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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44600 ***
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
+  signs=.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Map to illustrate the Story of Martha of California]
+
+
+
+
+     MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+     A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL
+
+     BY
+     JAMES OTIS
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO
+     AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+JAMES OTIS'S PIONEER SERIES
+
+
+  =ANTOINE OF OREGON=: A STORY OF THE OREGON TRAIL.
+
+  =BENJAMIN OF OHIO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF MARIETTA.
+
+  =HANNAH OF KENTUCKY=: A STORY OF THE WILDERNESS ROAD.
+
+  =MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA=: A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL.
+
+  =PHILIP OF TEXAS=: A STORY OF SHEEP RAISING IN TEXAS.
+
+  =SETH OF COLORADO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF DENVER.
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY
+MRS. A. L. KALER.
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+The author of this series of stories for children has endeavored simply
+to show why and how the descendants of the early colonists fought
+their way through the wilderness in search of new homes. The several
+narratives deal with the struggles of those adventurous people who
+forced their way westward, ever westward, whether in hope of gain or
+in answer to "the call of the wild," and who, in so doing, wrote their
+names with their blood across this country of ours from the Ohio to the
+Columbia.
+
+To excite in the hearts of the young people of this land a desire to
+know more regarding the building up of this great nation, and at the
+same time to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to noble
+deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them there is nothing
+of romance, but only a careful, truthful record of the part played
+by children in the great battles with those forces, human as well as
+natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast portion of this broad
+land against the advance of home seekers.
+
+With the knowledge of what has been done by our own people in our own
+land, surely there is no reason why one should resort to fiction in
+order to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime disregard of
+suffering in nearly every form.
+
+                                                             JAMES OTIS.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+  A CHANGE OF HOMES                                     9
+  "JOE BOWERS"                                         10
+  THE REASONS FOR MOVING                               12
+  MOTHER'S ANXIETY                                     14
+  HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL                                15
+  OUR MOVABLE HOME                                     18
+  LEAVING ASHLEY                                       19
+  EBEN JORDAN                                          22
+  ON THE ROAD                                          25
+  EBEN'S PREDICTIONS                                   26
+  WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA                       27
+  THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT                                 28
+  NIGHT IN CAMP                                        31
+  THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE                             32
+  KANSAS INDIANS                                       34
+  LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE                  35
+  A STORMY DAY                                         36
+  A LACK OF FUEL                                       38
+  MAKING CAMP IN A STORM                               40
+  A THUNDERSTORM                                       42
+  ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS                            43
+  THE STOCK STRAY AWAY                                 45
+  AN INDIAN VILLAGE                                    47
+  I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING                       48
+  EBEN'S BOASTS                                        50
+  SUFFERING WITH THIRST                                51
+  IN SEARCH OF WATER                                   53
+  QUENCHING OUR THIRST                                 55
+  MAKING BUTTER                                        57
+  A KANSAS FERRY                                       58
+  THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK                        60
+  BREAD MAKING                                         62
+  PRAIRIE PEAS                                         63
+  EBEN AS A HUNTER                                     65
+  A HERD OF BUFFALOES                                  66
+  EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP                               67
+  A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT                              68
+  CURING THE MEAT                                      69
+  A WASH DAY                                           71
+  UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING                              72
+  ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY                   74
+  INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES                               75
+  PRAIRIE DOGS                                         77
+  COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP                             79
+  CHIMNEY ROCK                                         81
+  AT FORT LARAMIE                                      82
+  COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE                      84
+  TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS                       85
+  ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE                               87
+  INDEPENDENCE ROCK                                    88
+  ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER                              90
+  WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA                     92
+  AT BEAR RIVER                                        93
+  THE COMING OF WINTER                                 94
+  UTAH INDIANS                                         97
+  A DANGEROUS TRAIL                                    98
+  SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW                   100
+  A FOREST FIRE                                       102
+  THE GREAT SALT LAKE                                 104
+  EBEN AS A FISHERMAN                                 105
+  GRASSHOPPER JAM                                     107
+  A DESERTED VILLAGE                                  109
+  THE GREAT SALT DESERT                               111
+  PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY                   112
+  BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING                             114
+  BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT                           115
+  THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT                     117
+  A PLAIN OF SALT                                     117
+  LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK                           119
+  SALT DUST                                           120
+  A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT                             122
+  COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER                             122
+  A SPRING OF SWEET WATER                             123
+  THE OASIS                                           125
+  SEARCHING FOR WATER                                 126
+  THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY                                128
+  SNAKE INDIANS                                       130
+  A SCARCITY OF FOOD                                  132
+  SPRINGS OF HOT WATER                                133
+  IN THE LAND OF PLENTY                               135
+  THE TRUCKEE RIVER                                   136
+  A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY                     138
+  THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ                             139
+  OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA                              141
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+
+
+A CHANGE OF HOMES
+
+
+In case one should ask in the years to come how it happened that I,
+Martha Early, who was born in Ashley, Pike County, in the state of
+Missouri, and lived there until I was twelve years old, journeyed
+across the prairies and deserts to California, the question can be
+answered if I write down what I saw when so many people from our county
+went to make new homes in that state where gold had been found in such
+abundance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+For my part, I used to wonder why people should be willing to leave
+Missouri, enduring the many hardships they knew awaited them on the
+journey of two thousand miles, in order to buy land in a country where
+nearly all the inhabitants were Spaniards and Mexicans.
+
+I suppose the stories told about the wonderful quantity of gold which
+had suddenly been found in California caused our people to think
+particularly of that far-off land. When the excitement of getting rich
+by digging in the earth a few weeks or a few months had in a measure
+died away, there came tales regarding the fertile soil and the beauty
+of the country, until nearly every one in Pike County, as well as in
+the county of the same name just across the Mississippi River in the
+state of Illinois, much the same as had a fever for moving.
+
+Perhaps that is why the people we met while journeying called all
+the emigrants "Pikers." You see there were so many from both the Pike
+counties who went into California in the year 1851, that it appeared to
+strangers as if every person on the trail had come from Pike County.
+
+
+
+
+"JOE BOWERS"
+
+
+Then, too, fully half of all these emigrants were singing or whistling
+that song of "Joe Bowers," which was supposed to have been written by
+a Piker, and to represent a man from Missouri or Illinois.
+
+Surely every one remembers it. The first verse, and if I have heard it
+once I certainly have a thousand times, goes like this:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+The song was intended to show that this Joe Bowers came from our
+county, and, perhaps, because so many of the emigrants were singing
+it, all of us who went into California in the year 1851 were, as I have
+said, called "Pikers."
+
+However the name came about, I was a Piker, and before we arrived in
+this wondrously beautiful country, I wished again and again that I had
+been almost any other than an emigrant, for the way was long, and oh!
+so wearisome.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I must always think of Missouri as being one of the best of all the
+states in the Union, because it was there I was born and there I went
+to school until father caught the California fever, which resulted in
+our setting out on a journey which, for a time, seemed endless.
+
+My father had no idea of going so far simply to dig for gold. He had
+seen many who went across the country in 1849 believing they would come
+back rich as kings, yet who returned home poorer in pocket than when
+they left; therefore he came to understand that only a few of all that
+vast army of miners who hastened into California after the discovery
+at Sutter's Mill, got enough of the precious metal to pay for the food
+they ate.
+
+Father thought he could buy better land in California than was to be
+found in Pike County, for to have heard the stories told by some of the
+people who had come back disappointed from the land of gold, you might
+have believed that one had only to put a few seeds at random in the
+ground in order to gather marvelous crops.
+
+
+
+
+THE REASONS FOR MOVING
+
+
+Nor was my father the only man who put faith in at least some of
+the fanciful tales told concerning the land of California which had
+so lately been given up to the United States by the Spaniards. Our
+neighbors for miles around were in a state of unrest and excitement,
+until it was decided that nearly all would undertake the long journey,
+and I could not prevent myself from wondering if Pike County would
+not feel lonely to have the people abandon it, for it surely seemed as
+if every man, woman, and child was making haste to leave Missouri in
+search of the wondrous farming lands.
+
+Mother looked woefully solemn when, on a certain evening, father came
+home and told us that he had sold the plantation for about half as much
+as it had cost him, and was going to join the next company that set out
+from Pike County.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a long time before mother would have very much to say about
+the journey, but as the days passed and the neighbors who were going
+with us came to our home that they might talk over the preparations
+for moving, she became interested in making plans, although again and
+again, when we two were alone, she told me that this trailing over two
+thousand miles of deserts and mountains was not to her liking.
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER'S ANXIETY
+
+
+It was only natural she should be worried about making such a great
+change, for all father's worldly goods consisted of the Pike County
+plantation and the live stock, and if, after selling the land and
+spending very nearly all his money to provide for the journey, we found
+that California farms were no better than the one we were leaving, it
+would be the saddest kind of mistake.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+"Your father has set his mind on going; the homestead has been sold,
+and we must make the best of it, Martha, hoping that half the stories
+we have heard about California are true," she said to me so many times
+that I came almost to believe it was a foolish venture upon which we
+were about to embark.
+
+Then, when I began to wonder how we were to live during such a long
+journey, and asked mother if it would be possible for us to cook and
+churn and do the family washing while traveling in an ox wagon, she
+would say with a sigh:--
+
+"Don't, Martha, don't ask questions that I can't answer! It seems to me
+almost certain that we shall starve to death before getting anywhere
+near California, even if we are not killed by Indians or wild beasts,
+without having had time to get very hungry or dirty."
+
+Yet we did travel the two thousand miles, walking the greater part of
+the way, and although there were many times when all of us were hungry,
+none actually starved to death; nor were we killed by wild beasts or
+Indians, else I could not be here in this beautiful place writing this
+story.
+
+Father spent days and days getting ready for the moving. After he
+had finished the preparations, I thought the journey would not be so
+terribly hard, because he had arranged everything so snug and cozy for
+mother and me, that it really seemed as if we might take actual comfort
+in case we could make shift to do housework in a wagon.
+
+
+
+
+HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL
+
+
+We owned only four yoke of cattle, but with some of the money received
+from the sale of the plantation, we bought as many more, which gave
+us sixteen oxen. We were to take with us all five of the cows and both
+the horses, on which father said mother and I might ride when we were
+tired of sitting in the wagon; but I knew what kind of animals ours
+were under the saddle, and said to myself that it would be many a long
+day before I would trust myself on the back of either.
+
+It would have done you good to see our movable home after father had
+made it ready, and by that I mean the wagon in which mother and I were
+to ride. It was small compared with the other, in which were to be
+carried enough furniture for a single room, farming tools, grain for
+the cattle, and a host of things; but I did not give much heed to the
+load because I was so deeply interested in what was to be a home for
+mother and me during many a month.
+
+That wagon was enough to attract the attention of any girl, for, fitted
+up as I first saw it, the inside looked really like a playhouse, and
+when I said as much to father, he declared that I was indeed the right
+kind of girl to go into a wild country, if I could find anything like
+sport during the tramp from Pike County to California.
+
+I surely must tell you about that wagon before setting down anything
+concerning the journey. It was what is known as a Conestoga, and one
+may see many of the same kind on the Santa Fe or the Oregon trail.
+Imagine a boxlike cart nearly as long as an ordinary bedroom and so
+wide that I could stretch myself out at full length across the body.
+The top and sides were covered with osnaburg sheeting, which is cloth
+made of flax or tow. Some people really sleep between sheets made of
+that coarse stuff, but it is so rough and irritating to the flesh that
+I had far rather lie on the floor than in a bed where it is used.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Osnaburg sheeting makes excellent wagon covers, however, for the rain
+cannot soak through the cloth, and it is so cheap that one can well
+afford to use it in double thickness, which serves to keep out the wind
+as well as the water.
+
+
+
+
+OUR MOVABLE HOME
+
+
+The front of the wagon and a small window-like place at the end were
+left open, but could be securely closed with curtains that buttoned at
+the sides.
+
+Around the inside of the wagon were hung such things as we might need
+to use often during the journey. There were pots and pans, towels,
+clothing, baskets, and two rifles, for father believed weapons might be
+required when we came upon disagreeable savages, or if game was to be
+found within shooting distance.
+
+Our cookstove was set up at the rear end of the wagon, where it could
+be pushed out on a small shelf fastened to the rear axle, when we
+wanted to use it. A most ingenious contrivance we found that shelf to
+be, for mother and I could remain inside the wagon and do our cooking
+in stormy weather; but those women of the company whose husbands had
+not been so thoughtful were forced to stay out of doors while preparing
+a meal, no matter how hard it might be raining.
+
+Our beds were laid in the bottom of the wagon and covered with the
+bedclothes to save them from being badly soiled, as would be likely if
+we slept upon them at night, and cooked, ate, and did the housework on
+them during the daytime.
+
+We did not try to carry many dishes, because there were so many chances
+they would be broken, but nearly everything of the kind we used was of
+metal, such as tin or iron.
+
+Underneath the cart were hung buckets, the churn, lanterns, and such a
+collection of articles that I could not but fancy people might believe
+we were peddlers carrying so large an assortment of goods that they had
+overrun the wagon body.
+
+What puzzled me before we started on the journey was how we could
+persuade the cows to travel as we would have them; but I soon came to
+understand that it was a simple matter.
+
+
+
+
+LEAVING ASHLEY
+
+
+You must know that father was not the only man in Ashley that intended
+to build up a new home in California. More than half of the people
+were making preparations for the journey, and when we finally set off
+the procession was very imposing, with more than fifty wagons, not one
+of them drawn by less than three yoke of oxen or four pairs of mules;
+there were cows almost without number and a flock of thirty or forty
+sheep.
+
+I said to myself then, that we need have no fear the savages would try
+to make trouble for us, because when they saw so many people, the poor,
+ignorant things would believe everybody on the banks of the Mississippi
+was heading for California, and it would be a very brave Indian who
+dared be other than polite to such a large company.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even though you had never before heard of Pike County, it would have
+been most interesting to see the people of Ashley on the morning we
+set off. As Ellen Morgan, a particular friend of mine who was going to
+California also, said to me just before we drove away, "It is much as
+if all the folks in the world had come to see us leave town."
+
+The streets were actually thronged, as I have heard it said the streets
+of a large city oftentimes are, and what with the shouts of the men,
+the screams of the children, and the lowing of the cattle, it was quite
+as much as I could do to make myself heard when I tried to tell Ellen
+that at the last minute mother had given permission for her to ride in
+our wagon.
+
+Of course the noise in the street could not have been as great as I
+fancied, for Ellen had no trouble in hearing me, as was shown when she
+came running back to our wagon with her Sunday frock and other valuable
+things neatly done up in a corn sack.
+
+Then it seemed to me that no improvement could be made upon our manner
+of traveling, for we two girls were to be together all the while, and
+even when the weather was stormy, it would seem really cozy under our
+double thickness of osnaburg cloth.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It surprised me very much because mother acted as if it saddened her to
+set off on what could not fail to be a delightful journey. I saw tears
+in her eyes when she came out of our old home for the last time, and
+wondered if she was sorry because she was leaving the house where we
+had lived so long, or whether she believed we would never find another
+such delightful town as Ashley.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course I felt just a little tearful when those people who were to
+remain at home gathered around the wagon to say "good-by"; but there
+were so many of our neighbors in the company we would not have a chance
+to be lonely, and I was certain that all the friends we were leaving
+behind would soon join us, having come to realize, as had father, that
+California was the only proper place in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN JORDAN
+
+
+If I could have had everything arranged exactly to please me, I would
+have insisted that Eben Jordan be left in Ashley. He is a boy about six
+months older than I, who always seems to take the greatest delight in
+teasing us girls. I had no doubt but that he would be very disagreeable
+at times, and felt, on that first day, as if there could be no cloud on
+the California skies if Eben had remained in Pike County.
+
+It is no more than fair for me to say, however, that, much as I
+disliked the boy, Eben Jordan was one who ever kept his ears open to
+the conversation of his elders and was more than willing to repeat to
+Ellen and me whatever he learned.
+
+Even before our company had left Ashley, he told us the journey was to
+be begun by first going to Independence, a town on the Missouri River
+where the Santa Fe traders and those who would journey by the Oregon
+trail made ready for the long march.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Up to this time I had had no idea of how we were to get to California,
+save we drove directly across the prairies and over the mountains,
+always in a westerly direction.
+
+But I must have understood that we could not strike off across the
+country in any direction we fancied, because we must follow some trail
+in order to find a plentiful supply of grass for the cattle and mules
+and sheep, as well as water for ourselves.
+
+Eben said that the leaders of the company, among whom was my father,
+had talked not a little regarding the country through which we should
+pass. Thus he learned that we would journey over what is known as the
+Oregon trail as far as Fort Bridger, after which, striking off to the
+southward somewhat, we would go along the shores of the Great Salt
+Lake, past Ogden's Hole, to the land of the Bannock Indians. Then the
+course was to be as nearly westward as the foothills would permit.
+
+"It will be a rare time for us all," Eben said gleefully, after having
+told us girls that we would journey nearly two thousand miles before
+coming to that land for which we sought. "There will be game until
+a fellow can't rest, and after we are once well on the way, we shall
+come upon Indian tribe after Indian tribe, when you girls will be only
+too glad to shelter yourselves under my wing, for there is no knowing
+what the savages may take it into their heads to do, providing the
+opportunity offers."
+
+Ellen was not a little displeased because Eben seemingly believed we
+would be glad of his protection, and I really felt uneasy in mind when
+the lad left us to go to his father's wagon, saying:--
+
+"It isn't well for you girls to be so high and mighty, because before
+this journey has come to an end you may be glad that I am willing to
+lend a hand."
+
+Ellen laughed at the idea that the time would ever come when we
+might accept a favor from Eben Jordan. She seemed so certain nothing
+disagreeable could happen to us while our company was so large, that
+I soon put away all forebodings and gave strict attention to what was
+before us.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE ROAD
+
+
+It had taken our fathers considerable time to get the people and the
+cattle in proper marching order; but once this was done, they gave the
+word for the procession to move forward, and the people at Ashley whom
+we were leaving behind cheered us wildly as we went slowly out from the
+town.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed much like taking part in some wondrous celebration, to be
+riding thus amid those who were cheering and, I dare say, envying us.
+
+Mother was content to sit inside the wagon, where father had placed a
+short-legged chair for her convenience, but Ellen and I remained on the
+front seat where we could see all that was going on, and until we were
+well clear of the town it did seem to me that I was a very important
+person.
+
+It was late in the forenoon before we started, therefore no halt was to
+be made for dinner, but this gave me little uneasiness, for mother had
+an ample supply of cooked provisions on hand.
+
+Our neighbors at Ashley had spoken again and again of the hardships
+which we would encounter before arriving at the shores of the Pacific
+Ocean, and I said to Ellen, when we were two or three miles from the
+town, that I could not understand how any one could believe such a
+journey might be either wearisome or dangerous.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S PREDICTIONS
+
+
+Surely we were as comfortable as two girls could be, with a covering
+over our heads in case it rained, and enough food to satisfy our
+desires.
+
+Therefore what difference did it make, as I said to Ellen, whether we
+were five months or six on the march? Eben Jordan, who had come back
+from his father's wagon along the line of procession as if to see that
+everything was right, overhearing my words, replied with a laugh, which
+sounded to me very disagreeable:--
+
+"You may well say, Martha Early, that this portion of the journey is
+easy. We are now traveling on a beaten road, with nothing to prevent
+our going forward at the best pace of the oxen. Wait until we have
+really started, after having come to Independence, and leave the
+highway to take to the trail. You will find the wagon tumbling and
+pitching over the rocks, or floundering across fords, where watch must
+be kept sharply against the Indians, and every man needs to have his
+eyes open lest he be attacked by wild beasts. Then you shall say to
+me whether it makes no difference to you if this journey requires five
+months or six."
+
+I refused to listen to the lad, who seemed to find the greatest
+pleasure in making other people uncomfortable in mind, and I turned
+toward Ellen, as if speaking to her very earnestly in whispers, thereby
+causing Eben to believe I had not heard what he said, whereupon he went
+off laughing.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA
+
+
+We had heard people talking about the wonderful fortunes to be found
+in California, until it seemed as if we might become rich simply by
+digging in the ground a bit; but, as you shall hear, before our journey
+had come to an end we understood that however much valuable metal there
+might be in the earth, it was not to be gathered like pebbles.
+
+We met on our way hundreds of people who had gone into California with
+great expectations and were coming back poorer than when they set out;
+but on the first day we were ignorant of all this, and quite convinced
+that it was a simple matter to become wealthy by a very little labor.
+
+Before night came there was to me less pleasure than during the
+first hour or two. The wagon jolted over the roads roughly, making
+it necessary to hold firmly to the seat, lest I be thrown off, and it
+became wearisome to sit so long in one position.
+
+Mother, who stretched herself out upon a bed in the bottom of the wagon
+when she was tired of sitting upright, did not weary so soon of this
+kind of traveling; but nevertheless she was quite as well pleased as
+Ellen and I, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, word was given
+that we should halt and make camp.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT
+
+
+We were yet in a fairly thickly settled portion of the country; but
+the leaders of our company determined to make the encampment exactly as
+if we were on the prairie or among the mountains, where there might be
+danger from wild beasts or wilder savages, and you may well fancy that
+Ellen and I were on our feet as soon as the wagon came to a stop, for
+we had heard so much of this camp making that both of us were eager to
+see how it was done.
+
+All the wagons were drawn up in a large circle so that the tongue of
+one came close to the tailboard of another, and just inside this ring
+of vehicles were set up small tents, which many of the company were to
+use at night because their families were so large that every one could
+not be given room in the wagons.
+
+Inside this row of tents were picketed the horses, or, at least, they
+were to be picketed as soon as night should come; but when we first
+halted they were fastened out upon the plain where they might eat the
+grass, while the oxen, cows, and sheep were turned loose with half a
+dozen of the men and boys watching lest they should stray.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Because the people were not accustomed to thus making an encampment,
+no little time was spent in getting everything into what the leaders of
+the company believed to be proper order, and then our mothers set about
+cooking supper.
+
+In our wagon the stove was pushed back upon the shelf made expressly
+for it, short lengths of pipe were run through the osnaburg cloth and
+tied by wire to the topmost part of the rear wagon bow, so they might
+be held straight, and then mother set about her work much as if she had
+been at home.
+
+It was most pleasant camping in the open air, and before we had been
+halted an hour the place was quite homelike.
+
+At nearly every wagon one or more women were making ready for supper;
+a short distance away the men and the boys were herding the cattle, and
+near by, inside or out of the inclosure, were scores and scores of idle
+ones, who, their work being done, were now enjoying a time of rest.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There was much talking and shouting, but above all one could hear that
+song of the true Pikers:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers,
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+
+
+
+NIGHT IN CAMP
+
+
+How Ellen and I enjoyed the supper on this first night of the journey!
+Mother made sour-milk biscuit; the stove worked to perfection, as if
+delighted because it was being carried to California; and what with
+cold meat and steaming hot tea it seemed as if I had never tasted
+anything better than that meal.
+
+Although we had enjoyed ourselves hugely, especially during the first
+part of the day's march, both Ellen and I were tired, and when mother
+said we might make up our bed on the bottom of the wagon, we were not
+only willing, but eager to do so, for after the hearty supper it seemed
+as if sleep had become a necessity.
+
+Once we had crossed over into Dreamland, our eyes were not opened again
+until the sun was near to rising; then the shouts of the men and the
+lowing of the cattle caused us to spring up suddenly, almost fancying
+that the camp had been attacked by savages, even though we were not yet
+out of Pike County.
+
+If I had the time, it would please me to describe the journey from our
+home in Ashley to a town known as Independence, on the Missouri River,
+where the Oregon trail begins; but since, as father said again and
+again, we did not really start until we had struck the Oregon trail,
+it is best that I leave out all that happened while we were coming from
+Pike County to the Missouri River.
+
+
+
+
+THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+We traveled slowly, because the cows were not easily herded, and, as
+Eben Jordan said, none of our people were accustomed to such kind of
+marching.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We did, however, finally arrive at the real starting point after eight
+days, during which time Ellen and I came to understand that, however
+pleasant it was to sit in the wagon and look out upon the country
+through which we passed, it might grow wearisome.
+
+Ellen and I had fancied we would see something very new and wonderful
+at Independence, and yet, while everything was strange and there was
+much to attract one's attention, it was not so very different from
+other settlements through which we had passed.
+
+There was, however, a constant bustle and confusion such as one could
+not see elsewhere. Enormous wagons, which Eben Jordan said belonged
+to the traders who went over the Santa Fe trail, were coming into
+town or going out, each drawn by eight or ten mules and accompanied by
+Spaniards or Negroes, until one could but wonder where so many people
+were going.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There were trains, much like our own, belonging to settlers who were
+going into Oregon, or, like ourselves, into California. Those were
+halted just outside the town, until the entire settlement was literally
+surrounded, while among them all, near the wagons of the traders as
+well as those of the emigrants, lounged Indians, nothing like the
+people I had imagined the savages to be.
+
+
+
+
+KANSAS INDIANS
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As Ellen said, if that was the kind of Indian we should meet with
+during the journey, then we need have little or no fear, for the
+savages we saw at Independence were nothing more nor less than beggars,
+who would greedily pick up and devour anything eatable that was thrown
+at them. Eben Jordan made himself ridiculous by marching around armed
+with a rifle, and a huge knife thrust in his belt, as if expecting each
+instant to be called upon to defend his life.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were tired of the settlement, even before we had fairly arrived, and
+after Ellen and I walked through the town, wondering not a little at
+seeing a number of the houses and stores built entirely of brick, we
+were content to return to our own encampment, which was about half a
+mile out on the prairie.
+
+
+
+
+LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE
+
+
+Up to this time mother and I had but little trouble in preparing the
+meals whenever we came to a halt; but I heard some of the men say that
+within a few days after we were once on the trail, all this would be
+changed. There would be many times when we might not find sufficient
+fuel to keep a fire in the stove, when we would feel the pangs of
+thirst because of not being able to get enough water, and when, the
+stock of provisions which we had brought with us having been consumed,
+we would know what it was to be hungry.
+
+When I repeated to mother what I had heard, she nodded her head
+sadly, replying that she had thought of all these things when father
+first determined to seek a new home in the California country, and
+she doubted not that we would come to know much suffering, before we
+arrived at our journey's end.
+
+As may be supposed, I was not in a cheerful mood when Ellen and I went
+to bed that night. During the half hour or more while we lay there
+wakeful, we spoke of all the possibilities of the future, and almost
+regretted that our parents had decided to leave Pike County, for
+surely they could find nowhere on the face of this earth a place more
+agreeable in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+A STORMY DAY
+
+
+When another morning came, it surely seemed as if all my fears were
+about to be realized, for the day dawned dark and forbidding, the rain
+came down in torrents, while the wind sighed and moaned as it drove
+floods of water from one end of the wagon to the other, wetting us
+completely even before we were awake.
+
+I could not believe father would set off on the journey at such a time
+as this, and was wondering how we should be able to cook breakfast,
+when he called to mother that she make ready the morning meal, for in
+half an hour the train would be in motion.
+
+No one had been sufficiently thoughtful to store beneath the wagon a
+supply of dry fuel, and the consequence was that we had nothing with
+which to build a fire, save a few armfuls of water-soaked wood which
+father and Eben Jordan succeeded in gathering, for where so many
+emigrants were encamped, fuel of any kind was indeed scarce.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I almost forgave Eben for having appeared so ridiculous when he
+strutted around fully armed, as I saw him striving to gather wood for
+us when he might have remained under the cover of his father's wagon;
+indeed, before many days passed both Ellen and I saw that there was
+much good in the boy's heart, even though he was too often disposed to
+make matters disagreeable for us girls.
+
+
+
+
+A LACK OF FUEL
+
+
+Mother and I made our first attempt at cooking while the stove was
+beneath the wagon cover and the pipe thrust out through the hole in the
+rear.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+If we had had plenty of dry wood, I have no doubt but that the work
+could have been done with some degree of comfort; but as it was, we
+were put to our wits' ends, even to get sufficient heat to boil the
+water, and when word was given for the company to start, we had not
+really begun to cook the breakfast.
