looked very sober, and said "Indiano"
+and reaching for his bow and arrows, he drew the bow back to its utmost
+length and put the arrow close to my breast, showing how I would get
+shot. Then he would draw his hand across his throat and shut his eyes as
+if in death to make us understand that this was a hostile country before
+us, as well as rough and dangerous.
+
+I now had a description of the country ahead and believed it to be
+reliable. As soon as I could conveniently after this, I had a council
+with the boys, who had looked on in silence while I was holding the
+silent confab with the chief. I told them where we were and what chances
+there were of getting to California by this route, and that for my part
+I had as soon be killed by Mormans as by savage Indians, and that I
+believed the best way for us to do was to make the best of our way to
+Salt Lake. "Now" I said, "Those of you who agree with me can follow--and
+I hope all will."
+
+McMahon said that we could not understand a word the old Indian said,
+and as to following his trails, I don't believe a word of it, and it
+don't seem right.
+
+He said he had a map of the country, and it looked just as safe to him
+to go on down the river as to go wandering across a dry and desolate
+country which we knew nothing of. I said to McMahon--"I know this sign
+language pretty well. It is used by almost all the Indians and is just
+as plain and certain to me as my talk is to you. Chief Walker and his
+forefathers were borne here and know the country as well as you know
+your father's farm, and for my part, I think I shall take one of his
+trails and go to Salt Lake and take the chances that way. I have no
+objections to you going some other way if you wish to and think it is
+best". McMahon and Fields concluded they would not follow me any
+farther.
+
+I then went to Chief Walker and had him point out the trail to
+"Mormonie" as well as he could. He told me where to enter the mountains
+leading north, and when we got part way he told me we would come to an
+Indian camp, when I must follow some horse tracks newly made; he made me
+know this by using his hands like horse's forefeet, and pointed the way.
+
+Some of the young men motioned for me to come out and shoot at a mark
+with them, and as I saw it would please them I did so and took good care
+to beat them every time too. Then they wanted to swap (narawaup) guns
+with me which I declined doing. After this the Chief came to me and
+wanted me to go and hunt buffalo with them. I told him I had no horse,
+and then he went and had a nice gray one brought up and told me I could
+ride him if I would go. He took his bow and arrow and showed me how he
+could shoot an arrow straight through a buffalo just back of his short
+ribs and that the arrow would go clear through and come out on the other
+side without touching a bone. Those fellows were in fine spirit, on a
+big hunt, and when Walker pointed out his route to me he swung his hand
+around to Salt Lake.
+
+They all spoke the word buffalo quite plainly. I took his strong bow and
+found I could hardly pull it half way out, but I have no doubt he could
+do as he said he could. I hardly knew how to refuse going with him. I
+asked him how long it would be before he would get around his long
+circuit and get to Salt Lake, to which he replied by pulverizing some
+leaves in his hands and scattering them in the air to represent snow,
+which would fall by the time he got to "Mormonee". I shivered as he said
+this and by his actions I saw that I understood him right.
+
+I told him I could not go with him for the other boys would depend on me
+to get them something to eat, and I put my finger into my open mouth to
+tell him this. I think if I had been alone I should have accepted his
+offer and should have had a good time. I gave them to understand that we
+would swap (narawaup) with them for some horses so he brought up a pair
+of nice two year-old colts for us. I offered him some money for them, he
+did not want that, but would take clothing of almost any kind. We let
+them have some that we could get along without, and some one let Walker
+have a coat. He put it on, and being more warmly dressed than ever
+before, the sweat ran down his face in streams. We let them have some
+needles and thread and some odd notions we had to spare. We saw that
+Walker had some three or four head of cattle with him which he could
+kill if they did not secure game at the time they expected.
+
+McMahon and Field still persisted they would not go with us and so we
+divided our little stock of flour and dried meat with them as fairly as
+possible and decided we would try the trail. When our plans were settled
+we felt in pretty good spirits again, and one of the boys got up a sort
+of corn-stalk fiddle which made a squeaking noise and in a little while
+there was a sort of mixed American and Indian dance going on in which
+the squaws joined in and we had a pretty jolly time till quite late at
+night. We were well pleased that these wild folks had proved themselves
+to be true friends to us.
+
+The morning we were to start I told the boys a dream I had in which I
+had seen that the course we had decided on was the correct one, but
+McMahon and Field thought we were foolish and said they had rather take
+the chances of going with the Indians, or going on down the river. He
+seemed to place great stress on the fact that he could not understand
+the Indians.
+
+Said he:--"This Indian may be all right, and maybe he will lead us all
+into a dreadful trap. They are treacherous and revengeful, and for some
+merely fancied wrong done by us, or by some one else of whom we have no
+control or knowledge, they may take our scalps, wipe us out of existence
+and no one will ever know what became of us. Now this map of mine don't
+show any bad places on this river, and I believe we can get down easily
+enough, and get to California some time. Field and I cannot make up our
+minds so easily as you fellows. I believe your chances are very poor."
+
+The boys now had our few things loaded on the two colts, for they had
+fully decided to go with me, and I was not in the least put back by
+McMahon's dire forebodings. We shook hands with quivering lips as we each
+hoped the other would meet good luck, and find enough to eat and all
+such sort of friendly talk, and then with my little party on the one
+side and McMahon and Field, whom we were to leave behind, on the other,
+we bowed to each other with bared heads, and then we started out of the
+little young cottonwoods into the broad plain that seemed to get wider
+and wider as we went west.
+
+The mountains on the northern side grew smaller and less steep as we
+went west, and on the other hand reached down the river as far as we
+could see. The plain itself was black and barren and for a hundred miles
+at least ahead of us it seemed to have no end. Walker had explained to
+us that we must follow some horse tracks and enter a canon some miles to
+the northwest. He had made his hands work like horses' feet, placing
+then near the ground as if following a trail, We were not much more than
+a mile away when on looking back, we saw Chief Walker coming towards us
+on a horse at full speed; and motioning for us to stop. This we did,
+though some of the boys said we would surely be marched back and
+scalped. But it was not for that he came. He had been watching us and
+saw that we had failed to notice the tracks of the horses he told us
+about so he rode after us, and now took us off some little distance to
+the right, got off his horse and showed us the faint horse tracks which
+we were to follow and said "Mormonie". He pointed out to us the exact
+canon we were to enter when we reached the hills; and said after three
+"sleeps" we would find an Indian camp on top of the mountain. He then
+bade us good bye again and galloped back to his own camp.
+
+We now resumed our journey, keeping watch of the tracks more closely,
+and as we came near the spurs of the mountain which projected out into
+the barren valley we crossed several well marked trails running along
+the foot hills, at right angles to our own. This we afterwards learned
+was the regular trail from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. At some big rocks
+further on we camped for the night, and found water in some pools or
+holes in the flat rocks which held the rain.
+
+Reading people of to-day, who know so well the geography of the American
+continent, may need to stop and think that in 1849 the whole region west
+of the Missouri River was very little known, the only men venturesome
+enough to dare to travel over it were hunters and trappers who, by a
+wild life had been used to all the privations of such a journey, and
+shrewd as the Indians themselves in the mysterious ways of the trail and
+the chase. Even these fellows had only investigated certain portions
+best suited to their purpose.
+
+The Indians here have the reputation of being blood thirsty savages who
+took delight in murder and torture, but here, in the very midst of this
+wild and desolate country we found a Chief and his tribe, Walker and his
+followers who were as humane and kind to white people as could be
+expected of any one. I have often wondered at the knowledge of this man
+respecting the country, of which he was able to make us a good map in
+the sand, point out to us the impassable canon, locate the hostile
+indians, and many points which were not accurately known by our own
+explorers for many years afterward. He undoubtedly saved our little band
+from a watery grave, for without his advice we had gone on and on, far
+into the great Colorado canon, from which escape would have been
+impossible and securing food another impossibility, while destruction by
+hostile indians was among the strong probabilities of the case. So in a
+threefold way I have for these more than forty years credited the lives
+of myself and comrades to the thoughtful interest and humane
+consideration of old Chief Walker.
+
+In another pool or pond near the one where we were camped I shot a small
+duck. Big sage was plenty here for fuel and we had duck for supper. Our
+party consisted of five men and two small ponies only two years old,
+with a stock of provisions very small including that the old chief had
+given us. We started on in the morning, following our faint trail till
+we came to the canon we had in view, and up this we turned as we had
+been directed, finding in the bottom a little running stream. Timber
+began to appear as we ascended, and grass also. There were signs of deer
+and grouse but we had no time to stop to hunt, for I had the only gun
+and while I hunted the others must lie idly by. We reached the summit at
+a low pass, and just above, on the north side of the higher mountains
+were considerable banks of snow. Following the Chief's instructions we
+left the trail and followed some horse tracks over rolling hills, high
+on the mountain side. We found the Indian camp exactly as the Chief had
+described, consisting of two or three lodges. The men were all absent
+hunting, but the women were gathering and baking some sort of a root
+which looked like a carrot. They made a pile of several bushels and
+covered it with earth, then made a fire, treating the pile some as a
+charcoal burner does his pit of coal. When sufficiently cooked they beat
+them up and made the material into small cakes which were dried in the
+sun. The dried cakes were as black as coal and intended for winter use.
+These roots before roasting were unfit for food, as they contained a
+sort of acrid juice that would make the tongue smart and very sore but
+there was a very good rich taste when cooked. The woman pointed to our
+horses and said "Walker", so we knew they were aware that we got them of
+him, and might have taken us for horse thieves for aught I know. As it
+was not yet night when we came to the camp, we passed on and camped on a
+clear mountain brook where grew some pine trees. After a little some of
+the Indians belonging to the camp we had passed came in, bringing some
+venison, for which we traded by giving them some needles and a few other
+trinkets. I beat these fellows shooting at a mark, and then they wanted
+to trade guns, which I declined. This piece of meat helped us along
+considerably with our provisions, for game was very scarce and only some
+sage hens had come across our trail. One day I scared a hawk off the
+ground, and we took the sage hen he had caught and was eating, and made
+some soup of it.
+
+After being on this trail six or seven days we began to think of killing
+one of our colts for food, for we had put ourselves on two meals a day
+and the work was very hard; so that hunger was all the time increasing.
+We thought this was a pretty long road for Walker to ride over in three
+sleeps as he said he could, and we began also to think there might be
+some mistake somewhere, although it had otherwise turned out just as he
+said. On the eighth day our horse-tracks came out into a large trail
+which was on a down grade leading in a northward direction. On the ninth
+day we came into a large valley, and near night came in sight of a few
+covered wagons, a part of a train that intended going on a little later
+over the southern route to Los Angeles but were waiting for the weather
+to get a little cooler, for a large part of the route was over almost
+barren deserts. We were very glad to find these wagons, for they seemed
+to have plenty of food and the bountiful supper they treated us to was
+the very thing we needed. We camped here and told them of the hardships
+we had passed through. They had hired a guide, each wagon paying him ten
+dollars for his service. Our little party talked over the situation
+among ourselves, and concluded that as we were good walkers we must
+allow ourselves to be used in any way so that we had grub and concluded
+as many of us as possible would try to get some service to do for our
+board and walk along with the party. John Rogers had a dollar and a half
+and I had thirty dollars, which was all the money we had in our camp. We
+found out we were about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City. Some of the
+boys next day arranged to work for their board, and the others would be
+taken along if they would furnish themselves with flour and bacon. This
+part of the proposition fell to me and two others, and so Hazelrig and I
+took the two colts and started for the city, where they told us we could
+get all we needed with our little purse of money. We reached Hobble
+Creek before night, near Salt Lake where there was a Mormon fort, and
+were also a number of wagons belonging to some prospecting train. There
+seemed to be no men about and we were looking about among the wagons for
+some one to inquire of, when a woman came to the front of the last wagon
+and looked out at us, and to my surprise it was Mrs. Bennett, wife of
+the man I had been trying to overtake ever since my start on this long
+trip. Bennett had my entire outfit with him on this trip and was all the
+time wondering whether I would ever catch up with them. We stayed till
+the men came in with their cattle towards night, and Bennett was glad
+enough to see me, I assure you. We had a good substantial supper and
+then sat around the campfire nearly all night telling of our experience
+since leaving Wisconsin. I had missed Bennett at the Missouri River. I
+knew of no place where people crossed the river except Council Bluff,
+here I had searched faithfully, finding no trace of him, but it seems
+they had crossed farther up at a place called Kanesville, a Mormon
+crossing, and followed up the Platte river on the north side. Their only
+bad luck had been to lose a fine black horse, which was staked out, and
+when a herd of buffaloes came along he broke his rope and followed after
+them. He was looked for with other horses, but never found and doubtless
+became a prize for some enterprising Mr. Lo. who was fortunate enough to
+capture him. Hazelrig and I told of our experience on the south side of
+the Platte; why we went down Green River; what a rough time we had; how
+we were stopped by the Indians and how we had come across from the
+river, arriving the day before and were now on our way to Salt Lake to
+get some flour and bacon so we could go on with the train when it
+started as they had offered to haul our grub for our service if we could
+carry ourselves on foot.
+
+Mr. Bennett would not hear of my going on to Salt Lake City, for he said
+there must be provisions enough in the party and in the morning we were
+able to buy flour and bacon of John Philips of Mineral Point Wis. and of
+Wm. Philips his brother. I think we got a hundred pounds of flour and a
+quantity of bacon and some other things. I had some money which I had
+received for my horse sold to Dallas, but as the others had none I paid
+for it all, and told Hazelrig to take the ponies and go back to camp
+with a share of the provisions and do the best he could. I had now my
+own gun and ammunition, with some clothing and other items which I had
+prepared in Wisconsin before I started after my Winnebago pony, and I
+felt I ought to share the money I had with the other boys to help them
+as best I could. I felt that I was pretty well fixed and had nothing to
+fear.
+
+Mr. Bennett told me much of the trip on the north side of the Platte. He
+said they had some cholera, of which a few people died, and related how
+the outer if not the inner nature of the men changed as they left
+civilization, law and the courts behind them. Some who had been raised
+together, and lived together all their lives without discord or trouble,
+who were considered model men at home and just the right people to be
+connected with in such an expedition, seemed to change their character
+entirely out on these wild wastes. When anything excited their
+displeasure their blood boiled over, and only the interference of older
+and wiser heads on many occasions prevented bloodshed. Some dissolved
+the solemn contract they had made to travel together systematically and
+in order and to stand, by, even unto death, and when they reached the
+upper Platte, the journey only half over, talked of going back, or
+splitting up the outfit and join others they had taken a fancy to. Some
+who could not agree upon a just division of a joint outfit, thinking one
+party was trying to cheat, would not yield but would cut their wagons in
+two lengthwise just for spite so that no carts could be made and the
+whole vehicle spoiled for both parties. The ugly disagreements were many
+and the cloven foot was shown in many ways. Guns were often drawn and
+pointed but some one would generally interfere and prevent bloodshed.
+Others were honest and law abiding to the last degree beyond law and
+churches, and would act as harmoniously as at home, obeying their chosen
+captain in the smallest particular without any grumbling or dissension,
+doing to every one as they would be done by. These were the pride of the
+train. The trains were most of them organized, and all along the river
+bottom one was hardly ever out of sight of some of the wagons, all going
+west. Buffalo and antelope were plenty and in great droves, followed
+always by wolves great and small, who were on the lookout for crippled
+or dead animals with which to fill their hungry stomachs. Buffalo meat
+was plenty and much enjoyed while passing this section of the road and
+this opportunity of replenishing, enabled the stock to last them over
+more desolate regions where game was scarce.
+
+After Bennett had told his stories, and I had related more of our own
+close escapes I began to ask him why he went this way which seemed to be
+very circuitous and much longer than the way they had first intended to
+go. He said that it was too late in the season to go the straight-road
+safely, for there was yet 700 miles of bad country to cross and do the
+best they could it would be at the commencement of the rainy season
+before the Sierra Nevada mountains could be reached and in those
+mountains there was often a snow fall of 20 feet or more, and anyone
+caught in it would surely perish. If they tried to winter at the base of
+the mountains it was a long way to get provisions, and no assurance of
+wild game, and this course was considered very hazardous for any one to
+undertake. This they had learned after consulting mountaineers and
+others who knew about the regions, and as there was nothing doing among
+the Latter Day Saints to give employment to any one, it was decided best
+to keep moving and go the southern route by way of Los Angeles. No
+wagons were reported as ever getting through that way, but a trail had
+been traveled through that barren desert country for perhaps a hundred
+years, and the same could be easily broadened into a wagon road.
+
+After days of argument and camp-fire talks, this Southern route was
+agreed upon, and Capt. Hunt was chosen as guide. Capt. Hunt was a
+Mormon, and had more than one wife, but he had convinced them that he
+knew something about the road. Each agreed to give him ten dollars to
+pilot the train to San Bernardino where the Mormon Church had bought a
+Spanish grant of land, and no doubt they thought a wagon road to that
+place would benefit them greatly, and probably gave much encouragement
+for the parties to travel this way. It was undoubtedly safer than the
+northern mountain route at this season of the year. It seemed at least
+to be a new venture for west-bound emigrant trains, at least as to
+ultimate success, for we had no knowledge of any that had gone through
+safely.
+
+Some western people remembered the history of the Mormons in Illinois
+and Missouri, and their doings there, feared somewhat for their own
+safety now that they were so completely under their power, for they knew
+the Mormons to be revengeful and it was considered very unsafe for any
+traveler to acknowledge he was from Missouri. Many a one who had been
+born there, and lived there all his life, would promptly claim some
+other state as his native place. I heard one Mormon say that there were
+some Missourians on the plains that would never reach California. "They
+used us bad," said he, and his face took on a really murderous look.
+
+These Mormons at Salt Lake were situated as if on an island in the sea,
+and no enemy could reach any adjoining state or territory if Brigham
+Young's band of destroying angels were only warned to look after them.
+
+At a late hour that night we lay down to sleep, and morning came clear
+and bright. After breakfast Mr. Bennett said to me:--"Now Lewis I want
+you to go with me; I have two wagons and two drivers and four yoke of
+good oxen and plenty of provisions. I have your outfit yet, your gun and
+ammunition and your two good hickory shirts which are just in time for
+your present needs. You need not do any work. You just look around and
+kill what game you can for us, and this will help as much as anything,
+you can do." I was, of course glad to accept this offer, and thanks to
+Mr. Bennett's kind care of my outfit, was better fixed then any of the
+other boys.
+
+We inquired around among the other wagons as to their supply of flour
+and bacon; and succeeded to getting flour from Mr. Philips and bacon
+from some of the others, as much as we supposed the other boys would
+need, which I paid for, and when this was loaded on the two colts
+Hazelrig started back alone to the boys in camp. As I was so well
+provided for I gave him all my money for they might need some, and I did
+not.
+
+The wagons which composed the intended train were very much scattered
+about, having moved out from Salt Lake at pleasure, and it was said to
+be too early to make the start on the southern route, for the weather on
+the hot, barren desert was said to grow cooler a little later in the
+season, and it was only at this cool season that the south west part of
+the desert could be crossed in safety. The scattering members of the
+train began to congregate, and Capt. Hunt said it was necessary to have
+some sort of system about the move, and that before they moved they must
+organize and adopt rules and laws which must be obeyed. He said they
+must move like an army, and that he was to be a dictator in all things
+except that in case of necessity a majority of the train could rule
+otherwise. It was thought best to get together and try a march out one
+day, then go in camp and organize.
+
+This they did, and at the camp there was gathered one hundred and seven
+wagons, a big drove of horses and cattle, perhaps five hundred in all.
+The train was divided into seven divisions and each division was to
+elect its own captain. Division No. 1 should lead the march the first
+day, and their men should take charge of the stock and deliver them to
+the wagons in the morning, and then No. 1 should take the rear, with No.
+2 in the lead to break the road. The rear division would not turn a
+wheel before 10 o'clock the next day, and it would be about that time at
+night before they were in camp and unyoked. The numbers of animals
+cleaned out the feed for a mile or two each side of the camp and a
+general meeting was called for the organization of the whole. Mr. L.
+Granger got up so he could look over the audience and proceeded to
+explain the plan and to read a preamble and resolutions which had been
+prepared as the basis for government. I remember that it begun
+thus:--"This Organization shall be known and designated as the Sand
+Walking Company, and shall consist of seven divisions etc," detailing
+the manner of marching as we have recited. Capt J. Hunt was chosen
+commander and guide, and his orders must be obeyed. All possible trouble
+that we could imagine might come was provided against in our written
+agreement, and all promised to live up to it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+We moved off in good style from this camp. After a day or two and before
+we reached what is called Little Salt Lake, an attempt was made to make
+a short cut, to save distance. The train only went on this cut off a day
+or two when Capt. Hunt came back from the front and said they had better
+turn back to the old trail again, which all did. This was a bad move,
+the train much broken and not easy to get them into regular working
+order again. We were now approaching what they called the Rim of the
+Basin. Within the basin the water all ran to the north or toward Great
+Salt Lake, but when we crossed the rim, all was toward the Colorado
+River, through which it reached the Pacific Ocean. About this time we
+were overtaken by another train commanded by Capt. Smith. They had a map
+with them made by one Williams of Salt Lake a mountaineer who was
+represented to know all the routes through all the mountains of Utah,
+and this map showed a way to turn off from the southern route not far
+from the divide which separated the waters of the basin from those which
+flowed toward the Colorado, and pass over the mountains, coming out in
+what they called Tulare valley, much nearer than by Los Angeles.
+
+This map was quite frequently exhibited and the matter freely discussed
+in camp, indeed speeches were made in the interest of the cut-off route
+which was to be so much shorter. A clergyman, the Rev. J.W. Brier, was
+very enthusiastic about this matter and discoursed learnedly and
+plausibly about it. The more the matter was talked about the more there
+were who were converted to the belief that the short road would be the
+best. The map showed every camp on the road and showed where there was
+water and grass, and as to obstacles to the wagons it was thought they
+could easily be overcome. A general meeting was called for better
+consideration of the question. Capt. Hunt said: "You all know I was
+hired to go by way of Los Angeles, but if you all wish to go and follow
+Smith I will go also. But if even one wagon decides to go the original
+route, I shall feel bound to go with that wagon."
+
+A great many were anxious to get the opinion of Capt. Hunt on the
+feasibility of the new route for he was a mountain man and could
+probably give us some good advice. He finally consented to talk of it,
+and said he really knew no more then the others about this particular
+route, but he very much doubted if a white man ever went over it, and
+that he did not consider it at all safe for those who had wives and
+children in their company to take the unknown road. Young men who had no
+family could possibly get through, and save time even if the road was
+not as good as Los Angeles road. But said he "If you decide to follow
+Smith I will go will go with you, even if the road leads to Hell."
+
+On the route from near Salt Lake to this point we found the country to
+grow more barren as we progressed. The grass was thinner, and sage brush
+took the place of timber. Our road took us in sight of Sevier Lake, and
+also, while going through the low hills, passed Little Salt Lake, which
+was almost dry, with a beach around it almost as white as snow. It might
+have had a little more the dignity of a lake in wet weather, but it was
+a rather dry affair as we saw it.
+
+At one point on this route we came into a long narrow valley, well
+covered with sage brush, and before we had gone very far we discovered
+that this was a great place for long eared rabbits, we would call them
+Jack Rabbits now. Every one who had a gun put it into service on this
+occasion, and there was much popping and shooting on every side. Great
+clouds of smoke rolled up as the hunters advanced and the rabbits ran in
+every direction to get away. Many ran right among the horses, and under
+the feet of the cattle and under the wagons, so that the teamsters even
+killed some with a whip. At the end of the valley we went into camp, and
+on counting up the game found we had over 500, or about one for every
+person in camp. This gave us a feast of fresh meat not often found.
+
+It was on this trip that one of Mr. Bennett's ox drivers was taken with
+a serious bowel difficulty, and for many days we thought he would die,
+but he eventually recovered. His name was Silas Helmer.
+
+It was really a serious moment when the front of the train reached the
+Smith trail. Team after team turned to the right while now and then one
+would keep straight ahead as was at first intended. Capt. Hunt came over
+to the larger party after the division was made, and wished them all a
+hearty farewell and a pleasant happy journey. My friend Bennett whose
+fortune I shared was among the seceders who followed the Smith party.
+This point, when our paths diverged was very near the place afterward
+made notorious as Mountain Meadows, where the famous massacre took place
+under the direction of the Mormon generals. Our route from here up to
+the mountain was a very pleasant one, steadily up grade, over rolling
+hills, with wood, water and grass in plenty. We came at last to what
+seemed the summit of a great mountain, about three days journey on the
+new trail. Juniper trees grew about in bunches, and my experience with
+this timber taught me that we were on elevated ground.
+
+Immediately in front of us was a canon, impassible for wagons, and down
+into this the trail descended. Men could go, horses and mules, perhaps,
+but wagons could no longer follow that trail, and we proposed to camp
+while explorers were sent out to search a pass across this steep and
+rocky canon. Wood and bunch grass were plenty, but water was a long way
+down the trail and had to be packed up to the camp. Two days passed, and
+the parties sent out began to come in, all reporting no way to go
+farther with the wagons. Some said the trail on the west side of the
+canon could be ascended on foot by both men and mules, but that it would
+take years to make it fit for wheels.
+
+The enthusiasm about the Smith cut-off had begun to die and now the talk
+began of going back to follow Hunt. On the third morning a lone traveler
+with a small wagon and one yoke of oxen, died. He seemed to be on this
+journey to seek to regain his health. He was from Kentucky, but I have
+forgotten his name. Some were very active about his wagon and, some
+thought too much attention was paid to a stranger. He was decently
+buried by the men of the company.
+
+This very morning a Mr. Rynierson called the attention of the crowd and
+made some remarks upon the situation. He said: "My family is near and
+dear to me. I can see by the growth of the timber that we are in a very
+elevated place. This is now the seventh of November, it being the fourth
+at the time of our turning off on this trail. We are evidently in a
+country where snow is liable to fall at any time in the winter season,
+and if we were to remain here and be caught in a severe storm we should
+all probably perish. I, for one, feel in duty bound to seek a safer way
+than this. I shall hitch up my oxen and return at once to the old trail.
+Boys (to his teamsters) get the cattle and we'll return." This was
+decisive, and Mr. Rynierson would tarry no longer. Many others now
+proceeded to get ready and follow, and as Mr. Rynierson drove out of
+camp quite a respectable train fell in behind him. As fast as the
+hunters came in and reported no road available, they also yoked up their
+oxen and rolled out. Some waited awhile for companions yet in the
+fields, and all were about ready to move, when a party came in with news
+that the pass was found and no trouble could be seen ahead. About
+twenty-seven wagons remained when this news came, and as their
+proprietors had brought good news they agreed to travel on westward and
+not go back to the old trail.
+
+Mr. Bennett had gone only a short distance out when he had the
+misfortune to break the axle of his wagon and he then went back to camp
+and took an axle out of the dead man's wagon and by night had it fitted
+into his own. He had to stay until morning, and there were still a few
+others who were late in getting a start, who camped there also. Among
+these were J.B. Arcane, wife and child; two Earhart brothers and sons
+and some two or three other wagons.
+
+When all was ready we followed the others who had gone ahead. The route
+led at first directly to the north and a pass was said to be in that
+direction. Of the Green River party only Rodgers and myself remained
+with this train. After the wagons straightened out nicely, a meeting was
+called to organize, so as to travel systematically. A feeling was very
+manifest that those without any families did not care to bind themselves
+to stand by and assist those who had wives and children in their party
+and there was considerable debate, which resulted in all the family
+wagons being left out of the arrangements.
+
+A party who called themselves "The Jayhawkers" passed us, and we
+followed along in the rear, over rolling hills covered with juniper
+timber, and small grassy valleys between where there was plenty of water
+and went well, for those before us had broken out the road so we could
+roll along very pleasantly.
+
+At the organization Jim Martin was chosen captain. Those who were
+rejected were Rev. J.W. Brier and, his family, J.B. Arcane and family,
+and Mr. A. Bennett and family, Mr. Brier would not stay put out, but
+forced himself in, and said he was going with the rest, and so he did.
+But the other families remained behind. I attended the meeting and heard
+what was said, but Mr. Bennett was my friend and had been faithful to me
+and my property when he knew not where I was, and so I decided to stand
+by him and his wife at all hazards.
+
+As I had no team to drive I took every opportunity to climb the
+mountains along the route, reaching the highest elevations even if they
+were several miles from the trail. I sometimes remained out all night. I
+took Mr. Arcane's field glass with me and was thus able to see all there
+was of the country. I soon became satisfied that going north was not
+taking us in the direction we ought to go. I frequently told them so,
+but they still persisted in following on. I went to the leaders and told
+them we were going back toward Salt Lake again, not making any headway
+toward California. They insisted they were following the directions of
+Williams, the mountaineer; and they had not yet got as far north as he
+indicated. I told them, and Mr. Bennett and others, that we must either
+turn west, or retrace our steps and get back into the regular Los
+Angeles road again. In the morning we held another consultation and
+decided to turn west here, and leave the track we had been following.
+
+Off we turned at nearly right angles to our former course, to the west
+now, over a piece of table land that gave us little trouble in breaking
+our own road. When we camped, the oxen seemed very fond of a white weed
+that was very plenty, and some borrowed a good deal of trouble thinking
+that perhaps it might be poison. I learned afterwards that this plant
+was the nutritious white sage, which cattle eat freely, with good
+results. We now crossed a low range and a small creek running south, and
+here were also some springs. Some corn had been grown here by the
+Indians. Pillars of sand stone, fifteen feet high and very slim were
+round about in several places and looked strange enough. The next piece
+of table land sloped to the east, and among the sage grew also a bunch
+grass a foot high, which had seeds like broom-corn seeds. The Indians
+had gathered the grass and made it in piles of one hundred pounds or so,
+and used it for food as I found by examining their camps.
+
+One day I climbed a high mountain where some pine grew, in order to get
+a view of the country. As I neared its base I came to a flat rock,
+perhaps fifty feet square. I heard some pounding noise as I came near,
+but what ever it was, it ceased on my approach. There were many signs of
+the rock being used as a camp, such as pine burrs, bones of various
+kinds of animals, and other remains of food which lay every where about
+and on the rock. Near the center was a small oblong stone fitted into a
+hole. I took it out and found it covered a fine well of water about
+three feet deep and was thus protected against any small animal being
+drowned in it. I went on up the mountain and from the top I saw that the
+land west of us looked more and more barren.
+
+The second night the brave Jayhawkers who had been so firm in going
+north hove in sight in our rear. They had at last concluded to accept my
+advice and had came over our road quite rapidly. We all camped together
+that night, and next morning they took the lead again. After crossing a
+small range they came to a basin which seemed to have no outlet, and was
+very barren. Some of the boys in advance of the teams had passed over
+this elevation and were going quite rapidly over the almost level plain
+which sloped into the basin, when they saw among the bunches of sage
+brush behind them a small party of Indians following their road, not
+very far off, but still out of bow and arrow range. The boys were
+suddenly able to take much longer steps than usual and a little more
+rapidly too, and swinging round toward the teams as soon as possible,
+for they already had some fears that an arrow might be sticking in their
+backs in an unpleasantly short space of time, for the Indians were good
+travelers. When they came in sight of the wagons, the Indians vanished
+as quickly as if they had gone into a hole, with no sign remaining,
+except a small dog which greatly resembled a prairie wolf, and kept a
+safe distance away. No one could imagine where the fellows went so
+suddenly.
+
+We drove to the west side of this basin and camped near the foot of a
+low mountain. The cattle were driven down into the basin where there was
+some grass, but at camp we had only the water in our kegs.
+
+Some of the boys climbed the mountain on the north but found no springs:
+Coming down a canon they found some rain water in a basin in the rocks
+and all took a good drink. Lew West lay down and swallowed all he could
+and then told the boys to kill him for he never would feel so good
+again. They finished the pool, it was so small, before they left it. In
+going on down the canon they saw an Indian dodge behind some big rocks,
+and searching, they found him in a cave as still as a dead man. They
+pulled him out and made him go with them, and tried every way to find
+out from him where they were and where Owen's Lake was, as they had been
+told the lake was on their route. But he proved to be no wiser than a
+man of mud, and they led him along to camp, put a red flannel shirt on
+him to cover his nakedness, and made him sleep between two white men so
+he could not get away easily. In the morning they were more successful,
+and he showed us a small ravine four miles away which had water in it,
+enough for our use, and we moved up and camped there, while the boys and
+the Indian started over a barren, rocky mountain, and when over on the
+western slope they were led to a water hole on a steep rocky cliff where
+no one but an Indian would ever think of looking for water. They took
+out their cups and had a good drink all around, then offered the Indian
+some, but he disdained the civilized way, and laying down his bow and
+arrows took a long drink directly out of the pool. He was so long in
+getting a good supply that the boys almost forgot him as they were
+gazing over the distant mountain and discussing prospects, till
+attracted by a slight noise they looked and saw Mr. Indian going down
+over the cliffs after the fashion of a mountain sheep, and in a few
+bounds he was out of sight. They could not have killed him if they had
+tried, the move so sudden and unlooked for. They had expected the fellow
+to show them the way to Owen's lake, but now their guide was gone, and
+left nothing to remember him by except his bow and arrows. So they
+returned to their wagons not much wiser than before.
+
+All kinds of game was now very scarce, and so seldom seen that the men
+got tired of carrying their guns, and grew fearless of enemies. A heavy
+rifle was indeed burdensome over so long a road when there was no
+frequent use for it. The party kept rolling along as fast as possible
+but the mountains and valleys grew more barren and water more scarce all
+the time. When found, the water would be in hole at the outlet of some
+canon, or in little pools which had filled up with rain that had fallen
+on the higher ground. Not a drop of rain had fallen on us since we
+started on this cut-off, and every night was clear and warm. The
+elevated parts of the country seemed to be isolated buttes, with no
+running streams between them but instead, dry lakes with a smooth clay
+bed, very light in color and so hard that the track of an ox could not
+be seen on its glittering surface. At a distance those clay beds looked
+like water shining in the sun and were generally about three times as
+far as any one would judge, the air was so clear. This mirage, or
+resemblance to water was so perfect as often to deceive us, and almost
+to our ruin on one or two occasions.
+
+I took Arcane's field glass and took pains to ascend all the high buttes
+within a day's walk of the road, and this enabled me to get a good
+survey of the country north and west. I would sometimes be gone two or
+three days with no luggage but my canteen and gun. I was very cautious
+in regard to Indians, and tried to keep on the safe side of surprises. I
+would build a fire about dark and then travel on till I came to a small
+washed place and lie down and stay till morning, so if Mr. Indian did
+come to my fire he would not find any one to kill. One day I was going
+up a wide ravine leading to the summit, and before I reached the highest
+part I saw a smoke curl up before me. I took a side ravine and went
+cautiously, bowed down pretty low so no one could see me, and when near
+the top of the ridge and about one hundred yards of the fire I ventured
+to raise slowly up and take a look to see how many there were in camp: I
+could see but two and as I looked across the ravine an Indian woman
+seemed looking at me also, but I was so low she could only see the top
+of my head, and I sank down again out of sight. I crawled further up so
+as to get a better view, and when I straightened up again she got a full
+view of me. She instantly caught her infant off its little pallet made
+of a small piece of thin wood covered with a rabbit skin, and putting
+the baby under one arm, and giving a smart jerk to a small girl that was
+crying to the top of her voice, she bounded off and fairly flew up the
+gentle slope toward the summit, the girl following after very close. The
+woman's long black hair stood out as she rushed along, looking over her
+shoulder every instant as if she expected to be slain. The mother flying
+with her children, untrammeled with any of the arts of fashion was the
+best natural picture I ever looked upon, and wild in the extreme. No
+living artist could do justice to the scene as the lady of the desert,
+her little daughter and her babe, passed over the summit out of sight. I
+followed, but when I reached the highest summit, no living person could
+be seen. I looked the country over with my glass. The region to the
+north was black rocky, and very mountainous. I looked some time and then
+concluded I had better not go any further that way, for I might be
+waylaid and filled with arrows at some unsuspected moment. We saw Indian
+signs almost every day, but as none of them ever came to our camp it was
+safe to say they were not friendly. I now turned back and examined the
+Indian woman's camp. She had only fire enough to make a smoke. Her
+conical shaped basket left behind, contained a few poor arrows and some
+cactus leaves, from which the spines had been burned, and there lay the
+little pallet where the baby was sleeping. It was a bare looking kitchen
+for hungry folks.
+
+I now went to the top of a high butte and scanned the country very
+carefully, especially to the west and north, and found it very barren.
+There were no trees, no fertile valleys nor anything green. Away to the
+west some mountains stood out clear and plain, their summits covered
+white with snow. This I decided was our objective point: Very little
+snow could be seen elsewhere, and between me and the snowy mountains lay
+a low, black rocky range, and a wide level plain, that had no signs of
+water, as I had learned them in our trip thus far across the country.
+The black range seemed to run nearly north and south, and to the north
+and northwest the country looked volcanic, black and desolate.
+
+As I looked and thought, I believed that we were much farther from a
+fertile region then most of our party had any idea of. Such of them as
+had read Fremont's travels, and most of them going to California had
+fortified themselves before starting by reading Fremont; said that the
+mountains were near California and were fertile from their very summits
+down to the sea, but that to the east of the mountains it was a desert
+region for hundred of miles. As I explained it to them, and so they soon
+saw for themselves, they believed that the snowy range ahead of us was
+the last range to cross before we entered the long-sought California,
+and it seemed not far off, and prospect quite encouraging.
+
+Our road had been winding around among the buttes which looked like the
+Indian baskets turned upside down on the great barren plain. What water
+we found was in small pools in the wash-out places near the foothills at
+the edge of the valley, probably running down the ravines after some
+storm. There were dry lake beds scattered around over the plain, but it
+did not seem as if there had ever been volume of water enough lately to
+force itself out so far into the plain as these lakes were. All the
+lakes appeared about the same, the bed white and glistening in the sun,
+which made it very hard for the eyes, and so that a man in passing over
+it made no visible track. It looked as if it one time might have been a
+smooth bed of plastic mortar, and had hardened in the sun. It looked as
+if there must have been water there sometime, but we had not seen a
+drop, or a single cloud; every day was clear and sunny, and very warm,
+and at night no stars forgot to shine.
+
+Our oxen began to look bad, for they had poor food. Grass had been very
+scarce, and now when we unyoked them and turned them out they did not
+care to look around much for something to eat. They moved slowly and
+cropped disdainfully the dry scattering shrubs and bunches of grass from
+six inches to a foot high. Spending many nights and days on such dry
+food and without water they suffered fearfully, and though fat and sleek
+when we started from Salt Lake, they now looked gaunt and poor, and
+dragged themselves slowly along, poor faithful servants of mankind. No
+one knew how long before we might have to kill some of them to get food
+to save our own lives.
+
+We now traveled several days down the bed of a broad ravine, which led
+to a southwest direction. There seemed to be a continuous range of
+mountains on the south, but to the north was the level plain with
+scattered buttes, and what we had all along called dry lakes, for up to
+this time we had seen no water in any of them. I had carried my rifle
+with me every day since we took this route, and though I was an
+experienced hunter, a professional one if there be such a thing, I had
+killed only one rabbit, and where no game lived I got as hungry as other
+folks.
+
+Our line soon brought us in sight of a high butte which stood apparently
+about 20 miles south of our route, and I determined to visit and climb
+it to get a better view of things ahead. I walked steadily all day and
+reached the summit about dusk. I wandered around among the big rocks,
+and found a projecting cliff where I would be protected from enemies,
+wind or storm, and here I made my camp. While the light lasted I
+gathered a small stock of fuel, which consisted of a stunted growth of
+sage and other small shrubs, dry but not dead, and with this I built a
+little fire Indian fashion and sat down close to it. Here was a good
+chance for undisturbed meditation and someway I could not get around
+doing a little meditating as I added a new bit of fuel now and then to
+the small fire burning at my side. I thought it looked dark and
+troublesome before us. I took a stone for a pillow with my hat on it for
+a cushion, and lying down close under the shelving rock I went to sleep,
+for I was very tired, I woke soon from being cold, for the butte was
+pretty high, and so I busied myself the remainder of the night in adding
+little sticks to the fire, which gave me some warmth, and thus in
+solitude I spent the night. I was glad enough to see the day break over
+the eastern mountains, and light up the vast barren country I could see
+on every hand around me. When the sun was fairly up I took a good survey
+of the situation, and it seemed as if pretty near all creation was in
+sight. North and west was a level plain, fully one hundred miles wide it
+seemed, and from anything I could see it would not afford a traveler a
+single drink in the whole distance or give a poor ox many mouthfuls of
+grass. On the western edge it was bounded by a low, black and rocky
+range extending nearly north and south for a long distance and no pass
+though it which I could see, and beyond this range still another one
+apparently parallel to it. In a due west course from me was the high
+peak we had been looking at for a month, and lowest place was on the
+north side, which we had named Martin's Pass and had been trying so long
+to reach. This high peak, covered with snow, glistened to the morning
+sun, and as the air was clear from clouds or fog, and no dust or haze to
+obscure the view, it seemed very near.
+
+I had learned by experience that objects a day's walk distant seemed
+close by in such a light, and that when clear lakes appeared only a
+little distance in our front, we might search and search and never find
+them. We had to learn how to look for water in this peculiar way. In my
+Wisconsin travel I had learned that when I struck a ravine I must go
+down to look for living water, but here we must invariably travel upward
+for the water was only found in the high mountains.
+
+Prospects now seemed to me so hopeless, that I heartily wished I was not
+in duty bound to stand by the women and small children who could never
+reach a land of bread without assistance. If I was in the position that
+some of them were who had only themselves to look after, I could pick up
+my knapsack and gun and go off, feeling I had no dependent ones to leave
+behind. But as it was I felt I should be morally guilty of murder if I
+should forsake Mr. Bennett's wife and children, and the family of Mr.
+Arcane with whom I had been thus far associated. It was a dark line of
+thought but I always felt better when I got around to the determination,
+as I always did, to stand by my friends, their wives and children let
+come what might.
+
+I could see with my glass the train of wagons moving slowly over the
+plain toward what looked to me like a large lake. I made a guess of the
+point they would reach by night, and then took a straight course for it
+all day long in steady travel. It was some time after dark, and I was
+still a quarter of a mile from the camp fires, where in the bed of a
+canon I stepped into some mud, which was a sign of water. I poked around
+in the dark for a while and soon found a little pool of it, and having
+been without a drop of it for two days I lay down and took a hasty
+drink. It did not seem to be very clear or clean, but it was certainly
+wet, which was the main thing just then. The next morning I went to the
+pond of water, and found the oxen had been watered there. They stirred
+up the mud a good deal and had drank off about all the clean part, which
+seemed to refresh them very much. I found the people in the camp on the
+edge of the lake I had seen from the mountain, and fortunately it
+contained about a quarter of an inch of water. They had dug some holes
+here, which filled up, and they were using this water in the camp.
+
+The ambitious mountain-climbers of our party had by this, time,
+abandoned that sort of work, and I was left alone to look about and try
+to ascertain the character of the road they were to follow. It was a
+great deal to do to look out for food for the oxen and for water for the
+camp, and besides all this it was plain there were Indians about even if
+we did not see them. There were many signs, and I had to be always on
+the lookout to outgeneral them. When the people found I was in camp this
+night they came around to our wagons to know what I had seen and found,
+and what the prospects were ahead. Above all they wanted to know how far
+it was, in my opinion to the end of our journey. I listened to all their
+inquiries and told them plainly what I had seen, and what I thought of
+the prospect. I did not like telling the whole truth about it for fear
+it might dampen their spirits, but being pressed for an opinion I told
+them in plain words that it would at least be another month before their
+journey would be ended. They seemed to think I ought to be pretty good
+authority, and if I was not mistaken, the oxen would get very poor and
+provisions very scarce before we could pull through so long. I was up at
+day break and found Mr. Bennett sitting by the fire. About the first
+thing he said:--"Lewis, if you please I don't want you hereafter to
+express your views so openly and emphatically as you did last night
+about our prospects. Last night when I went to bed I found Sarah (his
+wife) crying and when pressed for the cause, she said she had heard your
+remarks on the situation, and that if Lewis said so it must be correct,
+for he knows more about it than all of you. She felt that she and the
+children must starve."
+
+In the morning Jayhawkers, and others of the train that were not
+considered strictly of our own party, yoked up and started due west
+across the level plain which I had predicted as having no water, and I
+really thought they would never live to get across to the western
+border. Mr. Culverwell and Mr. Fish stayed with us, making another wagon
+in our train. We talked about the matter carefully, I did not think it
+possible to get across that plain in less than four or six days, and I
+did not believe there was a drop of water on the route. To the south of
+us was a mountain that now had considerable snow upon its summit, and
+some small pine trees also. Doubtless we could find plenty of water at
+the base, but being due south, it was quite off our course. The
+prospects for reaching water were so much better in that way that we
+finally decided to go there rather than follow the Jayhawkers on their
+desolate tramp over the dry plain.
+
+So we turned up a canon leading toward the mountain and had a pretty
+heavy up grade and a rough bed for a road. Part way up we came to a high
+cliff and in its face were niches or cavities as large as a barrel or
+larger, and in some of them we found balls of a glistening substance
+looking something like pieces of varigated candy stuck together. The
+balls were as large as small pumpkins. It was evidently food of some
+sort, and we found it sweet but sickish, and those who were so hungry as
+to break up one of the balls and divide it among the others, making a
+good meal of it, were a little troubled with nausea afterwards. I
+considered it bad policy to rob the Indians of any of their food, for
+they must be pretty smart people to live in this desolate country and
+find enough to keep them alive, and I was pretty sure we might count
+them as hostiles as they never came near our camp. Like other Indians
+they were probably revengeful, and might seek to have revenge on us for
+the injury. We considered it prudent to keep careful watch for them, so
+they might not surprise us with a volley of arrows.
+
+The second night we camped near the head of the canon we had been
+following, but thus far there had been no water, and only some stunted
+sage brush for the oxen, which they did not like, and only ate it when
+near the point of starvation. They stood around the camp looking as
+sorry as oxen can. During the night a stray and crazy looking cloud
+passed over us and left its moisture on the mountain to the shape of a
+coat of snow several inches deep. When daylight came the oxen crowded
+around the wagons, shivering with cold, and licking up the snow to
+quench their thirst. We took pattern after them and melted snow to get
+water for ourselves.
+
+By the looks of our cattle it did not seem as if they could pull much,
+and light loads were advisable on this up grade. Mr. Bennett was a
+carpenter and had brought along some good tools in his wagon. These he
+reluctantly unloaded, and almost everything else except bedding and
+provisions, and leaving them upon the ground, we rolled up the hills
+slowly, with loads as light as possible.
+
+Rogers and I went ahead with our guns to look out the way and find a
+good camping place. After a few miles we got out of the snow and out
+upon an incline, and in the bright clear morning air the foot of the
+snowy part of the mountain seemed near by and we were sure we could
+reach it before night. From here no guide was needed and Rogers and I,
+with our guns and canteens hurried on as fast as possible, when a camp
+was found we were to raise a signal smoke to tell them where it was. We
+were here, as before badly deceived as to the distance, and we marched
+steadily and swiftly till nearly night before we reached the foot of the
+mountain.
+
+Here was a flat place in a table land and on it a low brush hut, with a
+small smoke near by, which we could plainly see as we were in the shade
+of the mountain, and that place lighted up by the nearly setting sun. We
+looked carefully and satisfied ourselves there was but one hut, and
+consequently but few people could be expected. We approached carefully
+and cautiously, making a circuit around so as to get between the hut and
+the hill in case that the occupants should retreat in that direction. It
+was a long time before we could see any entrance to this wickiup, but we
+found it at last and approached directly in front, very cautiously
+indeed: We could see no one, and thought perhaps they were in ambush for
+us, but hardly probable, as we had kept closely out of sight. We
+consulted a moment and concluded to make an advance and if possible
+capture some one who could tell us about the country, as we felt we were
+completely lost. When within thirty yards a man poked out his head out
+of a doorway and drew it back again quick as a flash. We kept out our
+guns at full cock and ready for use, and told Rogers to look out for
+arrows, for they would come now if ever. But they did not pull a bow on
+us, and the red-man, almost naked came out and beckoned for us to come
+on which we did.
+
+We tried to talk with the fellow in the sign language but he could
+understand about as much as an oyster. I made a little basin in the
+ground and filled it with water from our canteens to represent a lake,
+then pointed in an inquiring way west and north, made signs of ducks and
+geese flying and squawking, but I did no seem to be able to get an idea
+into his head of what we wanted. I got thoroughly provoked at him and
+may have shown some signs of anger. During all this time a child or two
+in the hut squalled terribly, fearing I suppose they would all be
+murdered. We might have lost our scalps under some circumstances, but we
+appeared to be fully the strangest party, and had no fear, for the
+Indian had no weapon about him and we had both guns and knives. The poor
+fellow was shivering with cold, and with signs of friendship we fired
+off one of the guns which waked him up a little and he pointed to the
+gun and said "Walker," probably meaning the same good Chief Walker who
+had so fortunately stopped us in our journey down Green River. I
+understood from the Indian that he was not friendly to Walker, but to
+show that he was all right with us he went into the hut and brought out
+a handful of corn for us to eat. By the aid of a warm spring near by
+they had raised some corn here, and the dry stalks were standing around.
+
+As we were about to leave I told him we would come back, next day and
+bring him some clothes if we could find any to spare, and then we
+shouldered our guns and went back toward the wagons, looking over our
+shoulders occasionally to see if we were followed. We walked fast down
+the hill and reached the camp about dark to find it a most unhappy one
+indeed. Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane were in heart-rending distress. The
+four children were crying for water but there was not a drop to give
+them, and none could be reached before some time next day. The mothers
+were nearly crazy, for they expected the children would choke with
+thirst and die in their arms, and would rather perish themselves than
+suffer the agony of seeing their little ones gasp and slowly die. They
+reproached themselves as being the cause of all this trouble. For the
+love of gold they had left homes where hunger had never come, and often
+in sleep dreamed of the bounteous tables of their old homes only to be
+woefully disappointed in the morning. There was great gladness when John
+Rogers and I appeared in the camp and gave the mothers full canteens of
+water for themselves and little ones, and there was tears of joy and
+thankfulness upon their cheeks as they blessed us over and over again.
+
+The oxen fared very hard. The ground was made up of broken stone, and
+all that grew was a dry and stunted brush not more than six inches high,
+of which the poor animals took an occasional dainty bite, and seemed
+hardly able to drag along.
+
+It was only seven or eight miles to the warm spring and all felt better
+to know for a certainty that we would soon be safe again. We started
+early, even the women walked, so as to favor the poor oxen all we could.
+When within two miles of the water some of the oxen lay down and refused
+to rise again, so we had to leave them and a wagon, while the rest
+pushed on and reached the spring soon after noon. We took water and went
+back to the oxen left behind, and gave them some to drink. They were
+somewhat rested and got up, and we tried to drive them in without the
+wagons, but they were not inclined to travel without the yoke, so we put
+it on them and hitched to the wagon again. The yoke and the wagon seemed
+to brace them up a good deal, and they went along thus much better than
+when alone and scattered about, with nothing to lean upon.
+
+The warm spring was quite large and ran a hundred yards or more before
+the water sank down into the dry and thirsty desert. The dry cornstalks
+of last years crop, some small willows, sagebrush, weeds and grass
+suited our animals very well, and they ate better than for a long time,
+and we thought it best to remain two or three days to give them a chance
+to get rest. The Indian we left here the evening before had gone and
+left nothing behind but a chunk of crystallized rock salt. He seemed to
+be afraid of his friends.
+
+The range we had been traveling nearly parallel with seemed to come to
+an end here where this snow peak stood, and immediately north and south
+of this peak there seemed to be a lower pass. The continuous range north
+was too low to hold snow. In the morning I concluded to go to the summit
+of that pass and with my glass have an extensive view. Two other boys
+started with me, and as we moved along the snow line we saw tracks of
+our runaway Indian in the snow, passing over a low ridge. As we went on
+up hill our boys began to fall behind, and long before night I could see
+nothing of them. The ground was quite soft, and I saw many tracks of
+Indians which put me on my guard. I reached the summit and as the shade
+of its mountain began to make it a little dark, I built a fire of sage
+brush, ate my grub, and when it was fairly dark, renewed the fire and
+passed on a mile, where in a small ravine with banks two feet high I lay
+down sheltered from the wind and slept till morning. I did this to beat
+the Indian in his own cunning.
+
+Next morning I reached the summit about nine o'clock, and had the
+grandest view I ever saw. I could see north and south almost forever.
+The surrounding region seemed lower, but much of it black, mountainous
+and barren. On the west the snow peak shut out the view in that
+direction. To the south the mountains seemed to descend for more than
+twenty miles, and near the base, perhaps ten miles away, were several
+smokes, apparently from camp fires, and as I could see no animals or
+camp wagons anywhere I presumed them to be Indians. A few miles to the
+north and east of where I stood, and somewhat higher, was the roughest
+piece of ground I ever saw. It stood in sharp peaks and was of many
+colors, some of them so red that the mountain looked red hot, I imagined
+it to be a true volcanic point, and had never been so near one before,
+and the most wonderful picture of grand desolation one could ever see.
+
+Toward the north I could see the desert the Jayhawkers and their
+comrades had under taken to cross, and if their journey was as
+troublesome as ours and very much longer, they might by this time be all
+dead of thirst. I remained on this summit an hour or so bringing my
+glass to bear on all points within my view, and scanning closely for
+everything that might help us or prove an obstacle to our progress. The
+more I looked the more I satisfied myself that we were yet a long way
+from California and the serious question of our ever living to get there
+presented itself to me as I tramped along down the grade to camp. I put
+down at least another month of heavy weary travel before we could hope
+to make the land of gold, and our stock of strength and provisions were
+both pretty small for so great a tax upon them. I thought so little
+about anything else that the Indians might have captured me easily, for
+I jogged along without a thought of them. I thought of the bounteous
+stock of bread and beans upon my father's table, to say nothing about
+all the other good things, and here was I, the oldest son, away out in
+the center of the Great American Desert, with an empty stomach and a dry
+and parched throat, and clothes fast wearing out with constant wear. And
+perhaps I had not yet seen the worst of it. I might be forced to see
+men, and the women and children of our party, choke and die, powerless
+to help them. It was a darker, gloomier day than I had ever known could
+be, and alone I wept aloud, for I believed I could see the future, and
+the results were bitter to contemplate. I hope no reader of this history
+may ever be placed in a position to be thus tried for I am not ashamed
+to say that I have a weak point to show under such circumstances. It is
+not in my power to tell how much I suffered in my lonely trips, lasting
+sometimes days and nights that I might give the best advice to those of
+my party. I believed that I could escape at any time myself, but all
+must be brought through or perish, and with this all I knew I must not
+discourage the others. I could tell them the truth, but I must keep my
+worst apprehensions to myself lest they loose heart and hope and faith
+needlessly.
+
+I reached the camp on the third day where I found the boys who went part
+way with me and whom I had out-walked. I related to the whole camp what
+I had seen, and when all was told it appeared that the route from the
+mountains westerly was the only route that could be taken, they told me
+of a discovery they had made of a pile of squashes probably raised upon
+the place, and sufficient in number so that every person could have one.
+I did not approve of this for we had no title to this produce, and might
+be depriving the rightful owner of the means of life. I told them not
+only was it wrong to rob them of their food, but they could easily
+revenge themselves on us by shooting our cattle, or scalp us, by
+gathering a company of their own people together. They had no experience
+with red men and were slow to see the results I spoke of as possible.
+
+During my absence an ox had been killed, for some were nearly out of
+provisions, and flesh was the only means to prevent starvation. The meat
+was distributed amongst the entire camp, with the understanding that
+when it became necessary to kill another it should be divided in the
+same way. Some one of the wagons would have to be left for lack of
+animals to draw it. Our animals were so poor that one would not last
+long as food. No fat could be found on the entire carcass, and the
+marrow of the great bones was a thick liquid, streaked with blood
+resembling corruption.
+
+Our road led us around the base of the mountain; There were many large
+rocks in our way, some as large as houses, but we wound around among
+them in a very crooked way and managed to get along. The feet of the
+oxen became so sore that we made moccasins for them from the hide of the
+ox that was killed, and with this protection they got along very well.
+Our trains now consisted of seven wagons. Bennett had two; Arcane two;
+Earhart Bros. one. Culverwell, Fish and others one; and there was one
+other, the owners of which I have forgotten. The second night we had a
+fair camp with water and pretty fair grass and brush for the oxen. We
+were not very far from the snow line and this had some effect on the
+country. When Bennett retired that night he put on a camp kettle of the
+fresh beef and so arranged the fire that it would cook slowly and be
+done by daylight for breakfast. After an hour or so Mr. Bennett went out
+to replenish the fire and see how the cooking was coming on, and when I
+went to put more water in the kettle, he found that to his
+disappointment, the most of the meat was gone. I was rolled up in my
+blanket under his wagon and awoke when he came to the fire and saw him
+stand and look around as if to fasten the crime on the right party if
+possible, but soon he came to me, and in a whisper said: "Did you see
+anyone around the fire after we went to bed?" I assured him I did not,
+and then he told me some one had taken his meat. "Do you think," said he
+"that any one is so near out of food as to be starving?" "I know the
+meat is poor, and who ever took it must be nearly starving." After a
+whispered conversation we went to bed, but we both rose at daylight and,
+as we sat by the fire, kept watch of those who got up and came around.
+We thought we knew the right man, but were not sure, and could not
+imagine what might happen if stealing grub should begin and continue. It
+is a sort of unwritten law that in parties such as ours, he who steals
+provisions forfeits his life. We knew we must keep watch and if the
+offense was repeated the guilty one might be compelled to suffer.
+Bennett watched closely and for a few days I kept closely with the
+wagons for fear there might be trouble. It was really the most critical
+point in our experience. After three or four days all hope of detecting
+the criminal had passed, and all danger was over out of any difficulty.
+
+One night we had a fair camp, as we were close to the base of the snow
+butte, and found a hole of clear or what seemed to be living water.
+There were a few minnows in it not much more than an inch long. This was
+among a big pile of rocks, and around these the oxen found some grass.
+
+There now appeared to be a pass away to the south as a sort of outlet to
+the great plain which lay to the north of us, but immediately west and
+across the desert waste, extending to the foot of a low black range of
+mountains, through which there seemed to be no pass, the distant snowy
+peak lay still farther on, with Martin's pass over it still a long way
+off though we had been steering toward it for a month. Now as we were
+compelled to go west this impassable barrier was in our way and if no
+pass could be found in it we would be compelled to go south and make no
+progress in a westerly direction.
+
+Our trail was now descending to the bottom of what seemed to be the
+narrowest part of the plain, the same one the Jayhawkers had started
+across, further north, ten days before. When we reached the lowest part
+of this valley we came to a running stream, and, as dead grass could be
+seen in the bed where the water ran very slowly, I concluded it only had
+water in it after hard rains in the mountains, perhaps a hundred miles,
+to the north. This water was not pure; it had a bitter taste, and no
+doubt in dry weather was a rank poison. Those who partook of it were
+affected about as if they had taken a big dose of salts.
+
+A short distance above this we found the trail of the Jayhawkers going
+west, and thus we knew they had got safely across the great plain and
+then turned southward. I hurried along their trail for several miles and
+looked the country over with field glass becoming fully satisfied we
+should find no water till we reached the summit, of the next range, and
+then fearing the party had not taken the precaution to bring along some
+water I went back to them and found they had none. I told them they
+would not see a drop for the next forty miles, and they unloaded the
+lightest wagon and drove back with everything they had which would hold
+water, to get a good supply.
+
+I turned back again on the Jayhawker's road, and followed it so rapidly
+that well toward night I was pretty near the summit, where a pass
+through this rocky range had been found and on this mountain not a tree
+a shrub or spear of grass could be found--desolation beyond conception.
+I carried my gun along every day, but for the want of a chance to kill
+any game a single load would remain in my gun for a month. Very seldom a
+rabbit could be seen, but not a bird of any kind, not even a hawk
+buzzard or crow made their appearance here.
+
+When near the steep part of the mountain, I found a dead ox the
+Jayhawkers had left, as no camp could be made here for lack of water and
+grass, the meat could not be saved. I found the body of the animal badly
+shrunken, but in condition, as far as putrefaction was concerned, as
+perfect as when alive. A big gash had been cut in the ham clear to the
+bone and the sun had dried the flesh in this. I was so awful hungry that
+I took my sheath knife and cut a big steak which I devoured as I walked
+along, without cooking or salt. Some may say they would starve before
+eating such meat, but if they have ever experienced hunger till it
+begins to draw down the life itself, they will find the impulse of self
+preservation something not to be controlled by mere reason. It is an
+instinct that takes possession of one in spite of himself.
+
+I went down a narrow, dark canon high on both sides and perpendicular,
+and quite so in many places. In one of the perpendicular portions it
+seemed to be a varigated clay formation, and a little water seeped down
+its face. Here the Indians had made a clay bowl and fastened it to the
+wall so that it would collect and retain about a quart of water, and I
+had a good drink of water, the first one since leaving the running
+stream. Near here I staid all night, for fear of Indians who I firmly
+believe would have taken my scalp had a good opportunity offered. I
+slept without a fire, and my supply of meat just obtained drove hunger
+away.
+
+In the morning I started down the canon which descended rapidly and had
+a bed of sharp, volcanic, broken rock. I could sometimes see an Indian
+track, and kept a sharp lookout at every turn, for fear of revenge on
+account of the store of squashes which had been taken. I felt I was in
+constant danger, but could do nothing else but go on and keep eyes open
+trusting to circumstances to get out of any sudden emergency that might
+arise.
+
+As I recollect this was Christmas day and about dusk I came upon the
+camp of one man with his wife and family, the Rev. J.W. Brier, Mrs.
+Brier and two sons. I inquired for others of his party and he told me
+they were somewhere ahead. When I arrived at his camp I found the
+reverend gentleman very cooly delivering a lecture to his boys on
+education. It seemed very strange to me to hear a solemn discourse on
+the benefits of early education when, it seemed to me, starvation was
+staring us all in the face, and the barren desolation all around gave
+small promise of the need of any education higher than the natural
+impulses of nature. None of us knew exactly where we were, nor when the
+journey would be ended, nor when substantial relief would come.
+Provisions were wasting away, and some had been reduced to the last
+alternative of subsisting on the oxen alone. I slept by the fire that
+night, without a blanket, as I had done on many nights before and after
+they hitched up and drove on in the morning I searched the camp
+carefully, finding some bacon rinds they had thrown away. As I chewed
+these and could taste the rich grease they contained, I thought they
+were the sweetest morsels I ever tasted.
+
+Here on the north side of the canon were some rolling hills and some
+small weak springs, the water of which when gathered together made a
+small stream which ran a few yards down the canon before it lost itself
+in the rocks and sand. On the side there stood what seemed to be one
+half of a butte, with the perpendicular face toward the canon. Away on
+the summit of the butte I saw an Indian, so far away he looked no taller
+than my finger, and when he went out of sight I knew pretty well he was
+the very fellow who grew the squashes. I thought it might be he, at any
+rate.
+
+I now turned back to meet the teams and found them seven or eight miles
+up the canon, and although it was a down grade the oxen were barely able
+to walk slowly with their loads which were light, as wagons were almost
+empty except the women and children. When night came on it seemed to be
+cloudy and we could hear the cries of the wild geese passing east. We
+regarded this as a very good sign and no doubt Owen's Lake, which we
+expected to pass on this route, was not very far off. Around in those
+small hills and damp places was some coarse grass and other growths, but
+those who had gone before devoured the best, so our oxen had a hard time
+to get anything to eat.
+
+Next morning I shouldered my gun and followed down the canon keeping the
+wagon road, and when half a mile down, at the sink of the sickly stream,
+I killed a wild goose. This had undoubtedly been attracted here the
+night before by the light of our camp fire. When I got near the lower
+end of the canon, there was a cliff on the north or right hand side
+which was perpendicular or perhaps a little overhanging, and at the base
+a cave which had the appearance of being continuously occupied by
+Indians. As I went on down I saw a very strange looking track upon the
+ground. There were hand and foot prints as if a human being had crawled
+upon all fours. As this track reached the valley where the sand had been
+clean swept by the wind, the tracks became more plain, and the sand had
+been blown into small hills not over three or four feet high. I followed
+the track till it led to the top of one of these small hills where a
+small well-like hole had been dug and in this excavation was a kind of
+Indian mummy curled up like a dog. He was not dead for I could see him
+move as he breathed, but his skin looked very much like the surface of a
+well dried venison ham. I should think by his looks he must be 200 or
+300 years old, indeed he might be Adam's brother and not look any older
+than he did. He was evidently crippled. A climate which would preserve
+for many days or weeks the carcass of an ox so that an eatable round
+stake could be cut from it, might perhaps preserve a live man for a
+longer period than would be believed.
+
+I took a good long look at the wild creature and during all the time he
+never moved a muscle, though he must have known some one was in the well
+looking down at him. He was probably practicing on one of the directions
+for a successful political career looking wise and saying nothing. At
+any rate he was not going to let his talk get him into any trouble. He
+probably had a friend around somewhere who supplied his wants. I now
+left him and went farther out into the lowest part of the valley. I
+could look to the north for fifty miles and it seemed to rise gradually
+in that direction. To the south the view was equally extended, and down
+that way a lake could be seen. The valley was here quite narrow, and the
+lofty snow-capped peak we had tried so hard to reach for the past two
+months now stood before me. Its east side was almost perpendicular and
+seemed to reach the sky, and the snow was drifting over it, while here
+the day sun was shining uncomfortably hot. I believe this mountain was
+really miles from its base to its summit, and that nothing could climb
+it on the eastern side except a bird and the only bird I had seen for
+two months was the goose I shot. I looked every day for some sort of
+game but had not seen any.
+
+As I reached the lower part of the valley I walked over what seemed to
+be boulders of various sizes, and as I stepped from one to another the
+tops were covered with dirt and they grew larger as I went along. I
+could see behind them and they looked clear like ice, but on closer
+inspection proved to be immense blocks of rock salt while the water
+which stood at their bases was the strongest brine. After this discovery
+I took my way back to the road made by the Jayhawkers and found it quite
+level, but sandy. Following this I came to a campfire soon after dark at
+which E. Doty and mess were camped. As I was better acquainted I camped
+with them. They said the water there was brackish and I soon found out
+the same thing for myself. It was a poor camp; no grass, poor water and
+scattering, bitter sage brush for food for the cattle. It would not do
+to wait long here, and so they hurried on.
+
+I inquired of them about Martin's Pass, as they were now quite near it,
+and they said it was no pass at all, only the mountain was a little
+lower than the one holding the snow. No wagon could get over it, and the
+party had made up their minds to go on foot, and were actually burning
+their wagons as fuel with which to dry the meat of some of the oxen
+which they had killed. They selected those which were weakest and least
+likely to stand the journey, and by drying it the food was much
+concentrated. They were to divide the provisions equally and it was
+agreed thereafter every one must lookout for himself and not expect any
+help from anyone. If he used up his own provisions, he had no right to
+expect anyone else to divide with him. Rice, tea and coffee were
+measured out by the spoonful and the small amount of flour and bacon
+which remained was divided out as evenly as possible. Everything was to
+be left behind but blankets and provisions for the men were too weak to
+carry heavy packs and the oxen could not be relied on as beasts of
+burden and it was thought best not to load them so as to needlessly
+break them down.
+
+When these fellows started out they were full of spirit, and the frolic
+and fun along the Platte river was something worth laughing at but now
+they were very melancholy and talked in the lowest kind of low spirits.
+One fellow said he knew this was the Creator's dumping place where he
+had left the worthless dregs after making a world, and the devil had
+scraped these together a little. Another said this must be the very
+place where Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, and the pillar
+been broken up and spread around the country. He said if a man was to
+die he would never decay on account of the salt. Thus the talk went on,
+and it seemed as if there were not bad words enough in the language to
+properly express their contempt and bad opinion of such a country as
+this. They treated me to some of their meat, a little better than mine,
+and before daylight in the morning I was headed back on the trail to
+report the bad news I had learned of the Jayhawkers.
+
+About noon I met two of our camp companions with packs on their backs
+following the wagon trail, and we stopped and had a short talk. They
+were oldish men perhaps 50 years old, one a Mr. Fish of Indiana and
+another named Gould. They said they could perhaps do as well on foot as
+to follow the slow ox teams, but when I told them what those ahead of
+them were doing, and how they must go, they did not seem to be entirely
+satisfied, as what they had on their backs would need to be replenished,
+and no such chance could be expected. They had an idea that the end of
+the journey was not as far off as I predicted. Mr. Fish had a long
+nicely made, whiplash wound around his waist, and when I asked him why
+he carried such a useless thing, which he could not eat, he said perhaps
+he could trade it off for something to eat. After we had set on a sand
+hill and talked for awhile, we rose and shook each other by the hand,
+and bade each other good bye with quivering lips. There was with me a
+sort of expression I could not repel that I should never see the middle
+aged men again.
+
+As my road was now out and away from the mountains, and level, I had no
+fear of being surprised by enemies, so walked on with eyes downcast,
+thinking over the situation, and wondering what would be the final
+outcome. If I were alone, with no one to expect me to help them, I would
+be out before any other man, but with women and children in the party,
+to go and leave them would be to pile everlasting infamy on my head. The
+thought almost made me crazy but I thought it would be better to stay
+and die with them, bravely struggling to escape than to forsake them in
+their weakness.
+
+It was almost night before I reached our camp, and sitting around our
+little fire I told, in the most easy way I could the unfavorable news of
+the party in advance. They seemed to look to me as a guide and adviser,
+I presume because I took much pains to inform myself on every point and
+my judgment was accepted with very little opposing opinion, they moved
+as I thought best. During my absence from camp for the two days the
+Indians had shot arrows into three of our oxen, and one still had an
+arrow in his side forward of the hip which was a dangerous place. To be
+sure and save him for ourselves we killed him. Some were a little afraid
+to eat the meat thinking perhaps the arrow might be poisoned, but I
+agreed that they wanted meat themselves and would not do that. I told
+them if they got a shot themselves it would be very likely to be a
+poisoned arrow and they must take the most instant measures to cut it
+out before it went into the blood. So we ventured to dry the meat and
+take it with us.
+
+Now I said to the whole camp "You can see how you have displeased the
+red men, taking their little squashes, and when we get into a place that
+suits them for that purpose, they may meet us with a superior force and
+massacre us, not only for revenge but to get our oxen and clothing." I
+told them we must ever be on guard against a surprise, as the chances
+were greatly against us.
+
+We pulled the arrows out of the other oxen, and they seemed to sustain
+no great injury from the wounds. This little faint stream where we
+camped has since been named as Furnace Creek and is still known as such.
+It was named in 1862 by some prospectors who built what was called an
+air furnace on a small scale to reduce some ore found near by, which
+they supposed to contain silver, but I believe it turned out to be lead
+and too far from transportations to be available.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Bennett and Arcane now concluded not to wait for me to go ahead and
+explore out a way for them to follow, as I had done for a long time, but
+to go ahead as it was evidently the best way to turn south and make our
+own road, and find the water and passes all for ourselves. So they
+hitched up and rolled down the canon, and out into the valley and then
+turned due south. We had not gone long on this course before we saw that
+we must cross the valley and get over to the west side. To do this we
+must cross through some water, and for fear the ground might be miry, I
+went to a sand hill near by and got a mesquite stick about three feet
+long with which to sound out our way. I rolled up my pants pulled off my
+moccasins and waded in, having the teams stand still till I could find
+out whether it was safe for them to follow or not by ascertaining the
+depth of the water and the character of the bottom.
+
+The water was very clear and the bottom seemed uneven, there being some
+deep holes. Striking my stick on the bottom it seemed solid as a rock,
+and breaking off a small projecting point I found it to be solid rock
+salt. As the teams rolled along they scarcely roiled the water. It
+looked to me as if the whole valley which might be a hundred miles long
+might have been a solid bed of rock salt. Before we reached this water
+there were many solid blocks of salt lying around covered with a little
+dirt on the top.
+
+The second night we found a good spring of fresh water coming out from
+the bottom of the snow peak almost over our heads. The small flow from
+it spread out over the sand and sank in a very short distance and there
+was some quite good grass growing around.
+
+This was a temporary relief, but brought us face to face with stranger
+difficulties and a more hopeless outlook.
+
+There was no possible way to cross this high steep range of mountains
+anywhere to the north and the Jayhawkers had abandoned their wagons and
+burned them, and we could no longer follow on the trail they made. It
+seemed that there was no other alternative but for us to keep along the
+edge of the mountain to the south and search for another pass. Some who
+had read Fremont's travels said that the range immediately west of us
+must be the one he described, on the west side of which was a beautiful
+country, of rich soil and having plenty of cattle, and horses, and
+containing some settlers, but on the east all was barren, dry, rocky,
+sandy desert as far as could be seen. We knew this eastern side answered
+well the description and believed that this was really the range
+described, or at least it was close by.
