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diff --git a/old/60855-0.txt b/old/60855-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index abd12fa..0000000 --- a/old/60855-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2964 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Westward Movement 1832-1889, by -Richard B. Morris and James Woodress - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Westward Movement 1832-1889 - Voices from America's Past Series - -Author: Richard B. Morris - James Woodress - -Release Date: December 6, 2019 [EBook #60855] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT 1832-1889 *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - VOICES FROM AMERICA’S PAST - - - - - THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT - 1832-1889 - - - Edited by - Richard B. Morris - Gouverneur Morris Professor of History - Columbia University - New York, New York - - James Woodress - Chairman, Department of English - San Fernando Valley State College - Northridge, California - - - WEBSTER PUBLISHING COMPANY - ST. LOUIS ATLANTA DALLAS - - VOICES FROM AMERICA’S PAST - _The Beginnings of America 1607-1763_ - _The Times That Tried Men’s Souls 1770-1783_ - _The Age of Washington 1783-1801_ - _The Jeffersonians 1801-1829_ - _Jacksonian Democracy 1829-1848_ - _The Westward Movement 1832-1889_ - _The House Divided: The Civil War 1850-1865_ - (_Other titles in preparation_) - - - Acknowledgments - -Pages 5-8. From Sarah Royce, _A Frontier Lady_. Reprinted by permission -of Yale University Press. - -Pages 8-11. From Henry Ellsworth, _Washington Irving on the Prairie_, -edited by Williams and Simison, reprinted by permission of American Book -Company. - -Pages 14-16. From the _Autobiography of Isaac Jones Wistar_, reprinted -by permission of The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. - -Pages 51-55. From _Giants in the Earth_, by O. E. Rölvaag. Copyright -1927 by Harper and Brothers. Reprinted by permission of Harper and -Brothers. - - Copyright ©, 1961, by Webster Publishing Company - Printed in the United States of America - All rights reserved - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS - - -Preface v - I The Land and the People - -Frémont Crosses the Sierras 1 - Colonel John Frémont Describes His Expedition 1 - -The Desert Barrier 5 - Sarah Royce Crosses the Desert 5 - -A Tour on the Prairies 8 - Henry Ellsworth Accompanies Washington Irving Across the Plains 8 - -The Indians 11 - Francis Parkman Describes the Dahcotahs 11 - -The Trappers 13 - Isaac Jones Wistar Endures a Hard Winter 13 - -The Emigrants 16 - Francis Parkman Encounters a Wagon Train 16 - II The Conquest - -To California by Sea 19 - Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Visits the Coast of California 20 - -A Day with the Cow Column 22 - Jesse Applegate Herds Cattle on the Oregon Trail 22 - -The Donner Party Starves 25 - Virginia Reed Murphy Survives a Terrible Ordeal 25 - -Mark Twain Rides the Overland Stage 28 - A Memorable Account of Stagecoach Travel from _Roughing It_ 28 - -The Coming of the Railroad 31 - Walt Whitman Writes of the Continental Railroad 31 - Samuel Bowles Travels on the Union Pacific 32 - III The Mining Frontier - -The Discovery of Gold 35 - Walter Colton Describes the Effect of the Discovery 36 - Eldorado: Bayard Taylor Visits the Mining Camps 37 - Mark Twain Doesn’t Strike It Rich 40 - IV The Ranching Frontier - -The Long Drive 44 - Andy Adams Encounters Rustlers 44 - V The Farming Frontier - -Homesteading in the Dakotas 50 - O. E. Rölvaag Pictures the Norwegian Settlers 50 - -The Land Rush in Oklahoma 55 - Hamilton Wicks Races to Guthrie 55 - - - - -The picture on page 1, George Catlin’s “Buffalo Hunt on Snow Shoes,” was -reprinted through the courtesy of the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of -American History and Art. The picture on page 19, “The Meeting of the -Rails,” was reprinted through the courtesy of the United States Bureau -of Public Roads. The picture on the cover; the picture on page 35, of -gold mining in California; the picture on page 44, of Texas cattle being -driven to the cattle rendezvous; and the picture on page 50, of plowing -on the prairies west of the Mississippi, were reprinted through the -courtesy of the Library of Congress. - - - - - Preface - - -It is hard to fix a beginning date for the Westward Movement, unless we -start with 1492 and Columbus’ first voyage of discovery. In reality the -entire history of the New World is a movement of Europeans to the -Western Hemisphere. In earlier booklets in this series we have dealt -with the migrations of pioneers from the Atlantic Coast to the land -beyond the Appalachian Mountains. We also have covered the expedition of -Lewis and Clark to the Pacific Coast in 1805 and the annexation of Texas -in 1845. This booklet is primarily concerned with the region beyond the -Midwest, the high plains, the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, the -deserts, and the fertile Pacific Coast. - -Restlessness and mobility have always been distinguishing -characteristics of the American people. Revolutionary War veterans -settled in Ohio or Kentucky and lived to see their children move on to -Missouri or Texas. Their children’s children pushed farther west to the -Pacific Coast over the Oregon Trail or sailed around Cape Horn to join -the gold rush in California. The westward movement still goes on, as a -glance at the latest census report will quickly show. The difference is -that nowadays the immigrant can arrive in California in a few hours by -jet from New York, pan his gold on the assembly line of a company making -guided missiles, and sleep in a cabin with a barbecue grill and a -swimming pool in the back yard. - -This booklet begins with descriptions of the land and the people in the -Great West before the Civil War. This was a period of exploration and -conquest. Until they saw for themselves, people could not believe the -plains were as broad, the deserts as hot and dry, and the mountains as -rugged and high as they really were. Every day was an adventure, some of -which ended disastrously. But the West was conquered and the continent -spanned by trail, by stagecoach route, and finally by railroad. - -When one speaks of the frontier, he must keep in mind that there was -more than one frontier as the West filled up. There was, first of all, -the frontier of the explorer and trapper. These men had no more effect -on the land than the Indians who had roamed the mountains and plains for -thousands of years. Next, there was the mining frontier, which brought -mushroom growth to specific areas like central California or Denver, -Colorado, but left untouched the vast areas in between. Then there was -the ranching frontier which created cow towns and cattle trails. -Finally, there was the farming frontier, which changed the face of the -land unalterably and filled the gaps left by the miners and ranchers. - -The frontier of the trappers and explorers ended with the discoveries of -gold and silver and the expansion of the borders of the United States -all the way to the Pacific Coast. The frontier of the miner and the -rancher ended with the building of the transcontinental railroad, which -opened up the West to farmers. The frontier of the farmer ended when the -entire West was more or less fenced in and dotted with settlements. The -closing of the frontier was dramatically announced in 1890 by the -director of the census, who reported that no longer could a line be -drawn on the map showing the farthest point reached by settlements. - -This booklet illustrates the various frontiers from the plains to the -Pacific. The West has stimulated the American imagination as almost no -other aspect of our history (the television fare on any average night -proves this); hence the total literature on the subject is vast. We have -selected a handful of interesting reports from the many available. - -In editing the manuscripts in this booklet, we have followed the -practice of modernizing punctuation, capitalization, and spelling only -when necessary to make the selections clear. We have silently corrected -misspelled words and typographical errors. Whenever possible we have -used complete selections, but occasionally space limitations made -necessary cuts in the original documents. Such cuts are indicated by -spaced periods. In general, the selections appear as the authors wrote -them. - - Richard B. Morris - James Woodress - - - - - The Land and the People - - - [Illustration: George Catlin’s “Buffalo Hunt on Snow Shoes,”] - - - - - Frémont Crosses the Sierras - - -Col. John Frémont led several exploring expeditions into the Oregon -Territory, mapped the Oregon Trail, and helped add California to the -United States during the Mexican War. He later was one of California’s -first United States Senators and the first presidential candidate of the -Republican Party. In 1844 we find him at the head of an expedition -exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the account that follows, -Frémont describes crossing the snowy range in February, over what is now -Carson Pass and descending along the approximate route of U. S. Highway -50 to Sacramento. - - -Colonel John Frémont Describes His Expedition - - 2d.—It had ceased snowing, and this morning the lower air was clear - and frosty; and six or seven thousand feet above, the peaks of the - Sierra now and then appeared among the rolling clouds, which were - rapidly dispersing before the sun. Our Indian shook his head as he - pointed to the icy pinnacles, shooting high up into the sky, and - seeming almost immediately above us. Crossing the river on the ice, - and leaving it immediately, we commenced the ascent of the mountain - along the valley of a tributary stream. The people were unusually - silent, for every man knew that our enterprise was hazardous, and the - issue doubtful. - - The snow deepened rapidly, and it soon became necessary to break a - road. For this service, a party of ten was formed, mounted on the - strongest horses, each man in succession opening the road on foot, or - on horseback, until himself and his horse became fatigued, when he - stepped aside, and, the remaining number passing ahead, he took his - station in the rear. Leaving this stream, and pursuing a very direct - course, we passed over an intervening ridge to the river we had - left.... - - The nut-pines were now giving way to heavy timber, and there were some - immense pines on the bottom, around the roots of which the sun had - melted away the snow; and here we made our camp and built huge fires. - Today we had traveled 16 miles, and our elevation above the sea was - 6,760 feet. - - 3d.—Turning our faces directly towards the main chain, we ascended an - open hollow along a small tributary to the river which, according to - the Indians, issues from a mountain to the south. The snow was so deep - in the hollow, that we were obliged to travel along the steep - hillsides, and over spurs, where the wind and sun had in places - lessened the snow, and where the grass, which appeared to be in good - quality along the sides of the mountains, was exposed. We opened our - road in the same way as yesterday, but made only seven miles, and - encamped by some springs at the foot of a high and steep hill, by - which the hollow ascended to another basin in the mountain. The little - stream below was entirely buried in snow.... - - 4th—I went ahead early with two or three men, each with a lead horse - to break the road. We were obliged to abandon the hollow entirely and - work along the mountainside, which was very steep, and the snow - covered with an icy crust. We cut a footing as we advanced and - trampled a road through for the animals; but occasionally one plunged - outside the trail, and slid along the field to the bottom, a hundred - yards below. Late in the day we reached another bench in the hollow, - where in summer the stream passed over a small precipice. Here was a - short distance of dividing ground between the two ridges, and beyond - an open basin, some ten miles across, whose bottom presented a field - of snow. At the further or western side rose the middle crest of the - mountain, a dark-looking ridge of volcanic rock. - - The summit line presented a range of naked peaks, apparently destitute - of snow and vegetation; but below, the face of the whole country was - covered with timber of extraordinary size. - - Towards a pass which the guide indicated here, we attempted in the - afternoon to force a road; but after a laborious plunging through two - or three hundred yards, our best horses gave out, entirely refusing to - make any further effort, and, for the time, we were brought to a - stand. The guide informed us that we were entering the deep snow, and - here began the difficulties of the mountain; and to him, and almost to - all, our enterprise seemed hopeless.... - - 5th—The night had been too cold to sleep, and we were up very early. - Our guide was standing by the fire with all his finery on; and seeing - him shiver in the cold, I threw on his shoulders one of my blankets. - We missed him a few minutes afterwards, and never saw him again. He - had deserted.... - - While a portion of the camp were occupied in bringing up the baggage - to this point, the remainder were busied in making sledges and - snowshoes. I had determined to explore the mountain ahead, and the - sledges were to be used in transporting the baggage.... - - 6th—Accompanied by Mr. Fitzpatrick, I set out today with a - reconnoitering party on snowshoes. We marched all in single file, - trampling the snow as heavily as we could. Crossing the open basin in - a march of about ten miles, we reached the top of one of the peaks, to - the left of the pass indicated by our guide. Far below us, dimmed by - the distance, was a large snowless valley, bounded on the western - side, at the distance of about a hundred miles, by a low range of - mountains which [_Kit_] Carson recognized with delight as the - mountains bordering the coast. “There,” said he, “is the little - mountain—it is fifteen years since I saw it; but I am just as sure as - if I had seen it yesterday.” Between us, then, and this low coast - range, was the valley of the Sacramento. - -Frémont and his companions retraced their steps to camp and spent the -next four days preparing for the final ascent to the pass. The -temperature was three below zero on the eighth, and on the ninth snow -fell. They then were camped at 8,000 feet. - - 11th—High wind continued, and our trail this morning was nearly - invisible—here and there indicated by a little ridge of snow. Our - situation became tiresome and dreary, requiring a strong exercise of - patience and resolution. - - In the evening I received a message from Mr. Fitzpatrick, acquainting - me with the utter failure of his attempt to get our mules and horses - over the snow—the half-hidden trail had proved entirely too slight to - support them, and they had broken through, and were plunging about or - lying half buried in snow. He was occupied in endeavoring to get them - back to his camp; and in the meantime sent to me for further - instructions. I wrote to him to send the animals immediately back to - their old pastures; and, after having made mauls and shovels, turn in - all the strength of his party to open and beat a road through the - snow, strengthening it with branches and boughs of the pines. - - 12th—We made mauls, and worked hard at our end of the road all day. - The wind was high, but the sun bright, and the snow thawing. We worked - down the face of the hill, to meet the people at the other end. - Towards sundown it began to grow cold, and we shouldered our mauls and - trudged back to camp.... - - 14th—the dividing ridge of the Sierra is in sight from this - encampment.... - - 16th—We had succeeded in getting our animals safely to the first - grassy hill; and this morning I started with Jacob on a reconnoitering - expedition beyond the mountain. We traveled along the crests of narrow - ridges, extending down from the mountain in the direction of the - valley, from which the snow was fast melting away. On the open spots - was tolerably good grass; and I judged we should succeed in getting - the camp down by way of these. Towards sundown we discovered some icy - spots in a deep hollow; and, descending the mountain, we encamped on - the headwater of a little creek, where at last the water found its way - to the Pacific.... - - I was now perfectly satisfied that we had struck the stream on which - Mr. Sutter lived; and turning about, made a hard push, and reached the - camp at dark. Here we had the pleasure to find all the remaining - animals, 57 in number, safely arrived at the grassy hill near the - camp.... - - On the 19th, the people were occupied in making a road and bringing up - the baggage; and, on the afternoon of the next day, _February 20, - 1844_, we encamped, with the animals and all the _matériel_ of the - camp, on the summit of the PASS [_Carson Pass, altitude, 8,635 ft._] - in the dividing ridge. - -The expedition then began the descent towards the Sacramento River -Valley, which was just as hard as the climb. By the time they reached -lower altitudes, where they