+
+Of course it would have been dangerous for us to attempt to keep a fire
+burning while the wagon was moving. Therefore we would have been forced
+to set off without breakfast, had not Ellen's mother kindly sent us
+some corn bread which she had baked the night before, and this, with
+fresh milk, made up our meal.
+
+At the time I thought I was much injured because of not having more
+food; but before we had come to the land of California I often looked
+back upon that morning with longing, remembering the meal of corn bread
+and milk as though it was a feast.
+
+During all the long day, except for half an hour at noon, the
+patient oxen plodded wearily on amid the rain, oftentimes sinking
+fetlock-deep in the marshy places. Everything was damp and every place
+uncomfortable, and at times it seemed as if I could no longer bear up
+under the suffering.
+
+In order to teach me that, instead of grumbling, I ought to be thankful
+for the comforts I could enjoy, mother told me to look at those who
+were exposed to the storm. I saw father and the other men walking
+beside the oxen, the rain pelting down upon them pitilessly; I heard
+the cry of a baby in pain; and I soon came to understand that my lot
+was far less hard than that of many others.
+
+She read me a lesson on patience and contentment, whatever might
+be my surroundings, until I grew ashamed of having shown myself so
+disagreeable.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING CAMP IN A STORM
+
+
+Determined as I was to make the best of whatever might happen, I
+could not but be disheartened when, nearly at nightfall, we halted to
+make camp again. The rain was still descending like a cloud-burst;
+everything around us, including the bedding, seemed saturated with
+water. Yet I saw the men spread the thin cloth tents, after the wagons
+had been drawn up in a circle, or made into a corral as the travelers
+on the trail call it; I saw them wade ankle-deep in the mud, but with
+never an impatient word or gesture. It appeared sufficient to them if
+their women and children could enjoy some little degree of comfort.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Again we strove to do our cooking under the wagon covers, and again we
+were in need of fuel. Ellen and I, with the skirts of our gowns over
+our heads for protection, scurried here and there, picking up twigs and
+crying out with delight when we came upon a piece of wood as large as
+one's fist.
+
+You can well imagine what kind of supper we had that night. The inside
+of the wagon was filled with smoke, for the short length of stovepipe
+did not afford a strong draft, and mother labored, with the tears
+streaming down her cheeks, to fry as much bacon as would satisfy our
+hunger.
+
+The smoke was so dense that we all wept, smiling even in the midst of
+our seeming tears when father said, after he had milked the cows and
+had brought in quite as much water as milk, that it was a question
+with him whether he could stand better the smoke or the rain. He was
+inclined to think he had rather be soaked with water than cured like a
+ham.
+
+Again Eben Jordan showed his kindness of heart, for he insisted upon
+helping this man and that, milk the cows and herd the oxen and sheep,
+and he did whatever came to his hand, all the while humming "Joe
+Bowers."
+
+When Eben came into our wagon later in the evening, Ellen and I treated
+him very kindly, for we were coming to understand that this boy, who
+found so much pleasure in vexing us girls, was ever ready to do a good
+turn to another, even when it cost him much labor and discomfort.
+
+
+
+
+A THUNDERSTORM
+
+
+During all that night it rained; but shortly after midnight there came
+up such a terrific storm of thunder and lightning that it seemed as if
+the very heavens were bursting.
+
+Then all our men and boys were forced to go and quiet the cattle, for
+the beasts were even as frightened as we girls were, and, so father
+said, would have stampeded, leaving us to spend the next day searching
+for them on the prairies, had it not been for the precautions of our
+people.
+
+When I complained to mother, just after father had gone out into the
+tempest, that this journey to California was nothing like what I had
+pictured it, she said mildly that if I was growing disheartened now, it
+would have been better had I never set out from Pike County, for thus
+far matters had gone much to our convenience and that shortly we would
+find real trials and real troubles.
+
+Next morning, however, my spirits rose, for the sun was shining
+brightly when I awoke; but word was passed around the camp that
+instead of setting off at once, we might spend two hours drying the bed
+clothing and such of our belongings as had been saturated during the
+storm.
+
+Then there was presented such a scene as would have interested any one
+who had never witnessed the like before. On every wagon tongue were
+hung blankets and garments of all kinds, and over the wheels of each
+cart lay feather beds or bolsters, until it must have looked as if
+every member of our company had spent a day in washing, and was now
+about to do the ironing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan went here and there, aiding this one or that when he had
+done what he might for his mother, all the while singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," until, even before our breakfast had been cooked, fully
+half the company were joining in that foolish song. Mother said almost
+fretfully, when Ellen and I took up the refrain, that she wished the
+senseless words had never been written, or that we had never heard
+them.
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS
+
+
+Although we started off late that morning, owing to the drying out, we
+halted early in the afternoon, for we had come upon a company of men
+and women who, like ourselves, were bound for the land of California.
+The leader of the company was Colonel Russell.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To my surprise and delight these people also proved to be Pikers,
+having come from a settlement about twenty miles south of our old home.
+You may readily fancy how enjoyable was that evening, when we visited
+from wagon to wagon, listening to the stories of what had thus far
+happened to the company, and repeating our own adventures, if such they
+could be called.
+
+While we women and girls were thus engaged, the men of both companies
+decided to travel together, believing that by increasing the number
+there might be less danger from the Indians, for Eben Jordan said that
+the savages we saw at Independence were but imitations of the fiercer
+ones whom we were most likely to meet before our journey's end.
+
+
+
+
+THE STOCK STRAY AWAY
+
+
+I suppose it was the excitement occasioned by the meeting with Colonel
+Russell's company, which caused our men in charge of the cattle to be
+careless during the evening and later in the night, for when morning
+came we found that nearly all the oxen and a goodly number of the cows
+had strayed from the camp and disappeared completely.
+
+When Eben Jordan first told us of this, I believed a great disaster
+had come upon us; but straightway father and half a dozen of the other
+men mounted the horses and set off across the prairie in search of the
+missing cattle, as if this was trouble to be expected.
+
+In fact, before many days passed, I came to look upon the straying or
+the stampeding of the live stock as of little consequence.
+
+We had plenty of time to cook breakfast that morning while the men were
+searching over the prairie for the cattle, and, much to my surprise,
+within three hours all the stock had been brought into the encampment
+and we were making ready once more for the day's journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before noon we arrived at Blue Creek, where we had, as it seemed to me,
+much trouble because the trail leading to the stream was deep with mud,
+and the bottom of the creek so soft that our people were forced to wade
+waist-deep on either side of the wagons, lest the wheels sink so far
+down that the oxen would not be able to pull the heavy loads across.
+
+Again and again the men laid hold of the wheels, straining every muscle
+as the drivers of the cattle urged the patient beasts to their utmost
+exertions, and before all our company had crossed that small creek
+the day was so nearly at an end that there was nothing left for us to
+do save camp once more, although we had traveled only six miles since
+setting out.
+
+Then came Sunday morning, when I believed we would remain idle, for
+it did not seem right that we should travel on the Lord's day; but, as
+father said, while we were making such a long journey it was necessary
+to push ahead during every hour of fair weather, and to take our day of
+rest only when it was absolutely necessary.
+
+And so, instead of worshiping God as we would have done had we
+remained in Pike County, we went forward, fording two small creeks and
+journeying over a dull, level plain, whereon, save flowers, nothing was
+to be seen to delight the eye.
+
+
+
+
+AN INDIAN VILLAGE
+
+
+Within an hour of sunset we came to a veritable Indian village,
+although there were not many of the savages living in it, and Ellen and
+I took advantage of this first opportunity to see the redskins in their
+homes.
+
+There were but four men, with perhaps a dozen women and children, all
+living in lodges made of smoke-dried skins, and looking exceedingly
+dirty and disagreeable.
+
+We girls were not inclined to linger there long, although the Indians
+were willing we should, and when our short visit had been brought to
+a close, they followed us, clustering around our wagons and waiting
+patiently for food to be thrown to them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+From this time on during a full week we continued to push steadily
+forward, moving so slowly that even we girls could understand the
+journey would be exceedingly long and wearisome.
+
+
+
+
+I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING
+
+
+More than once did I reproach myself with having been so eager to leave
+Pike County, and many times I said to myself that a girl who has a
+happy home is indeed foolish to wish for a change, lest, like Ellen and
+me, they find, as mother often says, that they have jumped out of the
+frying pan into the fire.
+
+One day was much like another. Now the trail would be hard underfoot
+and the traveling easy, and again we would cross a stream, the bottom
+lands of which were so marshy that the oxen lugged and strained at
+their yokes, until oftentimes it was necessary to double up the teams
+in order that the heavy wagons could be pulled over the soft footing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The only thing I remember which came to break the monotony of the slow
+march was when, on a certain evening, father returned with his pockets
+and hands full of wild onions which he had found on the prairie.
+Because our meals had consisted chiefly of corn bread and salted meat,
+I said to myself that now we would have a feast.
+
+But alas! those wild onions were like my dreams about traveling to the
+land of California. While they looked fair on the outside before being
+cooked, they were so strong to the taste that one nearly choked in
+trying to eat them.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S BOASTS
+
+
+Eben Jordan, hearing of my disappointment, said with a laugh that when
+we came to the country where game was to be found he intended to bring
+into camp all the fresh meat the company could eat, and one might have
+thought from the way the boy talked that he believed himself capable of
+feeding all our company unaided.
+
+It would have been well if Eben had contented himself with predicting
+the marvels which he counted on performing; but, instead, he reminded
+me that before we had come into the Land of Promise I might be
+more than willing to eat wild onions and "smack my lips over the
+disagreeable food."
+
+It seems that he heard, while in Independence, of the sufferings of
+some people who had journeyed over that same trail, when they found
+no game and their provisions were consumed before the march came to an
+end.
+
+It would have been better, so I said to him, if he had not repeated
+such things, for surely we were getting all the discomfort that was
+needed to show how foolish we had been in leaving Pike County, where no
+one suffered from hunger or thirst, if he had a tongue in his head to
+make known his desires.
+
+It seemed almost as if the boy was a real prophet, for within a few
+hours Ellen and I did come to know what thirst--bitter, parching
+thirst--was like.
+
+We had started out one morning when the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us so fervently that the wagon covering seemed to be no protection, and
+the only relief we had was from the gentle breeze which was blowing,
+not with sufficient force to relieve our suffering, but enough to
+prevent us from being literally baked.
+
+
+SUFFERING WITH THIRST
+
+We drank, as did all our company, of the water which we carried in kegs
+stowed in the wagons, and gave no heed to the fact that the supply was
+scanty, for until this time there had never been any lack of water.
+
+At noon even the breeze died away; there was not a cloud in the sky,
+the trail was smooth and hard, running over what father called the
+tableland of the prairie, and the heat so intense that there were times
+when it surely seemed as if I could not longer continue to breathe.
+
+Then, when our sufferings were seemingly as great as they could
+possibly be, mother discovered that our store of water had been
+exhausted, and called to father, asking that he get a supply from one
+of the other wagons.
+
+It seemed strange to me then, and does even now, that at almost the
+same time all our company had run short of water, and from one end
+of the long train to the other we could not beg enough to moisten our
+tongues.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Perhaps it was the knowledge that I could not quench my thirst which
+caused me to suffer more severely, and when father said we must travel
+no less than twelve miles before coming to any stream, my heart sank
+within me.
+
+Ellen was suffering quite as much as I, except that she had the good
+sense to hold her peace, and mother, patient with me as ever, said all
+she could to prevent me from dwelling too much upon my condition.
+
+Nor was I the only one in that company to suffer severely. Whenever the
+train came to a halt that the cattle might have a breathing spell, I
+could hear the smaller children crying for something to drink, and once
+during the afternoon Eben Jordan came alongside our wagon, asking if
+our water kegs were empty.
+
+Then I saw upon his face that look of eagerness and desire such as I
+had read on Ellen's, and when I told him we were suffering from thirst
+even more than any other members of the company, he shook his head and
+replied:--
+
+"It is the younger ones who suffer the most, Martha Early, for they
+cannot be made to understand that it is necessary to wait; while you
+and I, who are older, know it is only a case of grinning and bearing it
+as best we may."
+
+
+
+
+IN SEARCH OF WATER
+
+
+I was irritated because Eben should read me a lesson, for indeed his
+words sounded like a reproof. I turned away from him, saying to myself
+that if it was not possible to make the oxen move more rapidly, there
+was danger of my dying, all of which was foolishness, even wickedness,
+as you will agree.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To force the beasts to a more rapid pace was absolutely impossible.
+Already the sheep as well as the oxen were showing signs of exhaustion
+and panting for water. Their tongues were hanging out, and they moved
+slowly as if unable to go farther, while five of the cows had dropped
+down on the trail as if dying.
+
+We were forced to leave them behind, fearing lest if time was spent in
+trying to get the beasts on their feet again, more of the stock would
+fall.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I hardly knew how the remainder of that day passed, for I gave no heed
+to anything save my own suffering, thereby showing myself wickedly
+selfish, until a great shout went up from those who were in advance,
+telling that at last, after what seemed like many, many long hours, we
+had come within sight of a stream of water.
+
+Then the oxen, wild with thirst and smelling the dampness in the air,
+plunged forward as if in a fury, for the drivers were unable to hold
+them in check.
+
+In a mad race went every yoke of the cattle, drawing the heavy wagons
+that lurched first on one side and then on the other as we went over
+the uneven surface of the trail, until all the contents which had been
+stowed so carefully were thrown violently about, while we girls and
+mother had the greatest difficulty to save ourselves from being flung
+out.
+
+
+
+
+QUENCHING OUR THIRST
+
+
+The oxen continued on until every yoke of them stood in the creek, and
+there they halted, drinking eagerly until their sides swelled out as if
+bursting.
+
+Regardless of the fact that our wagon was standing in not less than
+twelve inches of water, Ellen and I leaped out and drank from the
+stream like dogs, too thirsty to wait longer.
+
+I have been in need of water many times since that day, but never have
+I suffered so keenly, and I now understand that the distress which
+well-nigh overcame me was caused for the most part by my foolishly
+dwelling upon the lack of water, whereas if I had forced myself to
+think of other matters, much pain might have been avoided.
+
+It was impossible to force the oxen across the creek, and we were
+obliged to make camp on the easterly side, for it seemed as if they
+would never have done with drinking.
+
+When they were so full that it was impossible to swallow another
+mouthful, they refused to cross, but struggled to get among the rich
+grass which covered the bottom lands of the creek.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After the horses, as well as the men and the cattle, had been thus
+refreshed, half a dozen of our people, among whom was Eben Jordan, rode
+back on the trail, hoping to drive in some of the cows that had fallen
+by the wayside. It was not until a late hour in the evening that they
+returned, bringing with them only two of the animals.
+
+Thus we suffered our first loss on the journey, and it seemed to me
+a most serious matter; but even before we had come to the trail which
+led to California, the loss of even twice as many cattle could not have
+disturbed me, for I had come to believe that we should arrive at that
+Land of Promise, if indeed we were so fortunate as to survive, almost
+empty-handed, owing to the difficulties of the way which the beasts
+could not overcome.
+
+The next day's march was ended early in the afternoon, because then we
+had come to a stream, and those who were familiar with the trail knew
+we could not arrive at another place where water would be found until
+late in the night.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING BUTTER
+
+
+So we encamped early, and mother decided to set about churning, for
+long ago our store of butter had been exhausted. We had but a small
+quantity of cream, all of which had been saved since morning.
+
+No sooner had she begun her work than fully half the women of the
+company followed her example, and at the side or in the rear of nearly
+every wagon was a churn set out with either the girls or the boys
+working the dasher.
+
+As Eben Jordan said when he offered to spell me at the churn, it looked
+as if we people, who had set out from Ashley to find a new home in the
+land of California, had decided to abandon the idea and turn all our
+attention to making butter.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next morning we were forced to continue the journey before having
+breakfast, for we were nearing the Kansas River, and would arrive there
+about noon if the march was begun as soon as daylight. Even then there
+would be hardly more than time before the sun set to get all our train
+over, for the stream was so deep that it could not be forded, and we
+must send the wagons across in boats.
+
+
+
+
+A KANSAS FERRY
+
+
+Although we were, as one might have supposed, in an uninhabited
+country, father told me that at this crossing of the Kansas River
+was a ferry owned by two half-breed Indians, who made a business of
+freighting heavy wagons across for a fee of one dollar each; but all
+the live stock would be forced to swim.
+
+Now since none of the boats could carry more than one wagon at a time,
+you may readily understand how many hours would be needed in order to
+get all our train from one side of the river to the other, even though
+it was no more than two hundred yards from bank to bank. Therefore, as
+I have said, it was necessary we arrive at the ferry at the earliest
+possible moment, lest night overtake us while half the company yet
+remained on the eastern shore.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The ferryboats were nothing more than square, shallow boxes, which the
+Indians pushed across by poles, after the cargo of wagons had been put
+on board.
+
+Of course the women and the girls had nothing to do with this ferrying,
+save to remain under the wagon coverings where they would be out of the
+way. I envied Eben Jordan, who could move about at will, for verily my
+heart was in my mouth, so to speak, during all the time we were working
+our slow way across the stream, fearing lest our boat should sink
+beneath us.
+
+
+
+
+THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK
+
+
+Not until nearly six o'clock were all our company on the western side
+of the river, and then I supposed that we would immediately make camp;
+but to my surprise word was given for the train to move on, and we
+journeyed three miles more, coming to the bank of Soldier Creek before
+darkness.
+
+It was at this place that a most pleasant surprise awaited us. Colonel
+Russell's wife, who had walked ahead while our train was being ferried
+across the river, found quantities and quantities of wild strawberries
+near the camping place. As soon as we women and girls arrived, we set
+about gathering the berries, until each family had a good supply of
+the luscious fruit. Milk was not a poor substitute for cream to us who
+had been living upon corn bread and salt meat ever since we left the
+settlement of Independence.
+
+During the next two days we traveled steadily onward, slowly, to be
+sure, but yet each step, as Ellen said again and again, was taking us
+nearer the end of the journey. In time I came to be impatient whenever
+a halt was called, so eager was I to have done with riding, for however
+comfortable a girl might make herself in one of the wagons, her limbs
+were certain to become cramped before night.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+On the third day after crossing the Kansas River, the leaders of our
+company decided that a halt was needed in order to give the animals a
+rest. Their hoofs had become dry and cracked from traveling over the
+matted grass of last year, which covered the prairie even beneath the
+new crop, and it was necessary that something be done for them without
+delay.
+
+I had been looking forward to a full day's halt, even though impatient
+when we were not moving forward, for Ellen and I had planned to wander
+as far from the encampment as we could, searching for flowers and wild
+peas, which grew there in great abundance, so we had been told.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD MAKING
+
+
+Mother decided that now had come a time when she must bake a plentiful
+supply of bread, for she was determined not to be put to such straits
+as we were during the rain storm, when it was next to impossible to
+build a fire in the stove, and, of course, I was glad to do whatever I
+might to aid her.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before father had fairly got the stove out of the wagon and set up
+where it could be most conveniently used, nearly every other woman in
+the company had decided to follow mother's example, and then came such
+a scene as was presented when each family did its churning.
+
+In the rear or at the side of nearly every wagon a stove was set up,
+and one might see everywhere women rolling or kneading dough, girls
+running about on errands, and boys doing their share by keeping the
+fires going.
+
+I must say to Eben Jordan's credit that he was of great assistance to
+mother and me that day. If he had been a saint upon earth, he could
+not have done more or worked with greater patience than he did, running
+from stove to stove when the other boys had neglected their duties.
+
+Mother told him laughingly that many times while we lived in Ashley she
+had been vexed because of the boyish pranks he played; but from this
+time onward she should remember what he had done in the way of aiding
+the cooks, and would overlook almost anything which mischief might
+prompt him to do.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE PEAS
+
+
+The baking came to an end, so far as our family was concerned,
+shortly after noon; then Ellen and I, taking Eben with us as guide and
+protector, went out in search of peas and brought home enough to supply
+several families, who had been neighbors of ours, with a generous mess.
+
+
+Save for the fact that these prairie peas look somewhat like those we
+have at home, I could find no likeness between the two varieties. The
+wild peas have a tough rind, and there are several seeds in the middle
+of each; but after they have been boiled and allowed to remain in
+vinegar a few hours, they make a fairly pleasing dish.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When we began the march once more, I hoped to see the cattle moving
+more spiritedly than before the halt; but in this I was mistaken. It
+seemed to me that they limped painfully, and worse than ever; that I
+was not mistaken was proved, to my satisfaction at least, when I heard
+father and another man saying to each other that before many days we
+should be forced to kill two or three whose feet were in the worst
+condition.
+
+However, the days went on and our cattle continued to work fairly
+well, although I noticed that when we came to rough places, such as the
+crossing of a stream, where it was necessary to climb a high bank on
+the opposite side, the drivers were forced to double up the teams more
+often than before, because the poor creatures could not haul so heavy
+a load as when we first started out.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A HUNTER
+
+
+Within a week from the time of leaving Soldier Creek, Eben Jordan
+was indeed puffed up with pride. He came into camp late one afternoon
+dragging behind him an antelope which he had shot within two miles of
+where we halted an hour previous. This proof that he had shown himself
+a skillful hunter, caused the boy literally to swell with joy as he
+strutted around the body of the beautiful animal while our people were
+looking at it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed too bad to kill such an innocent creature as that antelope,
+and yet I forgot all the cruelty of it when Eben brought to our
+wagon enough steaks to provide all of us with a slice of fresh meat.
+Afterward it seemed to me much as if we had been cannibals when we so
+eagerly devoured the handsome animal.
+
+From that day on, whenever we made camp before dark, Eben went out
+with his rifle, and more than once he brought in a deer of some kind,
+dividing the meat generously and fairly among us all.
+
+
+
+
+A HERD OF BUFFALOES
+
+
+Then came the time when we had our first glimpse of buffaloes, and
+never shall I forget the scene. We had been traveling in the bottom
+lands where we found multitudes of paths deeply cut into the ground,
+which some of our people said had been made by buffaloes; but we girls
+never so much as dreamed we might be near the beasts, until one morning
+father called me hurriedly to look out of the wagon.
+
+Then I screamed, for we were literally surrounded by thousands upon
+thousands of those fierce-looking, yet stupid, beasts, who gave no more
+heed to our encampment than if they had been accustomed to such things
+all their lives.
+
+They circled around within a quarter of a mile of where our cattle
+were feeding, and father said afterward that unless our men had been
+exceedingly watchful and active, the oxen and cows would have been
+stampeded beyond a doubt.
+
+
+
+
+EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP
+
+
+Our animals were in a high state of excitement, striving to get
+through the lines of men who guarded them, and of course there was no
+possibility of our breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,
+so father said, there was not a driver in the company who could handle
+half a dozen yoke of oxen while the buffaloes were so near.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea of animals as did
+Ellen and I. You may be certain Eben Jordan was among the first to go
+out dangerously near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all the
+men of the company, save those who were guiding our live stock.
+
+I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their heels when a
+rifle was discharged; but much to my surprise they paid little or no
+attention at first to the reports of the firearms.
+
+I dare not venture to say how many of the animals were killed; but
+certainly it seemed to me, when about noon the entire herd rushed off,
+the rumbling of their hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder,
+that there were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plain
+within a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up to form a corral.
+
+
+
+
+A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT
+
+
+There was so much game for us to bring in, that during the remainder
+of the day every man and boy that could be spared was kept busy at work
+skinning the dead buffaloes or cutting up the flesh.
+
+What a feast we had that evening! We had buffalo tongues baked in the
+ovens, or in front of small fires which had been built here and there.
+Then there were what father called hump ribs, steaks, and meat of every
+kind that could be taken from a buffalo. Each member of the company was
+eager to learn how every eatable portion of the animal tasted, and,
+therefore, cooked two or three times as much as could be used at one
+meal.
+
+Our people had no more than time to skin and cut up the carcasses
+before dark; on the following morning word was passed around that each
+family must dry, or smoke-cure, as much of the flesh as possible within
+the next four and twenty hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Straightway every man, woman, and child set about either slicing the
+meat as thin as it could be cut with sharp knives, or putting together
+racks made of sticks, on which the strips of flesh were to be hung and
+exposed to the rays of the sun, as well as to the smoke of the fires
+that were to be built directly beneath them.
+
+
+
+
+CURING THE MEAT
+
+
+It was disagreeable work, and yet we were all, even to the smallest
+girl, content to do our part, knowing that we were thus laying up food
+for the future when it might not be possible to procure game, and when
+all the stores we had brought with us from Pike County had been eaten.
+
+The arms of the men who acted as carvers were stained with blood to the
+elbows, while the hands and even the faces of the women and children
+who carried the sliced meat to hang it on the framework of sticks, were
+colored in the same way.
+
+In addition to curing the meat in the sun and smoking it, some of the
+men made what is called pemmican, a most disagreeable looking mixture
+of flesh and fat which I afterward came to eat greedily, when we had
+nothing else with which to satisfy our hunger.
+
+Pemmican is made by first drying the very thinnest of thin slices of
+meat in the sun, until they are so hard that it is possible to rub or
+pound them to a powder.
+
+A bag is then formed of the buffalo skin, and into it is packed
+powdered meat sufficient to fill it considerably more than half full,
+after which tallow is melted and poured into the bag until it can hold
+no more. Then the entire mass is allowed to cool and harden. It is then
+fit for eating, so father said; but mother, when the time came that
+we were glad to have our portion of the stuff, always boiled it so it
+might be served hot.
+
+It is not appetizing to me, and because I have seen the mixture
+prepared I can eat it only when I am very hungry.
+
+
+
+
+A WASH DAY
+
+
+Two full days were spent in curing the meat and making pemmican, and
+even then we did not continue the journey immediately, for the work
+had brought our clothing to such a condition that a day for washing
+was absolutely necessary. Therefore we remained for another twenty-four
+hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were encamped near a small stream where could be had plenty of water
+for the animals, and on either side of this tiny creek, shortly after
+sunrise, could be seen many fires, kettles, and washtubs.
+
+What a tired girl I was when I stretched myself out on mother's feather
+bed in the wagon that night! It seemed to me that I had no more than
+closed my eyes before I was asleep, and not until father was bustling
+around inside the wagon next morning trying to build a fire in the
+cookstove, did I awake.
+
+Then the patter, patter of rain on the wagon covering told that we were
+to be treated to another downpour of water, and eager though I was to
+reach California, I hoped most fervently we would remain in camp yet
+longer.
+
+
+
+
+UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING
+
+
+It was really difficult for me to open my eyes, so heavily did slumber
+weigh upon them, when I asked father if he had any idea of setting
+off in such a storm, at the same time reminding him how our beasts had
+struggled through the mud during the last rain.
+
+He laughingly told me that we would continue on the trail, regardless
+of the weather; that a rain storm was not to be compared in the way
+of discomfort with snow. He said that unless we came to our journey's
+end before the season of frost set in, we might never arrive, but
+would be in danger of perishing, as others had who, striving to reach
+California, had been overtaken by winter among the mountains.
+
+"So long as the cattle are in condition to push on, just so long shall
+we continue to march, regardless of whether the rain falls or the sun
+shines," he said, speaking very solemnly, and mother's face grew grave
+as if she was already beginning to understand the better what might be
+before us.
+
+"There will be all too many days when we must remain in camp; but now,
+after such a long rest, it would be little less than wicked to remain
+idle here simply because it might be more to our comfort."
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There is little need for me to explain how disagreeable it is to get up
+in the morning and attempt to keep a fire going with wet fuel.
+
+Everything was damp and uncomfortable to the touch, and all the
+surroundings looked much as Ellen and I felt when we helped mother
+prepare breakfast.
+
+After that very unsatisfactory meal had been eaten, for we had nothing
+save some half-fried bacon with cold corn bread, not being able to
+make coffee because the fire would persist in going out, the train
+was started. Ellen and I, crouching in the rear end of the wagon where
+the rain could not drive in upon us, sat close to the stove, which now
+seemed warmer than when we were trying to cook breakfast, and talked of
+the future.
+
+Of course I cannot set down all we said, for much of it was foolish;
+but some of the conversation I have remembered clearly even to this
+day.