+
+We had to look over the matter very carefully and consider all the
+conditions and circumstances of the case. We could see the mountains
+were lower to the south, but they held no snow and seemed only barren
+rocks piled up in lofty peaks, and as we looked it seemed the most
+God-forsaken country in the world.
+
+We had been in the region long enough to know the higher mountains
+contained most water, and that the valleys had bad water or none at all,
+so that while the lower altitudes to the south gave some promise of
+easier crossing it gave us no promise of water or grass, without which
+we must certainly perish. In a certain sense we were lost. The clear
+night and days furnished us with the mean of telling the points of
+compass as the sun rose and set, but not a sign of life in nature's wide
+domain had been seen for a month or more. A vest pocketful of powder and
+shot would last a good hunter till he starved to death for there was not
+a living thing to shoot great or small.
+
+We talked over our present position pretty freely, and every one was
+asked to speak his unbiased mind, for we knew not who might be right or
+who might be wrong, and some one might make a suggestion of the utmost
+value. We all felt pretty much downhearted. Our civilized provisions
+were getting so scarce that all must be saved for the women and
+children, and the men must get along some way on ox meat alone. It was
+decided not a scrap of anything that would sustain life must go to
+waste. The blood, hide and intestines were all prepared in some way for
+food. This meeting lasted till late at night. If some of them had lost
+their minds I should not have been surprised, for hunger swallows all
+other feelings. A man in a starving condition is a savage. He may be as
+blood-shed and selfish as a wild beast, as docile and gentle as a lamb,
+or as wild and crazy as a terrified animal, devoid of affection, reason
+or thought of justice. We were none of us as bad as this, and yet there
+was a strange look in the eyes of some of us sometimes, as I saw by
+looking round, and as others no doubt realized for I saw them making
+mysterious glances even in my direction.
+
+Morning came and all were silent. The dim prospect of the future seemed
+to check every tongue. When one left a water hole he went away as if in
+doubt whether he would ever enjoy the pleasure of another drop. Every
+camp was sad beyond description, and no one can guide the pen to make it
+tell the tale as it seemed to us. When our morning meal of soup and meat
+was finished, Bennett's two teams, and the two of Arcane's concluded
+their chances of life were better if they could take some provisions and
+strike out on foot, and so they were given what they could carry, and
+they arranged their packs and bade us a sorrowful good bye hoping to
+meet again on the Pacific Coast. There were genuine tears shed at the
+parting and I believe neither party ever expected to see each other in
+this life again.
+
+Bennett's two men were named Silas Helmer and S.S. or C.C. Abbott, but I
+have forgotten the names of Arcane's men. Mr. Abbott was from New York,
+a harness maker by trade, and he took his circular cutting knife with
+him, saying it was light to carry and the weapon he should need. One of
+them had a gun. They took the trail taken by the Jayhawkers. All the
+provisions they could carry besides their blankets could not last them
+to exceed 10 days, and I well knew they could hardly get off the desert
+in that time. Mr. Abbott was a man I loved fondly. He was good company
+in camp, and happy and sociable. He had shown no despondency at any time
+until the night of the last meeting and the morning of the parting. His
+chances seemed to me to be much poorer than my own, but I hardly think
+he realized it. When in bed I could not keep my thoughts back from the
+old home I had left, where good water and a bountiful spread were always
+ready at the proper hour. I know I dreamed of taking a draft of cool,
+sweet water from a full pitcher and then woke up with my mouth and
+throat as dry as dust. The good home I left behind was a favorite theme
+about the campfire, and many a one told of the dream pictures, natural
+as life, that came to him of the happy Eastern home with comfort and
+happiness surrounding it, even if wealth was lacking. The home of the
+poorest man on earth was preferable to this place. Wealth was of no
+value here. A hoard of twenty dollar gold pieces could now
+stand before us the whole day long with no temptation to touch a single
+coin, for its very weight would drag us nearer death. We could purchase
+nothing with it and we would have cared no more for it as a thing of
+value than we did the desert sands. We would have given much more for
+some of the snow which we could see drifting over the peak of the great
+snow mountains over our heads like a dusty cloud.
+
+Deeming it best to spare the strength as much as possible, I threw away
+everything I could, retaining only my glass, some ammunition, sheath
+knife and tin cup. No unnecessary burden could be put on any man or
+beast, lest he lie down under it, never to rise again. Life and strength
+were sought to be husbanded in every possible way.
+
+Leaving this camp where the water was appreciated we went over a road
+for perhaps 8 miles and came to the mouth of a rocky canon leading up
+west to the summit of the range. This canon was too rough for wagons to
+pass over. Out in the valley near its mouth was a mound about four feet
+high and in the top of this a little well that held about a pailful of
+water that was quite strong of sulphur. When stirred it would look quite
+black. About the mouth of the well was a wire grass that seemed to
+prevent it caving in. It seems the drifting sand had slowly built this
+little mound about the little well of water in a curious way. We spent
+the night here and kept a man at the well all night to keep the water
+dipped out as fast as it flowed, in order to get enough for ourselves
+and cattle. The oxen drank this water better than they did the brackish
+water of the former camp.
+
+The plain was thinly scattered with sage brush, and up near the base of
+the mountain some greasewood grew in little bunches like currant bushes.
+
+The men with wagons decided they would take this canon and follow it up
+to try to get over the range, and not wait for me to go ahead and
+explore, as they said it took too much time and the provisions,
+consisting now of only ox meat were getting more precarious every day.
+To help them all I could and if possible to be forewarned a little of
+danger, I shouldered my gun and pushed on ahead as fast as I could. The
+bottom was of sharp broken rock, which would be very hard for the feet
+of the oxen, although we had rawhide moccasins for them for some time,
+and this was the kind of foot-gear I wore myself. I walked on as rapidly
+as I could, and after a time came to where the canon spread out into a
+kind of basin enclosed on all sides but the entrance, with a wall of
+high, steep rock, possible to ascend on foot but which would apparently
+bar the further progress of the wagons, and I turned back utterly
+disappointed. I got on an elevation where I could look over the country
+east and south, and it looked as if there was not a drop of water in its
+whole extent, and there was no snow on the dark mountains that stretched
+away to the southward and it seemed to me as if difficulties beset me on
+every hand. I hurried back down the canon, but it was nearly dark before
+I met the wagons. By a mishap I fell and broke the stock of my gun, over
+which I was very sorry, for it was an excellent one, the best I ever
+owned. I carried it in two pieces to the camp and told them the way was
+barred, at which they could hardly endure their disappointment. They
+turned in the morning, as the cattle had nothing to eat here and no
+water, and not much of any food since leaving the spring; they looked
+terribly bad, and the rough road coming up had nearly finished them.
+They were yoked up and the wagons turned about for the return. They went
+better down hill, but it was not long before one of Bennett's oxen lay
+down, and could not be persuaded to rise again. This was no place to
+tarry in the hot sun, so the ox was killed and the carcass distributed
+among the wagons. So little draft was required that the remaining oxen
+took the wagon down. When within two or three miles of the water hole
+one of Arcane's oxen also failed and lay down, so they turned him out
+and when he had rested a little he came on again for a while, but soon
+lay down again.
+
+Arcane took a bucket of water back from camp and after drinking it and
+resting awhile the ox was driven down to the spring.
+
+This night we had another meeting to decide upon our course and
+determine what to do. At this meeting no one was wiser than another, for
+no one had explored the country and knew what to expect. The questions
+that now arose were "How long can we endure this work in this situation?
+How long will our oxen be able to endure the great hardship on the small
+nourishment they receive? How long can we provide ourselves with food?"
+
+We had a few small pieces of dry bread. This was kept for the children
+giving them a little now and then. Our only food was in the flesh of the
+oxen, and when they failed to carry themselves along we must begin to
+starve. It began to look as if the chances of leaving our bones to
+bleach upon the desert were the most prominent ones.
+
+One thing was certain we must move somewhere at once. If we stay here we
+can live as long as the oxen do, and no longer, and if we go on it is
+uncertain where to go, to get a better place. We had guns and ammunition
+to be sure, but of late we had seen no living creature in this desert
+wild. Finally Mr. Bennett spoke and said:--
+
+"Now I will make you a proposition. I propose that we select two of our
+youngest, strongest men and ask them to take some food and go ahead on
+foot to try to seek a settlement, and food, and we will go back to the
+good spring we have just left and wait for their return. It will surely
+not take them more than ten days for the trip, and when they get back we
+shall know all about the road and its character and how long it will
+take us to travel it. They can secure some other kind of food that will
+make us feel better, and when the oxen have rested a little at the
+spring we can get out with our wagons and animals and be safe. I think
+this is the best and safest way."
+
+"Now what do you all say?" After a little discussion all seemed to agree
+that this was the best, and now it remained to find the men to go. No
+one offered to accept the position of advance messengers. Finally Mr.
+Bennett said he knew one man well enough to know that he would come back
+if he lived, and he was sure he would push his way through. "I will take
+Lewis (myself) if he will consent to go." I consented, though I knew it
+was a hazardous journey, exposed to all sorts of things, Indians,
+climate and probable lack of water, but I thought I could do it and
+would not refuse. John Rogers a large strong Tennessee, man was then
+chosen as the other one and he consented also.
+
+Now preparations began, Mr. Arcane killed the ox which had so nearly
+failed, and all the men went to drying and preparing meat. Others made
+us some new mocassins out of rawhide, and the women made us each a
+knapsack.
+
+Our meat was closely packed, and one can form an idea how poor our
+cattle were from the fact that John and I actually packed seven-eighths
+of all the flesh of an ox into our knapsacks and carried it away. They
+put in a couple of spoonfuls of rice and about as much tea. This seemed
+like robbery to the children, but the good women said that in case of
+sickness even that little bit might save our lives. I wore no coat or
+vest, but took half of a light blanket, while Rogers wore a thin summer
+coat and took no blanket. We each had a small tin cup and a small camp
+kettle holding a quart. Bennett had me take his seven-shooter rifle, and
+Rogers had a good double barreled shot gun. We each had a sheath knife,
+and our hats were small brimmed, drab affairs fitting close to the head
+and not very conspicuous to an enemy as we might rise up from behind a
+hill into possible views. We tried on our packs and fitted the straps a
+little so they would carry easy. They collected all the money there was
+in camp and gave it to us. Mr. Arcane had about $30 and others threw in
+small amounts from forty cents upward. We received all sorts of advice.
+Capt. Culverwell was an old sea faring man and was going to tell us how
+to find our way back, but Mr. Bennett told the captain that he had known
+Lewis as a hunter for many years, and that if he went over a place in
+the daytime he could find his way back at night every time. Others
+cautioned us about the Indians and told us how to manage. Others told us
+not to get caught in deep snow which we might find on the mountains.
+
+This advice we received in all the kindness in which it was given, and
+then we bade them all good bye. Some turned away, too much
+affected to approach us and others, shook our hands with deep feeling,
+grasping them firmly and heartily hoping we would be successful and be
+able to pilot them out of this dreary place into a better land. Every
+one felt that a little food to make a change from the poor dried meat
+would be acceptable. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and J.B. Arcane and wife were
+the last to remain when the others had turned away. They had most faith
+in the plan and felt deeply. Mrs. Bennett was the last, and she asked
+God to bless us and bring some food to her starving children.
+
+We were so much affected that we could not speak and silently turned
+away and took our course again up the canyon we had descended the night
+before.
+
+After a while we looked back and when they saw us turn around, all the
+hats and bonnets waved us a final parting.
+
+Those left in the camp were Asabel, Bennett and Sarah his wife, with
+three children, George, Melissa, and Martha; J.B. Arcane and wife with
+son Charles. The youngest children were not more than two years old.
+There were also the two Earhart brothers, and a grown son, Capt.
+Culverwell, and some others I cannot recall; eleven grown people in all,
+besides a Mr. Wade, his wife and three children who did not mingle with
+our party, but usually camped a little distance off, followed our trail,
+but seemed to shun company. We soon passed round a bend of the canon,
+and then walked on in silence.
+
+We both of us meditated some over the homes of our fathers, but took new
+courage in view of the importance of our mission and passed on as fast
+as we could.
+
+By night we were far up the mountain, near the perpendicular rough peak,
+and far above us on a slope we could see some bunches of grass and sage
+brush. We went to this and found some small water holes. No water ran
+from them they were so small. Here we staid all night. It did not seem
+very far to the snowy peak to the north of us. Just where we were seemed
+the lowest pass, for to the south were higher peaks and the rocks looked
+as if they were too steep to be got over.
+
+Through this gap came a cold breeze, and we had to look round to get a
+sheltered place in which to sleep. We lay down close together, spoon
+fashion, and made the little blanket do as cover for the both of us. In
+the morning we filled our canteens, which we had made by binding two
+powder cans together with strips of cloth, and started for the summit
+near by. From this was the grandest sight we ever beheld. Looking east
+we could see the country we had been crawling over since November 4th.
+"Just look at the cursed country we have come over!" said Rogers as he
+pointed over it. To the north was the biggest mountain we ever saw,
+peaks on peaks and towering far above our heads, and covered with snow
+which was apparently everlasting.
+
+This mountain seemed to have very few trees on it, and in extent, as it
+reached away to the north seemed interminable. South was a nearly level
+plain, and to the west I thought I could dimly see a range of mountains
+that held a little snow upon their summits, but on the main range to the
+south there was none. It seemed to me the dim snowy mountains must be as
+far as 200 miles away, but of course I could not judge accurately. After
+looking at this grand, but worthless landscape long enough to take in
+its principal features we asked each other what we supposed the people
+we left behind would think to see mountains so far ahead. We knew that
+they had an idea that the coast range was not very far ahead, but we saw
+at once to go over all these mountains and return within the limits of
+fifteen days which had been agreed upon between us, would probably be
+impossible, but we must try as best we could, so down the rocky steep we
+clambered and hurried on our way. In places the way was so steep that we
+had to help each other down, and the hard work made us perspire freely
+so that the water was a prime necessity. In one place near here, we
+found a little water and filled our canteens, besides drinking a good
+present supply. There were two low, black rocky ranges directly ahead of
+us which we must cross.
+
+When part way down the mountain a valley or depression opened up in that
+direction up which it seemed as if we could look a hundred miles. Near
+by and a short distance north was a lake of water and when we reached
+the valley we crossed a clear stream of water flowing slowly toward the
+lake.
+
+Being in need of water, we rushed eagerly to it and prepared to take a
+big drink, but the tempting fluid was as salt as brine and made our
+thirst all the more intolerable. Nothing grew on the bank of this stream
+and the bed was of hard clay, which glistened in the sun.
+
+We now began the ascent of the next ridge, keeping a westernly course,
+and walked as fast as we could up the rough mountain side. We crossed
+the head of a canon near the summit about dark, and here we found a
+trail, which from indications we knew to be that of the Jayhawkers, who
+had evidently been forced to the southward of the course they intended
+to take. They had camped here and had dug holes in the sand in search of
+water, but had found none.
+
+We staid all night here and dug around in some other places in the
+bottom of the canon, in the hope to have better luck than they did, but
+we got no water anywhere.
+
+We seemed almost perishing for want of water, the hard exercise made us
+perspire so freely. In the morning we started on, and near the summit we
+came to the dead body of Mr. Fish, laying in the hot sun, as there was
+no material near here with which his friends could cover the remains.
+This Mr. Fish was the man who left camp some two weeks before in company
+with another and who carried the long whiplash wound about his body, in
+hope he could somewhere be able to trade it for bread. No doubt in this
+very place where he breathed his last, his bones still lie.
+
+As we came in sight of the next valley, we could see a lake of water
+some distance south of our western course.
+
+We had followed the Jayhawkers trail thus far, but as we found no water
+in small holes in the rocks as we were likely to do when we were the
+first to pass, we decided to take a new route in the hope to find a
+little water in this way, for we had no hope of finding it in any other.
+This valley we now crossed seemed to come to an end about ten miles to
+the north of us. To the south it widened out, enclosing the lake spoken
+of. This valley was very sandy and hard to walk over. When about halfway
+across we saw some ox tracks leading toward the lake, and in the hope we
+might find the water drinkable we turned off at right angles to our
+course and went that way also. Long before we reached the water of the
+lake, the bottom became a thin, slimy mud which was very hard on our
+mocassins. When we reached the water we found it to be of a wine color,
+and so strongly alkaline as to feel slippery to the touch, and under our
+feet.
+
+This side trip, had cost us much exertion and made us feel more thirsty
+than ever.
+
+We turned now west again, making for a canon, up which we passed in the
+hope we should at some turn find a little basin of rain water in some
+rock. We traveled in it miles and miles, and our mouths became so dry we
+had to put a bullet or a small smooth stone in and chew it and turn it
+around with the tongue to induce a flow of saliva. If we saw a spear of
+green grass on the north side of a rock, it was quickly pulled and eaten
+to obtain the little moisture it contained.
+
+Thus we traveled along for hours, never speaking, for we found it much
+better for our thirst to keep our mouths closed as much as possible, and
+prevent the evaporation. The dry air of that region took up water as a
+sponge does. We passed the summit of this ridge without finding any
+water, and on our way down the western side we came to a flat place
+where there was an Indian hut made of small brush. We now thought there
+surely must be some water near and we began a thorough search. The great
+snow mountain did not seem far off, but to the south and southwest a
+level or inclined plain extended for a long distance. Our thirst began
+to be something terrible to endure, and in the warm weather and hard
+walking we had secured only two drinks since leaving camp.
+
+We were so sure that there must be water near here that we laid our
+knapsacks down by the little hut and looked around in every possible
+place we could think of. Soon it got dark and then we made a little fire
+as a guide and looked again. Soon the moon arose and helped us some, and
+we shouted frequently to each other so as not to get lost.
+
+We were so nearly worn out that we tried to eat a little meat, but after
+chewing a long time, the mouth would not moisten it enough so we could
+swallow, and we had to reject it. It seemed as if we were going to die
+with plenty of food in our hand, because we could not eat it.
+
+We tried to sleep but could not, but after a little rest we noticed a
+bright star two hours above the horizon, and from the course of the moon
+we saw the star must be pretty truly west of us. We talked a little, and
+the burden of it was a fear that we could not endure the terrible thirst
+a while longer. The thought of the women and children waiting for our
+return made us feel more desperate than if we were the only ones
+concerned. We thought we could fight to the death over a water hole if
+we could only secure a little of the precious fluid. No one who has ever
+felt the extreme of thirst can imagine the distress, the dispair, which
+it brings. I can find no words, no way to express it so others can
+understand.
+
+The moon gave us so much light that we decided we would start on our
+course, and get as far as we could before the hot sun came out, and so
+we went on slowly and carefully in the partial darkness, the only hope
+left to us being that our strength would hold out till we could get to
+the shining snow on the great mountain before us. We reached the foot of
+the range we were descending about sunrise. There was here a wide wash
+from the snow mountain, down which some water had sometime run after a
+big storm, and had divided into little rivulets only reaching out a
+little way before they had sunk into the sand.
+
+We had no idea we could now find any water till we at least got very
+near the snow, and as the best way to reach it we turned up the wash
+although the course was nearly to the north. The course was up a gentle
+grade and seemed quite sandy and not easy to travel. It looked as if
+there was an all day walk before us, and it was quite a question if we
+could live long enough to make the distance. There were quite strong
+indications that the water had run here not so very long ago, and we
+could trace the course of the little streams round among little sandy
+islands. A little stunted brush grew here but it was so brittle that the
+stems would break as easy as an icicle.
+
+In order to not miss a possible bit of water we separated and agreed
+upon a general course, and that if either one found water he should fire
+his gun as a signal. After about a mile or so had been gone over I heard
+Roger's gun and went in his direction. He had found a little ice that
+had frozen under the clear sky. It was not thicker than window glass.
+After putting a piece in our mouths we gathered all we could and put it
+into the little quart camp kettle to melt. We gathered just a kettle
+full, besides what we ate as we were gathering, and kindled a little
+fire and melted it.
+
+I can but think how providential it was that we started in the night for
+in an hour after the sun had risen that little sheet of ice would have
+melted and the water sank into the sand. Having quenched our thirst we
+could now eat, and found that we were nearly starved also. In making
+this meal we used up all our little store of water, but we felt
+refreshed and our lives renewed so that we had better courage to go on.
+
+We now took our course west again taking a bee line for a bluff that lay
+a little to the south of the big snow mountain. On and on we walked till
+the dark shadow of the great mountain in the setting sun was thrown
+about us, and still we did not seem more than half way to the bluff
+before us.
+
+All the way had been hill and very tiresome walking. There was
+considerable small brush scattered about, here and there, over this
+steeply inclined plain.
+
+We were still several miles from the base of this largest of the
+mountains and we could now see that it extended west for many miles. The
+buttes to the south were low, black and barren, and to the west as far
+as we could see there were no mountains with any snow. As the sun got
+further down we could see a small smoke curling up near the base of the
+mountain, and we thought it must be some signal made by the Indians, as
+we had often seen them signal in that way, but we stopped and talked the
+matter over, and as we were yet a long way from the bluff which had been
+our objective point, we concluded we would investigate the smoke signal
+a little closer. So we set off toward it in the dusk and darkness and
+when within about a mile we found we were in a tract that had been
+somewhat beaten. Feeling with my fingers I was quite sure I could
+distinguish ox tracks, and then was quite sure that we had overtaken the
+Jayhawkers, or at least were on their trail. And then I thought perhaps
+they had fallen among the Indians, who now might be feasting on their
+oxen and it became necessary to use great caution in approaching the
+little smoke.
+
+We took a circuitous route and soon saw that the persons were on a
+little bench above us and we kept very cautious and quiet, listening for
+any sounds that might tell us who they were.
+
+If they were Indians we should probably hear some of their dogs, but we
+heard none, and kept creeping closer and closer, till we were within
+fifty yards without hearing a sound to give us any idea of who they
+were.
+
+We decided to get our guns at full cock and then hail the camp, feeling
+that we had a little the advantage of position. We hailed and were
+answered in English. "Don't Shoot" said we and they assured us they had
+no idea of such a thing, and asked us to come in. We found here to our
+surprise, Ed Doty, Tom Shannon, L.D. Stevens, and others whom I do not
+recollect, the real Jayhawkers. They gave us some fresh meat for supper,
+and near the camp were some water holes that answered well for camp
+purposes.
+
+Here an ox had given out and they had stopped long enough to dry the
+meat, while the others had gone on a day ahead.
+
+Coming around the mountain from the north was quite a well defined
+trail, leading to the west and they said they were satisfied some one
+lived at the end of it, and they were going to follow it if it lead to
+Mexico or anywhere else. They said that Mr. Brier and his family were
+still on behind, and alone. Every one must look out for himself here,
+and we could not do much for another in any way.
+
+We inquired of them about the trail over which they had come, and where
+they had found water, and we told them of our experience in this
+respect. We then related how our train could not go over the mountains
+with wagons, how they had returned to the best spring, and that we
+started to go through to the settlements to obtain relief while they
+waited for our return. We explained to them how they must perish without
+assistance. If we failed to get through, they could probably live as
+long as the oxen lasted and would then perish of starvation. We told
+them how nearly we came to the point of perishing that very morning, of
+thirst, and how we were saved by finding a little patch of ice in an
+unexpected place, and were thus enabled to come on another days travel.
+
+These men were not as cheerful as they used to be and their situation
+and prospects constantly occupied their minds. They said to us that if
+the present trail bore away from the mountain and crossed the level
+plain, that there were some of them who could not possibly get along
+safely to the other side. Some were completely discouraged, and some
+were completely out of provisions and dependent on those who had either
+provisions or oxen yet on hand. An ox was frequently killed, they said,
+and no part of it was wasted. At a camp where there was no water, for
+stewing, a piece or hide would be prepared for eating by singeing off
+the hair and then roasting in the fire. The small intestines were drawn
+through the fingers to clean them, and these when roasted made very fair
+food.
+
+They said they had been without water for four or five days at a time
+and came near starving to death, for it was impossible to swallow food
+when one became so thirsty. They described the pangs of hunger as
+something terrible and not to be described. They were willing to give us
+any information we desired and we anxiously received all we could, for
+on our return we desired to take the best possible route, and we thus
+had the experience of two parties instead of one. They told us about the
+death of Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham, and where we would find their bodies if
+we went over their trail.
+
+In the morning we shouldered our packs again and took the trail leading
+to the west, and by night we had overtaken the advance party of the
+Jayhawkers, camped in a canon where there was a little water, barely
+sufficient for their use. We inquired why they did not take the trail
+leading more directly west at the forks, and they said they feared it
+would lead them into deep snow which would be impassible. They said they
+considered the trail they had taken as altogether the safest one.
+
+We met Bennett and Arcane's teamsters, and as we expected they were
+already out of grub and no way to get anymore. When the party killed an
+ox they had humbly begged for some of the poorest parts, and thus far
+were alive. They came to us and very pitifully told us they were
+entirely out, and although an ox had been killed that day they had not
+been able to get a mouthful. We divided up our meat and gave them some
+although we did not know how long it would be before we would ourselves
+be in the same situation.
+
+Thus far we had not seen anything to shoot, big or little although we
+kept a sharp lookout.
+
+The whole camp was silent, and all seemed to realize their situation.
+Before them was a level plain which had the appearance of being so broad
+as to take five or six days to cross. Judging by the look from the top
+of the mountain as we came over, there was little to hope for in the way
+of water. We thought it over very seriously. All the water we could
+carry would be our canteens full, perhaps two drinks apiece and the poor
+meat had so little nourishment that we were weak and unable to endure
+what we once could.
+
+We were alone, Rogers and I, in interest at any rate, even if there were
+other men about. For the time it really seemed as if there was very
+little hope for us and I have often repeated the following lines as very
+closely describing my own feelings at that time.
+
+
+    Oh hands, whose loving, gentle grasp I loosed.
+  When first this weary journey was begun.
+    If I could feel your touch as once I could.
+  How gladly would I wish my work undone.
+
+  _Harriet Keynon_.
+
+
+During the evening, I had a talk with Capt. Asa Haines, in which he said
+he left a good home in Illinois, where he had everything he could wish
+to eat, and every necessary comfort, and even some to spare, and now he
+felt so nearly worn out that he had many doubts whether he could live to
+reach the mountains, on the other side. He was so deeply impressed that
+he made me promise to let his wife and family know how I found him and
+how he died, for he felt sure he would never see the California mines. I
+said I might not get through myself, but he thought we were so young and
+strong that we would struggle through. He said if he could only be home
+once more he would be content to stay. This was the general tenor of the
+conversation. There was no mirth, no jokes, and every one seemed to feel
+that he was very near the end of his life, and such a death as stood
+before them, choking, starving in a desert was the most dreary outlook I
+ever saw.
+
+This camp of trouble, of forlorn hope, on the edge of a desert
+stretching out before us like a small sea, with no hope for relief
+except at the end of a struggle which seemed almost hopeless, is more
+than any pen can paint, or at all describe. The writer had tried it
+often. Picture to yourself, dear reader the situation and let your own
+imagination do the rest. It can never come up to the reality.
+
+In the morning, as Rogers and I were about to start, several of the
+oldest men came to us with their addresses and wished us to forward them
+to their families if we ever got within the reach of mails. These men
+shed tears, and we did also as we parted. We turned silently away and
+again took up our march.
+
+As we went down the canon we came to one place where it was so narrow,
+that a man or a poor ox could barely squeeze through between the rocks,
+and in a few miles more reached the open level plain. When three or four
+miles out on the trail and not far from the hills we came to a bunch of
+quite tall willows. The center of the bunch had been cut out and the
+branches woven in so as to make a sort of corral. In the center of this
+was a spring of good water and some good grass growing around. This was
+pretty good evidence that some one had been here before. We took a good
+drink and filled our canteens anew, for we did not expect to get another
+drink for two or three days at least.
+
+We took the trail again and hurried on as the good water made us feel
+quite fresh. After a few miles we began to find the bones of animals,
+some badly decayed and some well preserved. All the heads were those of
+horses, and it puzzled us to know where they came from. As we passed
+along we noticed the trail was on a slight up grade and somewhat
+crooked. If we stepped off from it the foot sank in about two inches in
+dirt finer than the finest flour. The bones were scattered all along,
+sometimes the bones of several animals together. Was it the long drive,
+poison water, or what? It was evident they had not been killed but had
+dropped along the way.
+
+It was a dreary trail at best, and these evidences of death did not help
+to brighten it in the least. We wondered often where it led to and what
+new things would be our experience. After walking fast all day we came
+to quite an elevation, where we could stand and look in all directions.
+The low black range where we left the Jayhawkers was in sight, and this
+spur of the great snowy mountains extended a long way to the south, and
+seemed to get lower and lower, finally ending in low rocky buttes, a
+hundred miles away. Some may think this distance very far to see, but
+those who have ever seen the clear atmosphere of that region will bear
+me out in these magnificent distances. Generally a mountain or other
+object seen at a distance would be three or four times as far off as one
+would judge at first sight, so deceptive are appearances there. The
+broad south end of the great mountain which we first saw the next
+morning after we left the wagons, was now plain in sight, and peak after
+peak extending away to the north, all of them white with snow. Standing
+thus out in the plain we could see the breadth of the mountain east and
+west, and it seemed as though it must have been nearly a hundred miles.
+The south end was very abrupt and sank as one into a great plain in
+which we stood, twenty miles from the mountain's base.
+
+To the northwest we could see a clay lake, or at least that was what we
+called it, and a line of low hills seemed to be an extension of the
+mountain in a direction swinging around to the south to enclose this
+thirsty, barren plain before us, which was bounded by mountains or hills
+on these sides. To the south this range seemed to get higher, and we
+could see some snow capped mountains to the south of our westerly
+course. The low mountains as those seen in the northwest direction is
+the same place now crossed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and known
+as the Tehachipi pass, the noted loop, in which the railroad crosses
+itself, being on the west slope and Ft. Tejon being on the same range a
+little further south where the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Coast
+Range join. The first mountain bearing snow, south of our course was
+probably what is known as Wilson's peak, and the high mountains still
+farther south, the San Bernardino mountains. There were no names there
+known to us nor did we know anything of the topography of the country
+except that we supposed a range of mountains was all that separated us
+from California.
+
+We were yet in the desert, and if we kept our due west course, we must
+cross some of the snow before us which if steep gave us some doubts
+whether we could get through or not.
+
+We did not know exactly what the people left behind would do if we were
+gone longer than we intended, but if they started on it was quite plain
+to us they would be lost, and as seven days had already passed we were
+in serious trouble for fear we could not complete the trip in the time
+allotted to us. We surveyed the plain and mountains to learn its
+situation and then started, on following our trail. As we went on we
+seemed to be coming to lower ground, and near our road stood a tree of a
+kind we had not seen before. The trunk was about six or eight inches
+through and six or eight feet high with arms at the top quite as large
+as the body, and at the end of the arms a bunch of long, stiff bayonet
+shaped leaves.
+
+It was a brave little tree to live in such a barren country. As we
+walked on these trees were more plenty and some were much larger than
+the first. As we came to the lowest part of the valley there seemed to
+be little faint water ways running around little clouds of stunted
+shrubs, but there was no signs that very much water ever run in them. We
+thought that these were the outlet of the big sandy lake which might get
+full of water and overflow through these channels after some great
+storm.
+
+As this low ground was quite wide we lost our trail in crossing it, and
+we separated as we went along, looking to find it again, till nearly
+dark when we looked for a camping place. Fortunately we found a little
+pond of rain water, and some of our strange trees that were dead gave us
+good material for a fire, so that we were very comfortable indeed,
+having both drink and fire.
+
+Starting on again our course was now ascending slightly, and we came
+across more and more of the trees, and larger ones than at first. We saw
+some that seemed to have broken down with their own weight. The bayonet
+shaped leaves seemed to fall off when old and the stalk looked so much
+like an old overgrown cabbage stump that we name them "Cabbage trees,"
+but afterward learned they were a species of Yucca. We were much worried
+at loosing our trail and felt that it would be quite unsafe to try to
+cross the mountain without finding it again, so we separated, Rogers
+going northwest, and I southwest, agreeing to swing round so as to meet
+again about noon, but when we met, neither of us had found a trail, and
+we were still about 10 miles from the foothills. Rogers said he had
+heard some of the people say that the trail leading from Salt Lake to
+Los Angeles crossed such a mountain in a low pass, with very high
+mountains on each side, and he supposed that the high mountain to the
+south must be the one where the trail crossed, but as this would take us
+fully fifty miles south of our course as we supposed it was we hesitated
+about going there, and concluded we would try the lowest place in the
+mountain first, and if we failed we could then go and try Roger's route,
+more to the south.
+
+So we pushed on, still keeping a distance apart to look out for the
+trail, and before night, in the rolling hills, we saw here and there
+faint traces of it, which grew plainer as we went along, and about
+sundown we reached some water holes and from some old skulls of oxen
+lying around the ground showing that it had at some previous time been a
+camping ground. We found some good large sage brush which made a pretty
+good fire, and if we could have had a little fresh meat to roast we
+thought we were in a good position for supper. But that poor meat was
+pretty dry food. However it kept us alive, and we curled up together and
+slept, for the night was cool, and we had to make the little blanket do
+its best. We thought we ought to find a little game, but we had not seen
+any to shoot since we started.
+
+In the morning the trail led us toward the snow, and as we went along, a
+brave old crow surprised us by lighting on a bush near the trail, and we
+surprised him by killing him with a charge of shot. "Here's your fresh
+meat," said Rogers as he put it into his knapsack to cook for supper,
+and marched on. As we approached the summit we could see, on the high
+mountains south of us, some trees, and when we came near the highest
+part of our road there were some juniper trees near it, which was very
+encouraging. We crossed over several miles of hard snow, but it
+moistened up our moccassins and made them soft and uncomfortable. After
+we had turned down the western slope we killed a small hawk. "Here's
+your meat" said I, as the poor thin fellow was stowed away for future
+grub, to cook with the crow.
+
+When we got out of the snow we had lost the trail again but the hills on
+the sides were covered with large brush, and on a higher part of the
+mountain south, were some big trees, and we began to think the country
+would change for the better pretty soon. We followed down the ravine for
+many miles, and when this came out into a larger one, we were greatly
+pleased at the prospect, for down the latter came a beautiful little
+running brook of clear pure water, singing as it danced over the stones,
+a happy song and telling us to drink and drink again, and you may be
+sure we did drink, for it had been months and months since we had had
+such water, pure, sweet, free from the terrible alkali and stagnant
+taste that had been in almost every drop we had seen. Rogers leveled his
+shot gun at some birds and killed a beautiful one with a top knot on his
+head, and colors bright all down his neck. It was a California quail. We
+said birds always lived where human beings did, and we had great hopes
+born to us of a better land. I told John that if the folks were only
+there now I could kill game enough for them.
+
+We dressed our three birds and got them boiling in the camp kettle, and
+while they were cooking talked over the outlook which was so flattering
+that our tongues got loose and we rattled away in strange contrast to
+the ominous silence of a week ago. While eating our stew of crow and
+hawk, we could see willows alders and big sage brush around and we had
+noticed what seemed to be cottonwoods farther down the canon, and green
+trees on the slope of the mountain. We were sure we were on the edge of
+the promised land and were quite light hearted, till we began to tell of
+plans to get the good people out who were waiting for us beside the
+little spring in the desert. We talked of going back at once, but our
+meat was too near gone, and we must take them something to encourage
+them a little and make them strong for the fearful trip. As to these
+birds--the quail was as superb a morsel as ever a man did eat; the hawk
+was pretty fair and quite good eating; but that abominable crow! His
+flesh was about as black as his feathers and full of tough and bony
+sinews. We concluded we did not want any more of that kind of bird, and
+ever since that day, when I have heard people talk of "eating crow" as a
+bitter pill, I think I know all about it from experience.
+
+There seemed to be no other way for us but to push on in the morning and
+try to obtain some relief for the poor women and children and then get
+back to them as fast as ever we could, so we shouldered our packs and
+went on down the canon as fast as we could. We came soon to evergreen
+oaks and tall cottonwoods, and the creek bottom widened out to two
+hundred yards. There were trees on the south side and the brush kept
+getting larger and larger. There was a trail down this canon, but as it
+passed under fallen trees we knew it could not have been the same one we
+had been following on the other side of the summit, and when we
+discovered a bear track in a soft place we knew very well it was not a
+trail intended for human beings, and we might be ordered out almost any
+moment.
+
+On the high bold grassy point about four hundred yards we saw two horses
+that held their heads aloft and gave a snort, then galloped away out of
+sight. About 10 o'clock I felt a sudden pain in my left knee, keen and
+sharp, and as we went along it kept growing worse. I had to stop often
+to rest, and it was quite plain that if this increased or continued I
+was sure enough disabled, and would be kept from helping those whom we
+had left. Nerved with the idea we must get help to them, and that right
+soon, I hobbled along as well as I could, but soon had to say to Rogers
+that he had better go on ahead and get help and let me come on as best I
+could, for every moment of delay was a danger of death to our party who
+trusted us to get them help. Rogers refused to do this, he said he would
+stay with me and see me out, and that he could not do much alone, and
+had better wait till I got better. So we worked along through the
+tangled brush, being many times compelled to wade the stream to get
+along, and this made our moccasins soft and very uncomfortable to wear.
+I endured the pain all day, and we must have advanced quite a little
+distance in spite of my lameness, but I was glad when night came and we
+camped in the dark brushy canon, having a big fire which made me quite
+comfortable all night, though it was quite cold, and we had to keep
+close together so as to use the blanket. I felt a little better in the
+morning and after eating some of our poor dried meat, which was about as
+poor as crow, and I don't know but a little worse, we continued on our
+way.
+
+The tangle got worse and worse as we descended, and at times we walked
+in the bed of the stream in order to make more headway, but my lameness
+increased and we had to go very slow indeed. About noon we came to what
+looked like an excavation, a hole four feet square or more it looked to
+be, and on the dirt thrown out some cottonwood trees had grown, and one
+of the largest of these had been cut down sometime before. This was the
+first sign of white men we had seen and it was evidently an attempt at
+mining, no one knows how long ago. It encouraged us at any rate, and we
+pushed on through brush and briers, tangles of wild rose bushes and
+bushes of every sort, till all of a sudden we came out into an open
+sandy valley, well covered with sage brush and perhaps a hundred yards
+wide; probably more.
+
+The hills on the south side had on them some oak trees and grassy spots,
+but the north side was thickly covered with brush. Our beautiful little
+brook that had kept us company soon sank into the dry sand out of sight,
+and we moved rather slowly along every little while we spoke of the
+chances of wagons ever getting through the road we had come, and the
+hope that my lameness might not continue to retard our progress in
+getting back to the place of our starting, that the poor waiting people
+might begin to get out of the terrible country they were in and enjoy as
+we had done, the beautiful running stream of this side of the mountain.
+If I did not get better the chances were that they would perish, for
+they never could come through alone, as the distance had proved much
+greater than we had anticipated, and long dry stretches of the desert
+were more than they would be prepared for. As it was we feared greatly
+that we had consumed so much time they would get impatient and start out
+and be lost.
+
+I continued to hobble along down the barren valley as well as I could
+and here and there some tracks of animals were discovered, but we could
+not make out whether they were those of domestic cattle or elk. Soon, on
+the side of a hill, rather high up a pack of prairie wolves were
+snarling around the carcass of some dead animal, and this was regarded
+as another sign that more and better meat could be found, for these
+animals only live where some sort of game can be found, and they knew
+better than we that it was not for their health to go into the barren
+desert.
+
+Before us now was a spur from the hills that reached nearly across our
+little valley and shut out further sight in that direction and when we
+came to it we climbed up over it to shorten the distance. When the
+summit was reached a most pleasing sight filled our sick hearts with a
+most indescribable joy. I shall never have the ability to adequately
+describe the beauty of the scene as it appeared to us, and so long as I
+live that landscape will be impressed upon the canvas of my memory as
+the most cheering in the world. There before us was a beautiful meadow
+of a thousand acres, green as a thick carpet of grass could make it, and
+shaded with oaks, wide branching and symmetrical, equal to those of an
+old English park, while all over the low mountains that bordered it on
+the south and over the broad acres of luxuriant grass was a herd of
+cattle numbering many hundreds if not thousands. They were of all colors
+shades and sizes. Some were calmly lying down in happy rumination,
+others rapidly cropping the sweet grass, while the gay calves worked off
+their superfluous life and spirit in vigorous exercise or drew rich
+nourishment in the abundant mother's milk. All seemed happy and content,
+and such a scene of abundance and rich plenty and comfort bursting thus
+upon our eyes which for months had seen only the desolation and sadness
+of the desert, was like getting a glimpse of Paradise, and tears of joy
+ran down our faces. If ever a poor mortal escapes from this world where
+so many trials come, and joys of a happy Heaven are opened up to him,
+the change cannot be much more that this which was suddenly opened to us
+on that bright day which was either one of the very last of December
+1849 or the first of January 1850, I am inclined to think it was the
+very day of the new year, but in our troubles, the accuracy of the
+calendar was among the least of our troubles. If it was, as I believe
+the beginning of the year, it was certainly a most auspicious one and
+one of the most hopeful of my life.
+
+And _now if the others were only here_, was the burden of our thought,
+and a serious awakening from the dream of beauty and rich plenty spread
+out before us. This ring-streaked and speckled herd might be descended
+directly from Jacob's famous herd, blessed of the Lord, and while we
+could not keep our thoughts from some sad doubts as to the fate of those
+whom we had left behind, we tried to be generally hopeful and courageous
+and brightened up our steps to prepare for a relief and return to the
+hot dry plain beyond the mountains where they were awaiting us, no doubt
+with much tribulation.
+
+I now thought of myself and my failing knee and we sat down under the
+shade of an oak to rest, and after a little, better feeling seemed to
+come. Down by a deep gully cut by the rains a yearling steer was
+feeding, and I took the rifle and crawled down near him and put first
+one ball through him, and then another, before he fell dead on the other
+side of the wash, when we sprang with all the agility of a deer. We
+quickly got some good meat and had it roasted and eaten almost quicker
+than can be told. We hardly realized how near starved we were till we
+had plenty before us again. We ate till we were satisfied for once, and
+for the first time in many long dreary weeks. We kindled a fire and
+commenced drying the meat, one sleeping while the other kept the fire,
+and changing off every few hours. What a rest that was! One who has
+never been nearly worn out and starved, down nearly to the point of
+death can never know what it is to rest in comfort. No one can tell. It
+was like a dream, a sweet, restful dream where troubles would drown
+themselves in sleep. How we felt the strength come back to us with that
+food and the long draughts of pure clear water.
+
+The miserable dried meat in our knapsacks was put away and this splendid
+jerked beef put in its place. The wolves came to our camp and howled in
+dreadful disappointment at not getting a meal. Rogers wanted me to shoot
+the miserable howlers, but I let them have their concert out, and
+thought going without their breakfast must be punishment enough for
+them. As our moccasins were worn out we carefully prepared some sinews
+from the steer and made new foot gear from the green hide which placed
+us in shape for two or three week's walking.
+
+The morning was clear and pleasant. We had our knapsacks filled with
+good food we had prepared, and were enjoying the cool breeze which came
+up the valley, when we heard faintly the bark of a dog, or at least we
+thought we did. If this were true there must be some one living not very
+far away and we felt better. I was still very lame and as we started
+along the walking seemed to make it worse again, so that it was all I
+could do to follow John on the trail down the valley. As we went along a
+man and woman passed us some distance on the left, and they did not seem
+to notice us, though we were in plain sight. They were curiously
+dressed. The woman had no hoops nor shoes, and a shawl wound about her
+neck and one end thrown over her head, was a substitute bonnet. The man
+had sandals on his feet, with white cotton pants, a calico shirt, and a
+wide rimmed, comical, snuff-colored hat. We at once put them down as
+Spaniards, or then descendants of Mexico, and if what we had read about
+them in books was true, we were in a set of land pirates, and blood
+thirsty men whom we might have occasion to be aware of. We had never
+heard a word of Spanish spoken, except perhaps a word or two upon the
+plains which some fellow knew, and how we could make ourselves known and
+explain who we were was a puzzle to us.
+
+Difficulties began to arise in our minds now we were in an apparent land
+of plenty, but in spite of all we went along as fast as my lame knee
+would permit me to do. A house on higher ground soon appeared in sight.
+It was low, of one story with a flat roof, gray in color, and of a
+different style of architecture from any we had ever seen before. There
+was no fence around it, and no animals or wagons in sight, nor person to
+be seen. As we walked up the hill toward it I told John our moccasins
+made of green hide would betray us as having recently killed an animal,
+and as these people might be the owners and detain us by having us
+arrested for the crime, and this would be especially bad for us just
+now. We determined to face the people, and let the fact of our close
+necessities be a sufficient excuse for us, if we could make them
+understand our circumstances.
+
+As we came near the house no person was seen, but a mule tied to a post
+told us there was some one about, and a man soon made an appearance,
+dressed about the same style as the one we had passed a short time
+before. As we came near we saluted him, bidding him good morning, and he
+in turn touched his hat politely, saying something in reply which we
+were not able to understand. I showed him that I was lame, and taking
+out some money pointed to the mule, but he only shook his head and said
+something I could not comprehend. Rogers now began looking around the
+house, which was built of sun-dried bricks about one by two feet in
+size, and one end was used as a storehouse. As he looked in, a man came
+to him and wanted a black, patent leather belt which Rogers wore, having
+a watch-pocket attached to it. He offered a quart or more of coarse corn
+meal, and Rogers made the trade.
+
+We tried to inquire where we were or where ought to go, but could get no
+satisfactory answer from the man, although when we spoke San Francisco
+he pointed to the north. This was not very satisfactory to us and we
+seemed as badly lost as ever, and where or which way to go we did not
+seem very successful in finding out. So we concluded to go on a little
+way at least, and I hobbled off in the direction he pointed, which was
+down the hill and past a small, poorly fenced field which was sometimes
+cultivated, and across the stream which followed down the valley.
+Passing on a mile or two we stopped on a big patch of sand to rest.
+
+I told Rogers I did not think this course would lead us to any place in
+a month, and just now a delay was ruinous to us and to those who were
+waiting for us, and it would not do for us to go off to the north to
+find a settlement. While I was expressing my opinion on matters and
+things, Rogers had wet up a part of his meal with water and put it to
+bake on the cover of his camp kettle. There was a fair sized cake for
+each of us, and it was the first bread of any kind we had eaten for
+months, being a very acceptable change from an exclusively meat diet.
+Looking up the valley we could see a cloud of dust, thick and high, and
+soon several men on horseback who came at a rushing gallop. I told
+Rogers they were after us, and believed them to be a murderous set who
+might make trouble for us. I hastily buried our little store of money in
+the sand, telling him that if they got us, they would not get our money.
+Putting our guns across our laps in an easy position we had them cocked
+and ready for business, and our knives where we could get them handy,
+and awaited their arrival.
+
+They came on with a rush until within a short distance and halted for
+consultation just across the creek, after which one of them advanced
+toward us and as he came near us we could see he was a white man, who
+wished us good evening in our own language. We answered him rather
+cooly, still sitting in the sand and he no doubt saw that we were a
+little suspicious of the crowd. He asked us where we were from, and we
+told him our circumstances and condition and that we would like to
+secure some means of relief for the people we had left in the desert,
+but our means were very limited and we wanted to do the best we could.
+He said we were about 500 miles from San Francisco, not far from 100
+miles from the coast and thirty miles from Los Angeles. We were much
+afraid we would not be able to get anything here, but he told us to go
+across the valley to a large live oak tree which he pointed out, and
+said we would find an American there, and we should wait there till
+morning. He said he would go back and stay at the house we had passed,
+and would do what he could to assist us to go to Los Angeles where we
+could get some supplies. Then he rode away, and as we talked it over we
+saw no way but to follow the directions of our newfound friend.
+
+It seemed now that my lameness had indeed been a blessing. If I had been
+able to walk we would now have been well on toward the seashore, where
+we could have found no such friend as this who had appeared to us. The
+way seemed clearer to us, but the time for our return was almost up and
+there was no way of getting back in fifteen days as we had agreed upon,
+so there was great danger to our people yet. It seemed very likely to
+take us twenty four or thirty days at best, and while they probably had
+oxen enough to provide them food for so long a time they might take a
+notion to move on, which would be fatal.
+
+At the big live oak tree we found an American camper, who was on his way
+to the gold mines. He was going a new route and said the mines could be
+reached much quicker than by going up the coast by way of San Francisco.
+A new company with wagons was soon to start out to break the road, and
+when they crossed the east end of the valley he would follow them. I
+think this man's name was Springer. He had come by way of the Santa Fe
+route, and the people of Los Angeles had told him this route was an easy
+one being often traveled by saddle horses, and if the company could make
+it possible for wagons they could have all the cattle they wanted to
+kill along the road as their pay for doing the work. Our new friend lay
+down early, and as he saw we were scant in blankets he brought some to
+us for our use, which were most thankfully received.
+
+As soon as we were alone Rogers mixed up some more of the meal which we
+baked in our friend's frying pan, and we baked and ate and baked and ate
+again, for our appetites were ravenous, and the demand of our stomachs
+got the better of the judgment of our brains.
+
+It was hard to find time to sleep, we were so full of the plans about
+the way, which we must manage to get relief for the people. We had many
+doubts if animals could ever come over the route we had come over, from
+deliberation we decided that by selecting a route with that idea in our
+minds, we could get mules and perhaps horses over the country. We
+perhaps could go more to the north and take the Jayhawkers trail, but
+this would take us fully a hundred miles farther and four or five days
+longer, at the best, and every moment of delay was to be carefully
+avoided as a moment of danger to our friends.
+
+Thus again, our sleep was troubled from another cause. Being so long
+unaccustomed to vegetable food, and helped on, no doubt, by our poor
+judgment in gauging the quantity of our food, we were attacked by severe
+pains in the stomach and bowels, from which we suffered intensely. We
+arose very early and with a very light breakfast, for the sickness
+admonished us, we started back for the house we had first passed, at
+which our friend on horseback, said he would spend the night and where
+we were to meet him this morning. He said he could talk Spanish all
+right and would do all he could to help us.
+
+Our suffering and trouble caused us to move very slowly, so that it was
+nine or ten o'clock before we reached the house, and we found they had
+two horses all ready for us to go to Los Angeles. There were no saddles
+for us, but we thought this would be a good way to cure my lameness. The
+people seemed to be friends to us in every way. We mounted, having our
+packs on our backs, and our guns before us, and with a friendly parting
+to the people who did not go, all four of us started on a trip of thirty
+miles to the town of Los Angeles.
+
+When we reached the foot of the mountain which was very steep but not
+rocky, John and I dismounted and led our animals to the top, where we
+could see a long way west, and south, and it looked supremely beautiful.
+We could not help comparing it to the long wide, desert we had crossed,
+and John and myself said many times how we wished the folks were here to
+enjoy the pleasant sight, the beautiful fertile picture.
+
+There appeared to be one quite large house in sight, and not far off,
+which the man told us was the Mission of San Fernando, a Roman Catholic
+Church and residence for priests and followers. The downward slope of
+the mountain was as steep as the other side and larger, and John and I
+did not attempt to mount till we were well down on the level ground
+again, but the other two men rode up and down without any trouble. We
+would let our leaders get half a mile or so ahead of us and then mount
+and put our horses to a gallop till we overtook them again. We had
+walked so long that riding was very tiresome to us, and for comfort
+alone we would have preferred the way on foot, but we could get along a
+little faster, and the frequent dismounting kept us from becoming too
+lame from riding.
+
+We passed the Mission about noon or a little after, and a few miles
+beyond met a man on horseback who lived up to the north about a hundred
+miles. His name was French and he had a cattle range at a place called
+Tejon (Tahone). Our friends told him who we were, and what assistance we
+needed. Mr. French said he was well acquainted in Los Angeles and had
+been there some time, and that all the travelers who would take the
+Coast route had gone, those who had come by way of Salt Lake had got in
+from two to four weeks before, and a small train which had come the
+Santa Fe Route was still upon the road. He said Los Angeles was so clear
+of emigrants that he did not think we could get any help there at the
+present time.
+
+"Now," said Mr. French--"You boys can't talk Spanish and it is not very
+likely you will be able to get any help. Now I say, you boys turn back
+and go with me and I will give you the best I have, I will let you have
+a yoke of gentle oxen, or more if you need them, and plenty of beans,
+which are good food for I live on them; besides this I can give an
+Indian guide to help you back. Will that do?" After a moment we said we
+doubted if oxen could be got over the road, and if they were fat now
+they would soon get poor, and perhaps not stand it as well as the oxen
+which had became used to that kind of life, and of those they had in
+camp all they needed. We wanted to get something for the women and
+children to ride, for we knew they must abandon the wagons, and could
+not walk so far over that dry, rough country. "Well," said Mr.
+French:--"I will stop at the place you were this morning--I know them
+well--and they are good folks, and I am sure when I tell them what you
+want they will help you if they possibly can. This looks to me to be the
+most sensible course." After talking an hour our two companions advised
+us that the proposition of Mr. French seemed the most reasonable one
+that appeared. But for us to go clear back to his range would take up so
+much valuable time that we were almost afraid of the delay which might
+mean the destruction of our friends. French said he had a pack saddle,
+with him taking it home, and we could put it on one of our horses, and
+when we came back to Los Angeles could leave it at a certain saloon or
+place he named and tell them it belonged to him and to keep it for him.
+I have forgotten the name of the man who kept the saloon. We agreed to
+this, and bidding our two companions farewell, we turned back again with
+Mr. French.
+
+When night came we were again at the Mission we had passed on the way
+down. We were kindly treated here, for I believe Mr. French told them
+about us. They sent an Indian to take our horses, and we sat down beside
+the great house. There were many smaller houses, and quite a large piece
+of ground fenced in by an adobe wall. The roof of the buildings was like
+that of our own buildings in having eaves on both, sides, but the
+covering was of semi circular tiles made and burned like brick. Rows of
+these were placed close together, the hollow sides up, and then another
+course over the joints, placed with the round side up, which made a roof
+that was perfectly waterproof, but must have been very heavy. These
+tiles were about two feet long. All the surroundings, and general make
+up of the place were new to us and very wonderful. They gave us good
+dried meat to eat and let us sleep in the big house on the floor, which
+was as hard as granite, and we turned over a great many times before
+daylight, and were glad when morning came. We offered to pay them, but
+they would take nothing from us, and we left leading our horses over the
+steep mountain, and reaching the house again late in the day. They
+turned our horses loose and seemed disposed to be very friendly and
+disposed to do for us what they could.
+
+We were very tired and sat down by the side of the house and rested,
+wondering how we would come out with our preparations. They were talking
+together, but we could not understand a word. A dark woman came out and
+gave each of us a piece of cooked squash. It seemed to have been roasted
+in the ashes and was very sweet and good. These were all signs of
+friendship and we were glad of the good feeling. We were given a place
+to sleep in the house, in a store room on a floor which was not soft.
+This was the second house we had slept in since leaving Wisconsin, and
+it seemed rather pent-up to us.
+
+In the morning we were shown a kind of mill like a coffee mill, and by
+putting in a handful of wheat from a pile and giving the mill a few
+turns we were given to understand we should grind some flour for
+ourselves. We went to work with a will, but found it, hard, slow work.
+
+After a little, our dark woman came and gave us each a pancake and a
+piece of meat, also another piece of roasted squash, for our breakfast,
+and this, we thought, was the best meal we had ever eaten. The lady
+tried to talk to us but we could not understand the words, and I could
+convey ideas to her better by the sign language than any other way. She
+pointed out the way from which we came and wanted to know how many day's
+travel it might be away, and I answered by putting my hand to my head
+and closing my eyes, which was repeated as many times as there had been
+nights on our journey, at which she was much surprised that the folks
+were so far away. She then place her hand upon her breast and then held
+it up, to ask how many women there were, and I answered her by holding
+up three fingers, at which she shrugged her shoulders and shook her
+head. Then pointing to a child by her side, four or five years old, and
+in the same way asked how many children, I answered by holding up four
+fingers, and she almost cried, opening her mouth in great surprise, and
+turned away.
+
+I said to Rogers that she was a kind, well meaning woman, and that Mr.
+French had no doubt told her something of our story. Aside from her dark
+complexion her features reminded me of my mother, and at first sight of
+her I thought of the best woman on earth my own far off mother, who
+little knew the hardships we had endured. We went to work again at the
+mill and after a while the woman came again and tried to talk and to
+teach us some words of her own language. She place her finger on me and
+said _ombre_ and I took out my little book and wrote down _ombre_ as
+meaning man, and in the same way she taught me that _mujer_, was woman;
+_trigo_, wheat; _frijoles_, beans; _carne_, meat; _calazasa_, pumpkin;
+_caballo_, horse; _vaca_, cow; _muchacho_, boy, and several other words
+in this way.
+
+I got hold of many words thus to study, so that if I ever came back I
+could talk a little and make myself understood as to some of the common
+objects and things of necessary use. Such friendly, human acts shown to
+us strangers, were evidences of the kindest disposition. I shall never
+forget the kindness of those original Californians. When in Walker's
+camp and finding he was friendly to Mormonism we could claim that we
+were also Mormons, but the good people though well known Catholics, did
+not so much as mention the fact nor inquire whether we favored that sect
+or not. We were human beings in distress and we represented others who
+were worse even than we, and those kind acts and great good will, were
+given freely because we were fellow human beings.
+
+The provisions we prepared were, a sack of small yellow beans; a small
+sack of wheat, a quantity of good dried meat, and some of the coarse,
+unbolted flour we had made at the mills. They showed us how to properly
+pack the horse, which was a kind of work we had not been use to, and we
+were soon ready for a start. I took what money we had and put it on a
+block, making signs for them to take what the things were worth. They
+took $30, and we were quite surprised to get two horses, provisions,
+pack-saddles and ropes, some of the latter made of rawhide and some of
+hair, so cheaply, but we afterward learned that the mares furnished were
+not considered of much value, and we had really paid a good fair price
+for everything. To make it easy for us they had also fixed our knapsacks
+on the horses.
+
+The good lady with the child, came out with four oranges and pointed to
+her own child and then to the East, put them in the pack meaning we
+should carry them to the children. With a hearty good bye from them, and
+a polite lifting of our hats to them we started on our return, down
+toward the gentle decline of the creek bottom, and then up the valley,
+the way we came. Toward night we came to a wagon road crossing the
+valley, and as we well knew we could not go up the tangled creek bed
+with horses we took this road to the north, which took a dry ravine for
+its direction, and in which there was a pack trail, and this the wagons
+were following. We kept on the trail for a few miles, and overtook them
+in their camp, and camped with them over night. We told them we
+considered our outfit entirely too small for the purpose intended, which
+was to bring two women and four children out of the desert, but that
+being the best we could get, we were taking this help to them and hoped
+to save their lives. Our mission became well known and one man offered
+to sell us a poor little one-eyed mule, its back all bare of covering
+from the effect of a great saddle sore that had very recently healed. He
+had picked it up somewhere in Arizona where it had been turned out to
+die, but it seemed the beast had enough of the good Santa Ana stock in
+it to bring it through and it had no notion of dying at the present
+time, though it was scarcely more than a good fair skeleton, even then.
+The beast became mine at the price of $15, and the people expressed
+great sympathy with us and the dear friends we were going to try to
+save.
+
+Another man offered a little snow-white mare, as fat as butter, for $15,
+which I paid, though it took the last cent of money I had. This little
+beauty of a beast was broken to lead at halter, but had not been broken
+in any other way. Rogers said he would ride her where he could, and
+before she got to the wagons she would be as gentle as a lamb. He got a
+bridle and tried her at once, and then there was a scene of rearing,
+jumping and kicking that would have made a good Buffalo Bill circus in
+these days. No use, the man could not be thrown off, and the crowd
+cheered and shouted to Rogers to--"Hold her level."
+
+After some bucking and backing on the part of the mare and a good deal
+of whipping and kicking on the part of the man, and a good many furious
+clashes in lively, but very awkward ways, the little beast yielded the
+point, and carried her load without further trouble.
+
+The people gave us a good supper and breakfast, and one man came and
+presented us with 25 pounds of unbolted wheat flour. They were of great
+assistance to us in showing us how to pack and sack our load, which was
+not heavy and could be easily carried by our two animals which we had at
+first. However we arranged a pack on the mule and this gave me a horse
+to ride and a mule to lead, while Rogers rode his milk-white steed and
+led the other horse. Thus we went along and following the trail soon
+reached the summit from which we could see off to the East a wonderful
+distance, probably 200 miles, of the dry and barren desert of hill and
+desolate valley over which we had come.
+
+The trail bearing still to the north from this point, we left and turned
+due east across the country, and soon came to a beautiful lake of sweet
+fresh water situated well up toward the top of the mountain. This lake
+is now called Elizabeth Lake. Here we watered our animals and filled our
+canteens, then steered a little south of east among the Cabbage trees,
+aiming to strike the rain water hole where we had camped as we came
+over. We reached the water hole about noon and here found the Jayhawkers
+trail, which we took. They had evidently followed us and passed down the
+same brushy canon while we having taken a circuitous route to the north,
+had gone around there. Getting water here for ourselves and horses, we
+went back to the trail and pushed on as fast as the animals could walk,
+and as we now knew where we could get water, we kept on till after dark,
+one of us walking to keep the trail, and some time in the night reached
+the Willow corral I have spoken of before. There was good water here,
+but the Jayhawker's oxen had eaten all the grass that grew in the little
+moist place around, and our animals were short of feed. One of us agreed
+to stand guard the fore part of the night and the other later, so that
+we might not be surprised by Indians and lose our animals. I took the
+first watch and let the blaze of the fire go out so as not to attract
+attention and as I sat by the dull coals and hot ashes I fell asleep.
+Rogers happened to wake and see the situation, and arose and waked me
+again saying that we must be more careful or the Indians would get our
+horses. You may be sure I kept awake the rest of my watch.
+
+Next day we passed the water holes at the place where we had so
+stealthily crawled up to Doty's camp when coming out. These holes held
+about two pails of water each, but no stream run away from them. Our
+horses seemed to want water badly for when they drank they put their
+head in up to their eyes and drank ravenously.
+
+Thirty miles from here to the next water, Doty had told us, and night
+overtook us before we could reach it, so a dry camp was made. Our horses
+began now to walk with drooping heads and slow, tired steps, so we
+divided the load among them all and walked ourselves. The water, when
+reached proved so salt the horses would not drink it, and as Doty had
+told us the most water was over the mountain ahead of us, we still
+followed their trail which went up a very rocky canon in which it was
+hard work for the horses to travel. The horses were all very gentle now
+and needed some urging to make them go. Roger's fat horse no longer
+tried to unseat its rider or its pack, but seemed to be the most
+downhearted of the train. The little mule was the liveliest, sharpest
+witted animal of the whole. She had probably traveled on the desert
+before and knew better how to get along. She had learned to crop every
+spear of grass she came to, and every bit of sage brush that offered a
+green leaf was given a nip. She would sometimes leave the trail and go
+out to one side to get a little bunch of dry grass, and come back and
+take her place again as if she knew her duty. The other animals never
+tried to do this. The mule was evidently better versed in the art of
+getting a living than the horses.
+
+Above the rough bed of the canon the bottom was gravelly and narrow, and
+the walls on each side nearly perpendicular. Our horses now poked slowly
+along and as we passed the steep wall of the canon the white animal left
+the trail and walked with full force, head first, against the solid
+rock. She seemed to be blind, and though we went quickly to her and took
+off the load she carried, she had stopped breathing by the time we had
+it done. Not knowing how far it was to water, nor how soon some of our
+other horses might fall, we did not tarry, but pushed on as well as we
+could, finding no water. We reached the summit and turned down a ravine,
+following the trail, and about dark came to the water they had told us
+about, a faint running stream which came out of a rocky ravine and sank
+almost immediately in the dry sand. There was water enough for us, but
+no grass. It seemed as if the horses were not strong enough to carry a
+load, and as we wanted to get them through if possible, we concluded to
+bury the wheat and get it on our return. We dug a hole and lined it
+with fine sticks, then put in the little bag and covered it with dry
+brush, and sand making the surface as smooth as if it had never been
+touched, then made our bed on it. The whole work was done after dark so
+the deposit could not be seen by the red men and we thought we had done
+it pretty carefully.
+
+Next morning the little mule carried all the remaining load, the horses
+bearing only their saddles, and seemed hardly strong enough for that.
+There was now seven or eight miles of clean loose sand to go over,
+across a little valley which came to an end about ten miles north of us,
+and extended south to the lake where we went for water on our outward
+journey and found it red alkali. Near the Eastern edge of the valley we
+turned aside to visit the grave of Mr. Isham, which they had told us of.
+They had covered his remains with their hands as best they could, piling
+up a little mound of sand over it. Our next camp was to be on the summit
+of the range just before us, and we passed the dead body of Mr. Fish, we
+had seen before, and go on a little to a level sandy spot in the ravine
+just large enough to sleep on. This whole range is a black mass rocky
+piece of earth, so barren that not a spear of grass can grow, and not a
+drop of water in any place. We tied our horses to rocks and there they
+staid all night, for if turned loose there was not a mouthful of food
+for them to get.
+
+In the morning an important question was to be decided, and that was
+whether we should continue to follow the Jayhawker's trail which led far
+to the north to cross the mountain, which stood before us, a mass of
+piled-up rocks so steep that it seemed as if a dog could hardly climb
+it. Our wagons were nearly due east from this point over the range, and
+not more than fifty miles away, while to go around to the north was
+fully a hundred miles, and would take us four or five days to make. As
+we had already gone so long we expected to meet them any day trying to
+get out, and if we went around we might miss them. They might have all
+been killed by Indians or they might have already gone. We had great
+fears on their account. If they had gone north they might have perished
+in the snow.
+
+The range was before us, and we must get to the other side in some way.
+We could see the range for a hundred miles to the north and along the
+base some lakes of water that must be salt. To the south it got some
+lower, but very barren and ending in black, dry buttes. The horses must
+have food and water by night or we must leave them to die, and all
+things considered it seemed to be the quickest way to camp to try and
+get up a rough looking canon which was nearly opposite us on the other
+side. So we loaded the mule and made our way down the rocky road to the
+ridge, and then left the Jayhawker's trail, taking our course more south
+so as to get around a salt lake which lay directly before us. On our way
+we had to go close to a steep bluff, and cross a piece of ground that
+looked like a well dried mortar bed, hard and smooth as ice, and thus
+got around the head of a small stream of clear water, salt as brine. We
+now went directly to the mouth of the canon we had decided to take, and
+traveled up its gravelly bed. The horses now had to be urged along
+constantly to keep them moving and they held their heads low down as
+they crept along seemingly so discouraged that they would much rather
+lie down and rest forever than take another step. We knew they would do
+this soon in spite of all our urging, if we could not get water for
+them. The canon was rough enough where we entered it, and a heavy up
+grade too, and this grew more and more difficult as we advanced, and the
+rough yellowish, rocky walls closed in nearer and nearer together as we
+ascended.
+
+A perpendicular wall, or rather rise, in the rocks was approached, and
+there was a great difficulty to persuade the horses to take exertion to
+get up and over the small obstruction, but the little mule skipped over
+as nimbly as a well-fed goat, and rather seemed to enjoy a little
+variety in the proceedings. After some coaxing and urging the horses
+took courage to try the extra step and succeeded all right, when we all
+moved on again, over a path that grew more and more narrow, more and
+more rocky under foot at every moment. We wound around among and between
+the great rocks, and had not advanced very far before another
+obstruction, that would have been a fall of about three feet had water
+been flowing in the canon, opposed our way. A small pile of lone rocks
+enabled the mule to go over all right, and she went on looking for every
+spear of grass, and smelling eagerly for water, but all our efforts were
+not enough to get the horses along another foot. It was getting nearly
+night and every minute without water seemed an age. We had to leave the
+horses and go on. We had deemed them indispensable to us, or rather to
+the extrication of the women and children, and yet the hope came to us
+that the oxen might help some of them out as a last resort. We were sure
+the wagons must be abandoned, and such a thing as women riding on the
+backs of oxen we had never seen, still it occurred to us as not
+impossible and although leaving the horses here was like deciding to
+abandon all for the feeble ones, we saw we must do it, and the new hope
+arose to sustain us for farther effort. We removed the saddles and
+placed them on a rock, and after a few moments hesitation, moments in
+which were crowded torrents of wild ideas, and desperate thoughts, that
+were enough to drive reason from its throne, we left the poor animals to
+their fate and moved along. Just as we were passing out of sight the
+poor creatures neighed pitifully after us, and one who has never heard
+the last despairing, pleading neigh of a horse left to die can form no
+idea of its almost human appeal. We both burst into tears, but it was no
+use, to try to save them we must run the danger of sacrificing
+ourselves, and the little party we were trying so hard to save.
+
+We found the little mule stopped by a still higher precipice or
+perpendicular rise of fully ten feet. Our hearts sank within us and we
+said that we should return to our friends as we went away, with our
+knapsacks on our backs, and the hope grew very small. The little mule
+was nipping some stray blades of grass and as we came in sight she
+looked around to us and then up the steep rocks before her with such a
+knowing, intelligent look of confidence, that it gave us new courage. It
+was a strange wild place. The north wall of the canon leaned far over
+the channel, overhanging considerably, while the south wall sloped back
+about the same, making the wall nearly parallel, and like a huge crevice
+descending into the mountain from above in a sloping direction.
+
+We decided to try to get the confident little mule over this
+obstruction, Gathering all the loose rocks we could we piled them up
+against the south wall, beginning some distance below, putting up all
+those in the bed of the stream and throwing down others from narrow
+shelves above we built a sort of inclined plane along the walls
+gradually rising till we were nearly as high as the crest of the fall.
+Here was a narrow shelf scarcely four inches wide and a space of from
+twelve to fifteen feet to cross to reach the level of the crest. It was
+all I could do to cross this space, and there was no foundation to
+enable us to widen it so as to make a path for an animal. It was forlorn
+hope but we made the most of it. We unpacked the mule and getting all
+our ropes together, made a leading line of it. Then we loosened and
+threw down all the projecting points of rocks we could above the narrow
+shelf, and every piece that was likely to come loose in the shelf
+itself. We fastened the leading line to her and with one above and one
+below we thought we could help her to keep her balance, and if she did
+not make a misstep on that narrow way she might get over safely. Without
+a moments hesitation the brave animal tried the pass. Carefully and
+steadily she went along, selecting a place before putting down a foot,
+and when she came to the narrow ledge leaned gently on the rope, never
+making a sudden start or jump, but cautiously as a cat moved slowly
+along. There was now no turning back for her. She must cross this narrow
+place over which I had to creep on hands and knees, or be dashed down
+fifty feet to a certain death. When the worst place was reached she
+stopped and hesitated, looking back as well as she could. I was ahead
+with the rope, and I called encouragingly to her and talked to her a
+little. Rogers wanted to get all ready and he said, "holler" at her as
+loud as he could and frighten her across, but I thought the best way to
+talk to her gently and let her move steadily.
+
+I tell you, friends, it was a trying moment. It seemed to be weighed
+down with all the trails and hardships of many months. It seemed to be
+the time when helpless women and innocent children hung on the trembling
+balance between life and death. Our own lives we could save by going
+back, and sometimes it seemed as if we would perhaps save ourselves the
+additional sorrow of finding them all dead to do so at once. I was so
+nearly in despair that I could not help bursting in tears, and I was not
+ashamed of the weakness. Finally Rogers said, "Come Lewis" and I gently
+pulled the rope, calling the little animal, to make a trial. She smelled
+all around and looked over every inch of the strong ledge, then took one
+careful step after another over the dangerous place. Looking back I saw
+Rogers with a very large stone in his hand, ready to "holler" and
+perhaps kill the poor beast if she stopped. But she crept along trusting
+to the rope to balance, till she was half way across, then another step
+or two, when calculating the distance closely she made a spring and
+landed on a smooth bit of sloping rock below, that led up to the highest
+crest of the precipice, and safely climbed to the top, safe and sound
+above the falls. The mule had no shoes and it was wonderful how her
+little hoofs clung to the smooth rock. We felt relieved. We would push
+on and carry food to the people; we would get them through some way;
+there could be no more hopeless moment than the one just past, and we
+would save them all.
+
+It was the work of a little while to transfer the load up the precipice,
+and pack the mule again, when we proceeded. Around behind some rocks
+only a little distance beyond this place we found a small willow bush
+and enough good water for a camp. This was a strange canon. The sun
+never shown down to the bottom in the fearful place where the little
+mule climbed up, and the rocks had a peculiar yellow color. In getting
+our provisions up the precipice, Rogers went below and fastened the rope
+while I pulled them up. Rogers wished many times we had the horses up
+safely where the mule was, but a dog could hardly cross the narrow path
+and there was no hope. Poor brutes, they had been faithful servants, and
+we felt sorrowful enough at their terrible fate.
+
+We had walked two days without water, and we were wonderfully refreshed
+as we found it here. The way up this canon was very rough and the bed
+full of sharp broken rocks in loose pieces which cut through the bottoms
+of our moccasins and left us with bare feet upon the acute points and
+edges. I took off one of my buckskin leggins, and gave it to Rogers, and
+with the other one for myself we fixed the moccasins with them as well
+as we could, which enabled us to go ahead, but I think if our feet had
+been shod with steel those sharp rocks would have cut through.