found grass for their horses and mules and -game and fish for themselves, they were nearly exhausted and their -animals almost starved. But the journey ended successfully, and the -expedition reached Sutter’s ranch on the American River on March 6. - - - - - The Desert Barrier - - -Sarah Royce Crosses the Desert - -It is hard today to realize the terrors that the desert held for -settlers who toiled across the empty wastes by covered wagon in 1849. -The trip, which now takes only a few hours by auto, then required days -of courage and endurance, plus careful preparation. In the following -narrative Sarah Royce, mother of the philosopher Josiah Royce, tells of -her experiences in crossing the desert from Salt Lake City to the -California gold fields. She was traveling in a single wagon with her -two-year-old daughter, her husband, and several other men when the party -lost its way. They had started before daylight and missed a turn which -led to a grassy meadow and water. Hence they found themselves at noon -far out on the desert, lacking fodder for the oxen and water. - - We began to look anxiously for the depression in the ground, and the - holes dug, which we were told would mark the Sink of the Humboldt. But - it was nearly noonday before we came to them. There was still some - passable water in the holes, but not fit to drink clear, so we - contrived to gather enough sticks of sage to boil some, made a little - coffee, ate our lunch and, thus refreshed, we hastened to find the - forking road. Our director had told us, that within about two or three - miles beyond the Sink we might look for the road, to the left, and we - did look, and kept looking, and going on, drearily, till the sun got - lower and lower, and night was fast approaching. Then the conviction, - which had long been gaining ground in my mind, took possession of the - whole party. We had passed the forks of the road before daylight, that - morning, and were now miles out on the desert without a mouthful of - food for the cattle and only two or three quarts of water in a little - cask. - - What could be done? Halt we must, for the oxen were nearly worn out - and night was coming on. The animals must at least rest, if they could - not be fed: and, that they might rest, they were chained securely to - the wagon, for, hungry and thirsty as they were, they would, if loose, - start off frantically in search of water and food, and soon drop down - exhausted. Having fastened them in such a way that they could lie - down, we took a few mouthfuls of food, and then, we in our wagon and - the men not far off upon the sand, fell wearily to sleep; a forlorn - little company wrecked upon the desert. - - The first question in the morning was, “How can the oxen be kept from - starving?” A happy thought occurred. We had, thus far on our journey, - managed to keep something in the shape of a bed to sleep on. It was a - mattress-tick, and, just before leaving Salt Lake, we had put into it - some fresh hay—not very much, for our load must be as light as - possible; but the old gentleman traveling with us also had a small - straw mattress; the two together might keep the poor things from - starving for a few hours. At once a small portion was dealt out to - them and for the present they were saved. For ourselves we had food - which we believed would about last us till we reached the Gold Mines - if we could go right on: if we were much delayed anywhere, it was - doubtful. The two or three quarts of water in our little cask would - last only a few hours, to give moderate drinks to each of the party. - -They decided they must return, the distance to the next waterhole was -too far. Soon after they began retracing their steps, they met another -group of emigrants, who confirmed their suspicions that they had missed -the turn 15 miles back. - - I had now become so impressed with the danger of the cattle giving - out, that I refused to ride except for occasional brief rests. So, - soon after losing sight of the dust of the envied little caravan, I - left the wagon and walked the remainder of the day. For a good while I - kept near the wagon but, by and by, being very weary I fell behind. - The sun had set, before we reached the Sink, and the light was fading - fast when the wagon disappeared from my sight behind a slight - elevation; and, as the others had gone on in advance some time before, - I was all alone on the barren waste. However, as I recognized the - features of the neighborhood, and knew we were quite near the Sink, I - felt no particular apprehension, only a feeling that it was a weird - and dreary scene and instinctively urged forward my lagging footsteps - in hope of regaining sight of the wagon.... - - The next morning we resumed our backward march after feeding out the - last mouthful of fodder. The water in the little cask was nearly used - up in making coffee for supper and breakfast; but, if only each one - would be moderate in taking a share when thirst impelled him, we might - yet reach the wells before any one suffered seriously. We had lately - had but few chances for cooking; and only a little boiled rice with - dried fruit, and a few bits of biscuit remained after we had done - breakfast. If we could only reach the meadows by noon. But that we - could hardly hope for, the animals were so weak and tired. There was - no alternative, however, the only thing to be done was to go steadily - on, determined to do and endure.... - - I found no difficulty this morning in keeping up with the team. They - went so slowly, and I was so preternaturally [_unnaturally_] - stimulated by anxiety to get forward, that, before I was aware of it I - would be some rods ahead of the cattle, straining my gaze as if - expecting to see a land of promise, long before I had any rational - hope of the kind. My imagination acted intensely. I seemed to see - Hagar, in the wilderness walking wearily away from her fainting child - among the dried-up bushes, and seating herself in the hot sand. I - seemed to become Hagar myself, and when my little one, from the wagon - behind me, called out, “Mamma I want a drink”—I stopped, gave her - some, noted that there were but a few swallows left, then mechanically - pressed onward again, alone, repeating, over and over, the words, “Let - me not see the death of the child.” - - Just in the heat of noonday we came to where the sage bushes were - nearer together; and a fire, left by campers or Indians, had spread - for some distance, leaving beds of ashes, and occasionally charred - skeletons of bushes to make the scene more dreary. . . . - - Wearily passed the hottest noonday hour, with many an anxious look at - the horned-heads, which seemed to me to bow lower and lower, while the - poor tired hoofs almost refused to move. The two young men had been - out of sight for some time; when, all at once, we heard a shout, and - saw, a few hundred yards in advance a couple of hats thrown into the - air and four hands waving triumphantly. As soon as we got near enough, - we heard them call out, “Grass and water! Grass and water!” and - shortly we were at the meadows. - - - - - A Tour on the Prairies - - -When wagon trains reached Independence, Missouri, and prepared to jump -off for the Far West, they faced some six hundred miles of prairie -before reaching the mountains. There was water, grass, and game -(especially buffalo) in abundance, but it was an awesome spectacle to -travel week after week across the empty plains. When Washington Irving -returned from many years in Europe, he wanted to see the prairie and -joined an expedition in 1832 which traveled as far west as the present -site of Oklahoma City. One of his companions was Henry Ellsworth, a -commissioner appointed by Andrew Jackson to help pacify the Indians. In -the selection that follows, Ellsworth describes the prairie in central -Oklahoma, tells how one of his men captured a wild horse, and recounts -his own experience in shooting a buffalo. - - -Henry Ellsworth Accompanies Washington Irving Across the Plains - - The country today is truly delightful. The prairies are smooth, the - streams frequent, and meandering so as to present a vigorous growth of - stately trees on every side. The flowers of spring have disappeared - and left the numerous stalks covered with seeds as mementoes of vernal - fragrance, but the autumnal blossoms mixed with the prairie grass - never fail to attract the eye with delight, or refresh the lungs by - their sweet odours. My late travelling companion, Dr. O’Dwyer, says - Eden was here and not on the Euphrates: “Adam’s paradise was in these - prairies!” - - Mr. Irving said often today that the most splendid parks in England - did not surpass the beautiful scenery around us, and yet between both - there was such a striking resemblance as to recall to his mind at once - the delightful rambles he had in Europe where art had been lavish in - her favors to enhance the beauties of nature. I can say also, though - my residence in Europe was short, that I beheld no scenery there so - truly beautiful and grand as the rich prairies of the West. And if the - prairies now are so charming, what must they be decked with the - variegated plumage of spring?... - - I ought perhaps to mention the woods on these parks afforded excellent - varieties of fruits. The season now was too late for most of them—the - persimmon, haws, and winter grape were very abundant. - - Our ride was made more cheering by the fresh signs of buffalo. Not the - short grass but tracks and recent dung (resembling entirely that of - our oxen and cows) assured us we should soon meet these _terrific_ - animals. Excavations in the ground showed where they indulged in their - great pastime, in _wallowing_. The excavations are generally about 10 - feet in diameter and 12 to 20 inches deep. It is these hollows, - especially when filled with water, that make the chase, as I found it - afterwards, so difficult and dangerous. The trees also furnish _their_ - evidence and every low limb was worn by the buffalo while scratching - his skin after coming out of his mud or sand bath. - - - As soon as we had arrived at camp this evening, Billet requested the - privilege to hunt a while, and mounting his horse with lariat and gun, - cantered off, and was soon out of sight. The firing on all sides - assured us we should have plenty of game, and the hunters soon - returned loaded with deer, turkeys, etc. It was not until after supper - that Billet came to our camp quite out of breath and asked for help to - bring in a wild horse he had just caught the other side of Red Fork. - He had brought him through the river, but got him no farther.... - - The horse was soon brought in, trembling at the sight of so many new - things. He was between two and three years old, well made, and will - doubtless make an excellent horse. The horse struggled for a while - against Billet’s mode of civilization and fell exhausted in the - struggle. He panted and lay as submissive as a lamb. Twenty or thirty - handled him from head to foot without any offer on his part to make - resistance. He gave up the contest and submitted unconditionally and - never afterwards was more disobedient than colts in general, nor - indeed as much.... Tomorrow Billet said he should pack him with a - saddle and make him do his share of work. We did not believe it - possible and waited with curiosity to see the experiment. [_He - succeeded. Eds._] - - Billet is an adventuresome as well as brave man. He has had both arms - and one leg broken during exploits besides having his ribs on one side - mashed in. He told us when he saw the horses they were distant from - him. He stopped, laid down his gun, adjusted his saddle, and with - lariat in hand he put spurs to his race horse, whose speed I never saw - excelled. The wild horses stood amazed for a moment, then started and - fled. They ran up a small hill and descending again were for a moment - out of sight. When Billet came to the brow, he was frightened: a - precipice was before him which he must leap or lose his prize. He - chose the former, shut his eyes, and strained upon the reins and - safely landed upon the bottom—a leap of 25 feet. His horse, accustomed - to the race, soon recovered from the shock and continued pursuit. The - race now continued for 1½ miles. He then reached the horses, and - having failed in his first effort to take a Pawnee mare (with a slit - in her ears) he put his lariat over the head of the horse brought to - the camp. It was truly a great exploit.... - - - No sooner had I reined my horse towards the buffalo (notwithstanding - he had been racing several hours and was then wet with perspiration) - than he pricked up his ears and entered into a full run. I _never_ - went _half so fast before or mean to again_. I ran a quarter of a mile - before [_the_] buffalo apprehended danger. They then began to make the - best of their way to the west. Billet called out: “Remember the holes; - let _him run_; let _him run_.” After running 1½ miles with gun in - hand, almost tired to death and shook not a little, I came along side - of the animal I had selected. He appeared a monster, for his weight - was 1600. I fired. Billet said: “Take care; he will be upon you.” The - animal now began to throw blood from his mouth and nose, which - satisfied me I had reached his heart. He stopped. I fired again. Both - balls entered just _back of his fore shoulder_. He now came towards me - with his tongue extended and his round full eye darting vengeance. My - horse parried his movements, and I fired my rifle pistol and then - seized the remaining one. At this moment the buffalo fell, exhausted - with the loss of blood, and stretching out his legs died before I - could get to him.... Billet performed the operation of cutting out his - tongue, by opening the flesh on the under jaw and through this - aperture taking the tongue, which I tied to my saddle and reached the - camp a little after sunset. - - - - - The Indians - - -Ever since James Fenimore Cooper made use of frontier life in his -novels, the Indian has been romanticized in fiction as the noble savage. -But Cooper’s Indians did not bear much resemblance to the real Indians -who were, after all, savages living in a primitive environment. A good -observer of Indians as they actually were was the eminent historian -Francis Parkman, who spent the summer of 1846 traveling as far as -Wyoming on the Oregon Trail. Here is his account of one of the tribes -living on the plains: - - -Henry Ellsworth Accompanies Washington Irving Across the Plains - - When we came in sight of our little white tent under the big tree, we - saw that it no longer stood alone. A huge old lodge was erected by its - side, discolored by rain and storms, rotten with age, with the uncouth - figures of horses and men and outstretched hands that were painted - upon it, well nigh obliterated. The long poles which supported this - squalid habitation thrust themselves rakishly out from its pointed - top, and over its entrance were suspended a “medicine-pipe” and - various other implements of the magic art. While we were yet at a - distance, we observed a greatly increased population of various colors - and dimensions, swarming about our quiet encampment. - - Morin, the trapper, having been absent for a day or two, had returned, - it seemed, bringing all his family with him. He had taken to himself a - wife, for whom he had paid the established price of one horse. This - looks cheap at first sight, but in truth the purchase of a squaw is a - transaction which no man should enter into without mature - deliberation, since it involves not only the payment of the price, but - the burden of feeding and supporting a rapacious horde of the bride’s - relatives, who hold themselves entitled to feed upon the indiscreet - white man. They gather about him like leeches, and drain him of all he - has.... - - The moving spirit of the establishment was an old hag of eighty. Human - imagination never conceived hob-goblin or witch more ugly than she. - You could count all her ribs through the wrinkles of her leathery - skin. Her withered face more resembled an old skull than the - countenance of a living being, even to the hollow, darkened sockets, - at the bottom of which glittered her little black eyes. Her arms had - dwindled into nothing but whip-cord and wire. Her hair, half black, - half gray, hung in total neglect nearly to the ground, and her sole - garment consisted of the remnant of a discarded buffalo-robe tied - around her waist with a string of hide. - - Yet the old squaw’s meagre anatomy was wonderfully strong. She pitched - the lodge, packed the horses, and did the hardest labor of the camp. - From morning till night she bustled about the lodge, screaming like a - screech-owl when anything displeased her. Her brother, a - “medicine-man,” or magician, was equally gaunt and sinewy with - herself. His mouth spread from ear to ear, and his appetite, as we had - occasion to learn, was ravenous in proportion.... - - A day passed, and Indians began rapidly to come in. Parties of two, - three, or more would ride up and silently seat themselves on the - grass. The fourth day came at last, when about noon horsemen appeared - in view on the