+
+
+ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY
+
+
+Ellen, when I had told her it was my intent to write the story of our
+coming from Pike County, said that it would not be proper for me to
+write anything about what we saw or did while on the Oregon trail. We
+were bound for California, and would not be upon the direct road to
+that country until we had left Fort Bridger.
+
+It was her idea that I should begin the story with the time when we
+turned from the trail leading to Oregon, and set our faces directly
+toward California; but, as has been seen, I nearly forgot her advice,
+and even now it seems impossible to do exactly as she proposed.
+
+I intend, however, in order to please her, to set down only such
+matters as seem to me of the greatest importance, and thereby hurry
+over a certain portion of the march, beginning in earnest with the time
+when we finally came to Fort Bridger.
+
+
+
+
+INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES
+
+
+Now you must bear in mind, although I may not speak of them again, that
+we were constantly meeting with Indians. Hardly a day passed that we
+did not come upon a village, meet a party of hunters, or receive visits
+from groups of two, three, or four who came to beg.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Strange though it may seem, we became accustomed to the savages as one
+does to seeing a dog or a cat around the house, and gave little or no
+attention to them save when they made themselves disagreeable.
+
+One other thing I will speak about now. Mosquitoes and tiny flies,
+which seemed as fierce as tigers, were with us all the time by day as
+well as by night.
+
+When we first left Independence, it was difficult for me to sleep at
+night because of these insects, and during the day I spent the greater
+portion of my time striving to keep them off my hands or face. As the
+journey progressed it seemed as if they became less poisonous; but I
+suppose my body had become accustomed to the wounds, and I gave little
+heed to them except when the weather was exceedingly warm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Until we came among the foothills, which is to say, after we left Fort
+Bridger, we found game in abundance. What had been sport to Eben became
+now a real labor, and he sought for fresh meat only when urged to do so
+by his father or some of us girls.
+
+There were days when our men brought in no game because they were
+unable to come across any; but we were in a country abounding with
+deer, elks, buffaloes, and even bears, and so did not suffer for food.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE DOGS
+
+
+Even though I say nothing more regarding the remainder of our journey
+over the Oregon trail, I must speak of the little prairie dogs which we
+came upon from time to time.
+
+They live in villages, sometimes, as father has said, several acres
+in extent, and their houses are holes in the ground, with a top or
+extension, made of earth which they have pushed up from beneath.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan declares, and several men in the company who have talked
+with the trappers or hunters say, that in every prairie dog's house may
+be found a little gray owl, who has lodgings there, and oftentimes with
+this owl is a rattlesnake. Now just fancy the prairie dog, the owl,
+and the rattlesnake living together! All I ever saw of the family was
+the dog, and he is about the size of a large rat, with hair which is a
+mixture of light brown and black in color.
+
+It is impossible for me to tell you how entertaining these little
+creatures are. When we passed by the villages you could see them
+scampering around and barking. Again and again I have seen them playing
+about or sitting on the top of their houses, giving no heed to us until
+the wagon train was close upon them, when the entire colony would pop
+into their holes with every evidence of fear.
+
+A moment later each little fellow would stick his head out, his black,
+beadlike eyes glistening, while he looked around as if asking whether
+or not you saw how quickly he could get under cover when it pleased him
+to do so.
+
+I know of nothing more comical than these little animals, and yet they
+look so much like rats that I would greatly prefer to see them at a
+distance rather than make any attempt at taming them, as Eben Jordan
+declares is his intention to do as soon as he can catch one alive.
+
+I have my doubts, however, about his being able to catch one, unless he
+is cruel enough to wound it first with a rifle ball.
+
+
+
+
+COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP
+
+
+Just before we arrived at the Platte River, we crossed a small creek,
+the bottom of which was exceedingly soft; the men were forced to
+double up the teams in order to draw the heavy loads along, and Colonel
+Russell's wagon upset in midstream, where the water was two or three
+feet deep.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Now there was nothing comical in such a mishap, and yet Ellen and I,
+who were standing on the bank of the creek where we could see all that
+was going on, laughed until I felt actually ashamed of myself. It was
+all so ridiculous that I could not have kept my face straight whatever
+might have been the result.
+
+If the accident had happened quickly, there would not have been
+anything so very funny about it; but, instead, the wagon toppled
+slowly, the men striving meanwhile to prevent it from going entirely
+over. In the heavy wagon were Mrs. Russell and four children. We saw
+first the youngest child, as if some one had tossed him out, come
+shooting from the wagon and strike the water. Then another child, and
+so on, one after another, exactly like a lot of grasshoppers, until
+Mrs. Russell herself appeared. Out they marched in the same order,
+water streaming from their clothing, which was bedaubed with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Mother reproved Ellen and me severely for laughing when our neighbors
+were suffering; but even as she spoke the Russell procession passed
+along the edge of the bank, marking the way with mud and water, and I
+noticed that it was all she could do to keep her face straight while
+she scolded us.
+
+
+
+
+CHIMNEY ROCK
+
+
+When finally we crossed the Platte River, the men of the company
+rejoiced, although I was unable to learn why, except that it marked, as
+mother suggested, the first stage of the journey, the second of which
+would come to an end at Fort Bridger, and the third in that land where
+we hoped to settle.
+
+Not long after crossing this river we had a first glimpse of that
+enormous mass which travelers speak of as Court House Rock, which, so
+those who have seen both say, looks from the distance not unlike the
+Capitol at Washington. A few miles farther on we saw another huge pile
+called Chimney Rock.
+
+I doubt not but that both would have been well worth the seeing, yet
+our desire to look at them more closely was not gratified. The trail
+leads some distance off, and when mother proposed to father that we
+might halt for a day in order to get a nearer view of the curiosities,
+he shook his head decidedly, saying, almost gruffly, that we who were
+bent on finding new homes had no time to fritter away in looking at
+this odd thing or at that.
+
+Eben Jordan, however, borrowing one of his father's horses, rode off
+to Chimney Rock by himself, and when he came back he told Ellen and me
+that we need not shed many tears because of failing to see it close at
+hand, because it was nothing more than a lot of big stones that looked
+as if they might have been carelessly plastered together with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course this couldn't be the fact; but Eben has no eye for scenery
+and, I dare say, might turn his nose up at what every one else would
+believe wonderful or full of beauty.
+
+
+
+
+AT FORT LARAMIE
+
+
+Forty-eight days after leaving Independence we came to Fort Laramie,
+which is more like a trading post than like a fortification. It stands
+on the banks of the river Platte, is owned by the American Fur Company,
+and is six hundred and seventy-two miles from Independence by the trail
+we came over.
+
+Just fancy! We had traveled nearly seven hundred miles, the men of the
+company walking all the way; yet during that time, with the exception
+of the mishap to Colonel Russell's wagon and the loss of a few head of
+cattle, we had come to no harm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+At Fort Laramie we slept in a real house for the first time since
+starting on the long journey. It was not such a building as we lived in
+at Ashley, and yet it was to me almost beautiful, after I had remained
+so long in the wagon.
+
+I fancied I would sleep on that night as never before since the
+march began, and that we would have supper and breakfast properly and
+conveniently served.
+
+I had supposed the mosquitoes and the midges were as thick in our
+wagons as it would be possible to find them anywhere; but when we came
+into that house the place was swarming with them, and they prevented us
+from closing our eyes in rest during the entire night. Never was a girl
+better pleased than I when the first light of day came in through the
+windows.
+
+
+
+
+COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE
+
+
+After striving to cook food in front of one of the two fireplaces in
+that house, I was actually ashamed of having complained because our
+stove in the wagon on a stormy morning had seemed to me like some
+contrary animal.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+However much trouble we might have had with wet fuel and lack of draft
+owing to the shortness of the stovepipe, it was as nothing compared
+with those rude fireplaces, where our faces were burned almost to a
+crisp, our eyes filled with smoke, and whatever was cooking came from
+the heat thickly incrusted with ashes.
+
+I resolved not to grumble at anything we might find in California,
+provided we had conveniences where we could cook with some degree of
+comfort, and a place in which to lie down where we would be protected
+from insects.
+
+
+
+
+TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS
+
+
+I suppose Eben might describe Fort Laramie so that it would to a
+stranger present the appearance of a stronghold; but for my part I saw
+there only scores upon scores of savages, loitering around outside the
+walls, gambling, racing horses, bartering furs, or gorging themselves
+with half-cooked meat, while here and there could be seen the noisy
+trappers, some dressed fancifully after the fashion of the Indians, and
+others decked out in buckskin clothing.
+
+There were boasting hunters who swaggered around, peering curiously
+under our wagon covers when we had taken refuge there; and all around,
+corralled or feeding near at hand, were cattle and ponies almost
+without number.
+
+Our company was not the only party of Pikers at Fort Laramie. It seemed
+to me there must have been three or four hundred who had been traveling
+as we had traveled, some hoping to go into that land of Oregon which
+was represented as being wondrously beautiful, and others bound for
+California.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I would have visited among the strange Pikers had it not
+been for the throngs of trappers, hunters, and Indians, such as I have
+already written about. Mother declared it would be well for us girls to
+stay in our wagon, and this she came to believe firmly after two of the
+trappers engaged in a downright battle wherein both used knives, and
+both were sorely wounded.
+
+The people round about did not appear to think this fighting wicked
+or strange, and instead of endeavoring to make peace among them, all,
+even a few women, stood around watching the fray as if it was some
+exhibition of an innocent nature.
+
+I was sick with the sights of Fort Laramie even before mother sent
+Ellen and me to the wagon, and felt well content to remain there until
+next morning, never grumbling when I struggled to keep a fire going in
+the stove in order that we might cook supper.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE
+
+
+It seemed to me that every member of our company, with the possible
+exception of Eben Jordan, was delighted when the word had been passed
+around during the evening that we should pull out at early daybreak.
+
+We were getting near to that forking of the trail where we would bear
+southward and then westward, passing around a great salt sea on our way
+to California.
+
+We soon came among the foothills, and it was really a relief to be
+climbing up one hill and sliding down another, instead of driving over
+a level plain where was nothing to vary the monotony. Although Ellen
+and I were pleased with this change in the appearance of the country,
+our fathers found little in it to give them pleasure, for we had come
+to where grass was scanty and the way difficult for the animals.
+
+As father said, from then on we might suffer such privations and
+hardships as we had not experienced since leaving Independence; but
+that I could hardly credit, for it did not seem to me possible we would
+have more discomfort than when we were marching in the rain, with the
+ground so soft that the cattle could only with difficulty drag the
+wagon along.
+
+I suppose our people did have some trouble in finding grass for the
+animals; but we girls knew little regarding such matters. Our work was
+to aid in preparing the meals, and, as Ellen said, in keeping our minds
+as cheerful as possible; these tasks we performed to the best of our
+ability, without hearing very much of the perplexities of the men, save
+when Eben Jordan came to us with tales of trouble.
+
+
+
+
+INDEPENDENCE ROCK
+
+
+After leaving Fort Laramie the first thing which particularly attracted
+my attention was a perfect mountain of rock, fully a hundred feet in
+height and more than a mile in circumference, father told me, which
+stood near the Sweetwater River, between the ranges of mountains which
+border the Sweetwater Valley.
+
+It was an "imposing work of nature," so Colonel Russell said; but to me
+the most interesting thing about it was that the first celebration of
+the Fourth of July by a company of people bound to Oregon was held at
+the place. On the rocks, as high up as one can see, are a multitude of
+names, many, many hundreds, some painted, and others cut into the soft
+stone by those who had visited the place.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Another thing about Independence Rock which causes me to remember it
+even more than as "an imposing work of nature," was that near it one
+could pick up all the saleratus he needed, for there are veritable
+ponds of it, where, so father said, water filled with the salts had
+evaporated, leaving the saleratus itself in pools which looked as if
+made of milk.
+
+Next morning we came upon a great gap in the mountain wall which is
+called the Devil's Gate; through it flows a beautiful stream, on the
+banks of which we found wild currants and gooseberries in greatest
+abundance.
+
+
+
+
+ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER
+
+
+About the middle of July we arrived at Fort Bridger, where we were to
+turn off upon the California trail, and where, if Ellen's advice had
+been followed, this story of mine would have begun.
+
+Why it should be called _Fort_ Bridger I fail to understand, for there
+are no signs of a fort about, but only three or four miserable log huts
+in which live two fur traders with their trappers and hunters.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+One might have believed it quite an important place, however, because
+when we arrived there were no less than five hundred Indians of the
+Snake tribe encamped round about the log huts. Beyond them on every
+hand could be seen wagon train after wagon train of people who had come
+not only from Pike County, but from Ohio and Indiana, as well as from
+Illinois and Missouri, the greater number intent on gaining the Oregon
+country, with perhaps two hundred who were going to California.
+
+Of course there were also at this place hunters and trappers, traders
+coming from or going into Oregon or California, Spaniards, Negroes, and
+red men, the greater number of all this throng living in canvas tents,
+in wagons or log huts, while the rest made shift as best they might in
+the open air.
+
+It was, like Fort Laramie, a place where Ellen and I had best remain
+in the wagons, for no one could tell what the savages might do if two
+girls wandered among their lodges, and certainly we had no desire to
+make their acquaintance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Here, as everywhere since leaving Independence, we heard that song
+which by this time had grown threadbare,--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers."
+
+The Negroes and the Spaniards, the trappers and the hunters, were all
+singing it, and the wonder to Ellen and me was where so many people
+could have heard it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA
+
+
+After spending one day at Fort Bridger we set off early in the morning
+with our faces turned toward California, and our hearts beating
+furiously. For the first time since leaving home it seemed as if we
+were really on the journey.
+
+The trail ran up hill or down, all the way, but there was very little
+difference, so far as hardships were concerned, from that which we had
+already experienced.
+
+During the first three or four days our fathers had no difficulty in
+finding grass and water in plenty for the cattle, although there were
+times, of course, when for mile after mile we passed through nothing
+but sage grass, which even the oxen would not eat. Every night during
+this time, we came upon a pleasant place in which to camp, and, best
+of all, so Eben Jordan thought, the game was abundant everywhere. When
+he had shot a small bear and brought it into camp, it seemed as if his
+cup of happiness was full. One might have thought the lad had performed
+some wondrous deed, from the way he strutted to and fro, repeating
+marvelous accounts of his battle with the beast.
+
+
+
+
+AT BEAR RIVER
+
+
+It was when we came to Bear River that I began to understand how
+different this trail was from the one which we had been traveling.
+
+Instead of finding a safe ford, we came upon a swiftly running river,
+with a bed of rocks. So strong was the current that when father waded
+in to drive the oxen it was necessary for him to hold firmly to the bow
+of the foremost yoke lest he be thrown from his footing; the heavy cart
+pitched about until I was certain it would be overturned even as had
+Mrs. Russell's.
+
+Mother said that if such an accident should befall us, it would be no
+more than a just punishment to Ellen and me because we had laughed so
+rudely when the Russell family were in trouble.
+
+
+
+
+THE COMING OF WINTER
+
+
+Two days after leaving Fort Bridger we had the first indication that
+winter was near at hand, even though it was then July. That night the
+buckets of water were crusted with ice a full half inch thick, and
+upon the tops of the mountains which towered so high above us snow had
+fallen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+You can well fancy how we shivered while making ready to cook
+breakfast. When the train had started, Ellen and I crawled under the
+bed clothing, for it seemed as if we were like to freeze, and no one
+knows how long we might have remained had not mother insisted that we
+should sit once more on the front seat, where we could see the wondrous
+beauties everywhere around us.
+
+Just at that time we were traveling through what seemed to be a
+mountain gorge; towering many hundred feet above our heads on either
+side were crags which had been formed in the most comical figures. Some
+of them really looked like animals, and I could see now and then the
+head of an elephant or of a lion.
+
+Later in the day father told us that we had passed in the early
+morning, while Ellen and I were asleep, a rock which looked so much
+like a beast that the trappers had given it the name of the Elephant's
+Statue.
+
+During nearly two days we continued along these rocky roads, with the
+mountains overshadowing us, and in places the cliffs hanging so low
+that it seemed as if the rumbling of our wagons must cause them to fall
+upon our heads.
+
+The next night we kept a fire in the cookstove because of the heavy
+frost in the air; then we came to a narrow pass between the mountains,
+where was a gorge or chasm, so deep that we could readily believe Eben
+Jordan when he said the people at Fort Bridger told him the sun never
+penetrated to the bottom.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was what is known as Ogden's Hole, and got its name, according to
+one story, through being the death place of a trapper by the name of
+Ogden, who had hidden himself there from the Indians and was either
+killed by them or starved to death, Eben was not certain which.
+
+
+
+
+UTAH INDIANS
+
+
+There among the mountains we met a party of Utah Indians armed only
+with bows and arrows, and they journeyed with us until we camped for
+the night, counting as a matter of course upon our feeding them.
+
+The Utahs looked to me more manly than any other Indians we had yet
+met. Surely they behaved themselves in a seemly manner, for when supper
+had been made ready, they seated themselves in a circle and waited
+decently to be invited to partake of food.
+
+On the following morning, after we had traveled about two miles, we
+came upon mountains which looked as if they were standing there to
+bar our advance, and for the life of us neither Ellen nor I could
+understand how it would be possible to continue the journey.
+
+Even the men of the company were perplexed, and during half an hour or
+more the entire train was halted while our people went first this way
+and then that, seeking some trail over which we could pass.
+
+Then Colonel Russell came back to where we were waiting anxiously and
+said he saw a narrow trail winding directly up over those enormous
+cliffs. When he pointed it out to the other men, we girls overheard
+what he said, and I could not repress a cry of fear, for surely it did
+not seem as if any member of our company could climb to such a height,
+over so narrow a path, let alone trying to drive the oxen with the
+heavy carts.
+
+
+
+
+A DANGEROUS TRAIL
+
+
+However, there was nothing to be done save attempt the dangerous
+passage, unless, indeed, we were willing to turn our faces toward Fort
+Bridger, admitting we had been beaten.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+My heart was literally in my mouth when we began that terrible climb
+among loose rocks, over a path so narrow that it seemed, if the wheels
+of the wagon slipped ever so little, we would be hurled to the bottom
+of the cañon, which is another word for a deep valley or a rift in the
+rocks.
+
+The ascent was so steep that when we started no less than twelve yoke
+of oxen were needed to each wagon, and there was a steady, upward
+scrambling climb of fully two miles; therefore you can well understand
+how many hours we spent in making that short portion of the journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Only one wagon was sent up the trail at a time, lest through some
+accident it should run backward and crush whatever might be in its
+path.
+
+Until we were upon the side of the mountain where the trail pitched
+downward into the valley, I kept my eyes tightly closed, not daring
+to look at that dreadful depth into which the slightest mishap might
+plunge us.
+
+When the panting oxen were brought to a standstill, the fearful labor
+having been performed, Ellen said that she had been so frightened she
+was actually exhausted, and indeed the perspiration, caused no doubt
+by fear, was streaming down her face when I ventured to open my eyes in
+order to look around.
+
+I can conceive of nothing more horrifying than that journey, short
+though it was in point of distance, yet so long while one was in a
+state of terror as to seem almost endless.
+
+In going down on the other side, but one yoke of cattle was hitched to
+each wagon, and kept there only in order to hold the tongue steady and
+thus steer the huge cart, while the hind wheels were chained, so that,
+not being able to turn, they might act as a drag to prevent us from
+sliding swiftly to destruction.
+
+Father said we had traveled no more than seven miles when we had
+crossed that terrible mountain. There we found ourselves in a valley
+green with grass, where ran a small brook which was most pleasing to
+look upon, since it told us that we would have water in abundance.
+Coming upon such a spot after so much horror, caused it to appear all
+the more beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW
+
+
+Without knowing it at the moment of halting, we made camp near two
+Indian lodges, where lived ten or twelve of the Utah tribe; having
+gained so favorable an impression of those savages when some of the
+members had visited our camp, Ellen and I, with Eben Jordan, went among
+them, finding that they had set themselves up for traders, counting
+upon the settlers bound for the land of California, as customers. The
+women showed us a store of powder made from sunflower seeds, which had
+been parched and then pulverized; this they offered in exchange for
+food, or for ammunition. Ellen gave a loaf of corn bread for perhaps a
+quart of the stuff, and found it most agreeable to the taste.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+That evening one of the men brought in a fat antelope, and mother made
+our portion into as savory a stew as I had eaten since we left Pike
+County. After that delicious meal and with the pleasing knowledge that
+we had come in safety over so terrible a road, I slept that night as
+soundly as I should have slept in my own bed at home.
+
+It was decided that we would remain in that place, which mother
+called the Happy Valley, for a day, in order to give the cattle a long
+rest before they did more mountain climbing, and the housewives took
+advantage of the opportunity to wash clothing, bake bread, and do up
+such small chores as were necessary.
+
+Consequently all the young people were busily engaged keeping the fires
+going, churning, or performing such other tasks as were required, so
+that we gave little heed to what was going on around us until, when
+the forenoon was about half spent, Eben Jordan excitedly called our
+attention to a huge column of smoke which was rising from the mountains
+to the westward.
+
+
+
+
+A FOREST FIRE
+
+
+At first I gave little heed to the matter, thinking it might betoken
+the location of some Indian village; but within another hour, so strong
+was the wind, the fire had been driven up over the summit of the huge
+mountain at the foot of which we were encamped, when straightway we
+had over our heads, as it were, a canopy of flame and smoke which shut
+out the light of day, causing it to appear as if night had come and the
+clouds were ablaze.
+
+Half-burned leaves and ashes were scattered upon us until we were
+literally powdered as if with dust, and the men found it necessary to
+keep sharp watch over the coverings of the wagons, lest an ember should
+drop upon them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+During all the remainder of the day and until nearly morning, the
+fire raged with greatest fury; but, fortunately, the flames did not
+come down into the valley. When we set off next day, the cattle, much
+refreshed, went on at a swift pace; but the air was yet so full of
+smoke that my eyes ached, while the tears ran down my cheeks in tiny
+streams.
+
+Our way now lay along the foot of the range of mountains which sloped
+down to the marshy plains bordering that vast inland sea, which has
+always seemed so mysterious to me because of being salt.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT LAKE
+
+
+It was about noon when we had our first view of the Great Salt Lake,
+and although I had never then seen an ocean, I could not believe the
+existence of anything more wondrous than that huge body of salt water
+among the mountains.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Father says the lake is probably a full hundred miles long, and at its
+widest part no less than sixty miles; but this he knows only from that
+which he heard from the hunters or trappers, therefore I am not setting
+it down as positive information. It seems to me I remember having read
+in one of my schoolbooks that it is no more than seventy-five miles
+long and thirty miles wide.
+
+However, this much which father says is true: that the lake has no
+outlet, and four barrels of its water being evaporated, will produce
+nearly a barrel of salt; therefore you can understand how much more
+salty it is than a real ocean.
+
+No fish can live in it, and Eben Jordan declared that one of the
+trappers at Fort Bridger told him a man could not sink beneath the
+surface, so buoyant is the water.
+
+The shore of this great inland sea was white with a crust of soda or
+salt, and the odor which came from the stagnant water in the marshes
+was so unpleasant as to cause me to feel really ill.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A FISHERMAN
+
+
+It was on this night, when we had our first view of the Great Salt
+Lake, that Eben Jordan gave us a most pleasing surprise. We had
+halted quite early in the afternoon, and even before camp was made he
+disappeared; but I gave no heed to the matter when I heard his mother
+inquiring after him, for I thought the boy had gone off to try his
+skill as a hunter again.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Two or three hours later, however, it appeared that, instead of chasing
+deer or bears, he had turned fisherman for the time being, and when
+he came into camp just before we began to get supper, he had with him
+seventeen of the most beautiful trout you could imagine, which he had
+caught in one of the mountain streams.
+
+They were so large that he literally staggered under the weight, and
+the single fish which he gave mother made an ample meal for all our
+family. It surely was delicious, and while eating it I made a mental
+resolve never again to speak impatiently or angrily to Eben, whatever
+he might do, for many times since our journey began he had been very
+kind to us all.
+
+It really began to seem as if, after we had turned into the California
+trail, we were to come across everything which was strange and
+wonderful, for next day, after our train had rounded the base of one
+of the mountains, we came upon six or seven springs of water which was
+actually hot to the touch, as if on the point of boiling, and which
+smelled so strongly of sulphur that one would have been in danger of
+suffocation had the fumes been inhaled.
+
+Those odd springs seemingly came up out of the solid rock, and mother,
+whose curiosity was so far aroused as to induce her to taste of the
+water, said it was bitter and most disagreeable; but she had no doubt
+it might be well for us all to take fairly strong doses by way of
+medicine.
+
+
+
+
+GRASSHOPPER JAM
+
+
+We were yet within sight of the Great Salt Lake when, one evening,
+three Indian men and two squaws, miserably clad and very ugly, came
+into camp bringing for sale or barter something that looked much like
+preserves.
+
+Even though these people were so wretchedly dirty, I was hoping mother
+might be induced to buy some of their wares, so keenly did I hunger
+for something sweet; but I speedily lost all desire for anything of
+the kind, when one of the men in the company explained what it was the
+Indians had for sale.
+
+It seems impossible human beings could eat such things, and yet this
+man told me it was true that the Indians gathered a fruit called
+service berries, crushed them into jam and mixed the pulp with
+grasshoppers that had been dried over the fire and then pounded to a
+powder.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+He called the stuff "Indian fruit cake," and, much to my disgust, not
+only bought a generous portion, paying for it with needles, powder, and
+bullets, but actually ate the mixture. I could not bring myself even to
+look upon it, after knowing what it really was.
+
+Once more we came upon the mountains after leaving the shores of Great
+Salt Lake, and again we climbed up the steep ascents, with all the oxen
+toiling at a single wagon, and then slipped down on the opposite side,
+until it seemed certain some terrible accident must befall.
+
+
+
+
+A DESERTED VILLAGE
+
+
+One night we came to another place much like the one we had called the
+Happy Valley, and there we found an Indian village of fifteen or twenty
+lodges, every one deserted, although we knew the people could not be
+far away, for fires were burning brightly in front of the dwellings,
+dogs were barking, and many willow baskets filled with service berries
+were standing about.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a beautiful spot for a home, and I could almost have wished
+father would settle there, rather than continue on over a trail which
+was as dangerous as the one spread out before us.
+
+There were in the valley poplar and pine trees with many willows, and
+here and there a patch of sunflowers shining out from the surrounding
+green with a golden glory.
+
+I had supposed our people would camp there; but instead of doing so
+they continued on, planning to spend the night on the higher land.
+When we were halfway up the ridge which led out from the valley, the
+Indians, whom we had evidently frightened, came out from their hiding
+places, whooping and shouting as if to scare us, although I saw no
+token that they were bent on doing us mischief.
+
+We camped on a slope of the ridge, down which ran a small brook, and
+those who had tents set them up in a grove of cedar trees where they
+looked most inviting. When, however, Ellen and I strolled that way we
+found the mosquitoes and midges so thick that it seemed as if we had a
+veil in front of our faces.
+
+That night the men of our company gathered apart from the women and
+children, seemingly to discuss some important matter; my curiosity
+was so far aroused that when I saw Eben Jordan I called upon him for
+an explanation, and he told me that we had come to the most dangerous
+part of our journey, where we must encounter perils so great that those
+which had already been overcome would seem as nothing.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT DESERT
+
+
+We were near what is known as the Great Salt Desert; in fact, were
+to cross it on the morrow, and when Eben Jordan led me some distance
+farther up the ridge, I could see it at my feet.
+
+The desert is covered with salt like sand, and on it grows nothing
+except wild sage, while from where we were then camped, until it would
+be possible again to find water, is no less than sixty miles, as Eben
+said.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Sixty miles over a soft surface where the animals would oftentimes sink
+fetlock-deep, and the wheels of the wagons plow into the salt sand
+until the progress must be woefully slow. In addition, all the while
+we would plod along knowing that no water was to be had, save what we
+carried with us, until the train gained the opposite side.
+
+We were camped on the side of a mountain which seemed to be made up
+almost wholly of rock; this place had been decided upon because there
+could be found a small spring, yielding barely enough water to satisfy
+the desires of ourselves and the animals.