+
+Starting early we made the summit about noon, and from here we could see
+the place where we found a water hole and camped the first night after
+we left the wagons. Down the steep canon we turned, the same one in
+which we had turned back with the wagons, and over the sharp broken
+pieces of volcanic rock that formed our only footing we hobbled along
+with sore and tender feet. We had to watch for the smoothest place for
+every step, and then moved only with the greatest difficulty. The
+Indians could have caught us easily if they had been around for we must
+keep our eyes on the ground constantly and stop if we looked up and
+around. But we at last got down and camped on some spot where we had set
+out twenty-five days before to seek the settlements. Here was the same
+little water hole in the sand plain, and the same strong sulphur water
+which we had to drink the day we left. The mule was turned loose
+dragging the same piece of rawhide she had attached to her when we
+purchased her, and she ranged and searched faithfully for food finding
+little except the very scattering bunches of sage brush. She was
+industrious and walked around rapidly picking here and there, but at
+dark came into camp and lay down close to us to sleep.
+
+There was no sign that any one had been here during our absence, and if
+the people had gone to hunt a way out, they must either have followed
+the Jayhawker's trail or some other one. We were much afraid that they
+might have fallen victims to the Indians. Remaining in camp so long it
+was quite likely they had been discovered by them and it was quite
+likely they had been murdered for the sake of the oxen and camp
+equipage. It might be that we should find the hostiles waiting for us
+when we reached the appointed camping place, and it was small show for
+two against a party. Our mule and her load would be a great capture for
+them. We talked a great deal and said a great many things at that camp
+fire for we knew we were in great danger, and we had many doubts about
+the safety of our people, that would soon be decided, and whether for
+joy or sorrow we could not tell.
+
+From this place, as we walked along, we had a wagon road to follow, in
+soft sand, but not a sign of a human footstep could we see, as we
+marched toward this, the camp of the last hope. We had the greatest
+fears the people had given up our return and started out for themselves
+and that we should follow on, only to find them dead or dying. My pen
+fails me as I try to tell the feelings and thoughts of this trying hour.
+I can never hope to do so, but if the reader can place himself in my
+place, his imagination cannot form a picture that shall go beyond
+reality.
+
+We were some seven or eight miles along the road when I stopped to fix
+my moccasin while Rogers went slowly along. The little mule went on
+ahead of both of us, searching all around for little bunches of dry
+grass, but always came back to the trail again and gave us no trouble.
+When I had started up again I saw Rogers ahead leaning on his gun and
+waiting for me, apparently looking at something on the ground. As I came
+near enough to speak I asked what he had found and he said--"Here is
+Capt. Culverwell, dead." He did not look much like a dead man. He lay
+upon his back with arms extended wide, and his little canteen, made of
+two powder flasks, lying by his side. This looked indeed as if some of
+our saddest forebodings were coming true. How many more bodies should we
+find? Or should we find the camp deserted, and never find a trace of the
+former occupants.
+
+We marched toward camp like two Indians, silent and alert, looking out
+for dead bodies and live Indians, for really we more expected to find
+the camp devastated by those rascals than to find that it still
+contained our friends. To the east we could plainly see what seemed to
+be a large salt lake with a bed that looked as if of the finest, whitest
+sand, but really a wonder of salt crystal. We put the dreary steps
+steadily one forward of another, the little mule the only unconcerned
+one of the party, ever looking for an odd blade of grass, dried in the
+hot dry wind, but yet retaining nourishment, which she preferred.
+
+About noon we came in sight of the wagons, still a long way off, but in
+the clear air we could make them out, and tell what they were, without
+being able to see anything more. Half a mile was the distance between us
+and the camp before we could see very plainly, as they were in a little
+depression. We could see the covers had been taken off, and this was an
+ominous sort of circumstance to us, for we feared the depredations of
+the Indians in retaliation for the capture of their squashes. They had
+shot our oxen before we left and they have slain them this time and the
+people too.
+
+We surely left seven wagons. Now we could see only four and nowhere the
+sign of an ox. They must have gone ahead with a small train, and left
+these four standing, after dismantling them.
+
+No signs of life were anywhere about, and the thought of our hard
+struggles between life and death to go out and return, with the
+fruitless results that now seemed apparent was almost more than human
+heart could bear. When should we know their fate? When should we find
+their remains, and how learn of their sad history if we ourselves should
+live to get back again to settlements and life? If ever two men were
+troubled, Rogers and I surely passed through the furnace.
+
+We kept as low and as much out of sight as possible, trusting very much
+to the little mule that was ahead, for we felt sure she would detect
+danger in the air sooner than we, and we watched her closely to see how
+she acted. She slowly walked along looking out for food, and we followed
+a little way behind, but still no decisive sign to settle the awful
+suspense in which we lived and suffered. We became more and more
+convinced that they had taken the trail of the Jayhawkers, and we had
+missed them on the road, or they had perished before reaching the place
+where we turned from their trail.
+
+One hundred yards now to the wagons and still no sign of life, no
+positive sign of death, though we looked carefully for both. We fear
+that perhaps there are Indians in ambush, and with nervous irregular
+breathing we counsel what to do. Finally Rogers suggested that he had
+two charges in his shot gun and I seven in the Coll's rifle, and that I
+fire one of mine and await results before we ventured any nearer, and if
+there are any of the red devils there we can kill some of them before
+they get to us. And now both closely watching the wagons I fired the
+shot. Still as death and not a move for a moment, and then as if by
+magic a man came out from under a wagon and stood up looking all around,
+for he did not see us. Then he threw up his arms high over his head and
+shouted--"The boys have come. The boys have come!" Then other bare heads
+appeared, and Mr. Bennett and wife and Mr. Arcane came toward us as fast
+as ever they could. The great suspense was over and our hearts were
+first in our mouths, and then the blood all went away and left us almost
+fainting as we stood and tried to step. Some were safe perhaps all of
+those nearest us, and the dark shadow of death that had hovered over us,
+and cast what seemed a pall upon every thought and action, was lifted
+and fell away a heavy oppression gone. Bennett and Arcane caught us in
+their arms and embraced us with all their strength, and Mrs. Bennett
+when she came fell down on her knees and clung to me like a maniac in
+the great emotion that came to her, and not a word was spoken. If they
+had been strong enough they would have carried us to camp upon their
+shoulders. As it was they stopped two or three times, and turned as if
+to speak, but there was too much feeling for words, convulsive weeping
+would choke the voice.
+
+All were a little calmer soon, and Bennett soon found voice to say:--"I
+know you have found some place, for you have a mule," and Mrs. Bennett
+through her tears, looked staringly at us as she could hardly believe
+our coming back was a reality, and then exclaimed:--"Good boys! O, you
+have saved us all! God bless you forever! Such boys should never die!"
+It was some time before they could talk without weeping. Hope almost
+died within them, and now when the first bright ray came it almost
+turned reason from its throne. A brighter happier look came to them than
+we had seen, and then they plied us with questions the first of which
+was:--"Where were you?"
+
+We told them it must be 250 miles yet to any part of California where we
+could live. Then came the question;--"Can we take our wagons?" "You will
+have to walk," was our answer, for no wagons could go over that unbroken
+road that we had traveled. As rapidly and carefully as we could we told
+them of our journey, and the long distance between the water holes; that
+we had lost no time and yet had been twenty six days on the road; that
+for a long distance the country was about as dry and desolate as the
+region we had crossed east of this camp. We told them of the scarcity of
+grass, and all the reasons that had kept us so long away from them.
+
+We inquired after the others whom we had left in camp when we went away,
+and we were told all they knew about them. Hardly were we gone before
+they began to talk about the state of affairs which existed. They said
+that as they had nothing to live on but their oxen it would be certain
+death to wait here and eat them up, and that it would be much better to
+move on a little every day and get nearer and nearer the goal before the
+food failed. Bennett told them they would know surely about the way when
+the boys returned, and knowing the road would know how to manage and
+what to expect and work for, and could get out successfully. But the
+general opinion of all but Mr. Bennett and Mr. Arcane and their families
+was, as expressed by one of them:--"If those boys ever get out of this
+cussed hole, they are d----d fools if they ever come back to help
+anybody."
+
+Some did not stay more than a week after we were gone, but took their
+oxen and blankets and started on. They could not be content to stay idly
+in camp with nothing to occupy their minds or bodies. They could see
+that an ox when killed would feed them only a few days, and that they
+could not live long on them, and it stood them in hand to get nearer the
+western shore as the less distance the more hope while the meat lasted.
+Bennett implored them to stay as he was sure we would come back, and if
+the most of them deserted him he would be exposed to the danger of the
+Indians, with no hope of a successful resistance against them.
+
+But the most seemed to think that to stay was to die, and it would be
+better to die trying to escape than to set idly down to perish. These
+men seemed to think their first duty was to save themselves, and if
+fortunate, help others afterward, so they packed their oxen and left in
+separate parties, the last some two weeks before. They said that Capt.
+Culverwell went with the last party. I afterward learned that he could
+not keep up with them and turned to go back to the wagons again, and
+perished, stretched out upon the sand as we saw him, dying all alone,
+with no one to transmit his last words to family or friends. Not a
+morsel to eat, and the little canteen by his side empty. A sad and
+lonely death indeed!
+
+There was no end to the questions about the road we had to answer, for
+this was uppermost on their minds, and we tried to tell them and show
+them how we must get along on our return. We told them of the great snow
+mountains we had seen all to the north of our road, and how deep the
+snow appeared to be, and how far west it extended. We told them of the
+black and desolate ranges and buttes to the south, and of the great dry
+plains in the same direction. We told them of the Jayhawkers trail; of
+Fish's dead body; of the salt lake and slippery alkali water to which we
+walked, only to turn away in disappointment; of the little sheets of ice
+which saved our lives; of Doty's camp and what we knew of those gone
+before; of the discouraged ones who gave us their names to send back to
+friends; of the hawk and crow diet; of my lameness; of the final coming
+out into a beautiful valley, in the midst of fat cattle and green
+meadows, and the trouble to get the help arranged on account of not
+knowing the language to tell the people what we needed. They were deeply
+impressed that my lameness had been a blessing in disguise, or we would
+have gone on to the coast and consumed more time than we did in walking
+slowly to favor the cripple knee. Our sad adventures and loss of the
+horses in returning was sorrowfully told and we spoke of the provisions
+we had been able to bring on the little mule which had clambered over
+the rocks like a cat; that we had a little flour and beans, and some
+good dried meat with fat on it which we hoped would help to eke out the
+poorer fare and get them through at last. They were so full of
+compliments that we really began to think we had been brought into the
+world on purpose to assist some one, and the one who could forecast all
+things had directed us, and all our ways, so that we should save those
+people and bring them to a better part of God's footstool, where plenty
+might be enjoyed, and the sorrows of the desert forgotten. It was
+midnight before we could get them all satisfied with their knowledge of
+our experience.
+
+[Illustation: Leaving Death Valley.--The Manly Party on Foot After
+Leaving Their Wagons.]
+
+It was quite a treat to us to sleep again between good blankets,
+arranged by a woman's hand, and it was much better resting than the
+curled up, cramped position we had slept in while away, with only the
+poor protection of the half blanket for both of us, in nights that were
+pretty chilly.
+
+We had plenty of water here, and there being no fear of the mule going
+astray we turned her loose. As the party had seen no Indians during our
+absence we did not concern ourselves much about them. At breakfast we
+cautioned them about eating too much bread, remembering, our own
+experience in that way.
+
+They said they had about given up our coming back a week before, and had
+set about getting ready to try to move on themselves. Bennett said he
+was satisfied that they never could have got through alone after what we
+had told them of the route and its dangers. He said he knew it now that
+not one of them would have lived if they had undertaken the journey
+alone without knowledge of the way.
+
+They had taken off the covers of the wagons to make them into houses for
+the oxen, so they could be used as pack animals. The strong cloth had
+been cut into narrow strips and well made into breast straps and
+breeching, for the cattle were so poor and their hide so loose it was
+almost impossible to keep anything on their backs. They had emptied the
+feathers out of the beds to get the cloth to use, and had tried to do
+everything that seemed best to do to get along without wagons. The oxen
+came up for water, and the mule with them. They looked better than when
+we left, but were still poor. They had rested for some time and might
+feel able to go along willingly for a few days at least. I was handy
+with the needle, and helped them to complete the harness for the oxen,
+while Bennett and John went to the lake to get a supply of salt to take
+along, a most necessary article with our fresh meat. I looked around a
+little at our surroundings, and could see the snow still drifting over
+the peak of the snowy mountain as we had seen it farther east, where we
+were ourselves under the burning sun. This was now pretty near February
+first, or midwinter. The eastern side of this great mountain was too
+steep to be ascended, and no sign of a tree could be seen on the whole
+eastern slope. The range of mountains on the east side of this narrow
+valley were nearly all the volcanic, barren in the extreme, and the
+roughest of all the mountains we had ever seen. I had now looked pretty
+thoroughly, and found it to be pretty nearly a hundred miles long, and
+this was the only camp I had seen where water could be had.
+
+When Mrs. Bennet was ready to show me what to do on the cloth harness,
+we took a seat under the wagon, the only shady place and began work. The
+great mountain, I have spoken of as the snow mountain has since been
+known as Telescope Peak, reported to be 11,000 feet high. It is in the
+range running north and south and has no other peak so high. Mrs.
+Bennett questioned me closely about the trip, and particularly if I had
+left anything out which I did not want her to know. She said she saw her
+chance to ride was very slim, and she spoke particularly of the
+children, and that it was impossible for them to walk. She said little
+Martha had been very sick since we had been gone, and that for many days
+they had expected her to die. They had no medicine to relieve her and
+the best they could do was to select the best of the ox meat, and make a
+little soup of it and feed her, they had watched her carefully for many
+days and nights, expecting they would have to part with her any time and
+bury her little body in the sands. Sometimes it seemed as if her breath
+would stop, but they had never failed in their attentions, and were at
+last rewarded by seeing her improve slowly, and even to relish a little
+food, so that if no relapse set in they had hopes to bring her through.
+They brought the little one and showed her to me, and she seemed so
+different from what she was when we went away. Then she could run about
+camp climb out and in the wagons, and move about so spry that she
+reminded one of a quail. Now she was strangely misshapen. Her limbs had
+lost all the flesh and seemed nothing but skin and bones, while her body
+had grown corpulent and distended, and her face had a starved pinched
+and suffering look, with no healthy color in it.
+
+She told me of their sufferings while we were gone, and said she often
+dreamed she saw us suffering fearfully for water, and lack of food and
+could only picture to herself as their own fate, that they must leave
+the children by the trail side, dead, and one by one drop out themselves
+in the same way. She said she dreamed often of her old home where bread
+was plenty, and then to awake to find her husband and children starving
+was a severe trial indeed, and the contrast terrible. She was anxious to
+get me to express an opinion as to whether I thought we could get the
+oxen down the falls where we had so much trouble.
+
+I talked to her as encouragingly as I could, but she did not cheer up
+much and sobbed and wept over her work most all the time. It was not
+possible to encourage her much, the outlook seemed so dark. Mrs. Arcane
+sat under another wagon and said nothing, but she probably heard all we
+had to say, and did not look as if her hopes were any brighter. Bennett
+and Rogers soon returned with a supply of salt and said the whole shore
+of the lake was a winrow of it, that could be shoveled up in enormous
+quantities.
+
+We now in a counsel of the whole, talked over the matter, and the way
+which seemed most promising. If we went by the Jayhawkers trail, there
+was a week of solid travel to get over the range and back south again as
+far as a point directly opposite our camp, and this had taken us only
+three days to come over as we had come. The only obstacle in the way was
+the falls, and when we explained that there was some sand at the bottom
+of them, Bennett said he thought we could get them over without killing
+them, and that, as we knew exactly where the water was, this was the
+best trail to take. Arcane was quite of the same opinion, the saving of
+a week of hard and tiresome travel being in each case the deciding
+reason. They then explained to me what they had decided on doing if we
+had not come back. They had selected two oxen for the women to ride one
+to carry water and one to carry the four children. There were no saddles
+but blankets enough to make a soft seat, and they proposed to put a band
+or belt around the animals for them to hold on by, and the blankets
+would be retained in place by breast and breeching straps which we had
+made. They had found out that it was very difficult to keep a load of
+any kind upon an ox, and had devised all this harness to meet the
+trouble.
+
+Bennett had one old bridle ox called Old Crump, which had been selected
+to carry the children, because he was slow and steady. How in the world
+do you expect it to keep the children on?--said I. "Well"--said Bennett,
+with a sort of comical air, about the first relief from the sad line of
+thought that had possessed us all--"We have taken two strong hickory
+shirts, turned the sleeves inside, sewed up the necks, then sewed the
+two shirts together by the tail, and when these are placed on the ox
+they will make two pockets for the youngest children, and we think the
+two others will be able to cling to his back with the help of a band
+around the body of the ox to which they can cling to, with their hands."
+Now if Old Crump went steady and did not kick up and scatter things, he
+thought this plan would operate first rate. Now as to the mule they
+proposed as we knew how to pack the animal, that we should use her to
+pack our provisions so they would go safe.
+
+From a piece of hide yet remaining John and I made ourselves some new
+moccasins, and were all ready to try the trip over our old trail for now
+the third time, and the last, we hoped.
+
+Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane had taken our advice, and in cooking had
+not put too much of the flour or beans into the soup for the children
+and they had gotten along nicely, and even began to smile a little with
+satisfaction after a full meal. They got along better than John and I
+did when we got hold of the first nutritions after our arrival on the
+other side.
+
+We must leave everything here we can get along without. No clothing
+except that on our backs. Only a camp kettle in which to make soup, a
+tin cup for each one, and some knives and spoons which each happen to
+have. Each one had some sort of a canteen for water, which we must fill
+up at every opportunity, and we decided to carry a shovel along, so we
+might bury the body of Capt. Culverwell, and shovel up a pile of sand at
+the falls to enable us to get the oxen over. Every ox had a cloth halter
+on his head, so he might be led, or tied up at night when we had a dry
+camp, and they would most assuredly wander off if not secured. Old Crump
+was chosen to lead the train, and Rogers was to lead him. We had made an
+extra halter for this old fellow, and quite a long strip of bed ticking
+sewed into a strap to lead him by.
+
+This packing business was a new idea, and a hard matter to get anything
+firmly fixed on their backs.
+
+We had made shoulder straps, hip straps, breast straps and breeching as
+the correct idea for a harness. The only way we could fasten the band
+around the animals was for one to get on each side and pull it as tight
+as possible then tie a knot, as we had no buckles or ring in our
+harness.
+
+The loads of the oxen consisted of blankets and bedding and a small,
+light tent of their sheeting about four by six feet in size. We rose
+early and worked hard till about the middle of the forenoon getting all
+things ready. They had been in a state of masterly inactivity so long in
+this one camp that they were anxious to leave it now forever. Only in
+progress was there hope, and this was our last and only chance. We must
+succeed or perish. We loaded the animals from the wagons, and some of
+the oxen seemed quite afraid at this new way of carrying loads. Old
+Crump was pretty steady, and so was the one with the two water kegs one
+on each side but the other oxen did not seem to think they needed any
+blankets on these warm days.
+
+Mrs. Arcane was from a city, and had fondly conveyed thus far some
+articles of finery, of considerable value and much prized. She could not
+be persuaded to leave them here to deck the red man's wife, and have her
+go flirting over the mountains with, and as they had little weight she
+concluded she would wear them and this perhaps would preserve them. So
+she got out her best hat and trimmed it up with extra ribbon leaving
+some with quite long ends to stream out behind. Arcane brought up his ox
+Old Brigham, for he had been purchased at Salt Lake and named in honor
+of the great Mormon Saint.
+
+Mrs. Arcane also dressed her little boy Charlie up In his best suit of
+clothes, for she thought they might as well wear them out as to throw
+them away. She made one think of a fairy in gay and flying apparel. In
+the same way all selected their best and most serviceable garments, for
+it was not considered prudent to carry any load, and poor clothes were
+good enough to leave for Indians. We set it down as a principle that we
+must save ourselves all we could, for it would be a close contested
+struggle with us and death, at the very best, and we wanted to get all
+the advantage for ourselves we could. As we were making the preparations
+the women grew more hopeful, as it seemed as if something was really
+going to be accomplished.
+
+Bennett and Arcane were emphatic in their belief and expressions that we
+would succeed, "I know it--Don't you Sally?" said Bennett very
+cheerfully, but after all Mrs. Bennett could not answer quite as
+positively, but said "I hope so."--Mrs. Bennett's maiden name was Sarah
+Dilley, which I mention here as I may otherwise forget it afterward. She
+realized that hers was no easy place to ride, that they would have hard
+fare at best, and that it must be nearly or quite a month before they
+could reach a fertile spot on which to place her feet. One could easily
+see that the future looked quite a little dark to her, on account of her
+children, as a mother naturally would.
+
+High overhead was the sun, and very warm indeed on that day in the fore
+part of February 1850, when the two children were put on Old Crump to
+see if he would let them ride. The two small children were placed in the
+pockets on each side, face outward, and they could stand or sit as they
+should choose. George and Melissa were placed on top and given hold of
+the strap that was to steady them in their place. I now led up Mrs.
+Bennett's ox and Mr. Bennett helped his wife to mount the animal, on
+whose back as soft a seat as possible had been constructed. Mrs. Arcane
+in her ribbons was now helped to her seat on the back of Old Brigham and
+she carefully adjusted herself to position, and arranged her dress and
+ornaments to suit, then took hold of the strap that served to hold on by
+as there were no bridles on these two.
+
+Rogers led the march with his ox; Bennett and I started the others
+along, and Arcane followed with Old Crump and the children. Bennett and
+Arcane took off their hats and bade the old camp good bye. The whole
+procession moved, and we were once more going toward our journey's end
+we hoped. The road was sandy and soft, the grade practically level, and
+everything went well for about four miles, when the pack on one of the
+oxen near the lead got loose and and turned over to one side, which he
+no sooner saw thus out of position, then he tried to get away from it by
+moving sidewise. Not getting clear of the objectionable load in this way
+he tried to kick it off, and thus really got his foot in it, making
+matters worse instead of better. Then he began a regular waltz and
+bawled at the top of his voice in terror. Rogers tried to catch him but
+his own animal was so frisky that he could not hold him and do much
+else, and the spirit of fear soon began to be communicated to the others
+and soon the whole train seemed to be taken crazy.
+
+They would jump up high and then come down, sticking their fore feet as
+far as possible into the sand after which, with elevated tails, and
+terrible plunges would kick and thrash and run till the packs came off,
+when they stopped apparently quite satisfied. Mrs. Bennett slipped off
+her ox as quick as she could, grabbed her baby from the pocket on Old
+Crump, and shouting to Melissa and George to jump, got her family into
+safe position in pretty short order. Arcane took his Charley from the
+other pocket and laid him on the ground, while he devoted his own
+attention to the animals. Mrs. Arcane's ox followed suit, and waltzed
+around in the sand, bawled at every turn, fully as bad as any of the
+others, but Mrs. Arcane proved to be a good rider, and hard to unseat,
+clinging desperately to her strap as she was tossed up and down, and
+whirled about at a rate enough to to make any one dizzy. Her many fine
+ribbons flew out behind like the streamers from a mast-head, and the
+many fancy fixin's she had donned fluttered in the air in gayest
+mockery. Eventually she was thrown however, but without the least injury
+to herself, but somewhat disordered in raiment. When I saw Bennett he
+was standing half bent over laughing in almost hysterical convulsion at
+the entirely impromptu circus which had so suddenly performed an act not
+on the program. Arcane was much pleased and laughed heartily when he saw
+no one was hurt. We did not think the cattle had so much life and so
+little sense as to waste their energies so uselessly. The little mule
+stepped out one side and looked on in amazement, with out disarranging
+any article of her load.
+
+Mrs. Bennett, carrying her baby and walking around to keep out of the
+way, got very much exhausted, and sat down on the sand, her face as red
+as if the blood were about to burst through the skin, and perspiring
+freely. We carried a blanket and spread down for her while we gathered
+in the scattered baggage. Then the oxen were got together again, and
+submitted to being loaded up again as quietly as if nothing had
+happened. Myself and the women had to mend the harness considerably, and
+Arcane and his ox went back for some water, while Rogers and Bennett
+took the shovel and went ahead about a mile to cover up the body of
+Capt. Culverwell, for some of the party feared the cattle might be
+terrified at seeing it. All this took so much time that we had to make a
+camp of it right here.
+
+We put the camp kettle on two stones, built a fire, put in some beans
+and dried meat cut very fine, which cooked till Arcane came with more
+water, which was added, and thickened with a little of the unbolted
+flour, making a pretty good and nutritious soup which we all enjoyed. We
+had to secure the animals, for there was neither grass nor water for
+them, and we thought they might not be in so good spirits another day.
+
+We had little trouble in packing up again in the morning, and concluded
+to take a nearer route to the summit, so as to more quickly reach the
+water holes where Rogers and I camped on our first trip over the
+country. This would be a hard rocky road on its course leading up a
+small rocky canon, hard on the feet of the oxen, so they had to be
+constantly urged on, as they seemed very tender footed. They showed no
+disposition to go on a spree again and so far as keeping the loads on,
+behaved very well indeed. The women did not attempt to ride but followed
+on, close after Old Crump and the children who required almost constant
+attention, for in their cramped position they made many cries and
+complaints. To think of it, two children cramped up in narrow pockets,
+in which they could not turn around, jolted and pitched around over the
+rough road, made them objects of great suffering to themselves and
+anxiety and labor on the part of the mothers.
+
+Mrs. Bennett said she would carry her baby if she could, but her own
+body was so heavy for her strength that she could not do it. Bennett,
+Rogers and myself hurried the oxen all we could, so that we could reach
+the water, and let Bennett go back with some to meet the rest and
+refresh them for the end of the day's march, and he could take poor
+little Martha from the pocket and carry her in his arms, which would be
+a great relief to her. Arcane also took his child when he met them,
+throwing away his double barrel gun, saying:--"I have no use for you."
+
+When the women reached camp we had blankets already spread down for
+them, on which they cast themselves, so tired as to be nearly dead. They
+were so tired and discouraged they were ready to die, for they felt they
+could not endure many days like this.
+
+We told them this was the first day and they were not used to exercise
+therefore more easily tired than after they became a little used to it.
+We told them not to be discouraged, for we knew every water hole, and
+all the road over which we would pilot them safely. They would not
+consent to try riding again, after their circus experience, and Mrs.
+Arcane said her limbs ached so much she did not think she could even go
+on the next day. They had climbed over the rocks all day, and were lame
+and sore, and truly thought they could not endure such another day. The
+trail had been more like stairs than a road in its steep ascent, and our
+camp was at a narrow pass in the range. The sky was clear and cloudless,
+as it had been for so long for thus far upon this route no rain had
+fallen, and only once a little snow, that came to us like manna in the
+desert. For many days we had been obliged to go without water both we
+and our cattle, and over the route we had come we had not seen any signs
+of a white man's presence older than our own. I have no doubt we were
+the first to cross the valley in this location, a visible sink hole in
+the desert.
+
+The women did not recover sufficient energy to remove their clothing,
+but slept as they were, and sat up and looked around with uncombed hair
+in the morning, perfect pictures of dejection. We let them rest as long
+as we could, for their swollen eyes and stiffened joints told how sadly
+unprepared they were to go forward at once. The sun came out early and
+made it comfortable, while a cool and tonic breeze, came down from the
+great snow mountain the very thing to brace them up after a thorough
+rest.
+
+The slope to the east was soon met by a high ridge and between this and
+the main mountain was a gentle slope scattered over with sage brush, and
+a few little stools of bunch grass here and there between. This gave our
+oxen a little food and by dipping out the water from the holes and
+letting them fill up again we managed to get water for camp use and to
+give the animals nearly all they wanted.
+
+While waiting for the women Bennett and Arcane wanted to go out and get
+a good view of the great snowy mountain I had told them so much about.
+The best point of view was near our camp, perhaps three or four hundred
+yards away, and I went with them. This place where we now stood was
+lower than the mountains either north or south, but were difficult to
+climb, and gave a good view in almost every direction, and there, on the
+back bone of the ridge we had a grand outlook, but some parts of it
+brought back doleful recollections. They said they had traveled in sight
+of that mountain for months and seen many strange formations, but never
+one like this, as developed from this point. It looked to be
+seventy-five miles to its base, and to the north and west there was a
+succession of snowy peaks that seemed to have no end. Bennett and Arcane
+said they never before supposed America contained mountains so grand
+with peaks that so nearly seemed to pierce the sky. Nothing except a
+bird could ever cross such steep ranges as that one.
+
+West and south it seemed level, and low, dark and barren buttes rose
+from the plain, but never high enough to carry snow, even at this season
+of the year. I pointed out to them the route we were to follow, noting
+the prominent points, and it could be traced for fully one hundred and
+twenty-five miles from the point on which we stood. This plain, with its
+barren ranges and buttes is now known as the Mojave Desert. This part of
+the view they seemed to study over, as if to fix every point and water
+hole upon their memory. We turned to go to camp, but no one looked back
+on the country we had come over since we first made out the distant snow
+peak, now so near us, on November 4th 1849. The only butte in this
+direction that carried snow was the one where we captured the Indian and
+where the squashes were found.
+
+The range next east of us across the low valley was barren to look upon
+as a naked, single rock. There were peaks of various heights and colors,
+yellow, blue firery red and nearly black. It looked as if it might
+sometime have been the center of a mammoth furnace. I believe this range
+is known as the Coffin's Mountains. It would be difficult to find earth
+enough in the whole of it to cover a coffin.
+
+Just as we were ready to leave and return to camp we took off our hats,
+and then overlooking the scene of so much trial, suffering and death
+spoke the thought uppermost saying:--"_Good bye Death Valley!"_ then
+faced away and made our steps toward camp. Even after this in speaking
+of this long and narrow valley over which we had crossed into its nearly
+central part, and on the edge of which the lone camp was made, for so
+many days, it was called Death Valley.
+
+Many accounts have been given to the world as to the origin of the name
+and by whom it was thus designated but ours were the first visible
+footsteps, and we the party which named it the saddest and most dreadful
+name that came to us first from its memories.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Out of Death Valley we surely were. To Rogers and I, the case seemed
+hopeful, for we had confidence in the road and believed all would have
+power to weather difficulties, but the poor women--it is hard to say
+what complaints and sorrows were not theirs. They seemed to think they
+stood at death's door, and would about as soon enter, as to take up a
+farther march over the black, desolate mountains and dry plains before
+them, which they considered only a dreary vestibule to the dark door
+after all. They even had an idea that the road was longer than we told
+them, and they never could live to march so far over the sandy, rocky
+roads. The first day nearly satisfied them that it was no use to try,
+Rogers and I counted up the camps we ought to reach each day and in this
+way could pretty near convince them of time that would be consumed in
+the trip. We encouraged them in every way we could; told them we had
+better get along a little every day and make ourselves a little nearer
+the promised land, and the very exercise would soon make them stronger
+and able to make a full day's march.
+
+John and I told them we felt in much better spirits now than we did when
+we set out alone, and now that nothing but the arrows of an Indian could
+stop us. We said to them. "We are not going to leave you two ladies out
+here to die for there is not a sign of a grave to put you in,--" and it
+was a pretty tough place to think of making one. We told them of the
+beautiful flowery hillsides over the other side and begged them to go
+over there to die, as it would be so much better and easier to perform
+the last sad rites there instead of here on the top of the dismal
+mountain. It seemed quite like a grim joke, but it produced a reaction
+that turned the tide of thoughts and brought more courage. We only laid
+out the march for this day as far as the falls and after a little
+prepared to move. The cattle seemed to have quit their foolishness, and
+they were loaded without trouble. The children fitted into the pockets
+better than usual, and the mothers with full canteens strapped across
+their shoulders picked out soft places on which to place their poor
+blistered feet at every step. They walked as if they were troubled with
+corns on every toe and on their heels into the bargain, and each foot
+was so badly affected, that they did not know on which one to limp. But
+still they moved, and we were once more on our way westward. They often
+stopped to rest, and Arcane waited for them with Old Crump, while they
+breathed and complained awhile and then passed on again.
+
+[Illustration: The Oxen Get Frisky.]
+
+The route was first along the foot of the high peak, over bare rocks and
+we soon turned south somewhat so as to enter the canon leading down to
+the falls. The bottom of this was thick with broken rock, and the oxen
+limped and picked out soft places about as bad as the women did. A pair
+of moccasins would not last long in such rocks and we hoped to get out
+of them very soon. Rogers and I hurried along, assisting Arcane and his
+party as much as we could, while Bennett staid behind and assisted the
+women as much as possible, taking their arms, and by this means they
+also reached camp an hour behind the rest.
+
+A kettle of hot steaming soup, and blankets all spread out on which to
+rest, was the work Rogers and I had done to prepare for them, and they
+sank down on the beds completely exhausted. The children cried some but
+were soon pacified and were contented to lie still. A good supper of hot
+soup made them feel much better all around.
+
+The first thing Bennett and Arcane did was to look round and see the
+situation at the falls, and see if the obstacle was enough to stop our
+progress, or if we must turn back and look for a better way. They were
+in some doubt about it, but concluded to try and get the animals over
+rather than to take the time to seek another pass, which might take a
+week of time. We men all went down to the foot of the fall, and threw
+out all the large rocks, then piled up all the sand we could scrape
+together with the shovel, till we had quite a pile of material that
+would tend to break a fall. We arranged everything possible for a forced
+passage in the morning, and the animals found a few willows to browse
+and a few bunches of grass here and there, which gave them a little
+food, while the spring supplied them with enough water to keep them from
+suffering with thirst.
+
+Early in the morning we took our soup hastily and with ropes lowered our
+luggage over the small precipice, then the children, and finally all the
+ropes were combined to make a single strong one about thirty feet long.
+They urged one of the oxen up to the edge of the falls, put the rope
+around his horns, and threw down the end to me, whom they had stationed
+below. I was told to pull hard when he started so that he might not
+light on his head and break his neck. We felt this was a desperate
+undertaking, and we fully expected to lose some of our animals, but our
+case was critical and we must take some chances. Bennett stood on one
+side of the ox, and Arcane on the other, while big Rogers was placed in
+the rear to give a regular Tennessee boost when the word was given. "Now
+for it," said Bennett, and as I braced out on the rope those above gave
+a push and the ox came over, sprawling, but landed safely, cut only a
+little by some angular stones in the sand pile. "Good enough," said some
+one and I threw the rope back for another ox. "We'll get 'em all over
+safely" said Arcane, "if Lewis down there, will keep them from getting
+their necks broken." Lewis pulled hard every time, and not a neck was
+broken. The sand pile was renewed every time and made as high and soft
+as possible, and very soon all our animals were below the falls. The
+little mule gave a jump when they pushed her and lighted squarely on her
+feet all right. With the exception of one or two slight cuts, which bled
+some, the oxen were all right and we began loading them at once.
+
+Bennett and Arcane assisted their wives down along the little narrow
+ledge which we used in getting up, keeping their faces toward the rocky
+wall, and feeling carefully for every footstep. Thus they worked along
+and landed safely by the time we had the animals ready for a march. We
+had passed without disaster, the obstacle we most feared, and started
+down the rough canon, hope revived, and we felt we should get through.
+After winding around among the great boulders for a little while we came
+to the two horses we had left behind, both dead and near together. We
+pointed to the carcasses, and told them those were the horses we brought
+for the women to ride, and that is the way they were cheated out of
+their passage. The bodies of the animals had not been touched by bird or
+beast. The canon was too deep and dark for either wolves or buzzards to
+enter, and nothing alive had been seen by us in the shape of wild game
+of any sort. Firearms were useless here except for defence against
+Indians, and we expected no real trouble from them.
+
+From what we could see, it was my opinion that no general rain ever fell
+in that region. There was some evidence that water had at times flowed
+down them freely after cloud bursts, or some sudden tempest, but the
+gravel was so little worn that it gave no evidence of much of a stream.
+
+We hurried on as rapidly as possible so as to get into the Jayhawker's
+beaten trail which would be a little easier to follow. When we reached
+the lowest part of the valley we had to turn south to get around a
+little, slow running stream of salt water, that moved north and emptied
+into a Salt Lake. No source of the stream could be seen from this point,
+but when we reached a point where we could cross, we had a smooth, hard
+clay bed to march over. It seemed to have been, some day, a bed of
+mortar, but now baked hard, and the hoofs of the oxen dented into it no
+more than half an inch. On our left hand was a perpendicular cliff,
+along which we traveled for quite a little way. The range of mountains
+now before us to cross was black, nothing but rocks, and extremely
+barren, having no water in it that we knew of, so when we reached the
+summit we camped, tied all our animals to rocks, where they lay down and
+did not rise till morning. The women were so tired they were over two
+hours late, and we had the fire built, the soup cooked and the beds
+made. As we did not stop at noon all were very hungry, and ate with a
+relish. The poor animals had to go without either grass or water. When
+Old Crump and the party came in the men were carrying the babies, and
+their wives were clinging to their arms, scarcely able to stand. When
+they reached the beds they fell at full length on them, saying their
+feet and limbs ached like the tooth ache. It seemed to be best for them
+to rest a little before eating. Mrs. Bennett said that the only
+consolation was that the road was getting shorter every day, but were it
+not for the children she would sooner die than follow the trail any
+farther. Their soup was carried to them in the bed, and they were
+covered up as they lay, and slept till morning. This day's walk was the
+hardest one yet, and probably the longest one of the whole journey, but
+there was no other place where we could find a place large enough to
+make a camp and free enough of rocks so that a bed could be made.
+
+Rogers and I had the kettle boiling early, and put in the last of the
+meat, and nearly all that was left of the flour. At the next camp an ox
+must be killed. Just as it was fairly light I went about 200 yards south
+where the dead body of Mr. Fish lay, just as he died more than a month
+before. The body had not been disturbed and looked quite natural. He was
+from Oscaloosa, Iowa.
+
+The folks arose very reluctantly this morning, and appeared with swollen
+eyes and uncombed hair, for there was no means of making a toilet,
+without a drop of water, except what we had used in getting breakfast.
+We set the soup kettle near the foot of the bed so the women could feed
+the children and themselves. Now as we loaded the oxen, it was agreed
+that Rogers and I should go ahead with all but Old Crump, and get in
+camp as soon as possible, and they were to follow on as best they could.
+There was a little water left in the canteens of Bennett and Arcane, to
+be given only to the children, who would cry when thirsty, the very
+thing to make them feel the worst.
+
+We were to kill an ox when we reached camp, and as each of the men had
+an equal number on the start each was to furnish one alternately and no
+disputing about whose were better or stronger, in any emergency.
+
+Our road now led down the western slope of the mountain, and loose,
+hard, broken rocks were harder on the feet of our animals than coming
+up, and our own moccasins were wearing through. The cattle needed shoes
+as well as we. Any one who has never tried it can imagine how hard it is
+to walk with tender feet over broken rock. It was very slow getting
+along at the best, and the oxen stumbled dreadfully in trying to protect
+their sore feet. At the foot of the mountain we had several miles of
+soft and sandy road. The sun shone very hot, and with no water we
+suffered fearfully. A short way out in the sandy valley we pass again
+the grave of Mr. Isham, where he had been buried by his friends. He was
+from Rochester, N.Y. He was a cheerful, pleasant man, and during the
+forepart of the journey used his fiddle at the evening camps to increase
+the merriment of his jolly companions. In those days we got no rain, see
+no living animals of any kind except those of our train, see not a bird
+nor insect, see nothing green except a very stunted sage, and some dwarf
+bushes. We now know that the winter of 1849-50 was one of the wettest
+ever seen in California, but for some reason or other none of the wet
+clouds ever came to this portion of the State to deposit the most
+scattering drops of moisture.
+
+Quite a long way from the expected camp the oxen snuffed the moisture,
+and began to hurry towards it with increased speed. A little while
+before it did not seem as if they had ambition enough left to make a
+quick move, but as we approached the water those which had no packs
+fairly trotted in their haste to get a drink. This stream was a very
+small one, seeping out from a great pile of rocks, and maintaining
+itself till it reached the sands, where it disappeared completely. A few
+tufts of grass grew along the banks, otherwise everything surrounding
+was desolate in the extreme.
+
+As soon as we could get the harness off the oxen, we went to look for
+our little buried sack of wheat, which we were compelled to leave and
+hide on our way out. We had hidden it so completely, that it took us
+quite a little while to strike its bed but after scratching with our
+hands awhile, we hit the spot, and found it untouched. Although the sand
+in which it was buried seemed quite dry, yet the grain had absorbed so
+much moisture from it, that the sack was nearly bursting. It was emptied
+on a blanket, and proved to be still sound and sweet.
+
+Our first work now was to kill an ox and get some meat to cook for those
+who were coming later. We got the kettle over boiling with some of the
+wheat in it, for the beans were all gone. We killed the ox saving the
+blood to cook. Cutting the meat all off the bones, we had it drying over
+a fire as soon as possible, except what we needed for this meal and the
+next. Then we made a smooth place in the soft sand on which to spread
+the blankets, the first good place we had found to sleep since leaving
+Death Valley.
+
+The next job was to make moccassins for ourselves and for the oxen, for
+it was plain they could not go on another day barefooted. We kept busy
+indeed, attending the fires under the meat and under the kettle, besides
+our shoemaking, and were getting along nicely about sundown, when Old
+Christian Crump appeared in sight followed by the women and the rest of
+the party. The women were just as tired as ever and dropped down on the
+blankets the first thing. "How many such days as this can we
+endure?"--they said. We had them count the days gone by, and look around
+to see the roughest part of the road was now behind them. They said that
+only five days had passed, and that two thirds of the distance still
+remained untraveled, and they knew they could never endure even another
+five day's work like the last. We told them to be brave, and be
+encouraged, for we had been over the road and knew what it was, and that
+we felt sure of being able to do it nicely. They were fed in bed as
+usual, and there they lay till morning. We men went to making moccasins
+from the green hide, and when we had cut out those for the men and women
+the balance of the hide was used in preparing some also for the oxen,
+particularly the worst ones, for if I remember correctly there was not
+enough to go round.
+
+The morning came, bright and pleasant, as all of them were, and just
+warm enough for comfort in the part of the day. The women were as usual,
+and their appearance would remind one quite strongly of half-drowned
+hens which had not been long out of trouble. Hair snarled, eyes red,
+nose swollen, and out of fix generally. They did not sleep well so much
+fatigued, for they said they lived over their hard days in dreams at
+night, and when they would close their eyes and try to go to sleep, the
+visions would seem to come to them half waking and they could not rest.
+
+There was now before us a particularly bad stretch of the country as it
+would probably take us four or five days to get over it, and there was
+only one water hole in the entire distance. This one was quite salt, so
+much so that on our return trip the horses refused to drink it, and the
+little white one died next day. Only water for one day's camp could be
+carried with us, and that was for ourselves alone and not for the
+animals.
+
+When the moccasins were finished in the morning we began to get our
+cattle together when it was discovered that Old Brigham was gone, and
+the general belief was that the Indians had made a quiet raid on us and
+got away with the old fellow. We circled around till we found his track
+and then Arcane followed it while we made ready the others. Arcane came
+in with the stray namesake of the polygamous saint about this time
+shouting:--"I've got him--No Indians." The ox had got into the wash
+ravine below camp and passed out of sight behind, in a short time. He
+had been as easily tracked as if he walked in snow. There was larger
+sage brush in the wash than elsewhere, and no doubt Brigham had thought
+this a good place to seek for some extra blades of grass.
+
+Immediately south of this camp now known as Providence Springs, is the
+salt lake to which Rogers and I went on the first trip and were so sadly
+disappointed in finding the water unfit to use.
+
+As soon as ready we started up the canon, following the trail made by
+the Jayhawkers who had proceeded us, and by night had reached the
+summit, but passed beyond, a short distance down the western slope,
+where we camped in a valley that gave us good large sage brush for our
+fires, and quite a range for the oxen without their getting out of
+sight. This being at quite a high elevation we could see the foot as
+well as the top, of the great snow mountain, and had a general good view
+of the country.
+
+This proved to be the easiest day's march we had experienced, and the
+women complained less than on any other night since our departure. Their
+path had been comparatively smooth, and with the new moccasins their
+feet had been well protected, they had come through pretty nicely. We
+told them they looked better, and if they would only keep up good
+courage they would succeed and come out all right to the land where
+there was plenty of bread and water, and when safely out, they might
+make good resolutions never to get in such a trap again. Mrs. Bennett
+said such a trip could never be done over again, and but for the fact
+that Rogers and I had been over the road, and that she believed all we
+had said about it; she never would have had the courage to come thus
+far. Now, for the children's sake, she wished to live, and would put
+forth any effort to come through all right.
+
+The next day we had a long canon to go down, and in it passed the dead
+body of the beautiful white mare Rogers had taken such a fancy to. The
+body had not decomposed, nor had it been disturbed by any bird or beast.
+Below this point the bed of the canon was filled with great boulders,
+over which it was very difficult to get the oxen along. Some of them had
+lost their moccasins and had to suffer terribly over the rocks.
+
+Camp was made at the salt water hole, and our wheat and meat boiled in
+it did not soften and get tender as it did in fresh water. There was
+plenty of salt grass above; but the oxen did not eat it any more than
+the horses did, and wandered around cropping a bite of the bitter brush
+once in awhile, and looking very sorry. This was near the place where
+Rogers and I found the piece of ice which saved our lives. The women did
+not seriously complain when we reached this camp, but little Charley
+Arcane broke out with a bad looking rash all over his body and as he
+cried most of the time it no doubt smarted and pained him like a mild
+burn. Neither his mother nor any one else could do anything for him to
+give him any relief. We had no medicines, and if he or any one should
+die, all we could do would be to roll the body in a blanket and cover it
+with a light covering of sand.
+
+From this camp to the next water holes at the base of the great snow
+mountain, it was at least 30 miles, level as to surface, and with a
+light ascending grade. The Jayhawkers had made a well marked trail, and
+it it was quite good walking. The next camp was a dry one, both for
+ourselves and the oxen, nothing but dry brush for them, and a little
+dried meat for ourselves, but for all this the women did not complain so
+very much. They were getting use to the work and grew stronger with the
+exercise. They had followed Old Crump and the children every day with
+the canteens of water and a little dried meat to give them if they cried
+too much with hunger, and Arcane had led his ox day after day with a
+patience that was remarkable, and there was no bad temper shown by any
+one. This was the way to do, for if there were any differences, there
+was no tribunal to settle them by.
+
+In all this desert travel I did not hear any discontent and serious
+complaint, except in one case, and that was at the Jayhawker's camp,
+where they burned their wagons at the end of the wagon road, in Death
+Valley. Some could not say words bad enough to express their contempt,
+and laid all the trouble of salt water to Lot's wife. Perhaps she was in
+a better position to stand the cursing than any of the party present.
+
+The next day we reached the water holes at the place where Rogers and I
+stole up to camp fire in the evening, supposing it to be Indians, but
+finding there Capt. Doty and his mess, a part of the Jayhawker's band.
+By dipping carefully from these holes they filled again, and thus,
+although there was no flow from them we gradually secured what water we
+needed for the camp, which was a small amount after so long a time
+without. There was some low brush here called greasewood, which grew
+about as high as currant bushes, and some distance up the mountain the
+oxen could find some scattery bunch grass, which, on the whole, made
+this camp a pretty good one. The women, however, were pretty nearly
+exhausted, and little Charley Arcane cried bitterly all day and almost
+all night. All began to talk more and feel more hopeful of getting
+through. The women began to say that every step brought them so much
+nearer to the house we had told them about on the other side and often
+said the work was not so very hard after all. Really it was not so bad
+travelling as we had at first. We were now nine days from the wagons.
+"Are we half way?" was the question they began to ask. We had to answer
+them that more than one half the hard days were over, if one half the
+distance had not been traveled, and with the better walking and getting
+hardened to the work, they would get over the last half better than the
+first. One thing was a little hard. All of our beans and flour had been
+used up, and now the wheat was about gone also. We had cooked it, and it
+seemed best, trying to build up our strength, where it was most needed
+for the greatest trials, and now we thought they would be able to get
+along on the meat. We had reached the base of the great snow mountain.
+It seems strange with the mass of snow resting above, and which must be
+continually thawing more or less, no ravines or large streams of water
+were produced flowing down this side. It seemed dry all around its base,
+which is is very singular, with the snow so near.
+
+We had now our barren canon to go down, and right here was the big trail
+coming down from the north, which we took and followed. We said all
+these good things about the road, and encouraged the people all we could
+to keep in good spirits and keep moving. We told them we thought we knew
+how to manage to get them safe over the road if they only fully
+endeavored to do it. We were all quite young, and not in the decline of
+life as were most of them who had perished by the way. No reader can
+fully realize how much we had to say and do to keep up courage, and it
+is to this more than anything else that we did which kept up the lagging
+energies and inspired the best exertion. I don't know but we painted
+some things a little brighter than they were, and tried to hide some of
+the most disheartening points of the prospects ahead, for we found the
+mind had most to do with it after all. We have no doubt that if we had
+not done all we could to keep up good courage, the women would have
+pined away and died before reaching this far. Whenever we stopped
+talking encouragingly, they seemed to get melancholy and blue.
+
+There was some pretty good management to be exercised still. The oxen
+were gradually growing weaker, and we had to kill the weakest one every
+time, for if the transportation of our food failed, we should yet be
+open to the danger of starvation. As it was, the meat on their frames
+was very scarce, and we had to use the greatest economy to make it last
+and waste nothing. We should now have to kill one of our oxen every few
+days, as our other means of subsistence had been so completely used up.
+The women contracted a strange dislike to this region and said they
+never wanted to see any part of it again.
+
+As the sun showed its face over the great sea of mountains away to the
+east of Death Valley, and it seemed to rise very early for winter season
+we packed up and started west on the big trail. Rogers and I took the
+oxen and mule and went on, leaving the others to accompany Old Crump and
+his little charges. Arcane had found it best to carry Charley on his
+back, as it relieved the burning sensation, caused by the eruption on
+his skin, which was aggravated by the close quarters of the pockets.
+Thus leaving the pockets unbalanced, Bennett had to carry his baby also.
+This made it harder for them, but every one tried to be just as
+accommodating as they could and each one would put himself to trouble to
+accommodate or relieve others.
+
+Rogers and I made camp when we reached the proper place which was some
+distance from the mountain, on a perfectly level plain where there was
+no water, no grass, nothing but sage brush would grow on the dry and
+worthless soil. We let the oxen go and eat as much of this as they
+chose, which was very little and only enough to keep them from absolute
+starvation. The great trail had a branch near here that turned north,
+and went up a ravine that would seem to reach the snow in a little
+while. This was believed to be impassable at this time of year. This
+route is known as Walker's Pass, leading over a comparatively low ridge,
+and coming out the south fork of the Kern River.
+
+We made our camp here because it was as long a march as the women could
+make, and, for a dry one, was as good a location as we could find. The
+cool breeze came down from the snow to the north of us, not so very many
+miles away, and after a little it became uncomfortably cold. We gathered
+greasewood bushes and piled them up to make a wind-break for our heads.
+The oxen, even, would come and stand around the fire, seeming greatly to
+enjoy the warm smoke, which came from burning the greasewood brush,
+which by the way, burns about the best of any green wood. When we were
+ready to lie down we tied the animals to bunches of brush, and they lay
+contentedly till morning.
+
+To the north of us, a few miles away we could see some standing, columns
+of rock, much reminding one of the great stone chimney of the boiler
+house at Stanford Jr., University; not quite so trim and regular in
+exterior appearance, but something in that order. We reckon the only
+students in the vicinity would be lizards.
+
+When the women arrived in camp they were very tired, but encouraged
+themselves that they were much nearer the promised land than they were
+in the morning. Mrs. Bennett said she was very careful never to take a
+step backward, and to make every forward one count as much as possible.
+"That's a good resolution, Sally," said Mr Bennett. "Stick to it and we
+will come out by and bye."
+
+From near this camp we have a low range of mountains to cross, a sort of
+spur or offshoot of the great snow mountain that reaches out twenty
+miles or more to the southeast, and its extremity divides away into what
+seems from our point of view a level plain. We had attained quite an
+elevation without realizing it, so gradual had been the ascent, and our
+course was now down a steep hillside and into a deep canon. In its very
+bottom we found a small stream of water only a few yards long, and then
+it sank into the sands. Not a spear of grass grew there, and if any had
+grown it had been eaten by the cattle which had gone before. This was
+the same place, where Rogers and I had overtaken the advance portion of
+the Jayhawkers when we were on our outward trip in search of relief, and
+where some of the older men were so discouraged that they gave us their
+home addresses in Illinois so that we could notify their friends of
+their precarious situation, and if they were never otherwise heard from
+they could be pretty sure they had perished from thirst and starvation
+when almost at their journey's end.
+
+The scenes of this camp on that occasion made so strong an impression on
+my memory that I can never forget it. There were poor dependent fellows
+without a morsel to eat except such bits of poor meat as they could beg
+from those who were fortunate enough to own oxen. Their tearful
+pleadings would soften a heart of stone. We shared with some of them
+even when we did not know the little store upon our backs would last us
+through. Our oxen here had water to drink, but nothing more. It might be
+a little more comfortable to drink and starve, than both choke and
+starve, but these are no very pleasant prospects in either one.
+
+Both ourselves and the oxen were getting barefoot and our feet very
+tender. The hill we had just come down was very rough and rocky and our
+progress very slow, every step made in a selected spot. We could not
+stop here to kill an ox and let the remainder of them starve, but must
+push on to where the living ones could get a little food. We fastened
+the oxen and the mule to keep them from wandering, and slept as best we
+could. The women and children looked worse than for some time, and could
+not help complaining. One of the women held up her foot and the sole was
+bare and blistered. She said they ached like toothache. The women had
+left their combs in the wagons, and their hair was getting seriously
+tangled. Their dresses were getting worn off pretty nearly to their
+knees, and showed the contact with the ground that sometimes could not
+be avoided. They were in a sad condition so far as toilet and raiment
+were concerned. Life was in the balance, however, and instead of talking
+over sad things, we talked of the time when we would reach the little
+babbling brook where Rogers and I took such long draughts of clear,
+sweet water and the waiter at our dinner gave us the choice of _Crow_,
+_Hawk_ or _Quail_, and where we took a little of all three.
+
+[Illustation: Pulling the Oxen Down the Precipice.]
+
+In the morning we were off again down the canon, limping some as we trod
+its coarse gravelly bed with our tender feet and stiffened joints, but
+getting limbered up a little after a bit, and enduring it pretty well.
+We set out to try to reach the bunch of willows out on the level plain,
+where the cattle could get some water and grass, but night overtook us
+at the mouth of the canon, and we were forced to go into camp. This
+canon is now called Red Canon. This was on an elevated plain, with a
+lake near by, but as we had been so often deceived by going to the lake
+for water, and finding them salt in every instance, or poison on account
+of strong alkali, we did not take the trouble to go and try this one.
+
+Near us was some coarse grass and wet ground where we found water enough
+for our moderate use, and the oxen, by perseverance, could get something
+to eat and drink. After supper we were out of meat and we would have to
+kill an ox to get some food for breakfast. In the night a storm came on,
+much to our surprise, for we had seen none since the night on the
+mountain east of Death Valley more than two months before. We tried to
+fix up a shelter to protect the children and ourselves, but were not
+very successful. We tried to use our guns for tent poles, but could not
+keep them in place. We laid down as close as pigs in cold weather, and
+covered up as best we could, but did not keep dry, and morning found us
+wet to the skin, cold and shivering. We gathered big sage brush for a
+fire in the morning, and the tracks of our nearly bare feet could be
+plainly seen in the snow which lay like a blanket awhile over the
+ground, about two inches deep. Some lay in bed and we warmed blankets
+before the fire and put over them to keep them comfortable till the sun
+should rise and warm the air. We selected an ox and brought him up
+before the fire where I shot him, and soon there was meat roasting over
+the fire and blood cooking in the camp kettle. We had nothing to season
+the blood pudding with but salt, and it was not very good, but answered
+to sustain life. We ate a hasty meal, then packed our animals and
+started for the willow patch about four miles away. The snow was about
+gone.
+
+I staid in camp to keep it till they could get through to the willows
+and some one to come back with the mule to carry forward the portion of
+meat that could not be taken at first. We intended to dry it at the
+willows, and then we could carry it along as daily food over the wide
+plain we had yet to cross. Having carried the meat forward, we made a
+rack of willows and dried it over the fire, making up a lot of moccasins
+for the barefooted ones while we waited. We were over most of the rocky
+road, we calculated that our shoemaking would last us through. This was
+a very pleasant camp. The tired ones were taking a rest. No one needed
+it more than our women and children, who were tired nearly out. They
+were in much better condition to endure their daily hardships than when
+they started out, and a little rest would make them feel quite fresh
+again. They understood that this was almost on the western edge of this
+desert country and this gave them good hope and courage.
+
+This wonderful spot in the level plain, with a spring of pure water
+making an oasis of green willows and grass has been previously spoken of
+as:--"A spring of good water, and a little willow patch in a level
+desert away from any hill." In all our wanderings we had never seen the
+like before. No mountaineer would ever think of looking here for water,
+much less ever dream of finding a lone spring away out in the desert,
+several miles from the mountain's base. Where the range we just came
+through leaves the mother mountain stands a peak, seemingly alone, and
+built up of many colored rocks, in belts, and the whole looks as if
+tipped with steel.
+
+Arcane's boy Charley still suffered from his bogus measles or whatever
+else his disorder might be, and Bennett's little Martha grew more quiet
+and improved considerably in health, though still unable to walk, and
+still abdominally corpulent. The other two children George and Melissa
+seemed to bear up well and loved to get off and walk in places where the
+trail was smooth and level. Bennett, Arcane and Old Crump usually
+traveled with the same party as the women, and as each of them had a
+small canteen to carry water, they could attend to the wants of the
+children and keep them from worrying and getting sick from fretfulness.
+They often carried the two younger ones on their backs to relieve and
+rest them from their cramped position on the ox.
+
+Arcane used to say he expected the boys--meaning Rogers and I--would try
+to surprise the party by letting them get very near the house before
+they knew how near they were. "Be patient Mr. Arcane," said we, "we can
+tell you just how many camps there must be before we reach it, and we
+won't fool you or surprise you in any way." "Well," said he. "I was
+almost in hopes you would, for I like to be disappointed in that way."
+"What do you think the folks will say when we tell them that our little
+mule packed most of the meat of an ox four miles from one camp to
+another?" "What will they say when we tell them that the oxen were so
+poor that there was no marrow in the great thigh bones?" Instead of
+marrow there was a thick dark liquid something like molasses in
+consistency, but streaked with different colors which made it look very
+unwholesome. Arcane said the whole story was so incredible, that he
+never should fight anyone, even if he should tell him he lied when he
+related the strange sad truth. He said he had no doubt many a one would
+doubt their story, it was so much beyond what people had ever seen or
+heard of before, and they might be accused of very strong romancing in
+the matter.
+
+They all felt more like talking; for we were thus far safe and sound,
+and though there was a desperate struggle of seventy-five miles or more,
+from this place to the next water in the foot-hills. Possibly the snow
+storms had left a little in some of the pools, but we made no
+calculations on any. The promised land we had so steadily been
+approaching, and now comparatively so near, gave us great hope, which
+was better than food and drink to give us strength.
+
+There were surely two camps between this and the little pond John and I
+found, among the Cabbage trees, and not more than six by ten feet
+square. As we worked away at our foot-wear we talked more in an hour
+than we had in a whole day before. We were slowly leaving Death Valley
+behind us with its sad memories and sufferings. We were leaving behind
+the dead bodies of several who had traveled with us and been just as
+strong and hopeful as we. We had left behind us all in our possession in
+that terrible spot, and simply with our lives we hoped to escape, and
+trust to Providence and humanity on the other side. Arcane now admitted
+that they could not have got along half as well, if we had not gone
+ahead and looked out the land. It was such a gain to know exactly where
+the next water hole was, so it could be steered for and struggled
+toward. He even went so far as to say they would have no chance alone,
+and that as he now saw the road, he was sure they have would all
+perished even before reaching as far as this. We had strong hopes of the
+morrow, when we would be all rested, all were shod, and would make every
+footstep count in our western progress.
+
+It seems quite a strange occurrence that the only two storms we had had
+since we turned westward on this route, Nov. 4th, were snow storms, and
+that both had come while we were asleep, so that all our days were
+cloudless. Sometimes the sun was uncomfortably warm even in the heart of
+the winter. One would have naturally expected that the great rainfall
+all over the California coast in the winter of 1849-50, and the deep
+snows that came in the Sierra Nevada mountains the same winter, would
+have extended southerly the few hundred miles that separated the two
+places. Modern science has shown the tracks of the storms and partially
+explains the reasons for this dry and barren nature of this region. When
+rains do come they are so out of the regular order, that they are called
+cloud-bursts or waterspouts, and the washes in the canons and their
+mouths show how great has been the volume of water that sometimes rushed
+down the slope. If clouds at a warm or moderate temperature float
+against these snow peaks all the water they contain is suddenly
+precipitated. The country is an arid one and unless wealth should appear
+in the shape of mines, the country can never be inhabited. We considered
+ourselves very fortunate in finding the little pools and holes of water
+which kept us alive. It was not very good drinking water, but to us
+thirsty folks it was a blessing and we never passed it by on account of
+any little stagnant bitter taste. Salt water we could not drink of
+course, though we sometimes used it to cook with.
+
+We were as well prepared next morning as possible for a move, and the
+long walk before us, the last one between us and the fertile land. They
+all talked of how delighted they would be to see once more a running
+brook, green grass and trees, and such signs of life as they had seen
+and been used to in the good land they had left behind. The women said
+they could endure the march of four or five days, if when all over, they
+could sleep off the terrible fatigue and for once drink all the pure
+sweet water they could desire. No more forced marches. No more grey
+road, stretching out its dusty miles as far as the eye could reach. The
+ladies thought the oxen would be as happy as themselves, and the little
+mule, the most patient one of the whole train deserved a life of ease
+for her valuable services. This little black, one-eyed lady wandered
+here and there at will seeking for grass, but never going astray or
+getting far enough from the track to alarm us in the least. She seldom
+drank much water, was always ready, never got foot-sore, and seemed made
+expressly for such a life and for such a desert.
+
+A good kettleful of soup for breakfast, dried meat fixed in packages,
+kegs and canteens filled with water, and we were ready for an advance.
+
+There is one less ox to lead, and very little load for those we have,
+still the load is all such poor weak fellows ought to bear. Old Crump
+was not thus favored by a gradually lightened load. He bore the same
+four children every day, faithfully, carefully, with never a stumble nor
+fall, as though fully aware of the precious nature of his burden.
+
+In this new march John and I took the oxen and pushed on as usual,
+leaving the families to follow on, at a slower pace, the trail we made.
+The trail was slightly inclined. The bushes stunted at the best, getting
+smaller as we proceeded, and the horse bones, new and ancient are now
+thickly scattered along the way. The soil is different from that we have
+had. We can see the trail, winding gently here and there, swept clean by
+the wind, and the surface is hard and good; but when the mule gets the
+least bit off of it she sinks six inches deep into the soft sand, and
+the labor of walking is immense. I stepped out to examine the peculiar
+soil, and found it finer than superfine flour. It was evident that a
+strong wind would lift it in vast clouds which might even darken the
+sky, but we were fortunate in this respect, for during all the time we
+were on this peculiar soil, there was no wind at all, and we escaped a
+sand-storm, a sort of storm as peculiar to this region as are blizzards
+to some of the states of the great west.
+
+Our first night's camp was out on the barren waterless plain, now known
+as the Mojave Desert. There were no shrubs large enough to make a fire
+of, and nothing to tie our cattle to, so we fastened all our animals
+together to keep them from scattering and getting lost. We ate a little
+dry meat and drank sparingly of the water, for our scanty stock was to
+last us another day, when we might reach prospective water holes.
+Starting early, John and I took all but Old Crump and the other
+travelers, and hurried on to try and find the water holes as early as
+possible. We, as well as the oxen were very dry, for we left all the
+water we had with the party, for the children, for they cannot endure
+the thirst as the older people can. We reached the camping place before
+night. Quite a time before we reached it, the cattle seemed to scent the
+water and quickened their pace, so we were confident it had not dried
+up. We got ahead of the oxen and kept there until we reached the little
+pond and then guarded it to keep them from wading into it, in their
+eagerness to reach some drink. They all satisfied their thirst, and then
+we removed the harness, built a fire of the dead cabbage trees which we
+found round about, laid down the beds and arranged them neatly, and had
+all nicely done before the rear guard came up, in charge of Captain
+Crump. The party was eager for water and all secured it. It was rain
+water and no doubt did not quench thirst as readily as water from some
+living spring or brook. There was evidence that there had been a recent
+shower or snow to fill this depression up for our benefit. The
+Jayhawkers had passed not more than a half mile north of this spot, but
+no sign appeared that they had found it, and it was left to sustain the
+lives of the women and children.
+
+It often occurs to me that many may read incredulously when I speak of
+our party eating the entire flesh of an ox in four or five days. To such
+I will say that one cannot form an idea how poor an ox will get when
+nearly starved so long. Months had passed since they had eaten a
+stomachful of good nutritious food. The animals walked slowly with heads
+down nearly tripping themselves up with their long, swinging legs. The
+skin loosely covered the bones, but all the flesh and muscles had shrunk
+down to the smallest space. The meat was tough and stringy as basswood
+bark, and tasted strongly of bitter sage brush the cattle had eaten at
+almost every camp. At a dry camp the oxen would lie down and grate their
+teeth, but they had no cud to chew. It looked almost merciless to shoot
+one down for food, but there was no alternative. We killed our poor
+brute servants to save ourselves. Our cattle found a few bunches out
+among the trees at this camp and looked some better in the morning. They
+had secured plenty of water and some grass.
+
+Young Charlie Arcane seemed to grow worse rather than better. His whole
+body was red as fire, and he screamed with the pain and torment of the
+severe itching. Nothing could be done to relieve him, and if his
+strength lasted till we could get better air, water and food he might
+recover, but his chances were very poor.
+
+Not much rest at this camp for in the morning we aimed to start early
+and reach the water in the foothills. We thought we could do it if we
+started early, walked rapidly and took no resting spell at noon. Such a
+poor soil as this we were anxious to get away from, and walk once more
+on a soil that would grow something besides stunted sage brush. From all
+appearances the Jayhawkers were here in about the same predicament
+Rogers and I were when we lost the trail. By their tracks we could see
+they had scattered wide and there was no road left for us to follow, and
+they had evidently tried to follow our former tracks. Having no trail to
+follow we passed on as best we could and came to a wide piece of land on
+which were growing a great many cabbage trees. The soil was of the
+finest dust with no grit in it, and not long before a light shower had
+fallen, making it very soft and hard to get along in with the moccasins.
+The women had to stop to rest frequently, so our progress was very slow.
+Rogers and I had feet about as hard as those of the oxen, so we removed
+our moccasins and went barefoot, finding we could get along much easier
+in that way, but the others had such tender feet they could not endure
+the rough contact with the brush and mud. Only a few miles had been made
+before the women were so completely tired out that we had to stop and
+eat our little bit of dried meat and wait till morning. The little mule
+now carried all our stock of food, and the precious burden lightened
+every day. This delay was not expected, but we had to endure it and bear
+it patiently, for there was a limit to strength of the feeble ones of
+our party. We had therefore to make another barren camp. Relief seemed
+so near at hand we kept good courage and talked freely of the happy
+ending which would soon come. If we had any way to set a good table we
+would feast and be merry like the prodigal son, but at any rate we shall
+be safe if we can reach the fertile shore.
+
+When the sun went down we tied the mule and oxen to cabbage trees, and
+shortly after dusk lay down ourselves, for we had enjoyed a good fire
+made of the trunks of cabbage trees, the first really comfortable one in
+a long time. The air was cooler here, for we were on higher ground, and
+there was some snow on the range of mountains before us, which sent
+these cool breezes down to us, a change of climate quite pleasing.
+
+For breakfast in the morning we had only dried meat roasted before the
+fire, without water, and when we started each one put a piece in his or
+her pocket to chew on during the day as we walked along. As we went
+ahead the ground grew dryer and the walking much improved. The morning
+overhead was perfectly lovely, as away east, across the desert the sun
+early showed his face to us. Not a cloud anywhere, not even over the
+tops of the high peaks where great white masses sometimes cluster but
+dissolve as soon as they float away, and there was not wind enough to be
+perceptible. We remarked the same lack of animal life which we had
+noticed on our first passage over this section, seeing not a rabbit,
+bird, or living thing we could use for food. Bennett had the same load
+in his gun he put there when we left the wagons, and all the powder I
+had burned was that used in killing the oxen we had slain whenever it
+became necessary to provide for our barren kitchen.
+
+As we approached the low foot-hills the trail became better travelled
+and better to walk in, for the Jayhawkers who had scattered, every one
+for himself apparently, in crossing the plain, seemed here to have drawn
+together and their path was quite a beaten one. We saw from this that
+they followed the tracks made by Rogers and myself as we made our first
+trip westward in search of bread. Quite a little before the sun went out
+of sight in the west we reached our camping place in the lower hills at
+the eastern slope of a range we must soon cross. Here was some standing
+water in several large holes, that proved enough for our oxen, and they
+found some large sage brush and small bushes round about, on which they
+browsed and among which they found a few bunches of grass. Lying about
+were some old skulls of cattle which had sometime been killed, or died.
+These were the first signs of the sort we had seen along this route.
+They might have been killed by Indians who doubtless used this trail.
+
+The next day in crossing the range before us, we reached the edge of the
+snow, which the sun had softened, and we dare not attempt to cross.
+Early in the morning, when it was frozen hard the cattle could travel it
+very well. The snow belt was five or six miles wide, and the snow two or
+three feet deep. This was a very good camping place except that we had
+to melt snow for all our water, but this being coarse and icy it was not
+a great job as we found enough dry juniper trees and twigs to make a
+very good fire. Here we also had to kill another ox. This one in its
+turn was Arcane's, and left him only two, and Bennett three, but we
+think that if we have no accident we shall get them along with us till
+we can get other food, as they have very light loads to pack. When the
+ox is killed and the meat prepared the mule has, for a time, a larger
+load than all the oxen have, but seems content and nips a bite of food
+whenever it can see a chance anywhere along the road, giving us no more
+trouble than a dog. And by the way, I think I have not mentioned our
+faithful camp dog, a worthy member of our party who stood watch always
+and gave us a sure alarm if anything unusual happened anywhere about. He
+was perhaps only one of a hundred that tried to cross the plains and had
+to be abandoned when they reached the upper Platte, where the alkali
+dust made their feet so sore they could not travel, and as they could
+not be hauled on wagons they were left behind. But this dog Cuff did not
+propose to be left behind to starve, and crippled along after us, we
+doing all we could for him, and proved as tough as the best of us.
+Bennett and I had trained him as a hunting dog in the East, and he was
+very knowing and handy in every particular.
+
+We were out of this camp at daylight. Very little rest for some of us,
+but we must make the best of the cool morning while the snow is hard,
+and so move on as soon as we can see the way. As it gets lighter and the
+sun comes up red and hot out of the desert we have a grand view of the
+great spread of the country to south and of the great snow mountain to
+the north and east, the peak standing over the place where we left our
+wagons nineteen days before, on the edge of Death Valley. The glare of
+the snow on the sun makes us nearly blind, but we hurry on to try to
+cross it before it becomes so soft as to slump under our feet. It is two
+or three feet in the deepest places, and probably has been three times
+as deep when freshly fallen, but it is now solid and icy. Our rawhide
+moccasins protect our feet from cold, and both we and the animals got
+along fairly well, the oxen breaking through occasionally as the snow
+softened up, but generally walking on the top as we did ourselves. The
+snow field reached much farther down the western slope than we had
+hoped, much farther than on the eastern side. Before we got out of it,
+we saw the track of some animal which had crossed our route, but as it
+had been made some days before and now could be seen only as some holes
+in the surface, we could not determine what sort of an animal it was.
+
+A mile or two down the hill we were at last out of the snow, and a
+little farther on we came to the little babbling brook Rogers and I had
+so long painted in the most refreshing colors to the tired women, with
+water, wood and grass on every hand, the three greatest blessings of a
+camper's life. Here was where Rogers and I had cooked and eaten our meat
+of crow, quail and hawk, pretty hard food, but then, the blessed water!
+
+There it danced and jumped over the rocks singing the merriest song one
+ever heard, as it said--Drink, drink ye thirsty ones your fill--the
+happiest sweetest music to the poor starved, thirsty souls, wasted down
+almost to haggard skeletons. O! if some poet of wildest imagination
+could only place himself in the position of those poor tired travelers
+to whom water in thick muddy pools had been a blessing, who had eagerly
+drank the fluid even when so salt and bitter us to be repulsive, and now
+to see the clear, pure liquid, distilled from the crystal snow,
+abundant, free, filled with life and health--and write it in words--the
+song of that joyous brook and set it to the music that it made as it
+echoed in gentle waves from the rocks and lofty walls, and with the
+gentle accompaniment of rustling trees--a soft singing hush, telling of
+rest, and peace, and happiness.