summit of the neighboring ridge. Behind followed a wild - procession, hurrying in haste and disorder down the hill and over the - plain below; horses, mules, and dogs; heavily burdened _traineaux_ - [_sleds_], mounted warriors, squaws walking amid the throng, and a - host of children. For a full half-hour they continued to pour down; - and keeping directly to the bend of the stream, within a furlong of - us, they soon assembled there, a dark and confused throng, until, as - if by magic, a hundred and fifty tall lodges sprang up. The lonely - plain was transformed into the site of a swarming encampment. - Countless horses were soon grazing over the meadows around us, and the - prairie was animated by restless figures careering on horseback, or - sedately stalking in their long white robes.... - - The Dahcotah or Sioux range over a vast territory, from the river St. - Peter to the Rocky Mountains. They are divided into several - independent bands, united under no central government, and - acknowledging no common head. The same language, usages, and - superstitions form the sole bond between them. They do not unite even - in their wars. The bands of the east fight the Ojibwas on the Upper - Lakes; those of the west make incessant war upon the Snake Indians in - the Rocky Mountains. As the whole people is divided into bands, so - each band is divided into villages. - - Each village has a chief, who is honored and obeyed only so far as his - personal qualities may command respect and fear. Sometimes he is a - mere nominal chief; sometimes his authority is little short of - absolute, and his fame and influence reach beyond his own village, so - that the whole band to which he belongs is ready to acknowledge him as - their head. This was, a few years since, the case with the Ogillallah. - Courage, address, and enterprise may raise any warrior to the highest - honor, especially if he be the son of a former chief, or a member of a - numerous family, to support him and avenge his quarrels; but when he - has reached the dignity of chief, and the old men and warriors, by a - peculiar ceremony, have formally installed him, let it not be imagined - that he assumes any of the outward signs of rank and honor. He knows - too well on how frail a tenure he holds his station. He must - conciliate his uncertain subjects. - - Many a man in the village lives better, owns more squaws and more - horses, and goes better clad than he. Like the Teutonic chiefs of old, - he ingratiates himself with his young men by making them presents, - thereby often impoverishing himself. If he fails to gain their favor, - they will set his authority at naught, and may desert him at any - moment; for the usages of his people have provided no means of - enforcing his authority. Very seldom does it happen, at least among - these western bands, that a chief attains to much power, unless he is - the head of a numerous family. Frequently the village is principally - made up of his relatives and descendants, and the wandering community - assumes much of the patriarchal character. - - - - - The Trappers - - -The fur trade was an important industry long before the Revolution, but -after the Westward Movement opened up the region beyond the Mississippi, -the search for furs moved to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific -Northwest. Much of the Far West was first visited by the trappers, who -ranged widely in their lonely and often hazardous vocation. Many of them -were French Canadians or of French extraction, such as Henry Chatillon, -the guide of Parkman’s party. In the following selection we have printed -an episode from the early career of General Isaac Jones Wistar, who -later became a general in the Union Army during the Civil War. Wistar at -this time, about 1850, was running his trap lines in the Peace River -region of western Canada. François is his partner. Needless to say, -trapping was a winter occupation. - - -Isaac Jones Wistar Endures a Hard Winter - - After the trapper has laid in his provisions, disposed of his horses, - and settled down in his solitary winter quarters, incidents are few; - and as none of a pleasant character are likely to occur, the fewer - they are, the better for him.... - - In our case about this time, martens being scarce and the camp, in - consequence of the lateness of our arrival, having been badly chosen, - it was found necessary to shift it in the dead of winter; for which - purpose, taking but little provision from our scanty store and - _caching_ the rest of our effects, we pushed out in a northerly - direction, hoping to find a better location on some of the other - tributaries of the Peace. But with ground covered by heavy snow, - streams hard bound with ice, and frequent wind storms which at the low - prevailing temperatures none can face and live, our progress was slow - and no place looked very attractive. Hence no great time had elapsed - before we found our provisions exhausted, in a difficult country with - game not to be had. Making a temporary shelter in a bad place and - under unfavorable circumstances, we therefore proceeded to devote our - whole attention to hunting, till after some days we became awake to - the fact that the district was absolutely without game. Every day the - weather permitted, we covered long distances in opposite directions, - without finding so much as a recent sign or track. Then we set traps - for fish in such rapids as remained open, and for birds and small - animals, but without success.... - - After trying in vain all the resources practiced by trappers in such - straits, all of which were well known to François, we ate the grease - in our rifle stocks, all the fringes and unnecessary parts of our - buck-leather clothes, gun and ammunition bags, and every scrap of - eatable material, boiling it down in an Assinaboine basket with hot - stones, and were finally reduced to buds and twigs. After many days of - this extreme privation, no longer possessing strength to travel or - hunt, I became discouraged; and as we lay down one night I determined - to abandon the struggle and remain there, enduring with such fortitude - as I might the final pangs, which could not be long deferred. At this - last stage in the struggle, an event occurred of the most - extraordinary character, which cannot seem more strange and incredible - to any one than it has always appeared to me on the innumerable - occasions when I have since reflected on it. Notwithstanding our - exhaustion and desperate conclusion of the night before, François rose - at daylight, made up the fire as well as his strength permitted, - blazed a tree near by on which he marked with charcoal a large cross, - and carefully reloading and standing his gun against that emblem, - proceeded to repeat in such feeble whispers as he was yet capable of, - all the scraps of French and Latin prayers he could remember, to all - of which I was in no condition to give much attention. When he got - through he remarked with much cheerfulness that he was now sure of - killing something and urged me to make one more effort with him, which - I rather angrily refused, and bade him lie down and take what had to - come, like a man. With cheerful assurance he replied that he was not - afraid to die, but our time had not come. He knew he would find and - kill, and we would escape all right. Then desisting from his useless - effort to get me up, François, leaving his heavy snow-shoes behind, - directed himself with weak and uneven steps down the little stream in - the deep gorge of which our camp was made; and never expecting to see - him again, my mind relapsed into an idle, vacuous condition, in which - external circumstances were forgotten or disregarded. But scarcely a - few minutes had elapsed, and as it afterwards appeared he had hardly - traversed a couple of hundred yards when I heard his gun, which I knew - never cracked in vain. - - I had thought myself unable to rise, but at that joyful sound promptly - discovered my mistake. I found François in the spot from which he had - fired, leaning against a tree in such deep excitement that he could - speak with difficulty. On that rugged side hill apparently destitute - of life, in that most improbable of all places, within sound and smell - of our camp, he had seen, not a squirrel or a rabbit, but a deer. - Attempting to climb for a better shot, the deer jumped, and with - terrible misgivings he had fired at it running. He had heard it - running after his shot but was sure he had made a killing hit. - Scrambling with difficulty up the hill, we found a large clot of blood - and a morsel of “lights” [_lungs_], which we divided and ate on the - spot. After taking up the trail we soon found the animal.... - - After passing safely through that period of starvation, we were glad - enough to get back to the old camp and make the best of it during the - remainder of the season, which furnished little more of incident to - vary the monotony of our solitary occupation. - - - - - The Emigrants - - -In the year that Parkman visited Wyoming, 1846, the Oregon Trail was a -well-traveled route. Thousands of emigrants in covered wagons were -moving westward from Independence or St. Joseph, Missouri, along the -Platte River towards Wyoming and the South Pass over the Rockies. In the -next selection Parkman describes an emigrant train he encountered near -the point where the trail struck the Platte River in central Nebraska. - - -Francis Parkman Encounters a Wagon Train - - About dark a sallow-faced fellow descended the hill on horseback, and - splashing through the pool, rode up to the tents. He was enveloped in - a huge cloak, and his broad felt hat was weeping about his ears with - the drizzling moisture of the evening. Another followed, a stout, - square-built, intelligent-looking man, who announced himself as leader - of an emigrant party, encamped a mile in advance of us. About twenty - wagons, he said, were with him; the rest of his party were on the - other side of the Big Blue, waiting for a woman who was in the pains - of childbirth, and quarreling meanwhile among themselves. - - These were the first emigrants that we had overtaken, although we had - found abundant and melancholy traces of their progress throughout the - course of the journey. Sometimes we passed the grave of one who had - sickened and died on the way. The earth was usually torn up, and - covered thickly with wolf-tracks. Some had escaped this violation. One - morning, a piece of plank, standing upright on the summit of a grassy - hill, attracted our notice, and riding up to it, we found the - following words very roughly traced upon it, apparently with a red-hot - piece of iron:— - - MARY ELLIS - DIED MAY 7th, 1845 - Aged two months. - - Such tokens were of common occurrence. - - We were late in breaking up our camp on the following morning, and - scarcely had we ridden a mile when we saw ... the emigrant caravan, - with its heavy white wagons creeping on in slow procession, and a - large drove of cattle following behind. Half a dozen yellow-visaged - Missourians, mounted on horseback, were cursing and shouting among - them, their lank angular proportions enveloped in brown homespun, - evidently cut and adjusted by the hands of a domestic female tailor. - As we approached, they called out to us: “How are ye, boys? Are ye for - Oregon or California?” - - As we pushed rapidly by the wagons, children’s faces were thrust out - from the white coverings to look at us; while the care-worn, - thin-featured matron, or the buxom girl, seated in front, suspended - the knitting on which most of them were engaged to stare at us with - wondering curiosity. By the side of each wagon stalked the proprietor, - urging on his patient oxen, who shouldered heavily along, inch by - inch, on their interminable journey. It was easy to see that fear and - dissension prevailed among them.... Many were murmuring against the - leader they had chosen, and wished to depose him.... - - We soon left them far behind, and hoped that we had taken a final - leave; but our companions’ wagon stuck so long in a deep muddy ditch, - that before it was extricated the van of the emigrant caravan appeared - again, descending a ridge close at hand. Wagon after wagon plunged - through the mud; and as it was nearly noon, and the place promised - shade and water, we saw with satisfaction that they were resolved to - encamp. Soon the wagons were wheeled into a circle: the cattle were - grazing over the meadow, and the men, with sour, sullen faces, were - looking about for wood and water. They seemed to meet but indifferent - success. As we left the ground, I saw a tall slouching fellow ... - contemplating the contents of his tin cup, which he had just filled - with water. - - “Look here, you,” said he; “it’s chock-full of animals!” - - The cup, as he held it out, exhibited in fact an extraordinary variety - and profusion of animal and vegetable life. - - Riding up the little hill, and looking back on the meadow, we could - easily see that all was not right in the camp of the emigrants. The - men were crowded together, and an angry discussion seemed to be going - forward. R—— [_one of Parkman’s party_] was missing from his wonted - place in the line, and the Captain told us that he had remained behind - to get his horse shod by a blacksmith attached to the emigrant party. - Something whispered in our ears that mischief was on foot; we kept on, - however, and coming soon to a stream of tolerable water, we stopped to - rest and dine. Still the absentee lingered behind. At last, at the - distance of a mile, he and his horse suddenly appeared, sharply - defined against the sky on the summit of a hill; and close behind, a - huge white object rose slowly into view. - - “What is that blockhead bringing with him now?” - - A moment dispelled the mystery. Slowly and solemnly, one behind the - other, four long trains of oxen and four emigrant wagons rolled over - the crest of the hill and gravely descended, while R—— rode in state - in the van. It seems that during the process of shoeing the horse the - smothered dissensions among the emigrants suddenly broke into open - rupture. Some insisted on pushing forward, some on remaining where - they were, and some on going back. Kearsley, their captain, threw up - his command in disgust. “And now, boys,” said he, “if any of you are - for going ahead, just you come along with me.” - - Four wagons, with ten men, one woman, and one small child, made up the - force of the “go-ahead” faction, and R——, with his usual proclivity - toward mischief, invited them to join our party. Fear of the - Indians—for I can conceive no other motive—must have induced him to - court so burdensome an alliance. At all events, the proceeding was a - cool one. The men who joined us, it is true, were all that could be - desired; rude indeed in manners, but frank, manly, and intelligent. To - tell them we could not travel with them was out of the question. I - merely reminded Kearsley that if his oxen could not keep up with our - mules he must expect to be left behind, as we could not consent to be - farther delayed on the journey; but he immediately replied, that his - oxen “_should_ keep up; and if they couldn’t, why, he allowed, he’d - find out how to make ’em.” - - - - - The Conquest - - - [Illustration: “The Meeting of the Rails”] - - - - - To California by Sea - - -We now have introduced the land and the people: the mountains, deserts, -and prairies; the Indians, trappers, and settlers. This is the cast of -characters, so to speak, who played out the drama of winning the West. -The next group of selections will illustrate the ways by which the land -was tamed and the wilderness brought under the yoke of civilization. We -will visit California by ship, travel with the covered wagons, starve -with the Donner party in the Sierras, and ride the Overland Stage with -Mark Twain. Finally we will look at the building of the railroad, the -event that spelled the end of the Old West. - -The coast of California was first explored by Juan Cabrillo in 1542, but -it was not until the time of the American Revolution that the Spanish -established effective political control as far north as San Francisco. -Then, for the next three quarters of a century, until the Mexican War, -Spanish culture flourished. By the time California was annexed to the -United States, a great deal of commerce was being carried on between -eastern United States ports and the West Coast, and when the gold rush -took place thousands of fortune seekers came to California via sea. - - -Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Visits the Coast of California - -One of the best descriptions of California before it became part of the -United States was written by a young Bostonian, Richard Henry Dana, Jr. -This young man suffered eye trouble during his sophomore year at Harvard -and sailed for California in 1834 as a common sailor. After working 15 -months on the California coast gathering hides, the cargo that American -ships carried home in exchange for manufactured products, he returned to -Harvard and completed his education. His book, _Two Years Before the -Mast_, from which the next selection is taken, is a splendid