+
+It was the last spring or stream of fresh water we should come upon
+until we had traveled across that desert, which, from the distance,
+looked like a great sea of milk. Once we had started upon the journey,
+it would be necessary to continue on, heeding not those who might fall
+by the way, so I heard father and Colonel Russell say, for the lives of
+our people depended upon our going steadily forward.
+
+
+
+
+PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY
+
+
+Orders were given by the leaders of the party that our mothers cook
+no pemmican nor any salted food, lest it increase our thirst, and we
+ate bread with as much milk as could be had from the cows; within a
+few hours, for we were to set off again at midnight, another meal,
+consisting wholly of bread made from corn meal, would be served.
+
+The water of the spring was so salty as to be almost undrinkable.
+During the evening the women and girls were busily engaged making
+coffee, for in such form the water was a trifle more palatable, and
+we were advised to fill with the coffee every vessel that would hold
+liquid.
+
+As for the cattle, they would be forced to make the march of sixty
+miles with nothing to drink save what could be carried in two casks
+which had been bought at Fort Bridger for that especial purpose.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When I asked father how it would be possible for us to give the animals
+drink even once, from no more than sixty gallons of water, he said
+they were not intending to allow the poor creatures to have what they
+wanted. The supply of water would be used simply to moisten the mouths
+of those that were suffering most severely. There could be no question
+whatsoever but that the live stock would be in great misery, and if it
+so chanced that we people escaped dire distress, then indeed we should
+hold ourselves fortunate.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING
+
+
+Fortunately Ellen and I had little time in which to borrow trouble
+concerning the future, for every woman and girl found plenty with
+which to occupy her hands, as we prepared for the most dangerous and
+disagreeable portion of all the journey.
+
+We made corn bread in abundance, cooking no less than three times
+as much as we could eat, for Colonel Russell suggested that it was
+possible we might abate the thirst of the animals by giving them bread
+in small quantities during the march, and so we filled every available
+place in the wagon with this food.
+
+Mother made coffee enough to provide us with a supply on that night,
+as well as for breakfast, and, in addition, we had filled to the brim
+every vessel which was water-tight, until I should think we must have
+had no less than three gallons, while every other wagon was equally
+well supplied.
+
+The men and boys were not idle while we baked the corn bread and made
+coffee. They had enough and plenty with which to occupy their time,
+for every piece of harness, every yoke bow, wheel, or other portion of
+the outfit which might give way, was looked after carefully, lest there
+be a delay, because a halt on the desert, so we had been told at Fort
+Bridger, might mean death to us all.
+
+That night the animals were corralled inside our circle of wagons
+in order that they might be ready when the hour came for us to set
+off, and for the first time since I had known Eben Jordan I saw an
+expression of anxiety upon the lad's face.
+
+Wherever one looked among our people he could see gloomy faces, and
+there was no more singing of "Joe Bowers," no whistling and joking
+among the lads, as was usually the case during an evening in camp.
+
+
+
+
+BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT
+
+
+When midnight came, I had a very good idea that there was more danger
+to be met in crossing the desert than I had been willing to believe,
+for we were awakened and told that the march would be begun in half an
+hour.
+
+Father urged mother and us girls to eat and drink heartily while we
+might. When I asked him why we were to set off at such an unusual hour,
+he replied in a serious manner that from the moment we started until
+the desert had been crossed, there would be no halt made unless some
+of the oxen fell by the wayside and we were forced to delay in order to
+unyoke them.
+
+When Ellen asked him how long a time the crossing would take, he said
+he hoped no more than twenty or twenty-four hours. He also told us
+it had been agreed that if one of the wagons should break down, or
+any accident happen, the unfortunate ones were to be left behind, the
+remainder of the company continuing on without making any effort to aid
+them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then, perhaps for the first time, I began to realize how much danger
+lay before us. Surely if our fathers had agreed that during the coming
+march they would make no halt for any reason, there must be grave cause
+for fear.
+
+The men made ready for the march by the light of the moon, and there
+were yet no signs of the coming day when we set off; and then we were
+a mournful party indeed, the drivers urging their beasts to the utmost,
+as if they realized that every moment was precious.
+
+
+
+
+THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT
+
+
+There was nothing very dreadful to be seen on the first six miles of
+the march, for then we were winding our way up the ridge, on the side
+of which we had been encamped, and save for the fact that Ellen and I
+were suffering from the cold, the journey was much the same as we had
+already known.
+
+Then we rode down the other side of the ridge, among stunted cedar
+trees which looked as if they were dying from lack of water, and Eben
+Jordan came past our wagon to say we had come upon Captain Frémont's
+trail.
+
+The fact that we were to follow in the footsteps of other human beings
+gave me more courage and caused Ellen to appear almost cheerful.
+
+We crossed a valley where nothing was growing save wild sage, and then
+over rocky ridges which looked much like masses of dark green glass,
+through a narrow gap which might have been cut by the hand of man in
+the solid ledge, after which we saw spread out before us that vast
+desert plain, white as a sea of milk and most desolate and forbidding
+in appearance.
+
+
+
+
+A PLAIN OF SALT
+
+
+Not a vestige of any green thing could be seen within our range of
+vision. No bird was flying, and the silence was so like the silence
+of the tomb that I did not dare to speak aloud while calling mother's
+attention to this thing or that, when we halted for a short time.
+
+This was the last stop we would make, save in case of accident. Some of
+the animals ate the bread, others refused it, and then I saw what would
+have been, under other circumstances, a comical sight, for the men were
+going about with wet cloths moistening the mouths of the oxen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After spending nearly an hour in making the final preparations, word
+was given for the train to set off. Instead of being like milk, we
+found that the desert was made up of a bluish clay, covered here and
+there in blotches with what was much like salt, and these white spots
+were so large and numerous as to give to the whole the appearance of
+milky white when seen from the distance.
+
+The oxen sank fetlock-deep, and as we advanced there were times when
+they broke through what was like a crust, even to their very knees;
+therefore one can well fancy that the wheels plowed into this yielding
+surface until it was quite as much as the cattle could do to pull the
+wagons along.
+
+
+
+
+LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK
+
+
+If all the way had been as difficult as the start, we might never have
+gained the other side; but as we advanced the surface grew harder and
+harder, until finally even the shoes of the horses failed to make any
+impression upon it. Then I heard father say, as he came back from time
+to time to speak with mother, that it appeared to him as if we were
+traveling over a solid crust of salt.
+
+At the end of an hour, perhaps, we came upon what Ellen called another
+"soft spot," and for a distance of two or three miles the oxen strained
+and tugged at the yokes as they barely succeeded in drawing the wagons
+at a snail's pace.
+
+Then we girls had most terrible forebodings, for it seemed certain we
+could never hope to cross that place before all the company had died
+from thirst.
+
+To our great relief as well as the relief of the cattle, we came upon
+a hard surface once more, and the oxen were urged to their utmost speed
+in order to make up for the time we had lost while toiling through the
+salty dust.
+
+There was no halting for dinner. Now and then we ate the corn bread,
+for with such terrible anxiety in our hearts none of us were conscious
+of hunger; but again and again and again did we sip the cold coffee,
+using it sparingly, however.
+
+
+
+
+SALT DUST
+
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock in the forenoon when a dark cloud began to
+gather in the south, and I said to mother, with great joy, that we
+would at least know the pleasure of being wet, even though we could not
+get all we wanted to drink, for surely there was a shower close upon
+us.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Indeed, we did have wind, with thunder and lightning, but not a drop
+of water fell. On the contrary, the breeze stirred up the dust from the
+plain and filled the air with it, and our parched throats grew yet more
+dry because of the salt which we were forced to inhale, even though we
+covered our faces with cloths.
+
+How the poor beasts suffered! Their tongues were actually covered with
+salt, and not a mouthful of water could they have as a relief from
+their distress.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Save for the absence of rain, it was a veritable tempest of thunder
+and lightning, lasting about twenty minutes; then the sun came out
+with more heat, as it seemed to me, than before, which but served to
+increase our desire for water.
+
+When the sun was no more than three hours from setting, I strained my
+eyes ahead, hoping to see the end of this horrible journey, although
+mother had told me there was no possibility of our coming to water
+until late in the night, and I saw the foremost of the wagons leaving
+the white plain, and passing over what promised to be a good road,
+toward a rocky range.
+
+Then I shouted aloud in my joy, that we would soon come to where it
+would be possible to quench our thirst.
+
+
+
+
+A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
+
+
+For the moment mother believed I was right, but then Eben Jordan
+dampened our joy by telling us that we must ride over the ridge five or
+six miles, where were no signs of water, and then we would come upon
+another plain of salt, which was not less than twelve miles in width.
+Only after that had been crossed might we find ourselves in safety.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen threw herself face downward upon the bed in the bottom of the
+wagon, and lay there as if in a fit of the sulks, while I crouched by
+mother's side, wondering how long it would be before death came, for I
+had grown so foolish in my sufferings that it was as if life was nearly
+at an end.
+
+
+
+
+COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER
+
+
+Mother left us to ourselves during half an hour or more, and then told
+us plainly that we were showing ourselves to be very foolish girls.
+She insisted that we eat the harder portions of the corn bread; that we
+take frequent drinks of the coffee, and, above all, that we resolutely
+calm our minds.
+
+It must have been that amid all my distress I fell asleep, for suddenly
+I heard, as though coming from afar off, shouts of joy and the voices
+of men calling one to another.
+
+Starting up, I asked mother what was happening, and gazed around
+wildly, for night had come and the moon was not yet risen.
+
+"Thank God! the desert has been crossed, and we have come at last to
+where water may be obtained!" my mother cried fervently.
+
+She leaped out of the wagon, we two girls following, and, running
+hurriedly, we went to where the men, boys, and animals had gathered in
+a group.
+
+I believed we had come to a stream of sweet water, but it was only a
+narrow brook, where ran hardly more than a thread of water which had
+already been trampled upon by the animals until it was like liquid mud.
+
+
+
+
+A SPRING OF SWEET WATER
+
+
+At this moment Eben Jordan, taking Ellen and me by the hands, said,
+forcing us to run with him:--
+
+"By following the stream to its head we shall surely come upon a
+spring."
+
+And this we did, finding within two hundred yards a spring of the
+sweetest water I have ever taken into my mouth.
+
+Ellen and I drank again and again, seemingly never to be satisfied, and
+it was only after I had shown myself very selfish that I remembered
+poor mother, who, most likely, was standing by that muddy stream
+waiting until the water had grown clear so she might drink.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then Eben Jordan went back, and a few moments later returned, bringing
+with him all the women and children, and many of the men.
+
+Having drunk our fill, Ellen and I went back to the wagon, where we
+ate heartily of corn bread, and then laid ourselves down to sleep,
+while the men and boys were bringing the teams into a circle to form a
+corral.
+
+
+
+
+THE OASIS
+
+
+After this we remained idle thirty-six hours, being forced to do so, as
+father said, because the animals were so nearly exhausted that a long
+time of rest was absolutely necessary.
+
+It was during this time that Eben Jordan again displayed his skill as
+a hunter, for toward nightfall he brought in two small antelopes; but
+the animals were so tiny that each family had no more than half enough
+to satisfy their craving for fresh meat, and we were forced to complete
+the meal with bacon.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Our halting place was on what can be described only as an oasis,
+stretching from that sea of white to the rocky cliffs beyond, and
+father told us that while we would not be forced to march over a plain
+of salt during the next day, the journey would be exceedingly wearisome
+and our suffering considerable, for another entire day must be spent
+without water.
+
+Again we made preparations for a time of distress, by boiling more
+coffee and filling up the water casks with sweet water from the spring.
+
+This time the anticipation was worse than the reality. On resuming the
+march, we traveled over the side of the barren ridge more than twelve
+miles, until we came to a well-defined wagon trail which, so some of
+our people said, had first been made by emigrants from Missouri.
+
+I gave little heed as to who might first have passed over the trail,
+rejoicing with Ellen that at last we had come to some evidence of human
+beings; it seemed as if our troubles were well-nigh at an end, for we
+were told that this trail would lead us by the most direct course into
+that land of California where we hoped to find rest and comfort.
+
+
+
+
+SEARCHING FOR WATER
+
+
+From this on, during four wearisome days, we were kept upon a short
+allowance of water, and did not dare eat much food lest it should
+unduly excite our thirst.
+
+Now and then we came upon a spring, when our water casks and every
+vessel that could be used for the purpose were filled to the brim, and
+yet again and again we suffered from thirst, but not so keenly as while
+crossing the desert.
+
+Whenever I slept, it was to dream of the river we had left behind us on
+the border of Pike County, wishing that it might be possible for me to
+go to its banks once more, and, even though the water was muddy, drink
+my fill.
+
+In due time we came to that point in the trail where we were forced to
+march directly over the face of the mountains. Here our fathers found
+the way so difficult that once more the teams were doubled up, twelve
+or fifteen yoke of cattle being put on one wagon, and, after hauling
+the heavy load to the summit of the range, driven back to get another.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course our progress was slow, and we traversed mile after mile only
+with severe labor on the part of the men and boys, for we girls and the
+women did no more than walk in order to lessen the load.
+
+Then we came to a narrow passage amid the rocks, which was most
+frightful to look upon, although there was nothing whatever about it to
+cause alarm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a gorge or cañon much like a tunnel, where the light from
+above was like a slender silver thread, and we went down into a narrow
+defile, where was barely room for the wagons to pass, and where the
+rocks, dark and fearsome, rose hundreds of feet above our heads.
+
+
+
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY
+
+
+When we had passed through that forbidding place we received our
+reward, for we came into a most beautiful valley with water and grass
+in abundance, and, although it was yet early in the afternoon, there
+was no thought of anything save making camp, that we might enjoy the
+blessings which were spread out before us.
+
+Before the sun had set Eben Jordan had killed another antelope; but he
+did not dare go far from the encampment in search of other game, for no
+sooner had twilight come than we could hear the howling of the wolves
+around us, until one's very blood ran cold. It seemed certain, and
+indeed was a fact, that we were literally surrounded by those ravenous
+animals, which were kept at a respectful distance only by the glare of
+our camp fires.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next day, when we took up the line of march again, it was the same old
+story of climbing over rocky ridges and descending into valleys where
+could be found no signs of vegetation, until we had come to a very
+network of streams.
+
+At our next camp we were visited by a party of Snake Indians, who, like
+the other savages we had seen, pressed around us, begging for bits of
+bread.
+
+
+
+
+SNAKE INDIANS
+
+
+Those Indians were not at all like any we had seen before; their
+clothing, what little there was of it, consisted mostly of rabbit
+skins sewed together to form cloaks. To my mind they resembled more the
+Negroes than the Indians; but father said, save for their inclination
+to steal anything upon which they could lay their hands, that we need
+have no fear whatever regarding them, because they were known to be
+peaceable. The men were armed only with bows and arrows and seemed to
+have great fear of a gun or a pistol.
+
+The visitors had with them a quantity of dried meat and roots which
+they wanted to trade with us for bread or for blankets; but our store
+of provisions was not so low that we would willingly eat what those
+creatures had prepared.
+
+They lingered around the encampment, however, coming as closely to the
+wagons as our people would permit, and we girls and boys were told to
+keep careful watch lest they steal all our possessions.
+
+Just at sunset, one of the men who was standing guard over the cows
+shouted that a wild beast was creeping up on us from a thicket a short
+distance away, to the right of where father's wagon stood.
+
+Looking up quickly, I saw a huge panther crawling, as you might say,
+much as a cat approaches a mouse, and it seemed to me that he was
+making ready to spring directly upon us girls.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I clambered shrieking into the wagon, where we hid our heads
+in a feather bed like the silly children we were, and straightway there
+ensued the greatest tumult that can be imagined, as our hunters strove
+to kill the ferocious animal.
+
+It is, perhaps, needless for me to say that the panther escaped,
+although Eben Jordan claimed it would have been possible for him to
+kill the beast, had he not been hampered by frightened girls and men.
+
+
+
+
+A SCARCITY OF FOOD
+
+
+When the march was taken up once more, we journeyed over a less
+forbidding, although a not very pleasant, country, seeing antelopes at
+a distance, but so wild that even Eben Jordan strove in vain to bring
+one down.
+
+During four or five days we marched westward, seeing now and then great
+numbers of animals which would have served to provide us with fresh
+meat, but our men were unable to kill any; then we found our supply of
+food growing so small that it was decided each person should have at a
+single meal no more than one slice of bacon and a piece of corn bread
+as big as a man's hand.
+
+There is no good reason why I should set down such mournful details.
+While we were pressing steadily but painfully westward, so hungry
+that it seemed to me I could have eaten anything resembling food, and
+thirsty until my tongue was parched, the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us with pitiless fury, until we were so worn that life seemed at times
+like some frightful dream.
+
+I can remember distinctly, however, what happened on that day when
+we heard those who were leading the train, shout that we had come
+upon water in abundance. When Ellen and I, leaping out of the wagon,
+ran forward, we saw before us several large springs from which the
+water was bubbling generously. Our delight was even as great as the
+disappointment was bitter, when the water was found to be almost
+boiling hot.
+
+
+
+
+SPRINGS OF HOT WATER
+
+
+It seems hardly possible that any liquid could come out of the earth so
+warm, and if I had never left Pike County I would have set down such a
+tale as a fable; but we did find boiling water, so hot that when Eben
+Jordan let down into one of those springs a slice of bacon tied to a
+string, it was well boiled in less than fifteen minutes.
+
+However, we were not to be deprived of water even though it was hot,
+for father proposed that we fill some of our cups, declaring it would
+be sweet to the taste once it was cool.
+
+This we did not only once, but three or four times, during the
+continuation of the march, for we came upon many of those hot springs
+on the trail after we left the banks of Mary's River.
+
+Then came a day in August when, after an unusually wearisome march, we
+suddenly overtook two emigrant wagons in which were fourteen people who
+had come from Missouri.
+
+Verily it seemed as if old friends were meeting, for as our train
+came in sight, some of the strangers began to sing, "My name it is Joe
+Bowers," and however weary I had once been of hearing that tune, it now
+sounded in my ears like music.
+
+That evening we spent visiting; those people, like ourselves, were
+traveling toward the land of California, and only those who have been
+journeying in the desert and through the wilderness, without meeting
+any human beings save Indians, can understand how intent was the
+pleasure we experienced in being with our own kind again.
+
+The emigrants decided to join our train, and we were right glad to have
+them with us, although their store of provisions was no greater than
+ours; but all were put on what father called "short allowance," which
+was to each person two slices of bacon and two pieces of bread during
+one entire day. All our men who had guns were continually searching for
+game; but while we could see antelope and even wild fowl, both beasts
+and birds were so shy that the best hunters among us could not get
+within gunshot.
+
+
+
+
+IN THE LAND OF PLENTY
+
+
+And so we traveled on, hungry, thirsty, and weary, despairing now and
+then of ever coming again into a land of plenty, until we arrived at
+the Truckee River, which was more beautiful to my eyes than ever had
+been the broad Mississippi.
+
+The waters of the river were clear as crystal and very cool, while
+from it our people took within an hour a sufficient number of trout to
+satisfy the hunger of all. It seemed necessary we should eat until it
+was absolutely impossible to swallow more, in order to atone in some
+way for the hunger that had pressed so sorely upon us during the ten
+days previous.
+
+Eben Jordan said laughingly that we were much like the savages, who
+were starved one day and in danger of bursting with food the next.
+
+
+
+
+THE TRUCKEE RIVER
+
+
+It pleased me right well when father said that we were to remain in
+camp one full day by the side of this river, in order to give the
+animals the opportunity of feeding upon the rich grass which grew in
+abundance on every hand.
+
+At last we had come into California, and a beautiful country indeed
+it appeared to me while we remained near the river,--all the more
+beautiful, perhaps, because of the suffering which it had cost us to
+get there. Both Ellen and I now came to believe our fathers had been
+wise indeed to leave the banks of the muddy Mississippi for so glorious
+a river as the Truckee.
+
+All around us were evidences of bountiful nature, for the land was
+seemingly overcrowded with game, with food on every hand for the
+cattle, beautiful flowers, and everything which goes to make one happy.
+
+How long the journey had been I did not really know until Eben Jordan
+came to where Ellen and I were sitting on the grass with the skirts
+of our gowns filled with flowers. He had in his hands a bit of paper
+on which he had set down, from what had been told him by the leaders
+of the company, the distance we people had traveled since leaving
+Independence. This was no less than two thousand and ninety miles,
+to which one must add, in order to learn how long was our march, the
+distance from Pike County to Independence, which would, so Eben said,
+make a total of about two thousand two hundred.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even then we were nearly two hundred miles from San Francisco; however
+it was not the intention of our fathers to journey so far across
+California, for we had not come expecting to find gold, but to make for
+ourselves farms, where we could live comfortably by honest industry.
+
+Already I am writing as if we had come to an end of our journey, and so
+it seemed to me while we remained in camp on the bank of the Truckee
+River; but there were yet many days of toil before we arrived at the
+place where our people had decided to buy land.
+
+It was yet necessary that we cross the Sierra Nevada, where we found a
+seemingly impassable trail over the mountains, yet we knew that people
+like ourselves, traveling in the same way, had gone before us, and all
+the dangers and the difficulties seemed lessened because of the fact
+that we had come so near to where we intended to make our new homes.
+
+
+
+
+A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
+
+
+After much labor in descending the Sierras, we came upon the first
+settler's house we had seen since starting out. It stood in the valley
+of the Sacramento, on what is called Bear Creek, and was owned by Mr.
+Johnson, who himself was a Piker.
+
+To me the house was odd looking, not because of being so small as to
+have only two rooms, but because it was built half of logs and half
+of adobes, or bricks of mud which have been dried in the sun. It was a
+rough building, and yet how homelike it appeared!
+
+Unfortunately Mr. Johnson and his family were not at home. The building
+was closed, and although the door was not really locked, it had been
+fastened with strips of rawhide in such a manner as to show that the
+owner wished to keep out stragglers.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As we journeyed leisurely and comfortably down the valley of the
+Sacramento, we saw now and then large droves of wild horses and elks
+feeding peacefully on the plains, and there was never a night when Eben
+Jordan, or some other of the hunters, did not bring in an abundance of
+game.
+
+
+
+
+THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ
+
+
+Then came that day when we arrived at the little village which is
+called the Mission of San José, and although everything about us was
+strange, we said to ourselves that at last we had come to our new home,
+for it was near that place our fathers intended to buy land.
+
+The village of San José must at one time have had many hundred
+inhabitants; but when we arrived it was little better than a ruin. The
+houses, built of sun-dried bricks, were without roofs and crumbling
+slowly away, all of which appeared the more pitiful because of the
+well-kept church and the fortlike two-story house where lived the
+priests. Both buildings were in such good repair that they afforded a
+striking contrast to the tumble-down dwellings which could be seen near
+at hand.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I would love to tell how father built for himself a house on land which
+he bought from the priests of the Mission, and how mother and I set
+about making a home which should be somewhat the same in appearance as
+the one we had left in Pike County, but it is not for me to do so.
+
+
+
+
+OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA
+
+
+It may be that at some time when our home here is fully made as we
+would have it, I can tell you how we live, what odd Spanish dishes
+we have on the table, how great a profusion of fruit is at our hand
+for the gathering, and very many other things which to me are most
+interesting.
+
+I have learned to love this land even more than I did Pike County,
+which at one time I believed the most beautiful spot on earth, and
+although it pleases me now and then, when settlers come over the long
+trail, to hear the younger members of the company singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," I have almost forgotten that Missouri was once my home.
+
+I have come to look upon myself as belonging to this beautiful valley
+where Nature is so lavish with all her gifts, and therefore, instead of
+calling myself a Piker, as in the days gone by, I dearly love to write
+so all may see, that I am now, and ever shall be as long as the good
+God allows me to remain in this world, Martha of California.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS CONSULTED IN WRITING MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+  BRYANT, EDWIN: What I Saw in California. D. Appleton & Co.
+
+  CLAMPITT, JOHN W.: Echoes from the Rocky Mountains. Belford,
+    Clarke & Co.
+
+  CONNELLY, WILLIAM ELSEY: Doniphan's Expedition. Pub. by the
+    Author.
+
+  DEXTER, A. HERSEY: Early Days in California. Tribune-Republican
+    Press.
+
+  DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS: The Making of the Great West. Charles
+    Scribner's Sons.
+
+  FRÉMONT, J. C.: The Second Expedition. Washington.
+
+  KNOWER, DANIEL: The Days of a Forty-Niner. Weed, Parsons Print.
+    Co.
+
+  PAXSON, FREDERICK L.: The Last American Frontier. The Macmillan
+    Company.
+
+  THORNTON, J. QUINN: Oregon and California. Harper & Brothers.
+
+  WOODS, DANIEL B.: Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings. Harper &
+    Brothers.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44600 ***
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+  </head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44600 ***</div>
+
+<div class="tnbox">
+<p class="center"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b></p>
+<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original
+document have been preserved.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="376" height="550" alt="Cover" />
+</div>
+
+<div class='figcenter p6'>
+  <img src="images/i-001.jpg" width="550" height="344" alt="" />
+<p class='caption'>Map to illustrate<br />
+the Story of<br />
+Martha of California</p>
+</div>
+
+<h1>
+<span class='smcap'>Martha of California</span></h1>
+
+<p class="center p4 b12"><span class='smcap'>A Story of the California Trail</span></p>
+
+<p class="center p4">BY<br />
+JAMES OTIS</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter p4'>
+<img src="images/i-002.jpg" width="94" height="99" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center p4">NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO<br />
+AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+</p>
+
+<div class="bbox p6">
+<h2 class="chap1">
+JAMES OTIS'S PIONEER SERIES
+</h2>
+
+<ul class="none">
+<li>
+<b>ANTOINE OF OREGON</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Oregon Trail</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>BENJAMIN OF OHIO</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Settlement of
+Marietta</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>HANNAH OF KENTUCKY</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Wilderness
+Road</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the California
+Trail</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>PHILIP OF TEXAS</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of Sheep Raising in Texas</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>SETH OF COLORADO</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Settlement of
+Denver</span>.
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+</div>
+
+<p class="center s08 p6">
+<span class='smcap'>Copyright, 1913, by<br />
+Mrs. A. L. KALER.</span><br />
+
+<span class='smcap'>Copyright, 1913, in Great Britain.</span></p>
+<hr class="l05" />
+<p class="center s08">MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_3' name='Page_3'>[3]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+FOREWORD
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The author of this series of stories for children
+has endeavored simply to show why and how the
+descendants of the early colonists fought their way
+through the wilderness in search of new homes. The
+several narratives deal with the struggles of those
+adventurous people who forced their way westward,
+ever westward, whether in hope of gain or in answer
+to "the call of the wild," and who, in so doing,
+wrote their names with their blood across this
+country of ours from the Ohio to the Columbia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To excite in the hearts of the young people of
+this land a desire to know more regarding the building
+up of this great nation, and at the same time
+to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to
+noble deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them
+there is nothing of romance, but only a careful,
+truthful record of the part played by children in
+the great battles with those forces, human as well
+as natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_4' name='Page_4'>[4]</a></span>
+portion of this broad land against the advance of
+home seekers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With the knowledge of what has been done by
+our own people in our own land, surely there is
+no reason why one should resort to fiction in order
+to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime
+disregard of suffering in nearly every form.
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+JAMES OTIS.