+
+New life seemed to come to the dear women. "O! What a beautiful stream!"
+say they, and they dip in a tin cup and drink, then watch in dreaming
+admiration the water as it goes hurrying down; then dip and drink again,
+and again watch the jolly rollicking brook as if it were the most
+entertaining thing in the whole wide earth. "Why can't such a stream as
+that run out of the great Snow Mountain in the dry Death Valley?" say
+they--"so we could get water on the way."
+
+The men have felt as glad as any of them, but have gathered wood and
+made a fire, and now a camp kettle of cut up meat is boiling for our
+supper. It was not yet night, but we must camp in so beautiful a place
+as this, and though the food was poor, we were better off than we had
+been before.
+
+Bennett proposed that I take the mule and go back to where we saw the
+track of the animal in the snow and follow it in hope that we might get
+some game for we had an idea it might be an elk or bear or some large
+game, good to kill and give us better meat: So I saddled the mule and
+took the trail back till I came to the track, then followed it as best I
+could, for it was very dull and gave me no idea what it was. I traced
+out of the snow and then in a blind way through bushes as high as the
+mule's back--Chaparral we called it now--among which I made my way with
+difficulty. I could now see that the track was made by an ox or
+cow--perhaps an elk--I could not tell for sure it was so faint. This
+chaparral covered a large piece of table land, and I made my way through
+it, following the track for a mile or two, till I came to the
+top of a steep hill sloping down into a deep canon and a creek, on the
+bank of which grew sycamore and alder trees, with large willows. I
+stopped here some minutes to see if I could see or hear the movement of
+of anything. Across the creek I could see a small piece of perhaps half
+an acre of natural meadow, and in it some small bunches of sycamore
+trees. After a little I discovered some sort of a horned animal there,
+and I reckoned this was good enough game for me to try and capture, so
+led the mule out to one side and down the hill near the creek, then tied
+her, and crept along the bank, about four feet high, toward the little
+meadow. When about right, as I thought, I climbed up behind a bunch of
+sycamores, and when I slowly and cautiously raised up I was within fifty
+yards of a cow or steer of some sort which I could dimly see. I put a
+ball square in its forehead and it fell without a struggle. I loaded
+again quick as possible, and there saw two other smaller cattle stepping
+very high as though terrified, but not aware of the nature or location
+of the danger. I gave a low whistle and one of them looked toward me
+long enough for me to put a ball in it. The third one was now behind a
+clump of sycamores, and I soon saw its face through a little opening not
+more than three inches wide. I made a shot, and wounded it, and then
+rushed up and gave it a fatal one.
+
+I examined my game and found the first one was a poor old cow, but the
+others were yearlings, one of them very fat and nice, and I soon had the
+hind quarters skinned out, and all the fat I could find, which made a
+big load for the mule. It was now almost dark, and the next problem was
+to get back to camp again. The brushy hills would be terrible to cross
+with a load of meat, and by the way the ground lay I concluded our camp
+was on this same creek farther down.
+
+The only way that seemed at all feasible was to follow the course of the
+stream if possible, rather than return the course over which I had come.
+There were so many bushes and trees along the bank that I had to take to
+the bed and follow in the water, and as it was rocky and rough, and so
+dark I could not see well how to step, I stumbled into holes and pools
+up to my waist, wet as a rat. Coming to a small open place I decided I
+had better camp for the night and not attempt further progress in the
+darkness, and the decision was hastened by dark clouds, which began to
+gather and a few sprinkles of rain began to come. There was a good patch
+of grass for the mule, but all was uncomfortable for me, with the
+prospect for a rainy night, but as wood was plenty I decided to make a
+fire and take the chances. I looked for matches and scratched one. No
+go--they were damp, and scratch as careful and quickly as I could, there
+was no answering spark or flame, and darkness reigned supreme. A camp
+without a fire in this wet place was not to be thought of, so I
+concluded I might as well be slowly working my way down along the
+stream, through thick brush and cold water, as to sit here in the cold
+and wait.
+
+So the little mule and I started on, wading the creek in thick darkness,
+getting only the most dim reflected light from the sky through now and
+then an opening in the trees. I did not know then how easy it was for a
+grizzly to capture myself, the mule and meat and have quite a variety
+for supper. But the grizzly stayed at home and we followed on through
+brambles and hard brush, through which it was almost impossible to force
+one's way. As it turned out, I was not in the track of the storm and did
+not suffer much from it. Soon the canon grew wider, and I could make out
+on the right hand a piece of table land covered with brush that seemed
+easier to get through than the creek bed.
+
+The hill up to the table land was very steep, but not more than fifty
+yards high, and when the mule tried to get up she got along very well
+till near the top, when she slipped in the wet earth and never stopped
+till she reached the bottom and lay down. She was helped up to her feet
+again and we tried it in another place, I holding her from slipping when
+she stopped to rest, and at last we reached the top. The mule started
+on, seeming to follow a trail, but I could not see whether there was a
+trail or not, so thick was the darkness, but there was evidently
+something of the kind, for the brush was two or three feet high and very
+thick.
+
+After proceeding some distance the mule stopped and did not seem to wish
+to go any farther. I was pretty sure there was something in front of her
+that blocked the way, and so worked my way through the brush and
+carefully past her. I could partly see and partly hear something just
+ahead, and in a moment found it was our good faithful Cuff, and no
+frightful spook at all. The good fellow had discovered our approach and
+came out to meet us, and I am sure the mule was as glad as I was to see
+him. He crawled through the brush and smelled at the mule's load and
+then went forward in the trail, which we followed. It was a long time
+after midnight when we reached camp. There was a good fire burning, but
+all were asleep till I led the mule up to the fire and called out--"Wake
+Up," when they were most of them on their feet in a minute without
+stopping to dress, for all had slept a long time without taking off
+their clothes.
+
+John took charge of the mule and unloaded it, telling me to get into his
+warm bed. I took off my wet clothes and told him to dry them, and then
+got between the dry, warm blankets in greatest comfort. Daylight came
+very quickly, it seemed to me, and before I finally rose, the sun had
+been up some hours before me. Before I fell asleep I could hear the
+women say, as they cut off the pieces of meat to roast--"See the fat!
+Only see how nice it is!" Quickly roasted on the coals they ate the
+delicate morsels with a relish and, most of all, praised the sweet fat.
+"We like to have it all fat," said they, showing how their system craved
+the nourishment the poor starved beef could not give. No one went to bed
+after I came, but all sat and roasted meat and ate till they were
+satisfied.
+
+This sporting trip was quite different from deer hunting in Wisconsin,
+and nothing like looking for game in Death Valley where nothing lived.
+It was the hardest night's work that ever came to me in many a day, and
+not the wild sport I generally looked for when on the chase. I felt
+pretty well when I got up, and a chunk of my last night's prize which
+had been toasted for me was eaten with a relish, for it was the best of
+meat and I, of course, had a first class appetite. I had to tell them my
+last hunting story, and was much praised as a lucky boy.
+
+We would not be compelled to kill any more of our poor oxen in order to
+live. So far we had killed six of them, and there were five left. Our
+present situation was much appreciated, compared with that of a few days
+ago when we were crawling slowly over the desert, hungry, sore-footed
+and dry, when to lie was far easier than to take steps forward. We felt
+like rejoicing at our deliverance and there was no mourning now for us.
+The surrounding hills and higher mountains seemed more beautiful to us.
+They were covered with green trees and brush, not a desert place in
+sight. The clear little singing brook ran merrily on its way, the
+happiest, brightest stream in all my memory. Wild birds came near us
+without fear, and seemed very friendly. All was calm, and the bright
+sunshine exactly warm enough so that no one could complain of heat or
+cold.
+
+When ready to move it was announced that I had lost my saddle blanket in
+my adventure, so they substituted another one and I took the back track
+to the place where the mule slipped down the bank, and there I found it.
+I soon overtook them again just as they were going to camp on Mrs.
+Bennett's account, as she had been suddenly taken sick with severe pain
+and vomiting, something as Rogers and I had been after eating our first
+California corn meal. The rich, fat meat was too strong for her weak
+stomach.
+
+Arcane all along had an idea that Rogers and I meant to surprise them by
+leading them to believe the house we had visited was quite a distance
+off, and then to so manage it that it should appear upon their sight
+suddenly. We assured them it would take two or more camps before we
+could get there, and if Mrs. Bennett did not soon recover, even more
+than that. Our camp here was under a great live oak, the ground deep
+covered with dry leaves, and near by a beautiful meadow where our cattle
+and mule ate, drank and rested, the oxen chewing their cud with such an
+air of comfort as had not come to them since leaving their far-off
+eastern pastures. They seemed as much pleased as any one. They would lie
+down and rest and eat at the same time in perfectly enjoyable laziness.
+
+Here we all rested and washed such clothes as we could do without long
+enough to dry, and washed our faces and hands over and over again to
+remove the dirt which had been burned and sweated in so completely as
+not to come off readily. We sat on the bank of the brook with our feet
+dangling in the water, a most refreshing bath, and they too began to
+look clean again. We often saw tracks of the grizzly bear about, but in
+our ignorance had no fear of them, for we did not know they were a
+dangerous animal. An owl came and hooted in the night, but that was the
+only challenge any wild beast or bird gave to our peaceful and restful
+camp. We were out of the dreadful sands and shadows of Death Valley, its
+exhausting phantoms, its salty columns, bitter lakes and wild, dreary
+sunken desolation. If the waves of the sea could flow in and cover its
+barren nakedness, as we now know they might if a few sandy barriers were
+swept away, it would be indeed, a blessing, for in it there is naught of
+good, comfort or satisfaction, but ever in the minds of those who braved
+its heat and sands, a thought of a horrid Charnel house, a corner of the
+earth so dreary that it requires an exercise of strongest faith to
+believe that the great Creator ever smiled upon it as a portion of his
+work and pronounced it "Very good." We had crossed the great North
+American Continent, from a land of plenty, over great barren hills and
+plains, to another mild and beautiful region, where, though still in
+winter months, we were basking in the warmth and luxuriance of early
+summer. We thought not of the gold we had come to win. We were dead
+almost, and now we lived. We were parched with thirst, and now the
+brightest of crystal streams invited us to stoop and drink. We were
+starved so that we had looked at each other with maniac thoughts, and
+now we placed in our mouth the very fat of the land. We had seen our
+cattle almost perishing; seen them grow gaunt and tottering; seen them
+slowly plod along with hanging heads and only the supremacy of human
+will over animal instinct had kept them from lying down never to rise
+again. Now they were in pastures of sweet grass, chewing the cud of
+content and satisfaction. Life which had been a burden grew sweet to us,
+and though it may be that our words of praise to Him, whose will was to
+deliver us out of the jaws of death, were not set nor formal, yet His
+all-seeing eye saw the truth in our hearts, and saw there the fullest
+expression of our gratitude and thankfulness. Who shall say the thanks
+that arose were less acceptable, because not given on bended knees
+before gilded altars?
+
+Though across the desert and evidently in the long promised land our
+troubles and trials were not through by any means, but evidently we were
+out of danger. Our lives seemed to be secure, and we were soon to meet
+with settlers who would no doubt extend to us the hand of human
+sympathy. Many long miles yet remained between us and the rivers in
+whose sands were hidden the tiny grains of gold we came to seek.
+
+The rest in the lovely camp had answered to cause Mrs. Bennett to feel
+quite well again by the next morning, and we made ready to proceed. We
+had the trail of the Jayhawkers to follow, so the vines, brambles and
+tangles which had perplexed Rogers and myself in our first passage were
+now somewhat broken down, and we could get along very well without
+further clearing of the road until the hills came down so close on both
+sides that there was no room except in the very bed of the stream. There
+was no other way, so we waded among after the oxen as best we could.
+Sometimes the women fell down, for a rawhide moccasin soaked soft in
+water was not a very comfortable or convenient shoe, however it might be
+adapted to hot, dry sands. The creek was shaded and the water quite
+cool. The trail, such as it was, crossed the creek often and generally
+was nothing else than the stream itself. The constant wading, and wet,
+cold clothing caused the women to give out soon and we selected the
+first dry suitable place which offered food for the oxen, as a place to
+camp.
+
+Wood was plenty and dry, so a good fire was soon burning, and the poor
+women, wet to the waist and even higher, were standing before it,
+turning round and round to get warm and dry. Someone remarked that they
+resembled geese hanging before the fire to roast, as they slowly
+revolved, and it was all owing to their fatigue that the suggester did
+not receive merited punishment then and there at their hands. As they
+got a little dry and comfortable they remarked that even an excess of
+water like this was better than the desert where there was none at all,
+and as to their looks, there were no society people about to point their
+fingers at them, and when they reached a settled country they hoped to
+have a chance to change their clothes, and get two dresses apiece, and
+that these would be long enough to hide their knees which these poor
+tatters quite failed to do. One remarked that she was sure she had been
+down in the brook a dozen times and that she did not consider cold water
+baths so frequently repeated were good for the health.
+
+Young Charley Arcane had been getting better for some days. No medicine
+had been given him, and it was no doubt the change of air and water that
+had begun to effect a cure. Arcane had a hard time of it to keep the
+brush from pulling George and Melissa off of Old Crump into the water.
+It was indeed one of the hardest day's work of the whole journey, but no
+one was low spirited, and all felt very well. The camping place was in a
+deep canon, surrounded by thick brush, so that no wind came in to chill
+us. Everybody was cook and nobody was boss. Not a cent of money among
+us, nor any chance to use any if we had possessed it. We had nice,
+sweet, fat meat, cooked rare or well done as each one preferred, and no
+complaints about the waiters. The conditions were so favorable, compared
+with the terrible Death Valley and its surroundings that every one
+remarked about it, and no one felt in the least like finding fault with
+the little inconveniences we were forced to put up with. It might cure
+an inveterate fault-finder to take a course of training in the desert.
+
+The next day we did not wade half as much, and after a few hours of
+travel we suddenly emerged from the brush into a creek bottom which was
+much wider, with not a tree to obstruct our way. The soil was sandy and
+covered more or less with sage brush, and the stream which had been
+strong and deep enough to make us very wet now sank entirely out of
+sight in the sandy bottom. The hills were thinly timbered on the left
+side but quite brushy on the right, and we could see the track of cattle
+in the sand. No signs of other animals, but some small birds came near,
+and meadow larks whistled their tune, quite familiar to us, but still
+sounding slightly different from the song of the same bird in the East.
+High in the air could be seen a large sailing hawk or buzzard.
+
+We stopped to rest at noon and noticed that the water ran a little in
+the creek bed; but, by the time we were ready to start we found none
+with which to fill our canteens. No doubt this water was poured into the
+canon somewhere near the place where we killed the three cattle, and we
+had got out of it before the flood came down. It was astonishing to see
+how the thirsty sand drank up the quite abundant flow.
+
+The next day we came down to the point of hill that nearly crossed the
+valley, and we crossed the low ridge rather than make a longer trip to
+get around by way of the valley. As we reached the summit there appeared
+before us as beautiful a rural picture as one ever looked upon. A large
+green meadow, of a thousand acres, more or less; its southwest side
+bounded by low mountains, at the base of which oak trees were plenty,
+but no brush or undergrowth. It was like a grand old park, such as we
+read of in English tales. All over the meadow cattle of all sorts and
+sizes grazed, the "Ring-streaked and speckled" of old Jacob's breed
+being very prominent. Some lazily cropped the grass; some still more
+lazily reclined and chewed their cud; while frisky calves exercised
+their muscles in swift races and then secured their dinner from anxious
+mothers. We camped at once and took the loads from all the animals that
+they might feed in comfort on the sweet grass that lay before them.
+
+We tarried here perhaps two hours, till the cattle stopped eating, and
+amply enjoyed the scene. Never again would any one of the party go back
+over that dreary desert, they said, and everyone wondered why all places
+could not be as green and beautiful as this one. I cannot half tell how
+we felt and acted, nor what we said in our delight over this picture of
+plenty. The strong contrasts created strong impressions, and the tongues
+so long silent in our dry and dreary trouble were loosened to say
+everything the heart inspired. Think as much as you can; you cannot
+think it all.
+
+We felt much better after our rest, and the oxen seemed stronger and
+better able, as well as more willing to carry their loads, so we soon
+prepared to move on down the valley, toward the house we had spoken of
+as the goal we were to reach. It was now the 7th day of March 1850, and
+this date, as well as the 4th day of November 1849 will always remain an
+important one in memory. On the last named day we left the trail to take
+the unfortunate cut-off, and for four long months we had wandered and
+struggled in terrible hardship. Every point of that terrible journey is
+indelibly fixed upon my memory and though seventy-three years of age on
+April 6th 1893 I can locate every camp, and if strong enough could
+follow that weary trail from Death Valley to Los Angeles with unerring
+accuracy. The brushy canon we have just described is now occupied by the
+Southern Pacific Railroad, and the steep and narrow ridge pierced by a
+tunnel, through which the trains pass. The beautiful meadow we so much
+admired has now upon its border a railroad station, Newhall, and at the
+proper season some portion of it is covered with thousands of trays of
+golden apricots, grown in the luxuriant orchards just beyond the hills
+toward the coast, and here drying in the bright summer sun. The cattle
+in the parti-colored coats are gone, but one who knows the ground can
+see our picture.
+
+Loaded up again we start down the beautiful grassy valley, the women
+each with a staff in hand, and everything is new and strange to us.
+Rogers and I know that we will soon meet people who are strangers to us;
+who speak a strange language of which we know nothing, and how we,
+without a dollar, are to proceed to get our food and things we need, are
+questions we cannot answer nor devise any easy way to overcome. The
+mines are yet five hundred miles away, and we know not of any work for
+us to do nearer. Our lives have been given back to us, and now comes the
+problem of how to sustain them manfully and independently as soon as
+possible. If worse comes to worst we can walk to San Francisco, probably
+kill enough game on the way and possibly reach the gold mines at last,
+but the way was not clear. We must trust much to luck and fortune and
+the ever faithful Providence which rarely fails those who truly try to
+help themselves.
+
+We began to think some very independent thoughts. We had a mule to carry
+our camp kettle and meat. Our cattle were now beginning to improve and
+would soon get fat; these could carry our blankets and odd loads, while
+Old Crump the christian could still carry the children; Bennett and I
+knew how to hunt, and had good rifles; so we could still proceed, and we
+determined that, come what may, _we will be victorious_.
+
+These were some of the plans we talked over at our camps and resting
+places, and as we walked along. If we could get the two families fixed
+in some way so they could do without Rogers and I, we could strike for
+the mines quite rapidly and no doubt soon get ourselves on good footing.
+We were younger than the rest and could endure more hardship. We decide
+to remain together till we get to Los Angeles, and then see what is
+best.
+
+We reached our camping place at the foot of the hill, about a hundred
+yards from the house we have so long striven to reach. Here we unloaded
+in the shade of a large willow tree, and scarcely had we removed the
+harness from the oxen when the good lady of the house and her little
+child came down to see us. She stood for a moment and looked around her
+and at the two small children on the blankets, and we could hear her
+murmur _mucha pobre_ (very poor.) She could see our ragged clothes and
+dirty faces and everything told her of our extreme destitution. After
+seeing our oxen and mule which were so poor she said to herself "_flaco,
+flaco_" (so thin.) She then turned to us, Rogers and I, whom she had
+seen before, and as her lively little youngster clung to her dress, as
+if in fear of such queer looking people as we were, she took an orange
+from her pocket and pointing to the children of our party, wanted to
+know if we had given them the four oranges she sent to them by us. We
+made signs that we had done as she requested, when she smiled and said
+"_Buenos Muchachos_" (good boys.) In all this talk neither could say a
+word the other could understand, and the conversation was carried on by
+signs.
+
+Arcane said to her--"Me Catholic" which she seemed partly to comprehend
+and seemed more friendly. About this time two men rode up and took a
+look at us. Arcane, who was a mason, gave the masonic sign, as he told
+me afterward, but neither of them recognized it. We used such words of
+Spanish as I had taken down in my pass book and committed to memory and
+by motions in addition to these made them understand something of the
+state of affairs and that Mr. French who had assisted us before had told
+us we could get some meat (_carne_) from them. These men were finely
+mounted, wore long leggins made of hide, dressed with the hair on, which
+reached to their hips, stiff hats with a broad rim, and great spurs at
+their heels. Each had a coil of braided rawhide rope on the pommel of
+the saddle, and all these arrangements together made a very dashing
+outfit.
+
+They seemed to understand what we had said to them, for they rode off
+with a rush and came back in a short time, leading a fine, fat
+two-year-old heifer. When near our camp the rider who was behind threw
+his _riata_ and caught both hind feet of the animal when by a sudden
+movement of the horses the heifer was thrown. One of them dismounted,
+and at the command the horse backed up and kept the rope tight while the
+man went up to the prostrate beast and cut its throat. As soon as it had
+ceased struggling, they loosened their ropes and coiled them up: they
+came to us and pointed to the dead heifer in a way which said--"Help
+yourselves."
+
+We were much gratified at the generosity of the people, and at once
+dressed the animal as it lay, cutting off some good fat pieces which we
+roasted over the fire and ate with a relish. It seemed as if meat never
+tasted so good as that did sweet, fragrant, and juicy. If some French
+cook could only cook a steak that would smell and taste to his customers
+as that meal tasted to us, his art would be perfect. We separated a hind
+quarter and hung it to a tree, and when the lady came back we told her
+that the piece we had selected was enough for our present use, so she
+caused the remainder with the hide to be taken to the house. Toward
+night they drove up a lot of cows and calves and other cattle into their
+cattle yard or corral, as it is called all over California, a stockade
+of strong oak posts set deep in the ground and close together, enclosing
+a space of about half an acre. The horsemen now rode in and began to
+catch the calves with their ropes. It seemed as if they were able to
+throw a rope over a calf's head or around either leg they desired, with
+better aim, and at as great a distance as one could shoot a Colt's
+revolver, and we saw at once that a good raw-hide rope, in the hands of
+an experienced man and well-trained horse, was a weapon in many respects
+superior to firearms of any kind. A man near the gate loosened the ropes
+and pushed the calves into a separate corral till they had as many as
+they desired.
+
+Rogers watched the circus till it was over and then returned to camp,
+meeting on the way Bennett and Arcane, with their wives and children,
+carrying some blankets, for the good lady had invited them to come up to
+the house and sleep. They said we could go down and keep camp if old dog
+Cuff was willing, for they had left him guarding the property. He was
+pleased enough to have us come and keep him company, and we slept
+nicely, disturbed only a little by the barking of the house dogs and the
+hooting of an owl that came to visit our tree.
+
+The people came back to camp in the morning and had their experience to
+relate. Their hosts first baked some kind of flapjacks and divided them
+among their guests; then gave them beans seasoned hot with pepper: also
+great pieces of squash cooked before the fire, which they said was
+delicious and sweet--more than good. Then came a dish of dried meat
+pounded fine, mixed with green peppers and well fried in beef tallow.
+This seemed to be the favorite dish of the proprietors, but was a little
+too hot for our people. They called it _chili cum carne_--meat with
+pepper--and we soon found this to be one of the best dishes cooked by
+the Californians. The children were carefully waited on and given
+special attention to by these good people, and it was nearly ten o'clock
+before the feast was over: then the household had evening worship by
+meeting in silence, except a few set words repeated by some in turn, the
+ceremony lasting half an hour or more. Then they came and wished them
+_buenos noches_ in the most polite manner and left them to arrange their
+blankets on the floor and go to sleep.
+
+The unaccustomed shelter of a roof and the restless worrying of the
+children, who required much attention, for the change of diet had about
+the same effect on them as on Rogers and myself when we first partook of
+the California food, gave them little sleep, but still they rested and
+were truly grateful for the most perfect hospitality of these kind
+hearted people.
+
+In the morning the two horsemen and two Indians went to the corral, when
+the riders would catch a cow with their ropes and draw her head up to a
+post, binding it fast, while an Indian took a short piece of rope and
+closely tied the hind legs together above the gambrel joint, making the
+tail fast also. They had a large bucket and several gourds. The Indians
+then milked the cows they had made fast, getting from a pint to two
+quarts from each one, milking into a gourd and pouring into the bucket
+till they had all they desired. The calves were separated the night
+before so they could secure some milk. Cows were not trained to stand
+and be milked as they were at home. Setting down the bucket of milk
+before us, with some small gourds for dippers, we were invited to drink
+all we wished. This was a regular banquet to us, for our famished
+condition and good appetites made food relish wonderfully.
+
+When we made a sign of wishing to pay them for their great kindness they
+shook their heads and utterly refused. It was genuine sympathy and
+hospitality on their part, and none of us ever forgot it; the sight of a
+native Californian has always brought out thoughts of these good people,
+and respect and thankfulness to the race. This rancho, at which we were
+so kindly entertained was called San Francisquito, or Little San
+Francisco Rancho.
+
+This morning Mr. Arcane, with our assistance, made an arrangement with
+these people to give them his two oxen; and they were to take him and
+his wife and child, to the sea-shore, at a place called San Pedro, from
+which place he hoped, in some way, to get passage to San Francisco in a
+sailing vessel. He had no money, and no property to sell, except perhaps
+his spy-glass, worth about ten dollars. With this poor prospect before
+him he started for the sea. He bade Bennett's folks good-bye, then came
+to me and put a light gold ring on my finger, saying that it and his
+interest in the little mule were mine. Then he gave his silver watch to
+Rogers and said it was all he had to give him, but if he had a million
+dollars, he would divide, and still think it a small compensation for
+the faithful services we had rendered him. "I can never repay you," said
+he, "for I owe you a debt that is beyond compensation. You have saved
+our lives, and have done it when you knew you could get nothing for it.
+I hope we will meet again, and when we do you will be welcome. If you
+hear of me anywhere, come and see me, for I want to tell my friends who
+Manly and Rogers are, and how you helped us. Good Bye!" There were tears
+in his eyes, voice full of emotion, and the firm clasp of his hand told
+how earnest he was, and that he felt more than he could speak.
+
+He helped Mrs. Arcane on her horse, then gave Charlie to her, and, amid
+waving hands and many _adios_ from our new-found friends, with repeated
+"good byes" from the old ones, they rode away. Mrs. Arcane could hardly
+speak when she bade us farewell, she was so much affected. They had
+about sixty miles to ride to reach the sea, and as she rode on a man's
+saddle, and was unused to riding, I knew she would be sadly wearied
+before she reached the coast.
+
+Our little train now seemed much smaller. Three oxen and a mule were all
+our animals, and the adults must still walk, as they had done on our
+desert route. But we were comparatively happy, for we had plenty of good
+meat to eat, plenty of sweet water to drink, and our animals were
+contented and improving every day; grass and water seemed plenty
+everywhere. We put our luggage on the oxen and the mule, loaded the
+children on Old Crump as we had done before, and were ready to move
+again. Our good friends stood around and smiled good-naturedly at our
+queer arrangements, and we, not knowing how to say what our hearts would
+prompt us to, shook their hands and said good bye in answer to their
+"_adios amigos_" as we moved away, waving hands to each other.
+
+The men then detained me a little while to ask me more about the road we
+had come over, how far it was, and how bad the Indians were, and other
+particulars. I told him by signs that we had been twenty-two days on the
+road, and that the _Indianos_, as they called them, had not troubled us,
+but that there was very little grass or water in all that land. He made
+a sort of map on the ground and made me understand he would like to go
+back and try to bring out the wagons we had left behind, and he wanted
+me to go back with him and help him. I explained to him by the map he
+had made, and one which I made myself, that I considered it impossible
+to bring them over. He seemed much disappointed, and with a shrug of his
+shoulders said "_mucho malo_" (very bad) and seemed to abandon the idea
+of getting a Yankee wagon. They very much admired an American wagon, for
+their own vehicles were rude affairs, as I shall bye-and-bye describe.
+We bade each other many _adios_, and I went on my way, soon catching up
+with the little party. We had been informed that it was ten leagues, or
+thirty miles to Los Angeles, whither we were now headed.
+
+We had now been a whole year on the road between Wisconsin and
+California, much of the time with the ground for a bed, and though our
+meals had been sometimes scanty and long between, very few of us had
+missed one on account of sickness. Some, less strong than we, had lain
+down to perish, and had been left behind, without coffin or grave; but
+we were here, and so far had found food to nourish us in some degree
+with prospects now of game in the future if nothing better offered. We
+still talked of going to the gold mines on foot, for with good food and
+rest our courage had returned, and we wanted to succeed.
+
+Our camp this night was in a nice watering place, where dry oak wood was
+plenty and grass abundant. It was at the foot of the San Fernando
+Mountain, not rocky, as we had found our road some time before, but
+smooth and covered with grass. It was rather steep to climb, but an
+infant compared with the great mountains so rough and barren, we had
+climbed on our way from Death Valley. Our present condition and state of
+mind was an anomalous one. We were happy, encouraged, grateful and quite
+contented in the plenty which surrounded us, and still there was a sort
+of puzzling uncertainty as to our future, the way to which seemed very
+obscure. In the past we had pushed on our very best and a kind
+Providence had kept us. This we did now, but still revolved the best
+plans and the most fortunate possibilities in our minds. We talked of
+the time when we should be able to show hospitality to our friends, and
+to strangers who might need our open hand as we had needed the favors
+which strangers had shown us in the last few days.
+
+We ate our supper of good meat, with a dessert of good beans our kind
+friends had given us, and enjoyed it greatly. As we sat in silence a
+flock of the prettiest, most graceful birds came marching along, and
+halted as if to get a better view of our party. We admired them so much
+that we made not a move, but waited, and they fearlessly walked on
+again. We could see that there were two which were larger than the rest,
+and from twelve to twenty smaller ones. The little top-knot on the head
+and their symmetrical forms made them specially attractive, and Mrs.
+Bennett and the children were much pleased. The beauty of the California
+quail is especially striking to one who sees them for the first time.
+
+In the morning we began to climb the hill, getting along very well
+indeed, for our raw-hide moccasins were now dry and hard and fitted the
+foot perfectly. We did not try to make great speed, but kept steadily
+on, and as we were used to climbing, we reached the summit easily. From
+this elevation we could get a fine view of the big grassy plain that
+seemed to extend as far as the eye could reach and, not far from us, the
+buildings and gardens of the San Fernando Mission. If we could shut out
+the mountains the landscape would remind us of a great Western prairie.
+We never could get over comparing this country with the desolate Death
+Valley, for it seemed as if such strange and striking opposites could
+hardly exist.
+
+We rested here a little while and then wound our way down the hill to
+the level land. A few miles brought us to the mission houses and the
+church of San Fernando. There was not much life about them, in fact they
+seemed comparatively deserted, for we saw only one man and a few
+Indians. The man brought some oranges and gave the children one each.
+After a little rest we moved on over our road which was now quite smooth
+and gently descending. Night overtook us in a place where there was no
+water, but we camped and suffered no inconvenience. A stream was passed
+next day, and a house near by unoccupied. The road now began to enter
+gently rolling hills covered with big grass and clover, which indicated
+rich soil, and we never get tired of talking about it.
+
+At the top of these hills we had another beautiful view as far south and
+west as the eye could reach. Small objects, probably horses and cattle,
+were scattered about the plain, grazing in the midst of plenty. Our own
+animals were given frequent opportunities to eat, and again and again we
+rejoiced over the beauty. Of course it was not such a surprise and
+wonder as it was when such a view first burst upon our sight, but it
+pleased and delighted us ever. On the east was a snow-capped peak, and
+here we were in the midst of green fields of grass and wild flowers, in
+the softest climate of an early spring. These strong contrasts beat
+anything we had ever seen. Perhaps the contrast between the great snow
+mountain and the hot Death Valley was greater in point of temperature,
+but there the heat brought only barrenness, and of the two the snow
+seemed the more cheerful. Here the vegetation of all sorts was in full
+balance with the balmy air, and in comparison the snow seemed a strange
+neighbor. It was quite a contrast to our cold, windy March in Wisconsin,
+and we wonder if it is always summer here. We were satisfied that even
+if we could get no further we could live in such a land as this. The
+broad prairie doubtless belonged to the United States, and we could have
+our share and own a little piece of it on very easy terms, and raise our
+own cattle and corn. If the people were all as kind as those we had met
+we were sure at least of neighborly treatment. I have endeavored to
+write this just as it seemed to us then and not clothe the impressions
+with the cover of later experience. The impressions we then daily
+received and the sights we saw were stranger than the wildest fiction,
+and if it so strikes you, my friendly reader, do not wonder.
+
+As we came over the hills we could see a village near the southern base
+and it seemed quite near us. It was a new and strange sight to us as we
+approached. The houses were only one story high and seemed built of mud
+of a gray color, the roofs flat, and the streets almost deserted.
+Occasionally a man could be seen, sometimes a dog, and now and then an
+Indian, sitting with his back to the house. The whole view indicated a
+thinly populated place, and the entire absence of wagons or animals was
+a rather strange circumstance to us. It occurred to us at first that if
+all the emigrants were gone our reception might be a cool one in this
+city of mud. One thing was in its favor and that was its buildings were
+about fire proof for they had earthen floors and flat roofs.
+
+We rested half an hour or so just outside, and then ventured down the
+hill into the street. We met an American almost the first man, and when
+we asked about a suitable camping place, he pointed out the way and we
+marched on. Our strange appearance attracted the attention of the
+children and they kept coming out of the houses to see the curious
+little train with Old Crump carrying the children and our poor selves
+following along, dirty and ragged. Mrs. Bennett's dress hardly reached
+below her knees, and although her skirts were fringed about the bottom
+it was of a kind that had not been adopted as yet in general circle of
+either Spanish-American or good United States society. The shortness of
+the dress made the curious raw-hide moccasins only the more prominent,
+and the whole make-up of the party was a curious sight.
+
+We went down the hill a little further to the lower bottom to camp,
+while the barefooted, bareheaded urchins followed after to get a further
+look at the strangers. Before we selected a suitable place, we saw two
+tents and some wagons which looked like those of overland travelers, and
+we went toward them. When within fifty yards two men suddenly came to
+their feet and looked at our little party approaching as if in wonder,
+but at twenty steps they recognized Bennett and came rushing forward.
+"My God! It's Bennett" said they, and they clasped hands in silence
+while one greeted Mrs. Bennett warmly. The meeting was so unexpected
+they shed tears and quietly led the way back to camp. This was the camp
+of R.G. Moody and H.C. Skinner, with their families. They had traveled
+together on the Platte and became well acquainted, the warmest of
+friends, and knowing that Bennett had taken the cut off, they more than
+suspected he and his party had been lost, as no sight of them had come
+to their eyes. They had been waiting here six weeks in order to get some
+reliable news, and now Mr. Bennet answered for himself. Rogers and I,
+belonging to another party, were of course strangers.
+
+Leaving them to compare notes, Rogers and I took charge of Old Crump,
+the oxen, and the mule, unpacked them, and arranged camp under a
+monstrous willow tree. Bennett and his wife were taken into Mr. Moody's
+tent, and an hour or so later when Mrs. Bennett appeared again, she had
+her face washed clean, her hair combed, and a new clean dress. It was
+the first time we had found soap, and the improvement in her looks and
+feelings was surprising. Bennett looked considerably cleaned up too, and
+appeared bright and fresh. The children had also been taken in hand and
+appeared in new clothes selected from the wardrobe of the other
+children, and the old dirty clothes were put in process of washing as
+soon as possible.
+
+Supper came, and it was so inviting. There was real bread and it looked
+so nice we smiled when it was offered to us. Mrs. Bennett broke pieces
+for the children and cautioned them not to eat too much. It did seem so
+good to be among friends we could talk with and be understood. After
+supper was over and the things cleared away we all sat down in a circle
+and Bennett told the story of where he had been these many days on the
+cut off that was to shorten the trail. Mr. Moody said he had about given
+the party up and intended to start up the coast to-morrow. The story was
+so long that they talked till they were sleepy and then began again
+after breakfast, keeping it up till they had a good outline of all our
+travels and tribulations. This Mr. R.G. Moody, his wife and daughter,
+Mrs. Quinby, and son Charles, all lived in San Jose and are now dead.
+H.C. Skinner was a brother-in-law of Moody and also lived a long time in
+San Jose, but himself, son and one daughter, are now dead.
+
+Rogers and I now took the pack-saddle we had borrowed of Mr. French to
+use on our trip to Death Valley and return, and carried it to the saloon
+on the east side of the plaza, where we were to place it if we got back
+safely, and delivered it to the man in charge, with many thanks to Mr.
+French for his favors to us, and sent him word that we would always
+remember him and be ready to do him a similar or equal favor if ever we
+were able. We considered him a good benevolent man, and such he proved
+to be when he offered us fat oxen, good beans, and any other thing we
+needed. He told the people in the house who we were, which no doubt
+influenced them kindly in our favor when we arrived.
+
+At the saloon there was a large room with tables in it and gambling
+going on actively. Money changed hands very rapidly, drinks at the bar
+were frequent, and the whole affair moved forward with the same
+regularity as any mercantile business. The door stood wide open and any
+one could come and go at his pleasure. Quite a number of black-eyed,
+fair looking women circulated among the crowd, and this, to us, seemed
+quite out of place, for we had never seen women in saloons before. We
+watched the game awhile to see some losing and some gaining, the result
+being quite exciting; but as neither of us had any money, we could not
+have joined in the game had we been so disposed; so we looked on awhile
+and then took a seat on the ground outside of the house.
+
+Here we talked over our chances of getting to the mines. All the clothes
+we had were on our backs and feet and those were the poorest of the
+poor. We had no money. I had the little black-eyed mule, and Rogers had
+the watch Arcane had given him. Mr. Moody had said it was 500 miles to
+San Francisco, and 150 miles further to the mines, so that after the
+hard travel of a year we were still a long way off from the place we
+started for.
+
+We could not see any way to make a living here. There was no land
+cultivated, not a fence, nothing to require labor of any kind. The
+valley was rich enough and produced great crops of grass, and the cattle
+and horses we had seen grazing seemed to be about all the use they put
+it to. It looked as if the people must live principally on meat. I
+thought if we could manage to get a little provision together, such as
+flour and beans, that I could pack there on the mule, and I was pretty
+sure I could find game that would be better meat than we had lived on
+during the last two months on the desert.
+
+We looked around to see if we could find something to do to earn a
+little for a start, but were not successful. In our walk about this city
+of mud we saw many things that seemed strange to us. There were more
+women than men, and more children than grown-up people, while the dogs
+were plenty. At the edge of the town, near the river were some grape
+vines fenced in with living willows, interlaced in some places with dry
+vines. The Indians moved very moderately around and no doubt had plenty
+of beef to eat, with very few wants to provide for. We noticed some few
+people paying for small things at the stores with small money. The women
+all dressed much alike. The dress was of some cheap material, sandals on
+feet, and a kind of long shawl worn over the head and thrown over the
+shoulder. There seemed to be neither hoops nor corsets in their
+fashions. The men wore trousers of white cotton or linen, with a calico
+shirt, sandals, and a broad rimmed snuff colored hat. The Indians and
+their wives went bareheaded.
+
+Near the end of the street we came to a boarding house and went in and
+sat down in the empty room. Soon a man came in, better dressed than
+ourselves, and much to our surprise it was one of the old Death Valley
+travelers, the Rev. J.W. Brier whom I last saw in his lone camp in the
+desert, discoursing to his young sons on the benefits of an early
+education. I know the situation struck me very strangely, with death
+staring them in the face and he preaching!
+
+We had a long talk about the hard journey we had each experienced. As
+his party had not waited they had come through ahead of us. He said
+himself and Mr. Granger had started a boarding house when they arrived,
+and had been doing a good business. He said that as long as the
+emigrants continued to come he could get along very well. We asked him
+if there was any chance for us to work and get money to get some
+provisions to help us on the way to the mines. He said he could give
+work to one of us hauling water for the house with oxen and cart, and
+the one who could manage oxen was the man. I was an ox driver and so
+told him I would take his team and cart and set out with the work. He
+said he could pay fifty dollars a month, and I accepted the offer
+quickly as I saw it was a good chance to build up my exhausted strength
+and flesh.
+
+I turned the little mule out in the hills near by, and began my work. It
+was not hard, for the boarders were thinning out. The natives did not
+patronize this hotel very much, but grub disappeared pretty fast at my
+corner of the table, for my appetite began to be ravenous. There was not
+much variety to the food and very few luxuries or delicacies, which were
+hard to obtain on such a bare market, but all seemed satisfied with the
+food, and to me it tasted extra good.
+
+Rogers went back to the old camp and helped them there, and I often went
+over after dark, when my work was done. Moody and Skinner had been
+active in trying to get Mr. Bennett ready to go up the coast with them.
+Bennett had sold his repeating rifle and with the proceeds and the help
+of his friends had got another ox, making two yoke for him. They fixed
+up a wagon for him, and yokes enough could be found where people had
+traded off their oxen for horses. Provisions enough had been gathered by
+Moody and Skinner for them all, and Rogers would go along with the party
+to help them with the teams.
+
+I was left alone after they started, and it was my idea to quit when I
+had worked a month, and if my mule staid with me, to start for the mines
+even if I went alone. The majority of the male inhabitants of this town
+had gone to the mines, and this accounted for the unusual proportion of
+women. We learned that they would return in November, and then the
+gambling houses would start up in full blast, for these native
+Californians seemed to have a great natural desire to indulge in games
+of chance, and while playing their favorite game of monte would lay down
+their last reale (12-1/2 cents) in the hope of winning the money in
+sight before them on the table.
+
+As the boarding house business got dull I was taken over to a vineyard
+and set to work, in place of hauling water. The entire patch was as
+green as a meadow with weeds, and I was expected to clean them out. I
+inquired of Brier how he came to get hold of this nice property, and he
+said that during the war the soldiers had taken possession of this piece
+of ground, and had their camp here, so he considered it was government
+land, and therefore had squatted on it and was going to hold it, and pay
+for it as regular government land, and that he already considered it his
+own, for said he, "I am an American, and this is a part of the public
+domain." "All right," said I, "I will kill weeds for you, if you wish,
+when I have time to spare, and you don't want the oxen worked at any
+other work ".
+
+I could see every day that I was improving in health and weight and
+would soon become myself again, able to take the road to the mines. When
+about two weeks of my time had expired two oldish men came to the house
+to stop for a few days and reported themselves as from Sacramento,
+buying up some horses for that market. Thus far they had purchased only
+six or eight, as they had found the price too high to buy and then drive
+so far to a market to sell again. They had about decided to go back with
+what they had and undertake some other kind of business. I thought this
+would be a pretty good chance for me to go, as I would have company, and
+so went to Brier and Granger and told them what I would like to do, and
+that with their permission I would quit and go on with them. They
+readily consented, for their money was coming in rather slow, and they
+paid me twenty five dollars for half a month's work. This made me feel
+pretty rich and I thought this would give me food enough to reach the
+mines.
+
+Having two or three days to get ready in, I began doing the best I
+could. I found an old saddle tree which had been thrown away, and
+managed to fix it up so I could use it. I also found an old gun some
+traveler had left, and with a little work I fitted the breech of that to
+my own gun which was broken, and had been roughly tied together with
+strips of raw-hide. I now had a good sound gun if it was not very
+handsome. I bought a Spanish blanket, not so wide as ours, but coarse
+and strong, and having a hole in the center through which to put the
+head and wear it as a garment in case of storm, or at night. I went to a
+native store and bought a supply of carne seca (dried beef) and some
+crackers, put some salt in my pocket and was now provisioned for another
+trip. I found my mule in the hills back of town, not far from where I
+left her, and the rest and good feed had made her look better and feel
+better, as well as myself.
+
+The drovers had found two other men who wanted to go with them and help
+drive the horses for their board. I put my blanket on under the saddle,
+packed my little sack of meat and crackers on behind, and when I was in
+the saddle with my gun before me I considered I was pretty well fixed
+and able to make my way against almost anything. I said to myself that
+the only way now to keep me from getting to the gold mines was to kill
+me. I felt that there was not a mountain so high I could not climb, and
+no desert so wide and dry that I could not cross it. I had walked and
+starved and choked and lived through it, and now I felt so strong and
+brave I could do it again--any way to reach the gold mines and get some
+of the "dust."
+
+I had not much idea how the gold from the mines looked. Everybody called
+it gold dust, and that conveyed an idea to me that it was fine as flour,
+but how to catch it I did not know. I knew other people found a way to
+get it, and I knew I could learn if any body could. It was a great
+longing that came to me to see some of the yellow dust in its native
+state, before it had been through the mint.
+
+At the last meal I took at the house there were only a few at the table.
+Among them was a well dressed Californian who evidently did not greatly
+fancy American cooking, but got along very well till Mrs. Brier brought
+around the dessert, a sort of duff. This the Californian tasted a few
+times and then laid down his spoon saying it was no bueno, and some
+other words I did not then understand, but afterward learned that they
+meant "too much grease." The fellow left the table not well pleased with
+what we generally consider the best end of a Yankee dinner, the last
+plate.
+
+While here I had slept in a small store room, where I made my pallet out
+of old rags and blankets. While I was looking round for material to make
+my bed I came across a bag partly full of sugar, brought from Chili. It
+was in very coarse crystals, some as large as corn. There were some
+other treasures end luxuries there that perhaps I was expected guard. I
+however had a sweet tooth and a handful or so of the sweet crystals
+found their way into my pocket.
+
+I bade Mr. Brier and the rest good bye and rode away to join my company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Leaving the little party whose wanderings we have followed so closely,
+safely arrived in Los Angeles, their further history in California will
+be taken up later on, and this narrative will go back to points when the
+original party was broken up and trace the little bands in their varied
+experience. It will be remembered that the author and his friends, after
+a perilous voyage down Green River, halted at the camp of the Indian
+chief, Walker, and there separated, the Author and four companions
+striking for Salt Lake, while McMahon and Field remained behind, fully
+determined to go on down the river.
+
+The story of these two men is told by McMahon in the following
+interesting letter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dear Manley:--
+
+Yours requesting me to give you a synopsis of the history of incidents,
+experience, and observations of our mutual friend, Richard Field and
+myself, from the time you, John Rogers, Alfred Walton, and the Hazelrig
+brothers left us at the camp of the generous old chief Walker on the
+west bank of the river near the mouth of the "great seven days canon" is
+at hand.
+
+You no doubt distinctly, and with pleasure, remember that unbroken
+friendship which existed among us up to the time of our separation and
+that we parted warm and tried friends.
+
+Well, after you and your companions had left us we set to work to
+prepare the canvas for the continuation of the voyage down the river. We
+drilled holes through the sides of the "Pilot"--you, I have no doubt
+remember which that was, yours and mine, in which we took so many
+fearful risks, and "No. 2," so that we might in case of necessity lash
+the two together. After a day or two Field lost courage and finally
+determined to go no further down the river. Walker in the meantime had
+repeated his friendly warnings appertaining to the great danger in going
+further down the river. You will remember what he had told us about it
+before you left us.
+
+You know that I was the biggest coward of the whole seven; but I assumed
+courage and told Field that I would go down the river alone; and, for a
+time, I thought I would do so; but after some reflection I concluded
+that, perhaps, discretion was the better part of valor, and reluctantly
+gave it up. We now decided to follow you, or to take some other unknown
+route and try to make our escape out of this most perilous condition.
+
+We then set about, as you had done, to trade with Walker for a pony or
+two, and after much dickering Field succeeded in getting the, afterwards
+famous, big, old, sore-backed mule. You may not remember him, but I do;
+and, notwithstanding his sore back, he made pretty good beef. I, with
+pins, needles, thread, a pocket-knife, a handkerchief, etc., succeeded
+in getting a very nice, round, three-year-old, iron-gray pony.
+
+After making pack-saddles, and getting almost ready to start, we were,
+through Walker's kindness and persuasiveness, overcome, and consented to
+go with him, feeling confident that we would not starve to death while
+with him. We did not now have Manley with his long experience, and his
+old rusty, but always trusty, rifle as a sure defence against possible
+hunger and starvation.
+
+The old chief, and, in fact, the whole tribe, seemed pleased when we
+consented to go with them. Preparations were now made, and all except
+the horses and four head of cattle, was conveyed across the river in the
+two canoes which were lashed together, while the horses and cattle were
+forced to swim to the other side where we camped for the night. Next
+morning the clever old chief had two good horses fitted up in good style
+for Field and I, which we rode all of the nine days that we remained
+with the band, while our own run with the herd. Our baggage was carried
+on some of the chief's pack-horses. We were, in fact, his honored
+guests, as will hereafter appear.
+
+All were soon mounted and off to the buffalo fields, Walker having
+informed us that he intended going up into the buffalo country on the
+head-waters of Grand River where he would remain until snow fell, when
+he would go to Salt Lake City, or vicinity.
+
+Leaving the river, we set out across a not entirely barren plain, for
+there was much sage-brush, and several varieties of cactus. Towards
+evening we came close up to the foot of a range of rugged, rocky
+mountains, where we found water and camped for the night. Field and I
+usually pitched our little muslin tent somewhere near our friends where
+we could sleep without fear of man or beast, for I think some one of the
+reds was always on guard.
+
+All went well for four or five days, when we all got entirely out of
+food except a few ounces of flour which we had hidden away for a
+possible emergency. During the following two days and nights all were
+entirely without food except the two little children, whom you no doubt
+remember. We gave their mother a little flour now and then which she
+mixed with a little milk which one of the cows afforded, for the little
+ones. These Indians did not seem to suffer for want of food; even when
+we were starving, they appeared happy and contented; and one young
+fellow would sing all day long while we were starving. Daring the second
+day of starvation and hard traveling over hot and barren deserts, the
+Indians killed a wild-cat and two small rabbits. We got nothing. You
+will remember that all the arms of the seven men were lost in the river
+when the canoes were sunk, except your rifle and my double barreled
+shot-gun and revolver, so that Field and I had only the one gun, and
+neither of us knew anything about hunting. When we camped, one of the
+boys brought over to our tent a quarter of the cat, which was more than
+a fair share of the whole supply, as twenty-two of them had only the two
+little rabbits and three quarters of the unfortunate cat. We boiled and
+boiled and boiled that cat's hind leg, but never got it done. We waited
+as long as we possibly could, gave up in despair and put a little flour
+into the broth to thicken it, and drank it. It was not good, but much
+better the meat of the cat. That cat and the rabbits were all the
+twenty-four of us had to eat, after fasting two days, until late in the
+evening of the next day.
+
+My people were religious, and when I was young the family was wont to
+observe fast days, but never did we have any such long fasts as these
+were. In the afternoon of the next day the old chief left the caravan
+and went on ahead of the train toward a chain of mountains, first giving
+some directions to the band, and taking one son with him. When we
+arrived in a small canon in the edge of the mountains we found them with
+a fine mountain sheep which they had killed and brought down to the dim,
+little-used trail where we camped; and after we had set up our little
+tent as usual, a short distance away from our friends, one of the young
+men brought to us about one fourth of the sheep, while the twenty-two
+Indians had the rest.
+
+You know that a good-sized mountain sheep would make a fair supper for
+twenty-four people, even though they had been starving three or four
+days; but this was a small one, and I think Field and I ate about half
+of the quarter. The twenty-two Indians soon devoured the three-fourths
+and all of the soft viscera, including the stomach and intestines, after
+which some of the boys came to our tent while we were stuffing our, what
+had been for several days empty, stomachs. We offered them part of our
+bounteous supply of mutton, having much more than we could eat; but no,
+they would not touch it until we were filled full, when they accepted
+what was left, and soon stowed it away. All were now pretty well filled
+up once more.
+
+The next day was spent without food, traveling over rough mountains.
+Within a pass, late in the afternoon, we crossed the fresh trail of some
+other band of roving red-skins, and Walker suspected who they were, and
+went into camp early. The Indians had killed nothing that day, but I had
+killed a small rabbit which, unfortunately for it, came in my way during
+the day. This we offered to the women for themselves and the little
+children; but they positively refused to accept it, insisting that they
+did not want it or need it, and that the small supply of milk from the
+cow was quite sufficient for the little ones, and the others spurned the
+offer to divide so little a thing, so we had it all to ourselves.
+
+It appeared that these people were accustomed to go for long periods
+without food, and with little apparent inconvenience; but Field and I
+began to feel as I suppose Dr. Tanner felt after a few days' fasting,
+and began to wish that the old chief would get hungry and kill one of
+his large, fat steers, but he still held them in reserve.
+
+Early the next morning, now nine days from the time we had left the
+river, the old chief took two of the young men and left camp, as we
+afterwards learned, to go in search of the Indians whose trail we had
+crossed the evening before. Some time in the early part of the night,
+one of the young men returned and informed us that they had found the
+wandering tribe, and that we were to go back to their trail and follow
+it to their camp up in a Southeast direction, Walker and one of the
+young men having remained with their new-found friends.
+
+Field and I both felt greatly disappointed in not being able to proceed
+north; and in the meantime we had become very tired of the society of
+these people, notwithstanding the fact that they were exceedingly
+clever; but we were almost starved to death, and had about come to the
+conclusion that we would be obliged to make some change. We were still
+on the east side of, and considerable distance from the river, and
+probably not more than one hundred, or one hundred and twenty miles from
+the place where we parted from you.
+
+The chief had sent particular instructions for us to go with the tribe;
+but, after canvassing the whole situation, we decided to part company
+with our good friends, proceed northward, and try to reach Fort Bridger
+or some other settlement in the northwest, and so informed them, and
+requested the boys to bring in our mule and horse, which they did after
+failing to induce us to go with them.
+
+Bright and early the next morning, they all, even the polygamous wives
+and little children, in apparent sorrow, bade us good-bye, and were off,
+leaving us alone with our two poor, lonely, four-footed companions, who
+were very anxious to follow the band of horses. After the rather
+melancholy parting we arranged our packs, and about ten o'clock started
+out on what then seemed, and afterwards proved, to be a perilous voyage
+through deserts, and over rough mountains. To avoid a high range of
+mountains, our course was for a time northeast but, after passing that
+range we bore to the northwest.
+
+The days were quite warm, but the nights were cold. During the first day
+we killed and ate one small rabbit, and this, with a few seed buds
+gathered from wild rose bushes, constituted two days' rations. On the
+third we did not have even the rabbit or rose seed buds, but late in the
+afternoon we found some small red berries, similar in appearance to what
+I, in my childhood, knew and relished as Solomon's seal berries. I being
+a natural coward, and fearing that they might poison me, did not eat any
+of them, but generously allowed my good friend to eat them all.
+
+We had now been almost entirely without water for two days and nights.
+When night came on we picketed our animals in a grass plot and lay down
+near them to see that they did not get tangled in the ropes and hurt, or
+that some red skin, not having the fear of the Lord in his heart, did
+not come and take them away. About ten o'clock my companion began to
+complain of pain in his stomach and bowels, and was soon vomiting at a
+fearful rate; so violently, indeed, that I was apprehensive that he
+might die. If I had had an emetic I would have given it to him to have
+assisted nature in pumping those devilish little red berries out of him,
+for I felt quite sure that they were the cause of his illness. Perhaps
+it was fortunate that there was no medecine at hand, for if there had
+been I might have killed him with it.
+
+He suffered most intensely, and soon became very thirsty, and, there
+being no water within many miles of us, he appealed to me to bleed one
+of the animals and let him drink the blood; I refused: he insisted; I
+again refused: he commanded; I still refused. He swore, and called me
+almost everything except a good Christian; he even expressed the wish
+that I, his friend, might be sent to a certain place where the heat is
+most intense, and the fire is never quenched.
+
+At about eleven o'clock, when his pains were most severe, a dark cloud,
+the first we had seen for months, came over us, and a little rain began
+to fall, when I at once opened our little camp kettle and turned the lid
+upside down, and into both kettle and lid there fell perhaps two or
+three teaspoonfuls of pure water, every drop of which I gave to the
+sufferer, whereupon he expressed thanks for another God-send, and at
+once apologized for bestowing unmerited abuse on me. He afterwards often
+asserted that he believed that the little rain-cloud was sent by God for
+his special benefit, and that the water caught from that cloud was the
+sweetest and best that he had ever tasted. I did not doubt the latter
+half of the above statement, but I did have some doubt about the truth
+of the former half when I called to mind the scene which followed my
+refusal to bleed the horse. Whether the small quantity of water gave him
+much relief, or not, I do not know, but I do know that he soon became
+better and slept some while I watched. He was quite feeble next morning
+when I put him on the old sore-backed mule, where he rode most of the
+time for the next four days, while the little horse carried our baggage,
+and I led the way as usual, on foot.
+
+For four days from the time Field ate the little red berries we did not
+have a drop of water except the two or three teaspoonfuls which the
+stingy cloud left to save the life of the "berry-eater." We were still
+on the desert, or in the mountains east of the river, traveling hard
+during the day, and burning up with fever in the night. There was plenty
+of drying grass in places, but our poor animals could not eat it any
+longer, for they, too, were burning up for want of water. Oh, how much I
+did wish that we had some camels from Arabia, which could have gone so
+much longer without water, and traveled so much faster.
+
+On the morning of the third day of starvation, we determined to change
+our course, and, if possible, reach the river once more. Bearing to the
+left over a high, barren range of rocky mountains, and down into a plain
+of sand, sage brush, and cactus. During the afternoon I shot a small
+rabbit, not much larger than a rat, which we carried until night, then
+broiled and tried to eat it, not because our appetites craved it, but
+hoping that it might strengthen and sustain us, at least a little while
+longer. We were, however, so nearly burned up that there was not a
+sufficient flow of saliva to moisten the little bits of broiled meat in
+the mouth. Late that afternoon we fancied that our fast failing brute
+companions scented water, or that they instinctively knew that it was
+not far away. They would raise their heads, and extend their noses as if
+smelling, while their physical force and energy seemed renewed, and they
+certainly traveled faster.
+
+That night we ate the little, as before stated, more as a duty than as a
+pleasure. There was some green grass round about where we camped, or,
+more properly speaking, where we lay, for we did not erect our little
+tent,--but the poor starving animals did not eat a bite of it, but stood
+over us as if in sympathy with us in our deplorable condition. We rose
+before the sun, being somewhat rested and refreshed, for the night had
+been cool, and took up our line of march, I, as usual, in the lead, then
+came the old mule guided by its precious owner, and lastly, the faithful
+little horse with the pack on his still quite round back;--on over the
+still dry and barren plain we went, without a Moses, cloud, or pillar of
+fire to lead us.
+
+About ten o'clock, through the hot glimmer of the down-pouring rays of
+the sun, we saw what appeared, and afterwards proved, to be a clump of
+cottonwood trees. Our hopes and courage were renewed, for we well knew
+the cottonwood usually grows near flowing water. There was no beaten
+pathway, no signs of animal life, no quails, no manna in that desert;
+but on we went, almost without a halt, and at one o'clock reached the
+cottonwood grove, immediately on the bank of the great river down which
+we had floated in our canoes more than a month before. On reaching the
+bank of the river we recognized objects which we had seen while on our
+way down.
+
+We remembered that both men and horses might be water-foundered, and
+that self-preservation is said to be the first law of nature; but it was
+difficult to prevent the famishing brutes from plunging into the river.
+We allowed them to take only a small quantity at first, and each of us
+took only a small cupful; then after a little time all took more, and
+the thirst was soon quenched. We were surprised to find how little water
+it took to satisfy the raging thirst of four days of continued fasting.
+The animals, after taking comparatively small quantities, seemed
+satisfied, and went off in search of grass.
+
+We now had an abundance of water, but we well knew that water alone
+would not sustain life very long: therefore our next, and most serious
+business was to determine how to prolong our lives. According to our
+map, our recollections of different objects, and present appearances we
+were now a little above the mouth of the Uinta river which comes in from
+the northwest, all of which proved true. Our little map pictured Fort
+Uinta on the Uinta river about one hundred miles from where we were; but
+whether or not there were any human beings there, we did not know, and
+in order to determine we must cross this great river and travel a
+hundred miles, and this seemed a perilous undertaking for us in our
+present starving condition; but after being refreshed by plenty of good
+water we determined to undertake it, hoping that good fortune might
+attend us.
+
+After a little rest, the animals with grass, we packed up, and after
+Field had put on his, once serviceable, life preserver he mounted the
+old mule behind the small pack and started to swim across the river. He
+took the lead in this instance for three reasons: first, we thought that
+the mule, being much older than the horse, had probably had more
+experience and therefore might be a much better swimmer; then Field had
+the advantage in having the life preserver; but the last, and most
+potent, reason was my fear of getting drowned. It was understood that I
+was to remain on shore and be ready to assist him if necessary, or until
+he had safely landed on the other side.
+
+In he went, and the trusty old mule was swimming faithfully, and had
+reached the middle of the river, when Field, as he afterwards told me,
+to hurry the mule, gave a gentle jerk on the bridle, when, to his utter
+astonishment, the mule made a complete somerset backwards plunging
+Field, the pack, and himself entirely under the water, except his heels
+which appeared above the water as his head went under. In a moment Field
+popped up and, after shaking his head as a swimmer will do after taking
+a plunge, cast about to take his bearings, or to determine just where he
+was, and began to paddle with his hands, much as he did when the canoes
+were upset on the river, or somewhat after the style of a swimming dog.
+On coming to the surface, the mule cast a glance at the still living,
+but unloaded portion of his cargo, then made a bee line for the shore
+which he had so recently left. While Field continued to paddle and float
+down the river, I dismounted and followed along the bank, trying to
+encourage him to renewed efforts to float ashore. Finally he passed
+behind a clump of willows out of sight; but soon I heard him call for
+help and on going a little further down, found him stuck fast in the
+mud. I waded waist deep into that mud, and literally dragged him out,
+almost a mile below his starting point.
+
+As we were struggling in this muddy swamp, Field said he wondered why
+some of this superfluous water was not distributed over those dry
+deserts from which we had so recently come. I told him, politely, that I
+thought that a man of his age, ability, opportunities, and nationality,
+(you know he was quite proud of being an Englishman) ought to know why
+the moisture was not so distributed, and that I was too illiterate to
+enlighten him on that point, but that, when opportunity offered, he
+might consult some one who knew more of natural science than I did. I
+informed him that I had an idea that if any considerable portion of the
+water of that river had been distributed over that desert that we would
+not have had the experience of the last fifteen days, whereupon he very
+plainly intimated that I did not have much sense, or, in other words, he
+called me a d--d fool.
+
+After reaching solid ground and resting for a little while, we returned
+to the place from which he had started out on his perilous voyage, and
+where I had hastily left my horse. We found the horse and mule quietly
+grazing with their packs on their backs. The faithful old mule had the
+appearance of having been wet, but was now almost dry, yet not so dry,
+internally, as he had been several days before.
+
+What shall we do now? We are perhaps two hundred or more miles from any
+white settlement. We do not know that Fort Uinta is occupied. Shall we
+make another attempt to cross the river? I asked my brave friend if he
+was willing to again mount the mule and make another attempt, when he
+again exclaimed, "You must be a d--d fool!" I then, pretending to have a
+little courage, asked him if he would follow provided I would lead,
+whereupon he declared most emphatically that under no conditions would
+he again attempt to swim across that river. I had not had his
+experience, but fear of being drowned was quite sufficient to prevent me
+from undertaking the perilous task, more especially after witnessing his
+failure.
+
+Well, what next? We could not depend upon fishing and hunting, for we
+had no fish-hooks, nor means of catching fish, and not more than a dozen
+loads of shot, and a little powder; so the matter of slaying one of our
+animal friends was now seriously debated, and, after thoroughly
+canvassing the whole situation, it was most reluctantly determined that,
+however hard, this must be done. No doubt our starving condition at that
+particular time had some weight in making this decision.
+
+Then the question was, which of the animals shall be sacrificed? The
+mule was quite thin, and probably tough, while the little horse was
+young, and, notwithstanding the many days it had, with all of us,
+starved and traveled without water, was still quite plump and round, and
+probably tender, or, at the worst, not so tough as the poor old docile
+mule; so, at length we decided to kill the innocent little creature,
+jerk his flesh, pack it on the mule, and thereby try to save our own
+lives, for a time at least, and endeavor to reach some place of safety.
+
+The matter of slaying the horse was determined by casting lots, neither
+being willing to perform that melancholy, but now absolutely necessary,
+act. It fell to my lot, and that was one of, if not the most revolting
+act in my whole life's experience, for I had, probably, become as
+strongly attached to that little horse as man ever becomes attached to
+animal. I most reluctantly took the bridle in my left hand, my revolver
+in my right, stood directly in front of the poor, unsuspecting, innocent
+creature with the murderous pistol close to, and a little above a line
+extending from eye to eye, and fired. When the smoke of the powder had
+cleared off a little, I saw at my feet the quivering, dying body. I
+staggered off a few steps and sat down, sick at heart.
+
+Field walked several steps away, and turned his back upon the scene
+until after the fatal shot had been fired; then, after some little time,
+he entered upon his share of the enforced duty, and, after having
+removed a portion of the skin, cut off some slices of flesh and brought
+them to a fire I had started. We broiled and ate a little of it, not
+through desire or relish for it, but from a sense of duty, knowing that
+our lives depended upon it.
+
+It is said that for many years Dr. Franklin refrained from eating flesh,
+having an idea that it was wrong to slay and eat the flesh of other
+creatures; but that he changed his mind, and his diet, too, after having
+seen large fish devour small ones. I strongly suspect that if the doctor
+had been with us, or in a like condition, even before his conversion, he
+would, more than likely have taken a little flesh, even though it had
+been a piece of his own favorite horse.
+
+I said we only ate a little at first: I only ate a little for two
+reason; first, I did not relish the food; second, I had heard of persons
+being killed by eating too much after fasting for a long time, and I had
+no desire to commit suicide just then. Field ate too much. Night came
+on, work was suspended, and we retired. The poor old lone, and, no
+doubt, now lonely, mule, having filled himself with grass, came up near
+the now terribly-mutilated remains of his late companion, and looked on
+as Field continued his bloody work. Field, with an expression of sorrow,
+said, "If that mule could reason and look forward to the time when his
+body might be in a like condition as that of this horse, he would, no
+doubt, take to his heels, bid us a final farewell, and seek other
+society." But, fortunately for us, he did not know that he was to be
+held in reserve for our future security. He was securely tied up every
+night from that time until the day he was slain for our salvation.
+
+Early in the night following that eventful day, my companion began to
+complain much as he had done on the night after he had eaten the little
+red berries; but there was no lack of water now, no need of a special
+rain-cloud. I got up, heated water in our little camp kettle, applied
+hot cloths to his aching belly, and did everything else that either of
+us could think of for his relief. The pain was intense, and we feared
+that he would surely die, and earnestly prayed all the rest of the night
+that he might be relieved, and get well. Towards morning most violent
+vomiting came on, which continued for thirty hours, or more. He was not
+able to walk for three days, and during that time I nursed him, finished
+jerking the meat, and built a raft of some partly rotten logs, which I
+found in the vicinity, on which we floated across the river, on the
+fourth day after our arrival here. I also looked to the welfare of the
+mule, and prepared some bags in which to carry our jerk. Manley, I am
+sure that you know the meaning of the term "jerk" so that a definition
+of the word is not at all necessary.
+
+The old logs of which the raft was made were remnants of log cabins, a
+number of which had been built and occupied more than half a century
+before, but by whom I do not know. Field remarked that the finding of
+these old rotting logs there was another "God send," as we then had
+neither ax, hammer, nor any tool of iron with which to cut down a tree.
+I bound these logs together with long strips cut from the hide of the
+dead horse. Paddles and poles were also provided. The mule was with
+difficulty driven across the river.
+
+When the raft was landed on the west bank, the mule packed, and all
+about ready to start, I took the long strip of raw-hide from the raft
+and tied one end of it around the mule's neck, mounted Field on the mule
+behind the large pack, which made the whole outfit look quite comical
+indeed. Before leaving the other side of the river I had discovered that
+the saddle girth was not very strong, so I cut a wide belt from the hide
+of the lately slaughtered horse and fitted it to the saddle as a girth,
+knowing that the pack, now containing all of our goods and a supply of
+more than a bushel of jerk, would be quite bulky, if not heavy, and more
+difficult to keep on the back of a mule than it is for the camel to
+maintain his hump on his back. This girth afterwards made us two or
+three pretty substantial meals, as did also the long strip of green, wet
+hide, one end of which I had tied round the mule's neck, allowing it to
+drag for a long distance through the hot dry sand.
+
+All being ready, I, as usual, took the lead with my shot gun, which I
+always carried, but with which I seldom killed anything, on my shoulder.
+The old mule followed with his high, towering pack, and Field almost
+hidden behind. It was noon, but we did not stop for dinner, but simply
+reached into one of the great bulging sacks, took out a piece of jerk
+and ate it as we went marching on; no more trouble now about cooking.
+Late in the afternoon we reached Uinta river, and, as my two-legged
+companion had grown very tired of the back of the four-legged one, we
+went into camp early. Our objective point was Fort Uinta, where we hoped
+to find military. We could not risk turning the mule loose at night, and
+the long strip of raw-hide was designed and used to secure him, and yet
+to afford him liberty to graze while we slept. As you will see a little
+further on, both girth and lariat were used for a purpose not
+anticipated.
+
+The second, third, fourth, and fifth days came and went, and we were
+trudging on, up the Uinta, through a mostly very barren country, with
+some little rich and fertile land. We saw signs of Indians often, but no
+Indians. There was much cottonwood, but little other timber. We saw some
+fish in the river which we coveted, but could not get. The main course
+of this river is from north-west to south-east. We traveled most of the
+way to the fort on Indian trails, some of which were much worn, but
+mostly at some much earlier period. Of course we had plenty of good
+water, and food, such as it was. Field did not walk two miles during
+those five days, but seemed to be fattening fast. I sometimes thought he
+might be just a little lazy, but I never told him so, for I realized
+that he had recently had a severe tussle with death.
+
+Early in the morning of the sixth day we arrived at the abandoned old
+fort. There were only three log buildings, and they were in the shape of
+three sides of a hollow square, with port-holes on the outer faces of
+the buildings, and doors entering each of them from the hollow square or
+court. Facing the vacant side of the court, the port-hole from which I
+shot the wolf on the night after we had killed the mule, would be on
+right hand side. We were unable to determine whether this fort had been
+constructed and occupied by Americans or Mexicans, but, from its
+apparent age, we were inclined to the opinion that it was Mexicans. It
+had not been occupied for, probably, three or four years. Some little
+farming had been done immediately around the fort. Surrounding the fort
+is a large body of fine, fertile land which I have no doubt has long
+since been occupied by mormons, or other enterprising people.
+
+Having no means of subsistence here we soon decided to push on towards
+Fort Bridger, and, after resting a few hours set out following the
+larger fork of the river which comes almost directly from the north. We
+now believed that we were almost, if not exactly, due south of Fort
+Bridger. The river is small, and very crooked; we crossed it many times
+within three days, and, at the end of that time, found ourselves in the
+mouth of a rocky canon, and after struggling for one whole day, we came
+to where the steep, high, stone walls closed the little river in on both
+sides, rendering it impossible for us to proceed any further.
+
+We were now nearly out of food; the jerk was almost gone. A council was
+held, and it was decided that we should return to the fort and take
+chances of being rescued, or scalped by some roving band of reds, or
+starving to death. We at once set out on our return, full of
+disappointment and melancholy forebodings.
+
+The next day found us without food: and now came into use the long,
+narrow strip of raw-hide which first bound together the old, rotting
+logs of which the raft was made, then to secure the mule of nights. It
+was now almost as hard as bone, and nearly round, having been dragged
+through the hot sand while it was yet green and wet, closed up like a
+hollow tube with sand inside. Two or three yards of it at a time, was
+cut into pieces about five inches long, the hair singed off, the sand
+scratched out, and these pieces were dropped into our camp kettle and
+cooked until the whole formed one mass of jelly or gluten which was, to
+us, quite palatable. When the lasso had all been thus prepared and
+eaten, the broad girth which had served so well in holding the
+pack-saddle on the mule's back, was cleaned, cooked, and eaten. These
+substitutes for jerk sustained us very well till we again arrived at the
+fort.
+
+Another consultation was now held, and the question was--what shall we
+do now? We were again, apparently, at the starting point of another
+long, enforced fast. Our path seemed hedged in. The prospect was,
+indeed, very gloomy. Our only reasonable hope for even the temporary
+prolongation of our lives was centered in our ever faithful, and always
+reliable old mule. We revolted at the idea of killing and eating him,
+but the last bit of the girth was gone. After canvassing the whole
+situation over and over, again and again, we finally, but most
+reluctantly decided to kill the mule, and preserve all the soft parts,
+even the skin with all of its old scars, and then gather in whatever
+else we could find, and stay here until spring, or until good fortune
+might afford us some means escape; till some Moses might come and lead
+us out of this wilderness, notwithstanding the fact that we had not
+borrowed any jewelry which we had failed to return.
+
+There were signs of wolves in that vicinity, and it was decided that the
+mule be slain about ten paces distant and directly in front of one of
+the port-holes of the fort, with the idea that wolves might smell the
+blood and come there and subject themselves to being shot, and thereby
+afford us a chance to increase our stock of winter supplies in the form
+of wolf steak, or jerk. Accordingly the victim was lead to the spot
+indicated, and there slain in the same manner, and with quite as much
+reluctance on the part of the slayer, as on the occasion of the
+sacrifice of the little horse, more than three weeks before. The body
+was skinned, cut up, and all taken within the building, nothing being
+left except the blood which had been spilled on the ground, and which
+was intended to attract wolves or, possibly, bears or other animals.