adventure -story. - - Just before sun-down the mate ordered a boat’s crew ashore, and I went - as one of the number. We passed under the stern of the English brig, - and had a long pull ashore. I shall never forget the impression which - our first landing on the beach of California made upon me. The sun had - just gone down; it was getting dusky; the damp night wind was - beginning to blow, and the heavy swell of the Pacific was setting in, - and breaking in loud and high “combers” upon the beach. We lay on our - oars in the swell, just outside of the surf, waiting for a good chance - to run in, when a boat, which had put off from the _Ayacucho_ just - after us, came alongside of us, with a crew of dusky Sandwich - Islanders, talking and hallooing in their outlandish tongue. [_This - landing took place at Santa Barbara._] - - They knew that we were novices in this kind of boating, and waited to - see us go in. The second mate, however, who steered our boat, - determined to have the advantage of their experience, and would not go - in first. Finding, at length, how matters stood, they gave a shout, - and taking advantage of a great comber which came swelling in, rearing - its head, and lifting up the stern of our boat nearly perpendicular, - and again dropping it in the trough, they gave three or four long and - strong pulls, and went in on top of the great wave, throwing their - oars overboard, and as far from the boat as they could throw them, and - jumping out the instant that the boat touched the beach, and then - seizing hold of her and running her up high and dry upon the sand. - - We saw, at once, how it was to be done, and also the necessity of - keeping the boat “stern on” to the sea; for the instant the sea should - strike upon her broad-side or quarter, she would be driven up - broad-side on, and capsized. We pulled strongly in, and as soon as we - felt that the sea had got hold of us and was carrying us in with the - speed of a race-horse, we threw the oars as far from the boat as we - could, and took hold of the gunwale, ready to spring out and seize her - when she struck, the officer using his utmost strength to keep her - stern on. We were shot up upon the beach like an arrow from a bow, and - seizing the boat, ran her up high and dry, and soon picked up our - oars, and stood by her, ready for the captain to come down. - - Finding that the captain did not come immediately, we put our oars in - the boat, and leaving one to watch it, walked about the beach to see - what we could of the place. The beach is nearly a mile in length - between the two points, and of smooth sand. We had taken the only good - landing-place, which is in the middle; it being more stony toward the - ends. It is about twenty yards in width from high-water mark to a - slight bank at which the soil begins, and so hard that it is a - favorite place for running horses. It was growing dark, so that we - could just distinguish the dim outlines of the two vessels in the - offing; and the great seas were rolling in, in regular lines, growing - larger and larger as they approached the shore, and hanging over the - beach upon which they were to break, when their tops would curl over - and turn white with foam, and, beginning at one extreme of the line, - break rapidly to the other, as a long card-house falls when the - children knock down the cards at one end. - - The Sandwich Islanders, in the meantime, had turned their boat round, - and ran her down into the water, and were loading her with hides and - tallow. As this was the work in which we were soon to be engaged, we - looked on with some curiosity. They ran the boat into the water so far - that every large sea might float her, and two of them, with their - trousers rolled up, stood by the bows, one on each side, keeping her - in her right position. This was hard work; for beside the force they - had to use upon the boat, the large seas nearly took them off their - legs. The others were running from the boat to the bank, upon which, - out of the reach of the water, was a pile of dry bullocks’ hides, - doubled lengthwise in the middle, and nearly as stiff as boards. These - they took upon their heads, one or two at a time, and carried down to - the boat, where one of their number stowed them away. They were - obliged to carry them on their heads, to keep them out of the water, - and we observed that they had on thick woolen caps. “Look here, Bill, - and see what you’re coming to!” said one of our men to another who - stood by the boat. “Well, D——,” said the second mate to me, “this does - not look much like Cambridge college, does it? This is what I call - ‘_head work_’.” To tell the truth, it did not look very encouraging. - - - - - A Day with the Cow Column - - -The following account of life on the Oregon Trail was written by Jesse -Applegate, who traveled West in 1843 with an emigrant train of 60 wagons -and thousands of cattle. Perhaps 500 persons journeyed with this -caravan, which was well organized and well led, a bigger and better -equipped expedition than the one Parkman met three years later. Here is -a typical day on the trail: - - -Jesse Applegate Herds Cattle on the Oregon Trail - - It is four o’clock A.M.; the sentinels on duty have discharged their - rifles—the signal that the hours of sleep are over; and every wagon - and tent is pouring forth its night tenants, and slow-kindling smokes - begin largely to rise and float away upon the morning air. Sixty men - start from the corral, spreading as they make through the vast herd of - cattle and horses that form a semi-circle around the encampment, the - most distant perhaps two miles away. - - The herders pass to the extreme verge and carefully examine for trails - beyond, to see that none of the animals have strayed or been stolen - during the night. This morning no trails lead beyond the outside - animals in sight, and by five o’clock the herders begin to contract - the great moving circle and the well-trained animals move slowly - toward camp, clipping here and there a thistle or a tempting bunch of - grass on the way. In about an hour five thousand animals are close up - to the encampment, and the teamsters are busy selecting their teams - and driving them inside the “corral” to be yoked. The corral is a - circle one hundred yards deep, formed with wagons connected strongly - with each other, the wagon in the rear being connected with the wagon - in front by its tongue and ox chains. It is a strong barrier that the - most vicious ox cannot break, and in case of an attack of the Sioux - would be no contemptible entrenchment. - - From six to seven o’clock is a busy time; breakfast is to be eaten, - the tents struck, the wagons loaded, and the teams yoked and brought - up in readiness to be attached to their respective wagons. All know - when, at seven o’clock, the signal to march sounds, that those not - ready to take their proper places in the line of march must fall into - the dusty rear for the day. - -At seven the bugle sounds and the party moves out, led by the pilot and -his guards. Meantime, a group of young men form a hunting party to look -for buffalo. It is from the viewpoint of the hunters on the bluffs of -the river that we next see the emigrant train: - - We are full six miles away from the line of march; though everything - is dwarfed by distance, it is seen distinctly. The caravan has been - about two hours in motion and is now as widely extended as a prudent - regard for safety will permit. First, near the bank of the shining - river, is a company of horsemen; they seem to have found an - obstruction, for the main body has halted while three or four ride - rapidly along the bank of the creek or slough. They are hunting a - favorable crossing for the wagons; while we look they have succeeded; - it has apparently required no work to make it passable, for all but - one of the party have passed on and he has raised a flag, no doubt a - signal to the wagons to steer their course to where he stands. The - leading teamster sees him though he is yet two miles off, and steers - his course directly towards him, all the wagons following in his - track. They (the wagons) form a line three quarters of a mile in - length; some of the teamsters ride upon the front of their wagons, - some march beside their teams; scattered along the line companies of - women and children are taking exercise on foot; they gather bouquets - of rare and beautiful flowers that line the way; near them stalks a - stately greyhound or an Irish wolf dog, apparently proud of keeping - watch and ward over his master’s wife and children. - - Next comes a band of horses; two or three men or boys follow them, the - docile and sagacious animals scarce needing this attention, for they - have learned to follow in the rear of the wagons, and know that at - noon they will be allowed to graze and rest. Their knowledge of time - seems as accurate as of the place they are to occupy in the line, and - even a full-blown thistle will scarcely tempt them to straggle or halt - until the dinner hour has arrived. Not so with the large herd of - horned beasts that bring up the rear; lazy, selfish and unsocial, it - has been a task to get them in motion; the strong, always ready to - domineer over the weak, halt in front and forbid the weaker to pass - them. They seem to move only in fear of the driver’s whip; though in - the morning full to repletion, they have not been driven an hour - before their hunger and thirst seem to indicate a fast of days’ - duration. Through all the long day their greed is never satisfied, nor - their thirst quenched, nor is there a moment of relaxation of the - tedious and vexatious labors of their drivers, although to all others - the march furnishes some season of relaxation or enjoyment. For the - cow-drivers there is none.... - - The pilot, by measuring the ground and timing the speed of the wagons - and the walk of his horses, has determined the rate of each, so as to - enable him to select the nooning place, as near as the requisite grass - and water can be had at the end of five hours’ travel of the wagons. - Today, the ground being favorable, little time has been lost in - preparing the road, so that he and his pioneers are at the nooning - place an hour in advance of the wagons, which time is spent in - preparing convenient watering places for the animals and digging - little wells near the bank of the Platte. As the teams are not - unyoked, but simply turned loose from the wagons, a corral is not - formed at noon, but the wagons are drawn up in columns, four abreast, - the leading wagon of each platoon on the left—the platoons being - formed with that view. This brings friends together at noon as well as - at night.... - - It is now one o’clock; the bugle has sounded, and the caravan has - resumed its westward journey. It is in the same order, but the evening - is far less animated than the morning march; a drowsiness has fallen - apparently on man and beast; teamsters drop asleep on their perches - and even when walking by their teams, and the words of command are now - addressed to the slowly creeping oxen in the softened tenor of women - or the piping treble of children, while the snares of teamsters make a - droning accompaniment. - -As the sun goes down, the pilot halts the column for the night. The -evening meal is prepared, watches are set, and another day of the march -comes to an end. - - - - - The Donner Party Starves - - -The hardships of the trail took their toll from the west-bound settlers. -The Donner party, which left Illinois in the summer of 1846, reached the -Sierras in October after the winter snows had begun. Marooned at what is -now Donner Lake, this group slowly starved to death until only 48 out of -the original 87 were left when rescue parties broke through to them in -February. Some of them even turned to cannibalism to survive. The -following narrative, which does not mention cannibalism, nonetheless -tells vividly of the ordeal of that terrible winter. The author is -Virginia Reed Murphy, who was a child at the time of the ordeal. - - -Virginia Reed Murphy Survives a Terrible Ordeal - - Snow was already falling, although it was only the last week in - October. Winter had set in a month earlier than usual. All trails and - roads were covered, and our only guide was the summit, which it seemed - we would never reach. Despair drove many nearly frantic. Each family - tried to cross the mountains but found it impossible. When it was seen - that the wagons could not be dragged through the snow, their goods and - provisions were packed on oxen and another start was made, men and - women walking in snow up to their waists, carrying their children in - their arms and trying to drive their cattle. The Indians said they - could find no road; so a halt was called, and Stanton went ahead with - the guides and came back and reported that we could get across if we - kept right on, but that it would be impossible if [_more_] snow fell. - He was in favor of a forced march until the other side of the summit - should be reached, but some of our party were so tired and exhausted - with the day’s labor that they declared they could not take another - step; so the few who knew the danger that the night might bring - yielded to the many, and we camped within three miles of the summit. - - That night came the dreaded snow. Around the campfires under the trees - great feathery flakes came whirling down. The air was so full of them - that one could see objects only a few feet away.... With heavy hearts - we turned back to a cabin that had been built ... on the shore of a - lake, since known as Donner Lake. The Donners were camped in Alder - Creek Valley below the lake.... The snow came on so suddenly that they - had no time to build cabins, but hastily put up brush sheds, covering - them with pine boughs.... - - Many attempts were made to cross the mountains, but all who tried were - driven back by the pitiless storms. Finally a party was organized, - since known as the “Forlorn Hope.” They made snowshoes, and fifteen - started—ten men and five women—but only seven lived to reach - California; eight men perished. They were over a month on the way, and - the horrors endured by that Forlorn Hope no pen can describe nor - imagination conceive.... - - The misery endured during those four months at Donner Lake in our - little dark cabins under the snow would fill pages and make the - coldest heart ache. Christmas was near, but to the starving its memory - gave no comfort. It came and passed without observance, but my mother - had determined weeks before that her children should have a treat on - this one day. She had laid away a few dried apples, some beans, a bit - of tripe, and a small piece of bacon. When this hoarded store was - brought out, the delight of the little ones knew no bounds. The - cooking was watched carefully, and when we sat down to our Christmas - dinner, Mother said, “Children, eat slowly, for this one day you can - have all you wish.”