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_5' name='Page_5'>[5]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+CONTENTS
+</h2>
+
+<table summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+    <td>&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><span class="s08">PAGE</span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Change of Homes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>"<span class='smcap'>Joe Bowers</span>"</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Reasons for Moving</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Mother's Anxiety</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>How We Were to Travel</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Our Movable Home</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Leaving Ashley</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben Jordan</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>On the Road</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben's Predictions</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>What We Heard about California</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The First Encampment</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Night in Camp</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Town of Independence</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Kansas Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Looking into the Future for Trouble</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Stormy Day</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Lack of Fuel</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Making Camp in a Storm</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Thunderstorm</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_6' name='Page_6'>[6]</a></span></td>
+    <td></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Another Company of Pikers</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Stock Stray Away</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>An Indian Village</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>I Weary with so much Traveling</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben's Boasts</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Suffering with Thirst</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>In Search of Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Quenching our Thirst</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Making Butter</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Kansas Ferry</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Surprise at Soldier Creek</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Bread Making</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Prairie Peas</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben as a Hunter</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Herd of Buffaloes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Excitement in the Camp</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Feast of Buffalo Meat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Curing the Meat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Wash Day</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Uncomfortable Traveling</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Ellen's Advice regarding the Story</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Indians and Mosquitoes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Prairie Dogs</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Colonel Russell's Mishap</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Chimney Rock</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>At Fort Laramie</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_7' name='Page_7'>[7]</a></span></td>
+    <td></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Cooking in Front of a Fireplace</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Trappers, Hunters, and Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>On the Trail Once More</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Independence Rock</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Arrival at Fort Bridger</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>With our Faces toward California</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>At Bear River</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Coming of Winter</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Utah Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Dangerous Trail</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Sunflower Seeds and Antelope Stew</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Forest Fire</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Great Salt Lake</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben as a Fisherman</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Grasshopper Jam</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Deserted Village</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Great Salt Desert</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Preparing for a Dangerous Journey</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Bread and Coffee Making</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Breaking Camp at Midnight</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Approach to the Salt Desert</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Plain of Salt</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Like a Sea of Frozen Milk</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Salt Dust</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Bitter Disappointment</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Coffee instead of Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_8' name='Page_8'>[8]</a></span></td>
+    <td></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Spring of Sweet Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Oasis</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Searching for Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Beautiful Valley</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Snake Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Scarcity of Food</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Springs of Hot Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>In the Land of Plenty</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Truckee River</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Home in the Sacramento Valley</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Mission of San José</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Our Home in California</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_9' name='Page_9'>[9]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center b15 p6">
+MARTHA
+OF CALIFORNIA
+</p>
+
+<hr class="l15" />
+
+<h2 class="chap1">
+A CHANGE OF HOMES
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-010.jpg" width="141" height="309" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p>
+In case one should ask in the years to come
+how it happened that I, Martha Early,
+who was born in Ashley, Pike County,
+in the state of Missouri, and lived there
+until I was twelve years old, journeyed
+across the prairies and deserts to California,
+the question can be answered if
+I write down what I saw when so many
+people from our county went to make new
+homes in that state where gold had been
+found in such abundance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For my part, I used to wonder why people should be
+willing to leave Missouri, enduring the many hardships
+they knew awaited them on the journey of two thousand
+miles, in order to buy land in a country where nearly
+all the inhabitants were Spaniards and Mexicans.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suppose the stories told about the wonderful quantity
+of gold which had suddenly been found in California
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_10' name='Page_10'>[10]</a></span>
+caused our people to think particularly of that far-off
+land. When the excitement of getting rich by digging
+in the earth a few weeks or a few months had in a
+measure died away, there came tales regarding the
+fertile soil and the beauty of the country, until nearly
+every one in Pike County, as well as in the county of the
+same name just across the Mississippi River in the state
+of Illinois, much the same as had a fever for moving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps that is why the people we met while
+journeying called all the emigrants "Pikers." You
+see there were so many from both the Pike counties
+who went into California in the year 1851, that it
+appeared to strangers as if every person on the trail
+had come from Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+"JOE BOWERS"
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then, too, fully half of all these emigrants were
+singing or whistling that song of "Joe Bowers," which
+was supposed to have been written by a Piker, and to
+represent a man from Missouri or Illinois.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Surely every one remembers it. The first verse, and
+if I have heard it once I certainly have a thousand times,
+goes like this:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="o1">
+"My name it is Joe Bowers
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  And I've got a brother Ike.
+</p>
+<p>
+I came from old Missouri,
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  Yes, all the way from Pike."
+</p>
+</div></div>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_11' name='Page_11'>[11]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The song was intended to show that this Joe Bowers
+came from our county, and, perhaps, because so many
+of the emigrants were singing it, all of us who went into
+California in the year 1851 were, as I have said, called
+"Pikers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However the name came about, I was a Piker, and
+before we arrived in this wondrously beautiful country,
+I wished again and again that I had
+been almost any other than an emigrant,
+for the way was long, and oh!
+so wearisome.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-012.jpg" width="496" height="379" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I must always think of Missouri as being one of the
+best of all the states in the Union, because it was there
+I was born and there I went to school until father
+caught the California fever, which resulted in our setting
+out on a journey which, for a time, seemed endless.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_12' name='Page_12'>[12]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My father had no idea of going so far simply to dig for
+gold. He had seen many who went across the country
+in 1849 believing they would come back rich as kings,
+yet who returned home poorer in pocket than when
+they left; therefore he came to understand that only
+a few of all that vast army of miners who hastened
+into California after the discovery at Sutter's Mill,
+got enough of the precious metal to pay for the food
+they ate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father thought he could buy better land in California
+than was to be found in Pike County, for to have
+heard the stories told by some of the people who had
+come back disappointed from the land of gold, you
+might have believed that one had only to put a few
+seeds at random in the ground in order to gather
+marvelous crops.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE REASONS FOR MOVING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Nor was my father the only man who put faith in
+at least some of the fanciful tales told concerning the
+land of California which had so lately been given up
+to the United States by the Spaniards. Our neighbors
+for miles around were in a state of unrest and excitement,
+until it was decided that nearly all would undertake
+the long journey, and I could not prevent myself
+from wondering if Pike County would not feel lonely
+to have the people abandon it, for it surely seemed as
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_13' name='Page_13'>[13]</a></span>
+if every man, woman, and child was making haste to
+leave Missouri in search of the wondrous farming
+lands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother looked woefully solemn when, on a certain evening,
+father came home and told us that he had sold the
+plantation for about half as much as it had
+cost him, and was going to join the next
+company that
+set out from
+Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-014.jpg" width="492" height="359" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It was a long time before mother would have very
+much to say about the journey, but as the days passed
+and the neighbors who were going with us came to
+our home that they might talk over the preparations
+for moving, she became interested in making plans,
+although again and again, when we two were alone, she
+told me that this trailing over two thousand miles of
+deserts and mountains was not to her liking.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_14' name='Page_14'>[14]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+MOTHER'S ANXIETY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was only natural she should be worried about
+making such a great change, for all father's worldly
+goods consisted of the Pike County plantation and
+the live stock, and if, after selling the land and spending
+very nearly all his money to provide for the journey,
+we found that California farms were no better than
+the one we were leaving, it would
+be the saddest kind of mistake.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-015.jpg" width="492" height="252" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+"Your father
+has set his mind
+on going; the
+homestead has
+been sold, and we must make
+the best of it, Martha, hoping that half the stories
+we have heard about California are true," she said to
+me so many times that I came almost to believe it
+was a foolish venture upon which we were about to
+embark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, when I began to wonder how we were to live
+during such a long journey, and asked mother if it would
+be possible for us to cook and churn and do the family
+washing while traveling in an ox wagon, she would say
+with a sigh:&mdash;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_15' name='Page_15'>[15]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't, Martha, don't ask questions that I can't
+answer! It seems to me almost certain that we shall
+starve to death before getting anywhere near California,
+even if we are not killed by Indians or wild beasts,
+without having had time to get very hungry or
+dirty."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet we did travel the two thousand miles, walking
+the greater part of the way, and although there were
+many times when all of us were hungry, none actually
+starved to death; nor were we killed by wild beasts or
+Indians, else I could not be here in this beautiful place
+writing this story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father spent days and days getting ready for the
+moving. After he had finished the preparations, I
+thought the journey would not be so terribly hard, because
+he had arranged everything so snug and cozy for
+mother and me, that it really seemed as if we might
+take actual comfort in case we could make shift to do
+housework in a wagon.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We owned only four yoke of cattle, but with some of
+the money received from the sale of the plantation,
+we bought as many more, which gave us sixteen oxen.
+We were to take with us all five of the cows and both the
+horses, on which father said mother and I might ride
+when we were tired of sitting in the wagon; but I knew
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_16' name='Page_16'>[16]</a></span>
+what kind of animals ours were under the saddle, and
+said to myself that it would be many a long day before
+I would trust myself on the back of either.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would have done you good to see our movable
+home after father had made it ready, and by that I
+mean the wagon in which mother and I were to ride.
+It was small compared with the other, in which were to
+be carried enough furniture for a single room, farming
+tools, grain for the cattle, and a host of things; but I
+did not give much heed to the load because I was so
+deeply interested in what was to be a home for mother
+and me during many a month.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That wagon was enough to attract the attention of
+any girl, for, fitted up as I first saw it, the inside looked
+really like a playhouse, and when I said as much to
+father, he declared that I was indeed the right kind of
+girl to go into a wild country, if I could find anything
+like sport during the tramp from Pike County to California.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I surely must tell you about that wagon before
+setting down anything concerning the journey. It
+was what is known as a Conestoga, and one may see
+many of the same kind on the Santa Fe or the Oregon
+trail. Imagine a boxlike cart nearly as long as an
+ordinary bedroom and so wide that I could stretch
+myself out at full length across the body. The top
+and sides were covered with osnaburg sheeting, which
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_17' name='Page_17'>[17]</a></span>
+is cloth made of flax or tow. Some people really sleep
+between sheets made of that coarse stuff, but it is
+so rough and irritating to the flesh that I had far rather
+lie on the floor than in a bed where it is used.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-018.jpg" width="491" height="465" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Osnaburg sheeting makes excellent wagon covers,
+however, for the rain cannot soak through the cloth,
+and it is so cheap that one can well afford to use it in
+double thickness, which serves to keep out the wind
+as well as the water.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_18' name='Page_18'>[18]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+OUR MOVABLE HOME
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The front of the wagon and a small window-like place
+at the end were left open, but could be securely closed
+with curtains that buttoned at the sides.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Around the inside of the wagon were hung such things
+as we might need to use often during the journey.
+There were pots and pans, towels, clothing, baskets,
+and two rifles, for father believed weapons might be
+required when we came upon disagreeable savages, or
+if game was to be found within shooting distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our cookstove was set up at the rear end of the wagon,
+where it could be pushed out on a small shelf fastened
+to the rear axle, when we wanted to use it. A most
+ingenious contrivance we found that shelf to be, for
+mother and I could remain inside the wagon and do our
+cooking in stormy weather; but those women of the company
+whose husbands had not been so thoughtful were
+forced to stay out of doors while preparing a meal, no
+matter how hard it might be raining.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our beds were laid in the bottom of the wagon and
+covered with the bedclothes to save them from being
+badly soiled, as would be likely if we slept upon them
+at night, and cooked, ate, and did the housework on
+them during the daytime.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We did not try to carry many dishes, because there
+were so many chances they would be broken, but
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_19' name='Page_19'>[19]</a></span>
+nearly everything of the kind we used was of metal,
+such as tin or iron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Underneath the cart were hung buckets, the churn,
+lanterns, and such a collection of articles that I could
+not but fancy people might believe we were peddlers
+carrying so large an assortment of goods that they
+had overrun the wagon body.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What puzzled me before we started on the journey
+was how we could persuade the cows to travel as we
+would have them; but I soon came to understand that
+it was a simple matter.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+LEAVING ASHLEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+You must know that father was not the only man
+in Ashley that intended to build up a new home in
+California. More than half of the people were making
+preparations for the journey, and when we finally set
+off the procession was very imposing, with more than
+fifty wagons, not one of them drawn by less than three
+yoke of oxen or four pairs of mules; there were cows
+almost without number and a flock of thirty or forty
+sheep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I said to myself then, that we need have no fear the
+savages would try to make trouble for us, because when
+they saw so many people, the poor, ignorant things
+would believe everybody on the banks of the Mississippi
+was heading for California, and it would be a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_20' name='Page_20'>[20]</a></span>
+very brave Indian who dared be other than polite
+to such a large company.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-021.jpg" width="504" height="456" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Even though you had never before heard of Pike
+County, it would have been most interesting to see
+the people of Ashley on the morning we set off. As
+Ellen Morgan, a particular friend of mine who was
+going to California also, said to me just before we
+drove away, "It is much as if all the folks in the world
+had come to see us leave town."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The streets were actually thronged, as I have heard
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_21' name='Page_21'>[21]</a></span>
+it said the streets of a large city oftentimes are, and
+what with the shouts of the men, the screams of the children,
+and the lowing of the cattle, it was quite as much
+as I could do to make myself heard when I tried to
+tell Ellen that at the last minute mother had given
+permission for her to ride in our wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course the noise in the street could not have
+been as great as I fancied, for Ellen had no trouble
+in hearing me, as was shown when she came running
+back to our wagon with her Sunday frock and other
+valuable things neatly done up in a corn sack.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then it seemed to me that no improvement could
+be made upon our manner of
+traveling, for we two girls were
+to be together all the while, and
+even when the weather was stormy,
+it would seem really cozy under our
+double thickness of osnaburg cloth.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-022.jpg" width="161" height="232" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It surprised me very much because
+mother acted as if it saddened
+her to set off on what could
+not fail to be a delightful journey. I saw tears in her
+eyes when she came out of our old home for the last
+time, and wondered if she was sorry because she was
+leaving the house where we had lived so long, or
+whether she believed we would never find another
+such delightful town as Ashley.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_22' name='Page_22'>[22]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-023.jpg" width="312" height="260" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Of course I felt just a little tearful when those
+people who were to remain at home gathered around
+the wagon to say "good-by";
+but there were so many of our
+neighbors in the company we
+would not have a
+chance to be lonely,
+and I was certain
+that all the friends
+we were leaving behind
+would soon join us, having
+come to realize, as had
+father, that California was the only proper place in
+which to live.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN JORDAN
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+If I could have had everything arranged exactly to
+please me, I would have insisted that Eben Jordan be
+left in Ashley. He is a boy about six months older
+than I, who always seems to take the greatest delight
+in teasing us girls. I had no doubt but that he would
+be very disagreeable at times, and felt, on that first
+day, as if there could be no cloud on the California
+skies if Eben had remained in Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is no more than fair for me to say, however, that,
+much as I disliked the boy, Eben Jordan was one
+who ever kept his ears open to the conversation of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_23' name='Page_23'>[23]</a></span>
+his elders and was more than willing to repeat to Ellen
+and me whatever he learned.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-024.jpg" width="309" height="314" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Even before our company had left Ashley, he told
+us the journey was to be begun by first going to Independence,
+a town on the
+Missouri River where the
+Santa Fe traders and
+those who would journey
+by the Oregon
+trail made ready
+for the long march.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up to this time I had
+had no idea of how we
+were to get to California,
+save we drove directly
+across the prairies and
+over the mountains, always in a westerly direction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I must have understood that we could not
+strike off across the country in any direction we fancied,
+because we must follow some trail in order to find a
+plentiful supply of grass for the cattle and mules and
+sheep, as well as water for ourselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eben said that the leaders of the company, among
+whom was my father, had talked not a little regarding
+the country through which we should pass. Thus he
+learned that we would journey over what is known as
+the Oregon trail as far as Fort Bridger, after which, striking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_24' name='Page_24'>[24]</a></span>
+off to the southward somewhat, we would go along
+the shores of the Great Salt Lake, past Ogden's Hole, to
+the land of the Bannock Indians. Then the course was
+to be as nearly westward as the foothills would permit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It will be a rare time for us all," Eben said gleefully,
+after having told us girls that we would journey
+nearly two thousand miles before coming to that
+land for which we sought. "There will be game
+until a fellow can't rest, and after we are once well
+on the way, we shall come upon Indian tribe after
+Indian tribe, when you girls will be only too glad to
+shelter yourselves under my wing, for there is no
+knowing what the savages may take it into their
+heads to do, providing the opportunity offers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen was not a little displeased because Eben
+seemingly believed we would be glad of his protection,
+and I really felt uneasy in mind when the lad left
+us to go to his father's wagon, saying:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It isn't well for you girls to be so high and mighty,
+because before this journey has come to an end you
+may be glad that I am willing to lend a hand."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen laughed at the idea that the time would ever
+come when we might accept a favor from Eben Jordan.
+She seemed so certain nothing disagreeable could happen
+to us while our company was so large, that I soon
+put away all forebodings and gave strict attention to
+what was before us.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_25' name='Page_25'>[25]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ON THE ROAD
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It had taken our fathers considerable time to get
+the people and the cattle in proper marching order;
+but once this was done, they gave the word for the
+procession to move forward, and the people at Ashley
+whom we were leaving
+behind cheered us
+wildly as we went
+slowly out from the town.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-026.jpg" width="307" height="399" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It seemed much like
+taking part in some wondrous
+celebration, to
+be riding thus amid
+those who were
+cheering and, I dare
+say, envying us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother was content
+to sit inside the wagon,
+where father had placed a
+short-legged chair for her
+convenience, but Ellen and I remained on the front
+seat where we could see all that was going on, and
+until we were well clear of the town it did seem to
+me that I was a very important person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was late in the forenoon before we started, therefore
+no halt was to be made for dinner, but this gave
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_26' name='Page_26'>[26]</a></span>
+me little uneasiness, for mother had an ample supply of
+cooked provisions on hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our neighbors at Ashley had spoken again and again
+of the hardships which we would encounter before
+arriving at the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and I said
+to Ellen, when we were two or three miles from the
+town, that I could not understand how any one could
+believe such a journey might be either wearisome or
+dangerous.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN'S PREDICTIONS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Surely we were as comfortable as two girls could be,
+with a covering over our heads in case it rained, and
+enough food to satisfy our desires.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Therefore what difference did it make, as I said to
+Ellen, whether we were five months or six on the march?
+Eben Jordan, who had come back from his father's
+wagon along the line of procession as if to see that
+everything was right, overhearing my words, replied
+with a laugh, which sounded to me very disagreeable:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You may well say, Martha Early, that this portion
+of the journey is easy. We are now traveling on a
+beaten road, with nothing to prevent our going forward
+at the best pace of the oxen. Wait until we have
+really started, after having come to Independence, and
+leave the highway to take to the trail. You will find
+the wagon tumbling and pitching over the rocks, or
+floundering across fords, where watch must be kept
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_27' name='Page_27'>[27]</a></span>
+sharply against the Indians, and every man needs to
+have his eyes open lest he be attacked by wild beasts.
+Then you shall say to me whether it makes no difference
+to you if this journey requires five months or six."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I refused to listen to the lad, who seemed to find the
+greatest pleasure in making other people uncomfortable
+in mind, and I turned toward Ellen, as if speaking to
+her very earnestly in whispers, thereby causing Eben
+to believe I had not heard what he said, whereupon
+he went off laughing.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We had heard people talking about the wonderful
+fortunes to be found in California, until it seemed as if
+we might become rich simply by digging in the ground
+a bit; but, as you shall hear, before our journey had
+come to an end we understood that however much
+valuable metal there might be in the earth, it was not
+to be gathered like pebbles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We met on our way hundreds of people who had
+gone into California with great expectations and were
+coming back poorer than when they set out; but on
+the first day we were ignorant of all this, and quite
+convinced that it was a simple matter to become
+wealthy by a very little labor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before night came there was to me less pleasure
+than during the first hour or two. The wagon jolted
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_28' name='Page_28'>[28]</a></span>
+over the roads roughly, making it necessary to hold
+firmly to the seat, lest I be thrown off, and it became
+wearisome to sit so long in one position.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother, who stretched herself out upon a bed in
+the bottom of the wagon when she was tired of sitting
+upright, did not weary so soon of this kind of traveling;
+but nevertheless she was quite as well pleased as Ellen
+and I, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, word
+was given that we should halt and make camp.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were yet in a fairly thickly settled portion of
+the country; but the leaders of our company determined
+to make the encampment exactly as if we were
+on the prairie or among the mountains, where there
+might be danger from wild beasts or wilder savages,
+and you may well fancy that Ellen and I were on our
+feet as soon as the wagon came to a stop, for we had
+heard so much of this camp making that both of us
+were eager to see how it was done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All the wagons were drawn up in a large circle so that
+the tongue of one came close to the tailboard of another,
+and just inside this ring of vehicles were set up
+small tents, which many of the company were to use
+at night because their families were so large that
+every one could not be given room in the wagons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Inside this row of tents were picketed the horses,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_29' name='Page_29'>[29]</a></span>
+or, at least, they were to be picketed as soon as night
+should come; but when we first halted they were
+fastened out upon the plain where they might eat the
+grass, while the oxen, cows, and sheep were turned
+loose with half a dozen of the men and boys watching
+lest they should stray.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-030.jpg" width="500" height="177" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Because the people were not accustomed to thus
+making an encampment, no little time was spent in
+getting everything into what the leaders of the company
+believed to be proper order, and then our mothers
+set about cooking supper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In our wagon the stove was pushed back upon the
+shelf made expressly for it, short lengths of pipe were
+run through the osnaburg cloth and tied by wire to
+the topmost part of the rear wagon bow, so they might
+be held straight, and then mother set about her work
+much as if she had been at home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was most pleasant camping in the open air, and
+before we had been halted an hour the place was
+quite homelike.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_30' name='Page_30'>[30]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At nearly every wagon one or more women were
+making ready for supper; a short distance away the
+men and the boys were herding the cattle, and near by,
+inside or out of the inclosure, were scores and scores
+of idle ones, who, their work being done, were now
+enjoying a time of rest.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-031.jpg" width="499" height="481" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+There was much talking and shouting, but
+above all one could hear that song of the true
+Pikers:&mdash;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_31' name='Page_31'>[31]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="o1">
+"My name it is Joe Bowers,
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  And I've got a brother Ike.
+</p>
+<p>
+I came from old Missouri,
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  Yes, all the way from Pike."
+</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<h2>
+NIGHT IN CAMP
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+How Ellen and I enjoyed the supper on this first
+night of the journey! Mother made sour-milk biscuit;
+the stove worked to perfection, as if delighted because
+it was being carried to California; and what with
+cold meat and steaming hot tea it seemed as if I had
+never tasted anything better than that meal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although we had enjoyed ourselves hugely, especially
+during the first part of the day's march, both Ellen and
+I were tired, and when mother said we might make up
+our bed on the bottom of the wagon, we were not only
+willing, but eager to do so, for after the hearty supper
+it seemed as if sleep had become a necessity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once we had crossed over into Dreamland, our eyes
+were not opened again until the sun was near to rising;
+then the shouts of the men and the lowing of the
+cattle caused us to spring up suddenly, almost fancying
+that the camp had been attacked by savages, even
+though we were not yet out of Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If I had the time, it would please me to describe
+the journey from our home in Ashley to a town known
+as Independence, on the Missouri River, where the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_32' name='Page_32'>[32]</a></span>
+Oregon trail begins; but since, as father said again
+and again, we did not really start until we had struck
+the Oregon trail, it is best that I leave out all that
+happened while we were coming from Pike County to
+the Missouri River.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We traveled slowly, because the cows were not
+easily herded, and, as Eben Jordan said, none of our
+people were accustomed to such kind of marching.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+ <img src="images/i-033.jpg" width="464" height="221" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+We did, however, finally arrive at the real starting
+point after eight days, during which time Ellen and I
+came to understand that, however pleasant it was to
+sit in the wagon and look out upon the country through
+which we passed, it might grow wearisome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I had fancied we would see something
+very new and wonderful at Independence, and yet,
+while everything was strange and there was much
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_33' name='Page_33'>[33]</a></span>
+to attract one's attention, it was not so very different
+from other settlements through which we had
+passed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was, however, a constant bustle and confusion
+such as one could not see elsewhere. Enormous
+wagons, which Eben Jordan said belonged to the
+traders who went over the Santa Fe trail, were coming
+into town or going out, each drawn by eight or ten
+mules and accompanied by Spaniards or Negroes,
+until one could but wonder where so many people
+were going.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-034.jpg" width="500" height="318" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+There were trains, much like our own, belonging
+to settlers who were going into Oregon, or, like ourselves,
+into California. Those were halted just outside
+the town, until the entire settlement was literally
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_34' name='Page_34'>[34]</a></span>
+surrounded, while among them all, near the wagons
+of the traders as well as those of the emigrants, lounged
+Indians, nothing like the people I had imagined the
+savages to be.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+KANSAS INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-035.jpg" width="382" height="431" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+As Ellen said, if that was the kind of Indian we
+should meet with during the journey, then we need have
+little or no fear, for the savages we saw at Independence
+were nothing more nor less than beggars, who would
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_35' name='Page_35'>[35]</a></span>
+greedily pick up and devour anything eatable that was
+thrown at them. Eben Jordan made himself ridiculous
+by marching around armed
+with a rifle, and a huge
+knife thrust in his belt, as
+if expecting each instant
+to be called upon
+to defend his life.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-036.jpg" width="328" height="253" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+We were tired of
+the settlement, even before
+we had fairly arrived, and after
+Ellen and I walked through the town,
+wondering not a little at seeing a number of the
+houses and stores built entirely of brick, we were content
+to return to our own encampment, which was
+about half a mile out on the prairie.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Up to this time mother and I had but little trouble
+in preparing the meals whenever we came to a halt;
+but I heard some of the men say that within a few days
+after we were once on the trail, all this would be changed.
+There would be many times when we might not
+find sufficient fuel to keep a fire in the stove, when we
+would feel the pangs of thirst because of not being
+able to get enough water, and when, the stock of
+provisions which we had brought with us having
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_36' name='Page_36'>[36]</a></span>
+been consumed, we would know what it was to be
+hungry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I repeated to mother what I had heard, she
+nodded her head sadly, replying that she had thought
+of all these things when father first determined to seek
+a new home in the California country, and she doubted
+not that we would come to know much suffering, before
+we arrived at our journey's end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As may be supposed, I was not in a cheerful mood
+when Ellen and I went to bed that night. During
+the half hour or more while we lay there wakeful, we
+spoke of all the possibilities of the future, and almost
+regretted that our parents had decided to leave Pike
+County, for surely they could find nowhere on the face
+of this earth a place more agreeable in which to live.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A STORMY DAY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When another morning came, it surely seemed as if
+all my fears were about to be realized, for the day
+dawned dark and forbidding, the rain came down in
+torrents, while the wind sighed and moaned as it drove
+floods of water from one end of the wagon to the
+other, wetting us completely even before we were
+awake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could not believe father would set off on the journey
+at such a time as this, and was wondering how we
+should be able to cook breakfast, when he called to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_37' name='Page_37'>[37]</a></span>
+mother that she make ready the morning meal, for in
+half an hour the train would be in motion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No one had been sufficiently thoughtful to store
+beneath the wagon a supply of dry fuel, and the consequence
+was that we had nothing with which to build
+a fire, save a few armfuls of water-soaked wood which
+father and Eben Jordan succeeded in gathering, for
+where so many emigrants were encamped, fuel of any
+kind was indeed scarce.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-038.jpg" width="500" height="390" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I almost forgave Eben for having appeared so ridiculous
+when he strutted around fully armed, as I saw him
+striving to gather wood for us when he might have
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_38' name='Page_38'>[38]</a></span>
+remained under the cover of his father's wagon; indeed,
+before many days passed both Ellen and I saw that
+there was much good in the boy's heart, even though
+he was too often disposed to make matters disagreeable
+for us girls.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A LACK OF FUEL
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Mother and I made our first attempt at cooking
+while the stove was beneath the wagon cover and the
+pipe thrust out through the hole in the rear.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-039.jpg" width="311" height="491" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+If we had had
+plenty of dry wood,
+I have no doubt
+but that the work
+could have been
+done with some
+degree of comfort;
+but as it was, we
+were put to our
+wits' ends, even to
+get sufficient heat
+to boil the water,
+and when word was given for the
+company to start, we had not really
+begun to cook the breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course it would have been
+dangerous for us to attempt to
+keep a fire burning while the wagon
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_39' name='Page_39'>[39]</a></span>
+was moving. Therefore we would have been forced
+to set off without breakfast, had not Ellen's mother
+kindly sent us some corn bread which she had baked
+the night before, and this, with fresh milk, made up our
+meal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the time I thought I was much injured because
+of not having more food; but before we had come to
+the land of California I often looked back upon that
+morning with longing, remembering the meal of corn
+bread and milk as though it was a feast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During all the long day, except for half an hour at
+noon, the patient oxen plodded wearily on amid the
+rain, oftentimes sinking fetlock-deep in the marshy
+places. Everything was damp and every place uncomfortable,
+and at times it seemed as if I could no longer
+bear up under the suffering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In order to teach me that, instead of grumbling, I
+ought to be thankful for the comforts I could enjoy,
+mother told me to look at those who were exposed to
+the storm. I saw father and the other men walking
+beside the oxen, the rain pelting down upon them
+pitilessly; I heard the cry of a baby in pain; and I
+soon came to understand that my lot was far less
+hard than that of many others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She read me a lesson on patience and contentment,
+whatever might be my surroundings, until I grew
+ashamed of having shown myself so disagreeable.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_40' name='Page_40'>[40]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+MAKING CAMP IN A STORM
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-041.jpg" width="308" height="349" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Determined as I was to make the best of whatever
+might happen, I could not but be disheartened when,
+nearly at nightfall, we halted to make camp again.