+
+My now only living associate ridiculed the idea of killing wolves, and
+insisted that the flesh could not be eaten, stating the fact that even
+hogs would not eat the dead body of a dog, and insisted that a dog was
+only a tamed wolf. I reminded him of a cat which had been eaten. He
+finally agreed that, if I killed a wolf, he would get up and dress it,
+but said most emphatically that he would not sit up and watch for it; so
+he went to bed, that is, rolled himself up in a blanket on the ground in
+front of a good fire inside of the fort, and went to sleep, while I sat
+with my rather untrustworthy double barreled shot-gun protruding through
+the port-hole in full view of the spot before indicated. The night was
+clear, and the moon was shining in full splendor. It was probably eleven
+o'clock; Field had been snoring for a long time, when I heard something
+in the tall, dry grass, and soon a large, brownish-gray wolf came into
+full view, with head up, apparently sniffing, or smelling, and
+cautiously approaching the fatal spot. When he reached it, and began to
+lick up the blood which was still on the surface of the ground, standing
+with his left side toward the fort, and in full view, I took deliberate
+aim, and fired, and he fell upon the ground without making any
+considerable noise.
+
+The tired, sleeping man was aroused by the report of the gun, and rushed
+into the room where I was in great excitement, thinking, perhaps, that
+some enemy had appeared, and had just then commenced to bombard the
+fort; but when I explained to him that I had simply killed a wolf, he
+ran out towards it, and, arriving close to it, the wounded creature rose
+up on its hind feet and growled quite vigorously, which seemed to
+frighten Field as much as did the noise of the gun. He dashed back to
+the fort, and, after having time to recover from his speechless
+condition, abused me most fearfully for having told him that I had
+killed a wolf. I then went out and put a load of shot into the wolf's
+head, and found that my first charge had passed through and broke both
+of its fore legs near the body. Field was so thoroughly frightened that
+I could not induce him to approach the dead animal for some time, and I
+do believe that that wolf haunted him as long as I knew him, for he
+seemed never to forget it. After dressing it by the light of the moon
+assisted by a torch, we retired. On viewing the plump body next morning
+Field exclaimed, "That's another God-send!" and notwithstanding his
+opinion that wolf could not be eaten, he found that wolf to be the best
+food we had eaten since we had assisted Walker and his tribe in eating
+the mountain sheep.
+
+The French may eat their horses, but I do not want more horse flesh. The
+old mule made fair but quite coarse beef. While out on this little
+pleasure excursion we ate horse, mule, wolf, wild-cat, mountain
+sheep, rose seed buds, raw-hide, a squirrel, fatty matter from the
+sockets of the mule's eyes and the marrow from his bones; but that ham
+of wild-cat was certainly the most detestable thing that I ever
+undertook to eat. The marrow from the mule's bones was a real luxury.
+
+We now had a pretty good stock of food, such as it was, but not enough
+to carry us through the winter on full rations; therefore we determined
+to try to add to it by hunting. One was to go out and hunt while the
+other would remain at home: we now had undisputed possession of the fort
+and it was our home. Field took the first day's outing while I occupied
+my time in drying and smoking meat. Late in the evening he returned,
+tired and worn out, having seen nothing worth shooting.
+
+Next day came my turn to hunt. I took a lunch, as he had done,
+consisting of jerked mule. I did not tell him so, but I had determined
+to make an excursion up the river to a point where we had seen some
+fresh trails and deer tracks some days before. When I was putting up my
+lunch my friend intimated that I was taking a very large amount for one
+lunch, but I told him that I might stay out late and that I did not
+intend to starve. I went, stayed all day, all night, and part of the
+next day, and returned as he had done, tired and discouraged, not having
+seen anything worth bringing in. In the evening of the first day out I
+found a trail which appeared to have been used daily by deer going to
+and from the river.
+
+It occurred to me that they might go out early in the morning, so I
+secreted myself within gun shot of the trail behind an old, moss-covered
+log where I slept comfortably; and when it was light enough in the
+morning to see a deer, I leveled my gun across the log in a position
+commanding the trail and waited and watched until nine o'clock, but
+nothing came upon that pathway that morning. After getting tired of
+watching and waiting I went down to the trail where, to my astonishment,
+I found the fresh tracks of a large bear which must have passed by that
+way while I was sleeping. As a rule I do not like to be treated
+discourteously, but in this instance I felt glad that this stranger had
+passed me by.
+
+On arriving at the fort late in the evening I found my friend in a
+terrible state of mental excitement. He said that he had not slept a
+minute during the whole of the night before. He had filled the door of
+his room with rails, and sharpened one end of a long stick, which he
+intended to use if necessary as a weapon of defence. When I arrived he
+was again filling the door with rails. I had the gun, pistol and big
+knife with me so this was his only means of defence. He said he would
+not stay alone another night for all the gold in California.
+
+I was much discouraged by our failures in hunting, and after a lengthy
+discussion we decided to make another attempt to cross the mountains and
+escape from what then seemed to us certain starvation. This was Thursday
+night and we set Monday as the time for starting. By Saturday night
+everything was in readiness for the start and Sunday we devoted to Bible
+reading, for we each still had a pocket Bible. As much of the flesh of
+the wolf and the lamented mule as we thought we could carry had been
+thoroughly jerked, and finding that we would not be overburdened by it,
+we economized by roasting and eating little scraps of flesh, the marrow
+from the bones, and even the head of the mule was roasted, the fragments
+of flesh scraped off and eaten, and Field found a rich fatty substance
+in behind the eyes, which he ate.
+
+We had a canteen in which our powder was carried, but the powder was
+nearly all gone so we emptied it and used the canteen to carry water in.
+Early Monday morning we loaded ourselves, mostly with jerked mule and
+wolf, leaving many useful things behind, bid adieu to Fort Uinta and
+took up our line of march rather reluctantly.
+
+My companion was not strong and we soon found it expedient for me to
+take on part of his burden. We rested often and yet long before night he
+became so tired that we had to go into camp. Most of the day we had
+traveled on an old deserted trail. The nights being cold we were under
+the necessity of keeping up a fire as we had left our blankets at the
+fort. The next morning we made an early start and rested often. At about
+noon we found good shade and water, and the sun being quite hot we
+stopped and rested in the shade for more than three hours, then trudged
+on till nearly night when we found water, and plenty of old dry timber
+for fuel and camped. Field expressed a wish that he had his old mule
+again, and I reminded him that he had a portion of it left in his
+knapsack, and that turn about was fair play: as the mule had carried him
+for a long time when he was unable to walk he should not object to
+carrying a portion of the mule now; whereupon he again plainly intimated
+that he thought I was a d--- d fool. I kept up the fire and he slept
+until morning.
+
+Another day was passed without any unusual occurrence; we traveled and
+ate at the same time as usual. Another day of pretty hard travel over
+sandy plains and rocky hills brought us to the foot of the mountain
+where we had plenty of good water and an abundance of fuel. A little
+sprinkle of rain early in the evening was the first we had seen since
+the memorable night after Field had eaten the little red berries.
+
+Early Saturday morning we filled our canteen with water and started up
+the mountain. I had been carrying most of the jerk, but the stock was
+running down quite rapidly. My companions bag now being almost empty,
+and as he had little else to carry while I had the gun and some other
+things, including his heavy overcoat, I divided the jerk, putting about
+half of it into his sack. All day long we were climbing the mountain.
+Late in the afternoon I was several rods ahead of Field when he called
+to me to stop: I did so and when he came up he appeared to be a little
+cross and insisted that we were not traveling in the direction formerly
+agreed upon. I requested him to let me see the little compass which he
+had in his pocket, and on examining it he found that he was mistaken;
+whereupon he muttered something which I thought was "swear words," and
+then we went marching on. In a little while we were within the old snow
+limits where we found large bodies of old icy looking snow in places
+shaded by trees and rocks, and a little before dark went into camp. We
+gathered some old dry timber and made a large fire, then some green fir
+limbs for a bed. When I began to prepare our bed on one side of the
+flaming logs, to my surprise Field began to prepare one on the other
+side of the fire. Neither had spoken since the occurrence of the little
+unpleasantness in the afternoon about the course of travel. Mutely each
+took his side of the fire.
+
+We had always slept together except when he was sick and the night I had
+left him alone at the fort. Some time in the night I became thirsty and
+got up and procured some snow, put it in our only tin cup and set it on
+some live coals to melt and went to sleep. The snow melted, the water
+evaporated, the solder melted and left the tin. While I slept, my dumb
+friend woke up thirsty, took the tin cup, filled it with snow and put it
+on coals. The snow melted and the water run out on the coals; his tongue
+let loose and he then denounced me as a knave, an ass, a fool, an
+unregenerate heathen, and what else I don't want to remember. I woke up
+alarmed and did not at first fully understand what had created the
+storm, but after having the bottomless cup dashed at my head I realized
+the situation, and began to try to apologize and explain the unavoidable
+and unfortunate circumstance; but no explanation would satisfy his now
+thoroughly "Johnny Bull" temper. After this little nocturnal disturbance
+had subsided, I, on my bed of fir branches with my feet towards the
+fire, soon fell into a sound sleep and knew nothing more of the world
+until the sun was shining. Whether or not my friend had cooled off I did
+not inquire; but I do know that there was an unusual coldness between
+us, for neither spoke to the other until about twelve o'clock and then,
+as will appear, our conversation was very short.
+
+As we did not rise until late no delay was made, but when each had his
+bag on his back and a nugget of jerk in his hand we started up the side
+of the mountain as quiet as two deaf mutes. There was no water to be
+had; our camp kettle had been left at the fort, and through my stupidity
+the cup had become useless, therefore we were obliged to eat the icy
+snow or endure the thirst. No new snow had yet fallen in this high
+altitude although it was now nearing the end of October. These mountains
+were then heavily covered with pine and fir but the timber was not
+large. In some places where the snow had melted away, short green grass
+was found quite close to great banks of snow.
+
+At about twelve o'clock we reached the summit of the great Uinta range,
+and I, being a little in advance of my still mute companion, halted to
+take a survey of the field before me. The top of the range here is bare
+of timber and there was no snow. When Field came up I broke the silence
+which had lasted since the little unpleasantness of the night before, by
+suggesting that we attempt to cross the snow-covered range of mountains
+which now appeared north of us and probably fifty miles away, through
+what appeared to be a gap or low place in the great range of mountains.
+He replied, "You may go that way if you want to, but I am going this
+way," pointing in another direction and quickly started off at an angle
+of about 45 degrees to the right, or directly north-east. I also started
+immediately, and when we were a few rods apart I said, "Good-by; we may
+not meet again very soon." He replied "Good-by," and within a few
+minutes we were out of sight, and in a very short time beyond hailing
+distance.
+
+This was the last I saw or heard of him until after each of us had
+undergone many more hardships, so I will now drop my friend but will
+hereafter devote a chapter to him, and give you an account of his
+experience as he afterwards gave it to me, detailing an account of many
+most interesting incidents. Fortunately we had divided the jerk, for
+nothing was said at this sudden and unexpected parting about anything
+which either had in his possession. I had an idea when I bade him
+good-by that he would soon turn about and follow me.
+
+After the unceremonious parting I immediately began to descend the north
+side of the mountain which was very rough, rocky and steep; but down,
+down, down I went into a deep, dark canon where I slept on the leaves
+under a fir tree, after having taken some landmarks. When it was light
+enough to see the objects I had noted to guide me, I set out and spent
+the day in crossing over hills and through deep canons. In the evening I
+arrived at the foot of the range of mountains which I had seen from the
+point of our parting. The sun disappeared, dark clouds began to float
+over the mountains and it was evident that a storm was approaching.
+
+While it was yet light enough I took some landmarks or guiding points;
+and it was well I did so, for on the following morning when I woke I
+found it snowing quietly but heavily, and before it was light enough for
+me to see my guiding objects there must have been six or more inches of
+new snow on the ground beyond my snug retreat under a sheltering pine.
+When it was light enough I rose from my comfortable bed, took my
+bearings as best I could without a compass and started up the mountain
+through the rapidly accumulating bed of snow. The snow continued to fall
+nearly all day, and before night it was more than a foot deep.
+
+All day long I struggled through a dense forest. Some time in the
+forenoon I crossed the fresh trail of a large herd of elk which forcibly
+reminded me that my sack was almost empty, and I vainly wished that one
+of these wild creatures might come in my way, but I did not dare to
+follow the herd with the uncertainty of killing one, and the certainty
+of losing my way this dark, snowy day. In order to maintain my course
+during such dark days I was under the necessity of looking ahead and
+observing trees or other objects in my line of travel.
+
+That night I, as usual, slept under a pine tree where there was no snow.
+I saw no sign of fire in either of these ranges of mountains, nor did I
+see any signs of Indians on my trip over these two ranges. The next day
+as I approached the top of the mountain I found the timber much smaller,
+and mostly pine. There is much fertile land in some of the valleys
+between the two great ranges of mountains.
+
+Early on the following morning I arrived at the bald, snow-covered
+summit. On my right and on my left were high, untimbered, snow-covered
+peaks. From this point I could overlook a vast territory extending over
+many hills, valleys, and smaller mountains where there was no snow; in
+fact, the snow only extended a few miles down the steep sides of the
+great range. As a rule there is more timber on the north than on the
+south side of mountains west of the Rockies; but it was the reverse
+here, for there was little timber on the north side of this range.
+
+One more day's tramping brought me down into a large barren plain where
+I gathered some dry weeds for a bed, and slept, without food or water;
+the last bit of the mule or wolf, I know not which, I had eaten during
+the afternoon. I had had very little jerk for the last two or three
+days, and began to wish that I had another horse, mule, or even a wolf.
+For many days I had seen no living thing except when I looked into a
+small glass which I carried in my pocket, and then only saw a familiar
+shadow.
+
+I spent another day without food, but had plenty of water; another night
+on a bed of green brush beside a good fire. The next day was bright and
+sunny, quite a contrast to the gloomy days I had spent in the mountains.
+For want of food I was becoming quite weak and was not able to travel as
+fast as usual. During the early part of the day I saw some tracks of an
+unshod horse, which renewed my courage and hope of redemption; and at
+about two o'clock in the afternoon I saw some dark spots on the plain a
+long distance away, but almost in the direction I was going. Hoping that
+these objects might be living creatures, I hurried on for a time, then
+sat down and after having watched them for a time I found that they
+changed positions and that satisfied me to a moral certainty that they
+were living creatures, but what I could not tell. They might be horses,
+cattle, elk, deer, antelope or buffalo; but no matter what, I must hurry
+on and try to reach them before night.
+
+Late in the evening I determined that they were horses but could not yet
+tell whether they belonged to whites or Indians, or were wild. As I
+approached them they stopped grazing and started toward me, but soon
+disappeared in a deep gulch between us which I had not noticed before.
+On arriving at the edge of the gulch or narrow valley I saw the horses
+in the vicinity of about fifteen or twenty wigwams which were all in a
+row on the bank of a little creek that ran through the gulch. Many
+Indians were sitting outside of their lodges, the weather being warm.
+
+On first sight of the village, being not more than 200 yards away, my
+heart fluttered just a little, not knowing whether the savages would
+scalp me or not; but, notwithstanding my natural cowardice, I at once
+determined to "beard the lion in his den," and walked as boldly as I
+could up to the lower end of the row of wigwams. Within a few feet of
+the nearest one three young bucks met me and seemed to be anxious to
+know whence I came and whither I was going; whether right down from
+Heaven, and if so what was my mission. They seemed as much surprised at
+my sudden appearance as I was on coming so suddenly upon them. My first
+and most important business was to determine whether they would give me
+something to eat, or eat me.
+
+As the men, women, and children began to gather around me I heard some
+one half way up the line of lodges call out saying something which I did
+not understand, but on looking that way saw a man beckoning to me, as I
+thought, when the young men motioned for me to move on up the line. On
+arriving at the place indicated I found myself in the presence of one
+whom I then suspected, and afterwards found to be the chief, who
+extended to his royal right hand and greeted me in a most courteous and
+polite manner, and then with a graceful wave of his hand and a slight
+bow indicated that I should precede him at the low open door into his
+Royal Palace where he very politely introduced me to his wife who proved
+to be a sensible, clever, courteous woman. She soon prepared some thing
+for me to eat, and after I had finished my supper an Indian brought in
+two pistols and wanted me to take the cap tube from one and put it into
+the other, which I soon accomplished. He was much pleased, went out, and
+soon returned with ten or more pounds of elk meat which he tendered to
+me as compensation for my work, but the chief objected, and insisted, as
+I understood him, that he had plenty and that I was his guest, but
+finally consented for me to accept part of the meat. I gave him to
+understand that I wanted to go to Fort Bridger.
+
+A case of nice new blankets was opened, as it appeared to me, for my
+especial benefit. The chief, his lady, two sons almost grown, two or
+three wolfish looking dogs which forcibly reminded me of Field's
+terrible scare, and myself made up the number of lodgers in that mansion
+that night. Late that night some warriors who had been out on a campaign
+came home, and learning that there was a stranger within the gates came
+to the king's palace to see him, and also to report that they had
+discovered some white barbarians in the vicinity who had dared to enter
+his domain without a special permit, and that they had sent a message to
+his highness informing him that they had a good assortment of blankets,
+cutlery, pins, needles, beads, etc., which his people might need or
+desire, and also a limited amount of "fire-water," and that they would
+be pleased to receive his order for anything he might desire.
+
+The fact of the presence of these pale-faces in the vicinity was at once
+communicated to me, and early on the following morning I was informed
+that if it was my desire to cut short my stay at the palace, the king
+would take great pleasure in furnishing me means of conveyance, a proper
+escort, and a reliable guide who would safely conduct me to the camp of
+the accommodating merchants or Indian traders, (but, in fact, Indian
+robbers.) Notwithstanding my reluctance in leaving the society of the
+noble ruler and his people I most readily accepted his generous offer,
+and after breakfast, which consisted of elk meat and tobacco root in a
+combination stew which was very palatable, a fine steed with a good
+Mexican saddle and bridle was at the door. My escort, consisting of four
+mounted warriors, was ready, and after bidding my good friends farewell,
+I with some assistance mounted my charger and we were all off on a full
+run, up and down hill and across valley, at what seemed to me a fearful
+rate.
+
+In less than two hours we entered the camp of the traders at full speed,
+dismounted, and found one man, a long Jake from Illinois, who could
+speak English. He had two wives, (squaws,) and several children which he
+claimed, but some of them were quite dark. His name was John Smith; not
+a very uncommon one. He was a very clever man, about 35 years old, was
+not a Mormon, but had taken the women in order to become popular with
+the Indians and to improve his opportunities for trade.
+
+After getting something to eat, and learning something, through Smith,
+of my adventures, my escort made ready to return to their camp. Their
+trip, as Smith told me, was made solely for my accommodation and now I
+had nothing with which to compensate them; but as they were about to
+leave I took a large "bandanna," the only one I had left, and tied it
+around the neck of the chief's son, he being one of the clever escorts.
+He at first refused to accept it, but when Smith told him that I desired
+him to take it as a token of regard, he accepted it with an expression
+of thanks, and after I had bidden them all good-bye, they rode away as
+rapidly as we had come. I will always hold that chief and his people in
+kindly remembrance.
+
+All of the other white men with Smith were French, and all had plenty of
+wives (squaws) and numerous slaves. The wives were not slaves, but they
+had slaves all around them. The whole tribe traveled about and lived
+much as other tribes did, only much better, for they lived by trading
+while the others lived by hunting and fishing. In this camp I ate bread
+for the first time in many weeks. At the end of three days after my
+arrival here a caravan was ready to start for Fort Bridger for winter
+supplies for the traders. I was furnished with a good horse and saddle,
+and Smith, one of the Frenchmen, five slaves, 20 horses, and myself made
+up the caravan, and on the evening of the third day we reached the fort
+where I was very kindly received.
+
+Smith was a large man, had a good head, and some cultivation and
+apparent refinement, and treated his women and children well. He said he
+had been to his old home in Illinois since he had entered upon this kind
+of life, but was not contented there and soon returned to his Indian
+friends. He and those Frenchmen were as generous and hospitable as old
+Southern planters, and their kindness to me will not be forgotten while
+my memory lasts.
+
+I was well treated at the fort which is 116 miles from the point where
+the seven dug up the little flat-boat from its sandy bed on the fifth
+day of August, just three mouths before, since which I had undergone
+many hardships, took many fearful risks, and traveled more than a
+thousand miles, far enough to have taken me from Green River to San
+Francisco.
+
+On the morning of the seventh day of November I started with a
+Government train for Salt Lake City where I arrived on the fifteenth. I
+soon found a home with a prominent Mormon, a Scotchman named Archie
+Gardner, living in the fifth ward, on Mill Creek, one of the many small
+streams coming down from the mountains east of the city. Mr. Gardner was
+a clever gentleman about 45 years old, had a saw-mill up in, the
+mountains, and was then building a flour mill only a few rods from his
+dwelling. I assisted him in completing the little flour mill and in
+attending it during the winter. Mr. Gardner had three wives, all living
+in one house, but occupying separate rooms at night. I usually attended
+the little mill until midnight, and Gardner made it part of my duty to
+go to his house and call him. He usually told me where I could find him,
+but not always, so at times I was under the necessity of rapping at more
+than one door before I found him.
+
+He had the largest house in the ward, and the religious services were
+held there by Bishop Johnson who also acted as Justice of the Peace in
+that ward. Gardner's family all ate at the same table over which the
+first wife presided. She was, indeed, mistress of the house, the other
+wives treating her with great respect, and all were, to all outward
+appearance, quite friendly. Gardner bestowed much attention on his first
+wife, though I always suspected that he was just a little more fond of
+the youngest one, and I did not blame him much for she manifested strong
+affection for him even in the presence of the others, and yet there was
+no outward manifestation of jealousy.
+
+The second, or the one I will call the second because she was in age
+between the others, and was the mother of the third or youngest, a
+widowed mother and her daughter having been sealed to Gardner at the
+same time, the first wife having given her consent and standing with
+them at the triple matrimonial altar, and then and there joining in the
+sacred ceremony. As I was about to say, the second wife seemed to be
+pleased at the manifestation of affection for the common husband by the
+youngest wife, and No. 1 would in a good-humored way say:--"My, Annie,
+don't be so demonstrative in the presence of other people," when the
+husband would laugh and go and kiss No. 1.
+
+Gardner spent most of his leisure time, particularly during the day and
+evening, in his first wife's apartments with her and her children. He
+was a very religious man, and always had family prayers before retiring
+at night, and all persons about the house were expected to join, at
+least formally, in this service. The use of profane language was not
+allowed in or about the house.
+
+Many of the higher church officers were entertained at Gardner's house
+and table, among whom were Brigham Young, George A. Smith, Heber C.
+Kimble, George Taylor, and Parley P. Pratt, with all of whom I formed
+some acquaintance. Brigham was a dignified, clever gentleman, not
+austere but kind and affable. Kimble was also a nice, genteel, genial,
+redheaded gentleman. Smith was a heavy man with a very large abdomen,
+dark hair full beard, exceedingly jovial and apparently always happy.
+Pratt was a small, rather slim, quick and athletic man, rather austere,
+refined, active and energetic. Taylor was a large man, highly
+intellectual, and rather unsocial. Kimble was my favorite
+notwithstanding the fact that he had fifteen wives, mostly young and
+handsome, all in one house, and my impression is that none of them had
+any children. I think it was conceded that his was the finest harem in
+Utah. He called me his young Gentile, was very kind and affable, but he
+never invited me to inspect his harem.
+
+About the first of December, 1849, Field arrived in Salt Lake City, and
+I will allude to a little matter in which he was concerned, after which
+I will give you a short account of his trip from the time we parted
+company until he arrived in Salt Lake as he afterwards gave it to me.
+Soon after he arrived in the City of the Saints he heard of another who
+had recently arrived from the south and that he was located in the fifth
+ward on Mill creek at the house of one Gardner, and at which house he
+soon arrived.
+
+After staying with me for two or three days he found employment in the
+family of the Apostle John Taylor. The family consisted of seven wives
+living in seven different houses. How many children there were I never
+knew, but there was one wife who did not have any. She was a fine
+specimen of English beauty. Taylor's women were nearly all English. It
+was the business of my friend to cut wood, and do chores generally for
+the Taylor family living in seven different places at the same time.
+Taylor was in Europe that winter looking after the interest of the
+church, and possibly after a few more wives, and consequently could not,
+in person, attend to all of the necessities of the seven branches of his
+family. In his daily rounds looking after the seven wood-piles and other
+little matters appertaining to the comfort of the family in so many
+places Field happened to come in contact with the English beauty, and
+the result was, mutual love at first sight, notwithstanding the fact
+that this woman had passed, and taken all of the solemn vows of the Lym
+house with the Apostle and his six other wives.
+
+I do not think that my English friend had lost one iota of the fond
+recollection of his long since dead English wife, the picture of whom he
+still carried near his heart; but, nevertheless, he and this seventh
+wife of the noted Apostle fell heels over head in love. Field, as you
+know, was a well developed, good-looking, intelligent man of forty. The
+woman was well developed, good-looking, and as smart as a steel-trap,
+and both being English I was not at all surprised at their mutual
+admiration and infatuation, nor did I blame them much. I was entrusted
+with many closely-sealed envelopes which I carried from one to the
+other. With my feeble assistance they tried to devise some method by
+which they might escape from the city before the Apostle should return
+home; but the Danites were always on the alert, and they well knew that
+detection by the Danites of an attempt to get away together would lead
+to certain death to him, and if not to her she would certainly have been
+returned to her polygamous state of bondage. Spring came with little
+hope of escape, and they reluctantly parted with the mutual
+understanding that, if possible, she would make her escape and go to
+Sacramento where he promised to keep his address. Ten months after the
+parting they had not met yet, and if they ever did it was after I had
+lost all further knowledge of him.
+
+Mormon morals, exclusive of polygamy, are very good. I never saw a
+drunken man in Salt Lake City, and heard very little profane language
+there. The people were industrious and seemed happy. Their hospitality
+rivaled that of the old Southern planters, and their charity was equal
+to that of other Christians.
+
+I will now go back to the place where Field and I separated on the
+mountain top and give you a short statement as he gave it to me, and
+while some things may border on the miraculous, and seem somewhat
+incredible, I do not question the truth of his statements. When we
+parted so unexpectedly he had about half of the jerked wolf and mule
+combined. I went north while he bore off in a northeasterly direction,
+and after traveling for three days came to the river at a point above
+where we lost our flat-boat. He struggled on up the river without road
+or trail, and nothing to guide him except the little compass which he
+still carried in his pocket.
+
+Two days more and his last bit of jerk was gone, starvation began to
+stare him in the face once more. He saw signs of Indians having crossed
+his pathless course which gave him renewed courage. Soon after starting
+out next morning he was delighted to see a pony in the distance grazing,
+and on coming up to it found one of its front legs broken. This, he said
+was another God-send. The poor pony seemed to fear him. It was probably
+an Indian pony, had its leg broken and was left to die. He followed it
+for some time and finally got close to it and fired his revolver at its
+chest and wounded it, but it then left him with the blood flowing from
+its wound. After resting for a time he followed on and soon found it
+lying down, but not dead. He told me how innocent and helpless it
+appeared, and looked at him as if pleading with him not to inflict any
+more pain; but he felt that his life was in a balance with its, and
+after a little meditation he put the revolver to its forehead and ended
+its life and suffering. Then came the usual process of skinning, cutting
+up and jerking which took the balance of that day and part of the next.
+
+Eight days more and he was again starving. On the ninth he arrived at
+the spot where we had dug up the little ferry-boat which carried the
+seven adventurers far down the river more than three very long dreary
+months before. Snow now covered the entire country, and all emigrants
+had long since gone by. His strength was failing fast but it would not
+do to linger there, so he arose and was about to start when he saw a
+poor old ox slowly coming towards him, and when it had come up near to
+him he discovered a wolf not far behind which seemed to be following the
+ox, but it soon turned and went away. Night was coming on and he was
+very hungry. Something must be done. The last cartridge had been
+exploded in killing the poor, broken legged Indian pony, and the
+revolver was no longer of use. The ox, though feeble, was probably yet
+stronger than the starving man.
+
+Field feared that he was not able to catch the ox by the horns and hold
+it until he could cut its throat, so the next plan was to get hold of
+the animal's tail with one hand, and with the big knife in the other cut
+his hamstrings so as to disable him, and then cut his throat. The ox
+seemed fond of being rubbed and petted, so after a little time a firm
+hold on the tail was secured, and the big knife vigorously applied, but
+it was so very dull that he could not sever the tough old tendons. After
+sawing with the dull knife and being literally dragged for some
+distance, he became so much exhausted that he was obliged to relinquish
+his hold and see the excited old ox disappear.
+
+In almost complete despair Field spent the night beside a fire under one
+of those large cottonwoods which I have no doubt you will remember even
+though it is now more than forty years since you saw them. He rose early
+next morning and started out on the well beaten road towards the Golden
+West, but had only gone a few hundred yards when he was agreeably
+surprised to again behold the old ox approaching him, but so much
+exhausted that it could scarcely walk. The same, or some other, wolf was
+near by, and had probably followed the poor old ox all night. When the
+ox came close to Field the wolf growled and again turned away as on the
+evening before. After the wolf had left the ox seemed to be relieved.
+
+It then occurred to the starving emigrant that he had a sharp razor in
+his "kitt" with which he knew he could cut those tough tendons, provided
+he could get another hold on that tail. Field, as you probably remember,
+always kept his face cleanly shaved. Even while we were starving he
+would shave almost every day. The ox was tired and worn out and so was
+Field; but he got the razor ready and soon had hold of that tail again.
+Off went the ox, the keen razor was applied, soon the tendons parted and
+down went the ox. But only half the victory was won, for the ox would
+raise up on his front feet and show fight; but after resting awhile the
+would-be victor rushed up, caught the poor beast by the horns, pushed
+him over on his side, held him down and cut his throat.
+
+After a long, much needed rest he cut out a piece of the poor beef,
+broiled and ate it, and then spent the remainder of the day in hunting
+out the small, lean muscles that still remained between the skin and
+bones of the poor old ox. The poor beef was jerked and put into the sack
+which on the following morning was thrown upon the back of its owner,
+and from which he fed for the next six days, at the end of which he
+arrived at Fort Bridger. From there he soon obtained a passage for Salt
+Lake City, arriving there on the second day of December, seventeen days
+after I had reached there, and finding me as before stated.
+
+Some time in the winter we formed an acquaintance of a gentleman named
+Jesse Morgan, a Gentile, who had left Illinois in the spring of 1849 for
+California, but for some cause had been delayed and obliged to winter in
+the city of the Latter Day Saints. Morgan had a wife, a little child, a
+wagon and two yoke of oxen, but no food nor money. Field and I arranged
+to furnish food for all for the trip from there to Sacramento, and
+assist in camp duties, drive the team, &c. We made the trip together and
+arrived in Sacramento in good condition on the fourth day of July, 1850,
+and pitched our tent under a large oak tree where the State Capitol now
+stands.
+
+I spent five months with a wholesale grocery and miners supply firm,
+Elder and Smith, Fourth and J streets, Sacramento, and three months in
+the mines as a drummer, or solicitor and collector for the same firm. I
+returned to Sacramento and was almost ready to start home when the Scots
+River excitement broke out. I then went to the mines on Trinity River
+and associated myself in mining with Hiram Gould, a young Presbyterian
+clergyman who had laid aside the "cloth" for the time and engaged in
+mining. I remained in the mines until July fourth, 1851, exactly one
+year from the time I entered Sacramento, when I started home by way of
+Nicaragua. In due time, after an interesting trip, I arrived home and
+again entered upon the study of my chosen profession, graduated from an
+honorable college, and am now, as you know, practicing my profession on
+the sea shore.
+
+M.S. MCMAHON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+STORY OF THE JAYHAWKERS.
+
+
+In the foregoing chapters describing the trip across the deserts and
+mountains, the author has had occasion many times to refer to the
+"Jayhawkers." Their history is in many respects no less remarkable and
+intensely interesting than that of his own party. The author has
+therefore collected many notes and interviews with prominent members and
+presents herewith the only written history of their travels.
+
+The little train afterward known by this name was made up in the state
+of Illinois in 1849, of industrious, enterprising young men who were
+eager to see and explore the new country then promising gold to those
+who sought. The young men were from Knoxville, Galesburg and other
+towns. Not all were influenced by the desire for gold. It was said that
+California had a milder climate and that pleasant homes could there be
+made, and the long, cold winter avoided.
+
+They placed some of the best men in position to manage for the whole.
+The outfit was placed on a steam-boat and transported to Kanesville, on
+the Missouri River above Council Bluffs. Some of the company went with
+the goods while others bought teams and wagons in Western Missouri and
+drove to the appointed place. Kanesville was a small Mormon camp, while
+Council Bluffs was a trading post of a few log cabins on the river bank,
+inhabited mostly by Indians. There was no regular ferry at either place,
+and our party secured a log raft which they used to get their wagons and
+provisions across, making the oxen swim.
+
+They asked all the questions they could think of from everyone who
+pretended to know anything about the great country to the west of them,
+for it seemed a great undertaking to set out into the land they could
+see stretching out before them across the river. Other parties bound the
+same way, also arrived and joined them. They chose a guide who claimed
+to have been over the road before. When all were gathered together the
+guide told them that they were about to enter an Indian country, and
+that the dusky residents did not always fancy the idea of strangers
+richer than themselves passing through, and sometimes showed out some of
+the bad traits the Indians had been said to possess. It would therefore
+be better to organize and travel systematically. He would divide the
+company into divisions and have each division choose a captain, and the
+whole company unite in adopting some rules and laws which they would all
+agree to observe. This arrangement was satisfactorily accomplished, and
+they moved out in a sort of military style. And then they launched out
+on the almost endless western prairie, said then to be a thousand miles
+wide, containing few trees, and generally unknown.
+
+These Illinois boys were young and full of mirth and fun which was
+continually overflowing. They seemed to think they were to be on a sort
+of every day picnic and bound to make life as merry and happy as it
+could be. One of the boys was Ed Doty who was a sort of model traveler
+in this line. A camp life suited him; he could drive an ox team, cook a
+meal of victuals, turn a pan of flap-jacks with a flop, and possessed
+many other frontier accomplishments. One day when Doty was engaged in
+the duty of cooking flap-jacks another frolicsome fellow came up and
+took off the cook's hat and commenced going through the motions of a
+barber giving his customer a vigorous shampoo, saying:--"_I am going to
+make a Jayhawker out of you, old boy_." Now it happened at the election
+for captain in this division that Ed Doty was chosen captain, and no
+sooner was the choice declared than the boys took the newly elected
+captain on their shoulders and carried him around the camp introducing
+him as the _King Bird of the Jayhawkers_. So their division was
+afterwards known as The Jayhawkers, but whether the word originated with
+them, and John Brown forgot to give them credit, or whether it was some
+old frontier word used in sport on the occasion is more than I will
+undertake to say; however the boys felt proud of their title and the
+organization has been kept up to this day by the survivors, as will be
+related further on.
+
+The first few days they got along finely and began to lose all feeling
+of danger and to become rather careless in their guard duty. When the
+cattle had eaten enough and lain down, the guards would sometimes come
+into camp and go to sleep, always finding the stock all right in the
+morning and no enemy or suspicious persons in sight. But one bright
+morning no cattle were in sight, which was rather strange as the country
+was all prairie. They went out to look, making a big circuit and found
+no traces till they came to the river, when they found tracks upon the
+bank and saw some camps across the river, a mile or so away. Doty had a
+small spy glass and by rigging up a tripod of small sticks to hold it
+steady they scanned the camps pretty closely and decided that there were
+too many oxen for the wagons in sight.
+
+Some of the smartest of them stripped off their clothes and started to
+swim the stream, but landed on the same side they started from. Captain
+Doty studied the matter a little and then set out himself, being a good
+swimmer, and by a little shrewd management and swimming up stream when
+the current was strongest, soon got across to where he could touch
+bottom and shouted to the others to do the same. Soon all the swimmers
+were across.
+
+They could now see that there were two trains on that side and that the
+farther one had already begun to move and was about a mile in advance of
+the nearest one, Doty said something must be done, and although they
+only were clothed in undershirts they approached the nearest camp and
+were handed some overalls for temporary use. The men in this camp on
+hearing about the missing oxen said the fellows in the forward train
+went over and got them, for, as they said there were no wagons in sight
+and they must be strays. He said the forward train was from Tennessee,
+and that they had some occasion to doubt their honesty and had refused
+to travel with them any further. They said they were all old
+Missourians, and did not want other people's property and if the boys
+found their cattle with the Tenneseans, and wanted any help to get them
+back again to call on them, and putting in some good strong swear words
+for emphasis.
+
+The boys, barefooted and with only overalls and shirts, started after
+the moving train which they called to a halt when overtaken. The coarse
+grass was pretty hard to hurry through, clothed as they were. The train
+men were pretty gruff and wanted to know what was wanted. Capt. Doty
+very emphatically told them he could see some of his oxen in their
+train, and others in the herd, and he proposed to have them all back
+again. The Jayhawker boys were unarmed but were in a fighting mood and
+determined to have the stock at all hazards, and if not peaceably, war
+might commence. The boys saw that the two trains were of about equal
+strength, and if worse came to worst they could go back and get their
+guns and men and come over in full force after their property, and they
+were assured the Missourians would help them and a combination of forces
+would give them a majority and they could not be beaten by the Tennessee
+crowd. There was a good deal of talk, but finally when Doty demanded
+that their cattle be unyoked and the others separated from the herd,
+they yielded and gave them all their stock, some seventy head.
+
+The Missourians had come up and heard the talk, and some of them went
+back and helped drive the cattle to the river, and deal out some double
+shotted thunder against the biggest scamps they had come across. It was
+quite a job to get the cattle across the river. They would go in a
+little way and then circle round and round like a circus, making no
+progress. They finally put a rope on one of them and a man led him as
+far as he could, which was more than half way, and although they landed
+a good ways down stream, they got them all across safely, left their
+borrowed overalls in the hands of their friends, with a thousand thanks
+for valuable assistance, and plunged into the swift running Platte, and
+swam back again to the northern side. They drove the straggling oxen
+back to camp with a sense of great satisfaction, and in turn received
+the praise of their friends who said that Ed Doty was the best Jayhawker
+of the border.
+
+This was the first unpleasantness and they were afterwards more cautious
+and stood guard all night, watching closely all the time, both night and
+day, for for any signs of danger. Thus in time they reached Salt Lake,
+rather late in the season, but safe and sound, having escaped cholera or
+other disease, and in good spirits to surmount any further difficulties
+which might be met.
+
+When the Jayhawkers reached Salt Lake it was found that it was not safe
+to try to go the regular northern route to California, as they were
+advised by those who seemed to know, as they might be snowed in on the
+Sierra Nevada Mountains and perish. The Mormons told them that the snow
+often fell there twenty feet deep, and some other stories likely to
+deter them from making the attempt. They also told them of a route
+farther south by which they could come into California at Los Angeles,
+or they could remain in Salt Lake until May when it would be safe to try
+the mountain route again. After listening to the talk of the
+mountaineers who claimed to have been over the route and to know all
+about it, and camping some time to rest and learn all they could, they
+finally decided on taking the southern route. One Mormon told them of a
+place where they could make a cut-off and save five hundred miles, and,
+if they would follow his instructions, they would find the route fully
+as good as the one usually traveled which was not much better than a
+trail. The cut-off was so instilled into their minds that they had great
+confidence in the report and talked very favorably of taking it.
+
+The man Williams made for them a map of the proposed route and explained
+it to them and others who had gathered at Salt Lake, and from the map
+they could see how much was to be gained in time and distance by taking
+that route. A month or two of travel was indeed something to gain, and
+as the roads seemed similar in quality the reasoning was very plausible
+The map explained all the watering places and favorable things but said
+nothing about a desert, and as there was no one to tell them any
+unfavorable side to this plan there were many who quite concluded to go
+this way, and among those who did so were the Jayhawkers, and the
+"Williams Short Route" was freely talked about as a settled thing by
+them.
+
+They now set about preparing to move. They sold, traded, and bought oxen
+till they had the best and fattest teams in Salt Lake Valley; selected
+good provisions, and plenty of them so as to be safe in case of delay,
+and contended that nothing could stop them in a country where but little
+snow could be, and water was as plentiful as shown on the map. They
+wanted to reach the gold mines and this was the shortest route and even
+if it was still considerably longer than the northern way they said they
+would rather be moving along and thus gain time than to so long in camp
+with nothing to do by which they could earn a cent. There were here in
+Salt Lake ten times as many men as could find employment, and Brigham's
+saints would be pretty sure to get all of the odd jobs to the exclusion
+of the heretics.
+
+To bring the matter to a determination a paper was drawn up for those to
+sign who wanted to go the southern route and it was pretty generally
+signed. The Mormon elder, John Hunt, was consulted, and as he seemed to
+know the general southern route better than any one else, he was
+prevailed upon to guide the train through on the old Spanish Trail. This
+had never been used as a wagon road, but he thought it could be without
+much difficulty, and he said if they could secure him a fair sized train
+he would go and conduct them through for ten dollars a wagon. This
+proposition was accepted after some consideration, and all who wished to
+do so were given permission to join the train. In a few days there were
+one hundred and seven wagons enlisted for this route, including seven
+Mormons bound for San Bernardino.
+
+Preparations for the trip now began in good earnest, and the Saints were
+liberally patronized in purchase of flour and meat which were the
+principal things they had to sell. As their several wagons were loaded
+they moved out in small lots to the south to keep in good fresh feed for
+their animals, and to move on slowly till all were ready, when they
+would join in one large body and proceed. The guide was in no special
+haste as he said he wanted to wait a little later so the weather in the
+south would be cooler than they would be likely to find it if they
+pressed on at once. He said that in summer it was so hot that no white
+man could endure the heat. He said they could work slowly along the
+trail, and when the right time came he would move out himself, and that
+they might be assured that it would then be the coolest and best time in
+which to travel down there. So the company dallied along, and it was
+October before the whole train was made up at a point about a hundred
+miles south of Salt Lake.
+
+The complete organization was divided into seven divisions, each with
+its captain, and division No. 1 was to lead the march the first day and
+then fall to the rear while No. 2 took the advance, and so continued
+till all had taken their turn. The leading party was to guard and care
+for the cattle and deliver them in the morning. The regulations were
+read aloud to the captains, and this rather large army of men, women and
+children, with about five hundred head of stock, moved out very
+systematically. It would sometimes be fully ten o'clock before the rear
+division could make a start, and correspondingly late before they could
+get up with the main camp at night. They got along very well, but
+cleaned the country of grass for some distance each side of the trail,
+as they swept along.
+
+About the first of November Capt. Smith overtook us with the pack train,
+and camped with us at night. He formed many acquaintances and told them
+he was going to take a shorter route and save five hundred miles, rather
+than take the long route by way of Los Angeles. He had a map of his
+proposed route, and it was very much like the one we had. He also stated
+that it could probably be as easily traveled as the one by way of Los
+Angeles, and as a consequence of his talk, cut-off fever began to rage
+in camp again. Some got very enthusiastic in the matter and spoke
+publicly in favor of following Capt. Smith when he should come to the
+place when his short route turned away from the other trail. His plan
+grew so much in favor that when the place was reached a hundred wagons
+turned out into the Smith trail, leaving Capt. Hunt only the seven
+Mormon wagon bound for San Bernardino, Hunt stood at the forks of the
+road as the wagons went by and said to them;--"Good-bye, friends. I
+cannot, according to my agreement go with you, for I was hired for this
+road, and no other was mentioned. I am in duty bound to go even if only
+one wagon decides to go." When the last wagon had passed him he still
+stood talking with several who had chosen the new way and told them they
+were taking a big risk, for they did not know very much about the route,
+and he had been thinking that they might find it pretty rough and hard
+to get over the first time. He said that if all decided to go that way
+he would go and help them, even if they went to h-ll, but as it was he
+could not. He wished them luck and the two trains parted company.
+
+At the end of three days of travel on the Smith trail they came to the
+top of a long steep hill. The trail went down and down, and they see no
+way of crossing the terribly deep canon that was before them. So they
+went into camp and sent explorers out to investigate and find a crossing
+if possible.
+
+On the second day the explorers began to return with very unfavorable
+reports, and many who found their progress thus blocked turned about and
+started to follow Hunt. Most of the wagons which remained had each one
+or more of their men out exploring and could not turn back until their
+return. Several of the Jayhawkers having once started on this route were
+very anxious to get through on it if a way could be found for them to do
+it, and therefore searched farther and with greater determination than
+the others. When they returned they reported they had found a way around
+the head of the canon and they believed it to be the right way. The map
+Williams had given them did not show this canon and they believed it to
+be correct, and that the real road led around at the place which they
+had found, and no further trouble would be met.
+
+Acting on this report about twenty wagons, including the Jayhawkers,
+concluded to go ahead. "We can beat the other fellows a month," said
+they, and so they hitched up and pulled out in a northerly direction,
+feeling in good spirits and hopeful of success.
+
+They named this place Mt. Misery. While camped here a lone and seemingly
+friendless man died and was buried. None seem now to remember his name,
+but think he was from Kentucky. He was low with consumption and not
+strong enough to endure the hardships of the journey.
+
+About the third night the Jayhawkers were overtaken by seven more wagons
+owned by A. Bennett and friends, J.B. Arcane and family, two men named
+Earhart and a son of one of them, and one or two other wagons.
+
+The Jayhawker's train was made up of men from many states, but seemed
+well united and was as complete as when they first started. The Author
+was with the party that came up in the rear, which had started later but
+traveled faster on account of having a road broken for them. He visited
+the leaders in camp when they were discussing the necessity of forming a
+new travelling compact to help and protect each other on the road. Those
+who had no families were objecting to being bound to those who had women
+and children with them. They argued that the road would be hard and
+difficult and those wagons with women and children would require more
+assistance than they would be able to render in return. They said they
+could go back and follow Hunt who was on a better road and they could
+proceed with more safely.
+
+Among those with this train was Rev. J.W. Brier, his wife and three
+children. He objected to being turned back and said he did not want to
+be assisted, but would go with them and do his part and take care of
+himself. The Author listened to the various speeches without speaking
+and became satisfied that it would end in every one looking out for
+himself in case of hard times. He went over to their camp again the next
+night and wished to ask them why they were steering so nearly due north.
+He said to them that they were going toward Salt Lake rather than
+California, and that the Bennet party did not feel inclined to follow
+them any farther in that direction. They replied that their map told
+them to go north a day or more and then they would find the route as
+represented. They would then turn west and reach Owen's Lake and from
+there there would be no more trouble. The Jayhawker crowd seemed to
+think they could go anywhere and no difficulty could happen which they
+couldn't overcome. Bennett's little train turned west from this point
+and the Jayhawkers went on north, but before night they changed their
+minds and came following on after Bennett whom they overtook and passed,
+again taking the lead.
+
+Thus far the country had been well watered and furnished plenty of
+grass, and most of them talked and believed that this kind of rolling
+country would last all the way through. The men at leisure scattered
+around over the hills on each side of the route taken by the train, and
+in advance of it, hunting camping places and making a regular picnic of
+it. There were no hardships, and one man had a fiddle which he tuned up
+evenings and gave plenty of fine music. Joy and happiness seemed the
+rule, and all of the train were certainly having a good time of it.
+
+But gradually there came a change as the wagon wheels rolled westward.
+The valleys seemed to have no streams in them, and the mountain ranges
+grew more and more broken, and in the lower ground a dry lake could be
+found, and water and grass grew scarce--so much so that both men and
+oxen suffered. These dry lake beds deceived them many times. They seemed
+as if containing plenty of water, and off the men would go to explore.
+They usually found the distance to them about three times as far as they
+at first supposed, and when at last they reached them they found no
+water, but a dry, shining bed, smooth as glass, but just clay, hard as a
+rock. Most of these dry lakes showed no outlet, nor any inlet for that
+matter, though at some period in the past they must have been full of
+water. Nothing grew in the shape of vegetables or plants except a small,
+stunted, bitter brush.
+
+Away to the west and north there was much broken country, the mountain
+ranges higher and rougher and more barren, and from almost every sightly
+elevation there appeared one or more of these dry lake beds. One night
+after about three days of travel the whole of the train of twenty seven
+wagons was camped along the bank of one of these lakes, this one with a
+very little water in it not more than one fourth or one half an inch in
+depth, and yet spread out to the width of a mile or more. It was truly
+providential, for by digging holes along the border the water would run
+into them and prove abundant for all, both oxen and men. If it had
+proved dry, as so many before had proved, or if we had been a few days
+earlier or later we might not have found a drop. This proved to be the
+last time the whole twenty seven wagons were gathered in one camp
+together.
+
+The Author came into camp about nine o'clock in the evening after
+climbing many peaks and taking a survey of the surrounding country with
+a field glass. Men from nearly every mess came to him to inquire what he
+had seen. They asked all sorts of questions and wanted an opinion as to
+the advisability of trailing across the prairie directly west, which
+then seemed easy. They were told that from what could be seen from the
+summit of buttes both north and south of the camp, ranging a hundred or
+so miles in almost every direction, it was believed no water could be
+found, between the present camp and a range of mountains which could be
+seen crossing the route far to the west. "Well," said Capt. Doty of the
+Jayhawkers, "I don't like to hear such discouraging talk from Manley,
+but I think we will have to steer straight ahead. The prospect for water
+seems to be about the same, west or south, and I cannot see that we
+would better ourselves, by going north." When morning came Capt. Doty
+and his party yoked up and set out straight across the desert, leaving
+seven wagons of the Bennett party still in camp.
+
+For some time all of us had seen in the range ahead an appearance of a
+pass, or lower place in the mountain, and we had got to calling it
+Martin's Pass, naming it after Jim Martin. There was a snow-capped peak
+just to the south of it and the pass, now apparently exactly west of the
+lake camp, seemed to the Jayhawkers easy to reach. Their wills were
+strong enough and they were running over with determination and energy
+enough to carry them over any plain, no matter how dry or barren, or
+over any mountain no matter how rugged and steep.
+
+Five days they traveled, without finding water, and small supply they
+took along had been consumed. For lack of water they could not eat or
+sleep. The oxen gathered round the little fire and seemed to beg for
+water, they had no cud to chew unless it was the cud of disappointment.
+The range of mountains they had been aiming for still seemed far away
+and the possible show for reaching it seemed very poor indeed, and the
+prospect of any water hole between them and the mountains poorer yet.
+Hope was pretty near gone. Martins mess unyoked their oxen from the
+wagons, put some small packs on their own backs, and loaded some upon
+the backs of the oxen, and turned south toward the nearest snowy
+mountain they could see, the same one towards which the Bennett party
+steered from the lake camp.
+
+The Doty party kept their courage longer and kept on straight ahead for
+another day, and then camped, almost without hope. No rest came to them,
+nor sleep. Towards morning as they stood around the fire a stray cloud
+appeared and hid the stars, and shortly after began to unload a cargo of
+snow it carried. They spread out every blanket, and brushed up every bit
+they could from the smooth places, kindled a little fire of brush under
+the camp kettles and melted all the snow all of them could gather,
+besides filling their mouths as fast as ever they could, hoping that it
+would full in sufficient quantities to satisfy themselves and the oxen,
+and quench their dreadful thirst. Slowly the cloud moved scattering the
+snowflakes till they felt relieved. The last time the Author conversed
+with a member of this party was in 1892, and it was conceded that this
+storm saved the lives of both man and beast in that little band of
+Jayhawkers. It was like manna falling from Heaven, and as surely saved
+their lives as did the manna of the Bible save the lives of the tribes
+of Israel. They had no reason to expect a storm of rain or snow, but
+came to them just as they were perishing. A little further on they came
+to a small stream of water, and as the bed showed only a recent flow it
+must also have come from the little local storm further up the mountain.
+They used this water freely, even though it was not very good, and it
+acted on them very much like a solution of Glanber Salts.
+
+They decided at first that they had better follow the stream southward,
+but after a little time, feeling the sickness caused by the water, they
+saw it was no advantage and turned west again, bearing to the north
+toward a sort of pass they could now see in the mountains in that
+direction. This stream is now known as the Amargosa, or bitter, river.
+
+The new direction in which they marched gave them an up-hill route for
+thirty or forty miles, rough and barren, with no water or grass. There
+was no road or trail to follow, the oxen were as weak as their owners
+from drinking the bitter water, and the road needed some clearing and
+breaking in places before the wagons could pass. They moved quite slowly
+and reached the summit on the second night with the loss of a single ox.
+The Author would say here that this was the last ox which was allowed to
+die without using the flesh for food, and it was from this same one he
+cut a steak to eat on Christmas eve, 1849.
+
+From the summit they took a way down a dark, deep canon having a steep
+slope, and very rocky and bad, but down which the oxen drew their loads
+much easier than when they came up, reaching water on the third day,
+where there were many springs, and a sort of coarse grass for the oxen.
+The place is now known as Furnace Creek. The Jayhawkers passed on, and
+here at these very springs was where the Author overtook the Rev. J.W.
+Brier delivering a lecture to his children on the benefits of an early
+education, as referred to in his narrative.
+
+As the Jayhawkers drove out of this Furnace Creek Canon the valley into
+which they came was very narrow, the high, snow-capped mountain before
+them seemed steeper and rougher than ever, so steep in fact that it
+could not be ascended by a man on foot. A short distance below could be
+seen a lake containing water, and the pass toward which they had been
+directing their course seemed to the north of them. They therefore
+turned their course in that direction. The road was sandy, and the brush
+that grew on it was only a few inches high. On their way they came to an
+abandoned Indian camp occupied by one poor old blind red man. He would
+hold his mouth open like a young bird begging for something to eat. One
+man dropped kernels of parched corn into his mouth, but instead of
+eating them he quickly spit them out; it seemed that he had been left to
+die and could not or would not. His hair was white as snow. His skin
+looked about the color of a smoked ham, and so crippled was he that he
+crawled about like a beast, on all fours. It was barely possible that he
+had been left to watch, and that his great infirmities were only
+pretended, but they seemed genuine enough, and were doubtless true. They
+left him in peaceable possession of the spot and traveled on.
+
+They approached the base of the mountain in front of what they had all
+along supposed to be a pass, and found, as they had lately begun to
+suspect, that there was no pass that their wagons could be taken
+through, and they must be abandoned. The camp was poor. What little
+water there was had a salty taste, and they could only find here and
+there a bunch of the poorest grass. The oxen stood around as if utterly
+dispirited, and would sometimes make a faint effort to pick up and eat
+some of the dry brush that grew around the desolate camp. This camp is
+now known to be in the northern part of Death Valley, but then they knew
+no names for anything, but if dreariness and absence of life, and
+threatened danger all around were any indication, they might well have
+named it Death Valley as was afterwards done by the party with whom the
+Author traveled.
+
+The party had been brave till now, but when they realized that they must
+make pack animals of themselves, and trudge on, they knew not where,
+perhaps to only a lingering death, the keen edge of disappointment cut
+close, and they realized how desolate they were. They felt much inclined
+to attribute all their troubles to the advice of the Mormons. Some said
+that the plan was thus to wipe so many more hated Gentiles out of the
+way, and wishes were deep and loud that the Mormons might all be buried
+out of sight in the Great Salt Lake. They thought Lot's wife must have
+been turned to salt in the neighborhood, everything was so impregnated
+with saline substances, and the same result might come to them. But the
+inherent manhood of the little band came to their relief and they
+determined not to die without a struggle for escape and life.
+
+They killed some of their oxen, and took the wood of their wagons and
+kindled fires to dry and smoke the flesh so it would be light and easy
+to carry with them. They scattered all surplus baggage around the
+ground, carefully storing and saving the bit of bread that yet remained
+and dividing it equally among the party. They also divided the tea,
+coffee, rice and some such things, and each one agreed that he could not
+ask aught of his neighbor more. Knapsacks were improvised from parts of
+the wagon canvas, and long strips of canvas were made into a sort of
+pack harness for the oxen. It was a sad sight to see the strong and
+vigorous young men of a few days ago reduced to such straits; almost
+skeletons now, with no hope of nourishment to invigorate them. They made
+canteens by sewing a couple of small powder cans in cloth, with a band
+to go over the shoulders.
+
+The Jayhawkers were still making their preparations when the Martin
+party and Rev. J.W. Brier and family came up to their camp, having taken
+a circuit around farther to the south. The Martin party was already in
+marching order and this camp was so poor that they did not wait, but
+gave all their oxen they had left to Mr. Brier and said they could get
+on faster without them. They took a straight course over the hills and
+up the mountain, saying they believed they had provisions enough upon
+their backs to last them through, and that nothing should check their
+progress till they reached the other side, where they said were fertile
+valleys and plenty of chance to live.
+
+The Doty party, or Jayhawkers, when they were ready started first a
+northerly course to find a more favorable place to cross the range and
+drove their oxen with them, each with a small pack. They soon came to
+some good water, and after refreshing themselves turned westward to
+cross the great mountain before them. Both men and oxen were shod with
+moccasins made of raw-hide to protect the feet against sharp rocks. They
+could see no trail but merely picked out the best way to go. While
+climbing the steep mountain side they came across a dead ox left by some
+party that had gone before them. They cut out the tongue and some of the
+best meat and ate it to eke out their own small stock, and carried some
+pieces with them, but soon threw it all away but enough for a roast for
+supper.
+
+When it was getting dark they were almost at the summit, but there was
+no good camping place, and they saw a small fire light at a little
+distance and went to it, finding a poor lone camper taking care of
+himself. They camped here also. It seemed as if there were many men from
+the various parties scattered all around the country, each one seeking
+out the path which seemed to suit best his tender feet or present fancy,
+steering west as well as mountains and canon would permit, some farther
+north, some farther south and generally demoralized, each thinking that
+as a last resort he would be able to save his own life. It seemed to be
+a question of will and endurance, strong hearts and keeping the body in
+motion. The weak and faint must fail, and the strong said to the
+weak;--"Stand up; be a man; don't fall down;" and so the strong spurred
+on the weak and kept them up as best they could.
+
+Down the mountain they went, on the west side and instead of Los
+Angeles, which some of them expected to see, they saw only a salt lake
+in the midst of a barren desert valley and their route lay directly
+across it. They traveled in several directions as they went across. One
+went across the valley on a strip of dried mud between two small lakes.
+Others followed down along the east side of the lake near the foot of
+the mountain, where they found some good water and an old Indian camp.
+They found some mosquite beans, which they did not know were of much
+use, but really, if they had known how to fix them up a little they
+would have been good food.
+
+Capt. Doty's mess crossed between the lakes on the strip of dry mud
+while others went on where it was still soft and left marks of their
+foot-steps. Both parties turned up a small canon on the west side and
+began the ascent of a black and barren range, containing no water, but
+in the bed of the ravine near the summit they found some damp sand and
+tried to dig with their hands to find some of the precious fluid. But no
+water came, and in the morning one of their number Mr. Fish died and was
+left unburied on the barren rocks. No doubt his bones could be found
+there to-day.
+
+Turning west again, they had a down grade over a most barren and rocky
+road for many miles. The prospect from this point was any thing but
+cheering. To the left a large lake could be seen, and from their
+previous experience they concluded it to be salt, and the valley they
+were coming to was very sandy, and the hardest sort of footing for men
+and animals as weak as those of the party were. It must be crossed
+before there was any possibility of water, and when across it was quite
+uncertain whether they could obtain any. One of their number had already
+died of thirst and fatigue and all were suffering terribly.
+
+The valley seemed about eight miles across, and before they were half
+way over Mr. Ischam, one of their party sat down, perfectly exhausted,
+and said he could not take another step. No one was able to assist him
+or give him a drink of water, and they could not tarry to see if rest
+would refresh him. They could only look sadly at him and pass on in
+silence, for he seemed fast wasting away. The thought came to everyone
+that perhaps it would be his turn next to sit down and see the others
+pass on. In fact the probability of any more of them living another day
+was very poor, for they all grew weaker and weaker with every hour, and
+no one knew how many hours must pass before they could hope for water.
+There was not moisture enough in their poor bodies to make tears, and no
+one dare open his mouth, lest all the moisture suddenly evaporate and
+respiration cease.
+
+Those who had no cattle took different courses to reach the hills and
+mountains on the west side of this valley, hoping there to find water
+and signal to the others if they were successful. All except the two men
+managed to get across, and finding no water the packs were taken from
+the oxen and they were driven to the lake which appeared on the left.
+Reaching the lake they found the water red in color and so strong of
+alkali that no man or beast could take a single swallow. They drove the
+cattle back again with sad hearts, and almost despondent, for in the
+rough, dry rocks of the mountains there seemed no signs of water. But
+they were saved again. Those who bore farthest to the right in their
+course to the mountains, steering toward a pile of tremendous rocks,
+found a little stream of good water which flowed only a short distance
+and then sank into the sand. This good news spread rapidly, and all soon
+gathered at the little streamlet. It was slow work getting water for
+them all, but by being patient they were all filled up. Some took two
+canteens of water and hurried back to Mr. Ischam, whom they found still
+alive but his mouth and throat so dry and parched, and his strength so
+small that he was unable to swallow a single drop, and while they waited
+he breathed his last. With their hands and feet they dug away the sand
+for a shallow grave, placed the body in it, covered it with his
+blankets, and then scraped the sand back over again to make a little
+mound over their dead comrade. Perhaps if he could have walked a mile
+farther he might have lived, and but for the little trickling stream of
+water from the rocks they might all be dead, so slight were the
+circumstances that turned the scale to balance toward life or death.
+
+There was so little feed for oxen that they could gain no strength, but
+were much refreshed by the water and could still travel. One was killed
+here, and the meat, poor as it was, gave the men new strength. They all
+guessed it to be at least fifty miles to the base of the great snow
+mountain before them, and what there was between no one could tell, for
+there were hills and valleys between. Leaving the little spring their
+course led first up a small canon, and when they reached the summit of
+the ridge a small valley covered with sage brush was before them, the
+most fertile spot they had seen for a long time. The descent to this
+valley was through another canon which was filled with large boulders
+for much of the way, and over these it seemed almost impossible to get
+the cattle. They had seen no water since leaving the little stream, and
+the plain they were now approaching seemed thirty miles wide, with no
+signs of streams or springs. However just at the foot of the canon they
+found a small water hole, but the water was so salt that even the oxen
+refused to drink it.
+
+They decided to make a push across the plain and endeavor to reach the
+other side in two days, and they knew there could be no water on its
+even expanse. The plain seemed quite an up grade from where they were to
+the base of the mountain.
+
+On the second day they all reached the point they were aiming for except
+Rev. J.W. Brier and family, and they came in one day behind. Every one
+looked out for himself and had no time nor strength to spare to help
+others. Here on a small bench overlooking the country to the south and
+east but still a long distance from the snow, they found some holes of
+water, and some bunch grass a little farther up the hill. Here was a
+large trail coming from the north and leading from this point westward.
+There were no signs of recent use, but there were many indications that
+it was quite ancient and had been considerably traveled in time past.
+This was quite encouraging to many of them and they declared they would
+follow this trail which would surely lead to some place well known, in a
+better country. They cared not whether it led to California, Mexico, or
+Texas, only that they might get out of this country which seemed
+accursed. Any place where they could get something to eat and drink
+would be better than this.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Brier had some pretty hard struggles to get along, and
+everyone of this party has ever been loud in praise of the energy and
+determination of the brave little woman of the Brier mess. All agreed
+that she was by far the best man of the party. She was the one who put
+the packs on the oxen in the morning. She it was who took them off at
+night, built the fires, cooked the food, helped the children, and did
+all sorts of work when the father of the family was too tired, which was
+almost all of the time. They all said that he, like other ministers, had
+fallen out with any work but that of the tongue, and seemed perfectly
+willing for some one else to do the work. Mrs. Brier had the sympathy of
+everyone, and many would have helped her if they could. She waited on
+her big husband with untiring zeal, and still had time to care for the
+children with all of a mother's love. It seemed almost impossible that
+one little woman could do so much. It was entirely to her untiring
+devotion that her husband and children lived. Mr. Brier had but little
+sympathy or help from any one but her. Some were quite sarcastic in
+their remarks about the invalid preacher who never earned his bread by
+the sweat of his brow, and by their actions showed that they did not
+care very much whether he ever got through or not. They thought he ought
+to have asserted his manliness and taken the burden on himself, and not
+lean upon his delicate and trusting wife as he seemed to do. All are
+sure that it is to his faithful wife the Rev. J.W. Brier owed his succor
+from the sands of that desert.
+
+Looking back on the scenes of that day, the way the selfish dispositions
+of people were made manifest is almost incredible. Every one seemed to
+think only of saving his own life, and every spark of human sympathy and
+kindness seemed extinguished. A man would drink the last cup of water
+even if his neighbor choked.
+
+This camp was the same one which the Author mentions in his narrative,
+to which Rogers and himself crept so silently and carefully at night to
+ascertain whether the occupants were friends or foes. They were much
+pleased to find it was Capt. Doty of the Jayhawkers and his mess who had
+remained behind to dry the flesh of an ox they had killed when it could
+travel no longer. The others had gone on ahead, following the trail,
+leaving these to follow. They staid here two days, and it was while
+waiting here that the Rev. J.W. Brier came up as before related, and
+they all went on together when they moved.
+
+Nearly every man had carried a gun in the early days of the expedition,
+hoping to kill game, and to be well armed in case of attack by Indians
+or enemies, but they began to find that they were useless encumbrances,
+and first one and then another would throw away his fire-arms as a
+burden too great for a weary man to bear. There was no game, and the
+poor weak men hardly deemed their own lives worth defending against an
+enemy when a day or two of lack of water would end the matter of life at
+any rate.
+
+As they slept they dreamed the most tantalizing dreams of clear,
+rippling brooks of water; of wading knee deep in the most beautiful of
+ponds; of hoisting the old moss-covered bucket from some deep old well;
+of breaking and eating great white loaves of bread; of surrounding the
+home table with its load of steaming beans and bacon, fragrant coffee
+and delicious fried cakes. With such dreams of comfort, they awoke to
+realize more fully the terrors of their dry and swollen throats, the
+discomfort of empty stomachs. Water and food were the great riches of
+life to them then. Had piles of twenty-dollars pieces been on the one
+hand and a bucket of cold water on the other there is no doubt of the
+choice that would have been made.
+
+Seven or eight miles from this place were two branches to the trail. One
+led into the mountains toward the snow, and the other still bore
+southerly. They could see that some other party who had no oxen to drive
+had taken the more northerly route, which seemed to lead more directly
+in the direction of the mines of California. Those who came later, with
+animals thought it would be folly to try to cross the deep snow they
+could see on the mountains before them and concluded that it would be
+safer to the south of the snow line, braving the danger of scarcity of
+water, rather than to perish in the snow. Capt. Doty was willing to
+attempt the northern branch of the trail if the others so decided, but
+the general feeling was in favor of the more plain and open trail which
+led away from the snows. It is known that this Northern branch led over
+what is known as Walker's Pass, coming out at the Kern River.
+
+Taking then the southern branch, the party passed through a range of low
+mountains, and then the country before them seemed quite level for a
+hundred miles.
+
+They expected they would find much difficulty on account of water, as
+their experience had taught them that it was very scarce in such
+locations, but this trail when they came to follow it led them for eight
+or ten miles over a level piece of high land that looked as if it might
+have slid down from the high mountain at some day long past, and this
+easily traveled road brought them at last to the top of a steep hill,
+down which they went and found near the bottom, a small weak stream of
+water, but no grass, and but little fuel of any kind. (This was the same
+camp at which Rogers and the Author overtook the advance party.) Here
+they killed an ox, which made a good meal for all, and not much remained
+over, for many had no oxen and were getting out of all sorts of
+provisions. They depended much on the generosity of their fellow
+travelers. Many of them stood back, and waited till those who owned the
+food were satisfied, and were very grateful when they were invited to
+take even the poorest morsels.
+
+They could count the oxen and make a pretty close guess of how many days
+they could live in this way, even with the best probable fortune
+favoring them, and to the best of them there was but little hope, and to
+those who were dependent it seemed as if the fate of Fish and Ischam
+might be theirs almost any day. When the Author conversed with them at
+this camp he found them the first really heart-broken men he had ever
+seen. Some were men of middle age who had left good farms that gave them
+every need, and these they had left to seek a yellow phantom, and now
+there were yellow phantoms of a different sort rearing their dreadful
+forms all about them. They called themselves foolish gold hunters to
+forsake a land of plenty for a chance to leave their bones in a hot
+desert. More eyes than one filled with tears, and hopes in more than one
+breast vanished to almost nothing. More than one would gladly have
+placed himself back where he could have been assured of the poorest fare
+he ever saw upon his farm, for bread and water would have been an
+assurance of life, of which there seemed to be really but little
+expectation here.
+
+When they left this camp in the canon the trail was between two high
+rocks, rising like walls on each side. In one place they were so near
+together that an ox could hardly squeeze through. In a very short time
+they came to a bunch of willows growing out in the open ground. The
+little bunch or grove was forty or fifty feet in diameter, and in the
+center was a spring of water. The center of the clump had been cleared
+out, making a sort of corral of bushes, enclosing the spring. On the
+outside there was quite a little growth of grass, which was a fortunate
+thing for their poor beasts.
+
+Away in the distance, rising up a little against the western sky they
+could see mountains with snow on them, and it seemed as if it were a
+journey of five or six days to reach them, but the good water and the
+grass bolstered up their spirits wonderfully for there was present
+relief and rather better prospects ahead. They were pretty sure that the
+wide plain held no water. Everything that would hold the precious drink
+was filled, and the best preparations made for what they believed was to
+be the final struggle for life. They rested one day and prepared for the
+very worst that might before them. Early in the morning when they could
+see plainest, they looked across the expanse before them and really it
+did not seem quite so barren, hot and desolate as the region they had
+passed, and they talked and hoped that this would be the last desert
+they must cross and that Los Angeles lay just beyond the sunny ridge
+they could dimly see ahead. There were some tears that more than one
+would not live to answer roll call on the other side, but it was the
+last hope, and worth an earnest, active trial.
+
+Early in the morning, much refreshed, they started on again with rather
+sober faces. That night one man insisted on sleeping with his clothes
+and boots all on, for he said if he died he wanted to die in full dress.
+Another day and some thought they could see trees on the mountains ahead
+of them, and this renewed their courage greatly. In the middle of the
+day they suffered greatly with the heat and the dry air seemed to drink
+up every bit of moisture from everybody. When they killed an ox they
+saved the blood and ate it. The intestines, cleaned with the fingers,
+made food when roasted on the fire, and pieces of hide, singed and
+roasted, helped to sustain life. The water was nearly all gone. Only
+power of will and strength of body had kept any. Capt. Asa Haines sat
+down one day and said he could go no farther, but his comrade, L.D.
+Stephens, who had kept a little rice, a little tea, and a dry crust of
+bread for time of need, took a little water in a cup and made some soup
+which he forced his friend to eat and soon he revived and was able to
+move on again. That was true friendship.
+
+The next night Stevens himself awoke and seemed perishing with thirst.
+He crawled over to Doty's bed and begged for just one sup of water, Doty
+in the goodness of his heart, took his canteen from under his head
+divided the last few drops with him and the death which threatened him
+was held off. Capt. Doty found it necessary to talk very seriously to
+those who mourned and talked of failing. He never gave up in the least.
+He encouraged all to make every step they could and know no such word as
+fail. When they said that death would be easier than life, he told them
+so, but that life was possible if they only willed it, and a better life
+than had been theirs. And so he kept them encouraged and kept them
+putting one foot before the other, pointing out the ever lessening
+distance to the mountain before them. He appealed to their manhood. "Be
+men," said he, "Be brave and courageous, and you have more strength than
+you believe." Thus by example and words he proved to be a true captain
+to his little band.
+
+Their water was all gone, every drop, and still the foot-hills seemed
+far away. The supply of meat ran out. Tom Shannon killed an ox, and when
+those who had cattle had taken some, the others who had none were told
+to divide the rest. There was no water to dress or cook it, but it
+helped to sustain life. Entrails, bones, sinews, bits of hide and
+everything was used. One man was seen with an ox horn, burning the end
+in the fire and gnawing away at the softened portion. It was something
+terrible to see human beings eating what the dogs would cast aside. One
+man saw some moist looking earth on the shady side of a bunch of brush
+and he dug down and got a handful of it, from which he tried to suck the
+moisture. He failed, and the bad taste of the earth made him suffer more
+than before. Many bones of horses and cattle now appeared along the
+trail. They seemed to have been there a long time, and some were partly
+decayed. On this waterless stretch one of their number, a Frenchman,
+wandered off, searching for water in little hollows or puddles, and
+never came back to camp. He was supposed to be dead, but ten years
+afterward some surveyors found him in a Digger Indian camp.