... - - The storms would often last ten days at a time, and we would have to - cut chips from the logs inside which formed our cabins in order to - start a fire. We could scarcely walk, and the men had hardly strength - to procure wood. We would drag ourselves through the snow from one - cabin to another, and some mornings snow would have to be shoveled out - of the fireplace before a fire could be made. Poor little children - were crying with hunger, and mothers were crying because they had so - little to give to their children. We seldom thought of bread, we had - been without it so long.... - - Time dragged slowly along till we were no longer on short allowance - but were simply starving. My mother determined to make an effort to - cross the mountains. She could not see her children die without trying - to get them food. It was hard to leave them, but she felt that it must - be done. She told them she would bring them bread, so they were - willing to stay, and with no guide but a compass we started—my mother, - Eliza, Milt Elliot, and myself. Milt wore snow-shoes, and we followed - in his tracks. We were five days in the mountains; Eliza gave out the - first day and had to return, but we kept on and climbed one high - mountain after another only to see others higher still ahead. Often I - would have to crawl up the mountains, being too tired to walk ... we - were compelled to return, and just in time, for that night a storm - came on, the most fearful of the winter, and we should have perished - had we not been in the cabins. - - We now had nothing to eat but raw hides, and they were on the roof of - the cabin to keep out the snow; when prepared for cooking and boiled - they were simply a pot of glue. When the hides were taken off our - cabin and we were left without shelter, Mr. Breen gave us a home with - his family, and Mrs. Breen prolonged my life by slipping me little - bits of meat now and then when she discovered that I could not eat the - hide. Death had already claimed many in our party, and it seemed as - though relief never would reach us. Baylis Williams, who had been in - delicate health before we left Springfield, was the first to die; he - passed away before starvation had really set in.... - - On his arrival at Sutter’s Fort my father [_the author’s father had - led a second and successful effort to cross the mountains to get - help_] made known the situation of the emigrants, and Captain Sutter - offered at once to do everything possible for their relief. He - furnished horses and provisions, and my father and Mr. McClutchen - started for the mountains, coming as far as possible with horses and - then with packs on their backs proceeding on foot; but they were - finally compelled to return. Captain Sutter was not surprised at their - defeat. He stated that there were no able-bodied men in that vicinity, - all having gone down the country with Frémont to fight the Mexicans. - He advised my father to go to Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, and make - his case known to the naval officer in command. My father was in fact - conducting parties there—when the seven members of the Forlorn Hope - arrived from across the mountains. Their famished faces told the - story. Cattle were killed and men were up all night, drying beef and - making flour by hand mills, nearly two hundred pounds being made in - one night, and a party of seven, commanded by Captain Reasen P. - Tucker, were sent to our relief by Captain Sutter and the alcalde, Mr. - Sinclair. On the evening of February 19, 1847, they reached our - cabins, where all were starving. They shouted to attract attention. - Mr. Breen clambered up the icy steps from our cabin, and soon we heard - the blessed words, “Relief, thank God, relief!” - - - - - Mark Twain Rides the Overland Stage - - -The career of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) as a river pilot ended when -the Civil War stopped steamboat traffic on the Mississippi. He then -joined his brother, who was going to Carson City, Nevada, to be -secretary to the governor of the territory. The brothers took a -steamboat to St. Joseph, Missouri, where they caught the Overland Stage. -Sam Clemens’ account of his trip to Nevada is a memorable picture of -stagecoach travel across the prairies and mountains just eight years -before the railroads made the Overland Stage obsolete. Here is a -selection from _Roughing It_: - - -A Memorable Account of Stagecoach Travel from _Roughing It_ - - It was now just dawn; and as we stretched our cramped legs full length - on the mail sacks, and gazed out through the windows across the wide - wastes of greensward clad in cool, powdery mist, to where there was an - expectant look in the eastern horizon, our perfect enjoyment took the - form of a tranquil and contented ecstasy. The stage whirled along at a - spanking gait, the breeze flapping curtains and suspended coats in a - most exhilarating way; the cradle swayed and swung luxuriously, the - pattering of the horses’ hoofs, the cracking of the driver’s whip, and - his “Hi-yi! g’lang!” were music; the spinning ground and the waltzing - trees appeared to give us a mute hurrah as we went by, and then slack - up and look after us with interest, or envy, or something; and as we - lay and smoked the pipe of peace and compared all this luxury with the - years of tiresome city life that had gone before it, we felt that - there was only one complete and satisfying happiness in the world, and - we had found it. - - After breakfast, at some station whose name I have forgotten, we three - climbed up on the seat behind the driver, and let the conductor have - our bed for a nap. And by and by, when the sun made me drowsy, I lay - down on my face on top of the coach, grasping the slender iron - railing, and slept for an hour more. That will give one an appreciable - idea of those matchless roads. Instinct will make a sleeping man grip - a fast hold of the railing when the stage jolts, but when it only - swings and sways, no grip is necessary. Overland drivers and - conductors used to sit in their places and sleep thirty or forty - minutes at a time, on good roads, while spinning along at the rate of - eight or ten miles an hour. I saw them do it, often. There was no - danger about it; a sleeping man _will_ seize the irons in time when - the coach jolts. These men were hard worked, and it was not possible - for them to stay awake all the time. - - By and by we passed through Marysville, and over the Big Blue and - Little Sandy; thence about a mile, and entered Nebraska. About a mile - further on, we came to the Big Sandy—one hundred and eighty miles from - St. Joseph. - - - As the sun went down and the evening chill came on, we made - preparation for bed. We stirred up the hard leather letter-sacks, and - the knotty canvas bags of printed matter (knotty and uneven because of - projecting ends and corners of magazines, boxes and books). We stirred - them up and redisposed them in such a way as to make our bed as level - as possible. And we _did_ improve it, too, though after all our work - it had an upheaved and billowy look about it, like a little piece of a - stormy sea. Next we hunted up our boots from odd nooks among the - mail-bags where they had settled, and put them on. Then we got down - our coats, vests, pantaloons and heavy woolen shirts, from the - arm-loops where they had been swinging all day, and clothed ourselves - in them—for, there being no ladies either at the stations or in the - coach, and the weather being hot, we had looked to our comfort by - stripping to our under-clothing, at nine o’clock in the morning. All - things being now ready, we stowed the uneasy Dictionary where it would - lie as quiet as possible, and placed the water-canteens and pistols - where we could find them in the dark. Then we smoked a final pipe, and - swapped a final yarn; after which, we put the pipes, tobacco and bag - of coin in snug holes and caves among the mail-bags, and then fastened - down the coach curtains all around, and made the place as “dark as the - inside of a cow,” as the conductor phrased it in his picturesque way. - It was certainly as dark as any place could be—nothing was even dimly - visible in it. And finally, we rolled ourselves up like silk-worms, - each person in his own blanket, and sank peacefully to sleep. - - Whenever the stage stopped to change horses, we would wake up, and try - to recollect where we were—and succeed—and in a minute or two the - stage would be off again, and we likewise. We began to get into - country, now, threaded here and there with little streams. These had - high, steep banks on each side, and every time we flew down one bank - and scrambled up the other, our party inside got mixed somewhat. First - we would all be down in a pile at the forward end of the stage, nearly - in a sitting posture, and in a second we would shoot to the other end, - and stand on our heads. And we would sprawl and kick, too, and ward - off ends and corners of mailbags that came lumbering over us and about - us; and as the dust rose from the tumult, we would all sneeze in - chorus, and the majority of us would grumble, and probably say some - hasty thing, like: “Take your elbow out of my ribs!—can’t you quit - crowding?” - - Every time we avalanched from one end of the stage to the other, the - Unabridged Dictionary would come too; and every time it came it - damaged somebody. One trip it “barked” the Secretary’s elbow; the next - trip it hurt me in the stomach, and the third it tilted Bemis’s nose - up till he could look down his nostrils—he said. The pistols and coin - soon settled to the bottom, but the pipes, pipe-stems, tobacco and - canteens clattered and floundered after the Dictionary every time it - made an assault on us, and aided and abetted the book by spilling - tobacco in our eyes, and water down our backs. - - Still, all things considered, it was a very comfortable night. It wore - gradually away, and when at last a cold gray light was visible through - the puckers and chinks in the curtains, we yawned and stretched with - satisfaction, shed our cocoons, and felt that we had slept as much as - was necessary. By and by, as the sun rose up and warmed the world, we - pulled off our clothes and got ready for breakfast. We were just - pleasantly in time, for five minutes afterward the driver sent the - weird music of his bugle winding over the grassy solitudes, and - presently we detected a low hut or two in the distance. Then the - rattling of the coach, the clatter of our six horses’ hoofs, and the - driver’s crisp commands, awoke to a louder and stronger emphasis, and - we went sweeping down on the station at our smartest speed. _It was - fascinating—that old Overland stagecoaching._ - - - - - The Coming of the Railroad - - -One of the dramatic events of American history took place at Promontory -Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869. On that day a golden spike was driven into -the last stretch of track, and for the first time the East and West were -linked by a railroad. After the spike-driving ceremony, the engineer of -the Central Pacific, which had started east from San Francisco, and the -engineer of the Union Pacific, which had been built west from the -Mississippi, ran their engines up until they touched. Then they shook -hands and broke champagne bottles over each other’s locomotive. There -were speeches before and after, as gangs of Irish and Chinese laborers -joined governors, railroad dignitaries and other notables in celebrating -the momentous occasion. - - -Walt Whitman Writes of the Continental Railroad - -To Walt Whitman this event had a highly emotional significance. It came -in the same year that the Suez Canal was opened, and to Whitman the two -events marked a great step forward in the advance of civilization. In -his poem, “A Passage to India,” Whitman writes of the continental -railroad: - - I see over my own continent the Pacific railroad surmounting every - barrier, - I see continual trains of cars winding along the Platte carrying - freight and passengers, - I hear the locomotives rushing and roaring, and the shrill - steam-whistle, - I hear the echoes reverberate through the grandest scenery in the - world, - I cross the Laramie plains, I note the rocks in grotesque shapes, the - buttes, - I see the plentiful larkspur and wild onions, the barren, colorless, - sage-deserts, - I see in glimpses afar or towering immediately above me the great - mountains, I see the Wind river and the Wahsatch - mountains, - I see the Monument mountain and the Eagle’s Nest, I pass the - Promontory, I ascend the Nevadas, - I scan the noble Elk mountain and wind around its base, - I see the Humboldt range, I thread the valley and cross the river, - I see the clear waters of lake Tahoe, I see forests of majestic pines, - Or crossing the great desert, the alkaline plains, I behold enchanting - mirages of waters and meadows, - Marking through these and after all, in duplicate slender lines, - Bridging the three or four thousand miles of land travel, - Tying the Eastern to the Western sea, - The road between Europe and Asia. - - -Samuel Bowles Travels on the Union Pacific - -During the summer before the railroad was finished, the editor of the -Springfield, Massachusetts, _Republican_, Samuel Bowles, visited the -West. He traveled over the Union Pacific from Omaha, which he noted had -become a boom town since he had visited it last in 1865. He describes -his ride along the same route followed by the Oregon Trail and the -Overland Stage. - - The day’s ride grows monotonous. The road is as straight as an arrow. - Every dozen or fifteen miles is a station—two or three sheds, and a - waterspout and wood-pile; every one hundred miles or so a home or a - division depot, with shops, eating-house, “saloons” uncounted, a store - or two, a few cultivated acres, and the invariable half-a-dozen seedy, - staring loafers, that are a sort of fungi indigenous to American - railways. We yawn over the unchanging landscape and the unvarying - model of the stations, and lounge and read by day, and go to bed early - at night. But the clear, dry air charms; the half dozen soldiers - hurriedly marshalled into line at each station, as the train comes up, - suggest that the Indian question is not disposed of yet; we catch a - glimpse of antelopes in the distance; and we watch the holes of the - prairie dogs for their piquant little owners and their traditional - companions of owls and snakes—but never see the snakes. - - The Plains proper and the first day’s ride end at Cheyenne, five - hundred and sixteen miles from Omaha. Here a branch road goes off - south a hundred miles to Denver, where it connects with the St. Louis - or Eastern Division of the Pacific road. Cheyenne is also a great - railroad work and supply shop, as becomes its location adjoining the - mountain and winter-exposed section of the road. - -He continued on across Wyoming to the end of the line, which then was -crossing the high, arid tablelands near Rawlins. He saw the track laid -over the Continental Divide and marveled at the speed with which the job -was being accomplished. By the next May the construction crews had laid -another 250 miles of track to complete the work. - - Within this desert of the mountains, the divide of the continent - occurs both on the old stage road and the new Railroad line; and here, - in the summer of 1868, we witnessed the building of the track over the - parting of the waters. The last rail on the Atlantic slope and the - first on the Pacific were laid in our presence; and Governor Bross - pinned them down with stalwart blows upon their spikes. As yet, still, - no mountains appear in the path of the track, and it winds easily - along through these rolling sand-hills, occasionally helped over a - deep dry gulch, and spanning a feeble or possible river. But the whole - section is mountainously high, from seven thousand to eight thousand - feet above the sea level. - - We witnessed here the fabulous speed with which the Railroad was - built. Through the two or three hundred miles beyond were scattered - ten to fifteen thousand men in great gangs preparing the road bed; - plows, scrapers, shovels, picks and carts; and, among the rocks, - drills and powder were doing the grading as rapidly as men could stand - and move with their tools. Long trains brought up to the end of the - completed track loads of ties and rails; the former were transferred - to teams, sent one or two miles ahead, and put in place upon the - grade. Then rails and spikes were reloaded on platform cars, these - pushed up to the last previously laid rail, and with an automatic - movement and a celerity that were wonderful, practiced hands dropped - the fresh rails one after another on the ties exactly in line, huge - sledges sent the spikes home, the car rolled on, and the operation was - repeated; while every few minutes the long heavy train behind sent out - a puff from its locomotive, and caught up with its load of material - the advancing work. The only limit, inside of eight miles in - twenty-four hours, to the rapidity with which the track could thus be - laid, was the power of the road behind to bring forward the materials. - - As the Railroad marched thus rapidly across the broad Continent of - plain and mountain, there was improvised a rough and temporary town at - its every public stopping-place. As this was changed every thirty or - forty days, these settlements were of the most perishable - materials—canvas tents, plain board shanties, and turf-hovels—pulled - down and sent forward for a new career, or deserted as worthless, at - every grand movement of the Railroad company. Only a small proportion - of their populations had aught to do with the road, or any legitimate - occupation. Most were the hangers-on around the disbursements of such - a gigantic work, catching the drippings from the feast in any and - every form that it was possible to reach them. Restaurant and saloon - keepers, gamblers, desperadoes of every grade, the vilest of men and - of women made up this “Hell on Wheels,” as it was most aptly termed. - - When we were on the line, this congregation of scum and wickedness was - within the Desert section, and was called Benton. One to two thousand - men, and a dozen or two women were encamped on the alkali plain in - tents and board shanties; not a tree, not a shrub, not a blade of - grass was visible; the dust ankle deep as we walked through it, and so - fine and volatile that the slightest breeze loaded the air with it, - irritating every sense and poisoning half of them; a village of a few - variety stores and shops, and many restaurants and grog-shops; by day - disgusting, by night dangerous; almost everybody dirty, many filthy, - and with the marks of lowest vice; averaging a murder a day; gambling - and drinking, hurdy-gurdy dancing and the vilest of sexual commerce, - the chief business and pastime of the hours—this was Benton. Like its - predecessors, it fairly festered in corruption, disorder and death, - and would have rotted, even in this dry air, had it outlasted a brief - sixty-day life. But in a few weeks its tents were struck, its shanties - razed, and with their dwellers moved on fifty or a hundred miles - farther to repeat their life for another brief day. Where these people - came from originally; where they went to when the road was finished, - and their occupation was over, were both puzzles