+The rain was still descending like a cloud-burst; everything
+around us, including the bedding, seemed saturated
+with water.
+Yet I saw the
+men spread the thin
+cloth tents, after
+the wagons had
+been drawn up in
+a circle, or made
+into a corral as the
+travelers on the
+trail call it; I saw
+them wade ankle-deep
+in the mud,
+but with never
+an impatient word
+or gesture. It appeared sufficient to them if their
+women and children could enjoy some little degree of
+comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again we strove to do our cooking under the wagon
+covers, and again we were in need of fuel. Ellen and
+I, with the skirts of our gowns over our heads for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_41' name='Page_41'>[41]</a></span>
+protection, scurried here and there, picking up twigs
+and crying out with delight when we came upon a
+piece of wood as large as one's fist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You can well imagine what kind of supper we had
+that night. The inside of the wagon was filled with
+smoke, for the short length of stovepipe did not afford
+a strong draft, and mother labored, with the tears
+streaming down her cheeks, to fry as much bacon as
+would satisfy our hunger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The smoke was so dense that we all wept, smiling
+even in the midst of our seeming tears when father said,
+after he had milked the cows and had brought in quite
+as much water as milk, that it was a question with him
+whether he could stand better the smoke or the rain.
+He was inclined to think he had rather be soaked
+with water than cured like a ham.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again Eben Jordan showed his kindness of heart,
+for he insisted upon helping this man and that, milk
+the cows and herd the oxen and sheep, and he did
+whatever came to his hand, all the while humming
+"Joe Bowers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Eben came into our wagon later in the evening,
+Ellen and I treated him very kindly, for we were
+coming to understand that this boy, who found so
+much pleasure in vexing us girls, was ever ready to do a
+good turn to another, even when it cost him much
+labor and discomfort.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_42' name='Page_42'>[42]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A THUNDERSTORM
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+During all that night it rained; but shortly after
+midnight there came up such a terrific storm of thunder
+and lightning that it seemed as if the very heavens
+were bursting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then all our men and boys were forced to go and
+quiet the cattle, for the beasts were even as frightened
+as we girls were, and, so father said, would have stampeded,
+leaving us to spend the next day searching for
+them on the prairies, had it not been for the precautions
+of our people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I complained to mother, just after father had
+gone out into the tempest, that this journey to California
+was nothing like what I had pictured it, she
+said mildly that if I was growing disheartened now, it
+would have been better had I never set out from
+Pike County, for thus far matters had gone much to
+our convenience and that shortly we would find real
+trials and real troubles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning, however, my spirits rose, for the sun
+was shining brightly when I awoke; but word was
+passed around the camp that instead of setting off at
+once, we might spend two hours drying the bed clothing
+and such of our belongings as had been saturated
+during the storm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then there was presented such a scene as would
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_43' name='Page_43'>[43]</a></span>
+have interested any one who had never witnessed the
+like before. On every wagon tongue were hung
+blankets and garments of all kinds, and over the
+wheels of each cart lay feather beds or bolsters, until
+it must have looked as if every member of our company
+had spent a day in washing, and was now about to do
+the ironing.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-044.jpg" width="492" height="161" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan went here and there, aiding this one
+or that when he had done what he might for his mother,
+all the while singing "My name it is Joe Bowers,"
+until, even before our breakfast had been cooked,
+fully half the company were joining in that foolish
+song. Mother said almost fretfully, when Ellen and
+I took up the refrain, that she wished the senseless
+words had never been written, or that we had never
+heard them.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Although we started off late that morning, owing
+to the drying out, we halted early in the afternoon,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_44' name='Page_44'>[44]</a></span>
+for we had come upon a company of men and women
+who, like ourselves, were bound for the land of California.
+The leader of the company was Colonel
+Russell.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-045.jpg" width="498" height="444" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+To my surprise and delight these people also proved
+to be Pikers, having come from a settlement about
+twenty miles south of our old home. You may readily
+fancy how enjoyable was that evening, when we visited
+from wagon to wagon, listening to the stories of
+what had thus far happened to the company, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_45' name='Page_45'>[45]</a></span>
+repeating our own adventures, if such they could be
+called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While we women and girls were thus engaged, the
+men of both companies decided to travel together, believing
+that by increasing the number there might be
+less danger from the Indians, for Eben Jordan said
+that the savages we saw at Independence were but
+imitations of the fiercer ones whom we were most likely
+to meet before our journey's end.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE STOCK STRAY AWAY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+I suppose it was the excitement occasioned by the
+meeting with Colonel Russell's company, which caused
+our men in charge of the cattle to be careless during the
+evening and later in the night, for when morning came
+we found that nearly all the oxen and a goodly number
+of the cows had strayed from the camp and disappeared
+completely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Eben Jordan first told us of this, I believed a
+great disaster had come upon us; but straightway
+father and half a dozen of the other men mounted the
+horses and set off across the prairie in search of the
+missing cattle, as if this was trouble to be expected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In fact, before many days passed, I came to look upon
+the straying or the stampeding of the live stock as of
+little consequence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had plenty of time to cook breakfast that morning
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_46' name='Page_46'>[46]</a></span>
+while the men were searching over the prairie for
+the cattle, and, much to my surprise, within three hours
+all the stock had been brought into the encampment and
+we were making ready once more for the day's journey.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-047.jpg" width="494" height="286" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Before noon we arrived at Blue Creek, where we had,
+as it seemed to me, much trouble because the trail
+leading to the stream was deep with mud, and the
+bottom of the creek so soft that our people were forced
+to wade waist-deep on either side of the wagons, lest
+the wheels sink so far down that the oxen would not be
+able to pull the heavy loads across.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again and again the men laid hold of the wheels,
+straining every muscle as the drivers of the cattle
+urged the patient beasts to their utmost exertions, and
+before all our company had crossed that small creek the
+day was so nearly at an end that there was nothing
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_47' name='Page_47'>[47]</a></span>
+left for us to do save camp once more, although we
+had traveled only six miles since setting out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came Sunday morning, when I believed we
+would remain idle, for it did not seem right that we
+should travel on the Lord's day; but, as father said,
+while we were making such a long journey it was
+necessary to push ahead during every hour of fair
+weather, and to take our day of rest only when it was
+absolutely necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so, instead of worshiping God as we would have
+done had we remained in Pike County, we went forward,
+fording two small creeks and journeying over a dull,
+level plain, whereon, save flowers, nothing was to be
+seen to delight the eye.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+AN INDIAN VILLAGE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Within an hour of sunset we came to a veritable
+Indian village, although there were not many of the
+savages living in it, and Ellen and I took advantage
+of this first opportunity to see the redskins in their
+homes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were but four men, with perhaps a dozen
+women and children, all living in lodges made of smoke-dried
+skins, and looking exceedingly dirty and disagreeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We girls were not inclined to linger there long,
+although the Indians were willing we should, and when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_48' name='Page_48'>[48]</a></span>
+our short visit had been brought to a close, they followed
+us, clustering around our wagons and waiting
+patiently for food to be thrown to them.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-049.jpg" width="492" height="376" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+From this time on during a full week we continued
+to push steadily forward, moving so slowly that even
+we girls could understand the journey would be exceedingly
+long and wearisome.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+More than once did I reproach myself with having
+been so eager to leave Pike County, and many times
+I said to myself that a girl who has a happy home
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_49' name='Page_49'>[49]</a></span>
+is indeed foolish to wish for a change, lest, like
+Ellen and me, they find, as mother often says,
+that they have jumped out of the frying pan into
+the fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day was much like another. Now the trail
+would be hard underfoot and the traveling easy,
+and again we would cross
+a stream, the bottom
+lands of which
+were so marshy
+that the oxen
+lugged and
+strained at
+their yokes,
+until oftentimes
+it was
+necessary
+to double
+up the
+teams in
+order that the
+heavy wagons could be pulled over the soft footing.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-050.jpg" width="412" height="399" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The only thing I remember which came to break
+the monotony of the slow march was when, on a certain
+evening, father returned with his pockets and
+hands full of wild onions which he had found on the
+prairie. Because our meals had consisted chiefly
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_50' name='Page_50'>[50]</a></span>
+of corn bread and salted meat, I said to myself that
+now we would have a feast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But alas! those wild onions were like my dreams
+about traveling to the land of California. While
+they looked fair on the outside before being cooked,
+they were so strong to the taste that one nearly choked
+in trying to eat them.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN'S BOASTS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan, hearing of my disappointment, said
+with a laugh that when we came to the country where
+game was to be found he intended to bring into camp
+all the fresh meat the company could eat, and one
+might have thought from the way the boy talked that
+he believed himself capable of feeding all our company
+unaided.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would have been well if Eben had contented himself
+with predicting the marvels which he counted on
+performing; but, instead, he reminded me that before
+we had come into the Land of Promise I might be
+more than willing to eat wild onions and "smack my
+lips over the disagreeable food."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seems that he heard, while in Independence, of
+the sufferings of some people who had journeyed over
+that same trail, when they found no game and their
+provisions were consumed before the march came to
+an end.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_51' name='Page_51'>[51]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would have been better, so I said to him, if he had
+not repeated such things, for surely we were getting
+all the discomfort that was needed to show how foolish
+we had been in leaving Pike County, where no one
+suffered from hunger or thirst, if he had a tongue in
+his head to make known his desires.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed almost as if the boy was a real prophet,
+for within a few hours Ellen and I did come to know
+what thirst&mdash;bitter, parching thirst&mdash;was like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had started out one morning when the rays of
+the sun beat down upon us so fervently that the wagon
+covering seemed to be no protection, and the only
+relief we had was from the gentle breeze which was
+blowing, not with sufficient force to relieve our suffering,
+but enough to prevent us from being literally baked.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SUFFERING WITH THIRST
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We drank, as did all our company, of the water which
+we carried in kegs stowed in the wagons, and gave no
+heed to the fact that the supply was scanty, for until
+this time there had never been any lack of water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At noon even the breeze died away; there was not a
+cloud in the sky, the trail was smooth and hard, running
+over what father called the tableland of the prairie,
+and the heat so intense that there were times when it
+surely seemed as if I could not longer continue to
+breathe.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_52' name='Page_52'>[52]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, when our sufferings were seemingly as great
+as they could possibly be, mother discovered that our
+store of water had been exhausted, and called to father,
+asking that he get a supply from one of the other wagons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed strange to me then, and does even now,
+that at almost the same time all our company had run
+short of water, and from one
+end of the long train to the
+other we could not beg
+enough to moisten our
+tongues.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-053.jpg" width="311" height="317" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps it was the
+knowledge that I
+could not quench
+my thirst which
+caused me to suffer
+more severely, and
+when father said
+we must travel no less than twelve miles before coming
+to any stream, my heart sank within me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen was suffering quite as much as I, except that
+she had the good sense to hold her peace, and mother,
+patient with me as ever, said all she could to prevent
+me from dwelling too much upon my condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nor was I the only one in that company to suffer
+severely. Whenever the train came to a halt that the
+cattle might have a breathing spell, I could hear the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_53' name='Page_53'>[53]</a></span>
+smaller children crying for something to drink, and once
+during the afternoon Eben Jordan came alongside our
+wagon, asking if our water kegs were empty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I saw upon his face that look of eagerness and
+desire such as I had read on Ellen's, and when I told him
+we were suffering from thirst even more than any other
+members of the company, he shook his head and replied:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is the younger ones who suffer the most, Martha
+Early, for they cannot be made to understand that it is
+necessary to wait; while you and I, who are older,
+know it is only a case of grinning and bearing it as best
+we may."
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+IN SEARCH OF WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+I was irritated because Eben should read me a
+lesson, for indeed his words sounded like a reproof. I
+turned away from him, saying to myself that if it was
+not possible to make the oxen move more rapidly,
+there was danger of my dying, all of which was foolishness,
+even wickedness, as you will agree.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-054.jpg" width="492" height="200" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_54' name='Page_54'>[54]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+To force the beasts to a more rapid pace was absolutely
+impossible. Already the sheep as well as the oxen
+were showing signs of exhaustion and panting for water.
+Their tongues were hanging out, and they moved slowly
+as if unable to go farther, while five of the cows had
+dropped down on the trail as if dying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were forced to leave them behind, fearing lest
+if time was spent in trying to get the
+beasts on their feet again,
+more of the stock would fall.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-055.jpg" width="498" height="297" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I hardly knew how
+the remainder of that
+day passed, for I gave
+no heed to anything
+save my own suffering, thereby showing myself
+wickedly selfish, until a great shout went up from
+those who were in advance, telling that at last, after
+what seemed like many, many long hours, we had
+come within sight of a stream of water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the oxen, wild with thirst and smelling the
+dampness in the air, plunged forward as if in a fury,
+for the drivers were unable to hold them in check.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_55' name='Page_55'>[55]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a mad race went every yoke of the cattle, drawing
+the heavy wagons that lurched first on one side and
+then on the other as we went over the uneven surface of
+the trail, until all the contents which had been stowed
+so carefully were thrown violently about, while we
+girls and mother had the greatest difficulty to save
+ourselves from being flung out.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+QUENCHING OUR THIRST
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The oxen continued on until every yoke of them
+stood in the creek, and there they halted, drinking
+eagerly until their sides swelled out as if bursting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Regardless of the fact that our wagon was standing
+in not less than twelve inches of water, Ellen and I
+leaped out and drank from the stream like dogs, too
+thirsty to wait longer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have been in need of water many times since that
+day, but never have I suffered so keenly, and I now
+understand that the distress which well-nigh overcame
+me was caused for the most part by my foolishly
+dwelling upon the lack of water, whereas if I had
+forced myself to think of other matters, much pain
+might have been avoided.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was impossible to force the oxen across the creek,
+and we were obliged to make camp on the easterly
+side, for it seemed as if they would never have done
+with drinking.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_56' name='Page_56'>[56]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they were so full that it was impossible to
+swallow another mouthful, they refused to cross, but
+struggled to get among the rich grass which covered
+the bottom lands of the creek.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-057.jpg" width="495" height="419" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+After the horses, as well as the men and the cattle,
+had been thus refreshed, half a dozen of our people,
+among whom was Eben Jordan, rode back on the trail,
+hoping to drive in some of the cows that had fallen
+by the wayside. It was not until a late hour in the
+evening that they returned, bringing with them only
+two of the animals.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_57' name='Page_57'>[57]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus we suffered our first loss on the journey, and it
+seemed to me a most serious matter; but even before
+we had come to the trail which led to California, the loss
+of even twice as many cattle could not have disturbed
+me, for I had come to believe that we should arrive
+at that Land of Promise, if indeed we were so fortunate
+as to survive, almost empty-handed, owing
+to the difficulties of the way which the beasts could
+not overcome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next day's march was ended early in the afternoon,
+because then we had come to a stream, and those
+who were familiar with the trail knew we could not
+arrive at another place where water would be found
+until late in the night.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+MAKING BUTTER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+So we encamped early, and mother decided to set
+about churning, for long ago our store of butter had been
+exhausted. We had but a small quantity of cream,
+all of which had been saved since morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No sooner had she begun her work than fully
+half the women of the company followed her example,
+and at the side or in the rear of nearly every wagon was
+a churn set out with either the girls or the boys working
+the dasher.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Eben Jordan said when he offered to spell me at
+the churn, it looked as if we people, who had set out
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_58' name='Page_58'>[58]</a></span>
+from Ashley to find a new home in the land of
+California, had decided to abandon the idea and
+turn all our attention to making
+butter.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-059.jpg" width="309" height="413" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Next morning we were
+forced to continue the journey
+before having breakfast,
+for we were nearing
+the Kansas River, and
+would arrive there about
+noon if the march was
+begun as soon as daylight.
+Even then
+there would be hardly
+more than time before
+the sun set to
+get all our train over, for the
+stream was so deep that it could
+not be forded, and we must send the wagons across in
+boats.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A KANSAS FERRY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Although we were, as one might have supposed, in
+an uninhabited country, father told me that at this
+crossing of the Kansas River was a ferry owned by two
+half-breed Indians, who made a business of freighting
+heavy wagons across for a fee of one dollar each; but
+all the live stock would be forced to swim.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_59' name='Page_59'>[59]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now since none of the boats could carry more
+than one wagon at a time, you may readily understand
+how many hours would be needed in order to get
+all our train from one side of the river to the other,
+even though it was no more than two hundred yards
+from bank to bank. Therefore, as I have said, it was
+necessary we arrive at the ferry at
+the earliest possible moment, lest night
+overtake us while half
+the company yet remained
+on the eastern shore.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-060.jpg" width="502" height="351" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The ferryboats were nothing more than square,
+shallow boxes, which the Indians pushed across by
+poles, after the cargo of wagons had been put on
+board.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course the women and the girls had nothing to do
+with this ferrying, save to remain under the wagon
+coverings where they would be out of the way. I
+envied Eben Jordan, who could move about at will, for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_60' name='Page_60'>[60]</a></span>
+verily my heart was in my mouth, so to speak, during
+all the time we were working our slow way across the
+stream, fearing lest our boat should sink beneath us.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Not until nearly six o'clock were all our company
+on the western side of the river, and then I supposed
+that we would immediately make camp; but to my
+surprise word was given for the train to move on, and
+we journeyed three miles more, coming to the bank of
+Soldier Creek before darkness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at this place that a most pleasant surprise
+awaited us. Colonel Russell's wife, who had walked
+ahead while our train was being ferried across the
+river, found quantities and quantities of wild strawberries
+near the camping place. As soon as we women
+and girls arrived, we set about gathering the berries,
+until each family had a good supply of the luscious
+fruit. Milk was not a poor substitute for cream to
+us who had been living upon corn bread and salt meat
+ever since we left the settlement of Independence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the next two days we traveled steadily
+onward, slowly, to be sure, but yet each step, as Ellen
+said again and again, was taking us nearer the end of
+the journey. In time I came to be impatient whenever
+a halt was called, so eager was I to have done with
+riding, for however comfortable a girl might make
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_61' name='Page_61'>[61]</a></span>
+herself in one of the wagons, her limbs were certain
+to become cramped before night.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-062.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+On the third day after crossing the Kansas River,
+the leaders of our company decided that a halt was
+needed in order to give the animals a rest. Their
+hoofs had become dry and cracked from traveling
+over the matted grass of last year, which covered the
+prairie even beneath the new crop, and it was necessary
+that something be done for them without delay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had been looking forward to a full day's halt, even
+though impatient when we were not moving forward,
+for Ellen and I had planned to wander as far from the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_62' name='Page_62'>[62]</a></span>
+encampment as we could, searching for flowers and
+wild peas, which grew there in great abundance, so
+we had been told.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BREAD MAKING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Mother decided that now had come a time when
+she must bake a plentiful supply of bread, for she was
+determined not to be put to such straits as we were
+during the rain storm, when it was next to impossible
+to build a fire in the stove, and, of course, I was glad
+to do whatever I might to aid her.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-063.jpg" width="494" height="331" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Before father had fairly got the stove out of the
+wagon and set up where it could be most conveniently
+used, nearly every other woman in the company had
+decided to follow mother's example, and then came such
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_63' name='Page_63'>[63]</a></span>
+a scene as was presented when each family did its
+churning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the rear or at the side of nearly every wagon a
+stove was set up, and one might see everywhere women
+rolling or kneading dough, girls running about on
+errands, and boys doing their share by keeping the
+fires going.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I must say to Eben Jordan's credit that he was of
+great assistance to mother and me that day. If he
+had been a saint upon earth, he could not have done
+more or worked with greater patience than he did,
+running from stove to stove when the other boys had
+neglected their duties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother told him laughingly that many times while
+we lived in Ashley she had been vexed because of
+the boyish pranks he played; but from this time
+onward she should remember what he had done in
+the way of aiding the cooks, and would overlook almost
+anything which mischief might prompt him to do.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+PRAIRIE PEAS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The baking came to an end, so far as our family
+was concerned, shortly after noon; then Ellen and
+I, taking Eben with us as guide and protector, went
+out in search of peas and brought home enough to
+supply several families, who had been neighbors of
+ours, with a generous mess.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_64' name='Page_64'>[64]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Save for the fact that these prairie peas look somewhat
+like those we have at home, I could find no likeness
+between the two varieties. The wild peas have a
+tough rind, and there are several seeds in the middle
+of each; but after they have been boiled and allowed
+to remain in vinegar a
+few hours, they make
+a fairly pleasing dish.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-065.jpg" width="504" height="416" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+When we began the march once more, I hoped to see
+the cattle moving more spiritedly than before the halt;
+but in this I was mistaken. It seemed to me that they
+limped painfully, and worse than ever; that I was not
+mistaken was proved, to my satisfaction at least,
+when I heard father and another man saying to each
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_65' name='Page_65'>[65]</a></span>
+other that before many days we should be forced to
+kill two or three whose feet were in the worst condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, the days went on and our cattle continued
+to work fairly well, although I noticed that when we
+came to rough places, such as the crossing of a stream,
+where it was necessary to climb a high bank on the
+opposite side, the drivers were forced to double up the
+teams more often than before, because the poor creatures
+could not haul so heavy a load as when we first
+started out.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN AS A HUNTER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Within a week from the time of leaving Soldier
+Creek, Eben Jordan was indeed puffed up with pride.
+He came into camp late one afternoon dragging
+behind him an antelope which he had shot
+within two miles of where we halted an
+hour previous. This proof that he had
+shown himself a skillful hunter, caused
+the boy literally to swell with joy as he
+strutted around the body of
+the beautiful animal
+while our people
+were looking at it.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-066.jpg" width="309" height="263" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It seemed too bad to kill such an innocent creature
+as that antelope, and yet I forgot all the cruelty of
+it when Eben brought to our wagon enough steaks
+to provide all of us with a slice of fresh meat. Afterward
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_66' name='Page_66'>[66]</a></span>
+it seemed to me much as if we had been
+cannibals when we so eagerly devoured the handsome
+animal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From that day on, whenever we made camp before
+dark, Eben went out with his rifle, and more than once
+he brought in a deer of some kind, dividing the meat
+generously and fairly among us all.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A HERD OF BUFFALOES
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then came the time when we had our first glimpse
+of buffaloes, and never shall I forget the scene. We
+had been traveling in the bottom lands where we
+found multitudes of paths deeply cut into the ground,
+which some of our people said had been made by
+buffaloes; but we girls never so much as dreamed we
+might be near the beasts, until one morning father
+called me hurriedly to look out of the wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I screamed, for we were literally surrounded by
+thousands upon thousands of those fierce-looking, yet
+stupid, beasts, who gave no more heed to our encampment
+than if they had been accustomed to such things
+all their lives.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They circled around within a quarter of a mile of
+where our cattle were feeding, and father said afterward
+that unless our men had been exceedingly watchful and
+active, the oxen and cows would have been stampeded
+beyond a doubt.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_67' name='Page_67'>[67]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Our animals were in a high state of excitement,
+striving to get through the lines of men who guarded
+them, and of course there was no possibility of our
+breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,
+so father said, there was not a driver in the company
+who could handle half a dozen yoke of oxen while the
+buffaloes were so near.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-068.jpg" width="498" height="275" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea
+of animals as did Ellen and I. You may be certain
+Eben Jordan was among the first to go out dangerously
+near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all the
+men of the company, save those who were guiding our
+live stock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their
+heels when a rifle was discharged; but much to my
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_68' name='Page_68'>[68]</a></span>
+surprise they paid little or no attention at first to the
+reports of the firearms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I dare not venture to say how many of the animals
+were killed; but certainly it seemed to me, when about
+noon the entire herd rushed off, the rumbling of their
+hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder, that there
+were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plain
+within a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up
+to form a corral.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+There was so much game for us to bring in, that
+during the remainder of the day every man and boy
+that could be spared was kept busy at work skinning
+the dead buffaloes or cutting up the flesh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What a feast we had that evening! We had buffalo
+tongues baked in the ovens, or in front of small fires
+which had been built here and there. Then there were
+what father called hump ribs, steaks, and meat of every
+kind that could be taken from a buffalo. Each member
+of the company was eager to learn how every eatable
+portion of the animal tasted, and, therefore, cooked two
+or three times as much as could be used at one
+meal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our people had no more than time to skin and cut
+up the carcasses before dark; on the following morning
+word was passed around that each family must dry, or
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_69' name='Page_69'>[69]</a></span>
+smoke-cure, as much of the flesh as possible within
+the next four and twenty hours.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-070.jpg" width="498" height="371" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Straightway every man, woman, and child set about
+either slicing the meat as thin as it could be cut with
+sharp knives, or putting together racks made of sticks,
+on which the strips of flesh were to be hung and exposed
+to the rays of the sun, as well as to the smoke of the
+fires that were to be built directly beneath them.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+CURING THE MEAT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was disagreeable work, and yet we were all, even
+to the smallest girl, content to do our part, knowing
+that we were thus laying up food for the future when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_70' name='Page_70'>[70]</a></span>
+it might not be possible to procure game, and when all
+the stores we had brought with us from Pike County
+had been eaten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The arms of the men who acted as carvers were
+stained with blood to the elbows, while the hands and
+even the faces of the women and children who carried
+the sliced meat to hang it on the framework of sticks,
+were colored in the same way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In addition to curing the meat in the sun and smoking
+it, some of the men made what is called pemmican, a
+most disagreeable looking mixture of flesh and fat
+which I afterward came to eat greedily, when we had
+nothing else with which to satisfy our hunger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pemmican is made by first drying the very thinnest
+of thin slices of meat in the sun, until they are so hard
+that it is possible to rub or pound them to a powder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A bag is then formed of the buffalo skin, and into it
+is packed powdered meat sufficient to fill it considerably
+more than half full, after which tallow is melted and
+poured into the bag until it can hold no more. Then
+the entire mass is allowed to cool and harden. It is
+then fit for eating, so father said; but mother, when the
+time came that we were glad to have our portion of the
+stuff, always boiled it so it might be served hot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is not appetizing to me, and because I have
+seen the mixture prepared I can eat it only when I
+am very hungry.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_71' name='Page_71'>[71]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A WASH DAY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Two full days were spent in curing the meat and
+making pemmican, and even then we did not continue
+the journey immediately, for the work had brought
+our clothing to such a condition that a day for washing
+was absolutely necessary. Therefore we remained for
+another twenty-four hours.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-072.jpg" width="496" height="444" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+We were encamped near a small stream where could
+be had plenty of water for the animals, and on either
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_72' name='Page_72'>[72]</a></span>
+side of this tiny creek, shortly after sunrise, could be
+seen many fires, kettles, and washtubs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What a tired girl I was when I stretched myself out
+on mother's feather bed in the wagon that night! It
+seemed to me that I had no more than closed my eyes
+before I was asleep, and not until father was bustling
+around inside the wagon next morning trying to build a
+fire in the cookstove, did I awake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the patter, patter of rain on the wagon covering
+told that we were to be treated to another downpour
+of water, and eager though I was to reach California,
+I hoped most fervently we would remain in camp yet
+longer.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was really difficult for me to open my eyes, so
+heavily did slumber weigh upon them, when I asked
+father if he had any idea of setting off in such a
+storm, at the same time reminding him how our beasts
+had struggled through the mud during the last rain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughingly told me that we would continue on the
+trail, regardless of the weather; that a rain storm was
+not to be compared in the way of discomfort with snow.