+
+An idea how selfish men will get under such circumstances may be gained
+by relating that on one occasion when an ox was killed the liver was
+carried to the brave little Mrs. Brier for herself and children, and she
+laid it aside for a few moments till she could attend to some other
+duties before cooking it. Darkness coming on meanwhile, some
+unprincipled, ungallant thief stole it, and only bits of offal and
+almost uneatable pieces were left to sustain their lives. That any one
+could steal the last morsel from a woman and her children surpasses
+belief, but yet it was plain that there was at least one man in the
+party who could do it. No one can fully understand or describe such
+scenes as this unless he has looked into just such hungry looking,
+haggard eyes and faces, a mixture of determination and despair, the
+human expression almost vanishing, and the face of a starving wolf or
+jackal taking its place, There are no words to paint such a state of
+things to him who has never seen and known.
+
+But there were true men, true, charitable hearts in that little band.
+Though death stared them in the face they never forgot their fellow men.
+As they slowly crawled along many would wander here and there beside the
+trail and fall behind, especially the weaker ones, and many were the
+predictions that such and such a one would never come up again, or reach
+the camp. Then it was that these noble souls, tired almost beyond
+recovery themselves, would take water and go back to seek the wandering
+ones and give them drink and help them on. More than one would thus have
+perished in the sands but for the little canteen of water carried back
+by some friend. Only a swallow or two would often revive their failing
+strength and courage, and with slow step they would move on again. How
+much good a crust of bread would have done such a poor creature. Bread
+there was none--nothing but the flesh of their poor oxen, wasted and
+consumed by days of travel and lack of food till it had no goodness in
+it. Even the poor oxen, every night seemed to be the end of their
+walking; every morning it was feared that that would be the last time
+they would be able to rise upon their feet.
+
+Already five or six days had passed since they left the camp at the
+willows where they had their last supply of water, and still they were
+on the desert. The journey was longer than they had expected, partly
+owing to the slow progress they had made for there were frequent stops
+to rest or they could not move at all. The mountains seemed nearer every
+day, and the trees were outlined more plainly each morning as they
+started out. Capt. Doty used every circumstance to encourage them. He
+would remark upon the favorable signs of water in the hills before them,
+and the hope that there might be some game to provide better meat than
+that of starving oxen. Thus he renewed their hope and kept alive their
+courage. He must have had a great deal of fortitude to hide his own sad
+feelings, for they must as surely have come to him as to any one, and to
+keep up always an air of hope, courage, and determination to succeed. If
+he had been a man of less spirit and good judgment it is very probable
+that many more would have been left by the wayside to die.
+
+About this point the trail which had been growing fainter and fainter,
+seemed to vanish entirely. One could move in almost any direction to
+right or left as he chose, and because of this, previous travel had
+doubtless scattered and thus left no trail. It was thought best that
+this company should spread out and approach the mountains in as broad a
+front as possible so as to multiply the chances of finding water, and so
+they started out in pairs, some to the right and some to the left, each
+selecting the point where water seemed most probable.
+
+Tom Shannon and a companion were one of these pairs. Tom was one of the
+few who still stuck to his gun, for he felt that it might save his life
+sometime. He and his companion separated about a mile, each looking at
+all points that showed the least sign of water. Suddenly a jack rabbit
+started from a bush, the first game Shannon had seen for more than a
+month. He pulled the rifle on him as he was making some big bound and
+had the good luck to nearly split his head open. Rushing up to his game
+he put his mouth to the wound and sucked the warm blood as it flowed,
+for it was the first liquid he had seen; but instead of allaying his
+fearful thirst it seemed to make it worse and he seemed delirious. A
+little way up the gulch he saw a rock and a green bush and steered for
+it, but found no water. He sat down with his back to the rock, his rifle
+leaning up near by, pulled his old worn hat over his eyes, and suffered
+an agony of sickness. He realized that life was leaving his body, and
+there he sat with no power to move and no desire to make an effort. It
+seemed as if he could see plain before him all the trail from where he
+sat, back over all the deserts, mountains and rivers to the old place in
+Illinois. He entirely forgot the present, and seemed unconscious of
+everything but the pictures of the past. The mind seemed growing freer
+from its attachment to the body and at liberty to take in his whole past
+life, and bright scenes that had gone before. How long he sat thus he
+knows not. His companion was fortunate in finding water, and when he had
+refreshed himself he set out to find poor Tom of whom he could see
+nothing. Going toward where he heard the shot he followed on till he saw
+him at the rock, almost doubled up, with his face concealed by his hat.
+"O! Tom!" said he, but there came no answering motion, and going nearer
+he called again and still no answer and no sign. Poor Tom had surely
+passed on to the better land, thought he, and salvation was so near. He
+approached and lifted the hat rim. There was a movement of the eyes, a
+quivering of the muscles of the face, and a sort of semi-unconscious
+stare such as precedes approaching dissolution.
+
+Quickly holding back his head he poured water between his lips from his
+canteen and it was swallowed. Then a little more, and then some more,
+and life seemed coming back again into a troublesome world, bringing
+pain with it, and the consciousness of a suffering body. After a time he
+felt better and was helped to his feet, and together they went to the
+water hole where they made a fire and cooked the rabbit which was the
+first savory meat they had tasted for a long time. Tom felt better and
+told his companion how he felt after tasting the warm rabbit's blood,
+and how he had nearly gone off into the sleep of death.
+
+"If you had been a little longer finding me," said Tom, "I should soon
+have been out of this sad world." They fired a signal gun, looked down
+at the bones of the rabbit, drank more water, and gradually felt new
+life coming to them. The mountains seemed more fertile, and there was
+brush and grass near by, timber farther up, and still higher a cap of
+snow extending far along the range, both north and south. Towards night
+on this eventful day the scattered travelers began to come slowly into
+camp attracted by the guns and the smoke of the fire made by those who
+first found the water. Some were nearly as far gone as Tom Shannon was,
+and great caution had to used in giving them water on their empty
+stomach. One man named Robinson became so weak before he got near camp
+that his companions placed him on the back of one of the animals and a
+man walked on either side to catch him if he fell off. When they got
+within a mile of the water he insisted that he was strong enough to take
+care of himself and not be watched every minute, and they relaxed their
+vigilance. He soon fell off, and when they went to him he refused to be
+put back on the animal again or to walk any farther. "Just spread my
+blankets down," said he, "and I will lie down and rest a little and
+after a while I will come along into camp." So they left him and pushed
+on to water, and when they were a little refreshed went back to him with
+water, and to help him to come in, but when they came to him they found
+him dead. He did not seem to have moved after he had lain down. He did
+not seem so bad off as Shannon was when he lay down, and probably a few
+swallows of water at that time would have saved his life. It seemed sad
+indeed, after so much suffering and striving to get along, that he
+should die within a mile of water that would have saved his life. If he
+had possessed a little more strength so that the spark of life could
+have remained a little longer, the cooling moisture from the canteen
+would have revived it, and a little rest would have placed him on his
+feet again. They had no tools to dig a grave, not even a knife for they
+had left every weight in camp, so they covered him closely in his
+blankets and sadly returned to their friends. They had all along hoped
+that the Frenchman who had wandered away would come in, but he never
+came. There were several water holes scattered around at this point
+which seemed to be a sort of sunken place in the hills, and quite large
+brush could be obtained for fire, and grass for the oxen. Those who had
+been good hunters and had thrown away their rifles as useless burdens,
+now began to look at hills before them and think that game might be
+found in them, as well as water. There were only one or two guns in the
+whole party, They thought that this must surely be the edge of the great
+desert they had crossed, and only the snow range before them could be
+the obstacle that separated them from Los Angeles.
+
+One day from here would bring them to the edge of the snow, and they
+debated as to the best course to pursue. Some of them were fearful they
+could not cross the snow with the oxen, for it seemed to be quite deep.
+The best place to cross seemed directly west of them. South was a higher
+peak, and to the north it was surely impassible. There seemed to be a
+faint sign of a trail from this point towards the lowest point in the
+snow mountains. There were some bones of cattle around the springs which
+they thought was an indication that in years gone by there had been some
+traveling on this trail. There surely would be water in the snow which
+could be got by melting it, and on the whole it seemed best to make the
+attempt to cross at the lowest place. There were no signs of travel
+except the trail which had not been used in years, not signs of
+civilization except the bones.
+
+Starting from the water holes which showed no signs of having been used
+for several years, their next camp was, as they had calculated, on the
+edge of the snow where they found plenty of dry juniper trees for fire.
+and of course plenty of water. Here they killed an ox and fed the hungry
+so that they were pretty well refreshed. This was an elevated place and
+they could look back over the trail across the desert for, what seemed
+to them, a hundred miles, and the great dangers of their journey were
+discussed. Said one of them to Tom Shannon:--"Tom, you killed the first
+game we have come across in two months. Even the buzzards and coyotes
+knew better than to go out in into the country where the cursed Mormon
+saint sent us numbskulls." Another said that while they had been seeking
+a heaven on earth they had passed through purgatory, or perhaps a worse
+place still nearer the one from which sulphurous fumes arise, and now
+they hoped that there might be a somewhat more heavenly place beyond the
+snow. One who had been silent seemed awakened by inspiration and spoke
+in impromptu lines somewhat as follows, as he pointed out to the dim
+distance:--
+
+
+  "Yonder in mountains' gray beauty,
+      Wealth and fame decay.
+  Yonder, the sands of the desert,
+  Yonder, the salt of the sea,
+  Yonder, a fiery furnace,
+  Yonder, the bones of our friends,
+  Yonder the old and the young
+     Lie scattered along the way."
+
+
+Some even confessed the desperate thoughts that had come to their minds
+when they were choking and starving. We have mentioned four of the train
+who had perished beside the trail and it will be remembered that one
+party of eleven started out on foot before the wagons were abandoned by
+the rest of the party. Nothing was heard of these for seven years, but
+long afterward nine skeletons were found at the remains of a camp, and
+the other two were afterward seen in the gold fields. When spoken to
+about this party, they burst into tears and could not talk of it. So it
+is known that at least thirteen men perished in the country which has
+well been named Death Valley.
+
+People who have always been well fed, and have never suffered from
+thirst till every drop of moisture seemed gone from the body, so they
+dare not open their mouth lest they dry up and cease to breathe, can
+never understand, nor is there language to convey the horrors of such a
+situation. The story of these parties may seem like fairy fables, but to
+those who experienced it all, the strongest statements come far short of
+the reality. No one could believe how some men, when they are starving
+take on the wild aspect of savage beasts, and that one could never feel
+safe in their presence. Some proved true and kind and charitable even
+with death staring them in the face, and never forgot their fellow men.
+Some that seemed weakest proved strongest in the final struggle for
+existence.
+
+Early next morning before the sun rose they started to cross the snow,
+leaving their comrade Robinson behind, rolled up in his blankets, taking
+his everlasting sleep so far as the troubles of this world are
+concerned. What the day would bring forth very few could have any idea.
+Go on they must, and this direction seemed most promising. If the snow
+should prove hard enough to hold up the oxen they could probably cross
+before night, but if compelled to camp in the snow it was a doubtful
+case for them.
+
+The snow held them as they advanced on it, but grew a little softer as
+the sun got higher. The tracks of both men and animals were stained with
+blood from their worn-out feet. When they turned the summit they found
+more timber and the ravine they followed was so shaded that the force of
+the sun was broken, and they really did not suffer very much from
+slumping through the snow, and so got safely over. Not far below the
+snow they found a running brook of clear, sweet water, with willows
+along the banks and trees on the hills, the first really good water for
+a month or two. This is the same camp where Rogers and his companion ate
+their meal of quail, hawk and crow a few days before, and these
+travelers knew by the remains of the little camp fire that they were
+following on the trail of the two men who had gone before.
+
+This place was so great an improvement on the camps of the past that all
+hands began to talk and act more rational as hope dawned more brightly
+on them. Those who had guns branched off to search for game, but found
+they were too weak for that kind of work, and had to sit down very often
+to rest. When they tried to run they stumbled down and made very poor
+progress.
+
+Capt. Doty, Tom Shannon and Bill Rude sat down to rest on a bold point
+above the creek. While there three wild horses came along within easy
+range, and thinking they would form better meat than the oxen each man
+picked his animal and all fired simultaneously, bringing them all to the
+ground. This seemed a piece of glorious luck, and all rushed in like
+wolves lifter a wounded animal. It was not very long before each had a
+chunk of meat in his hand, and many a one did not stop from eating
+because it was not cooked. Such declared they never ate anything so
+delicious in all their lives before, and wondered why horses were not
+used as food instead of hogs and cattle. As they satisfied their
+ravenous appetites they ate more like beasts than like men, so nearly
+were they starved, and so nearly had their starving condition made them
+fall from their lofty estate.
+
+As they passed on down this canon they found it very brushy and on the
+dry leaves under the wide-spreading trees they saw signs of bear and
+perhaps other animals. There were some swampy places where it was
+grassy, and into these the cattle rushed with great eagerness for the
+food they had so long suffered for. Some of Mr. Brier's cattle went in,
+and in tramping around for food sank deep into the mud and could not be
+coaxed out again. Mrs. Brier threw clubs at them but they did not seem
+inclined to pay much attention to her attacks so she was forced to go in
+after them herself, and in so doing also sank into the mud and could not
+get out without assistance. All this time her reverend husband sat
+outside on the hard ground at a safe distance, but did not offer any
+help. Probably if an extended and learned lecture on the effects of
+gravitation would have done any good he would have been ready with
+prompt and extended service to one whom he had promised to love and
+cherish.
+
+About this time L.D. Stevens came along and seeing the condition of the
+unfortunate woman, at once went to her assistance and helped her to dry
+land. Brier himself never made a move nor said a word. Stevens looked
+terribly cross at him and remarked to his companions that if the
+preacher himself had been the one stuck in the mud he would have been
+quite inclined to leave him there for all of helping him.
+
+The canon grew narrow as they descended, and the brush thicker, so that
+to follow the bed of the stream was the only way to get along. The
+cattle seemed to scent a bear and stampeded in terror through the brush
+in various directions, all except one which was being led by a rope.
+They tried to follow the animals in a desperate effort to recover them
+and a few blankets they had upon their backs, but could only make slow
+progress. Tom Shannon and two others found a fresh bear track and
+determined to follow it awhile in the hope of having revenge on the
+cause of their mishap with the oxen. They took their blankets and kept
+the trail till night when they camped, but were at so great an elevation
+that a snowstorm came with six inches of snow so they could no longer
+follow the track.
+
+They were very hungry and on the way back came across some wild cherries
+which had dried perfectly dry as they hung on the bushes. These they
+picked and ate, cracking the seeds with their teeth, and declaring them
+to be the best of fruit. Good appetites made almost anything taste good
+then. They got back to the creek next day pretty nearly starved, and
+with neither a bear nor runaway oxen to reward them for their two days'
+hard work.
+
+Wood and water were plenty, but grass was scarce and their ox had to
+live on brush and leaves, but this was infinitely better than the
+stunted and bitter shrubs of the desert. They came out of the brush at
+last into the open bottom land where the brook sank out of sight in the
+sand, and sage brush appeared all about. From this on, over the elevated
+point which projected out nearly across the valley, their experience and
+emotions in coming in sight of vast herds of cattle feeding on rolling
+grassy hills, or reclining under great oak trees scattered over the more
+level lands, were much the same as came to the Author and his party when
+the same scene was suddenly opened to them. Signs of civilization and of
+plenty so suddenly appearing after so many weeks of suffering and
+desolation was almost enough to turn their heads, and more than one of
+the stout-hearted pioneers shed tears of joy. Only a few days before and
+they could scarcely have believed it possible to find a spot so lovely.
+
+But to hungry, more than half starved men, points of artistic beauty and
+sober reflections over the terrors of the past found little place, and
+their first thought was to satisfy the cravings of hunger which were
+assuredly none the less when they beheld the numerous fat cattle all
+around them. There was no one to ask or to buy from and to kill and eat
+without permission might be wrong and might get them into difficulty,
+but one might as well ask a starving wolf to get permission to slay and
+eat when a fat lamb came across his path as to expect these men to take
+very much time to hunt up owners. When life or death are the questions
+that present themselves men are not so apt to discuss the right or wrong
+of any matter.
+
+Tom Shannon and a couple of others did not wait long at any rate, but
+crawled down the creek bed till they were opposite a few fine animals
+and then crept up the bank very near to them. Two or three shots rang
+out and as many fine cattle were brought down. The live cattle ran away
+and the hungry men soon had the field to themselves. Much quicker than
+can be told the men had fat pieces of meat in their hands which they
+devoured without cooking. The men acted like crazy creatures at a
+barbacue--each one cut for himself with very little respect for anyone.
+The boldest got in first and the more retiring came in later, but all
+had enough and gradually resumed more human actions and appearance.
+
+They had hardly finished their bloody feast when they saw a small squad
+of men on horseback advancing toward them, and as they came near it was
+quite plain that they were all armed in some way. All had lassoes at
+their saddles, some had old-fashioned blunderbusses, and nearly every
+one had a _macheta_ or long bladed Spanish knife. As the horsemen drew
+near they formed into something like military order and advanced slowly
+and carefully. It was pretty evident they thought they were about to
+encounter a band of thieving Indians, but as they came closer they
+recognized the strangers as Americans and passed the compliments with
+them in a rather friendly manner.
+
+Some of the Jayhawkers had been in the Mexican War and understood a few
+words of Spanish, and by a liberal use of signs were able to communicate
+with the armed party and tell them who they were, where they were going,
+and the unfortunate condition in which they found themselves. The men
+did not seem angry at losing so few of their cattle, and doubtless
+considered themselves fortunate in not suffering to the extent of some
+hundreds as they did sometimes by Indian raids, and invited the whole
+party down to the ranch house of the San Francisquito Rancho of which
+this was a part. Arrived at the house the ranch men brought in a good
+fat steer which they killed and told the poor Americans to help
+themselves and be welcome. This was on the fourth day of February, 1850.
+
+The whole party remained here to rest themselves and their oxen for
+several days, and were royally entertained by the people at the ranch.
+They talked over the plans for the future, and considered the best
+course to pursue. They thought it would be wise to keep their oxen for
+these would now improve in flesh, and as they had no money with which to
+buy food they might still rely on them in further travels. The best oxen
+had survived, for the failing ones were selected to be killed when they
+were forced to have food. The weaker of their comrades had perished in
+the desert, and the remainder of the train consisted of the strongest
+men and the strongest oxen, and there seemed to be no question but that
+they could all live in this country where grass and water were both
+abundant, and every sign of more or less wild game.
+
+Those of the company who had no cattle made their way directly to Los
+Angeles, and from thence to the coast from which most of them reached
+San Francisco by sailing vessel. Those who had no money were given a
+passage on credit, and it is believed that all such debts were
+afterwards honestly paid.
+
+Capt. Doty made a proposition to buy out the oxen of some who had only
+one or two, giving his note for them payable in San Francisco or
+anywhere up north they might chance to meet, and many of them accepted
+and went to the coast. In this way Doty secured oxen enough to supply
+one for each of those who decided to go with him. They decided to use
+them for pack animals to carry their blankets, and to proceed slowly
+toward the mines, killing game, if possible, and permitting their
+animals to graze and improve in condition as they moved.
+
+There must have been from twenty-five to forty people gathered at the
+ranch. Among them was the Rev. J.W. Brier who seemed to want to impress
+it on the new California friends that he was the man of all others to be
+honored. The ranchman was a good Catholic, and Brier tried to make him
+understand that he, also, was very devout. He said, and repeated to him
+very often--"Me preacher," but he did not succeed very well in
+impressing the good Californian with the dignity of his profession, for
+he could talk no Spanish and was not highly gifted in sign language.
+
+When they went away they had no way to reward their good friends who had
+been friends indeed to them. They could only look their thanks and
+express themselves in a very few words of Spanish. "_Adios Amigos_,"
+said they to the scantily clothed travelers as they set out on their way
+to the mines.
+
+They followed down the course of the river that flowed through the
+valley, the Santa Clara River, and knew that it would take them to the
+sea at last. Before they reached the mission of San Buena Ventura, near
+the sea, they ran out of meat again, for they had failed to find game as
+they had expected, and Capt. Asa Haynes took the chances of killing a
+Spanish cow that looked nice and fat. They camped around the carcass and
+ate, and smoked the meat that was left. While thus engaged two horsemen
+approached, and after taking a good look at the proceedings, galloped
+off again. When the party arrived at the Mission they were arrested and
+taken before the alcalde to give an account of their misdeeds. They
+realized that they were now in a bad fix, and either horn of the dilemma
+was bad enough. They could not talk Spanish; they had no money; they had
+killed somebody's cow; they were very hungry; they might be willing to
+pay, but had no way of doing it; they did not want to languish in jail,
+and how to get out of it they could not understand. Luck came to them,
+however, in the shape of a man who could speak both English and Spanish,
+to whom they told their story and who repeated it to the alcalde,
+telling him of their misfortunes and unfortunate condition, and when
+that officer found out all the circumstances he promptly released them
+as he did not consider them as criminals. The cow was probably worth no
+more than ten dollars.
+
+At Santa Barbara they found a chance to trade off some of their oxen for
+mares, which were not considered worth much, and managed the barter so
+well that they came out with a horse apiece and a few dollars besides,
+with which to buy grub along the road. They depended mostly on their
+guns for supplying them with food. They supposed they were about three
+hundred miles from San Francisco, and expected to meet with but few
+people except at the Missions, of which they had learned there were a
+few along the road. At these there was not much to be had except dried
+beef. However, they managed to use the guns with fair success, and at
+last arrived safely at Stockton where they sold some of their horses for
+more than double what they cost, and with a small number of horses they
+packed on to the gold mines.
+
+Those of the party who went to Los Angeles managed in one way or another
+to get through on schooners, and many of them, after a year or two of
+hard work, made some money and returned to their homes in Illinois. It
+is hardly necessary to add that they did not return via Death Valley.
+
+Some years afterward the members of this party who had returned to their
+Eastern homes formed themselves into an organization which they called
+the Jayhawkers' Union, appointed a chairman and secretary, and each year
+every one whose name and residence could be obtained was notified to be
+present at some designated place on the fourth day of February which was
+the date on which they considered they passed from impending death into
+a richly promising life. They always had as good a dinner as Illinois
+could produce, cooked by the wives and daughters of the pioneers, and
+the old tales were told over again.
+
+One part of the program was the calling of the roll, and such reports
+and letters as had come to hand. The following is a list of the members
+of the party so far as can be ascertained, as gathered from
+recollections and from the reports of the meetings of the reunions.
+
+LIST OF JAYHAWKERS.
+
+The following named were living, so far as known, in 1893:--John B.
+Colton and Alonzo C. Clay, of Galesburg, Ill., Luther A. Richards, of
+Woodhull, Ill., Chas. B. Mecum, of Ripley, Iowa, John W. Plummer, of
+Tulon, Ill., Edward Bartholomew, Urban P. Davidson, John Crosscup and L.
+Dow Stephens, of San Jose, California, Harrison Frans and Thomas
+Shannon, of Los Gatos, Cal., J.W. Brier and wife, Lodi, Cal., three
+children of Mr. Brier.
+
+The following are supposed to be dead:--Ann Haines, Knoxville, Ill.,
+Sidney P. Edgerton, formerly of Blair, Nebraska, Thomas McGrew, John
+Cole, Wm. B. Rude, Wm. Robinson and Alex. Palmer, of Knoxville, Ill.,
+Marshall B. Edgerton, late of Galesburg, Ill. Wm. Ischam, of Rochester,
+N.Y., Mr. ---- Fish, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, John L. West, Aaron Larkin,
+Capt. Edwin Doty and Brien Byram, of Knoxville, Ill., Mr. ---- Carter,
+of Wisconsin, Geo. Allen, Leander Woolsey and Chas. Clark, of Henderson,
+Ill., Mr. ---- Gretzinger, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and a Frenchman whose
+name is unknown.
+
+There were some others connected more or less with the party at some
+part of the trip, but not coming in with the Jayhawker organization. So
+far as learned, their names are as follows:--John Galler, Jim Woods and
+Jim Martin of Miss., Ed Croker of N.Y., David Funk, Mr. Town, Henry
+Wade, wife and three children, Nat Ward, John D. Martin, of Texas, Old
+Francis, a Frenchman, Fred Carr and Negro "Joe," from Miss.
+
+There were a great many reports about finding rich mines about this
+time, and these stories have been magnified and told in all sorts of
+ways since then, and parties have returned to try to find the great
+riches.
+
+Among the Jayhawkers were two Germans who could speak but little English
+and probably for this reason, kept apart from the remainder of the
+party.
+
+One day, after the wagons were abandoned these German fellows were
+marching along alone with their packs on their backs in the warm sun,
+suffering very much for want of water and food, when one of them sat
+down on a hill-side in pretty nearly absolute despair, while the other
+man went down into a ravine hoping to find a puddle of water in the
+rocky bottom somewhere, though it was almost a forlorn hope. All at once
+he called out to his partner on the hill--"John, come down here and get
+some of this gold. There is a lot of it." To this poor John Galler only
+replied:--"No, I won't come. I don't want any gold, but I would like
+very much to have some water and some bread." And so they left the
+valuable find and slowly walked on, pulling through at last with the
+rest of them, and reaching Los Angeles.
+
+The man who found the gold went to the Mission of San Luis Rey and
+started a small clothing store, and some time afterward was killed. John
+Galler settled in Los Angeles and established a wagon shop in which he
+did a successful business. He was an honest, industrious man and the
+people had great confidence in him. He often told them about what his
+partner had said about finding the gold in the desert, and the people
+gave him an outfit on two or three occasions to go back and re-locate
+the find, but he did not seem to have much idea of location, and when he
+got back into the desert again things looked so different to him that he
+was not able to identify the place, or to be really certain they were on
+the same trail where his companion found the gold.
+
+The Author saw him in 1862 and heard what he had to say about it, and is
+convinced that it was not gold at all which they saw. I told him that I
+more than suspected that what he saw was mica instead of gold and that
+both he and his partner had been deceived, for more than one man not
+used to gold had been deceived before now. "No sir!" said he, "I saw
+lots of gold in Germany, and when I saw that I knew what it was." The
+Author went back over that trail in 1862 and sought out the German on
+purpose to get information about the gold. He could not give the name of
+a single man who was in the party at that time, but insisted that it was
+gold he saw and that he knew the trail.
+
+The Author was able to identify with reasonable certainty the trails
+followed by the different parties, but found no signs of gold formation
+except some barren quartz, and this after an experience of several years
+in both placer and quartz mines. So honest John Galler's famous placer
+mine still remains in the great list of lost mines, like the Gunsight
+Lead and other noted mines for which men have since prospected in vain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+Alexander Combs Erkson was one of the pioneers of 1849, having left the
+state of Iowa in the month of May, when he assisted in organizing a
+company known as the "Badger Company" at Kanesville, the object being
+mutual assistance and protection. This company joined the Bennett party
+mentioned so prominently in this history, at the Missouri, and traveled
+with them or near them to the rendezvous near Salt Lake where the new
+company was organized for the southern trip taken by the Death Valley
+party, the Jayhawkers and others. As the experience of Mr. Erkson was in
+some respects different to that of the parties mentioned, he having
+taken a different route for a part of the way, it was thought best to
+embody it in this history. The following was dictated to the editor of
+this book, and as Mr. Erkson died before the written account could be
+revised by him, it is the best that can possibly be obtained.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MR. ERKSON'S STATEMENT.
+
+"We arrived at the Mormon camp near Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, in the
+month of August. Several of us went to work getting out lumber for
+Brigham Young while we were waiting and resting. The mormons all advised
+us not to undertake to go on by the northern route, and as the travelers
+gathered at this point they canvassed the situation. We used our teams
+when we were at work for Brigham and assisted in building a dam across a
+canon where he intended to build a woolen mill. I earned about a hundred
+dollars by my work, which was paid to me in ten-dollar pieces of a gold
+coin made by the Mormons. They were not like the U.S. coins. I remember
+one side had an eye and the words--'Holiness to the Lord.'
+
+We entered into an agreement with Capt. Hunt, a Mormon, to pilot us
+through, and turned all our gold into that company, thus bringing none
+of the Mormon gold with us. We went on with the company as has been
+related in the foregoing pages, till we arrived at Mt. Misery, so named
+by us, when we took the back track, while Mr. Manley and the others went
+on as they have related. We had meetings by the light of a greenwood
+fire, and the matter was talked up in little knots of people, and then
+some one would get up and speak. One J.W. Brier, a preacher, was the
+principal blower. 'You are going wrong!' said he, We should go west, and
+in six weeks we will be loaded with gold!'
+
+Hunt got a little confused at a place called Beaver Meadows, or Mountain
+Meadows, and thought perhaps he could find a new road. Several men were
+sent out to look, and some of us in camp played ball for amusement while
+we were waiting. Hunt's men came back and said there were no prospects
+of a new road, and he said he knew the southern route and believed it
+would be safe to go that way.
+
+He told us that we must decide the next day. When we came to the road
+where we were to separate he filed off on his road and the others filed
+off on their road and then came back with their whips in their hands. I
+had filed in after Hunt, and they tried to convince me that I was very
+wrong. A Mr. Norton of Adrian, Mich., promised Mrs. Erkson a horse to
+ride if she would go, and so I left Hunt and turned in on the other
+road, the hindmost wagon. This is going back a little with the history
+and bringing it up to Mt. Misery. On my way back from Mt. Misery I
+climbed up on a big rock and inscribed the date--Nov. 10, 1849.
+
+In our journey we came to what is called 'The rim of the Basin,' and
+traveled along on that a distance till we came to the Santa Clara River
+and saw where the Indians had raised corn and melons. We followed on
+down that stream and found our teams gradually failing. Noting this we
+decided to overhaul our loads and reject a lot of things not strictly
+necessary to preserve life. I know I threw out a good many valuable and
+pretty things by the roadside. I remember six volumes of Rollin's
+Ancient History, nicely bound, with my name on the back, that were piled
+up and left. We followed along near the Santa Clara River till it
+emptied into the Virgin River. It was somewhere along here that we first
+saw some Yucca trees. The boys often set fire to them to see them burn.
+
+The Virgin River was a small stream running on about the course we
+wanted to travel, and we followed this course for thirty or forty miles.
+We found plenty of wood and water and mesquite. After awhile the river
+turned off to the left, while we wanted to keep to the right, so we
+parted company there. We heard of a river beyond which they called the
+'Big Muddy' and we went up a little arroyo, then over a divide to some
+table land that led us down to the Big Muddy. We made our wagons as
+light as possible, taking off all the boards and stakes we could
+possibly get along without. Wm. Philipps and others were placed on short
+allowance. They had an idea that I had more provisions in my wagon than
+I ought to have, but I told them that it was clothing that we used to
+sleep on. I divided among them once or twice. When we reached the Muddy
+we stopped two or three days for there was plenty of feed. It was a
+narrow stream that seemed as if it must come from springs. It was narrow
+between banks, but ran pretty deep, and a streak of fog marked its
+course in the morning. We understood it was not very far from where we
+left the Virgin River to the Colorado, some said not more than fourteen
+miles and that the Colorado turned sharply to the south at that point.
+Mr. Rhynierson and wife had a child born to them on the Virgin River,
+and it was named Virginia.
+
+It was a gloomy trip the whole time on the Muddy. I lost three or four
+head of cattle, all within a day and a night. Mrs. Erkson walked to
+lighten the load, and would pick all the bunches of grass she saw and
+put them on the wagon to feed the oxen when we stopped. I let them pass
+me and stopped and fed the cattle, and slept ourselves. It was said that
+we ran great risks from Indians, but we did not see any. I had at this
+time only two yoke of oxen left.
+
+We overtook the party next morning at nine o'clock, having met some of
+them who were coming back after us. All were rejoiced that we had come
+on safely. Here I met Elisha Bennett and told him my story. He said he
+could sell me a yoke of oxen. He had a yoke in J.A. Philipps' team and
+was going to take them out. He said nothing in particular as to price. I
+said that I wanted to see Mr. Philipps and talk with him about the
+matter, for he had said Bennett should not have the cattle. I went over
+to see him and spoke to him about Bennett's cattle and he told me they
+had quarreled and I could have them, and so we made a bargain. I gave
+twenty dollars for the cattle, the last money I had, and as much
+provisions as he could carry on his back. They were making up a party to
+reach the settlements at the Williams ranch, and I made arrangements for
+them to send back provisions for us. About thirty started that
+way--young men and men with no families with them.
+
+I got along very well with my new team after that. It was about forty
+miles from water to water, and I think we camped three times. At one
+place we found that provisions had been left, with a notice that the
+material was for us, but the red-skins got the provisions. We struck a
+spring called-----, a small spring of water, and a child of some of the
+party died there and was buried.
+
+We then went more nearly south to find the Mojave River, for we hoped to
+find water there. It was very scarce with us then, We had one pretty
+cold day, but generally fine weather, and to get along we traveled at
+night and a party struck the Mojave. Here there was some grass, and the
+mustard was beginning to start up and some elder bushes to put forth
+leaves. I picked some of the mustard and chewed it to try to get back my
+natural taste. Here the party divided, a part going to the left to San
+Bernardino and the remainder to the right to Cucamunga. I was with the
+latter party and we got there before night.
+
+Rhynierson said to one of the party--'Charlie, you had better hurry on
+ahead and try to get some meat before the crowd comes up.' Charlie went
+on ahead and we drove along at the regular gait which was not very fast
+about these times. We saw nothing of Charlie and so I went to the house
+to look for him and found him dead drunk on wine. He had not said a word
+to them about provisions. That wine wrecked us all. All had a little
+touch of scurvy, and it seemed to be just what we craved. I bought a big
+tumbler of it for two bits and carried it to my wife. She lasted it at
+first rather gingerly, then took a little larger sup of it, and then put
+it to her lips and never slopped drinking till the last drop was gone. I
+looked a little bit surprised and she looked at me and innocently
+asked--'Why! Haven't you had any?' I was afraid she would be the next
+one to be dead drunk, but it never affected her in that way at all. We
+bought a cow here to kill, and used the meat either fresh or dried, and
+then went on to the Williams, or Chino ranch. Col. Williams was glad to
+see us, and said we could have everything we wanted. We wanted to get
+wheat, for we had lived so long on meat that we craved such food. He
+told us about the journey before us and where we would find places to
+camp. Here we found one of the Gruwells. We camped here a week, meeting
+many emigrants who came by way of Santa Fe.
+
+We went on from here to San Gabriel where we staid six weeks to rest and
+recuperate the cattle. In the good grass we found here they all became
+about as fat as ever in a little while. Here the party all broke up and
+no sort of an organization was kept up beyond here. Some went to Los
+Angeles, some went on north, trading off their cattle for horses, and
+some went directly to the coast. We went to the Mission of San Fernando
+where we got some oranges which were very good for us. There is a long,
+tedious hill there to get over. We made up ten wagons. By the time we
+reached the San Francisquito Ranch I had lost my cattle. I went down to
+this ranch and there met Mr. and Mrs. Arcane getting ready to go to San
+Pedro. We came north by way of Tejon pass and the Kern River, not far
+from quite a large lake, and reached the mines at last. I remember we
+killed a very fat bear and tried out the grease, and with this grease
+and some flour and dried apples Mrs. Erkson made some pretty good pies
+which the miners were glad to get at a dollar and even two dollars
+apiece."
+
+Mr. Erkson followed mining for about a year and then went into other
+business until he came to Santa Clara Valley and began farming near
+Alviso. He has been a highly respected citizen and progressive man, He
+died in San Jose in the spring of 1893.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE EXPERIENCE OF EDWARD COKER.
+
+Edward Coker was one of a party of twenty-one men who left their wagons,
+being impatient of the slow progress made by the ox train, and organized
+a pack train in which they were themselves the burden carriers. They
+discarded everything not absolutely necessary to sustain life, packed
+all their provisions into knapsacks, bravely shouldered them and started
+off on foot from the desert to reach California by the shortest way.
+
+Among those whom Mr. Coker can recollect are Capt. Nat. Ward, Jim Woods,
+Jim Martin of Missouri, John D. Martin of Texas, "Old Francis," a French
+Canadian, Fred Carr, Negro "Joe" and some others from Coffeeville,
+Miss., with others from other states.
+
+Mr. Coker related his experience to the Author somewhat as follows:--
+
+"One other of the party was a colored man who joined us at the camp when
+we left the families, he being the only remaining member of a small
+party who had followed our wagon tracks after we had tried to proceed
+south. This party was made up of a Mr. Culverwell who had formerly been
+a writer in a Government office at Washington, D.C., a man named Fish
+claiming to be a relative of Hamilton Fish of New York, and another man
+whose name I never knew. He, poor fellow, arrived at our camp in a
+starving condition and died before our departure. The other two
+unfortunates ones died on the desert, and the colored man reported that
+he simply covered their remains with their blankets.
+
+I well remember that last night in camp before we started with our
+knapsacks and left the families, for it was plain the women and children
+must go very slow, and we felt we could go over rougher and shorter
+roads on foot and get through sooner by going straight across the Sierra
+Nevada Mountains. Our condition was certainly appalling. We were without
+water, all on the verge of starvation, and the three poor cattle which
+yet remained alive were objects of pity. It seemed almost a crime to
+kill the poor beasts, so little real food was there left on their
+skeleton frames. They had been so faithful and had plodded along when
+there seemed no hope for them. They might still serve to keep the party
+from starvation.
+
+It was at this camp that Mr. Ischam died. The night before our departure
+he came wandering into camp and presented such an awful appearance,
+simply a living skeleton of a once grand and powerful man. He must have
+suffered untold agony as he struggled on to overtake the party, starving
+and alone, with the knowledge that two of his companions had perished
+miserably of starvation in that unknown wilderness of rocks and alkali.
+
+Our journey on foot through the mountains was full of adventure and
+suffering. On our arrival at the shores of Owen's Lake not a man of the
+party had a mouthful of food left in his pack, and to add to our
+difficulties we had several encounters with the hostile Indians. There
+was a fearful snow storm falling at Owen's Lake on the evening that we
+arrived there, and we could make no fire. The Indians gathered around us
+and we did not know exactly what to make of them, nor could we determine
+whether their intentions were good or bad. We examined the lake and
+determined to try to ford it, and thus set out by the light of the moon
+that occasionally peeped out from behind the clouds, while the red
+devils stood howling on the shore.
+
+The following morning we found what was then known as the Fremont Trail,
+and by the advice of some friendly Indians who came into our camp, we
+kept the "big trail" for three days and came to Walker's Pass. While on
+this trail we were followed at night by a number of wild Indians, but we
+prudently avoided any collisions with them and kept moving on. Going on
+through the pass we followed the right hand branch of the trail, the
+left hand branch leading more to the south and across a wide plain. We
+soon came to a fair-sized stream, now known to be the south fork of the
+Kern River, which we followed until we came to its junction with a
+larger river, the two making the Kern River. Here we were taken across
+by some friendly Indians who left the Missions farther west during the
+Mexican war and took to their own village located at the foot of the
+Sierra Nevada Mountains. At this village we were on exhibition for
+several hours with an audience of five hundred people or more, of the
+red men, and on the following morning we commenced the ascent of the
+mountains again, the Indians furnishing us with a guide in the person of
+an old Pi-Ute. He brought us over the range, through the snow and over
+the bleak ridges, in the month of December, 1849, and we made our first
+camp at an Indian village in Tulare Valley, a few miles south of where
+Porterville now stands.
+
+From this Indian village we walked on until we arrived at the present
+site of Millerton on the south bank of the San Joaquin River. Our
+sufferings were terrible from hunger, cold, and wet, for the rains were
+almost continual at this elevation, and we had been forced several times
+to swim. The sudden change from the dried-up desert to a rainy region
+was pretty severe on us. On our arrival at the San Joaquin River we
+found a camp of wealthy Mexicans who gave us a small amount of food, and
+seemed to want us to pass on that they might be rid of us. I can well
+believe that a company of twenty-one starving men was the cause of some
+disquietude to them. They gave us some hides taken from some of the
+cattle they had recently slain, and from these we constructed a boat and
+ferry rope in which we crossed the river, and then continued our journey
+to the mining camp on Aqua Frio, in Mariposa county.
+
+It is very strange to think that since that time I have never met a
+single man of that party of twenty-one. I had kept quite full notes of
+the whole trip from the state of New York to the mines, and including my
+early mining experience up to the year 1851. Unfortunately this
+manuscript was burned at the Russ House fire in Fresno, where I also
+lost many personal effects."
+
+In the year 1892 Mr. Coker was living in Fresno, or near that city, in
+fairly comfortable health, and it is to be hoped that the evening of his
+days, to which all the old pioneers are rapidly approaching, may be to
+him all that his brightest hopes pictured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+Having followed the various little parties into which the great train
+had resolved itself when it began to feel the pressure of suffering and
+trouble which came with contact with the desert, followed them in their
+various ways till they came through to the Pacific Slope, the travels
+and experiences of the Author are again resumed.
+
+It will be remembered that he had rested at Los Angeles, working for Mr.
+Brier who had temporarily turned boarding house keeper, and finally made
+arrangements with some drovers to assist in taking a small stock of
+horses north to the mines. His story is thus continued:--
+
+We followed the wagon road which the companies that had gone on before
+had made, and got along very well. At night I acted
+independently--staked out my mule and ate my meal of dried meat and
+crackers--then joined the others around a large fire, and all seemed to
+enjoy the company. After a few days the two men who owned the horses
+proposed to me to let my mule carry the provisions, and they wanted me
+to ride one of their horses that was not carrying a pack, as they said
+it would keep it more gentle to ride it.
+
+To please the old gentleman from Sacramento I agreed to the proposition,
+for I thought perhaps by being accommodating I could get along more
+pleasantly.
+
+Thus we traveled on, over rolling hills covered with grass and wild
+flowers, and I was much pleased with all that I could see. For the first
+two days we did not pass a house, which shows how thinly settled the
+country was. Cattle were often seen, and sometimes horses, but people
+were very scarce. In time we went down a long, steep hill, then across a
+wide valley that supported a rank growth of vegetation, and came to a
+Mission called San Buena Ventura (good luck.) Here the men seemed
+scarce, but Indians and dogs plenty. The houses were of the same sort as
+at Los Angeles, except the church, all made of dried mud, and never more
+than one story high.
+
+As we journeyed along we came to the sea shore, the grandest sight in
+the world to me, for I had never before seen the ocean. What a wide
+piece of water it was! Far out I could see small waves coming toward the
+shore, and the nearer they came the faster they seemed to rush and at
+last turned into great rollers and breakers which dashed upon the rocks
+or washed far up the sandy shore with a force that made the ground
+tremble. There was no wind and I could not see what it could be that so
+strangely agitated the water. Here the waves kept coming, one after
+another, with as much regularity as the slow strokes of a clock. This
+was the first puzzle the great sea propounded to me, and there under the
+clear blue sky and soft air I studied over the ceaseless, restless
+motion and the great power that was always beating on the shore. I
+tasted the water and found it exceedingly salt, and I did not see how
+anything could live in it and not become in the condition of pickled
+pork or fish. Where was the salt to make this mighty brine pond, and why
+did it keep so when the great rivers kept pouring in their torrents of
+fresh waters? I did not understand, and these are some of the thoughts
+that came to the boy who had been raised upon the prairie, and to whom
+the great ocean was indeed an unknown sea.
+
+We followed along the road and in time came to another village and
+Mission called Santa Barbara. The village was near the shore, and the
+church farther back upon an elevated piece of ground near the foot of
+the mountain, overlooking the town and sea and much of the country to
+the south, west and east. The mountain was high and rough, and a point
+ran out into the sea making a sort of harbor. This town was built much
+as the others had been except perhaps the Mission which seemed better.
+The roofs were as flat as the floors and were covered with a sort of tar
+which made them water-proof. The material of the houses was sun-dried
+bricks, two feet long by one foot wide and four to six inches thick.
+There was no lime in the mortar of this mason work, and the openings in
+the walls had iron bars across them instead of sash and glass. Dried
+hides were spread upon the floors, and there was a large earthen jar for
+water, but not a table, bedstead or chair could be seen in the rooms we
+saw. A man came along, rode right in at the door, turned around and rode
+out again. The floor was so hard that the horse's feet made no
+impression on it. Very few men, quite a number of Indians, more women,
+and a still larger quantity of dogs made up the inhabitants.
+
+Leaving here the road led back from the sea shore and over quite a level
+table land, covered with a big growth of grass and some timber, and then
+down to the sandy shore again where the mountain comes so close that we
+were crowded down to the very water's edge. Here the never-tiring waves
+were still following each other to the shore and dashing themselves to
+pieces with such a noise that I felt awed to silence. What a strange
+difference in two parts of the earth so little distance from each other!
+Here was a waste of waters, there was a waste of sands that may some
+time have been the bottom of just such a dashing, rolling sea as this.
+And here, between the two, was a fertile region covered with trees,
+grass and flowers, and watered with brooks of fresh, sweet water.
+Paradise and Desolation! They surely were not far apart. Here I saw some
+of the queer things that wash on shore, for we camped close to the
+beach.
+
+It was a circumstance of great interest to me to see the sun slowly go
+down into the great ocean. Slowly and steadily it went, getting redder
+and redder as it went down, then it just touched the distant water and
+the waves dashed over more and more of its face till all was covered.
+Were it not for the strong, bright rays that still shot up across the
+sky one might think it was drowned forever, but in the morning it came
+up over the mountain top, having apparently made half the circuit of the
+globe.
+
+Soon after this the road left the shore and turned into the mountains.
+Another Mission was on this road, Santa Ynez, situated in a beautiful
+place but apparently in decay, for the men had gone to the mines,
+leaving the Indians, women, and dogs as in other places. San Luis Obispo
+was another Mission similarly inhabited, but the surroundings did not
+seem so pleasant as those we had seen before, although it bore signs
+that considerable had been done. From here our road bore still more
+north and we had a long mountain to work over, very rocky, and in some
+places barren.
+
+San Miguel was a Mission situated on the bank of a dry stream that
+evidently had seen plenty of water earlier in the season. The
+surrounding country was covered with scattering timber. Soledad was
+another place where there were some improvements, located on a small
+river, but nearly deserted like the other places. Prospects at the gold
+mines were so favorable that every man felt an irresistible desire to
+enrich himself, and so they left their families at the Missions and in
+the towns and rushed off to the mines. Nearly all of them expected to
+return by winter.
+
+I think I must stop right here and tell about the California carriages
+of which I had seen several at Los Angeles and at the Missions along our
+road. The first time I saw one it was a great curiosity, I assure you.
+The wheels were cut off the end of a sycamore log a little over two feet
+in diameter and each section about a foot long. The axle was a piece of
+wood eight inches square with a tongue fastened to it long enough to be
+used with a yoke of oxen, and the ends of the axle were roughly rounded,
+leaving something of a shoulder. The wheels were retained in place by a
+big lynch-pin. On the axle and tongue was a strong frame of square hewed
+timbers answering for bed pieces, and the bottom was of raw-hide tightly
+stretched, which covered the whole frame. Tall stakes at each corner of
+the frame held up an awning in hot weather. The yoke was fastened to the
+horns of the oxen by strong, narrow strips of raw-hide, and the tongue
+was fastened to the yoke in the same way. The driver was generally an
+Indian, armed with a small pole six or eight feet long, who marched on
+before, the oxen following after. I saw many a wagon like this, the
+platform well filled up with women and children, and a pack of dogs
+following along behind, slowly rolling over the country, and this is the
+way they traveled when they went visiting friends who lived a few miles
+in the country. Sometimes the wheels gave perfectly agonizing shrieks as
+they revolved, and when they made so much noise that their strong
+Spanish nerves could stand it no longer, if there was any green grass to
+be found the drivers would crowd in a quantity around the axle, and
+there was generally room for a good lot of it, to answer for a
+lubricator.
+
+We passed on from Soledad and shortly rose into the table land we had
+seen for some time before us. From here we could look north for a long
+way with no hill or mountain in sight; but our road led along on the
+east side of this treeless plain, so thickly covered with grass that we
+recalled some of the old tales of the grassy plains. We passed a
+landholder's house on the road, then crossed a range of low mountains
+and came to the Mission of San Juan (St. John) situated near the
+foot-hills, overlooking a level, rich appearing extent of valley land
+with a big vegetable growth all over it; in some places wild mustard
+which stood thickly and was from four to ten feet high. I thought what a
+splendid place it would be for the Yankees who are fond of greens.
+
+This was the first place since we left Los Angeles where we could buy
+any kind of breadstuff, and we were here enabled to get a change of
+diet, including greens. This seemed to be one end or side of another
+valley, and as we went along it seemed to widen away to the east; but
+our course was to the north, and we followed the road. The architecture
+of all the buildings except the churches was all the same, being built
+of the sun dried adobes or bricks made by mixing up a clay mud with
+tough grass and letting it get dry and hard. We saw the same kind of
+roof material as before, a sort of mineral tar which I supposed they
+must find somewhere about.
+
+I could imagine why the houses were built in this way, for when the
+Jesuit missionaries first came in they found the country occupied by
+Indians who used their arrows to good effect, as they were jealous of
+all outside occupation. The early settlers evidently made the walls of
+their dwellings thick and strong enough to resist all kinds of weapons
+used by Indians. They could not set fire to them for they were fire
+proof and arrow proof, and the hostile Indian could dance on the roof
+without being able to get in or do any injury. Thus the poor Indian was
+fairly beat and eventually became a better Indian.
+
+The Indians of what is now Nevada and Arizona used to come over into
+these rich valleys and clandestinely capture a band of a hundred or more
+head of cattle or horses and make their escape. They were often followed
+by the herders, but if they did not overtake the thieves before they got
+into the deep canons of the mountains, they would usually turn back and
+let them go rather than be led into ambush in some strange narrow place
+where escape would be impossible and they might be filled with arrows.
+No doubt the trail we had followed across the plains, where there were
+so many horses' bones, was one of these trails along which the thieving
+Indians took their booty which died upon the trip.
+
+Our road from here was near the foot-hills on the west side of a level,
+grassy, thinly timbered valley, and as we advanced we noticed that the
+timber grew more plentiful and the trees larger, without much
+underbrush. We also noticed that the vegetation was ranker and no doubt
+the soil was very rich. We then came to a point where the mountain
+reaches out almost across the valley to meet the mountain on the east
+side. Here we found a gravelly creek with but little water, but as soon
+as we passed this point we saw the valley suddenly widening out, and
+beautiful groves of live oak trees scattered all around. The vegetation
+here was very rank, the mustard ten feet high in places, making it
+difficult to see out of the road. This was perhaps the strongest
+contrast to the arid desert that we had seen.
+
+As we went on down the valley the hills seemed to stand farther and
+farther back as if to make more room for those who would soon settle in
+this fertile place, and we soon came in sight of the village or pueblo
+of San Jose (St. Joseph) where we camped. Here we learned that the two
+owners of the horses intended to go to San Francisco instead of
+Sacramento, and as we considered the former place a very poor one for a
+penniless person to go we concluded to break up the company camp and
+each do the best he could for himself, for our objective point was the
+gold mines, and the sooner we reached them the better.
+
+The drovers who had been anxious to have us go with them and help them
+now began to talk about a settlement with us, as if they had done us
+great favors, and called on the other fellows to help pay for their
+board upon the way. When they came to me they said my share would be an
+ounce. This struck me hard, but they said I had ridden their horse all
+the way and the charge was very low. I told them I had furnished the
+most of the provisions I had eaten, and my mule had packed a good load
+all the way, which I considered worth as much as the use of the horse.
+But they refused to allow me anything for the use of the mule and became
+very urgent in their demand for money.
+
+These men were evidently of the tribe of Skinflint, who had no souls, or
+they would not have attempted to rob an almost penniless emigrant in
+this way of the last few dollars he had, and all the hope he had of
+reaching the mines. I did not desire to give up to such narrow
+principles as this and hesitated, but they were bound to have the money
+or make a quarrel, and talked pretty loud of the way they collected
+debts in Sacramento, so that to avoid trouble and get out of the
+clutches of such mean scoundrels as these I counted out sixteen dollars,
+almost every cent I had, and reluctantly gave them to my enemy. I
+immediately mounted my mule, and without stopping to say goodbye rode
+off. I may have quoted a part of the speech Capt Hunt made when the
+party wanted to leave the trail and take the cut-off, especially that
+part where he alluded to their going to h--l. I very much fear the
+little piety my mother taught me was badly strained on that occasion,
+and I thought of a good many swear words if I did not say them, which I
+suppose is about as bad. I could see how cunningly they had managed to
+get me to ride their horse that it might serve as the foundation for a
+claim on me for about all the money I had in the world.
+
+I hitched my mule in the edge of the town and went in to look at the
+place. The houses were situated very much as in other places we had come
+through--scattered around over much ground and built low, but had a
+different style of roof, a peaked or sloping one, and covered with half
+round tile two feet or more long and an inch thick. One course of these
+would be laid with the hollow side up, and then a course with the hollow
+side down, covering the joints of the lower course. This allowed the air
+to circulate freely and was proof against rain. I saw no flat roofs such
+as I had seen down along the coast. I saw one gambling house and about
+all the men in town were gathered there, and some women, too. This was
+the busiest place in town and situated near the plaza. This was the
+largest town I had yet been in. There seemed to be plenty of women and
+lots of dogs, but the men were as scarce as they had been in any of the
+towns--gone to the gold mines to make a stake. I took in the sights
+pretty well, and there were a great many new things for me to see, and
+when pretty well satisfied concluded I would go back to my mule and camp
+in some place just out of town for the night.
+
+Before I reached my animal whom should I meet but my old traveling
+companion John Rogers whom I thought to be a hundred miles away by this
+time. We shook hands heartily and he told me that Bennett, Moody and
+Skinner were camped not far off, and he was still with them. He wore a
+pair of blue overalls, a blue woolen shirt and the same little narrow
+rimmed hat he had worn so long. I observed, too, that he was barefoot,
+and told him I had a dollar or two which he could take and get some
+shoes. He said it was no use for there was not a pair of shoes in the
+town to buy, and he had not found any material of which he could make
+himself a pair of moccasins. I told him how I had been swindled coming
+up, and he was about as angry as I had been. I think if I had known that
+my friend John Rogers had been so near I should have bidden the rascals
+an unceremonious good-bye and we would have been able to hold our own on
+a claim for the services of myself and mule.
+
+We went up to the place where our people were camped, perhaps a mile
+above town on the bank of a river, nearly dry, but where plenty of wood,
+water and grass were at hand; such a place as we had looked for in vain
+for many a weary day upon the desert. This was as far above Death Valley
+as a king above a pauper, and we hoped never to see such a country
+again.
+
+In camp we talked about moving on to the mines. Rogers said he was going
+to start next day, and in answer to exclamations of surprise that he
+should start off alone, he said that some fellows camped a little way
+down the river were going to start and he had made arrangements to go
+with them, as the Bennett party would not go yet for a week. In the
+morning he shook hands and bade us good-bye and good luck, and started
+off down the river bank, lost to us, as it proved, for many years.
+
+The next day as we were all sitting on the ground I felt a sort of
+moving of the earth under me and heard a rumbling sound that seemed very
+queer. It seemed there was a motion also to the trees around us. We all
+started and looked a little frightened, and Skinner said he believed it
+was an earthquake, for he said he could see the motion in a sort of
+wave. It was gone in half a minute. Moody said:--"How do you like
+California now?" I said I thought this part of it was a pretty good
+place for there was plenty of wood, water and grass, and that was better
+than we had seen in some places.
+
+He then went on to say that he had heard Mr. Bennett's story of their
+sufferings and narrow escape from death, and it was the most wonderful
+story he had ever heard. He said the idea of Mrs. Bennett walking over
+such a country for twenty-two days was almost beyond belief, for he
+would not have thought her able to walk one-third the distance. He never
+knew before how much women could do when they were called to do it, and
+they proved in emergencies to be as tough as any body. He said if he
+ever got back home he should move to give them all the rights and
+privileges of men for sure.
+
+One day I mounted my mule for a ride to the eastern foothills, and sat
+down on a little incline and overlooked the valley, a beautiful
+landscape, while my mule cropped the rich grasses in a circle described
+by the rope which confined him. I was always a great admirer of nature,
+and as I sat there alone I could see miles on miles of mammoth mustard
+waving in the strong breeze which came down over the San Francisco Bay
+just visible to the northward, and on the mountain summits to the west
+could see tall timber reaching up into the deep blue of the sky. It was
+a real contented comfort to be thus in the midst of luxuriance and
+beauty, and I enjoyed it, coming as it did at the end of the long and
+dreary road I had been traveling for the past twelve months. Up the
+Platte; across the Rockies; down the Green River canons in my canoe;
+across the mountains to Salt Lake; out over the "Rim of the Basin," and
+across the desert, guided only by the fact that we knew the Pacific
+Ocean was to the west of us, and choosing our road as best we could in
+view of the lofty, snow-clad, impassible mountains; seeing thirteen of
+our comrades lie down never to rise again, and, when hope and strength
+were almost gone, to suddenly come out into a fertile region on the
+seventh of March, 1850. How I wished the fellows who slept in Death
+Valley could have seen this view. The change from all that barrenness
+and desolation to this beautiful, fertile country, covered with wild
+flowers and luxuriant live oaks, was as strong a contrast as one could
+imagine a sudden coming from purgatory to paradise in the space of a
+single hour.
+
+I waked up from my dreamy thoughts, mounted my mule and rode to camp. As
+I rode along the nimble ground squirrel, with his keen black eye, would
+climb to the top of the high mustard stalks to get a better view and,
+suspicious of an enemy within his almost undisputed territory, disappear
+in a wink to his safe underground fortress. Fat cattle and horses would
+appear before me a moment, and then, with a wild look and high heads,
+dash through the tall mustard out of sight.
+
+Next day my trip was toward the western hills, and before I came to them
+was confronted with an extensive stretch of chaparral brush, absolutely
+impenetrable, which I must go around or stop my progress in this
+direction. These thickets were a regular paradise for grizzly bears, for
+within the protection of this matted and thorny growth he is as safe as
+is the soldier in the rocky fort of Gibraltar. I soon found a way around
+the brush and rose high enough so that a backward look over the valley
+was charming, quite as much so as the eastern side. I wandered over the
+grassy hills covered with great scattering oaks, and came to a grove of
+mammoth trees, six feet or more in diameter, with tops reaching two
+hundred or three hundred feet toward the blue sky. They seemed to me to
+be a kind of cedar, and were far larger and taller than any trees I had
+ever seen in the forests of Vermont, Michigan or Wisconsin, and in my
+long journey from the East the route had been principally through a
+country devoid of good timber. A stranger in a strange land, everything
+was new and wonderful. After satisfying my inquiring mind I returned to
+camp again, and soon learned that my newly discovered trees were the
+famous redwoods, so greatly prized for their valuable qualities.
+
+Taking the most direct course to camp I came, when within two or three
+miles of San Jose, to a large extent of willows so thick, and so thickly
+woven together with wild blackberry vines, wild roses and other thorny
+plants, that it appeared at first as if I never could get through. But I
+found a winding trail made by the cattle through the bushes and mustard,
+and this I followed, being nearly scared occasionally by some wild
+steers as they rushed off through the thickets. I got through safely,
+though it would have been difficult to escape a wild, enraged steer, or
+a grizzly had I met him face to face even with a rifle in hand. I could
+see nowhere but by looking straight up, for the willows were in places
+fifty feet high and a foot in diameter. The willows where I came from
+were mere bushes, and these astonished me. This bit of brush is still
+locally known as "The Willows," but the trees are all gone, and the
+ground thickly covered with orchards and fine residences, the land
+selling at from one thousand to two thousand dollars per acre.
+
+The sun rose without a cloud, and a little later the sea breeze from the
+bay blew gently over the valley, making the climate perfectly delightful
+in its temperate coolness, a true paradise on earth it seemed to me, if
+I was able to judge or set a value upon so beautiful a spot; and surely
+I had seen all sorts, good and poor, desert and valley, mountain and
+plain.
+
+But I was poor in purse, and resolved I would seek first the gold mines
+and secure gold enough to buy a piece of this valley afterward.
+
+When I had seen what was to be seen about San Jose I had a talk with my
+friends and found that Mr. Bennett favored going on to the mines at once
+and that Moody and Skinner thought they would remain a little while at
+least.
+
+I went along in company with Bennett, and when we got a little way from
+San Jose, on the road to the Mission, the road seemed walled in on both
+sides with growing mustard ten or twelve feet high and all in blossom.
+How so much mustard could grow, and grow so large, I could not
+understand. I had seen a few plants in the gardens or fields which
+people used for greens, and here seemed to be enough to feed the nation,
+if they liked mustard greens.
+
+The second day out we passed the big church at Mission San Jose and soon
+left the valley and turned into the mountains and when part way over we
+came to a stream which we followed up and came out into Livermore
+valley, where we found a road to follow. Houses were scarce, and we
+camped a mile or so before we got to the Livermore ranch buildings.
+There was very little sign of life about the place, and we soon went out
+of the valley and into the mountains again.
+
+The first sign of settlement we saw when part way through the mountains
+was a stone corral, but no house or other improvements. The next place
+was a small house made of willow poles set in the ground and plastered
+over with mud. This rejoiced in the name of "Mountain House." This
+wayside inn looked like a horse thief's glory; only one or two men, a
+quarter of an elk hanging on a pole, and no accommodations for man or
+beast. There was very little water, nothing to sell as well as nothing
+wanted. On the summits of the mountains as we passed through we saw,
+standing like guards, many large buck elks.
+
+It was now fifteen miles to the San Joaquin river, and a level plain lay
+before us. When our road turned into the river bottom we found the water
+too deep to get through safely, so we concluded to go on and try to find
+some place where we could cross. On our way droves of antelopes could be
+seen frolicking over the broad plains, while in the distance were herds
+of elk winding their way from the mountains towards the river for water.
+When far away their horns were the first things visible, and they much
+resembled the dry tops of dead pine trees, but a nearer view showed them
+to us as the proud monarchs of the plain.
+
+When we came up opposite the mouth of the Merced river we concluded to
+try again to cross. The river here, as below, was out of its banks, and
+the overflowed part was quite wide which we had to pass through before
+we could reach the river proper.
+
+I waded in ahead of the team and sounded the depth of the river so as
+not to get in too deep water, and avoid if possible such accidents as
+might otherwise occur. Sometimes the water was up to the wagon bed and
+it looked a little doubtful of our getting through in safety, but we
+made it at last.
+
+We found a narrow strip of dry land along the river bank. A town was on
+the east side of the San Joaquin. river, just below where the Merced
+river came in. I think this place was called Merced City. This so-called
+city contained but one residence, a tent occupied by the ferryman. We
+crossed the sluggish stream and for the privilege paid the ferryman, ten
+dollars for toll. The road was not much used and the ferry business
+seemed lonesome.
+
+Here we camped for the night. The mosquitoes soon found us, and they
+were all very hungry and had good teeth. They annoyed me so that I moved
+my lodgings to the ferryboat, but here they quickly found me and
+troubled me all night. These insects were the first I had seen since I
+left the lower Platte river, and I thought them as bad as on the
+Mississippi.
+
+From here the road led up the Merced river near the bottom, and as we
+came near groves of willows, big, stately elk would start out and trot
+off proudly into the open plains to avoid danger. These proud,
+big-horned monarchs of the plains could be seen in bunches scattered
+over the broad meadows, as well as an equal amount of antelope. They all
+seemed to fear us, which was wise on their part, and kept out of rifle
+shot. As were not starving as we were once, I did not follow them out on
+the open plain, for I thought I could get meat when we were more in
+need.
+
+We followed up the river bottom and saw not a single house until we
+reached the road leading from Stockton to the Mariposa mines, where we
+found a ferry and a small store. Here we learned that some men were
+mining a few miles up the river, so we drove on until we found a little
+work being done in a dry gulch near the river bank. We made our camp at
+this spot and had plenty of wood, water and grass. We found there was
+something to be learned in the art of gold mining. We had no tools nor
+money, and had never seen a speck of native gold and did not know how to
+separate it from the dirt nor where to search for it. We were poor,
+ignorant emigrants. There were two or three men camped here. One of them
+was more social than the rest and we soon got acquainted. His name was
+Williams, from Missouri. He came down to the river with a pan of dirt,
+and seeing me in my ignorance trying to wash some as well, he took the
+pan from me and very kindly showed me how to work so as to let the dirt
+go and save the gold. When he had the pan finished a few small, bright
+scales remained. These to me were curious little follows and I examined
+them closely and concluded there was a vast difference between gold and
+lead mining. Williams became more friendly and we told him something
+about our journey across the plains, and he seemed to think that we
+deserved a good claim. He went to a dry gulch where a Spaniard was
+working and told him that all of California, now that the war was over,
+belonged to Americans and he must leave. Williams had his gun in his
+hand and war might follow, so Mr. Spaniard left and his claim was
+presented to Bennett and myself.
+
+Williams had been twice to Santa Fe from Missouri and had learned the
+Spanish language and could swear at them by note if necessary. We now
+began work almost without tools, but our ground we had to work was quite
+shallow and Williams helped us out by loaning us some of his tools at
+times. We soon succeeded in scratching together some of the yellow stuff
+and I went down to the store and bought a pan for five dollars, a shovel
+for ten dollars, and a poor pick cost me ten dollars more. This took
+about two ounces of my money.
+
+We now worked harder than ever for about three weeks, but we could not
+save much and pay such high prices as were charged. Our gulch claim was
+soon worked out, and as the river had fallen some we tried the bar, but
+we could only make four or five dollars a day, and the gold was very
+fine and hard to save. We bought a hind quarter of an elk and hung it up
+in a tree and it kept fresh till all of it was eaten.
+
+Some others came and took up claims on the bar, and as the prospects
+were not as good as was wished, three of us concluded to go and try to
+find a better place. The next day was Sunday and all lay in bed late.
+Before I rose I felt something crawling on my breast, and when I looked
+I found it to be an insect, slow in motion, resembling a louse, but
+larger. He was a new emigrant to me and I wondered what he was. I now
+took off my pants and found many of his kind in the seams. I murdered
+all I could find, and when I got up I told Williams what I had found. He
+said they hurt nobody and were called _piojos_, more commonly known as
+body lice.
+
+We started on our prospecting tour and went northeast to a place now
+called Big Oak Flat. This was at the head of a small stream and there
+were several small gulches that emptied into it that paid well. This
+flat was all taken up and a ditch was cut through to drain it. A ship
+load of gold was expected to be found when it was worked. A small town
+of tents had been pitched on both sides of the flat. One side was
+occupied by gamblers, and many games were constantly carried on and were
+well patronized. On the opposite side of the flat were many small tents,
+and around on the hillside some mules and jacks were feeding. One of the
+little long-eared donkeys came down among the tents and went in one and
+commenced eating flour from the sack. The owner of the flour ran to the
+tent, took his shot gun and fired a load of buck-shot into the donkey's
+hams. The animal reeled and seemed shot fatally. I now looked for a
+battle to commence, but the parties were more reasonable. The price of
+the animal was fully paid, and no blood shed as I expected there surely
+would be.
+
+We now prospected further east, but nothing good enough was found. The
+place we looked over was where the town of Garota now stands. We
+concluded to go back, have a council, and go somewhere else. On our way
+back we stopped to get dinner. While I was around the fire, barefooted,
+I felt something crawl up my instep, and it proved to be another of
+those _piojos_ of Williams'. I now thought these torments must be all
+over this country.
+
+Gold dust was used to transact all business; all the coin was in the
+hands of the gentlemen gamblers. Most miners found it necessary to have
+a small pair of scales in the breast pocket to weigh the dust so as not
+to have to trust some one who carried lead weights and often got more
+than his just dues. Gold dust was valued at sixteen dollars an ounce.
+
+We now thought it would be best for two of us to take our mules and go
+down in the small hills and try to get some elk meat to take with us, as
+our route would be mostly through the unsettled part of the country, and
+no provisions could likely be procured, so Mr. Bradford of New Orleans
+and myself took our mules and went down where the hills were low and the
+game plenty. We camped in a low ravine, staked out our mules and staid
+all night without a fire, believing that when we woke in the early
+morning some of the many herd of elk then in sight would be near us at
+daylight, and we could easily kill all we wanted without leaving camp;
+but we were disappointed. Hundreds of the big-horned fellows were in
+sight, but none in rifle shot, and there was no chance for us to get any
+nearer to them. We got near a couple of antelope and Mr. Bradford, who
+was a brag shot and had the best gun, proposed to kill them as we stood.
+The larger of the two was on his side and much nearer than the smaller
+one, but we fired together just as we stood. Bradford's antelope ran off
+unhurt: mine fell dead in its tracks. Bradford bragged no more about his
+fine gun and superior marksmanship.
+
+We went back to camp with the little we had killed and soon got ready to
+start north. Bennett was to go with his team to Sacramento and wait
+there until he heard from us.
+
+Four of us, mounted on mules, now started on our journey along the
+foothills without a road. We struck the Tuolumne river at a ferry. The
+stream was high and rapid and could not be forded, so we had to
+patronize the ferryman, and give him half an ounce apiece. We thought
+such charges on poor and almost penniless emigrants were unjust.
+
+The point we were seeking to reach was a new discovery called Gold Lake
+on Feather River, where many rich gulches that emptied into it had been
+worked, and the lake was believed to have at least a ship load of gold
+in it. It was located high in the mountains and could be easily drained
+and a fortune soon obtained if we got there in time and said nothing to
+anyone we might meet on the road. We might succeed in getting a claim
+before they were all taken up. We followed along the foothills without a
+road, and when we came to the Stanislaus River we had to patronize a
+ferry and pay half an ounce each again. We thought their scale weights
+were rather heavy and their ferrymen well paid.
+
+We continued along the foothills without any trail until we struck the
+road from Sacramento to Hangtown. This sounded like a bad name for a
+good village, but we found it was fittingly named after some ugly devils
+who were hanged there. The first house that we came to on this road was
+the Mormon Tavern. Here were some men playing cards for money, and two
+boys, twelve or fourteen years old, playing poker for the same and
+trying in every way to ape the older gamblers and bet their money as
+freely and swear as loud as the old sports. All I saw was new and
+strange to me and became indelibly fixed on my mind. I had never before
+seen such wicked boys, and the men paid no attention to these fast
+American boys. I began to wonder if all the people in California were
+like these, bad and wicked.
+
+Here we learned that Gold Lake was not as rich as reported, so we
+concluded to take the road and go to Coloma, the place where gold was
+first found on the American River.
+
+We camped at Coloma all night. Mr. Bradford got his mule shod and paid
+sixteen dollars, or in the mining phrase, an ounce of gold dust. I
+visited the small town and found that the only lively business place in
+it was a large gambling house, and I saw money (gold dust) liberally
+used--sometimes hundreds of dollars bet on a single card. When a few
+hundred or thousand were lost more would be brought on. The purse would
+be set in the center of the table and the owners would take perhaps
+twenty silver dollars or checks, and when they were lost the deposited
+purse would be handed to the barkeeper, the amount weighed out and the
+purse returned. When the purse was empty a friend of the better would
+bring another, and so the game went on almost in silence. The game
+called Monte seemed to be the favorite. How long these sacks of gold
+lasted or who eventually got the whole I never knew. This was a new
+country with new people, and many seemed to be engaged in a business
+that was new, strange and hazardous. The final result of all this was
+what puzzled me.
+
+We now followed the road up the mountain to Georgetown. Here was a small
+village on the summit of the ridge and it seemed to be in a prosperous
+mining section. After some inquiry about a good place to work we
+concluded to go down a couple of miles northeast of town on Canon creek
+and go to work if vacant ground could be found. There was a piece of
+creek bottom here that had not been much worked. Georgia Flat above had
+been worked and paid well, and the Illinois and Oregon canons that
+emptied into the bottom here were rich, so we concluded to locate in the
+bottom. Claims here in the flat were only fifteen feet square. I located
+one and my notice told others that I would go to work on it as soon my
+partner came from Sacramento. I sent my partner, Mr. Bennett a note
+telling him to come up.
+
+While waiting for Mr. Bennett I took my pan and butcher knife and went
+into a dry gulch out of sight of the other campers and began work. As
+the ground was mostly bare bed rock by scratching around I succeeded in
+getting three or four pans of dirt a day. The few days I had to wait for
+Bennett I made eight dollars a day until my claim was worked out.
+
+I then went to Georgetown to meet Bennett and family, and soon after my
+arrival they came well and safe. All of them, even to the faithful camp
+dog, Cuff, were glad to see me. Old Cuff followed me all around town,
+but when we got ready to start for camp the dog was gone and could not
+be found. Some one had hidden him away knowing he could not be gotten
+any other way, for six ounces would not have bought him. We had raised
+him in Wisconsin, made him a good deer dog, and with us he had crossed
+the dry and sandy deserts. He had been a great protection to Bennett's
+children on the plains, and company for us all.
+
+We now located claims on the creek bottom. The channel of the creek was
+claimed by Holman of Alabama and the Helms brothers of Missouri. They
+had turned the stream into a ditch in order to work the bed of the
+stream, believing that their claims had all the gold in them. Our claims
+joined theirs.
+
+Mr. W.M. Stockton, who left his family in Los Angeles, came with Mr.