too intricate for me. - Hell would appear to have been raked to furnish them; and to it they - must have naturally returned after graduating here, fitted for its ... - most diabolical service. - - - - - The Mining Frontier - - - [Illustration: Gold mining in California] - - - - - The Discovery of Gold - - -Gold was discovered in January, 1848, on a ranch owned by John Sutter on -the American River in northern California. News of the find spread like -a prairie fire, and California, which had been a sparsely populated land -of cattle ranchers, became the Mecca of goldseekers. Everyone who was -lucky enough to be on the Pacific Coast rushed to the foothills of the -Sierras to hunt for gold, and as soon as the news reached the East -Coast, thousands of emigrants by land and by sea joined the gold rush. - -In the years that followed the California gold rush, other rich deposits -of precious metals were found elsewhere in the West. The Comstock Lode -in Nevada produced a fabulous amount of silver, and later strikes in -Colorado made boom towns out of Denver, Cripple Creek, and Central City. -Still another gold rush after the Civil War took place in the Black -Hills of South Dakota. - -In the following selections we offer three glimpses of the rush for -precious metals. The first two recount gold-rush days in California; the -third deals with the silver bonanza in Nevada. - - -Walter Colton Describes the Effect of the Discovery - -The Reverend Walter Colton, a Congregational minister, arrived in -California in 1846 just after the Americans had taken possession of -Monterey. He was preaching and serving as alcalde (mayor) of Monterey at -the time gold was discovered. The following paragraphs come from his -book, _Three Years in California_. - - _Monday, May 29, 1848_: Our town was startled out of its quiet dreams - today by the announcement that gold had been discovered on the - American Fork. The men wondered and talked, and the women too; but - neither believed.... - - _Monday, June 12_: A straggler came in today from the American Fork - bringing a piece of yellow ore weighing an ounce.... But doubts still - hovered on the minds of the great mass. They could not conceive that - such a treasure could have lain there so long undiscovered.... - - _Tuesday, June 20_: My messenger sent to the mines has returned with - specimens of the gold; he dismounted in a sea of upturned faces. As he - drew forth the yellow lumps from his pockets, and passed them around - among the eager crowd, the doubts, which had lingered till now, fled. - All admitted they were gold, except one old man, who still persisted - they were some Yankee invention, got up to reconcile the people to the - change of flag. The excitement produced was intense; and many were - soon busy in their hasty preparations for a departure to the mines. - The family who had kept house for me caught the moving infection. - Husband and wife were both packing up; the blacksmith dropped his - hammer, the carpenter his plane, the mason his trowel, the farmer his - sickle, the baker his loaf, and the tapster his bottle. All were off - for the mines, some on horses, some on carts, and some on crutches, - and one went in a litter. An American woman, who had recently - established a boarding-house here, pulled up stakes, and was off - before her lodgers had even time to pay their bills. Debtors ran, of - course. I have only a community of women left, and a gang of - prisoners, with here and there a soldier, who will give his captain - the slip at the first chance. I don’t blame the fellow a whit; seven - dollars a month, while others are making two or three hundred a day! - that is too much for human nature to stand. - - _Saturday, July 15_: The gold fever has reached every servant in - Monterey; none are to be trusted in their engagement beyond a week, - and as for compulsion, it is like attempting to drive fish into a net - with the ocean before them. Gen. Mason, Lieut. Lanman, and myself, - form a mess; we have a house, and all the table furniture and culinary - apparatus requisite; but our servants have run, one after another, - till we are almost in despair: even Sambo, who we thought would stick - by from laziness, if no other cause, ran last night; and this morning, - for the fortieth time, we had to take to the kitchen and cook our own - breakfast. A general of the United States Army, the commander of a - man-of-war, and the Alcalde of Monterey, in a smoking kitchen, - grinding coffee, toasting a herring, and peeling onions! - - -Eldorado - -When the news of the gold strike reached New York, Horace Greeley, -editor of the _Tribune_, sent a reporter, Bayard Taylor, to visit the -mining camps. Taylor, who later became a well-known poet and travel -writer, reached San Francisco by sea in August, 1849. On his way to the -diggings he passed through Stockton: - - Our first visit to Stockton was made in company, on some of Major - Graham’s choicest horses. A mettled roan _canalo_ fell to my share, - and the gallop of five miles without check was most inspiring. A view - of Stockton was something to be remembered. There, in the heart of - California, where the last winter stood a solitary ranch in the midst - of tule marshes, I found a canvas town of a thousand inhabitants, and - a port with twenty-five vessels at anchor! The mingled noises of labor - around—the click of hammers and the grating of saws—the shouts of - mule-drivers—the jingling of spurs—the jar and jostle of wares in the - tents—almost cheated me into the belief that it was some old - commercial mart, familiar with such sounds for years past. Four - months, only, had sufficed to make the place what it was; and in that - time a wholesale firm established there (one out of a dozen) had done - business to the amount of $100,000. The same party had just purchased - a lot of eighty by one hundred feet, on the principal street, for - $6,000, and the cost of erecting a common one-story clapboard house on - it was $15,000. - -He continued by mule from Stockton to the diggings on the Mokelumne -River, some forty miles away. He was lodged in an open-air hotel which -consisted of two log tables, one for eating, the other for gambling. The -morning after arriving he inspected the mining operations: - - I slept soundly that night on the dining-table, and went down early to - the river, where I found the party of ten bailing out the water which - had leaked into the riverbed during the night. They were standing in - the sun, and had two hours’ hard work before they could begin to wash. - Again the prospect looked uninviting, but when I went there again - towards noon, one of them was scraping up the sand from the bed with - his knife, and throwing it into a basin, the bottom of which glittered - with gold. Every knifeful brought out a quantity of grains and scales, - some of which were as large as the fingernail. At last a two-ounce - lump fell plump into the pan, and the diggers, now in the best - possible humor, went on with their work with great alacrity. Their - forenoon’s digging amounted to nearly six pounds [_an ounce of gold in - California was then worth exactly $16.00_]. It is only by such - operations as these, through associated labor, that great profits are - to be made in those districts which have been visited by the first - eager horde of gold-hunters. The deposits most easily reached are soon - exhausted by the crowd, and the labor required to carry on further - work successfully deters single individuals from attempting it. Those - who, retaining their health, return home disappointed say they have - been humbugged about the gold, when in fact they have humbugged - themselves about the work. If anyone expects to dig treasures out of - the earth, in California, without severe labor, he is woefully - mistaken. Of all classes of men, those who pave streets and quarry - limestone are best adapted for gold-diggers. - -One of the principal mining operators at the Mokelumne River site, Dr. -Gillette, told Taylor how he and a companion struck it rich in a -particular gulch nearby: - - One day at noon, while resting in the shade of a tree, Dr. G. took a - pick and began carelessly turning up the ground. Almost on the - surface, he struck and threw out a lump of gold of about two pounds’ - weight. Inspired by this unexpected result, they both went to work, - laboring all that day and the next, and even using part of the night - to quarry out the heavy pieces of rock. At the end of the second day - they went to the village on the Upper Bar and weighed their profits, - which amounted to fourteen pounds! They started again the third - morning under pretense of hunting, but were suspected and followed by - the other diggers, who came upon them just as they commenced work. The - news rapidly spread, and there was soon a large number of men on the - spot, some of whom obtained several pounds per day, at the start. The - gulch had been well dug up for the large lumps, but there was still - great wealth in the earth and sand, and several operators only waited - for the wet season to work it in a systematic manner. - - The next day Colonel Lyons, Dr. Gillette, and myself set out on a - visit to the scene of these rich discoveries. Climbing up the rocky - bottom of the gulch, as by a staircase, for four miles, we found - nearly every part of it dug up and turned over by the picks of the - miners. Deep holes, sunk between the solid strata or into the - precipitous sides of the mountains, showed where veins of the metal - had been struck and followed as long as they yielded lumps large - enough to pay for the labor. The loose earth, which they had - excavated, was full of fine gold, and only needed washing out. A - number of Sonorians were engaged in dry-washing this refuse sand—work - which requires no little skill, and would soon kill any other men than - these lank and skinny Arabs of the West. Their mode of work is as - follows: Gathering the loose dry sand in bowls, they raise it to their - heads and slowly pour it upon a blanket spread at their feet. - Repeating this several times, and throwing out the worthless pieces of - rock, they reduce the dust to about half its bulk; then, balancing the - bowl on one hand, by a quick, dexterous motion of the other they cause - it to revolve, at the same time throwing its contents into the air and - catching them as they fall. In this manner everything is finally - winnowed away except the heavier grains of sand mixed with gold, which - is carefully separated by the breath. It is a laborious occupation, - and one which, fortunately, the American diggers have not attempted. - This breathing the fine dust from day to day, under a more than torrid - sun, would soon impair the strongest lungs. - - We found many persons at work in the higher part of the gulch, - searching for veins and pockets of gold, in the holes which had - already produced their first harvest. Some of these gleaners, - following the lodes abandoned by others as exhausted, into the sides - of the mountain, were well repaid for their perseverance. Others, - again, had been working for days without finding anything. Those who - understood the business obtained from one to four ounces daily. Their - only tools were the crowbar, pick, and knife, and many of them, - following the veins under strata of rock which lay deep below the - surface, were obliged to work while lying flat on their backs, in - cramped and narrow holes. - - -Mark Twain Doesn’t Strike It Rich - -As Bayard Taylor suggests in the preceding narrative, not all fortune -seekers in the mining camps succeeded in finding gold or silver. Many -were unlucky or unwilling to work hard and returned home disillusioned. -Most of them stayed in California, however, and became farmers or city -workers. Thus the West Coast was settled before many states farther -east. Sam Clemens, who tried his hand at prospecting, was not a very -serious miner and found his gold when he turned his western experiences -into literary material, such as _Roughing It_, from which the next -selection comes. Here he tells how he almost got rich. - - I confess, without shame, that I expected to find masses of silver - lying all about the ground. I expected to see it glittering in the sun - on the mountain summits. I said nothing about this, for some instinct - told me that I might possibly have an exaggerated idea about it, and - so if I betrayed my thought I might bring derision upon myself. Yet I - was as perfectly satisfied in my own mind as I could be of anything, - that I was going to gather up, in a day or two, or at furthest a week - or two, silver enough to make me satisfactorily wealthy—and so my - fancy was already busy with plans for spending this money. The first - opportunity that offered, I sauntered carelessly away from the cabin, - keeping an eye on the other boys, and stopping and contemplating the - sky when they seemed to be observing me; but as soon as the coast was - manifestly clear, I fled away as guiltily as a thief might have done - and never halted till I was far beyond sight and call. - - Then I began my search with a feverish excitement that was brimful of - expectation—almost of certainty. I crawled about the ground, seizing - and examining bits of stone, blowing the dust from them or rubbing - them on my clothes, and then peering at them with anxious hope. - Presently I found a bright fragment and my heart bounded! I hid behind - a boulder and polished it and scrutinized it with a nervous eagerness - and a delight that was more pronounced than absolute certainty itself - could have afforded. The more I examined the fragment the more I was - convinced that I had found the door to fortune. I marked the spot and - carried away my specimen. Up and down the rugged mountain side I - searched, with always increasing interest and always augmenting - gratitude that I had come to Humboldt and come in time. Of all the - experiences of my life, this secret search among the hidden treasures - of silver-land was the nearest to unmarred ecstasy. It was a delirious - revel. - - By and by, in the bed of a shallow rivulet, I found a deposit of - shining yellow scales, and my breath almost forsook me! A gold mine, - and in my simplicity I had been content with vulgar silver! I was so - excited that I half believed my overwrought imagination was deceiving - me. Then a fear came upon me that people might be observing me and - would guess my secret. Moved by this thought, I made a circuit of the - place, and ascended a knoll to reconnoiter. Solitude. No creature was - near. Then I returned to my mine, fortifying myself against possible - disappointment, but my fears were groundless—the shining scales were - still there. I set about scooping them out, and for an hour I toiled - down the windings of the stream and robbed its bed. But at last the - descending sun warned me to give up the quest, and I turned homeward - laden with wealth. As I walked along I could not help smiling at the - thought of my being so excited over my fragment of silver when a - nobler metal was almost under my nose. In this little time the former - had so fallen in my estimation that once or twice I was on the point - of throwing it away. - - The boys were as hungry as usual, but I could eat nothing. Neither - could I talk. I was full of dreams and far away. Their conversation - interrupted the flow of my fancy somewhat, and annoyed me a little, - too. I despised the sordid and commonplace things they talked about. - But as they proceeded, it began to amuse me. It grew to be rare fun to - hear them planning their poor little economies and sighing over - possible privations and distresses when a gold mine, all our own, lay - within sight of the cabin and I could point it out at any moment. - Smothered hilarity began to oppress me, presently. It was hard to - resist the impulse to burst out with exultation and reveal everything; - but I did resist. I said within myself that I would filter the great - news through my lips calmly and be serene as a summer morning while I - watched its effect in their faces. I said: - - “Where have you all been?” - - “Prospecting.” - - “What did you find?” - - “Nothing.” - - “Nothing? What do you think of the country?” - - “Can’t tell, yet,” said Mr. Ballou, who was an old gold miner, and had - likewise had considerable experience among the silver mines. - - “Well, haven’t you formed any sort of opinion?” - - “Yes, a sort of a one. It’s fair enough here, maybe, but over-rated. - Seven-thousand-dollar ledges are scarce, though. That Sheba may be - rich enough, but we don’t own it; and besides, the rock is so full of - base metals that all the science in the world can’t work it. We’ll not - starve, here, but we’ll not get rich, I’m afraid.” - - “So you think the prospect is pretty poor?” - - “No name for it!” - - “Well, we’d better go back, hadn’t we?” - - “Oh, not yet—of course not. We’ll try it a riffle, first.” - - “Suppose, now—this is merely a supposition, you know—suppose you could - find a ledge that would yield, say, a hundred and fifty dollars a - ton—would that satisfy you?” - - “Try us once!” from the whole party. - - “Or suppose—merely a supposition, of course—suppose you were to find a - ledge that