+He said that unless we came to our journey's end before
+the season of frost set in, we might never arrive, but
+would be in danger of perishing, as others had who,
+striving to reach California, had been overtaken by
+winter among the mountains.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_73' name='Page_73'>[73]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So long as the cattle are in condition to push on,
+just so long shall we continue to march, regardless of
+whether the rain falls or the sun shines," he said,
+speaking very solemnly, and mother's face grew grave
+as if she was already beginning to understand the
+better what might be before us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There will be all too many days when we must
+remain in camp; but now, after such a long rest, it
+would be little less than wicked to remain
+idle here simply because
+it might be more
+to our comfort."
+</p>
+
+<div class="figright">
+<img src="images/i-074.jpg" width="314" height="318" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+There is little
+need for me to explain
+how disagreeable
+it is to get
+up in the morning and
+attempt to keep a fire going
+with wet fuel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everything was damp and uncomfortable to the
+touch, and all the surroundings looked much as Ellen
+and I felt when we helped mother prepare breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After that very unsatisfactory meal had been eaten,
+for we had nothing save some half-fried bacon with
+cold corn bread, not being able to make coffee because
+the fire would persist in going out, the train was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_74' name='Page_74'>[74]</a></span>
+started. Ellen and I, crouching in the rear end
+of the wagon where the rain could not drive in upon
+us, sat close to the stove, which now seemed warmer
+than when we were trying to cook breakfast, and
+talked of the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course I cannot set down all we said, for much
+of it was foolish; but some of the conversation I have
+remembered clearly even to this day.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Ellen, when I had told her it was my intent to write
+the story of our coming from Pike County, said that
+it would not be proper for me to write anything about
+what we saw or did while on the Oregon trail. We
+were bound for California, and would not be upon
+the direct road to that country until we had left
+Fort Bridger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was her idea that I should begin the story with the
+time when we turned from the trail leading to Oregon,
+and set our faces directly toward California; but, as
+has been seen, I nearly forgot her advice, and even now
+it seems impossible to do exactly as she proposed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I intend, however, in order to please her, to set
+down only such matters as seem to me of the greatest
+importance, and thereby hurry over a certain portion
+of the march, beginning in earnest with the time
+when we finally came to Fort Bridger.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_75' name='Page_75'>[75]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Now you must bear in mind, although I may not
+speak of them again, that we were constantly meeting
+with Indians. Hardly a day passed that we did not
+come upon a village, meet a party of hunters, or receive
+visits from groups of two, three, or four who came to
+beg.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-076.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Strange though it may seem, we became accustomed
+to the savages as one does to seeing a dog or a cat around
+the house, and gave little or no attention to them save
+when they made themselves disagreeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One other thing I will speak about now. Mosquitoes
+and tiny flies, which seemed as fierce as tigers, were
+with us all the time by day as well as by night.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_76' name='Page_76'>[76]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we first left Independence, it was difficult
+for me to sleep at night because of these insects, and
+during the day I spent the greater portion of my time
+striving to keep them off my hands or face. As the
+journey progressed it seemed as if they became less
+poisonous; but I suppose my body had become
+accustomed to the wounds, and I gave little heed
+to them except when the weather was exceedingly
+warm.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-077.jpg" width="493" height="398" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Until we came among the foothills, which is to
+say, after we left Fort Bridger, we found game in
+abundance. What had been sport to Eben became
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_77' name='Page_77'>[77]</a></span>
+now a real labor, and he sought for fresh meat only
+when urged to do so by his father or some of us girls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were days when our men brought in no game
+because they were unable to come across any; but we
+were in a country abounding with deer, elks, buffaloes,
+and even bears, and so did not suffer for food.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+PRAIRIE DOGS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Even though I say nothing more regarding the
+remainder of our journey over the Oregon trail, I must
+speak of the little prairie dogs which we came upon
+from time to time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They live in villages, sometimes, as father has said,
+several acres in extent, and their houses are holes in
+the ground, with a top or extension, made of earth
+which they have pushed up from beneath.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-078.jpg" width="477" height="236" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan declares, and several men in the company
+who have talked with the trappers or hunters
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_78' name='Page_78'>[78]</a></span>
+say, that in every prairie dog's house may be found
+a little gray owl, who has lodgings there, and oftentimes
+with this owl is a rattlesnake. Now just fancy
+the prairie dog, the owl, and the rattlesnake living
+together! All I ever saw of the family was the dog,
+and he is about the size of a large rat, with hair
+which is a mixture of light brown and black in
+color.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is impossible for me to tell you how entertaining
+these little creatures are. When we passed by the
+villages you could see them scampering around and
+barking. Again and again I have seen them playing
+about or sitting on the top of their houses, giving no
+heed to us until the wagon train was close upon them,
+when the entire colony would pop into their holes with
+every evidence of fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A moment later each little fellow would stick his
+head out, his black, beadlike eyes glistening, while he
+looked around as if asking whether or not you saw
+how quickly he could get under cover when it pleased
+him to do so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I know of nothing more comical than these little
+animals, and yet they look so much like rats that
+I would greatly prefer to see them at a distance rather
+than make any attempt at taming them, as Eben
+Jordan declares is his intention to do as soon as he can
+catch one alive.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_79' name='Page_79'>[79]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have my doubts, however, about his being able
+to catch one, unless he is cruel enough to wound it
+first with a rifle ball.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Just before we arrived at the Platte River, we
+crossed a small creek, the bottom of which was exceedingly
+soft; the men were forced
+to double up the teams in order
+to draw the heavy loads along,
+and Colonel Russell's wagon upset in midstream, where
+the water was two or three feet deep.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-080.jpg" width="501" height="330" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Now there was nothing comical in such a mishap,
+and yet Ellen and I, who were standing on the bank of
+the creek where we could see all that was going on,
+laughed until I felt actually ashamed of myself.
+It was all so ridiculous that I could not have kept
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_80' name='Page_80'>[80]</a></span>
+my face straight whatever might have been the
+result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the accident had happened quickly, there would
+not have been anything so very funny about it;
+but, instead, the wagon toppled slowly, the men
+striving meanwhile to prevent it from going entirely
+over. In the heavy wagon were Mrs. Russell and
+four children. We saw first
+the youngest child, as if
+some one had
+tossed him out, come shooting
+from the wagon and strike
+the water. Then another child, and so on, one after
+another, exactly like a lot of grasshoppers, until Mrs.
+Russell herself appeared. Out they marched in the
+same order, water streaming from their clothing, which
+was bedaubed with mud.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-081.jpg" width="487" height="308" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Mother reproved Ellen and me severely for laughing
+when our neighbors were suffering; but even as she
+spoke the Russell procession passed along the edge
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_81' name='Page_81'>[81]</a></span>
+of the bank, marking the way with mud and water,
+and I noticed that it was all she could do to keep her
+face straight while she scolded us.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+CHIMNEY ROCK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When finally we crossed the Platte River, the men
+of the company rejoiced, although I was unable to
+learn why, except that it marked, as mother suggested,
+the first stage of the journey, the second of which
+would come to an end at Fort Bridger, and the third
+in that land where we hoped to settle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not long after crossing this river we had a first
+glimpse of that enormous mass which travelers speak
+of as Court House Rock, which, so those who have
+seen both say, looks from the distance not unlike the
+Capitol at Washington. A few miles farther on we
+saw another huge pile called Chimney Rock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I doubt not but that both would have been well
+worth the seeing, yet our desire to look at them more
+closely was not gratified. The trail leads some distance
+off, and when mother proposed to father that
+we might halt for a day in order to get a nearer view
+of the curiosities, he shook his head decidedly, saying,
+almost gruffly, that we who were bent on finding new
+homes had no time to fritter away in looking at this
+odd thing or at that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan, however, borrowing one of his father's
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_82' name='Page_82'>[82]</a></span>
+horses, rode off to Chimney Rock by himself, and
+when he came back he told Ellen and me that we need
+not shed many tears because of failing
+to see it close at
+hand, because it
+was nothing more
+than a lot of big
+stones that
+looked as if they
+might have been carelessly plastered
+together with mud.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-083.jpg" width="489" height="316" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Of course this couldn't be the fact; but Eben has
+no eye for scenery and, I dare say, might turn his nose
+up at what every one else would believe wonderful or
+full of beauty.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+AT FORT LARAMIE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Forty-eight days after leaving Independence we
+came to Fort Laramie, which is more like a trading
+post than like a fortification. It stands on the banks
+of the river Platte, is owned by the American Fur
+Company, and is six hundred and seventy-two miles
+from Independence by the trail we came over.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_83' name='Page_83'>[83]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just fancy! We had traveled nearly seven hundred
+miles, the men of the company walking all the way;
+yet during that time, with the exception of the mishap
+to Colonel Russell's wagon and the loss of a few head
+of cattle, we had come to no harm.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-084.jpg" width="484" height="392" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+At Fort Laramie we slept in a real house for the first
+time since starting on the long journey. It was not
+such a building as we lived in at Ashley, and yet it was
+to me almost beautiful, after I had remained so long
+in the wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I fancied I would sleep on that night as never
+before since the march began, and that we would
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_84' name='Page_84'>[84]</a></span>
+have supper and breakfast properly and conveniently
+served.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had supposed the mosquitoes and the midges were
+as thick in our wagons as it would be possible to find
+them anywhere; but when we came into that house
+the place was swarming with them, and they prevented
+us from closing our eyes in rest during the entire night.
+Never was a girl better pleased than I when the first
+light of day came in through the windows.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After striving to cook food in front of one of the two
+fireplaces in that house, I was actually ashamed of
+having complained because our stove in the wagon on
+a stormy morning had
+seemed to me like
+some contrary
+animal.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-085.jpg" width="401" height="365" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+However much
+trouble we
+might have
+had with
+wet fuel and
+lack of draft
+owing to the
+shortness of
+the stovepipe,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_85' name='Page_85'>[85]</a></span>
+it was as nothing compared with those rude fireplaces,
+where our faces were burned almost to a crisp, our
+eyes filled with smoke, and whatever was cooking
+came from the heat thickly incrusted with ashes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I resolved not to grumble at anything we might find
+in California, provided we had conveniences where we
+could cook with some degree of comfort, and a place
+in which to lie down where we would be protected from
+insects.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+I suppose Eben might describe Fort Laramie so that
+it would to a stranger present the appearance of a stronghold;
+but for my part I saw there only scores upon
+scores of savages, loitering around outside the walls,
+gambling, racing horses, bartering furs, or gorging
+themselves with half-cooked meat, while here and there
+could be seen the noisy trappers, some dressed fancifully
+after the fashion of the Indians, and others decked out
+in buckskin clothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were boasting hunters who swaggered around,
+peering curiously under our wagon covers when we had
+taken refuge there; and all around, corralled or feeding
+near at hand, were cattle and ponies almost without
+number.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our company was not the only party of Pikers at
+Fort Laramie. It seemed to me there must have been
+three or four hundred who had been traveling as we
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_86' name='Page_86'>[86]</a></span>
+had traveled, some hoping to go into that land of
+Oregon which was represented as being wondrously
+beautiful, and others bound for California.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-087.jpg" width="496" height="485" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I would have visited among the strange
+Pikers had it not been for the throngs of trappers,
+hunters, and
+Indians, such as I
+have already written
+about. Mother
+declared it would be well
+for us girls to stay in our wagon, and this she came
+to believe firmly after two of the trappers engaged in
+a downright battle wherein both used knives, and
+both were sorely wounded.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_87' name='Page_87'>[87]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The people round about did not appear to think this
+fighting wicked or strange, and instead of endeavoring
+to make peace among them, all, even a few women,
+stood around watching the fray as if it was some
+exhibition of an innocent nature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was sick with the sights of Fort Laramie even
+before mother sent Ellen and me to the wagon, and
+felt well content to remain there until next morning,
+never grumbling when I struggled to keep a fire going in
+the stove in order that we might cook supper.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It seemed to me that every member of our company,
+with the possible exception of Eben Jordan,
+was delighted when the word had been passed around
+during the evening that we should pull out at early
+daybreak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were getting near to that forking of the trail
+where we would bear southward and then westward,
+passing around a great salt sea on our way to California.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We soon came among the foothills, and it was really
+a relief to be climbing up one hill and sliding down
+another, instead of driving over a level plain where
+was nothing to vary the monotony. Although Ellen
+and I were pleased with this change in the appearance
+of the country, our fathers found little in it to give
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_88' name='Page_88'>[88]</a></span>
+them pleasure, for we had come to where grass was
+scanty and the way difficult for the animals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As father said, from then on we might suffer such
+privations and hardships as we had not experienced
+since leaving Independence; but that I could hardly
+credit, for it did not seem to me possible we would
+have more discomfort than when we were marching
+in the rain, with the ground so soft that the cattle
+could only with difficulty drag the wagon along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suppose our people did have some trouble in finding
+grass for the animals; but we girls knew little regarding
+such matters. Our work was to aid in preparing
+the meals, and, as Ellen said, in keeping our minds as
+cheerful as possible; these tasks we performed to the
+best of our ability, without hearing very much of the
+perplexities of the men, save when Eben Jordan came
+to us with tales of trouble.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+INDEPENDENCE ROCK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After leaving Fort Laramie the first thing which
+particularly attracted my attention was a perfect
+mountain of rock, fully a hundred feet in height and
+more than a mile in circumference, father told me,
+which stood near the Sweetwater River, between the
+ranges of mountains which border the Sweetwater
+Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was an "imposing work of nature," so Colonel
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_89' name='Page_89'>[89]</a></span>
+Russell said; but to me the most interesting thing
+about it was that the first celebration of the Fourth
+of July by a company of people bound to Oregon was
+held at the place. On the rocks, as high up as one can
+see, are a multitude of names, many, many hundreds,
+some painted, and others cut into the soft stone by
+those who had visited the place.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-090.jpg" width="477" height="250" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Another thing about Independence Rock which
+causes me to remember it even
+more than as "an imposing
+work of nature,"
+was that near it one could pick
+up all the saleratus he needed, for there are veritable
+ponds of it, where, so father said, water filled with the
+salts had evaporated, leaving the saleratus itself in
+pools which looked as if made of milk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning we came upon a great gap in the
+mountain wall which is called the Devil's Gate;
+through it flows a beautiful stream, on the banks of
+which we found wild currants and gooseberries in
+greatest abundance.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_90' name='Page_90'>[90]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+About the middle of July we arrived at Fort Bridger,
+where we were to turn off upon the California trail, and
+where, if Ellen's advice had been followed, this story of
+mine would have begun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Why it should be called <i>Fort</i> Bridger I fail to understand,
+for there are no signs of a fort about, but only
+three or four miserable log huts in which live two
+fur traders with
+their trappers
+and hunters.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-091.jpg" width="488" height="268" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+One might have believed it quite an important
+place, however, because when we arrived there were
+no less than five hundred Indians of the Snake tribe
+encamped round about the log huts. Beyond them
+on every hand could be seen wagon train after wagon
+train of people who had come not only from Pike
+County, but from Ohio and Indiana, as well as from
+Illinois and Missouri, the greater number intent on
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_91' name='Page_91'>[91]</a></span>
+gaining the Oregon country, with perhaps two hundred
+who were going to California.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course there were also at this place hunters and
+trappers, traders coming from or going into Oregon or
+California, Spaniards, Negroes, and red men, the greater
+number of all this throng living in canvas tents, in
+wagons or log huts, while the rest made shift as best
+they might in the open air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was, like Fort Laramie, a place where Ellen and
+I had best remain in the wagons, for no one could tell
+what the savages might do if two girls wandered
+among their lodges, and certainly
+we had no desire to make their
+acquaintance.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-092.jpg" width="486" height="450" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_92' name='Page_92'>[92]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Here, as everywhere since leaving Independence,
+we heard that song which by this
+time had grown threadbare,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p>
+"My name it is Joe Bowers."
+</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>
+The Negroes and the Spaniards, the
+trappers and the hunters, were
+all singing it, and the wonder to
+Ellen and me was where so
+many people could
+have heard it.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-093.jpg" width="389" height="550" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+WITH OUR FACES
+TOWARD CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After spending one day
+at Fort Bridger we set
+off early in the morning
+with our faces turned toward
+California, and our
+hearts beating furiously. For
+the first time since leaving home
+it seemed as if we were really on
+the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The trail ran up hill or down, all the way, but there
+was very little difference, so far as hardships were
+concerned, from that which we had already experienced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the first three or four days our fathers had
+no difficulty in finding grass and water in plenty for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_93' name='Page_93'>[93]</a></span>
+the cattle, although there were times, of course, when
+for mile after mile we passed through nothing but
+sage grass, which even the oxen would not eat. Every
+night during this time, we came upon a pleasant place
+in which to camp, and, best of all, so Eben Jordan
+thought, the game was abundant everywhere. When
+he had shot a small bear and brought it into camp, it
+seemed as if his cup of happiness was full. One might
+have thought the lad had performed some wondrous
+deed, from the way he strutted to and fro, repeating
+marvelous accounts of his battle with the beast.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+AT BEAR RIVER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was when we came to Bear River that I began to
+understand how different this trail was from the one
+which we had been traveling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Instead of finding a safe ford, we came upon a swiftly
+running river, with a bed of rocks. So strong was the
+current that when father waded in to drive the oxen
+it was necessary for him to hold firmly to the bow of
+the foremost yoke lest he be thrown from his footing;
+the heavy cart pitched about until I was certain it
+would be overturned even as had Mrs. Russell's.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother said that if such an accident should befall
+us, it would be no more than a just punishment to
+Ellen and me because we had laughed so rudely when
+the Russell family were in trouble.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_94' name='Page_94'>[94]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE COMING OF WINTER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Two days after leaving Fort Bridger we had the
+first indication that winter was near at hand, even
+though it was then July. That night the buckets of
+water were crusted with ice a full half inch thick, and
+upon the tops of the mountains which towered so high
+above us snow had fallen.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-095.jpg" width="500" height="450" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+You can well fancy how we shivered while making
+ready to cook breakfast. When the train had started,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_95' name='Page_95'>[95]</a></span>
+Ellen and I crawled under the bed clothing, for it
+seemed as if we were like to freeze, and no one knows
+how long we might have remained had not mother
+insisted that we should sit once more on the front seat,
+where we could see the wondrous beauties everywhere
+around us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at that time we were traveling through what
+seemed to be a mountain gorge; towering many
+hundred feet above our heads on either side were
+crags which had been formed in the most comical
+figures. Some of them really looked like animals,
+and I could see now and then the head of an elephant
+or of a lion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later in the day father told us that we had passed
+in the early morning, while Ellen and I were asleep, a
+rock which looked so much like a beast that the
+trappers had given it the name of the Elephant's
+Statue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During nearly two days we continued along these
+rocky roads, with the mountains overshadowing us,
+and in places the cliffs hanging so low that it seemed
+as if the rumbling of our wagons must cause them to fall
+upon our heads.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next night we kept a fire in the cookstove
+because of the heavy frost in the air; then we came to
+a narrow pass between the mountains, where was a
+gorge or chasm, so deep that we could readily believe
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_96' name='Page_96'>[96]</a></span>
+Eben Jordan when he said the people at Fort
+Bridger told him the sun never penetrated to the
+bottom.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-097.jpg" width="484" height="487" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It was what is known as Ogden's Hole, and got its
+name, according to one story, through being the death
+place of a trapper by the name of Ogden, who had
+hidden himself there from the Indians and was either
+killed by them or starved to death, Eben was not
+certain which.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_97' name='Page_97'>[97]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+UTAH INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+There among the mountains we met a party of
+Utah Indians armed only with bows and arrows, and
+they journeyed with us until we camped for the
+night, counting as a matter of course upon our feeding
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Utahs looked to me more manly than any other
+Indians we had yet met. Surely they behaved themselves
+in a seemly manner, for when supper had been
+made ready, they seated themselves in a circle and
+waited decently to be invited to partake of food.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the following morning, after we had traveled
+about two miles, we came upon mountains which
+looked as if they were standing there to bar our
+advance, and for the life of us neither Ellen nor I
+could understand how it would be possible to continue
+the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even the men of the company were perplexed, and
+during half an hour or more the entire train was halted
+while our people went first this way and then that,
+seeking some trail over which we could pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Colonel Russell came back to where we were
+waiting anxiously and said he saw a narrow trail
+winding directly up over those enormous cliffs. When
+he pointed it out to the other men, we girls overheard
+what he said, and I could not repress a cry of fear,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_98' name='Page_98'>[98]</a></span>
+for surely it did not seem as if any member of our
+company could climb to such a height, over so narrow
+a path, let alone trying to drive the oxen with the
+heavy carts.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A DANGEROUS TRAIL
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+However, there was nothing to be done save attempt
+the dangerous passage, unless, indeed, we were willing
+to turn our faces toward Fort Bridger, admitting we
+had been beaten.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-099.jpg" width="498" height="307" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+My heart was literally in my mouth when we began
+that terrible climb among loose rocks, over a path so
+narrow that it seemed, if the wheels of the wagon
+slipped ever so little, we would be hurled to the bottom
+of the cañon, which is another word for a deep
+valley or a rift in the rocks.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_99' name='Page_99'>[99]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ascent was so steep that when we started no
+less than twelve yoke of oxen were needed to each
+wagon, and there was a steady, upward scrambling
+climb of fully two miles; therefore you can well
+understand how many hours
+we spent in making that
+short portion of the journey.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-100.jpg" width="498" height="474" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Only one wagon
+was sent up the
+trail at a time, lest
+through some accident
+it should run backward
+and crush whatever might
+be in its path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Until we were upon
+the side of the mountain
+where the trail
+pitched downward into the valley, I kept my eyes
+tightly closed, not daring to look at that dreadful
+depth into which the slightest mishap might plunge us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the panting oxen were brought to a standstill,
+the fearful labor having been performed, Ellen
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_100' name='Page_100'>[100]</a></span>
+said that she had been so frightened she was actually
+exhausted, and indeed the perspiration, caused no
+doubt by fear, was streaming down her face when I
+ventured to open my eyes in order to look around.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can conceive of nothing more horrifying than that
+journey, short though it was in point of distance, yet
+so long while one was in a state of terror as to seem
+almost endless.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In going down on the other side, but one yoke of
+cattle was hitched to each wagon, and kept there only
+in order to hold the tongue steady and thus steer the
+huge cart, while the hind wheels were chained, so that,
+not being able to turn, they might act as a drag to
+prevent us from sliding swiftly to destruction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father said we had traveled no more than seven
+miles when we had crossed that terrible mountain.
+There we found ourselves in a valley green with grass,
+where ran a small brook which was most pleasing to
+look upon, since it told us that we would have water in
+abundance. Coming upon such a spot after so much
+horror, caused it to appear all the more beautiful.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Without knowing it at the moment of halting, we
+made camp near two Indian lodges, where lived ten
+or twelve of the Utah tribe; having gained so favorable
+an impression of those savages when some of the members
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_101' name='Page_101'>[101]</a></span>
+had visited our camp, Ellen and I, with Eben
+Jordan, went among them, finding that they had set
+themselves up for traders, counting upon the settlers
+bound for the land of California, as customers. The
+women showed us a store of powder made from sunflower
+seeds, which had been parched and then pulverized;
+this they offered in exchange for
+food, or for ammunition. Ellen gave
+a loaf of corn bread for perhaps a
+quart of the stuff, and found it most agreeable to the
+taste.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-102.jpg" width="487" height="379" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+That evening one of the men brought in a fat antelope,
+and mother made our portion into as savory a stew as
+I had eaten since we left Pike County. After that
+delicious meal and with the pleasing knowledge that
+we had come in safety over so terrible a road, I slept
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_102' name='Page_102'>[102]</a></span>
+that night as soundly as I should have slept in my own
+bed at home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was decided that we would remain in that place,
+which mother called the Happy Valley, for a day, in
+order to give the cattle a long rest before they did more
+mountain climbing, and the housewives took advantage
+of the opportunity to wash clothing, bake bread,
+and do up such small chores as were necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Consequently all the young people were busily
+engaged keeping the fires going, churning, or performing
+such other tasks as were required, so that we gave
+little heed to what was going on around us until, when
+the forenoon was about half spent, Eben Jordan excitedly
+called our attention to a huge column of smoke
+which was rising from the mountains to the westward.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A FOREST FIRE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+At first I gave little heed to the matter, thinking it
+might betoken the location of some Indian village;
+but within another hour, so strong was the wind, the
+fire had been driven up over the summit of the huge
+mountain at the foot of which we were encamped,
+when straightway we had over our heads, as it were,
+a canopy of flame and smoke which shut out the light
+of day, causing it to appear as if night had come and
+the clouds were ablaze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Half-burned leaves and ashes were scattered upon us
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_103' name='Page_103'>[103]</a></span>
+until we were literally powdered as if with dust, and the
+men found it necessary to keep sharp watch over the
+coverings of the wagons, lest an ember should drop
+upon them.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-104.jpg" width="501" height="480" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+During all the remainder of the day and until nearly
+morning, the fire raged with greatest fury; but, fortunately,
+the flames did not come down into the valley.