+Bennett and went to work with us. As everything here was very high we
+concluded to let Mr. Stockton take the team and go to Sacramento for
+provisions for our own use. Flour and meat were each fifty cents a
+pound, potatoes twenty-five cents a pound and onions one dollar and
+twenty-five cents each. Onions and potatoes eaten raw were considered
+very necessary to prevent and cure scurvy, which was quite a common
+complaint. Whiskey, if not watered, cost one dollar a drink.
+
+Our claims were about ten feet deep. The bottom was wet and a pump
+needed, so we went to a whip saw-mill and got four narrow strips one by
+three and one by five and twelve feet long, paying for them by weight,
+the price being twelve cents a pound. Out of these strips we made a good
+pump by fixing a valve at the end and nailing a piece of green rawhide
+on a pole, which answered for a plunger, and with the pump set at
+forty-five degrees it worked easily and well. One man could easily keep
+the water out and we made fair wages.
+
+In the creek bottom Mr. Bush of Missouri had a saloon. The building was
+made mainly of brush, with a split piece for a counter, and another one
+for a shelf for his whiskey keg, a box of cigars, a few decks of cards
+and half a dozen glasses, which made up the entire stock of trade for
+the shop. In front was a table made of two puncheons with a blanket
+thrown over all, and a few rough seats around. There was no roof except
+the brush, and through the dry season none was needed except for shade.
+
+There was also at this place five brothers by the name of Helms, also
+from Missouri. Their names were Jim, Davenport, Wade, Chet and Daunt.
+These men, with Mr. Holman, owned the bed of the stream, and their
+ground proved to be quite wet and disagreeable to work. Mr. Holman could
+not well stand to work in the cold water, so he asked the privilege of
+putting in a hired man in his place, which was agreed to. He then took
+up a claim for himself outside of the other claims, and this proved to
+be on higher bed rock and dry, and paid even better than the low claims
+where the Helms brothers were at work. This was not what the Helms boys
+considered exactly fair, as Holman seemed to be getting rich the
+fastest, and as there was no law to govern them they held a free country
+court of their own, and decided the case to suit themselves; so they
+ordered Holman to come back and do his own work. No fault was found with
+the hired man but what he did his work well enough, but they were
+jealous and would not be bound by their agreement.
+
+But this decision did not satisfy all parties, and it was agreed to
+submit the case to three men, and I was chosen one of them. We held
+Court on the ground and heard both sides of the story, after which we
+retired to the shade of a bunch of willows to hold council over the
+matter with the result that we soon came to a decision in favor of Mr.
+Holman. About this time one of the Helms boys began to quarrel with
+Holman and grew terribly mad, swearing all kinds of vengeance, and
+making the canon ring with the loudest kind of Missouri oaths. Finally
+he picked up a rock to kill Holman, but the latter was quick with his
+pistol, a single shot duelling piece, and as they were not more than ten
+feet apart Helms would have had a hole in him large enough for daylight
+to shine through if the pistol had not missed fire. We stopped the
+quarrel and made known our decision, whereupon Helms went off muttering
+vengeance.
+
+We now went back to our work again at our claims, mine being between
+Helms' cabin and the saloon. Holman stopped to talk a little while on my
+claim, while I was down below at work, and soon Helms came back again in
+a terrible rage, stopping on the opposite side of the hole from Holman,
+swearing long and loud, and flourishing a big pistol with which he
+threatened to blow Holman into purgatory. He was so much enraged that he
+fairly frothed at the mouth like a rabid dog. The men were about twenty
+feet apart, and I at the bottom of the hole ten feet below, but exactly
+between them. It seemed to me that I was in some little danger for Helms
+had his big pistol at full cock, and as it pointed at me quite as often
+as it did at anybody, I expect I dodged around a little to keep out of
+range. Helms was terribly nervous, and trembled as he cursed, but Holman
+was cool and drew his weapon deliberately, daring Helms to raise his
+hand or he would kill him on the instant. Helms now began to back off,
+but carefully kept his eye on Holman and continued his abuse as he went
+on to the saloon to get something to replenish his courage. Holman,
+during the whole affair, talked very calmly and put considerable
+emphasis into his words when he dared Helms to make a hostile motion. He
+was a true Alabamian and could be neither scared nor driven. He soon
+sold out, however, and went to a more congenial camp for he said these
+people were cowardly enough to waylay and kill him unawares.
+
+Soon after this unpleasantness a man and wife who lived in Georgetown
+came into notice, and while the man made some money mining his wife did
+a good stroke of business washing for the boys who paid her a dollar a
+shirt as laundry fees. As she began to make considerable money the
+bigger, if not better, half of this couple began to feel quite rich and
+went off on a drunk, and when his own money was spent he went to his
+wife for more, but she refused him, and he, in his drunken rage, picked
+up a gun near by and shot her dead.
+
+All of a sudden the Helms boys and others gathered at the saloon, took
+drinks all around, and did a good deal of swearing, which was the
+biggest portion of the proceedings of the meeting; and then they all
+started off toward town, swearing and yelling as they struggled up the
+steep mountain side--a pack of reckless, back-woods Missourians who
+seemed to smell something bloody.
+
+It was near night when they all came back and gathered around the saloon
+again. They were all in unusual good humor as they related the
+adventures of the afternoon, and bragged of their bravery and skill in
+performing the little job they had just completed, which consisted in
+taking the murderer out to the first convenient oak tree, and with the
+assistance of some sailors in handling the ropes, hoisting the fellow
+from the ground with a noose around his neck, and to the "Heave, yo
+heave" of the sailor boys, pulling the rope that had been passed over an
+elevated limb. They watched the suspended body till the last spark of
+life went out, and then went back to town leaving the corpse hanging for
+somebody else to cut down and bury. They whooped and yelled at the top
+of their voices as they came down along the mountain trail, and at the
+saloon they related to the crowd that had gathered there how they had
+helped to hang the ---- who had killed his wife. They said justice must
+be done if there was no law, and that no man could kill a woman and live
+in California. They imagined they were very important individuals, and
+veritable lords of Creation.
+
+These miners, many of them, were inveterate gamblers and played every
+night till near day-light, with no roof over them, and their only
+clothes a woolen shirt and overalls which must have been a little scanty
+in the cool nights which settled down over the mountain camp; but they
+bore it all in their great desire for card playing.
+
+Near by there were three men who worked and slept together, every night
+dividing the dust which each put into a purse at the head of his bed.
+One day the news came to the saloon that one of the purses had been
+stolen. The Helms boys talked it over and concluded that as one of the
+men had gone to town, he might know something about the lost dust; so
+they went to town and there, after a little search, found their man in a
+gambling house. After a little while they invited him to return to camp
+with them, and all started together down the mountain; but when about
+half way down they halted suddenly under an oak tree and accused their
+man of knowing where his partner's money was. This he strongly denied,
+and was very positive in his denial till he felt the surprise of a rope
+around his neck, with the end over a limb, and beginning to haul pretty
+taut in a direction that would soon elevate his body from the ground,
+when he weakened at their earnestness and asked them to hold on a
+minute. As the rope slackened he owned up he had the dust and would give
+it up if they would not send the news to his folks in Missouri. This was
+agreed to and the thief was advised to leave at once for some distant
+camp, or they might yet expose him. He was not seen afterward.
+
+The boys bragged a good deal of their detective ability after this, and
+said that a little hanging would make a ---- thief tell the truth even
+if it did not make an honest man of him, and that a thief would be lucky
+if he got through with them and saved his life. Their law was "Hanging
+for stealing."
+
+The Helms brothers were said to be from western Missouri, and in early
+days were somewhat of the border ruffian order, and of course preferred
+to live on the frontier rather than in any well regulated society. As
+the country became settled and improved around them they moved on. A
+school house was an indication that the country was getting too far
+advanced for them.
+
+They crossed the plains in 1849 and began mining operations near
+Georgetown in Placer county. It was well known that they were foremost
+in all gambling, and in taking a hand in any excitement that came up,
+and as a better class of miners came in they moved on, keeping ahead
+with the prospectors, and just out of reach of law and order. If anyone
+else committed a crime they were always quite eager to be on the
+vigilance committee, and were remarkably happy when punishing a
+wrong-doer. When any of their number was suspected it was generally the
+case that they moved quickly on and so escaped. It was reported,
+however, that one of their number was in the hands of the vigilance
+committee and hanged in Montana.
+
+After a time, it is said, they went down to southern California and
+settled on the border of the Colorado desert, about seventy-five miles
+east of San Diego, in a mountainous and desert region. Here they found a
+small tribe of Indians, and by each marrying a squaw they secured rights
+equal to any of them in the occupation of the land. This was considered
+pretty sharp practice, but it suited them and they became big chiefs and
+midecine men, and numerous dusky descendants grew up around them.
+
+It is said that their property consists of extensive pasture lands on
+which they raise cattle, and that they always go well armed with pistol,
+rifle and riata. It is said that some of the Indians undertook to claim
+that the Helms brothers were intruders, but that in some mysterious way
+accidents happened to most of them and they were left without any
+serious opposition.
+
+They are very hospitable and entertaining to people who visit them,
+provided they do not know too much about the men or their former deeds
+or history. In this case ignorance is bliss and it is folly, if not
+dangerous, to be too wise. They have made no improvements, but live in
+about the same style as the Indians and about on a level with them
+morally and intellectually.
+
+There may be those who know them well, but the writer only knows them by
+hearsay and introduces them as a certain type of character found in the
+early days.
+
+As I was now about barefoot I went to town to look for boots or shoes.
+There were no shoes, and a pair of the cheapest boots I found hanging at
+the door were priced to me at two ounces. This seemed a wonderful sum
+for a pair of coarse cow-hide boots that would sell in the state for two
+dollars and fifty cents; but I had to buy them at the price or go
+barefoot.
+
+While rambling around town I went into a round tent used as a gambling
+saloon. The occupants were mostly men, and one or two nice appearing
+ladies, but perhaps of doubtful reputation. The men were of all
+classes--lawyer, doctors, preachers and such others as wanted to make
+money without work. The miners, especially sailors, were eager to try to
+beat the games. While I was here the table was only occupied by a sailor
+lying upon it and covered with a green blanket. All at once the fellow
+noticed a large _piojo_ walking slowly across the table, and drawing his
+sheath knife made a desperate stab at him, saying "You kind of a deck
+hand can't play at this game."
+
+Our claims, by this time were nearly worked out, and I thought that I
+had upward of two thousand dollars in gold, and the pile looked pretty
+big to me. It seemed to me that these mines were very shallow and would
+soon be worked out, at least in a year or two. I could not see that the
+land would be good for much for farming when no irrigation could be
+easily got, and the Spanish people seemed to own all the best land as
+well as the water; so that a poor fellow like myself would never get
+rich at farming here.
+
+Seeing the matter in this light I thought it would be best to take my
+money and go back to Wisconsin where government land was good and
+plenty, and with even my little pile I could soon be master of a good
+farm in a healthy country, and I would there be rich enough. Thus
+reasoning I decided to return to Wisconsin, for I could not see how a
+man could ever be a successful farmer in a country where there were only
+two seasons, one wet and the other long and dry.
+
+I went out and hunted up my mule which I had turned out to pasture for
+herself, and found her entirely alone. After a little coaxing I caught
+her and brought her with me to camp, where I offered her for sale. She
+was sleek and fat and looked so well that Helms said that if I could
+beat him shooting he would buy both mule and gun; so three or four of us
+tried our skill. My opponents boasted a good deal of their superior
+marksmanship, but on the trial, which began at short range, I beat them
+all pretty badly. Helms was as good as his word and offered me twelve
+ounces for my gun and mule, which I took. I thought a great deal of my
+fat little one-eyed mule, and I thought then, as I think now, how well
+she did her part on the fearful road to and from Death Valley.
+
+Helms was now going to the valley to have a winter's hunt, for here the
+snow would fall four feet deep and no mining work could be done till
+spring, when he would return and work his claim again.
+
+I now had all in my pocket, and when I got ready to go Mrs. Bennett was
+much affected at knowing that I would now leave them, perhaps never to
+return to them again. She clasped me in her arms, embraced me as she
+would her own son, and said "Good luck to you--God bless you, for I know
+that you saved all our lives. I don't suppose you will ever come back,
+but we may come back to Wisconsin sometime and we will try to find a
+better road than the one we came over. Give my best regards to all who
+inquire after us." She shook my hand again and again with earnest
+pressure, and cried and sobbed bitterly. As I climbed the mountain she
+stood and watched me so long as I was in sight, and with her
+handkerchief waved a final adieu. I was myself much affected at this
+parting, for with Mr. and Mrs. Bennett had been really a home to me; she
+had been to me as a mother, and it was like leaving a home fireside to
+go away from them. I was now starting out among strangers, and those I
+should meet might be the same good friends as those whom I had left
+behind. Mr. Bennett and I had for many years been hunting companions; I
+had lived at his house in the East, and we never disagreed but had
+always been good friends. I had now a traveling companion whose home was
+in Iowa Co., Wis., where I had lived for several years, and we went
+along together by way of Greenwood where there was a small mining town
+built of tents, many of which were used as gambling places. These places
+were occupied by gentlemen, some of whom wore white shirts to
+distinguish them, I presume, from the common herd of miners from whom
+they won their dust.
+
+We crossed the American River at Salmon Falls, and walked thence on to
+Sacramento City, which was the largest town we had seen on the coast.
+The houses were all small wooden ones, but business seemed to be brisk,
+and whiskey shops and gambling houses plenty. One game played with three
+cards, called three card Monte, was played openly on the streets, with
+goods boxes for tables. Every one who came along was urged to bet by the
+dealer who would lay out his cards face up so all could see them, then
+turn them over and shuffle them and say "I'll bet six ounces that no one
+can put his finger on the queen." I watched this a while and saw that
+the dealer won much oftener than he lost, and it seemed to be a simple
+and easy way to make a living when money was plenty.
+
+We strolled around town looking at the sights, and the different
+business places, the most lively of which had plenty of music inside,
+lots of tables with plenty of money on them, and many questionable lady
+occupants. These business places were liberally patronized and every
+department flourishing, especially the bar. Oaths and vulgar language
+were the favorite style of speech, and very many of the people had all
+the whiskey down them that they could conveniently carry.
+
+We got through the town safely and at the river we found a steamboat
+bound for San Francisco and the fare was two ounces. The runners were
+calling loudly for passengers, and we were told we could never make the
+trip any cheaper for they had received a telegram from below saying that
+no boat would come up again for two days. I said to him "I can't see
+your telegram. Where is it?" At this he turned and left us. He had
+thought, no doubt, that miners were green enough to believe anything. In
+the course of an hour the smoke of a steamer was seen down the river,
+and this beat out the runners who now offered passage for half an ounce.
+
+At this time there was no telegraph and the delay was a lucky one for
+us. We took passage and went to San Francisco that night, where we put
+up at a cheap tavern near where the Custom House now stands.
+
+Here we learned that we would have to wait two days before a ship would
+sail for Panama, and during this time we surveyed the town from the
+hill-tops and walked all over the principal streets. It was really a
+small, poorly built, dirty looking place, with few wharves, poor, cheap
+hotels, and very rough inhabitants. There were lots of gambling houses
+full of tables holding money, and the rooms filled with pretty rough
+looking people, except the card dealers, most of whom wore white shirts,
+and a few sported plug hats. There was also a "right smart sprinkling"
+of ladies present who were well dressed and adorned with rich jewelry,
+and their position seemed to be that of paying teller at the gambling
+tables.
+
+The buildings seemed to be rather cheap, although material was very
+expensive, as well as labor, mechanics of all sorts getting as much as
+ten or twelve dollars per day for work. Coin seemed to be scarce, and a
+great deal of the money needed on the gambling tables was represented by
+iron washers, each of which represented an ounce of gold.
+
+I noticed some places in the streets where it was muddy and a narrow
+walk had been made out of boxes of tobacco, and sometimes even bacon was
+used for the same purpose. Transportation from the city to the mines was
+very slow and made by schooner. Ship loads of merchandise had arrived
+and been unloaded, and the sailors having run away to the mines,
+everything except whiskey and cards was neglected. Whiskey sold at this
+place for fifty cents a drink.
+
+A man at the tavern where we stopped tried hard to sell me a fifty-vara
+lot there in the edge of the mud (near where the Custom House now
+stands) for six hundred dollars. I thought this a pretty high price and
+besides such a lot was no use to me, for I had never lived in town and
+could not so easily see the uses to which such property could be put. It
+seemed very doubtful to me that this place would ever be much larger or
+amount to much, for it evidently depended on the mines for a support,
+and these were so shallow that it looked as if they would be worked out
+in a short time and the country and town both be deserted. And I was not
+alone in thinking that the country would soon be deserted, for
+accustomed as we all had been to a showery summer, these dry seasons
+would seem entirely to prevent extensive farming. Some cursed the
+country and said they were on their way to "good old Missouri, God's own
+country." Hearing so much I concluded it would be wise not to invest,
+but to get me back to Wisconsin again.
+
+The steamer we took passage in was the Northerner, advertised to sail on
+the twenty-ninth day of November, 1850. The cabin room was all engaged,
+and they charged us nine ounces for steerage passage; but I did not care
+as much about their good rooms and clean sheets as I would have done at
+one time, for I had been a long time without either and did not care to
+pay the difference. When we were at the ship's office we had to take our
+turns to get tickets. One man weighed out the dust, and another filled
+out certificates. When the callers began to get a little scarce I looked
+under the counter where I saw a whole panful of dust to which they added
+mine to make the pile a little higher. They gave out no berths with
+these tickets, but such little things as that did not trouble us in the
+least. It was far better fare than we used to have in and about Death
+Valley, and we thought we could live through anything that promised
+better than the desert.
+
+The passenger list footed up four hundred and forty, and when all got on
+board, at about ten o'clock in the morning, there was hardly room for
+all to stand up comfortably. It seemed to me to be a very much
+over-crowded boat in which to put to sea, but we floated out into the
+current, with all the faces toward the shore, and hats and handkerchiefs
+waving goodbye to those who had come down to see the home-goers safely
+off.
+
+As we passed out through the wonderful Golden Gate and the out going
+current met the solid sea, each seemed wrestling for the mastery, and
+the waves beat and dashed themselves into foam all around us, while the
+spray came over the bows quite lively, frightening some who did not
+expect such treatment. When we had passed this scene of watery commotion
+and got out into the deeper water, the sea smoothed down a great deal;
+but sea-sickness began to claim its victims, at first a few, then more
+and more, till the greater part were quite badly affected. I had a touch
+of it myself, but managed to keep my feet by bracing out pretty wide,
+and hugging everything I could get hold of that seemed to offer a steady
+support, and I did not lie down until after I had thrown my breakfast
+overboard.
+
+By the time dark came nearly every one was on his back, mostly on deck,
+and no one asleep. All were retching and moaning bitterly. Some who had
+a few hours before cursed California now cursed the sea, and declared
+that if they could induce the Captain to turn about and put them back on
+shore again, they would rather creep on their hands and knees clear back
+to old Missouri over rocks and sand, than to ride any further on such a
+miserable old boat as this one was.
+
+Next morning the decks looked pretty filthy, and about all the food the
+passengers had eaten was now spread about the decks in a half digested
+condition. Most of the passengers were very sick. With the early
+daylight the sailors coupled the hose to the big steam pump, and began
+the work of washing and scrubbing off the decks, and though many begged
+hard to be left alone as they were, with all the filth, a good flood of
+salt water was the only answer they received to their pleading, and they
+were compelled to move, for the sailors said they could not change their
+orders without the Captain, and he would not be out of bed till ten
+o'clock or later. So the cursing and swearing went for naught, and the
+decks were clean again. There were no deaths to report, but there were
+very few to do duty at the tables in eating the food prepared for them.
+After a few days the tables filled up again, and now it took them so
+long to eat that there had to be an order for only two meals a day or
+there would not have been a chance for all to get something. They were
+terribly hungry now, and every one seemed to try his best to take in
+provisions enough to last him for at least twelve hours.
+
+As the fellows began to get their sea legs on, they began to talk as if
+they were still in California, and could easily manage any little boat
+like this, and could run things as they did when they crossed the
+plains, where no sheriff, court or judge had anything to say about
+matters, and all law was left behind. They began to act as if they were
+lords over all they could see, and as many of them were from the
+Southern states, they seemed to take an especial pride in boasting of
+how they did as they pleased, about like the Helms brothers. They talked
+as if they could run the world, or the universe even, themselves without
+assistance.
+
+One morning at breakfast, when the table was full and the waiters
+scarce, some of these fellows swore and talked pretty rough, and as a
+waiter was passing a blue-blood from New Orleans rose in his seat and
+called for sugar, holding the empty bowl in his hand, but the waiter
+passed on and paid no attention, and when a mulatto waiter came along
+behind him the angry man damned him the worst he could, ordering him to
+bring a bowl of sugar, quick. This waiter did not stop and the Louisiana
+man threw the bowl at the waiter's head, but missed it, and the bowl
+went crashing against the side of the ship. I expected surely the
+Captain and his men would come and put the unruly fellow in irons, and
+there might be a fight or a riot, so I cut my meal short and went on
+deck about as soon as I could do so, thinking that would be a safer
+place. But the Captain seemed to know about how to manage such fellows,
+and never left his stateroom, which I think was a wise move. The darky
+did not make his appearance at table afterwards, and the man who threw
+the bowl said that colored folks had to mind a gentleman when he spoke
+to them, or fare worse.
+
+The Captain now got out his passenger list, and we all had to pass
+through a narrow space near the wheel-house and every one answer to his
+name and show his ticket. This made work for about one day. Some
+stowaways were found and put down into the hole to heave coal. One day
+the Captain and mate were out taking an observation on the sun when a
+young Missourian stepped up to see what was being done, and said to the
+Captain:--"Captain, don't you think I could learn how to do that kind of
+business?" The Captain took the young man's hand and looked at his nails
+which were very rough and dirty and said:--"No my lad; boys with such
+finger nails can't learn navigation." This made a big laugh at the brave
+lubber's expense.
+
+Many of the sea-sick ones did not get up so soon, and some died of that,
+or something else, and their bodies were sewed up in blankets with a
+bushel of coal at their feet to sink them, and thrown overboard. The
+bodies were laid out on a plank at the ship's side, the Captain would
+read a very brief service, and the sailors would, at the appropriate
+time, raise the end of the plank so that the body slid off and went down
+out of sight in a moment.
+
+In due time we went into the harbor of Acapulco for water and coal. Here
+nearly every one went on shore, and as there was no wharf for the vessel
+to lie to, the native canoes had many passengers at a dollar apiece for
+passage money. Out back of town there was a small stream of clear water
+which was warm and nice to bathe in, and some places three or four feet
+deep, so that a great many stripped off for a good wash which was said
+to be very healthful in this climate. Many native women were on hand
+with soap and towels ready to give any one a good scrubbing for _dos
+reales_, (twenty-five cents) and those who employed them said they did a
+good, satisfactory job.
+
+As I returned to town the streets seemed to be deserted, and I saw one
+man come out on an adjoining street, and after running a few steps, fall
+down on his face. Hearing the report of a gun at the same time, I
+hurried on to get out of danger, but I afterward learned that the man
+was a travelling gambler who had come across the country from Mexico,
+and that he was killed as he fell. No one seemed to care for him.
+
+Near the beach were some large trees, and under them dancing was going
+on to the music of the guitar. There were plenty of pretty Spanish girls
+for partners, and these and our boys made up an interesting party. The
+girls did not seem at all bashful or afraid of the boys, and though they
+could not talk together very much they got along with the sign language,
+and the ladies seemed very fond of the _Americanos_.
+
+There was a fort here, a regular moss-backed old concern, and the
+soldiers were bare footed and did not need much clothing.
+
+The cattle that were taken on board here were made to swim out to the
+ship, and then, with a rope around their horns, hoisted on deck, a
+distance of perhaps forty feet above the water. The maddened brutes were
+put into a secure stall ready for the ship's butcher. The small boys
+came around the ship in canoes, and begged the passengers to throw them
+out a dime, and when the coin struck the water they would dive for it,
+never losing a single one. One man dropped a bright bullet and the boy
+who dove for it was so enraged that he called him a d----d Gringo
+(Englishman.) None of these boys wore any clothes.
+
+This town, like all Spanish towns, was composed of one-story houses,
+with dry mud, fire-proof walls. The country around looked very
+mountainous and barren, and comfortably warm.
+
+After two days we were called on board, and soon set sail for sea again;
+and now, as we approached the equator, it became uncomfortably warm and
+an awning was put over the upper deck. All heavy clothing was laid
+aside, and anyone who had any amount of money on his person was unable
+to conceal it; but no one seemed to have any fear of theft, for a thief
+could not conceal anything he should steal, and no one reported anything
+lost. There was occasionally a dead body to be consigned to a watery
+grave.
+
+A few days out from here and we were again mustered as before to show
+our tickets, which were carefully examined.
+
+It seemed strange to me that the water was the poorest fare we had. It
+was sickish tasting stuff, and so warm it would do very well for
+dish-water.
+
+There were many interesting things to see. Sometimes it would be
+spouting whales; sometimes great black masses rolling on the water,
+looking like a ship bottom upward, which some said were black-fish. Some
+fish seemed to be at play, and would jump ten feet or more out of the
+water. The flying fish would skim over the waves as the ship's wheels
+seemed to frighten them; and we went through a hundred acres of
+porpoises, all going the same way. The ship plowed right through them,
+but none seemed to get hurt by the wheels. Perhaps they were emigrants
+like ourselves in search of a better place.
+
+It now became terribly hot, and the sun was nearly overhead at noon.
+Sometimes a shark could be seen along-side, and though he seemed to make
+no effort, easily kept up with the moving ship. Occasionally we saw a
+sea snake navigating the ocean all by himself. I did not understand how
+these fellows went to sea and lived so far from land. The flying fish
+seemed to be more plentiful as we went along, and would leave the water
+and scud along before us.
+
+We had evening concerts on the forecastle, managed by the sailors. Their
+songs were not sacred songs by any means, and many of them hardly fit to
+be heard by delicate ears. We again had to run the gauntlet of the
+narrow passage and have our tickets looked over, and this time a new
+stowaway was found, and he straightway made application for a job. "Go
+below, sir" was all the Captain said. Several died and had their sea
+burial, and some who had been so sick all the way as not to get out of
+bed, proved tough enough to stand the climate pretty well.
+
+As we were nearing Panama the doctor posted a notice to the mast
+cautioning us against eating much fruit while on shore, as it was very
+dangerous when eaten to excess. We anchored some little distance from
+the shore and had to land in small boats managed by the natives. I went
+in one, and when the boat grounded at the beach the boatman took me on
+his back and set me on shore, demanding two dollars for the job, which I
+paid, and he served the whole crowd in the same way. The water here was
+blood warm, and they told me the tide ran very high.
+
+This was a strange old town to me, walled in on all sides, a small plaza
+in the center with a Catholic church on one side, and the other houses
+were mostly two story. On the side next to the beach was a high, thick
+wall which contained cells that were used for a jail, and on top were
+some dismounted cannon, long and old fashioned.
+
+The soldiers were poor, lazy fellows, barefooted, and had very poor
+looking guns. Going out and in all had to pass through a large gateway,
+but they asked no questions. The streets were very narrow and dirty and
+the sleeping rooms in the second story of the houses seemed to be
+inhabited by cats. For bed clothes was needed only a single sheet. On
+the roofs all around sat turkey buzzards, and anything that fell in the
+streets that was possible for them to eat, was gobbled up very quickly.
+They were as tame as chickens, and walked around as fearless and lordly
+as tame turkeys. In consideration of their cleaning up the streets
+without pay, they were protected by law. One of the passengers could not
+resist the temptation to shoot one, and a small squad of soldiers were
+soon after him, and came into a room where there were fifty of us, but
+could not find their man. He would have been sent to jail if he had been
+caught. We had to pay one dollar a night for beds in these rooms, and
+they counted money at the rate of eight dimes to the dollar.
+
+The old town of Panama lies a little south in the edge of the sea, and
+was destroyed by an earthquake long ago I was told. To me, raised in the
+north, everything was very new and strange in way of living, style of
+building and kind of produce. There were donkeys, parrots and all kinds
+of monkeys in plenty. Most of the women were of very dark complexion,
+and not dressed very stylishly, while the younger population did not
+have even a fig leaf, or anything to take its place. The adults dressed
+very economically, for the days are summer days all the year round, and
+the clothing is scanty and cheap for either sex.
+
+The cattle were small, pale red creatures, and not inclined to be very
+fat, and the birds mostly of the parrot kind. The market plaza is
+outside the walls, and a small stream runs through it, with the banks
+pretty thickly occupied by washerwomen. All the washing was done without
+the aid of a fire.
+
+On the plaza there were plenty of donkeys loaded with truck of all
+sorts, from wood, green grass, cocoa-nuts and sugar-cane to parrots,
+monkeys and all kinds of tropical fruits. Outside the walls the houses
+were made of stakes interwoven with palm leaves, and everything was
+green as well as the grass and trees. Very little of the ground seemed
+to be cultivated, and the people were lazy and idle, for they could live
+so easily on the wild products of the country. A white man here would
+soon sweat out all his ambition and enterprise, and would be almost
+certain to catch the Panama yellow fever. The common class of the people
+here, I should say, were Spanish and negro mixed, and they seem to get
+along pretty well; but the country is not suitable for white people. It
+seems to have been made on purpose for donkeys, parrots and long-heeled
+negroes.
+
+The cabin passengers engaged all the horses and mules the country
+afforded on which to ride across the Chagres River, so it fell to the
+lot of myself and companion to transfer ourselves on foot, which was
+pretty hard work in the hot and sultry weather. My gold dust began to
+grow pretty heavy as I went along, and though I had only about two
+thousand dollars, weighing about ten pounds, it seemed to me that it
+weighed fifty pounds by the way that it bore down upon my shoulders and
+wore sore places on them. It really was burdensome. I had worn it on my
+person night and day ever since leaving the mines, and I had some little
+fear of being robbed when off the ship.
+
+Our road had been some day paved with cobble stones. At the outskirts of
+the town we met a native coming in with a big green lizard, about two
+feet long, which he was hauling and driving along with a string around
+its neck. I wondered if this was not a Panama butcher bringing in a
+fresh supply of meat.
+
+When we reached the hills on our way from Panama, the paved road ended
+and we had only a mule trail to follow. The whole country was so densely
+timbered that no man could go very far without a cleared road. In some
+places we passed over hills of solid rock, but it was of a soft nature
+so that the trail was worn down very deep, and we had to take the same
+regular steps that the mules did, for their tracks were worn down a foot
+or more. On the road we would occasionally meet a native with a heavy
+pack on his back, a long staff in each hand, and a solid half-length
+sword by his side. He, like the burro, grunted every step he took. They
+seemed to carry unreasonably heavy loads on their backs, such as boxes
+and trunks, but there was no other way of getting either freight or
+baggage across the isthmus at that time.
+
+It looked to me as if this trail might be just such a one as one would
+expect robbers to frequent, for it would of course be expected that
+Californians would carry considerable money with them, and we might
+reasonably look out for this sort of gentry at any turn of the trail. We
+were generally without weapons, and we should have to deliver on demand,
+and if any one was killed the body could easily be concealed in the
+thick brush on either side of the trail, and no special search for
+anyone missing would occur.
+
+About noon one day we came to a native hut, and saw growing on a tree
+near by something that looked like oranges, and we made very straight
+tracks with the idea of picking some and having a feast, but some of the
+people in the shanty called out to us and made motions for us not to
+pick them for they were no good; so we missed our treat of oranges and
+contented ourselves with a big drink of water and walked on.
+
+After a little more travel we came to another shanty made of poles and
+palm leaves, occupied by an American. He was a tall, raw-boned,
+cadaverous looking way-side renegade who looked as if the blood had all
+been pumped out of his veins, and he claimed to be sick. He said he was
+one of the Texas royal sons. We applied for some dinner and he lazily
+told us there were flour, tea and bacon and that we could help
+ourselves. I wet up some flour and baked some cakes, made some poor tea,
+and fried some bacon. We all got a sort of dinner out of his pantry
+stuff, and left him a dollar apiece for the accommodation. As we walked
+on my companion gave out and could carry his bundle no longer, so I took
+it, along with my own, and we got on as fast as we could, but darkness
+came on us before we reached the Chagres River and we had to stay all
+night at a native hut. We had some supper consisting of some very poor
+coffee, crackers, and a couple of eggs apiece, and had to sleep out
+under a tree where we knew we might find lizards, snakes, and other
+poisonous reptiles, and perhaps a thieving monkey might pick our pockets
+while we slept.
+
+Before it was entirely dark many who rode horses came along, many of
+them ladies, and following the custom of the country, they all rode
+astride. Among this crowd was one middle-aged and somewhat corpulent old
+fellow, by profession a sea-captain, who put on many airs. The old
+fellow put on his cool white coat--in fact, a white suit throughout--and
+in this tropical climate he looked very comfortable, indeed, thus
+attired. He filled his breast pocket with fine cigars, and put in the
+other pocket a flask with some medicine in it which was good for snake
+bites, and also tending to produce courage in case the man, not used to
+horse-back riding, should find his natural spirits failing. The rest of
+his luggage was placed on pack animals, and in fact the only way luggage
+was carried in those days was either on the backs of donkeys or men.
+
+All was ready for a start, and the captain in his snow-white suit was
+mounted on a mule so small that his feet nearly touched the ground. The
+little animal had a mind of his own, and at first did not seem inclined
+to start out readily, but after a bit concluded to follow his fellow
+animals, and all went well.
+
+The rider was much amused at what he saw; sometimes a very lively
+monkey, sometimes a flock: of paroquets or a high-colored lizard--and so
+he rode along with a very happy air, holding his head up, and smoking a
+fragrant Havana with much grace. The road was rough and rocky, with a
+mud-hole now and then of rather uncertain depth. At every one of these
+mud-holes the Captain's mule would stop, put down his head, blow his
+nose and look wise, and then carefully sound the miniature sea with his
+fore-feet, being altogether too cautious to suit his rider who had never
+been accustomed to a craft that was afraid of water.
+
+At one of these performances the mule evidently concluded the sea before
+him was not safe, for when the captain tried to persuade him to cross
+his persuasions had no effect. Then he coaxed him with voice gentle,
+soft and low, with the result that the little animal took a few very
+short steps and then came to anchor again. Then the captain began to get
+slightly roiled in temper, and the voice was not so gentle, sweet and
+low, but it had no greater effect upon his craft. He began to get
+anxious, for the others had gone on, and he thought perhaps he might be
+left.
+
+Now, this sea-faring man had armed his heels with the large Spanish
+spurs so common in the country, and bringing them in contact with the
+force due to considerable impatience, Mr. Mule was quite suddenly and
+painfully aware of the result. This was harsher treatment than he could
+peaceably submit to, and at the second application of the spurs a pair
+of small hoofs were very high in the air and the captain very low on his
+back in the mud and water, having been blown from the hurricane deck of
+his craft in a very sudden and lively style. The philosophical mule
+stood very still and looked on while the white coat and pantaloons were
+changing to a dirty brown, and watched the captain as he waded out, to
+the accompaniment of some very vigorous swear words.
+
+Both the man and beast looked very doubtful of each other's future
+actions, but the man shook the water off and bestowed some lively kicks
+on his muleship which made him bounce into and through the mud-hole, and
+the captain, still holding the bridle, followed after. Once across the
+pool the captain set his marine eye on the only craft that had been too
+much for his navigation and said "Vengeance should be mine," and in this
+doubtful state of mind he cautiously mounted his beast again and fully
+resolved to stick to the deck, hereafter, at all hazards, he hurried on
+and soon overtook the train again, looking quite like a half drowned
+rooster. The others laughed at him and told him they could find better
+water a little way ahead, at the river, and they would see him safely
+in. The captain was over his pet, and made as much fun as any of them,
+declaring that he could not navigate such a bloody craft as that in such
+limited sea room, for it was dangerous even when there was no gale to
+speak of.
+
+The ladies did not blush at the new and convenient costumes which they
+saw in this country, and laughed a good deal over the way of traveling
+they had to adopt. Any who were sick were carried in a kind of chair
+strapped to the back of a native. Passengers were strung along the road
+for miles, going and coming. We would occasionally sit down awhile and
+let the sweat run off while a party of them passed us. Some were mounted
+on horses, some on mules, and some on donkeys, and they had to pay
+twelve dollars for the use of an animal for the trip.
+
+Our night at this wayside deadfall was not much better than some of the
+nights about Death Valley, but as I was used to low fare, I did not
+complain as some did. This seemed a wonderful country to a northern
+raised boy. The trail was lined on both sides with all kinds of palms
+and various other kinds of trees and shrubs, and they were woven
+together in a compact mass with trailing and running vines. The trees
+were not tall, and the bark was as smooth as a young hickory. The roots
+would start out of the tree three feet above the ground and stand out at
+an angle, and looked like big planks placed edgewise.
+
+It seemed as if there were too many plants for the ground to support,
+and so they grew on the big limbs of the trees all around, the same as
+the mistletoe on the oak, only there were ever so many different kinds.
+
+The weather was very clear, and the sun so hot that many of the
+travelers began to wilt and sit down by the roadside to rest. Many
+walked along very slowly and wore long faces. The road from Panama to
+Crucez, on the Chagres River, was eighteen miles long, and all were glad
+when they were on the last end of it. The climate here seems to take all
+the starch and energy out of a man's body, and in this condition he must
+be very cautious or some disease will overtake him and he will be left
+to die without burial for his body if he has no personal friends with
+him.
+
+We started on the next morning, and on our way stepped over a large ship
+anchor that lay across the trail. I suppose the natives had undertaken
+to pack it across the isthmus and found it too heavy for them. Perhaps
+it was for Capt. Kidd, the great pirate, for it is said that he often
+visited Panama in the course of his cruising about in search of
+treasures.
+
+Passing along a sandy place in the trail, a snake crossed and left his
+track, big as a stovepipe it seemed to be, and after this we kept a
+sharp watch for big snakes that might be in waiting to waylay us for
+game.
+
+There were plenty of monkeys and parrots climbing and chattering around
+in the trees. The forest is here so dense that the wind never blows, and
+consequently it never gets cool. The sun, ever since we got down near
+the equator, was nearly overhead, and the moon seemed to be even north
+of us.
+
+When we reached the Chagres River we hired a boat of an Irishman for the
+trip down. I wondered if there was a place on earth so desolate that the
+"Paddy" would not find it. The boat for the journey cost two hundred
+dollars, and would hold passengers enough so that it would cost us ten
+dollars each, at any rate, and perhaps a little more. Two natives had
+charge of the boat and did the navigating. There were two ladies among
+the passengers, and when the two natives, who I suppose were the captain
+and mate of the craft, came on board, clad very coolly in Panama hats,
+the ladies looked at them a little out of the corners of their eyes and
+made the best of it. Our two navigators took the oars and pulled slowly
+down the stream.
+
+Nothing but water and evergreen trees could we see, for the shore on
+either hand was completely hidden by the dense growth that hung over and
+touched the water. On a mud bar that we passed a huge alligator lay,
+taking a sun bath, and though many shots were fired at him he moved away
+very leisurely. No one could get on shore without first clearing a road
+through the thick brushes and vines along the bank. On the way one of
+our boatmen lost his hat, his only garment, into the river, and
+overboard he went, like a dog, and soon had it and climbed on board
+again. I wondered why some of the big alligators did not make a snap at
+him.
+
+The water in the run looked very roily and dirty, and no doubt had fever
+in it. The only animals we saw were monkeys and alligators, and there
+were parrots in the trees. The farther we went down the stream the wider
+it became, and the current slacker so that we moved more slowly with the
+same amount of rowing. At a place called Dos Hermanos (two brothers) we
+could see a little cleared spot near the bank, which seemed to be three
+or four feet above the water. There were no mountains nor hills in
+sight, and the whole country seemed to be an extensive swamp. It was
+near night that we came to a small native village of palm huts, and here
+our boatmen landed and hid themselves, and not being able to find them
+we were compelled to stay all night, for we dare not go on alone. The
+place looked like a regular robbers' roost, and being forced to sleep
+outside the huts, we considered it safest to sleep with one eye open. We
+would have gone on with the boat only that we were afraid the river
+might have more than one outlet, and if we should take the wrong one we
+might be too late for the steamer, which even now we were afraid would
+not wait for us, and getting left would be a very serious matter in this
+country.
+
+We had very little to eat, and all we could buy was sugar cane, bananas,
+monkeys and parrots. We kept a sharp eye out for robbers, keeping
+together as much as we could, for we knew that all returning
+Californians would be suspected of having money. Most all of them were
+ready for war except myself who had no weapon of any kind. All of these
+people had a bad name, and every one of them carried a long bladed knife
+called a Macheta, with which they could kill a man at a single blow. But
+with all our fears we got through the night safely, and in the morning
+found our boatmen who had hidden away. We waited not for breakfast, but
+sailed away as soon as we could, and reached Chagres, near the mouth of
+the river, before night.
+
+The river banks here are not more than three feet high, and farther back
+the land fell off again into a wet swamp of timber and dense vegetable
+growth. The town was small and poorly built, on the immediate bank, and
+the houses were little brush and palm affairs except the boarding house
+which was "T" shaped, the front two stories high, with a long dining
+room running back, having holes for windows, but no glass in them.
+
+Before the bell rung for meals a long string of hungry men would form in
+line, and at the first tap would make a rush for the table like a flock
+of sheep. After all were seated a waiter came around and collected a
+dollar from each one, and we thought this paid pretty well for the very
+poor grub they served afterwards.
+
+No ship had as yet been in sight to take us away from this lowest,
+dirtiest, most unhealthful place on earth, and the prospect of remaining
+here had nothing very charming about it. The river was full of
+alligators, so the bathing was dangerous, and the whole country was
+about fit for its inhabitants, which were snakes, alligators, monkeys,
+parrots and lazy negroes. It could not have been more filthy if the
+dregs of the whole earth had been dumped here, and cholera and yellow
+fever were easy for a decent man to catch.
+
+My companion and I went out on the beach a mile or two to get the salt
+water breeze, and leave the stinking malaria for those who chose to stay
+in the hot, suffocating village, and here we would stay until nearly
+night. Across a small neck of water was what was called a fort. It could
+hardly be seen it was so covered with moss and vines, but near the top
+could be seen something that looked like old walls. There was no sign of
+life about it, and I should judge it was built at some very early day.
+Surely there was nothing here to protect, for the whole country did not
+seem able to support even a few barefooted soldiers.
+
+Some men who wandered along up the river bank, following a path, said
+they had seen some dead human bodies thrown into the swamp and left,
+probably because it was easier than putting them under ground.
+
+For a bedroom I hired a little platform which a store keeper had placed
+before his store, where I slept, and paid a dollar for the privilege.
+Some one walked around near me all night, and I dared not close more
+than one eye at a time for fear of losing a little bag of gold dust.
+This little bag of gold was getting to be a great burden to me in this
+sickly climate, and the vigilant guard I had to keep over so small a
+treasure was very tiresome.
+
+The second night no steamer came, but on the third morning the steamer
+was riding at anchor three or four miles out, and soon after a ship came
+in from the Atlantic end of the Nicaragua route with one thousand
+passengers, there being no steamer there for them to take a passage home
+on, and so they had to come here for a start. This filled the little
+town to overflowing, but as the ship that had arrived was the Georga,
+one of the largest afloat, all could go if they only could endure the
+fare.
+
+We now had to go in small boats from the shore to the ship, and the trip
+cost two dollars and a half. I waited till I had seen some of the boats
+make a trip or two, and then choosing one that had a sober skipper, I
+made the venture. It was said that one drunken boatman allowed his boat
+to drift into some breakers and all were lost.
+
+I tell you I was over anxious to get out of this country, for I well
+knew that if I stayed very long I should stay forever, for one like
+myself raised in a healthful climate, could not remain long without
+taking some of the fatal diseases the country was full of.
+
+We made the trip to the vessel safely, and as our boat lay under the
+ship's quarter, the men holding the ropes, I looked up, and when I saw
+the swinging rope ladder on which I was expected to climb up to the
+ship's deck, it seemed a pretty dangerous job; but I mustered up courage
+and made the attempt. The sea was pretty rough out here for the small
+boats, and the ship rolled some, so that when persons tried to get hold
+of the ladder they were thrown down and sometimes hurt a little. A man
+held on to the lower end of the ladder so that the one who was climbing
+might not get banged against the side of the ship and have his breath
+knocked out of him, I mounted the ladder safely and climbed away like a
+monkey, reaching the deck all right. Ladies and weak people were hauled
+up in a sort of chair with a block and rope.
+
+It took the most of two days to get the people on board, and when they
+were counted up there were one thousand four hundred and forty, all
+told. This steamer had a very long upper deck and a comparatively short
+keel, and rolled very badly; and as for me, I had swallowed so much of
+the deadly malaria of the isthmus that I soon got very seasick, and the
+first day or two were very unpleasant. I went to the bar and paid two
+bits for a glass of wine to help my appetite, but it staid with me no
+longer than time enough to reach the ship's side. When night came the
+decks were covered with sleepy men, and if the weather had been rough
+and all sick, as was the case when we left San Francisco, we should have
+had more filthy decks than we had even on that occasion.
+
+Approaching the harbor at Havana, Cuba, we seemed to be going head
+foremost against a wall of solid rock, but when within speaking distance
+an officer came in sight on the fort right before us, and shouted
+through his speaking trumpet, saying:--"Why don't you salute us?" Our
+officer said, "You know us well enough without." Our ship had a small
+cannon on the forecastle, but did not choose to use it, and I suppose
+the Cuban officer felt slighted. We now turned short to the right and
+entered the beautiful harbor, which is perfectly landlocked and as still
+as a pond. The city is all on the right side of the bay and our coal
+yard was on the left at a short wharf at which we landed.
+
+A lot of armed soldiers were placed a short distance back on the high
+ground and no one was allowed to go beyond them. We now had a port
+officer on board who had entire charge of the ship, and if anyone wanted
+to go to the city, across the bay two or three miles, he had to pay a
+dollar for a pass. This pass business made the blue bloods terribly
+angry, and they swore long and loud, and the longer they talked the
+madder they got, and more bitter in their feelings, so that they were
+ready to fight (not with sugar-bowls this time.)
+
+The weather here was very warm and the heat powerful, and as these
+fellows saw there was only one course to be pursued if they wanted to
+get on shore, they slowly took passes good for all day and paid their
+dollar for them, and also another dollar each to the canoe men to take
+them to the city. Myself and companion also took passes and went over.
+
+Arriving at the city we walked a short distance and came to the plaza,
+which is not a very large one. Here was a single grave nicely fenced in,
+and across the plaza were some large two-story houses in front of which
+was stationed a squad of cavalry standing as motionless as if every man
+of them was a marble statue. We kept on the opposite side of the street,
+and chancing to meet a man whom we rightly supposed to be an Englishman,
+we inquired about the grave on the plaza and were informed that it was
+that of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America.
+
+Just then we noticed the cavalry moving up the street at a slow gallop,
+and so formed that a close carriage was in the center of the squad. As
+they rushed by and we gazed at them with purely American curiousity, our
+new English friend raised our hats for us and held them till the
+cavalcade had passed, merely remarking that the Governor General was
+within the carriage. We spoke perhaps a bit unpleasantly when we asked
+him why he was so ungentlemanly in his treatment of us as to remove our
+hats, but he said:--"My friends, if I had not taken off your hats for
+you as a friend, some of those other fellows would have knocked them
+off, so I did for you an act of greatest kindness, for every one removes
+his hat when the Governor General passes." He also informed us that the
+special occasion for this rather pompous parade was the execution of
+some criminals at a park or prison not far away, and that this was done
+by beheading them.
+
+Our friend proposed that we also walk out in that direction, and we went
+with him to the edge of the city, but when he turned into a by path that
+did not seem much frequented, we declined to follow farther, and turned
+back along the open road. The path looked to us a sort of robber's
+route, and not exactly safe for unarmed men like us in a strange
+country.
+
+The man followed us back and took us into a large, airy saloon, in the
+center of which a big fountain was playing, and the great basin in which
+the water fell was filled with beautiful fish. Our friend called for an
+iced drink for each of us, and as we sat at the table we tasted it and
+found it rather intoxicating. For this they charged us one dollar each,
+but we noticed that our friend paid nothing, and we set him down as a
+sort of capper, after the style we had seen at the gold mines. We sat a
+few minutes and then so coolly bade our friend good-bye that he had not
+the face to follow us further, and continued our walk about the streets
+which seemed to us very narrow, and the houses generally two stories
+high.
+
+A chaise passed us, containing two young ladies with complexions white
+and fair, and eyes and hair black, in striking contrast. The carriage
+was drawn by two horses tandem, the horse in the shafts being mounted by
+a big negro of very dignified appearance, dressed in livery and having
+top boots that came to his knees. This was the only vehicle of the kind
+we saw on the streets.
+
+We did not dare to go very far alone, for with our ignorance of the
+Spanish language we might go astray and not get back to the ship within
+the lifetime of our passes, and not knowing how much trouble that might
+cause us, we were naturally a little timid; so we took a boat back to
+the ship, and when on board again we felt safe. We had only about four
+dollars cash left.
+
+A big gang of darkies were coaling the ship. Each one carried a large
+tub full of coal upon his head and poured it down into the ship's hold.
+All the clothes these fellows wore was a strip of cloth about their
+middle. When they were let off for dinner they skimmed off all they
+could get from the ship's slop barrel which stood on the wharf
+alongside, to help out their very scanty food. The overseer stood by
+them all the time with a big whip and made them hurry up as fast as
+possible, talking Spanish pretty vigorously, and though we could not
+understand, we made up our minds that a good part of it was swearing.
+
+The next morning the steamship Prometheus came in and tied up near us,
+and soon word was brought that she would take the New Orleans passengers
+on board and sail immediately for that port. It now occurred to me that
+I could get nearer home by going up the Mississippi River than by way of
+New York, so I went on board the Prometheus, and we soon sailed out of
+the harbor, passing under the gate of the fortress called, I think, San
+Juan de Ulloa.
+
+Nothing special occurred during our passage till we were near the mouth
+of the Mississippi River, when, in the absence of a pilot boat or tug,
+our Captain thought he would try to get in alone, and as a consequence
+we were soon fast in the mud. The Captain now made all the passengers go
+aft, and worked the engine hard but could not move her at all. The tide
+was now low, and there was a prospect that we should have to wait full
+six hours to get away. We worked on, however, and after a few hours a
+tug came to our assistance and pulled us out of the mud and towed us
+into the right channel, up which we steamed on our way to New Orleans,
+one-hundred-twenty miles away.
+
+The country on both sides of us was an immense marsh--no hills in sight,
+no timber, nothing but the same level marsh or prairie. When we were
+nearer the Crescent City some houses came in sight; then we passed
+General Jackson's battle-field, and in due time reached the city.
+
+On board this ship I became acquainted with Dick Evans who lived in the
+same county that I used to in Wisconsin, near Mineral Point, so the
+three of us now concluded to travel together.
+
+New Orleans seemed to be a very large city. Near the levee a large
+government building was in course of construction for a Custom House. It
+was all of stone, and the walls were up about two stories. We put up at
+a private boarding house, and the first business was to try and sell our
+gold dust. So we went to the mint and were told we would have to wait
+ten days to run it through the mill, and we did not like to wait so
+long. We were shown all through the mint and saw all the wonders of coin
+making. Every thing seemed perfect here. Beautiful machinery was in
+operation making all sizes of gold coins, from a twenty dollar piece
+down. Strips of gold bands about six feet long and of the proper
+thickness for twenty dollar pieces are run through a machine which cuts
+out the pieces, and when these are cut they can stamp out the pieces as
+fast as one can count.
+
+This was the most ingenious work I ever saw, and very wonderful and
+astonishing to a backwoodsman like myself, for I supposed that money was
+run in moulds like bullets.
+
+As we could not wait we went to a bank and sold our dust, getting only
+sixteen dollars per ounce, the same price they paid in California. We
+now took the cars and rode out to Lake Ponchartrain--most of the way
+over a trestle work. We found a wharf and warehouse at the lake, and a
+steamer lay there all ready to go across to the other side. The country
+all about looked low, with no hills in sight.
+
+When we returned to the city we looked all about, and in the course of
+our travels came to a slave market. Here there were all sorts of black
+folks for sale; big and little, old and young and all sorts. They all
+seemed good-natured, and were clean, and seemed to think they were worth
+a good deal of money. Looking at them a few minutes sent my mind back to
+St. Joseph, Missouri, where I saw a black sold at auction. From my
+standpoint of education I did not approve of this way of trading in
+colored people.
+
+We continued our stroll about the city, coming to a cemetery, where I
+looked into a newly dug grave to find it half full of water. On one side
+were many brick vaults above ground. The ground here is very low and
+wet, and seemed to be all swamp. The drainage was in surface gutters,
+and in them the water stood nearly still. It seemed to me such water
+must have yellow fever in it.
+
+For a long way along the levee the steamboats lay thick and close
+together, unloading cotton, hemp, sugar, hoop poles, bacon and other
+products, mostly the product of negro labor.
+
+Here our friend Evans was taken sick, and as he got no better after a
+day or two, we called a doctor to examine him. He pronounced it a mild
+case of yellow fever. His skin was yellow in places, and he looked very
+badly. The doctor advised us to go on up the river, saying it was very
+dangerous staying here with him. Evans gave me most of his money and all
+of his gold specimens to take to his wife, and when he got well he would
+follow us. We bade him good-bye, and with many wishes for his speedy
+recovery, we took passage on a steamer for St. Louis. This steamer, the
+Atlantic, proved to be a real floating palace in all respects. The table
+was supplied with everything the country afforded, and polite and
+well-dressed darkies were numerous as table waiters. This was the most
+pleasant trip I had ever taken, and I could not help comparing the
+luxuriance of my coming home to the hardships of the outward journey
+across the plains, and our starvation fare.
+
+Our boat was rather large for the stage of water this time of year, and
+we proceeded rather slowly, but I cared little for speed as bed and
+board were extra good, and a first cabin passage in the company of
+friends, many of whom were going to the same part of Wisconsin as
+myself, was not a tedious affair by any means.
+
+At night gambling was carried on very extensively, and money changed
+hands freely as the result of sundry games of poker, which was the
+popular game.
+
+We reached St. Louis in time, and here was the end of our boat's run.
+The river had some ice floating on its surface, and this plainly told us
+that we were likely to meet more ice and colder weather as we went
+north. We concluded to take the Illinois River boat from here to Peoria,
+and paid our passage and stepped on board. We were no more than half way
+through this trip when the ice began to form on the surface of the
+water, and soon became so thick and strong that the boat finally came to
+a perfect standstill, frozen in solid.
+
+We now engaged a farm wagon to take us to Peoria, from which place we
+took regular stages for Galena. Our driver was inclined to be very
+merciful to his horses, so we were two days in reaching that town, but
+perhaps it was best, for the roads were icy and slippery, and the
+weather of the real winter sort. From here we hired a team to take four
+of us to Plattville, and then an eighteen-mile walk brought me to
+Mineral Point, the place from which I started with my Winnebago pony in
+1849. I had now finished my circle and brought both ends of the long
+belt together.
+
+I now went to a drug store and weighed Mr. Evans' specimens, wrapping
+each in a separate piece of paper, with the value marked on each, and
+took them to his wife, to whom I told the news about her husband. In two
+week's time he came home sound and well.
+
+I was quite disappointed in regard to the looks and business appearance
+of the country. It looked thinly settled, people scarce, and business
+dull. I could not get a day's work to do, and I could not go much
+farther on foot, for the snow was eight or ten inches deep, and I was
+still several hundred miles from my parents in Michigan. So my journey
+farther east was delayed until spring. The hunting season was over, and
+when I came into Mineral Point without a gun, and wore good clothes,
+making a better appearance than I used to, they seemed to think I must
+be rich and showed me marked attention, and made many inquiries about
+their neighbors who started for California about the same time I did.
+The young ladies smiled pleasantly when near me, and put on their best
+white aprons, looking very tidy and bright, far superior to any of the
+ladies I had seen in my crooked route from San Francisco through
+Acapulco, Panama, the West Indies and along the Mississippi.
+
+After a few days in town I went out into the neighborhood where I used
+to live and stopped with Mr. E.A. Hall, who used to be a neighbor of Mr.
+Bennett, as he had invited me to stay with himself and wife, who were
+the only occupants of a good house, and all was pleasant. But
+notwithstanding all the comfort in which I was placed, I grew lonesome,
+for the enforced idleness, on account of the stormy weather, was a new
+feature in my life, and grew terribly monotonous.
+
+After some delay I concluded to write to my parents in Michigan and give
+them a long letter with something of a history of my travels, and to
+refresh my memory I got out my memorandum I had kept through all my
+journey.
+
+As my letter was liable to be quite lengthy I bought a quantity of
+foolscap paper and begun. I took my diary as my guide, and filled out
+the ideas suggested in it so they would understand them. I soon ran
+through with my paper and bought more, and kept on writing. The weather
+was cold and stormy, and I found it the best occupation I could have to
+prevent my being lonesome; so I worked away, day after day, for about a
+month, and I was really quite tired of this sort of work before I had
+all the facts recorded which I found noted down in my diary. My notes
+began in March, 1849, in Wisconsin, and ended in February, 1852, on my
+return to Mineral Point. I found, as the result of my elaboration, over
+three hundred pages of closely written foolscap paper, and I felt very
+much relieved when it was done. By the aid of my notes I could very
+easily remember everything that had taken place during my absence, and
+it was recorded in regular form, with day and date, not an incident of
+any importance left out, and every word as true as gospel. I had neither
+exaggerated nor detracted from any event so far as I could recollect.
+
+I now loaned Mr. Hall, with whom I lived, six hundred dollars to enable
+him to cross the plains to California and try to make his fortune. To
+secure this I took a mortgage on his eighty-acre farm, and he set out to
+make the journey. I had another eighty acres of land near here which I
+bought at government price before going to California, but I could not
+now sell it for what it cost me. When I went away I had left my chest
+and contents with my friend Samuel Zollinger, and he had kept it safely,
+so I now made him my lawful agent. I placed my narrative and some other
+papers in the chest and gave the key into his charge, while I went
+north, across the Wisconsin River, to visit my old hunting and trapping
+friend, Robert McCloud. Here I made a very pleasant visit of perhaps a
+week, and the common prospects of the country were freely talked over.
+It seemed to us as if the good times were still far off; every day was
+like Sunday so far as anything going on; no money in circulation, many
+places abandoned, and, like myself, many had gone to California to seek
+gold instead of lead. (The mines at Mineral Point are mostly of lead,
+with some copper.)
+
+Looking at matters in this light it did not need a great deal of
+McCloud's persuasion to induce me to go back with him to California, all
+the more so as my little pile seemed to look smaller every day, while
+three or four years ago it would have seemed quite large. Deciding to
+go, I wrote to Mr. Zollinger to send the account I had written to my
+parents in Michigan, reading it first himself, and admonishing him not
+to lend it. I also wrote to my parents telling them what they might look
+for in the mails, and cautioning them never to have it printed, for the
+writing was so ungrammatical and the spelling so incorrect that it would
+be no credit to me.
+
+I afterward learned that in time they received the bundle of paper and
+read it through and through, and circulated it around the neighborhood
+till it was badly worn, and laid it away for future perusal when their
+minds should incline that way. But the farm house soon after took fire
+and burned, my labor going up in smoke.
+
+When the news of this reached me I resolved to try to forget all the
+trials, troubles and hardships I had gone through, and which I had
+almost lived over again as I wrote them down, and I said to myself that
+I would not talk about them more than I could help, the sooner to have
+them vanish, and never write them down again, but a few years ago an
+accident befell me so that I could not work, and I back-slid from my
+determination when I was persuaded so earnestly by many friends to write
+the account which appeared a few years ago in the Santa Clara Valley now
+the Pacific Tree and Vine, edited by H.A. Brainard, at San Jose,
+California. The diary was lost, and from memory alone the facts have
+been rehearsed, and it is but fair to tell the reader that the hardest
+and worst of it has never been told nor will it ever be.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+McCloud and I now took his skiff, and for two days floated down the
+Wisconsin River till we reached the Mississippi, boarded the first
+steamboat we could hail, and let our own little craft adrift. In due
+time we reached St. Louis and boarded another steamer for New Orleans.
+
+At a wood-yard, about dark, a lot of negroes, little and big, came on
+board to sell brooms. The boat's clerk seemed to know negro character
+pretty well, so he got out his violin and played for them. For a while
+the young colored gentry listened in silence, but pretty soon he struck
+a tune that suited them, and they began to dance in their own wild
+style.
+
+In seven days from St. Louis we landed in New Orleans, and found the
+government steamer, Falcon, advertised to sail in two days. We went
+together to one of the slave warehouses. Outside and in all was neat end
+clean, and any day you could see men, women and children standing under
+the shed as a sign of what they had within, and the painted signs "For
+Sale" displayed conspicuously. We were very civilly treated, and invited
+to examine the goods offered for sale. There were those of all ages and
+all colors, for some were nearly white and some intensely black, with
+all the shades between. All were to be sold, separately, or in families,
+or in groups as buyers might desire. All were made to keep themselves
+clean and neatly dressed, and to behave well, with a smile to all the
+visitors whether they felt like smiling or not. Some seemed really
+anxious to get a good master, and when a kind, pleasant looking man came
+along they would do their utmost to be agreeable to him and inquire if
+he did not want to buy them. We talked it over some between ourselves,
+and when we thought of the market and the human chattels for sale there,
+McCloud spoke up and said:--"I am almost persuaded to be an
+abolitionist."
+
+I now went on board the steamer Falcon, in command of a government
+officer, to try to learn something about the family of Capt. Culverwell
+who perished alone in Death Valley. He told me he had once belonged to
+the Navy and had his life insured, and as I was an important witness for
+his family I wanted to learn where they lived. The Captain looked over a
+list of officers, but Culverwell's name was not there. I then wrote a
+letter to Washington stating the facts of his death, and my own address
+in Sacramento, California. I also stated that I would assist the widow
+if I could, but I never received an answer.
+
+We soon started down the river, having on board about one hundred
+passengers, men going to work on the Panama Railroad. At Chagres we
+found a small stern wheeled river steamer and took passage on it for
+Gorgona, as far as the steamer could well go up the river. While going
+up we met a similar boat coming down, and being near a short bend they
+crashed together, breaking down our guards severely, but fortunately
+with no damage to our wheel. A few miles above this a dark passing cloud
+gave us rain in streams, and we had to drift in near shore to wait for
+the storm to pass. I never before saw water fall so fast, and yet in
+half an hour the sun was out and burning hot.
+
+Before we reached Gorgona we got acquainted with a man named John Briggs
+from Wisconsin, and Lyman Ross from Rhode Island, and concluded to
+travel in company. Our fare thus far was ten dollars, and two horses to
+Panama for which we paid twelve dollars each. We now rode and walked
+turn about, and when we inquired about the road we were told that being
+once in it we could not possibly get out except at the other end, and
+would need no guide, and at the end of a very disagreeable day's work we
+reached the big gate at Panama and entered the ancient city.
+
+We waited but little here before taking the steamer Southerner, bound
+for San Francisco. Three days after we sailed away one of our passengers
+went overboard, a corpse, and three or four more died and were buried
+alongside before we reached Acapulco.
+
+Here we took on water and coal and were soon at sea again. McCloud soon
+had to take his place in the sick ward, and I attended him most of the
+time, but was not allowed to give him anything without a permit from the
+doctor, and the long delays between the administrations of medicine made
+the sickness hard to endure. The sick could see the dead sewed up in
+blankets with a bucket of coal for a weight; then resting on a plank
+with sailors on each side, the mate would read the brief services
+appropriate to a burial at sea, the plank was tilted, and the lifeless
+body slid down into the depths. Such scenes were no benefit to the
+suffering, for each might think his turn was next, when a bright hope
+and prospect would be better for his recovery.
+
+One forenoon the fire gong rang out sharply, and all was in confusion,
+supposing the ship to be on fire, but nothing could be seen but a dense
+fog, except as a gentle wind lifted it a little and there, dead ahead,
+was a rocky island, against which it seemed we must dash to destruction,
+for there was no beach and very little chance for any one to be saved.
+Ten minutes more in this direction and we were lost, but the officers
+quickly changed the course, and we passed the pile of rocks scarcely a
+rifle shot away. Whose fault it was, this danger so miraculously
+avoided, we did not know, the captain's or the imperfect chart, and
+opinions were freely given both ways.
+
+About those days the air felt cooler the fog less dense, and the foggy
+rain-bows we had seen so much when the sun tried to shine, were scarce,
+while a more northern wind created a coolness that made sick folks feel
+refreshed and hopeful. It gave me a chance to cheer up my sick friend
+who was still in bed, and tell him it would continue to be cooler as we
+went.
+
+On the Fourth of July the officers produced the ship's full supply of
+flags, and the sailors climbed high and low, fastening them to every
+rope till we had a very gay Independence day appearance. In this gay
+dress we steamed into San Diego harbor to leave the mail for a few
+soldiers stationed there, and get their letters in return.
+
+I could see no town in San Diego, but a beautiful harbor, and some poor
+looking mustard wigwams some way off seemed to contain the good people
+of that place.
+
+A boat with a small crew pulled out and came alongside to get the mail
+and deliver theirs, and then we turned to sea again. The country all
+around this beautiful little harbor looked mountainous and extremely
+barren, and no one wanted to go on shore.
+
+About dark we had made sufficient offing and turned northward, plowing
+through large fields of kelp. The next morning the forward watch
+announced land ahead, which could dimly be seen as the fog rose. The
+officers rushed on deck and could see not far ahead a sandy beach, and a
+moment more showed that we were headed directly for it, and that it was
+not more than a quarter of a mile away. Quickly the helmsman was given
+orders to steer almost west instead of the north course he had been
+following. He was asked why he kept on his north course when he saw
+danger ahead, and answered:--"It is my business to steer according to
+orders, even if the ship goes ashore, and I can not change course unless
+ordered to." The Captain now examined his chart and decided he was in
+San Pedro harbor, off Los Angeles.
+
+The sun came out bright and clear a little later, and I got McCloud out
+of his bed and gave him a seat at the ship's side where he could see the
+green grassy hills near the beach, and larger hills and mountains
+farther back. We could see cattle feeding in the nearest pastures, and
+the whole scene was a pleasant one; and as we sat on the eastern side of
+the ship and snuffed the cool breeze which came from the north, we
+thought we were comparatively happy people, and hoped that, if no
+accident befell, we would soon be at the end of our voyage.
+
+On the seventh day of July, 1851, we entered the Golden Gate, this being
+my second arrival in California. On our trip from Panama seven or more
+had died and been buried at sea, but the remainder of us were quite safe
+and sound. We found the heart of the city still smoking, for a fire had
+broken out on July fourth and burned extensively, and these broad,
+blackened ruins were the result. Some said the work had been done by the
+Sidney "ducks" and their numerous helpers, who were really the rulers of
+the city. The place now looked much worse than it did when I left in
+November before. These Sidney "ducks" were English convicts from
+Australia, and other thieves and robbers joined them as agreeable
+companion, making a large class that seemed to glory in destruction and
+a chance for booty.
+
+I walked around over the hills where I could see the burned district and
+the destruction of so much valuable property, and when I thought the
+civil law was not strong enough to govern, it seemed to me it would be a
+good place for such men as the Helms brothers of Georgetown to come down
+and do a little hanging business, for they could here find plenty to do,
+and they could carry out their plan of letting no guilty man escape.
+
+About four o'clock one afternoon we went aboard the Sacramento steamer,
+Antelope, paying our passage with half an ounce apiece, and were soon on
+our way past the islands and up the bay. When we were beyond Benicia,
+where the river banks were close, McCloud sat watching the shore, and
+remarked that the boat ran like a greyhound, and it seemed to him, beat
+the old ocean steamer pretty bad.
+
+He seemed to be nearly well again, and complimented me as the best
+doctor he ever saw. Since he had been sick I had paid him all the
+attention I could, and he gave me all the praise I deserved, now that he
+was getting to feel himself again.
+
+At Sacramento we changed to another boat bound for Marysville, which
+place we reached without special incident. Here we invested in a
+four-ounce donkey, that is, we paid four ounces of gold for him, just an
+ounce apiece for four of us--W.L. Manley, Robert McCloud, Lyman Ross and
+John Briggs. We piled our blankets in a pack upon the gentle, four-ounce
+donkey, and added a little tea and coffee, dried beef and bread, then
+started for the Yuba River, ourselves on foot. We crossed the river at
+Park's Bar, then went up the ridge by way of Nigger Tent, came down to
+the river again at Goodyear Bar, then up the stream to Downieville. This
+town was named after John Downie, a worthless drunkard. I remember that
+he once reformed, but again back-slid and died a drunkard's death.
+
+We found this a lively mining town about sixty miles above Marysville,
+on the north fork of the Yuba River, and only reached by a pack trail,
+but everything was flush here, even four aces. The location was a
+veritable Hole-in-the-Ground, for the mountains around were very high,
+and some of them wore their caps of snow all summer, particularly those
+on the east. The gold dust we found here was coarser than it was where I
+worked before, down south on the Merced River. Before I came to
+California I always supposed that gold dust was really dust, and about
+as fine as flour.
+
+We went up the North Fork about a mile or two above town and camped on
+Wisconsin Flat to begin our mining operations. Our luck was poor at
+first, and all except myself were out of money, and more or less in debt
+to me. We made expenses, however, and a little more, and as soon as Mr.
+Ross got his small debt paid he said he was discouraged mining, and with
+blankets on his shoulders started up the trail towards Galloway's ranch,
+on the summit south of town. Mr. Ross said the work was too hard for
+him, for he was not strong enough to handle pick and shovel, and he
+believed he could go down to Sacramento and make more by his wits than
+he could here. I went with him to town and saw him start off with a fair
+load on his back, and watched him as he toiled up the steep mountain
+trail for about two miles, when he went out of sight.
+
+The rest of us kept on mining. Our luck was not very good, but we
+persevered, for there was nothing to be gained by fainting by the way. I
+went into an old abandoned shaft about ten feet deep and found the
+bottom filled with a big quartz boulder, and as I had been a lead miner
+in Wisconsin, I began drifting, and soon found bed rock, when I picked
+up a piece of pure gold that weighed four ounces. This was what I called
+a pretty big find, and not exactly what I called gold dust. It was quite
+a surprise to me, for the gravel on the bed rock was only about three or
+four inches thick.
+
+We kept on drifting for some time, sometimes making good wages, and on
+the whole so satisfactory that we concluded to stay. We now located some
+claims back in the flat where the ground would be thirty feet deep, and
+would have to be drifted. These we managed to hold until winter, and in
+the meantime we worked along the river and could make something all the
+time.
+
+We put in a flume between two falls on the Middle Fork, but made only
+wages, and I got my arm nearly broken, and had to work with one hand for
+nearly a month.
+
+One afternoon I went crevicing up the river, and found a crevice at the
+water's edge about half an inch wide, and the next day we worked it out
+getting forty ounces, and many of the pieces were about an inch long and
+as large around as a pipe-stem.
+
+Winter was now near by, and we set to work to build a cabin and lay in a
+stock of grub, which cost quite a good deal, for the self-raising flour
+which we bought was worth twenty cents a pound, and all kinds of hog
+meat fifty cents, with other supplies in proportion. Our new claims now
+paid very well. Snow came down to the depth of about four feet around
+our cabin, but as our work was under ground, we had a comfortable place
+all winter.
+
+In the spring McCloud and I went to Sacramento and sold our chunks of
+gold (it was all very coarse) to Page, Bacon & Co. who were themselves
+surprised at the coarseness of the whole lot. When our savings were
+weighed up we found we had made half an ounce a day, clear of all
+expenses, for the entire year.
+
+We now took a little run down to San Francisco, also to Santa Clara
+where we staid a night or two with Mr. McCloud's friend, Mr. Otterson,
+and then went back to our claims again. In taking care of our money we
+had to be our own bankers, and the usual way was to put the slugs we
+received for pay into a gallon pickle jar, and bury this in some place
+known only to our particular selves, and these vaults we considered
+perfectly safe. The slugs were fifty dollar pieces, coined for
+convenience, and were eight-sided, heavy pieces. In the western counties
+the people called them "Adobies," but among the miners they were
+universally known as "Slugs."
+
+The winter proved a little lonesome, the miners mostly staid at home and
+worked. During the year we had been here I had not seen a respectable
+woman in this mining country. There were few females here, and they were
+said to be of very doubtful character. As a general thing people were
+very patient with their wickedness, but not always.
+
+Twice only in the history of California were women made the victims of
+mob violence, once at Los Angeles and once at Downieville. The affair at
+the last-named place occurred in 1851, and the victim was a pretty
+little Spanish woman named Juanita. She and her husband, like many
+another couple at that time, kept a monte game for the delectation of
+the miners who had more money than sense, but beyond this fact
+absolutely nothing was said against her character.