would yield two thousand dollars a ton—would _that_ satisfy - you?” - - “Here—what do you mean? What are you coming at? Is there some mystery - behind all this?” - - “Never mind. I am not saying anything. You know perfectly well there - are no rich mines here—of course you do. Because you have been around - and examined for yourselves. Anybody would know that, that had been - around. But just for the sake of argument, suppose—in a kind of - general way—suppose some person were to tell you that - two-thousand-dollar ledges were simply contemptible—contemptible, - understand—and that right yonder in sight of this very cabin there - were piles of pure gold and pure silver—oceans of it—enough to make - you all rich in twenty-four hours! Come!” - - “I should say he was as crazy as a loon!” said old Ballou, but wild - with excitement, nevertheless. - - “Gentlemen,” said I, “I don’t say anything—_I_ haven’t been around, - you know, and of course don’t know anything—but all I ask of you is to - cast your eye on _that_, for instance, and tell me what you think of - it!” and I tossed my treasure before them. - - There was an eager scramble for it, and a closing of heads together - over it under the candle-light. Then old Ballou said: - - “Think of it? I think it is nothing but a lot of granite rubbish and - nasty glittering mica that isn’t worth ten cents an acre!” - - So vanished my dream. So melted my wealth away. So toppled my airy - castle to the earth and left me stricken and forlorn. - - Moralizing, I observed, then, that “all that glitters is not gold.” - - Mr. Ballou said that I could go further than that, and lay it up among - my treasures of knowledge, that _nothing_ that glitters is gold. So I - learned then, once for all, that gold in its native state is but dull, - unornamental stuff, and that only lowborn metals excite the admiration - of the ignorant with an ostentatious glitter. However, like the rest - of the world, I still go on underrating men of gold and glorifying men - of mica. Commonplace human nature cannot rise above that. - - - - - The Ranching Frontier - - - [Illustration: Texas cattle being driven to the cattle rendezvous] - - - - - The Long Drive - - -Before the Texans won independence from Mexico, stocks of Spanish cattle -owned by Mexicans ranged the plains of southern Texas. Then the Mexicans -were driven out, and their cattle ran wild. By the time of the Civil -War, herds of wild longhorns roamed the Texas ranges. As the population -of the United States grew and the railroads pushed into the -trans-Mississippi region, the cattle industry became big business. Texas -ranchers began rounding up the wild cattle and driving them to market -over various trails, the best known of which probably is the Chisholm -Trail. Ranching soon spread to other western states clear to the -Canadian border. The decades following the Civil War were the golden age -of the cowboy. - - -Andy Adams Encounters Rustlers - -Andy Adams, who was born in Georgia of Scotch-Irish parents, moved to -Texas after the Civil War. He grew up in the cattle country and -naturally drifted into cow-punching as a career. When he was in his -early twenties, he joined a long cattle drive from Texas to Montana -under the leadership of a foreman named Jim Flood. The expedition, which -he describes vividly in _The Log of a Cowboy_, began along the Rio -Grande River in Texas in April, 1882. Six men rode on either side of a -long cow column that stretched out over three quarters of a mile of -crooked trail. The main problem until the herd reached the Colorado -River in central Texas was to find watering places, but as the animals -approached the river, the cowboys learned that rustlers were active in -that area. Their chief worry was that the rustlers would sneak into -their midst at night, stampede the cattle, and then drive off part of -the herd under cover of darkness. - - We camped that night some five or six miles back from the river on the - last divide. From the time the second guard went on until the third - was relieved, we took the precaution of keeping a scout outriding from - a half to three quarters of a mile distant from the herd, Flood and - Honeyman serving in that capacity. Every precaution was taken to - prevent a surprise; and in case anything did happen, our night horses - tied to the wagon wheels stood ready and saddled and bridled for any - emergency. But the night passed without incident. - - An hour or two after the herd had started the next morning, four - well-mounted, strange men rode up from the westward, and representing - themselves as trail cutters, asked for our foreman. Flood met them, in - his usual quiet manner, and after admitting that we had been troubled - more or less with range cattle, assured our callers that if there was - anything in the herd in the brands they represented, he would gladly - hold it up and give them every opportunity to cut their cattle out. As - he was anxious to cross the river before noon, he invited the visitors - to stay for dinner, assuring them that before starting the herd in the - afternoon, he would throw the cattle together for their inspection. - Flood made himself very agreeable, inquiring into cattle and range - matters in general as well as the stage of water in the river ahead. - The spokesman of the trail cutters met Flood’s invitation to dinner - with excuses about the pressing demands on his time, and urged, if it - did not seriously interfere with our plans, that he be allowed to - inspect the herd before crossing the river. His reasons seemed trivial - and our foreman was not convinced. - - “You see, gentlemen,” he said, “in handling these southern cattle, we - must take advantage of occasions. We have timed our morning’s drive so - as to reach the river during the warmest hour of the day, or as near - noon as possible. You can hardly imagine what a difference there is, - in fording this herd, between a cool, cloudy day and a clear, hot one. - You see the herd is strung out nearly a mile in length now, and to - hold them up and waste an hour or more for your inspection would - seriously disturb our plans. And then our wagon and _remuda_ [_spare - horses_] have gone on with orders to noon at the first good camp - beyond the river. I perfectly understand your reasons, and you equally - understand mine; but I will send a man or two back to help you recross - any cattle you may find in our herd. Now, if a couple of you gentlemen - will ride around on the far side with me, and the others will ride up - near the lead, we will trail the cattle across when we reach the river - without cutting the herd into blocks.” - - Flood’s affability, coupled with the fact that the lead cattle were - nearly up to the river, won his point. Our visitors could only yield, - and rode forward with our lead swing men to assist in forcing the lead - cattle into the river. It was swift water, but otherwise an easy - crossing, and we allowed the herd, after coming out on the farther - side, to spread out and graze forward at its pleasure. The wagon and - saddle stock were in sight about a mile ahead, and leaving two men on - herd to drift the cattle in the right direction, the rest of us rode - leisurely on to the wagon, where dinner was waiting. Flood treated our - callers with marked courtesy during dinner, and casually inquired if - any of their number had seen any cattle that day or the day previous - in the Ellison road brand. They had not, they said, explaining that - their range lay on both sides of the Concho, and that during the trail - season they kept all their cattle between that river and the main - Colorado. Their work had kept them on their own range recently, except - when trail herds were passing and needed to be looked through for - strays. It sounded as though our trail cutters could also use - diplomacy on occasion. - - When dinner was over and we had caught horses for the afternoon and - were ready to mount, Flood asked our guests for their credentials as - duly authorized trail cutters. They replied that they had none, but - offered in explanation the statement that they were merely cutting in - the interest of the immediate locality, which required no written - authority. - - Then the previous affability of our foreman turned into iron. “Well, - men,” said he, “if you have no authority to cut this trail, then you - don’t cut this herd. I must have inspection papers before I can move a - brand out of the county in which it is bred, and I’ll certainly let no - other man, local or duly appointed, cut an animal out of this herd - without written and certified authority. You know that without being - told, or ought to. I respect the rights of every man posted on a trail - to cut it. If you want to see my inspection papers, you have a right - to demand them, and in turn I demand of you your credentials, showing - who you work for and the list of brands you represent; otherwise no - harm’s done; nor do you cut any herd that I’m driving.” - - “Well,” said one of the men, “I saw a couple of head in my own - individual brand as we rode up the herd. I’d like to see the man who - says that I haven’t the right to claim my own brand, anywhere I find - it.” - - “If there’s anything in our herd in your individual brand,” said - Flood, “all you have to do is to give me the brand, and I’ll cut it - for you. What’s your brand?” - - “The ‘Window Sash.’” - - “Have any of you boys seen such a brand in our herd?” inquired Flood, - turning to us as we all stood by our horses ready to start. - -The strangers, who actually were rustlers, had hoped to bluff Flood out -of some cattle. All herds traveling across unfenced range managed to -pick up strays from time to time. When Flood would not let the men get -away with their trick, they fell back on claiming cows with the “Window -Sash” brand. Three such animals had found their way into the big herd as -it moved north. After the rustlers angrily drove off their trio of -scrawny cows, Flood met some Texas Rangers under the command of Corporal -Homes. They laid a trap for the rustlers, who had threatened to return. - - Hames at once assumed charge of the herd, Flood gladly rendering every - assistance possible. We night herded as usual, but during the two - middle guards, Hames sent out four of his Rangers to scout the - immediate outlying country, though, as we expected, they met with no - adventure. At daybreak the Rangers threw their packs into our wagon - and their loose stock into our _remuda_, and riding up the trail a - mile or more, left us, keeping well out of sight. We were all hopeful - now that the trail cutters of the day before would make good their - word and return. In this hope we killed time for several hours that - morning, grazing the cattle and holding the wagon in the rear. Sending - the wagon ahead of the herd had been agreed on as the signal between - our foreman and the Ranger corporal, at first sight of any posse - behind us. We were beginning to despair of their coming, when a dust - cloud appeared several miles back down the trail. We at once hurried - the wagon and _remuda_ ahead to warn the Rangers, and allowed the - cattle to string out nearly a mile in length. - - A fortunate rise in the trail gave us a glimpse of the cavalcade in - our rear, which was entirely too large to be any portion of Straw’s - [_foreman of a herd that the rustlers had stampeded earlier_] outfit; - and shortly we were overtaken by our trail cutters of the day before, - now increased to twenty-two mounted men. Flood was intentionally in - the lead of the herd, and the entire outfit galloped forward to stop - the cattle. When they had nearly reached the lead, Flood turned back - and met the rustlers. - - “Well, I’m as good as my word,” said the leader, “and I’m here to trim - your herd as I promised you I would. Throw off and hold up your - cattle, or I’ll do it for you.” - - Several of our outfit rode up at this juncture in time to hear Flood’s - reply: “If you think you’re equal to the occasion, hold them up - yourself. If I had as big an outfit as you have, I wouldn’t ask any - man to help me. I want to watch a Colorado River outfit work a herd—I - might learn something. My outfit will take a rest, or perhaps hold the - cut or otherwise clerk for you. But be careful and don’t claim - anything that you are not certain is your own, for I reserve the right - to look over your cut before you drive it away.” - - The rustlers rode in a body to the lead, and when they had thrown the - herd off the trail, about half of them rode back and drifted towards - the rear cattle. Flood called our outfit to one side and gave us our - instructions, the herd being entirely turned over to the rustlers. - After they began cutting, we rode around and pretended to assist in - holding the cut as the strays in our herd were being cut out.... Not a - man of us even cast a glance up the trail, or in the direction of the - Rangers; but when the work was over, Flood protested with the leader - of the rustlers over some five or six head of dim-branded cattle which - actually belonged to our herd. But he was exultant and would listen to - no protests, and attempted to drive away the cut, now numbering nearly - fifty head. Then we rode across their front and stopped them. In the - parley which ensued, harsh words were passing, when one of our outfit - blurted out in well-feigned surprise—— - - “Hello, who’s that, coming over there?” - - A squad of men were riding leisurely through our abandoned herd, - coming over to where the two outfits were disputing. - - “What’s the trouble here, gents?” inquired Hames as he rode up. - - “Who are you and what might be your business, may I ask?” inquired the - leader of the rustlers. - - “Personally I’m nobody, but officially I’m Corporal in Company B, - Texas Rangers—well, if there isn’t smiling Ed Winters, the biggest - cattle thief ever born in Medina County. Why, I’ve got papers for you; - for altering the brands on over fifty head of ‘C’ cattle into a ‘G’ - brand. Come here, dear, and give me that gun of yours. Come on, and no - false moves or funny work or I’ll shoot the white out of your eye. - Surround this layout, lads, and let’s examine them more closely.” - - At this command, every man in our outfit whipped out his six-shooter, - the Rangers leveled their carbines on the rustlers, and in less than a - minute’s time they were disarmed and as crestfallen a group of men as - ever walked into a trap of their own setting. Hames got out a “black - book,” and after looking the crowd over concluded to hold the entire - covey, as the descriptions of the “wanted” seemed to include most of - them. Some of the rustlers attempted to explain their presence, but - Hames decided to hold the entire party, “just to learn them to be more - careful of their company the next time,” as he put it. - - - - - The Farming Frontier - - - [Illustration: Plowing on the prairies west of the Mississippi] - - - - - Homesteading in the Dakotas - - -The last frontier to fall before the westward march of civilization was -that of the farmer. Farmers were beginning to plow the virgin prairie -soil even before the Civil War, but after the conflict the line of -farming communities in Nebraska, Kansas, and the Dakotas began to move -relentlessly westward. The railroads were given large tracts of public -land which they sold to settlers. Many Civil War veterans took up free -land after their discharge, as provided for in the Homestead Act of -1862. The following selections illustrate the farming frontier on the -plains. - - -O. E. Rölvaag Pictures the Norwegian Settlers - -O. E. Rölvaag, the author of the following selection, grew up in a -Norwegian fishing village, but at the age of twenty he emigrated to -America and worked for his uncle on a Dakota farm. Later he worked his -way through St. Olaf College and eventually became a professor of -Norwegian literature at his alma mater. His excellent novel, _Giants in -the Earth_, from which the following pages are taken, describes the life -of Norwegian farmers in the Dakota Territory. As the novel opens, -several Norwegian families are taking up homesteads. Before they make -their first crops and can afford real houses, they have to live in sod -houses, which are really cellars dug in the prairie and roofed over with -sod. - - On the side of a hill, which sloped gently away toward the southeast - and followed with many windings a creek that wormed its way across the - prairie, stood Hans Olsa, laying turf. He was building a sod house. - The walls had now risen breast-high; in its half-finished condition, - the structure resembled more a bulwark against some enemy than - anything intended to be a human habitation. And the great heaps of cut - sod, piled up in each corner, might well have been the stores of - ammunition for defense of the stronghold. - - For a man of his strength and massive build, his motions were - unusually quick and agile; but he worked by fits and starts today. At - times he stopped altogether; in these pauses he would straighten - himself up and draw his sleeve with a quick stroke across his troubled - face; with each stroke the sleeve would come away damper; and standing - so, he would fix his gaze intently on the prairie to