+
+There was an English miner named Cannon living in town, who was very
+popular among a large number of gamblers and others. He got drunk one
+night and about midnight went to the house occupied by the Spanish woman
+and her husband and kicked the door down. Early the following morning he
+told his comrades that he was going to apologize to the woman for what
+he had done. He went alone to the house, and, while talking with the
+husband and wife, the woman suddenly drew a knife and stabbed Cannon to
+the heart. What had been said that provoked the deed was never known,
+further than that Juanita claimed she had been grossly insulted.
+
+She was given a mock trial, but the facts of the case were not brought
+out, as the men who were with Cannon were too drunk to remember what had
+happened the previous night. It was a foregone conclusion that the poor
+woman was to be hanged, and the leaders of the mob would brook no
+interference. A physician examined Juanita and announced to the mob that
+she was in a condition that demanded the highest sympathy of every man,
+but he was forced to flee from town to save his life. A prominent
+citizen made an appeal for mercy, but he was driven down the main street
+and across the river by a mob with drawn revolvers, and with threats of
+instant death. The well-known John B. Weller was in town at the time,
+and was asked to reason with the mob, but refused to do so.
+
+The execution was promptly carried out. A plank was put across the
+supports of the bridge over the Yuba, and a rope fastened to a beam
+overhead. Juanita went calmly to her death. She wore a Panama hat, and
+after mounting the platform she removed it, tossed it to a friend in the
+crowd, whose nickname was "Oregon," with the remark, "Adios amigo." Then
+she adjusted the noose to her own neck, raising her long, loose tresses
+carefully in order to fix the rope firmly in its place, and then, with a
+smile and wave of her hand to the bloodthirsty crowd present, she
+stepped calmly from the plank into eternity. Singular enough, her body
+rests side by side, in the cemetery on the hill, with that of the man
+whose life she had taken.
+
+On Sundays Downieville was full of men, none very old, and none very
+young, but almost every one of middle age. Nearly every man was coarsely
+dressed, with beard unshaved and many with long hair, but on any
+occasion of excitement it was not at all strange to see the coarsest,
+roughest looking one of all the party mount a stump and deliver as
+eloquent an address as one could wish to hear. On Sunday it was not at
+all unusual for some preacher to address the moving crowd, while a few
+feet behind him would be a saloon in full blast, and drinking, gambling,
+swearing and vulgar language could be plainly seen and heard at the same
+time, and this class of people seemed to respect the Sunday preacher
+very little. The big saloon was owned by John Craycroft, formerly a mate
+on a Mississippi River steamboat, who gained most of his money by
+marrying a Spanish woman and making her a silent partner.
+
+One enterprising man who was anxious to make money easily, took a notion
+to try his luck in trade, so, as rats and mice were troublesome in shops
+and stores, he went down to the valley and brought up a cargo of cats
+which he disposed of at prices varying from fifty to one hundred dollars
+each, according to the buyer's fancy.
+
+During the summer Kelley the fiddler came up in the mines to make a
+raise, and Craycroft made him a pulpit about ten feet above the floor in
+his saloon, having him to play nights and Sundays at twenty dollars per
+day. He was a big uneducated Irishman, who could neither read nor write,
+but he played and sang and talked the rich Irish brogue, all of which
+brought many customers to the bar. In the saloon could be seen all sorts
+of people dealing different games, and some were said to be preachers.
+Kelley staid here as long as he could live on his salary, and left town
+much in debt, for whiskey and cards got all his money.
+
+One of the grocers kept out a sign, "CHEAP JOHN, THE PACKER," and kept a
+mule to deliver goods, which no other merchant did, and in this way
+gained many friends, and many now may praise the enterprise of Cheap
+John, the Packer. Prices were pretty high in those days. Sharpening
+picks cost fifty cents, a drink of whiskey one dollar, and all kinds of
+pork, fifty cents per pound. You could get meals at the McNutty house
+for one dollar. The faro and monte banks absorbed so much of the small
+change that on one occasion I had to pay five dollars for a two dollar
+pair of pants in order to get a fifty dollar slug changed.
+
+No white shirts were worn by honest men, and if any man appeared in such
+a garment he was at once set down as a gambler, and with very little
+chance of a mistake. One Langdon had the only express office, and
+brought letters and packages from Sacramento. I paid one dollar simply
+to get my name on his letter list, and when a letter came I had to pay
+one dollar for bringing it up, as there was no Post Office at
+Downieville.
+
+Newspapers were eagerly sought for, such was the hunger for reading. The
+Western folks bought the St. Louis papers, while Eastern people found
+the New York Tribune a favorite. One dollar each for such papers was the
+regular price. It may seem strange, but aside from the news we got from
+an occasional newspaper, I did not hear a word from the East during the
+two years I remained on Yuba river. Our evenings were spent in playing
+cards for amusement, for no reading could be got. The snow between
+Marysville and Downieville was deep and impassable in winter, but we
+could work our drifting claims very comfortably, having laid in a stock
+of provisions early in the season, before snowfall. The nights seemed
+tediously long and lonesome, for when the snow was deep no one came to
+visit us, and we could go nowhere, being completely hemmed in. All the
+miners who did not have claims they could work underground, went down
+below the winter snow-line to find work, and when the snow went off came
+back again and took possession of the old claims they had left.
+
+After the snow went off three German sailors came up and took a river
+claim a short distance above us on a north fork of the north fork of the
+stream, where one side of the canon was perpendicular and the other
+sloped back only slightly. Here they put logs across the river, laid
+stringers on these, and covered the bottom with fir boughs. Then they
+put stakes at the sides and rigged a canvas flume over their bridge
+through which they turned the whole current of the river, leaving a
+nearly dry bed beneath. This we called pretty good engineering and
+management on the part of the sailor boys, for no lumber was to be had,
+and they had made themselves masters of the situation with the material
+on hand.
+
+They went to work under their log aqueduct, and found the claim very
+rich in coarse gold. They went to town every Saturday night with good
+big bags of dust, and as they were open-hearted fellows, believing that
+a sailor always has the best of luck, they played cards freely, always
+betting on the Jack and Queen, and spent their money more easily than
+they earned it. They were quite partial to the ladies, and patronizing
+the bar and card tables as liberally as they did, usually returned to
+camp on Monday or Tuesday with a mule load of grub and whiskey as all
+the visible proceeds of a week's successful mining; but when Saturday
+night came around again we were pretty sure to see the jolly sailors
+going past with heavy bags of gold. They left one nearly pure piece of
+gold at Langdon's Express office that weighed five pounds, and another
+as large as a man's hand, of the shape of a prickly pear leaf.
+
+They worked their claim with good success until the snow water came down
+and forced them out. I went one day to see them, and they took a pan of
+dirt from behind a big rock and washed it out, getting as much as two
+teacupfuls of nuggets, worth perhaps a thousand dollars. When they went
+away they said they would go to Germany to see their poor relatives and
+friends, and one of them really went home, but the other two had spent
+all their money before they were ready to leave San Francisco. These men
+were, without doubt, the inventors of the canvas flume which was
+afterward used so successfully in various places.
+
+While I was still here the now famous Downieville Butte quartz mine was
+discovered, but there was no way then of working quartz successfully,
+and just at that time very little was done with it, but afterward, when
+it was learned how to work it, and the proper machinery introduced, it
+yielded large sums of bullion.
+
+The miners had a queer way of calling every man by some nickname or
+other instead of his true name, and no one seemed offended at it, but
+answered to his new name as readily as to any.
+
+It was nearly fall when we found we had worked our claims out, and there
+were no new ones we could locate here, so we concluded to go prospecting
+for a new locality. I bought a donkey in town of a Mr. Hawley, a
+merchant, for which I paid sixty dollars, and gave the little fellow his
+old master's name. We now had two animals, and we packed on them our
+worldly goods, and started south up the mountain trail by way of the
+city of six, where some half dozen men had located claims, but the
+ground was dry and deep, so we went on.
+
+We still went south, down toward the middle Yuba River and when about
+half way down the mountain side came to a sort of level bench where some
+miners were at work, but hardly any water could be had. They called this
+Minnesota. We stayed here a day or two, but as there seemed to be no
+possible further development of water, concluded to go on further.
+Across the river we could see a little flat, very similar to the one we
+were on, and a little prospecting seemed to have been done on the side
+of the mountain. We had a terribly steep canon to cross, and a river
+also, with no trail to follow, but our donkeys were as good climbers as
+any of us, so we started down the mountain in the morning, and arrived
+at the river about noon. Here we rested an hour or two and then began
+climbing the brushy mountain side. The hill was very steep, and the sun
+beat down on us with all his heat, so that with our hard labor and the
+absence of any wind we found it a pretty hot place.
+
+It was pretty risky traveling in some places, and we had to help the
+donkeys to keep them from rolling down the hill, pack and all. It took
+us four hours to make a mile and a half or two miles in that dense
+brush, and we were nearly choked when we reached the little flat. Here
+we found some water, but no one lived here. From here we could see a
+large flat across a deep canon to the west, and made up our minds to try
+to go to it. We went around the head of the canon, and worked through
+the brush and fallen timber, reaching our objective point just as night
+was coming on. This flat, like the one we had left, was quite level, and
+contained, perhaps, nearly one hundred acres. Here we found two men at
+work with a "long tom"--a Mr. Fernay and a Mr. Bloat. They had brought
+the water of a small spring to their claim and were making five or six
+dollars per day. We now prospected around the edge of this flat, and
+getting pretty fair prospects concluded we would locate here if we could
+get water.
+
+We then began our search for water and found a spring about three
+quarters of a mile away, to which we laid claim, and with a triangle
+level began to survey out a route for our ditch. The survey was
+satisfactory, and we found we could bring the water out high on the
+flat, so we set to work digging at it, and turned the water in. The
+ground was so very dry that all the water soaked up within two hundred
+yards of the spring.
+
+By this time we were out of grub, and some one must go for a new supply,
+and as we knew the trail to Downieville was terribly rough, I was chosen
+as the one to try to find Nevada City, which we thought would be nearer
+and more easily reached. So I started south with the donkeys, up the
+mountain toward the ridge which lies between the middle and south Yuba
+Rivers, and when I got well on the ridge I found a trail used some by
+wagons, which I followed till I came to a place where the ridge was only
+wide enough for a wagon, and at the west end a faint trail turned off
+south into the rolling hills. I thought this went about the course I
+wanted to go, so I followed it, and after two or three miles came to the
+south Yuba river. This seemed to be an Indian trail, no other signs on
+it. I climbed the mountain here, and when I reached the top I found a
+large tent made of blue drilling, and here I found I was four or five
+miles from Nevada City with a good trail to follow. The rolling hills I
+then passed through are now called North Bloomfield, and at one time
+were known as "Humbug."
+
+I started along the trail and soon reached the city where I drove my
+donkeys up to a store which had out the sign "Davis & Co.." I entered
+and inquiring the prices of various sorts of provisions such as flour,
+bacon, beans, butter, etc., soon had selected enough for two donkey
+loads. They assisted me in putting them in pack, and when it was ready I
+asked the amount of my bill, which was one hundred and fifty dollars.
+This I paid at once, and they gave me some crackers and dried beef for
+lunch on the way. Davis said--"That is the quickest sale I ever made,
+and here the man is ready to go. I defy any one to beat it." Before sun
+down I was two or three miles on my way back where I found some grass
+and camped for the night, picketed the animals, ate some of Mr. Davis'
+grub for supper, and arranged a bed of saddle blankets. I arrived at
+camp the next day about sun down.
+
+Next day I went on up the divide and found a house on the trail leading
+farther east, where two men lived, but they seemed to be doing nothing.
+There were no mines and miners near there, and there seemed to be very
+little travel on the trail. The fellows looked rough, and I suspected
+they might be bad characters. The stream they lived near was afterward
+called Bloody Run, and there were stories current that blood had been
+shed there.
+
+Here was a section of comparatively level land, for the mountain divide,
+and a fine spring of good cold water, all surrounded by several hundred
+acres of the most magnificent sugar pines California ever raised, very
+large, straight as a candle, and one hundred feet or more to the lowest
+limbs. This place was afterward called Snow Tent, and S.W. Churchill
+built a sawmill at the spring, and had all this fine timber at the mercy
+of his ax and saw, without anyone to dispute his right. He furnished
+lumber to the miners at fifty dollars or more per thousand feet. Bloody
+Run no doubt well deserves its name, for there was much talk of killing
+done there.
+
+I, however, went up and talked to the men and told them I wished to hire
+a cross cut saw for a few days to get out stuff for a cabin, and agreed
+to pay two dollars a day for the use of it till it came back.
+
+We cut down a large sugar pine, cut off four six feet cuts, one twelve
+feet, and one sixteen feet cut, and from these we split out a lot of
+boards which we used to make a V-shaped flume which we placed in our
+ditch, and thus got the water through. We split the longer cuts into two
+inch plank for sluice boxes, and made a small reservoir, so that we
+succeeded in working the ground. We paid wages to the two men who
+worked, and two other men who were with us went and built a cabin.
+
+I now went and got another load of provisions, and as the snow could be
+seen on the high mountains to the east, I thought the deer must be
+crowded down to our country, so I went out hunting and killed a big fat
+buck, and the next day three more, so fresh meat was plenty.
+
+About this time a man came down the mountain with his oxen and wagon,
+wife and three or four children, the eldest a young lady of fifteen
+years. The man's name was H. M. Moore. We had posted notices, according
+to custom, to make mining laws, and had quite a discussion about a name
+for the place. Some of the fellows wanted to name it after the young
+lady, "Minda's Flat," but we finally chose "Moore's Flat" instead, which
+I believe is the name it still goes by. Our laws were soon completed,
+and a recorder chosen to record claims. We gave Mr. Moore the honor of
+having a prospecting town named after him because he was the first man
+to be on hand with a wife.
+
+I became satisfied after a little that this place would be a very snowy
+place, and that from all appearances it would fall from two to four feet
+deep, and not a very pleasant place to winter in. An honest acquaintance
+of mine came along, Samuel Tyler and to him I let my claim to work on
+shares and made McCloud my agent, verbally, while I took my blankets and
+started for the valley.
+
+The first town I passed through was a newly discovered mining town
+called French Corral. Here I found an old Wisconsin friend Wm. Sublet,
+the foster father of the accomplishen wife of Mayor S.W. Boring of San
+Jose. From here I went to Marysville. The storm had been raging high in
+the mountains for some days, and the Yuba river rising fast, overflowing
+its banks as I walked into town, and the next day the merchants were
+very busy piling their goods above high water mark. I went to a hotel
+and called for a bed. "Yes," says the landlord "Is your name John or
+Peter?" I told him William, which he set down in his book and we went up
+stairs to the best room which was fitted up with berths three tiers high
+on each side, and only one or two empty ones. He looked around for
+covers, but none could be found unoccupied, but one fellow who was sound
+asleep and snoring awfully, so he took the blanket off from him saying:
+"He wont know a thing about it till morning, be jabers, so don't say a
+word."
+
+Next morning the river was booming, its surface covered with all sorts
+of mining outfit such as flume timber, rockers, various qualities of
+lumber, pieces of trees as well as whole ones, water wheels and other
+traps. The river between Downieville and here must have been swept clean
+of all material that would float, including "long Toms." The water
+continued to rise till it covered the Plaza, and in two days a steamer
+came up and sailed across the public square. This looked like a wet
+season to me, and when the boat was ready to go down the river I went on
+board, bound for Sacramento. Here it was also getting terrible wet and
+muddy, and the rain kept pouring down. In the morning I worked my way up
+J street and saw a six-mule team wading up the streets the driver on
+foot, tramping through the sloppy mud, occasionally stepping in a hole
+and falling his whole length in the mud. On the street where so much
+trouble was met by the teamsters, a lot of idlers stood on the sidewalk,
+and when a driver would fall and go nearly out of sight, they would,
+like a set of loafers, laugh at him and blackguard him with much noise,
+and as they were numerous they feared nothing.
+
+Suddenly a miner, who had lately arrived from the mountains, raised his
+room window in the second story of a house, put out one leg and then his
+body, as far as he could, and having nothing on but his night clothes,
+shouted to the noisy crowd below:--"Say can't you d----d farmers plow
+now?" At this he dodged back quickly into his window as if he expected
+something might be thrown at him. The rain continued, and the water rose
+gradually till it began to run slowly through the streets, and all the
+business stopped except gambling and drinking whisky, which were freely
+carried on in the saloons day and night.
+
+While here in Sacramento I was sufficiently prompted by curiosity to go
+around to the place on J street where the Legislature was in session. I
+stood sometime outside the enclosure listening to the members who were
+in earnest debate over a question concerning the size of mining claims.
+They wanted them uniform in size all over the state, but there was some
+opposition, and the debate on this occasion was between the members from
+the mining counties on one side and the "cow" counties on the other. The
+miners took the ground that the claims were of different richness in the
+different mining localities and that the miners themselves were the best
+judges of the proper size of claims, and were abundantly able to make
+their own laws as they had done under the present mining customs, and
+their laws had always been respected, making any further legislative
+action unnecessary.
+
+While this wrangle was going on. Capt. Hunt, of San Bernardino (our
+guide from Salt Lake in 1849), came along and stopped where I stood,
+shaking me heartily by the hand, inquiring where I was from, and when I
+told him I was from the mines he said he thought the cow county fellows
+were trying to make the miners some trouble. I told him the present
+mining regulations suited us very well, and after he had talked with me
+a little he went inside and whispered to some of the silent members that
+the miners wanted no change, for he had just consulted a miner to that
+effect. When occasion offered he called for a vote which resulted in the
+defeat of the cow counties and a postponement of the measure
+indefinitely.
+
+My next move was to try to find a dryer place so I took a boat for
+Benicia, then for Stockton, where I found a sea of mud, so that a man
+needed stilts or a boat to cross the street.
+
+Here in a livery stable I found my old Platte River boss, Chas. Dallas,
+for whom I drove in 1849, but he did not seem to know me and took no
+notice of me, but talked "horse" and horse-racing to the bystanders very
+loudly. I suppose that Dallas had made money and did not care for a poor
+ox driver, and on my part I did not care very much for his friendship,
+so I walked away and left him without a word.
+
+Every way I looked was a sea of black, sticky mud; dogs mired in the
+streets and died, and teams and animals had forsaken the usual route of
+travel. The gambling houses and saloons were crowded, gum boots in
+demand, and the only way to get out of town was by water. I took this
+way out, and on the same boat by which I came, going to San Francisco.
+This was high and dry enough to be above the highest floods of Yuba,
+Sacramento or San Joaquin, but all business except the saloons was dull.
+Fronting on Portsmouth Square was the Hall of Corruption. Inside was a
+magnificently furnished bar, more than one keeper and various gambling
+tables, most of them with soiled doves in attendance. The room was
+thronged with players and spectators, and coin and dust were plenty. The
+dealers drew off their cards carefully, and seemed to have the largest
+pile of coin on their side.
+
+I climbed Russian Hill and to take a look over the city. It seemed
+poorly built, but the portion that had been burned in July 1852, had
+been built up again. The business part was near the beach and north of
+Market street.
+
+I had never lived in a town and did not know its ways, so I strolled
+around alone, for without acquaintance I did not know where to go nor
+what to look for. I therefore thought I would see some other part of the
+country. I found that a schooner was about to sail for San Pedro, near
+Los Angeles. I took hold of a rope to help myself on board, when it gave
+way and I found myself floundering in the water. They helped me out and
+the Captain gave me a dry suit to put on, I was profoundly grateful for
+the favor, and found him a generous man.
+
+We sailed away and stopped at Monterey for 24 hours which gave me a good
+chance for a good look at the old Capitol houses, which were of adobe,
+and to find that this city was also liberally supplied with gambling,
+card and billiard tables. The majority of the people were Spanish and
+fond of gaming, and the general appearance of the place was old and
+without good improvements, though there were more two-story houses than
+in most places in California.
+
+Some houses were of stone, but more of adobe, and there seemed to be no
+fertile country round, and the hills about had small pines on them.
+
+Some of the sailors went out and gathered a large bag of mussels and
+clams, from which they made a liberal allowance of chowder for the
+table. After seven or eight days we arrived in San Pedro, and found the
+town to consist of one long adobe house. The beach was low and sandy,
+and we were wet somewhat in wading through a light surf to get on shore.
+We had on board a Mr. Baylis, who we afterward learned came down with
+Capt. Lackey on a big speculation which was to capture all the wild
+goats they could on Catalina Island, and take them to San Francisco for
+slaughtering.
+
+The goats were easily captured and taken on board the schooner, and
+thence to shore but many were drowned in the transit, and when driven to
+San Francisco the dead were scattered all along the route. Although wild
+they seemed to lack the vitality that tame goats possess. The
+speculation proved a disappointment to the projectors.
+
+At the adobe house, kept by a Spaniard we had breakfast, then shouldered
+our packs for the march of ten leagues to Los Angeles for there was no
+chance to ride. It was night before we reached the City of Angels, and
+here I staid a day to take a look at the first city I saw in California
+in March 1850.
+
+I inquired for my mining companion, W.M. Stockton who worked with
+Bennett and myself near Georgetown in 1850, and found he lived near the
+old mission of San Gabriel nine miles away, whither I walked and found
+him and family well and glad to see me. He had jumped an old pear
+orchard which was not claimed by the Mission Fathers, although it was
+only three-fourths of a mile away. The trees were all seedlings and very
+large, probably 50 or more years old. Some of the Mission buildings were
+falling down since they had been abandoned, and the Americans would go
+to these houses and remove the tile flooring from the porches and from
+the pillars that supported them. These tiles were of hard burned clay,
+in pieces about a foot square, and were very convenient to make fire
+places and pavements before the doors of their new houses. Out-side the
+enclosed orange and fig orchard at this place were some large olive and
+fig trees, apparently as old as the mission, being a foot or more in
+diameter and about 50 feet high. I had never seen olives, and when I saw
+these trees covered with plenty of fruit about the size of damson plums
+I took the liberty of tasting it and found it very disagreeable, and
+wondered of what use such fruit could be.
+
+Mr. Stockton fenced his orchard by setting posts and tying sycamore
+poles to them to keep the stock away, built an adobe house on the claim
+and called the property his. I went to work for him at once, pruning the
+trees, which improved their appearance, and then turned on a little
+stream of water which ran through the place, and on down to the mission.
+With this treatment the trees did well without cultivation.
+
+I bought one half the stock consisting of some Spanish cows, one yoke of
+oxen and some horses, worked enough to pay my board, watched the stock
+and still had plenty of time to ride around over the adjoining country.
+
+When the pears were ripe the Spanish men, women and children eagerly
+bought them at 25 cents per dozen and some Sundays the receipts for
+fruit sold would be as high as $100. That taken to town would bring from
+$5. to $8. per box, the boxes being a little larger than those in
+present use. An Indian woman, widow of a Mr. Reed, claimed a vineyard
+near the orchard, and laid claim to the whole property, so Stockton gave
+her $1000 for a quit claim deed.
+
+Near by was a small artificial lake made by a dam of cobble stones, laid
+in cement across a ravine, which was built perhaps 50 years before, and
+yet the tracks of a child who had walked across before the cement was
+dry, were plainly seen.
+
+Stockton and I visited Mr. Roland, an old settler who lived south of San
+Gabriel river, and staid all night with him, finding him very sociable
+and hospitable. All his work was done by Indians who lived near by, and
+had been there as long as he. He had a small vineyard, and raised corn,
+squashes, melons and all that are necessary for his table, having also a
+small mill near by for grinding corn and wheat without bolting. The
+Indians made his wine by tramping the grapes with their feet in a
+rawhide vat hung between four poles set in the ground. The workmen were
+paid off every Saturday night, and during Sunday he would generally sell
+them wine enough to get about all the money back again. This had been
+his practice for many years, and no doubt suited Mr. Roland as well as
+the red men.
+
+Roland was an old Rocky Mountain trapper who came to California long
+before gold was discovered, and during the evening the talk naturally
+ran to the subject of early days.
+
+Mr. Roland related that while his party were in camp in the upper
+Colorado they were visited by a small band of Indians who professed
+friendship and seated themselves around the fire. Suddenly they made an
+attack and each trapper had an Indian to contend with, except Mr. Roland
+who was left to be dispatched afterwards. But as he ran, a squaw among
+them followed him, and after a while overtook him and showed friendship.
+He had neither gun or knife and so concluded to put faith in the woman
+who safely guided him in a long tramp across the desert where they both
+came near starving, but finally reached Los Angeles Valley, when the
+brave squaw mingled with her own people and he lost sight of her
+forever.
+
+No white man could alone have traversed that desert waste and found food
+enough to last him half the journey.
+
+He gradually learned to speak Spanish, and was granted the piece of land
+he applied for, and where he then lived; married a Spanish girl, with
+whom he had a happy home and raised a large family, and grew rich, for
+they were both industrious and economical. The first wife died, and he
+was persuaded to marry a Texas widow, and now had to buy the first
+carriage he ever owned, and furnish a fine turn-out and driver for the
+lady, who wore much jewelry and fine clothes, and spent money freely.
+Roland was not a society man, his thoughts and habits were different
+from his wife, and he staid at home, better contented there.
+
+There were many other pioneers in the neighborhood, Dan Sexton, Col.
+Williams, of Chino ranch, Workman, B.D. Wilson, Abel Stearns, Temple,
+Wolfskill and many others, Scott and Granger were lawyers. Granger was
+the same man who read the preamble and resolutions that were to govern
+our big train as we were about to start from Utah Lake.
+
+Scott was quite a noted member of the bar, and when Gen. Winfield Scott
+ran for President, some wide awake politicians caused the uneducated
+Spaniards to vote for their favorite lawyer instead of the redoubtable
+general, and they did this with a good will for they thought the famous
+avocado was the best man, and thus the manipulators lost many votes to
+the real candidate. Scott was afterward retained by many of the
+Spaniards to present their claims for their land to the U.S. Government
+and was considered a very able man.
+
+Mr. Stockton related that when he left his family here to go to the
+mines he rented one half a house of Michael Blanco who had a Spanish
+wife and children, and these and his own were of course constant
+playmates. When he returned in the fall he found his children had
+learned to speak Spanish and nearly forgotten English, so that he had to
+coax them a great deal to get them to talk to him at all, and he could
+not understand a word they said.
+
+I now tried to learn the language myself. I had money to loan, and the
+borrowers were Spanish who gave good security and paid from 5 to 25 per
+cent interest per month, on short time. Mrs. Stockton assisted me very
+much as an interpreter.
+
+I bought young steers for $8. each and gradually added to my herd. I got
+along well until next spring when the beef eating population began to
+steal my fat cattle, and seemed determined I should get no richer. The
+country was over-stocked with desperate and lawless renegades in Los
+Angeles and from one to four dead men was about the number picked up in
+the streets each morning. They were of low class, and there was no
+investigation, simply a burial at public expense.
+
+The permanent Spanish population seemed honest and benevolent, but there
+were many bad ones from Chili, Sonora, Mexico, Texas, Utah and Europe,
+who seemed always on an errand of mischief a murder, thieving or
+robbery.
+
+Three or four suspicious looking men came on horseback and made their
+camp near the Mission under an oak tree, where they staid sometime. They
+always left someone in camp while the others went away every day on
+their horses, and acted so strangely that the report soon became current
+that they were stealing horses and running them off to some safe place
+in the mountains till a quantity could be accumulated to take to the
+mines to sell. On this information the Vigilance Committee arrested the
+man in camp and brought him to a private room, where he was tried by
+twelve men, who found him guilty of horse stealing, and sentenced to be
+hung at once, for horse stealing was a capital offence in those days.
+
+To carry out the sentence they procured a cart, put a box on it for a
+seat, and with a rope around his neck and seated on the box, the
+condemned man was dragged off by hand to an oak tree not far away,
+whither he was followed by all the men, women and children of the place,
+who where nearly all natives. While preparations were being made under
+the tree some one called out that men were riding rapidly from the
+direction of Los Angeles, and from the dust they raised seemed to be
+more than usually in haste. So it was proposed to wait till they came
+up. It was soon known that an Indian had been sent to Los Angeles to
+give news to the man's friends there, and they had come with all the
+speed of their horses to try to save his life. They talked and inquired
+around a little and then proposed the question whether to hang him or to
+turn him over to the lawful authorities for regular trial. This was put
+to a vote and it was decided to spare him now. So the rope was taken off
+his neck, and he was turned over to Mr. Mallard the Mission Justice of
+the Peace, much to the relief of the fellow who saw death staring him in
+the face.
+
+The Santa Anita ranch, now owned by E.J. Baldwin, was owned by Henry
+Dalton, an Englishman, who came with a stock of goods worth $75,000,
+years before, but now had only the ranch left. The Azuza, a short
+distance south was occupied by his brother.
+
+I became well acquainted with many of these old California natives, and
+found them honest in their dealings, good to the needy and in all my
+travels never found more willing hands to bestow upon relatives, friends
+or strangers ready relief than I saw among these simple natives. Their
+kindness to our party when we came starving on the desert in 1850, can
+never be praised enough, and as long as I shall live my best wishes
+shall go with them.
+
+I was one day riding with Vincent Duarte down toward Anaheim when he
+suddenly dismounted to kill a large tarantula by pelting him with
+stones. It was the first one I had seen, and seemed an over-grown
+spider. I asked him if the thing was harmful, and he replied with
+considerable warmth, "Mucho malo por Christianos" and I wondered if the
+insect knew saints from sinners.
+
+This spring we concluded to go to the Mormon settlement at San
+Bernardino and secure some American bulls to improve our stock, and
+starting late one day I rode as far as the Azuza Rancho where I staid
+all night with Mr. Dalton, reaching the holy city, a branch of Brigham
+Young's harem next day. Here I found a town of log houses in a circle,
+enclosing a plaza. There was a passage between the houses. I stopped at
+the principal hotel kept by a vigorous and enthusiastic Mormon woman,
+who delighted to preach the doctrine.
+
+Walking around on the outside of the fortifications I came across Capt.
+Hunt, the man who was hired in the fall of 1849 to bring the big train
+from Salt Lake to San Bernardino.
+
+I told him who I was, and what I wanted, and he seemed to know me,
+inviting me in the most friendly and social manner to take supper with
+him, which I did. He sat at the head of the table and introduced me to
+his three wives. The furnishing of the house was cheap and common, but
+the table was fairly provided for. He said he would help me to find the
+animals I wanted, and in the morning showed me two which he had, that
+were young and suitable, and a larger one which he said I could have if
+I could drive him.
+
+I soon found out that I had better move or sell my cattle, for with all
+my watching I could do they gradually disappeared, and hungry thieves
+who could live on beef alone, visited my little band of cattle too often
+and took what they wanted, and I could not detect them. I soon sold to
+four buyers from the north, L.D. Stevens, David Grant, Sam Craig and Mr.
+Wilson, and hired out with my two horses to help them drive the band
+north, at a salary of $100 per month.
+
+Disposing most of my money with Palmer, Cook & Co., I went to see my
+mine at Moore's Flat. There were two boats leaving at about the same
+time, one for Stockton, and one for Sacramento, the latter of which I
+took, and Rogers the other. Both landed at Benecia, and when we swung
+away from that wharf Rogers and I saluted each other with raised and
+swinging hats, shouted a good bye, and I have never seen him since.
+
+At Moore's Flat I found my mine well and profitably worked by Mr. Tyler
+and as his lease was not out I returned to San Jose, as I had learned
+from Rogers that Mr. A. Bennett was at Watsonville, and Mr. Arcane at
+Santa Cruz, and I desired to visit them. I rode back across the country
+and found Mr. Bennett and family at the point where the Salinas river
+enters Monterey Bay. They were all well, and were glad to see me for
+they did not know I was in California. Mrs. Bennett was greatly affected
+at our meeting and shed tears of joy as she shook hands.
+
+Bennett had a nice Whitehall boat and we had a genuine happy time
+hunting, fishing and gathering clams, and also in social visits among
+the neighbors and old acquaintances, among them one Jacob Rhodehouse of
+Wisconsin.
+
+While here I rode my horse around to Monterey and to Carmel Mission,
+where I staid two or three days, with Mr. Gourley, a brother of Mrs.
+William M. Stockton, who was here engaged in raising potatoes. I walked
+along the beach near some rocky islands near the shore, and on these
+rocks were more sea lions and seals than I supposed the whole ocean
+contained--the most wonderful show of sea life on the California coast.
+Returning I staid all night at the crossing of the Salinas with a
+colored family who gave me good accommodations for self and horse. I
+heard afterward that this family was attacked by robbers and all but one
+murdered.
+
+Mrs. Bennett's father D.J. Dilley lived near here also, and I had not
+seen him since the time in Wisconsin, when he hauled my canoe over to
+the river in 1849. One day while fishing on the beach we found the body
+of a man, which we carried above the tide and buried in the sand.
+
+I gave one of my horses to Geo. Bennett, and went over to Santa Cruz,
+where I found Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Arcane and son Charles in a comfortable
+home, well situated, and overjoyed to see me.
+
+He knew everyone in town, and as we went about he never missed to
+introduce me to every one we met, as the man who helped himself and
+family out of Death Valley, and saved their lives. Arcane was a very
+polite Frenchman and knew how to manage such things very gracefully, but
+with all his grace and heartiness it made me feel quite a little
+embarrassed to be made so much of publicly and among strangers. He took
+me in his buggy and we drove along the beach, and to the lime-kiln of
+Cowel & Jordan, also to the court house when court was in session.
+
+Upon the hill I met Judge Watson, the father of Watsonville, and a Mr.
+Graham, an old settler and land owner, and on this occasion he pulled a
+sheet of ancient, smoky looking paper from beneath his arm, pointed to a
+dozen or so of written lines in Spanish and then with a flourish of the
+precious document in Watson's face dared him to beat that, or get him
+off his land. I must say that never in my life was I better entertained
+than here.
+
+From Santa Cruz I crossed the mountain on a lonely and romantic trail to
+San Jose again, finding very few houses on the road. Here I went to work
+for R. G. Moody building a gristmill on the banks of the Coyote Creek,
+to be run by water from artesian wells. When the mill was done I went
+for my horse, and on my return I ran very unexpectedly upon Davenport
+Helms, to whom I had sold my little black mule in 1850. Our talk was
+short but he told me he had killed a man in Georgetown, and the sheriff
+was looking for him. He was now venturing to town for tobacco, and would
+hurry back to the hills again where he was herding cattle.
+
+He said he kept them off at one time by getting in a piece of chaparral
+and presenting his gun to them when they came near, they dare not
+advance on him. Then he laughed and said--"And all the time my gun was
+empty, for I did not have a d----d thing to put into it." "I tell you
+they don't catch old Davenport. Now don't you tell on me. Good-bye." I
+saw him no more after that.
+
+The town of San Jose was now more of a town than it was a few years
+before. The "Forty Thieves," and others, commenced building a city hall
+of brick on the top of old adobe walls, and this was the principal
+improvement, except the Moody mill near the Sutter house, one street
+north of Julian.
+
+After finishing work on the mill I drew my money from the bank in San
+Francisco and started for the mines on horseback. Near French Camp, on
+the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, many cattle were feeding on the
+plains, and among them, much to my surprise I found "Old Crump," the ox
+that brought Bennett's and Arcane's children safe through from Death
+Valley in February, 1850. He was now fat and sleek and as kind and
+gentle as when so poor upon the terrible journey. I got off my horse and
+went up to him, and patted my old friend. I was glad to find him so
+contented and happy, and I doubt not that he too was glad. I met a man
+near by and asked him about the ox, and he said that the owner would not
+sell him nor allow him to be worked, for he knew of the faithful part he
+performed in the world, and respected him for it.
+
+At Sacramento I deposited my money with Page, Bacon & Co., a branch of
+the St. Louis firm of the same name, considered the safest bank in the
+United States. Their bills were taken in payment of Government land.
+Some rascals had some counterfeit bills on their bank, and traded them
+off for gold with the Missourians who were going home, and the poor
+fellows found themselves poor on arrival.
+
+Going to my mine, where I left only a cabin or two, I found quite a
+village with two hotels and a post office.
+
+News soon came that the banks had closed their door, and Page and Bacon
+also, so I concluded that I was broke. The "Pikers" said Page and Bacon
+could not, nor would not fail, but news was against them. The boys now
+tried to persuade me to go to Sacramento, and try to get my money and if
+I succeeded, to bring up a good stock of goods and they would buy of me
+in preference to any one else. On this showing I went down, and finding
+my old friend Lyman Ross (well known in San Jose) who was keeping a
+fruit store. I told him my business and he took me to L.A. Booth, Carrol
+& Co., and I stated to him the facts about my money in the bank and the
+doors closed. I told him if he would assist me I would buy $2000 worth
+of his goods, and send them to Moore's Flat. I endorsed the certificate
+over to him, and in half an hour he came back with the coin. How he got
+it I never knew, but he did me a great favor, and we have been good
+friends ever since. I was no merchant, nor had I any mercantile
+education, so I took lessons from Mr. Booth, and allowed him to make out
+for me a bill of goods such as he well knew I needed. With these we
+loaded up two 6 mule teams, and started for the mountain.
+
+I had about $700 left besides paying for the goods, but I felt a very
+little troubled as to my prospect for success, for it was a new business
+to me. Mr. Booth in a business way was a true father to me, and the much
+needed points in trade which he gave me were stored away for the use I
+knew I would make of them. Of all those whom I bear in grateful
+remembrance none stand higher than this worthy man.
+
+I went first direct to Nevada City to take out a license that I might
+best protect myself against oppositions and from there I had a walk of
+18 miles over a rough mountain trail to my selected place of business.
+Climbing the great hill of the S. Yuba river I often tired and sat down
+to rest, and I used this time to study my bill of goods, and add the
+freight and profit to the cost, so as to be well posted, and able to
+answer all questions readily when I unloaded the stock. The new trade
+seemed quite a task to learn, but I felt that I was compelled to
+succeed, and I worked manfully at it.
+
+When I reached Moore's Flat I found that the boys had rented a store for
+me, and their welcome was very hearty when they found how lucky I had
+been in securing my money and starting out as their "grub supplier."
+
+Four of us now located some mining claims, and began a tunnel both to
+drain the ground, and to work through the bed-rock. This we named The
+Paradise, and we expected that three or four months would elapse before
+we made it pay, but there was in truth two years of solid rock-work
+before we got under the ground, but it paid well in the end.
+
+The largest nugget of gold ever found before this time was a quartz
+boulder from the Buckeye sluice, about 8 by 10 inches in size, and when
+cleaned up at the San Francisco mint the value was about $10,000.
+
+Two of my partners in the work, L.J. Hanchett, and Jas. Clark ran out of
+funds at the end of the first year, and I took as much of the expense as
+I could upon my own shoulders.
+
+About this time learning by a letter from her father that Mrs. Bennett
+was lying at the point of death at Mr. L.C. Bostic's in San Jose, I left
+H. Hanchett in charge of my business, and in four days I stood beside
+the bedside of my friend, endeared through the trials when death by
+thirst, starvation and the desert sands, stared us in the face with all
+its ghastliness.
+
+She reached out her arms and drew me down to her, and embraced me and
+said in a faint whisper--"God bless you:--you saved us all till now, and
+I hope you will always be happy and live long." She would have said
+more, but her voice was so weak she could not be heard. She was very low
+with consumption, and easily exhausted. I sat with her much of the time
+at her request and though for her sake I would have kept back the tears
+I could not always do it. Two doctors came, one of them Dr. Spencer, and
+as I sat with my face partly turned away I over heard Dr. S. say to his
+assistant--"He is a manly man."
+
+This presence and the circumstances brought back the trying Death Valley
+struggles, when this woman and her companions, and the poor children, so
+nearly starved they could not stand alone, were only prevented from
+sitting down to die in sheer despair by the encouraging words of Rogers
+and myself who had passed over the road, and used every way to sustain
+their courage.
+
+She died the following day; with Mr. Bennett, I followed her remains to
+Oak Hill cemetery, where she was buried near the foot of the hill, and a
+board marked in large letters, "S.B." (Sarah Bennett) placed to mark the
+mound. The grave cannot now be found, and no records being then kept it
+is probably lost.
+
+I went home with Mr. Bennett to his home near Watsonville, and spent
+several days, meeting several of our old Death Valley party, and Mr.
+D.J. Dilley, Mrs. Bennett's father. Mrs. Bennett left surviving her a
+young babe.
+
+I returned to Moore's Flat, and soon sold out my store, taking up the
+business of purchasing gold dust direct from the miners, which I
+followed for about two years, and in the fall of 1859 sold out the
+business to Marks & Powers. I looked about through Napa and Sonoma
+Counties, and finally came to San Jose, where I purchased the farm I now
+own, near Hillsdale, of Bodley & McCabe, for which I paid $4,000.
+
+In the fall of the same year my old friend W.M. Stockton of Los Angeles
+Co. persuaded me to come down and pay him a visit. His wife had died and
+he felt very lonely. I had been there but a few days when my old friend
+A. Bennett and his children also came to Stockton's. The children had
+grown so much I hardly knew them, but I was glad indeed to meet them.
+
+I found Mr. Bennett to be a poor man. He had been persuaded to go to
+Utah, being told that a fortune awaited his coming there, or could be
+accumulated in a short time. He gave away the little babe left by his
+wife to Mrs. Scott, of Scott's Valley, in Santa Cruz Co. and sold his
+farm near the mouth of the Salinas River. With what money he had
+accumulated he loaded two 4 mule teams with dry goods, put his four
+children into his wagon, and went to Cedar City, Utah.
+
+He gave a thrilling account of passing through Mountain Meadows, where
+he saw, here and there little groups of skeletons of the unhappy victims
+of the great massacre at that place of men, women and children, by J.D.
+Lee, and his Mormon followers and told me the terrible story, which I
+here omit.
+
+Smarting under the terrible taxation of one tenth of everything, Bennett
+grew poorer and poorer and at last resolved that he must go away, but
+his wife could not leave her own people, and so he set off with his
+children, somewhat afraid he might be shot down, but he reached Los
+Angeles Co. in safety. One daughter married a lawyer in San Bernardino,
+and died a few years afterwards. The other married a Capt. Johnson of
+Wilmington, and Bennett and two sons went to Idaho.
+
+A few years ago in passing from San Jose to the Coast, my wife and I
+spent Sunday at Scott's Valley. Mrs. Scott invited us to visit them in
+the evening at the house when all would be at home. Mrs. Scott was the
+lady to whom Bennett gave his girl baby when he started away for Utah,
+and I felt very anxious to see her now she was grown up. Mrs. Scott
+introduced us, and I sat and looked at the little woman quite a long
+time, but could not see that she resembled either father or mother. My
+mind ran back over the terrible road we came and I pictured to myself
+the woman as she then appeared.
+
+I studied over our early trials, crossing the plains over the deserts
+and our trying scenes out of Death Valley and turned all over in my mind
+for some time and finally all came to me like a flash and I could
+clearly see that the little lady was a true picture of her mother; I now
+began to ask questions about her folks, she said her father lived near
+Belmont, Nevada, and her grand-father died at the Monte, Los Angeles
+county Cal.. Our visit now became very interesting and we kept a late
+hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Since writing the connected story which has thus far appeared, I turn
+back to give some incidents of life in the mines, and some description
+of those pioneer gold days.
+
+I have spoken of Moore's Flat, Orleans Flat and Woolsey's Flat, all
+similarly situated on different points of the mountain, on the north
+side of the ridge between the South and Middle Yuba River, and all at
+about the same altitude. A very deep canon lies between each of them,
+but a good mountain road was built around the head of each canon,
+connecting the towns. When the snow got to be three or four feet deep
+the roads must be broken out and communication opened, and the boys used
+to turn out _en masse_ and each one would take his turn in leading the
+army of road breakers. When the leader got tired out some one would take
+his place, for it was terrible hard work to wade through snow up to
+one's hips, and the progress very slow. But the boys went at it as if
+they were going to a picnic, and a sort of picnic it was when they
+reached the next town, for whisky was free and grub plenty to such a
+party, and jollity and fun the uppermost thoughts. On one such occasion
+when the crowd came through Orleans Flat to Moore's Flat, Sid Hunt, the
+butcher, was in the lead as they came in sight of the latter place, and
+both he and his followers talked pretty loud and rough to the Moore's
+Flat fellows calling them "lazy pups" for not getting their road clear.
+Hunt's helper was a big stout, loud talking young man named Williams,
+and he shouted to the leader--"Sid Hunt, toot your horn if you don't
+sell a clam." This seemed to put both sides in good humor, and the
+Orleans fellows joined in a plenty to eat and drink, rested and went
+home. Next day, both camps joined forces and broke the road over to
+Woolsey's Flat, and the third day crowded on toward Nevada City, and
+when out and across Bloody Run, a stream called thus because some dead
+men had been found at the head of the stream by the early settlers, and
+it was suspected the guilty murderers lived not far off, they turned
+down into Humbug, a town now called Bloomfield, and as they went down
+the snow was not so deep. They soon met Sam Henry, the express man,
+working through with letters and papers, and all turned home again.
+
+A young doctor came to Moore's Flat and soon became quite popular, and
+after a little while purchased a small drug store at Orleans Flat. In
+this town there lived a man and his family and among them a little curly
+headed girl perhaps one or two years old. She was sick and died and
+buried while the ground was covered thick with snow. A little time
+after, it was discovered that the grave had been disturbed, and on
+examination no body was found in the grave.
+
+Then it was a searching party was organized, and threats of vengeance
+made against the grave robber if he should be caught. No tracks were
+found leading out of town so they began to look about inside, and there
+began to be some talk about this Dr. Kittridge as the culprit. He was
+the very man, and he went to his drug store and told his clerk to get a
+saddle horse and take the dead child's body in a sack to his cabin at
+Moore's Flat, and conceal it in a back room. The clerk obeyed, and with
+the little corpse before him on the horse started from the back door and
+rode furiously to Moore's Flat, and concealed the body as he had been
+directed.
+
+Some noticed that he had ridden unusually fast, and having a suspicion
+that all was not right, told their belief to the Orleans Flat people,
+who visited the Doctor at his store and accused him of the crime, and
+talked about hanging him on the spot without a trial. At this the Doctor
+began to be greatly frightened and begged piteously for them to spare
+his life, confessing to the deed, but pleading in extenuation that it
+was for the purpose of confirming a question in his profession, and
+wholly in the interest of science that he did it, and really to spare
+the feelings of the parents that he did it secretly. He argued that no
+real harm had been done, and some of his friends sided with him in this
+view. But the controversy grew warmer, and the house filled up with
+people. Some were bloodthirsty and needed no urging to proceed to buy a
+rope and use it. Others argued, and finally the Doctor said that the
+body had not been dissected, and if they would allow him, and appoint a
+committee to go with him, he would produce the body, and they could
+decently bury it again and there it might remain forever. This he
+promised to do, and all agreed to it, and he kept his word, thus ending
+the matter satisfactorily and the Doctor was released. But the feeling
+never died out. The Doctor's friends deserted him, and no one seemed to
+like to converse with him. At the saloon he would sit like a perfect
+stranger, no one noticing him, and he soon left for new fields.
+
+The first tunnel run at Moore's Flat was called the Paradise, and had to
+be started low on the side of the mountain in order to drain the ground,
+and had to be blasted through the bed rock for about 200 feet.
+
+Four of us secured ground enough by purchase so we could afford to
+undertake this expensive job and we worked on it day and night. Jerry
+Clark and Len Redfield worked the day shifts, and Sam King and Wm. Quirk
+the night shift. When the tunnel was completed about 100 feet, the night
+shift had driven forward the top of the tunnel as a heading, leaving the
+bottom, which was about a foot thick, or more, to be taken out by the
+day shift. They drilled a hole about two feet horizontally to blast out
+this bench. King would sit and hold the drill between his feet, while
+Quirk would strike with a heavy sledge. When the hole was loaded they
+tramped down the charge very hard so as to be sure it would not blow
+out, but lift the whole bench. One day when they were loading a hole,
+King told Quirk to come down pretty heavy on the tamping, so as to make
+all sure, and after a few blows given as directed, there was an
+explosion, and Quirk was forced some distance out of the tunnel, his
+eyes nearly put out with dirt blown into them, and his face and body cut
+with flying pieces of rock. He was at first completely stunned, but
+after awhile recovered so as to crawl out, and was slowly making his way
+up the hill on hands and knees when he was discovered and helped to his
+cabin where his wounds were washed and dressed.
+
+Then a party with lighted candles entered the tunnel to learn the fate
+of King, and they found him lying on the mass of rock the blast had
+lifted, dead. On a piece of board they bore the body to his cabin. There
+was hardly a whole bone remaining. A cut diagonally across his face,
+made by a sharp stone, had nearly cut his head in two. He had been
+thrown so violently against the roof of the tunnel, about 6 feet high,
+that he was completely mashed.
+
+He had a wife in Mass. and as I had often heard him talk of her, and of
+sending her money, I bought a $100 check and sent it in the same letter
+which bore the melancholy news. King had a claim at Chip's Flat which he
+believed would be very rich in time, so I kept his interest up in it
+till it amounted to $500 and then abandoned the claim and pocketed the
+loss.
+
+We made a pine box, and putting his body in it, laid it away with
+respect. I had often heard him say that if he suffered an accident, he
+wished to be killed outright and not be left a cripple, and his wish
+came true.
+
+After this accident the blacksmith working for the Paradise Co., was
+making some repairs about the surface of the air shaft, and among his
+tools was a bar of steel an inch square, and 8 or 10 feet long, which
+was thrown across the shaft, and while working at the whim wheel he
+slipped and struck this bar which fell to the bottom of the shaft, 100
+feet deep and the blacksmith followed. When the other workmen went down
+to his assistance they found that the bar of steel had stuck upright in
+the bottom of the shaft, and when the man came down it pierced his body
+from hip to neck, killing him instantly. He was a young man, and I have
+forgotten his name.
+
+Those who came to California these later years will not many of them see
+the old apparatus and appliances which were used in saving the gold in
+those primitive days. Among them was the old "Rocker." This had a bottom
+about 5 feet long and 16 inches wide, with the sides about 8 inches high
+for half the length, and then sloped off to two inches at the end. There
+was a bar about an inch high across the end to serve as a riffle, and on
+the higher end of this box is a stationary box 14 inches square, with
+sides 4 inches high and having a sheet iron bottom perforated with half
+inch holes. On the bottom of the box are fastened two rockers like those
+on the baby cradle, and the whole had a piece of board or other solid
+foundation to stand on, the whole being set at an angle to allow the
+gravel to work off at the lower end with the water. A cleat was fastened
+across the bottom to catch the gold, and this was frequently examined to
+see how the work was paying, and taking out such coarse pieces as could
+be readily seen. To work the rocker a pan of dirt would be placed in the
+square screen box, and then with one hand the miner would rock the
+cradle while he poured water with the other from a dipper to wash the
+earth. After he had poured on enough water and shaken the box
+sufficiently to pass all the small stuff through he would stir over what
+remained in the screen box, examining carefully for a nugget too large
+to pass through the half inch holes. If the miner found that the dirt
+did not pay he took his rocker on his back and went on in search of a
+better claim.
+
+Another way to work the dirt was to get a small head of water running in
+a ditch, and then run the water and gravel through a series of boxes a
+foot square and twelve feet long, using from one to ten boxes as
+circumstances seemed to indicate. At the lower end of these boxes was
+placed the "Long Tom" which was about two feet wide at the lower end,
+and having sides six inches high at the same point. The side pieces
+extend out about 3 feet longer than the wooden bottom, and are turned up
+to a point, some like a sled runner, and this turned up part has a
+bottom of sheet iron punched full of holes, the size of the sheet iron
+being about 3 feet by 16 inches.
+
+The miners shovel dirt into the upper end of the boxes slowly, and
+regulate the water so that it dissolves the lumps and chunks very
+thoroughly before it reaches the long tom where a man stands and stirs
+the gravel over, and if nothing yellow is seen throws the washed gravel
+away, and lets the rest go through the screen. Immediately below this
+screen was placed what was called a "riffle box," 2 by 4 feet in size
+with bars 4 inches high across the bottom and sides, and this box is set
+at the proper angle. Now when the water comes through the screen it
+falls perpendicularly in this box with force enough to keep the contents
+continually in motion, and as the gold is much heavier than any other
+mineral likely to be found in the dirt, it settles to the bottom, and
+all the lighter stuff is carried away by the water. The gold would be
+found behind the bars in the riffle box.
+
+These methods of working were very crude, and we gradually became aware
+that the finest dust was not saved, and many improvements were brought
+into use. In my own mine the tailings that we let go down the mountain
+side would lodge in large piles in different places, and after lying a
+year, more gold could be washed out of it than was first obtained, and
+some of it coarser, so that it was plainly seen that a better way of
+working would be more profitable. There was plenty of ground called poor
+ground that had much gold in it but could not be profitably worked with
+the rocker and long tom. The bed rock was nearly level and as the land
+had a gradual rise, the banks kept getting higher and higher as they dug
+farther in. Now it was really good ground only down close to the bed
+rock, but all the dirt had some gold in it, and if a way could be
+invented to work it fast enough, such ground would pay. So the plan of
+hydraulic mining was experimented upon.
+
+The water was brought in a ditch or flume to the top of a high bank, and
+then terminated in a tight box. To this box was attached a large hose
+made by hand out of canvas, and a pipe and nozzle attached to the lower
+end of the hose. Now as the bank was often 100 feet or more high the
+water at this head, when directed through the nozzle against the bank,
+fairly melted it away into liquid mud. Imagine us located a mile above
+the river on the side of a mountain. We dug at first sluices in the rock
+to carry off the mud and water, and after it had flowed in these a
+little way a sluice box was put in to pass it through. These were made
+on a slope of one in twelve, and the bottom paved with blocks, 3 inches
+thick, so laid as to make a cavity or pocket at the corner of the
+blocks. After passing the first sluice box the water and gravel would be
+run in a bed rock sluice again, and then into another sluice box and so
+on for a mile, passing through several sluice boxes on the way.
+Quicksilver was placed in the upper sluice boxes, and when the particles
+of gold were polished up by tumbling about in the gravel, they combined
+with the quicksilver making an amalgam.
+
+The most gold would be left in the first sluice boxes but some would go
+on down to the very last, where the water and dirt was run off into the
+river. They cleaned up the first sluices every week, a little farther
+down every month, while the lower ones would only be cleaned up at the
+end of the season.
+
+In cleaning up, the blocks would be taken out of the boxes, and every
+little crevice or pocket in the whole length of the sluice cleaned out,
+from the bottom to the top, using little hooks and iron spoons made for
+the purpose.
+
+The amalgam thus collected was heated in a retort which expelled the
+quicksilver in vapor, which was condensed and used again.
+
+When they first tried hydraulic work a tinsmith made a nozzle out of
+sheet iron, but when put in practice, instead of throwing a solid
+stream, it scattered like an shotgun, and up at Moore's Flat they called
+the claims where they used it the "shotgun" claims.
+
+From that time great improvements were made in hydraulic apparatus until
+the work done by them was really wonderful.
+
+In 1850 there lived at Orleans Flat and Moore's Flat, in Nevada County a
+few young, energetic and very stirring pioneers in the persons of lads
+from 10 to 15 years of age, always on the search for a few dimes to
+spend, or add to an already hoarded store, and the mountain air, with
+the wild surroundings, seemed to inspire them always with lively vigor,
+and especially when there was a prospect of a two-bit piece not far
+ahead.
+
+In winter when the deep snow cut off all communication with the valley,
+our busy tinner ran short of solder, and seeing a limited supply in the
+tin cans that lay thick about, he engaged the boys to gather in a supply
+and showed them how they could be melted down to secure the solder with
+which they had been fastened, and thus provide for his immediate wants.
+So the boys ransacked every spot where they had been thrown, under the
+saloon and houses, and in old dump holes everywhere, till they had
+gathered a pretty large pile which they fired as he had told them, and
+then panned out the ashes to secure the drops of metal which had melted
+down and cooled in small drops and bits below. This was re-melted and
+cast into a mould made in a pine block, and the solder made into regular
+form. About one-third was made up thus in good and honest shape.
+
+But the boys soon developed a shrewdness that if more fully expanded
+might make them millionaires, but in the present small way they hoped to
+put to account in getting a few extra dimes. They put a big chunk of
+iron in the mould and poured in the melted solder which enclosed it
+completely, so that when they presented the bright silvery bar to the
+old tinker he paid the price agreed upon and they divided the money
+between them, and then, in a secure place, they laughed till their sides
+ached at the good joke on the tinman.
+
+In due time the man found out the iron core in his bar of solder, and
+thought the joke such a good one that he told of it in the saloon, and
+had to spend at least $5 in drinks to ease off the laugh they had on him
+as the victim of the young California pioneers. And these young
+fellows--some have paddled their own canoe successfully into quiet
+waters and are now in the fullness of life, happy in their possessions,
+while some have been swamped on the great rushing stream of business,
+and dwell in memory on the happy times gone by.
+
+The older pioneers in these mining towns were, in many respects a
+peculiar class of men. Most of them were sober and industrious, fearless
+and venturesome, jolly and happy when good luck came to them, and in
+misfortune stood up with brave, strong, manly hearts, without a tear or
+murmur. They let the world roll merrily by, were ever ready with joke,
+mirth and fun to make their surroundings cheerful.
+
+Fortunes came and went; they made money easily, and spent it just as
+freely, and in their generosity and kindly charity the old
+expression--"He has a heart like an ox" fitted well the character of
+most of them.
+
+When luck turned against them they worked the harder, for the next turn
+might fill their big pockets with a fortune, and then the dream of
+capturing a wife and building up a home could be realized, and they
+would move out into the world on a wave of happiness and plenty. This
+kind of talk was freely carried on around the camp fire in the long
+evenings, and who knows how many of these royal good fellows realized
+those bright hopes and glorious anticipations? Who knows?
+
+The names come back in memory of some of them, and others have been
+forgotten. I recall Washington Work, H. J. Kingman, A. J. Henderson, L.
+J. Hanchett, Jack Hays, Seth Bishop, Burr Blakeslee, Jim Tyler, who was
+the loudest laugher in the town, and as he lived at the Clifton House he
+was called "The Clifton House Calf." These and many others might be
+mentioned as typical good fellows of the mining days. The biggest kind
+of practical joke would be settled amicably at the saloon after the
+usual style.
+
+One day Jack Hays bought a pair of new boots, set them down in the store
+and went to turn off the miners supply of water. When he returned he
+found his boots well filled with refuse crackers and water. This he
+discovered when he took them up to go to dinner, and as he poured out
+the contents at the door, a half dozen boys across the street raised a
+big laugh at him, and hooted at his discomfiture. Jack scowled an awful
+scowl, and if he called them "pukes" with a few swear words added, it
+was a mild way of pouring out his anger. But after dinner the boys
+surrounded him and fairly laughed him into a good humor, so that he set
+up drinks for the crowd.
+
+Foot races were a great Sunday sport, and dog fights were not uncommon.
+One dog in our camp was champion of the ridge, and though other camps
+brought in their pet canines to eat him up, he was always the top dog at
+the end of the scrimmage, and he had a winning grip on the fore foot of
+his antagonist.
+
+A big "husky" who answered to the name of Cherokee Bob came our way and
+stopped awhile. He announced himself a foot racer, and a contest was
+soon arranged with Soda Bill of Nevada City, and each went into a course
+of training at his own camp. Bob found some way to get the best time
+that Bill could make, and comparing it with his own, said he could beat
+in that race. So when it came off our boys gathered up their money, and
+loaded down the stage, inside and out, departing with swinging hats and
+flying colors, and screaming in wild delight at the sure prospect of
+doubling their dust. In a few days they all came back after the style of
+half drowned roosters.
+
+Bob had 'thrown' the race and skipped with his money before they could
+catch him. Had he been found he would have been urgently hoisted to the
+first projecting limb, but he was never seen again. The boys were sad
+and silent for a day or two, but a look of cheerful resignation soon
+came upon their faces as they handled pick and shovel, and the world
+rolled on as before.
+
+One fall we had a county election, and among the candidates for office
+was our townsman, H.M. Moore, from whom Moore's Flat secured its name.
+He was the Democratic nominee for County Judge, and on the other side
+was David Belden, he whom Santa Clara County felt proud to honor as its
+Superior Judge, and when death claimed him, never was man more sincerely
+mourned by every citizen.
+
+The votes were counted, and Belden was one ahead. Moore claimed another
+count, and this time a mistake was discovered in the former count, but
+unfortunately it gave Belden a larger majority than before, and his
+adversary was forced to abandon the political fight.
+
+In the fifties I traveled from the North Yuba River to San Bernardino on
+different roads, and made many acquaintances and friends. I can truly
+say that I found many of these early comers who were the most noble men
+and women of the earth. They were brave else they had never taken the
+journey through unknown deserts, and through lands where wild Indians
+had their homes. They were just and true to friends, and to real
+enemies, terribly bitter and uncompromising. Money was borrowed and
+loaned without a note or written obligation, and there was no mention
+made of statute laws as a rule of action. When a real murderer or
+horsethief was caught no lawyers were needed nor employed, but if the
+community was satisfied as to the guilt and identity of the prisoner,
+the punishment was speedily meted out, and the nearest tree was soon
+ornamented with his swinging carcass.
+
+Many of these worthy men broke the trail on the rough way that led to
+the Pacific Coast, drove away all dangers, and made it safer for those
+who dared not at first risk life and fortune in the journey, but,
+encouraged by the success of the earliest pioneers, ventured later on
+the eventful trip to the new gold fields. I cannot praise these noble
+men too much; they deserve all I can say, and much more, too; and if a
+word I can say shall teach our new citizens to regard with reverent
+respect the early pioneers who laid the foundations of the glory,
+prosperity and beauty of the California of to-day, I shall have done all
+I hope to, and the historian of another half century may do them
+justice, and give to them their full need of praise.
+
+As long as I have lived in California I have never carried a weapon of
+defense, and never could see much danger. I tried to follow the right
+trail so as to shun bad men, and never found much difficulty in doing
+so. We hear much of the Vigilance Committee of early days. It was an
+actual necessity of former times. The gold fields not only attracted the
+good and brave, but also the worst and most lawless desperadoes of the
+world at large. England's banished convicts came here from the penal
+colonies of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. They had wonderful ideas of
+freedom. In their own land the stern laws and numerous constabulary had
+not been able to keep them from crime. A colony of criminals did not
+improve in moral tone, and when the most reckless and daring of all
+these were turned loose in a country like California, where the
+machinery of laws and officers to execute them was not yet in order,
+these lawless "Sidney Ducks," as they were called, felt free to rob and
+murder, and human life or blood was not allowed to stand between them
+and their desires. Others of the same general stripe came from Mexico
+and Chili, and Texas and Western Missouri furnished another class almost
+as bad.
+
+The Vigilance Committee of San Francisco was composed of the best men in
+the world. They endured all that was heaped upon them by these lawless
+men, and the law of self protection forced them to organize for the
+swift apprehension and punishment of crime, and the preservation of
+their property and lives. No one was punished unjustly, but there was no
+delay, and the evil-doer met his fate swiftly and surely. Justice was
+strict, and the circumstances were generally unfavorable to thoughts of
+mercy. I was in San Francisco the day after Casey and Cory were hung by
+the Vigilance Committee. Things looked quite military. Fort Gunny-bags
+seemed well protected, and no innocent man in any danger. I was then a
+customer of G.W. Badger and Lindenberger, clothiers, and was present one
+day in their store when some of the clerks came in from general duty,
+and their comrades shouldered the same guns and took their places on
+guard. The Committee was so truly vigilant that these fire-bugs, robbers
+and cut-throats had to hide for safety.
+
+Those who came early to this coast were, mostly, brave, venturesome,
+enduring fellows, who felt they could outlive any hardship and overcome
+all difficulties; they were of no ordinary type of character or habits.
+They thought they saw success before them, and were determined to win it
+at almost any cost. They had pictured in their minds the size of the
+"pile" that would satisfy them, and brought their buckskin bags with
+them, in various sizes, to hold the snug sum they hoped to win in the
+wonderful gold fields of the then unknown California.
+
+These California pioneers were restless fellows, but those who came by
+the overland trail were not without education and refinement; they were,
+indeed, many of them, the very cream of Americans. The new scenes and
+associations, the escape from the influence of home and friends, of wife
+and children, led some off the dim track, and their restlessness could
+not well be put down. Reasonable men could not expect all persons under
+these circumstances to be models of virtue. Then the Missouri River
+seemed to be the western boundary of all civilization, and as these gold
+hunters launched out on the almost trackless prairies that lay westward
+of that mighty stream, many considered themselves as entering a country
+of peculiar freedom, and it was often said that "Law and morality never
+crossed the Missouri River." Passing this great stream was like the
+crossing of the Rubicon in earlier history, a step that could not be
+retraced, a launching to victory or death. Under this state of feeling
+many showed the cloven foot, and tried to make trouble, but in any
+emergency good and honest men seemed always in the majority, and those
+who had thoughts or desires of evil were compelled to submit to
+honorable and just conclusions.
+
+There were some strange developments of character among these travelers.
+Some who had in long attendance at school and church, listened all their
+lives to teachings of morality and justice, and at home seemed to be
+fairly wedded to ideas of even rights between man and man, seemed to
+experience a change of character as they neared the Pacific Coast.
+Amiable dispositions became soured, moral ideas sadly blunted, and their
+whole make-up seemed changed, while others who at home seemed to be of
+rougher mould, developed principles of justice and humanity, affection
+almost unbounded, and were true men in every trial and in all places. A
+majority of all were thus fair-minded and true.
+
+Men from every state from New Hampshire to Texas gathered on the banks
+of the Missouri to set out together across the plains. These men reared
+in different climates, amid different ways and customs, taught by
+different teachers in schools of religion and politics, made up a
+strange mass when thus thrown together; but the good and true came to
+the surface, and the turbulent and bad were always in a hopeless
+minority. Laws seemed to grow out of the very circumstances, and though
+not in print, flagrant violations would be surely punished.
+
+Some left civilization with all the luxuries money could buy--fine,
+well-equipped trains of their own, and riding a fat and prancing steed,
+which they guided with gloved hands, and seemed to think that water and
+grass and pleasant camping places would always be found wherever they
+wished to stop for rest, and that the great El Dorado would be a grand
+pleasure excursion, ending in a pile of gold large enough to fill their
+big leather purse. But the sleek, fat horse grew poor; the gloves with
+embroidered gauntlet wrists were cast aside; the trains grew small, and
+the luxuries vanished, and perhaps the plucky owner made the last few
+hundred miles on foot, with blistered soles and scanty pack, almost
+alone. Many of these gay trains never reached California, and many a
+pioneer who started with high hopes died upon the way, some rudely
+buried, some left where they fell upon the sands or rocks.
+
+Those who got through found a splendid climate and promising prospects
+before them of filling empty stomachs and empty pockets, and were soon
+searching eagerly for yellow treasure. When fortunate they recovered
+rapidly their exhausted bodies to health and strength, and gained new
+energy as they saw prosperity.
+
+Prospectors wandered through the mountains in search of new and suitable
+gold diggings, and when they came to a miner's cabin the door was always
+open, and whether the owner was present or absent they could go in, and
+if hungry, help themselves to anything they found in shape of food, and
+go away again without fear of offense, for under such circumstances the
+unwritten law said that grub was free.
+
+By the same unwritten law, stealing and robbery, as well as murder, were
+capital offences, and lawless characters were put down. Favors were
+freely granted, and written obligations were never asked or given, and
+business was governed by the rules of strictest honor. The great
+majority of these pioneers were the bone and sinew of the nation, and
+possessed a fair share of the brains. In a personal experience with them
+extending from early days to the present time I have found them always
+just and honorable, and I regret that it is not within my ability to
+give the praise they deserve. When a stranger and hungry I was never
+turned away without food, and my entertainment was free, and given
+without thought of compensation or reward.
+
+In the chambers of my mind are stored up the most pleasant recollections
+of these noble men whose good deeds in days gone by have earned for them
+the right to a crown of glory of greatest splendor.
+
+These noble souls who came here 40 years ago are fast passing away
+across the Mystic River, and those who trod on foot the hot and dusty
+trail are giving way to those who come in swiftly rolling palace cars,
+and who hardly seem to give a thought to the difference between then and
+now. Those who came early cleared the way and started the great stream
+of gold that has made America one of the richest nations of the world.
+
+I have a suggestion to make to the descendants of these noble pioneers,
+that to perpetuate the memory of their fathers, and do reverence to
+their good and noble deeds in the early history of this grand State,
+there should be erected upon the highest mountain top a memorial
+building wherein may be inscribed the names and histories of the brave
+pioneers, so they may never be blotted out.
+
+THE JAYHAWKERS.
+
+The most perfect organization of the pioneers who participated more or
+less in the scenes depicted in this volume, is that of the Jayhawkers,
+and, strange to say, this organization is in the East, and has its
+annual meetings there, although the living members are about equally
+divided between the East and the Pacific Coast. As related elsewhere,
+February 4th is the day of the annual meeting, for on that day they
+reached the Santa Clara Valley.
+
+It is greatly regretted that a more direct and complete account of the
+Death Valley experience of the Jayhawkers could not have been obtained
+for this work. To be sure it was from the lips of a living witness told
+in many conversations, but no doubt many striking incidents were left
+out. It is, however, a settled thing that these, and other individuals
+with whom he was immediately connected, were more intimately connected
+with the horrors of the sunken valley which was given its name by them,
+than were any other persons who ever crossed that desert region.
+
+It will be considered that this was the most favorable time of year
+possible, and that during the spring or summer not one would have lived
+to tell the tale.
+
+The Author, to his best, has done his duty to all, and concludes with
+the hope that this mite may authenticate one of the saddest chapters in
+the history of the Golden State.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+This story is not meant to be sensational, but a plain, unvarnished tale
+of truth--some parts hard and very sad. It is a narrative of my personal
+experience, and being in no sense a literary man or making any pretense
+as a writer, I hope the errors may be overlooked, for it has been to me
+a difficult story to tell, arousing as it did sad recollections of the
+past. I have told it in the plainest, briefest way, with nothing
+exaggerated or overdone. Those who traveled over the same or similar
+routes are capable of passing a just opinion of the story.
+
+Looking back over more than 40 years, I was then a great lover of
+liberty, as well as health and happiness, and I possessed a great desire
+to see a new country never yet trod by civilized man, so that I easily
+caught the gold fever of 1849, and naught but a trip to that land of
+fabled wealth could cure me.
+
+Geography has wonderfully changed since then. Where Omaha now stands
+there was not a house in 1849. Six hundred miles of treeless prairie
+without a house brought us to the adobe dwellings at Fort Laramie, and
+400, more or less, were the long miles to Mormondom, still more than 700
+miles from the Pacific Coast. Passing over this wilderness was like
+going to sea without a compass.
+
+Hence it will be seen that when we crossed a stream that was said to
+flow to the Pacific Ocean, myself and comrades were ready to adopt
+floating down its current as an easier road than the heated trail, and
+for three weeks, over rocks and rapids, we floated and tumbled down the
+deep canon of Green River till we emerged into an open plain and were
+compelled to come on shore by the Indians there encamped. We had
+believed the Indians to be a war-like and cruel people, but when we made
+them understand where we wanted to go, they warned us of the great
+impassable Colorado Canon only two days ahead of us, and pointed out the
+road to "Mormonie" with their advice to take it. This was Chief Walker,
+a good, well meaning red man, and to him we owed our lives.
+
+Out of this trouble we were once again on the safe road from Salt Lake
+to Los Angeles, and again made error in taking a cutoff route, and
+striking across a trackless country because it seemed to promise a
+shorter distance, and where thirteen of our party lie unburied on the
+sands of the terribly dry valley. Those who lived were saved by the
+little puddles of rain water that had fallen from the small rain clouds
+that had been forced over the great Sierra Nevada Mountains in one of
+the wettest winters ever known. In an ordinary year we should have all
+died of thirst, so that we were lucky in our misfortune.
+
+When we came out to the fertile coast near Los Angeles, we found good
+friends in the native Californians who, like good Samaritans, gave us
+food and took us in, poor, nearly starved creatures that we were,
+without money or property from which they could expect to be rewarded.
+Their deeds stand out whiter in our memories than all the rest,
+notwithstanding their skins were dark. It seems to me such people do not
+live in this age of the world which we are pleased to call advanced. I
+was much with these old Californians, and found them honest and
+truthful, willing to divide the last bit of food with a needy stranger
+or a friend. Their good deeds have never been praised enough, and I feel
+it in my heart to do them ample justice while I live.
+
+The work that was laid out for me to do, to tell when and where I went,
+is done. Perhaps in days to come it may be of even more interest than
+now, and I shall be glad I have turned over the scenes in my memory and
+recorded them, and on some rolling stone you may inscribe the name of
+WILLIAM LEWIS MANLEY, born near St. Albans, Vermont, April 20th, 1820,
+who went to Michigan while yet it was a territory, as an early pioneer;
+then onward to Wisconsin before it became a state, and for twelve long,
+weary months traveled across the wild western prairies, the lofty
+mountains and sunken deserts of Death Valley, to this land which is now
+so pleasant and so fair, wherein, after over 40 years of earnest toil, I
+rest in the midst of family and friends, and can truly say I am content.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Several variant spellings of, for example,
+"medecine" and "Mormon", have been retained from the original.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Death Valley in '49, by William Lewis Manly
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