the eastward. His - eyes had wandered so often now over the stretch of land lying before - them, that they were familiar with every tussock and hollow.... [_The - spaced periods in this selection do not indicate omitted material but - are the author’s own punctuation._] No—nothing in sight yet!... He - would resume his task, as if to make up for lost time, and work hard - for a spell; only to forget himself once more, pause involuntarily, - and stand inert and abstracted, gazing off into the distance. - - Beyond the house a tent had been pitched; a wagon was drawn up close - beside it. On the ground outside of the tent stood a stove, a couple - of chairs, and a few other rough articles of furniture. A stout, - healthy-looking woman, whose face radiated an air of simple wisdom and - kindliness, was busy preparing the midday meal. She sang to herself as - she worked. A ten-year-old girl, addressed by the woman as Sofie, was - helping her. Now and then the girl would take up the tune and join in - the singing. - - Less than a quarter of a mile away, in a southeasterly direction, a - finished sod house rose on the slope of the hill. Smoke was winding up - from it at this moment. This house, which had been built the previous - fall, belonged to Syvert Tönseten. - - Some distance north from the place where Hans Olsa had located, two - other sod houses were under construction; but a hillock lay between, - so that he could not see them from where he stood. There the two Solum - boys had driven down their stakes and had begun building. Tönseten’s - completed house, and the other three half-finished ones, marked the - beginning of the settlement on Spring Creek. - - The woman who had been bustling about preparing the meal, now called - to her husband that dinner was ready—he must come at once! He answered - her, straightened up for the hundredth time, wiped his hands on his - trousers, and stood for a moment gazing off eastward.... No use to - look—not a soul in sight yet!... He sighed heavily, and walked with - slow steps toward the tent, his eyes on the ground. - - It was light and airy inside the tent, but stifling hot, because of - the unobstructed sunlight beating down upon it. Two beds were ranged - along the wall, both of them homemade; a big emigrant chest stood at - the head of each. Nails had been driven into the centre pole of the - tent, on which hung clothing; higher up a crosspiece, securely - fastened, was likewise hung with clothes. Two of the walls were lined - with furniture; on these pieces the dishes were displayed, all neatly - arranged. - - A large basin of water stood on a chair just inside the tent door. - Hans Olsa washed his face and hands; then he came out and sat down on - the ground, where his wife had spread the table. It was so much cooler - outside. The meal was all ready; both mother and daughter had been - waiting for him. - - “I suppose you haven’t seen any signs of them yet?” his wife asked at - last. - - “No—nothing at all!” - - “Can you imagine what has become of them?” - - “The Lord forgive us—if I only knew!” - -They are waiting for Per Hansa and his family, whose wagon broke down, -to reach the homestead site. The Hansas arrive soon, and the next -selection describes them the day after, as the father goes to town to -register his claim and the mother wonders fearfully what the future -holds for them on the empty, lonely prairie. - - Early the next morning Per Hansa and one of the Solum boys set out on - the fifty-two mile journey to Sioux Falls, where Per Hansa filed an - application for the quarter-section of land which lay to the north of - Hans Olsa’s. To confirm the application, he received a temporary deed - to the land. The deed was made out in the name of _Peder Benjamin - Hansen_; it contained a description of the land, the conditions which - he agreed to fulfil in order to become the owner, and the date, _June - 6, 1873_. - - Sörine [_Hans Olsa’s wife_] wanted Beret and the children to stay with - her during the two days that her husband would be away; but she - refused the offer with thanks. If they were to get ready a home for - the summer, she said, she would have to take hold of matters right - away. - - ... “For the summer?” exclaimed the other woman, showing her - astonishment. “What about the winter, then?” - - Beret saw that she had uttered a thought which she ought to have kept - to herself; she evaded the question as best she could. - - During the first day, both she and the boys found so much to do that - they hardly took time to eat. They unloaded both wagons, set up the - stove, and carried out the table. Then Beret arranged their bedroom in - the larger wagon. With all the things taken out it was quite roomy in - there; it made a tidy bedroom when everything had been put in order. - The boys thought this work great fun, and she herself found some - relief in it for her troubled mind. But something vague and intangible - hovering in the air would not allow her to be wholly at ease; she had - to stop often and look about, or stand erect and listen.... Was that a - sound she heard? ... All the while, the thought that had struck her - yesterday when she had first got down from the wagon, stood vividly - before her mind: here there was nothing even to hide behind!... When - the room was finished, and a blanket had been hung up to serve as a - door, she seemed a little less conscious of this feeling. But back in - the recesses of her mind it still was there.... - - After they had milked the cow, eaten their evening porridge, and - talked awhile to the oxen, she took the boys and And-Ongen and - strolled away from camp. With a common impulse, they went toward the - hill; when they had reached the summit, Beret sat down and let her - gaze wander aimlessly around.... In a certain sense, she had to admit - to herself, it was lovely up here. The broad expanse stretching away - endlessly in every direction, seemed almost like the ocean—especially - now, when darkness was falling. It reminded her strongly of the sea, - and yet it was very different. - - ... This formless prairie had no heart that beat, no waves that sang, - no soul that could be touched ... or cared.... - - The infinitude surrounding her on every hand might not have been so - oppressive, might even have brought her a measure of peace, if it had - not been for the deep silence, which lay heavier here than in a - church. Indeed, what was there to break it? She had passed beyond the - outposts of civilization; the nearest dwelling places of men were far - away. Here no warbling of birds rose on the air, no buzzing of insects - sounded; even the wind had died away; the waving blades of grass that - trembled to the faintest breath now stood erect and quiet, as if - listening, in the great hush of the evening.... All along the way, - coming out, she had noticed this strange thing: the stillness had - grown deeper, the silence more depressing, the farther west they - journeyed; it must have been over two weeks now since she had heard a - bird sing! Had they travelled into some nameless, abandoned region? - Could no living thing exist out here, in the empty, desolate, endless - wastes of green and blue?... How _could_ existence go on, she thought, - desperately? If life is to thrive and endure, it must at least have - something to hide behind!... - - The children were playing boisterously a little way off. What a - terrible noise they made! But she had better let them keep on with - their play, as long as they were happy.... She sat perfectly quiet, - thinking of the long, oh, so interminably long march that they would - have to make, back to the place where human beings dwelt. It would be - small hardship for her, of course, sitting in the wagon; but she - pitied Per Hansa and the boys—and then the poor oxen!... He certainly - would soon find out for himself that a home for men and women and - children could never be established in this wilderness.... And how - could she bring new life into the world out here!... - - Slowly her thoughts began to centre on her husband; they grew warm and - tender as they dwelt on him. She trembled as they came.... - - But only for a brief while. As her eyes darted nervously here and - there, flitting from object to object and trying to pierce the purple - dimness that was steadily closing in, a sense of desolation so - profound settled upon her that she seemed unable to think at all. It - would not do to gaze any longer at the terror out there, where - everything was turning to grim and awful darkness.... She threw - herself back in the grass and looked up into the heavens. But darkness - and infinitude lay there, also—the sense of utter desolation still - remained.... Suddenly, for the first time, she realized the full - extent of her loneliness, the dreadful nature of the fate that had - overtaken her. Lying there on her back, and staring up into the quiet - sky across which the shadows of night were imperceptibly creeping, she - went over in her mind every step of their wanderings, every mile of - the distance they had travelled since they had left home. - - - - - The Land Rush in Oklahoma - - -The history of Oklahoma contains two of the most fascinating episodes in -the Westward Movement. These were the land rushes of 1889 and 1893, when -the government threw open several million acres of land to settlers on a -first-come, first-served basis. The opening of these tracts came at a -time when choice land throughout the plains states already had been -taken up, and because the openings were well publicized throughout the -country, the competition for farms and town lots was tremendous. In the -following report Hamilton Wicks describes the boom psychology and his -own part in the race for free land in 1889. Guthrie, Oklahoma, where -Wicks claimed a town lot, was on the route of the Henry Ellsworth and -Washington Irving expedition in 1832. - - -Hamilton Wicks Races to Guthrie - - And now the hour of twelve was at hand, and every one on the _qui - vive_ for the bugle blast that would dissolve the chain of enchantment - hitherto girding about this coveted land. Many of the “boomers” were - mounted on high-spirited and fleet-footed horses, and had ranged - themselves along the territorial line, scarcely restrained even by the - presence of the troops of cavalry from taking summary possession. The - better class of wagons and carriages ranged themselves in line with - the horsemen, and even here and there mule teams attached to - canvas-covered vehicles stood in the front ranks, with the reins and - whip grasped by the “boomers’” wives. All was excitement and - expectation. Every nerve was on tension and every muscle strained. - - Suddenly the air was pierced with the blast of a bugle. Hundreds of - throats echoed the sound with shouts of exultation. The quivering - limbs of saddled steeds, no longer restrained by the hands that held - their bridles, bounded forward, simultaneously into the “beautiful - land” of Oklahoma; and wagons and carriages and buggies and prairie - schooners and a whole congregation of curious equipages joined in this - unparalleled race, where every starter was bound to win a prize—the - “Realization Stakes” of home and prosperity. - - We, the spectators, witnessed the spectacle with most intense - interest. Away dashed the thoroughbreds, the bronchos, the pintos, and - the mustangs at a breakneck pace, across the uneven surface of the - prairie. It was amazing to witness the recklessness of those cowboy - riders. They jumped obstacles. They leaped ditches. They cantered with - no diminution of speed through waterpools; and when they came to a - ravine too wide to leap, down they would go with a rush, and up the - other side with a spurt of energy, to scurry once more like mad over - the level plain. - - The occupants of our train now became absorbed in their own fate.... - It was rather hard pulling for our engine until we reached the apex of - the Cimarron Valley, spread out in picturesque beauty at our very - feet. Our train now rushed along the downgrade with the speed of a - limited express crossing the fine bridge that spans the Cimarron with - a roar, and swinging around the hills that intervened between the - river and the Guthrie town site with the rapidity of a swallow’s - flight. All that there was of Guthrie, the now famous “magic city,” on - April 22, at 1:30 P.M., when the first train from the north drew up at - the station and unloaded its first instalment of settlers, was a - water-tank, a small station-house, a shanty for the Wells Fargo - Express, and a Government Land Office. - - I remember throwing my blankets out of the car window the instant the - train stopped at the station. I remember tumbling after them through - the self-same window. Then I joined the wild scramble for a town lot - up the sloping hillside at a pace discounting any “go-as-you-please” - race. There were several thousand people converging on the same plot - of ground, each eager for a town lot which was to be acquired without - cost and without price, each solely dependent on his own efforts, and - animated by a spirit of fair play and good humor. The race was not - over when you reached the particular lot you were content to select - for your possession. The contest still was who should drive their - stakes first, who would erect their tents soonest, and then, who would - quickest build a little wooden shanty. It reminded me of playing - blind-man’s bluff. One did not know how far to go before stopping. It - was hard to tell when it was best to stop; and it was a puzzle whether - to turn to the right hand or the left. - - I found myself, without exactly knowing why, about midway between the - government building and depot. It occurred to me that a street would - probably run past the depot. I accosted a man who looked like a - deputy, with a piece of white card in his hands, and asked if this was - to be a street along here. - - “Yes,” he replied. “We are laying off four corner lots right here for - a lumber yard.” - - “Is this the corner where I stand?” I inquired. - - “Yes,” he responded, approaching me. - - “Then I claim this corner lot!” I said with decision, as I jammed my - location stick in the ground and hammered it securely home with my - heel.... - - An angry altercation [_argument_] ensued, but I stoutly maintained my - position and my rights. I proceeded at once to unstrap a small - folding-cot I brought with me, and by standing it on its end made a - tolerable center-pole for a tent. I then threw a couple of my blankets - over the pole, and staked them securely into the ground on either - side. Thus I had a claim that was unjumpable because of substantial - improvements. - - As night approached I strolled up on the eminence near the land - office, and surveyed the wonderful cyclorama spread out before me on - all sides. Ten thousand people had “squatted” upon a square mile of - virgin prairie that first afternoon, and as the myriad of white tents - suddenly appeared upon the face of the country, it was as though a - vast flock of huge white-winged birds had just settled down upon the - hillsides and in valleys. Here indeed was _a city laid out and - populated in half a day_. Thousands of campfires sparkled upon the - dark bosom of the prairie as far as the eye could reach. - - I will never forget the first night of occupancy of this army. Unlike - the hosts of the Assyrians that descended on the Israelites, their - tents were not silent. On the contrary, there was a fusilade of shots - on all sides from Winchesters, and Colts, and Remingtons, disturbing - the stillness of the night, mingled with halloos, and shoutings, and - the rebel yell, and the imitated warwhoop of the savage. I expected on - the morrow to see the prairie strewn with gory corpses, but not a - single corpse appeared, and I was not slow in making up my mind that - nine-tenths of all the shots were fired in a mere wanton spirit of - bravado to intimidate a few such nervous tenderfeet as myself. - - I was witness of all this magical municipal development, and could - scarcely realize the miracle that was unfolding before me. The - wealth-creating force that was displayed in the building up of Guthrie - can not be better illustrated than in the fact that lots which had no - value prior to April 22 sold in the center of the business district as - high as five hundred dollars within a week thereafter, and a number - changed hands before the expiration of the first month for one - thousand, five hundred dollars each. - - [Illustration: Texas cattle being driven to the cattle rendezvous] - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - ---Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook - is public-domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected a few palpable typos, leaving period spellings - unchanged. - ---In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by - _underscores_. - ---Added subheadings in the text to match entries in the Table of - Contents. - ---Added captions to illustrations based on the attributions in front - matter. - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Westward Movement 1832-1889, by -Richard B. 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