+When we set off next day, the cattle, much refreshed,
+went on at a swift pace; but the air was yet so full of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_104' name='Page_104'>[104]</a></span>
+smoke that my eyes ached, while the tears ran down
+my cheeks in tiny streams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our way now lay along the foot of the range of mountains
+which sloped down to the marshy plains bordering
+that vast inland sea, which has always seemed so
+mysterious to me because of being salt.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE GREAT SALT LAKE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was about noon when we had our first view of
+the Great Salt Lake, and although I had never then
+seen an ocean, I could not believe the existence of
+anything more wondrous than that huge body of salt
+water among the mountains.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-105.jpg" width="494" height="321" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Father says the lake is probably a full hundred miles
+long, and at its widest part no less than sixty miles;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_105' name='Page_105'>[105]</a></span>
+but this he knows only from that which he heard from
+the hunters or trappers, therefore I am not setting
+it down as positive information. It seems to me I
+remember having read in one of my schoolbooks that
+it is no more than seventy-five miles long and thirty
+miles wide.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, this much which father says is true:
+that the lake has no outlet, and four barrels of its
+water being evaporated, will produce nearly a barrel
+of salt; therefore you can understand how much more
+salty it is than a real ocean.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No fish can live in it, and Eben Jordan declared that
+one of the trappers at Fort Bridger told him a man
+could not sink beneath the surface, so buoyant is the
+water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shore of this great inland sea was white with
+a crust of soda or salt, and the odor which came from
+the stagnant water in the marshes was so unpleasant
+as to cause me to feel really ill.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN AS A FISHERMAN
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was on this night, when we had our first view of
+the Great Salt Lake, that Eben Jordan gave us a most
+pleasing surprise. We had halted quite early in the
+afternoon, and even before camp was made he disappeared;
+but I gave no heed to the matter when I
+heard his mother inquiring after him, for I thought
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_106' name='Page_106'>[106]</a></span>
+the boy had gone off to try his skill as a hunter
+again.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-107.jpg" width="411" height="417" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Two or three hours later, however, it appeared that,
+instead of chasing deer or bears, he had turned
+fisherman for the time being,
+and when he came into camp
+just before we began to get
+supper, he had with him
+seventeen of the most beautiful
+trout you could
+imagine, which he
+had caught in
+one of the mountain
+streams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were
+so large that
+he literally
+staggered
+under the
+weight, and the
+single fish which he gave mother made an ample meal
+for all our family. It surely was delicious, and while
+eating it I made a mental resolve never again to speak
+impatiently or angrily to Eben, whatever he might do,
+for many times since our journey began he had been
+very kind to us all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It really began to seem as if, after we had turned
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_107' name='Page_107'>[107]</a></span>
+into the California trail, we were to come across everything
+which was strange and wonderful, for next day,
+after our train had rounded the base of one of the
+mountains, we came upon six or seven springs of water
+which was actually hot to the touch, as if on the point
+of boiling, and which smelled so strongly of sulphur
+that one would have been in danger of suffocation
+had the fumes been inhaled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those odd springs seemingly came up out of the
+solid rock, and mother, whose curiosity was so far
+aroused as to induce her to taste of the water, said
+it was bitter and most disagreeable; but she had no
+doubt it might be well for us all to take fairly strong
+doses by way of medicine.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+GRASSHOPPER JAM
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were yet within sight of the Great Salt Lake
+when, one evening, three Indian men and two squaws,
+miserably clad and very ugly, came into camp bringing
+for sale or barter something that looked much
+like preserves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even though these people were so wretchedly dirty,
+I was hoping mother might be induced to buy some
+of their wares, so keenly did I hunger for something
+sweet; but I speedily lost all desire for anything of
+the kind, when one of the men in the company explained
+what it was the Indians had for sale.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_108' name='Page_108'>[108]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seems impossible human beings could eat such
+things, and yet this man told me it was true that the
+Indians gathered a fruit called service berries, crushed
+them into jam and mixed the
+pulp with grasshoppers that
+had been dried over the fire
+and then pounded to a powder.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-109.jpg" width="497" height="417" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+He called the stuff "Indian fruit cake," and, much
+to my disgust, not only bought a generous portion,
+paying for it with needles, powder, and bullets, but
+actually ate the mixture. I could not bring myself
+even to look upon it, after knowing what it really was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more we came upon the mountains after leaving
+the shores of Great Salt Lake, and again we climbed
+up the steep ascents, with all the oxen toiling at a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_109' name='Page_109'>[109]</a></span>
+single wagon, and then slipped down on the opposite
+side, until it seemed certain some terrible accident
+must befall.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A DESERTED VILLAGE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+One night we came to another place much like the
+one we had called the Happy Valley, and there we found
+an Indian village of fifteen or twenty lodges, every one
+deserted, although we knew the people could not be
+far away, for fires were burning brightly in front of
+the dwellings, dogs were barking, and many willow
+baskets filled with service berries were standing about.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-110.jpg" width="493" height="285" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It was a beautiful spot for a home, and I could
+almost have wished father would settle there, rather
+than continue on over a trail which was as dangerous
+as the one spread out before us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were in the valley poplar and pine trees
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_110' name='Page_110'>[110]</a></span>
+with many willows, and here and there a patch of
+sunflowers shining out from the surrounding green
+with a golden glory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had supposed our people would camp there; but
+instead of doing so they continued on, planning to
+spend the night on the higher land. When we were
+halfway up the ridge which led out from the valley,
+the Indians, whom we had evidently frightened, came
+out from their hiding places, whooping and shouting
+as if to scare us, although I saw no token that they
+were bent on doing us mischief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We camped on a slope of the ridge, down which ran
+a small brook, and those who had tents set them up
+in a grove of cedar trees where they looked most
+inviting. When, however, Ellen and I strolled that
+way we found the mosquitoes and midges so thick
+that it seemed as if we had a veil in front of our
+faces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night the men of our company gathered apart
+from the women and children, seemingly to discuss
+some important matter; my curiosity was so far
+aroused that when I saw Eben Jordan I called upon
+him for an explanation, and he told me that we had
+come to the most dangerous part of our journey,
+where we must encounter perils so great that those
+which had already been overcome would seem as
+nothing.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_111' name='Page_111'>[111]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE GREAT SALT DESERT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were near what is known as the Great Salt
+Desert; in fact, were to cross it on the morrow, and
+when Eben Jordan led me some distance farther up
+the ridge, I could see it at my feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The desert is covered with salt like sand, and on it
+grows nothing except wild sage, while from where we
+were then camped, until it would
+be possible again to find water,
+is no less than sixty miles,
+as Eben said.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-112.jpg" width="309" height="333" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Sixty miles over a
+soft surface where
+the animals would
+oftentimes sink fetlock-deep,
+and the
+wheels of the wagons
+plow into the salt
+sand until the progress
+must be woefully slow.
+In addition, all the while we would plod along knowing
+that no water was to be had, save what we carried
+with us, until the train gained the opposite side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were camped on the side of a mountain which
+seemed to be made up almost wholly of rock; this
+place had been decided upon because there could be
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_112' name='Page_112'>[112]</a></span>
+found a small spring, yielding barely enough water to
+satisfy the desires of ourselves and the animals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the last spring or stream of fresh water we
+should come upon until we had traveled across that
+desert, which, from the distance, looked like a great
+sea of milk. Once we had started upon the journey,
+it would be necessary to continue on, heeding not
+those who might fall by the way, so I heard father
+and Colonel Russell say, for the lives of our people
+depended upon our going steadily forward.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Orders were given by the leaders of the party that
+our mothers cook no pemmican nor any salted food,
+lest it increase our thirst, and we ate bread with as
+much milk as could be had from the cows; within
+a few hours, for we were to set off again at midnight,
+another meal, consisting wholly of bread made from
+corn meal, would be served.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The water of the spring was so salty as to be almost
+undrinkable. During the evening the women and
+girls were busily engaged making coffee, for in such
+form the water was a trifle more palatable, and we were
+advised to fill with the coffee every vessel that would
+hold liquid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for the cattle, they would be forced to make the
+march of sixty miles with nothing to drink save what
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_113' name='Page_113'>[113]</a></span>
+could be carried in two casks which had been bought
+at Fort Bridger for that especial purpose.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-114.jpg" width="490" height="414" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+When I asked father how it would be possible for
+us to give the animals drink even once, from no more
+than sixty gallons of water, he said they were not intending
+to allow
+the poor creatures
+to have
+what they wanted.
+The supply of water
+would be used simply to
+moisten the mouths of those that were suffering
+most severely. There could be no question whatsoever
+but that the live stock would be in great
+misery, and if it so chanced that we people escaped
+dire distress, then indeed we should hold ourselves
+fortunate.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_114' name='Page_114'>[114]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately Ellen and I had little time in which
+to borrow trouble concerning the future, for every
+woman and girl found plenty with which to occupy
+her hands, as we prepared for the most dangerous and
+disagreeable portion of all the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made corn bread in abundance, cooking no less
+than three times as much as we could eat, for Colonel
+Russell suggested that it was possible we might abate
+the thirst of the animals by giving them bread in
+small quantities during the march, and so we filled
+every available place in the wagon with this food.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother made coffee enough to provide us with a
+supply on that night, as well as for breakfast, and,
+in addition, we had filled to the brim every vessel
+which was water-tight, until I should think we must
+have had no less than three gallons, while every other
+wagon was equally well supplied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men and boys were not idle while we baked the
+corn bread and made coffee. They had enough and
+plenty with which to occupy their time, for every
+piece of harness, every yoke bow, wheel, or other
+portion of the outfit which might give way, was looked
+after carefully, lest there be a delay, because a halt on
+the desert, so we had been told at Fort Bridger, might
+mean death to us all.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_115' name='Page_115'>[115]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night the animals were corralled inside our
+circle of wagons in order that they might be ready
+when the hour came for us to set off, and for the first
+time since I had known Eben Jordan I saw an expression
+of anxiety upon the lad's face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wherever one looked among our people he could see
+gloomy faces, and there was no more singing of "Joe
+Bowers," no whistling and joking among the lads, as
+was usually the case during an evening in camp.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When midnight came, I had a very good idea that
+there was more danger to be met in crossing the desert
+than I had been willing to believe, for we were awakened
+and told that the march would be begun in half an
+hour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father urged mother and us girls to eat and drink
+heartily while we might. When I asked him why
+we were to set off at such an unusual hour, he replied
+in a serious manner that from the moment we started
+until the desert had been crossed, there would be no
+halt made unless some of the oxen fell by the wayside
+and we were forced to delay in order to unyoke
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Ellen asked him how long a time the crossing
+would take, he said he hoped no more than twenty or
+twenty-four hours. He also told us it had been agreed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_116' name='Page_116'>[116]</a></span>
+that if one of the wagons should break down, or any
+accident happen, the unfortunate ones were to be left
+behind, the remainder of the company continuing on
+without making any effort to aid them.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-117.jpg" width="499" height="297" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Then, perhaps for the first time, I began to realize
+how much danger lay before us. Surely if our fathers
+had agreed that during the coming march they would
+make no halt for any reason, there must be grave cause
+for fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men made ready for the march by the light of
+the moon, and there were yet no signs of the coming
+day when we set off; and then we were a mournful
+party indeed, the drivers urging their beasts to the
+utmost, as if they realized that every moment was
+precious.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_117' name='Page_117'>[117]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+There was nothing very dreadful to be seen on the
+first six miles of the march, for then we were winding
+our way up the ridge, on the side of which we had been
+encamped, and save for the fact that Ellen and I were
+suffering from the cold, the journey was much the
+same as we had already known.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we rode down the other side of the ridge,
+among stunted cedar trees which looked as if they were
+dying from lack of water, and Eben Jordan came past
+our wagon to say we had come upon Captain Frémont's
+trail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fact that we were to follow in the footsteps of
+other human beings gave me more courage and caused
+Ellen to appear almost cheerful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We crossed a valley where nothing was growing save
+wild sage, and then over rocky ridges which looked
+much like masses of dark green glass, through a narrow
+gap which might have been cut by the hand of man
+in the solid ledge, after which we saw spread out
+before us that vast desert plain, white as a sea of milk
+and most desolate and forbidding in appearance.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A PLAIN OF SALT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Not a vestige of any green thing could be seen
+within our range of vision. No bird was flying, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_118' name='Page_118'>[118]</a></span>
+the silence was so like the silence of the tomb that I
+did not dare to speak aloud while calling mother's
+attention to this thing or that, when we halted for
+a short time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was the last stop we would make, save in case
+of accident. Some of the animals ate the bread, others
+refused it, and then I saw what would
+have been, under other circumstances,
+a comical sight, for the men
+were going about with wet
+cloths moistening
+the mouths of the oxen.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-119.jpg" width="494" height="274" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+After spending nearly an hour in making the final
+preparations, word was given for the train to set off.
+Instead of being like milk, we found that the desert
+was made up of a bluish clay, covered here and there
+in blotches with what was much like salt, and these
+white spots were so large and numerous as to give to
+the whole the appearance of milky white when seen
+from the distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The oxen sank fetlock-deep, and as we advanced
+there were times when they broke through what was like
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_119' name='Page_119'>[119]</a></span>
+a crust, even to their very knees; therefore one can well
+fancy that the wheels plowed into this yielding surface
+until it was quite as much as the cattle could do to
+pull the wagons along.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+If all the way had been as difficult as the start, we
+might never have gained the other side; but as we
+advanced the surface grew harder and harder, until
+finally even the shoes of the horses failed to make any
+impression upon it. Then I heard father say, as he
+came back from time to time to speak with mother,
+that it appeared to him as if we were traveling over a
+solid crust of salt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the end of an hour, perhaps, we came upon what
+Ellen called another "soft spot," and for a distance of
+two or three miles the oxen strained and tugged at the
+yokes as they barely succeeded in drawing the wagons
+at a snail's pace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we girls had most terrible forebodings, for it
+seemed certain we could never hope to cross that place
+before all the company had died from thirst.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To our great relief as well as the relief of the cattle,
+we came upon a hard surface once more, and the
+oxen were urged to their utmost speed in order to make
+up for the time we had lost while toiling through the
+salty dust.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_120' name='Page_120'>[120]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no halting for dinner. Now and then we
+ate the corn bread, for with such terrible anxiety in our
+hearts none of us were conscious of hunger; but again
+and again and again did we sip the cold coffee, using it
+sparingly, however.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SALT DUST
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was nearly ten o'clock in the forenoon when a dark
+cloud began to gather in the south, and I said to mother,
+with great joy, that we would
+at least know the pleasure of being
+wet, even though we could not get all we wanted to
+drink, for surely there was a shower close upon us.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-121.jpg" width="504" height="316" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Indeed, we did have wind, with thunder and lightning,
+but not a drop of water fell. On the contrary, the
+breeze stirred up the dust from the plain and filled the
+air with it, and our parched throats grew yet more
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_121' name='Page_121'>[121]</a></span>
+dry because of the salt which we were forced to inhale,
+even though we covered our faces with cloths.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How the poor beasts suffered! Their tongues were
+actually covered with salt, and not a mouthful of
+water could they have as a relief from their distress.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-122.jpg" width="318" height="329" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Save for the absence of rain, it was a veritable
+tempest of thunder and lightning,
+lasting about twenty minutes;
+then the sun came out with
+more heat, as it seemed to me,
+than before, which but
+served to increase
+our desire for water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the sun
+was no more than
+three hours from
+setting, I strained my
+eyes ahead, hoping to
+see the end of this horrible
+journey, although mother had told me there was no
+possibility of our coming to water until late in the
+night, and I saw the foremost of the wagons leaving
+the white plain, and passing over what promised to be
+a good road, toward a rocky range.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I shouted aloud in my joy, that we would soon
+come to where it would be possible to quench our
+thirst.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_122' name='Page_122'>[122]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+For the moment mother believed I was right, but then
+Eben Jordan dampened our joy by telling us that we
+must ride over the ridge five or six miles, where were no
+signs of water, and then we would come upon another
+plain of salt, which was not less than
+twelve miles in width. Only after
+that had been crossed might we find
+ourselves in safety.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-123.jpg" width="475" height="341" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Ellen threw herself
+face downward
+upon the
+bed in the
+bottom of the wagon, and lay there as if in a fit of
+the sulks, while I crouched by mother's side, wondering
+how long it would be before death came, for I had grown
+so foolish in my sufferings that it was as if life was
+nearly at an end.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Mother left us to ourselves during half an hour or
+more, and then told us plainly that we were showing
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_123' name='Page_123'>[123]</a></span>
+ourselves to be very foolish girls. She insisted that we
+eat the harder portions of the corn bread; that we take
+frequent drinks of the coffee, and, above all, that we
+resolutely calm our minds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It must have been that amid all my distress I fell
+asleep, for suddenly I heard, as though coming from
+afar off, shouts of joy and the voices of men calling one
+to another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Starting up, I asked mother what was happening,
+and gazed around wildly, for night had come and the
+moon was not yet risen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Thank God! the desert has been crossed, and we
+have come at last to where water may be obtained!"
+my mother cried fervently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She leaped out of the wagon, we two girls following,
+and, running hurriedly, we went to where the men,
+boys, and animals had gathered in a group.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believed we had come to a stream of sweet water,
+but it was only a narrow brook, where ran hardly
+more than a thread of water which had already been
+trampled upon by the animals until it was like liquid
+mud.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A SPRING OF SWEET WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+At this moment Eben Jordan, taking Ellen and me
+by the hands, said, forcing us to run with him:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"By following the stream to its head we shall surely
+come upon a spring."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_124' name='Page_124'>[124]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And this we did, finding within two hundred yards
+a spring of the sweetest water I have ever taken into
+my mouth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I drank again and again, seemingly never to
+be satisfied, and it was only after I had shown myself
+very selfish that I remembered
+poor mother, who, most
+likely, was standing by that muddy stream waiting
+until the water had grown clear so she might drink.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-125.jpg" width="494" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Then Eben Jordan went back, and a few moments
+later returned, bringing with him all the women and
+children, and many of the men.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having drunk our fill, Ellen and I went back to the
+wagon, where we ate heartily of corn bread, and then
+laid ourselves down to sleep, while the men and boys
+were bringing the teams into a circle to form a corral.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_125' name='Page_125'>[125]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE OASIS
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-126.jpg" width="272" height="311" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+After this we remained idle thirty-six hours, being
+forced to do so, as father said, because the animals
+were so nearly exhausted that a long time of rest was
+absolutely necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was during this time that Eben Jordan again
+displayed his skill as a hunter, for toward nightfall he
+brought in two small antelopes; but the animals
+were so tiny that each family had no
+more than half enough to satisfy
+their craving for fresh meat, and
+we were forced to complete the
+meal with bacon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our halting place was on what
+can be described only as
+an oasis, stretching from
+that sea of white to the
+rocky cliffs beyond, and
+father told us that while
+we would not be forced to march over a plain of salt
+during the next day, the journey would be exceedingly
+wearisome and our suffering considerable, for another
+entire day must be spent without water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again we made preparations for a time of distress,
+by boiling more coffee and filling up the water casks
+with sweet water from the spring.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_126' name='Page_126'>[126]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This time the anticipation was worse than the
+reality. On resuming the march, we traveled over
+the side of the barren ridge more than twelve miles,
+until we came to a well-defined wagon trail which, so
+some of our people said, had first been made by
+emigrants from Missouri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I gave little heed as to who might first have passed
+over the trail, rejoicing with Ellen that at last we had
+come to some evidence of human beings; it seemed
+as if our troubles were well-nigh at an end, for we were
+told that this trail would lead us by the most direct
+course into that land of California where we hoped
+to find rest and comfort.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SEARCHING FOR WATER
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-128.jpg" width="500" height="441" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p>
+From this on, during four wearisome days, we were
+kept upon a short allowance of water, and did not
+dare eat much food lest it should unduly excite our
+thirst.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-129.jpg" width="153" height="500" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>
+Now and then we came upon a spring, when our
+water casks and every vessel that could be used for
+the purpose were filled to the brim, and yet again and
+again we suffered from thirst, but not so keenly as while
+crossing the desert.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whenever I slept, it was to dream of the river we had
+left behind us on the border of Pike County, wishing
+that it might be possible for me to go to its banks
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_127' name='Page_127'>[127]</a></span>
+once more, and, even though the water was muddy,
+drink my fill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due time we came to that point in the trail where
+we were forced to march directly over the face of
+the mountains. Here our fathers
+found the way
+so difficult that
+once more the teams were
+doubled up, twelve or fifteen
+yoke of cattle being put
+on one wagon, and, after
+hauling the heavy load to the summit of the range,
+driven back to get another.</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Of course our progress was slow, and we traversed
+mile after mile only with severe labor on the part of
+the men and boys, for we girls and the women did no
+more than walk in order to lessen the load.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_128' name='Page_128'>[128]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we came to a narrow
+passage amid the rocks, which
+was most frightful to look
+upon, although there was
+nothing whatever about it to
+cause alarm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a gorge or cañon
+much like a tunnel, where the
+light from above was like a
+slender silver thread, and we
+went down into a narrow defile,
+where was barely room for the
+wagons to pass, and where the
+rocks, dark and fearsome, rose
+hundreds of feet above our
+heads.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When we had passed through
+that forbidding place we received
+our reward, for we came
+into a most beautiful valley
+with water and grass in abundance,
+and, although it was
+yet early in the afternoon, there was no thought of
+anything save making camp, that we might enjoy the
+blessings which were spread out before us.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_129' name='Page_129'>[129]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the sun had set Eben Jordan had killed another
+antelope; but he did not dare go far from the
+encampment in search of other game, for no sooner
+had twilight come than we could hear the howling of
+the wolves around us, until one's very blood ran cold.
+It seemed certain, and indeed was a fact, that we were
+literally surrounded by those
+ravenous animals,
+which were kept at a
+respectful distance only by
+the glare of our camp fires.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-130.jpg" width="496" height="329" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Next day, when we took up the line of march again,
+it was the same old story of climbing over rocky ridges
+and descending into valleys where could be found no
+signs of vegetation, until we had come to a very network
+of streams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At our next camp we were visited by a party of
+Snake Indians, who, like the other savages we had seen,
+pressed around us, begging for bits of bread.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_130' name='Page_130'>[130]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SNAKE INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Those Indians were not at all like any we had seen
+before; their clothing, what little there was of it,
+consisted mostly of rabbit skins sewed together to
+form cloaks. To my mind they resembled more the
+Negroes than the Indians; but father said, save for
+their inclination to steal anything upon which they
+could lay their hands, that we need have no fear whatever
+regarding them, because they were known to be
+peaceable. The men were armed only with bows
+and arrows and seemed to have great fear of a gun
+or a pistol.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The visitors had with them a quantity of dried meat
+and roots which they wanted to trade with us for bread
+or for blankets; but our store of provisions was not so
+low that we would willingly eat what those creatures
+had prepared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They lingered around the encampment, however,
+coming as closely to the wagons as our people would
+permit, and we girls and boys were told to keep
+careful watch lest they steal all our possessions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at sunset, one of the men who was standing guard
+over the cows shouted that a wild beast was creeping
+up on us from a thicket a short distance away, to the
+right of where father's wagon stood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Looking up quickly, I saw a huge panther crawling,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_131' name='Page_131'>[131]</a></span>
+as you might say, much as a cat approaches a mouse,
+and it seemed to me that he was making ready to spring
+directly upon us girls.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-132.jpg" width="498" height="377" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I clambered shrieking into the wagon,
+where we hid our heads in a feather bed like the silly
+children we were, and straightway there ensued the
+greatest tumult that can be imagined, as our hunters
+strove to kill the ferocious animal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is, perhaps, needless for me to say that the panther
+escaped, although Eben Jordan claimed it would have
+been possible for him to kill the beast, had he not been
+hampered by frightened girls and men.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_132' name='Page_132'>[132]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A SCARCITY OF FOOD
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When the march was taken up once more, we journeyed
+over a less forbidding, although a not very
+pleasant, country, seeing antelopes at a distance, but
+so wild that even Eben Jordan strove in vain to bring
+one down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During four or five days we marched westward, seeing
+now and then great numbers of animals which would
+have served to provide us with fresh meat, but our men
+were unable to kill any; then we found our supply of
+food growing so small that it was decided each person
+should have at a single meal no more than one slice of
+bacon and a piece of corn bread as big as a man's hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is no good reason why I should set down such
+mournful details. While we were pressing steadily but
+painfully westward, so hungry that it seemed to me I
+could have eaten anything resembling food, and thirsty
+until my tongue was parched, the rays of the sun beat
+down upon us with pitiless fury, until we were so worn
+that life seemed at times like some frightful dream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can remember distinctly, however, what happened
+on that day when we heard those who were leading
+the train, shout that we had come upon water in
+abundance. When Ellen and I, leaping out of the
+wagon, ran forward, we saw before us several large
+springs from which the water was bubbling generously.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_133' name='Page_133'>[133]</a></span>
+Our delight was even as great as the disappointment
+was bitter, when the water was found to be almost
+boiling hot.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SPRINGS OF HOT WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It seems hardly possible that any liquid could come
+out of the earth so warm, and if I had never left
+Pike County I would have set down
+such a tale as a fable; but we did find
+boiling water, so hot that
+when Eben Jordan let
+down into one of those springs a slice of bacon tied to
+a string, it was well boiled in less than fifteen minutes.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i-134.jpg" width="496" height="365" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+However, we were not to be deprived of water even
+though it was hot, for father proposed that we fill
+some of our cups, declaring it would be sweet to the
+taste once it was cool.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_134' name='Page_134'>[134]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This we did not only once, but three or four times,
+during the continuation of the march, for we came
+upon many of those hot springs on the trail after
+we left the banks of Mary's River.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came a day in August when, after an unusually
+wearisome march, we suddenly overtook two emigrant
+wagons in which were fourteen people who had come
+from Missouri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Verily it seemed as if old friends were meeting, for
+as our train came in sight, some of the strangers began
+to sing, "My name it is Joe Bowers," and however
+weary I had once been of hearing that tune, it now
+sounded in my ears like music.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That evening we spent visiting; those people,
+like ourselves, were traveling toward the land of California,
+and only those who have been journeying in
+the desert and through the wilderness, without meeting
+any human beings save Indians, can understand how
+intent was the pleasure we experienced in being with
+our own kind again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The emigrants decided to join our train, and we
+were right glad to have them with us, although their
+store of provisions was no greater than ours; but all
+were put on what father called "short allowance,"
+which was to each person two slices of bacon and two
+pieces of bread during one entire day. All our men
+who had guns were continually searching for game;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_135' name='Page_135'>[135]</a></span>
+but while we could see antelope and even wild fowl,
+both beasts and birds were so shy that the best hunters
+among us could not get within gunshot.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+IN THE LAND OF PLENTY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+And so we traveled on, hungry, thirsty, and weary,
+despairing now and then of ever coming again into a
+land of plenty, until we arrived at the Truckee River,
+which was more beautiful to my eyes than ever had
+been the broad Mississippi.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i-136.jpg" width="491" height="321" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The waters of the river were clear as crystal and
+very cool, while from it our people took within an hour
+a sufficient number of trout to satisfy the hunger of
+all. It seemed necessary we should eat until it was
+absolutely impossible to swallow more, in order to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_136' name='Page_136'>[136]</a></span>
+atone in some way for the hunger that had pressed so
+sorely upon us during the ten days previous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan said laughingly that we were much
+like the savages, who were starved one day and in
+danger of bursting with food the next.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE TRUCKEE RIVER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It pleased me right well when father said that we
+were to remain in camp one full day by the side of this
+river, in order to give the animals the opportunity of
+feeding upon the rich grass which grew in abundance
+on every hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last we had come into California, and a beautiful
+country indeed it appeared to me while we remained
+near the river,&mdash;all the more beautiful, perhaps, because
+of the suffering which it had cost us to get there. Both
+Ellen and I now came to believe our fathers had been
+wise indeed to leave the banks of the muddy Mississippi
+for so glorious a river as the Truckee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All around us were evidences of bountiful nature,
+for the land was seemingly overcrowded with game,
+with food on every hand for the cattle, beautiful
+flowers, and everything which goes to make one happy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How long the journey had been I did not really know
+until Eben Jordan came to where Ellen and I were
+sitting on the grass with the skirts of our gowns filled
+with flowers. He had in his hands a bit of paper on
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_137' name='Page_137'>[137]</a></span>
+which he had set down, from what had been told him
+by the leaders of the company, the distance we people
+had traveled since leaving Independence. This was no
+less than two thousand and ninety miles, to which one
+must add, in order to learn how long was our march,
+the distance from Pike County to Independence, which
+would, so Eben said, make a total of about two thousand
+two hundred.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-138.jpg" width="482" height="319" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Even then we were nearly two hundred miles from
+San Francisco; however it was not the intention of our
+fathers to journey so far across California, for we had
+not come expecting to find gold, but to make for ourselves
+farms, where we could live comfortably by
+honest industry.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_138' name='Page_138'>[138]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Already I am writing as if we had come to an end
+of our journey, and so it seemed to me while we
+remained in camp on the bank of the Truckee River;
+but there were yet many days of toil before we
+arrived at the place where our people had decided to
+buy land.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was yet necessary that we cross the Sierra Nevada,
+where we found a seemingly impassable trail over the
+mountains, yet we knew that people like ourselves,
+traveling in the same way, had gone before us, and all
+the dangers and the difficulties seemed lessened because
+of the fact that we had come so near to where we
+intended to make our new homes.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After much labor in descending the Sierras, we
+came upon the first settler's house we had seen since
+starting out. It stood in the valley of the Sacramento,
+on what is called Bear Creek, and was owned by Mr.
+Johnson, who himself was a Piker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To me the house was odd looking, not because of
+being so small as to have only two rooms, but because
+it was built half of logs and half of adobes, or bricks
+of mud which have been dried in the sun. It was a
+rough building, and yet how homelike it appeared!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Unfortunately Mr. Johnson and his family were
+not at home. The building was closed, and although
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_139' name='Page_139'>[139]</a></span>
+the door was not really locked, it had been fastened
+with strips of rawhide in such a manner as to show that
+the owner wished to keep out stragglers.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-140.jpg" width="495" height="279" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+As we journeyed leisurely and comfortably down the
+valley of the Sacramento, we saw now and then large
+droves of wild horses and elks feeding peacefully on the
+plains, and there was never a night when Eben Jordan,
+or some other of the hunters, did not bring in an
+abundance of game.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then came that day when we arrived at the little
+village which is called the Mission of San José, and
+although everything about us was strange, we said to
+ourselves that at last we had come to our new home, for
+it was near that place our fathers intended to buy land.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_140' name='Page_140'>[140]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The village of San José must at one time have had
+many hundred inhabitants; but when we arrived it
+was little better than a ruin. The houses, built of sun-dried
+bricks, were without roofs and crumbling slowly
+away, all of which appeared the more pitiful because of
+the well-kept church and the fortlike two-story house
+where lived the priests. Both buildings were in such
+good repair that they afforded a striking contrast to
+the tumble-down dwellings which could be seen near
+at hand.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-141.jpg" width="495" height="286" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I would love to tell how father built for himself a
+house on land which he bought from the priests of the
+Mission, and how mother and I set about making a
+home which should be somewhat the same in appearance
+as the one we had left in Pike County, but it is not for
+me to do so.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_141' name='Page_141'>[141]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It may be that at some time when our home here
+is fully made as we would have it, I can tell you how we
+live, what odd Spanish dishes we have on the table, how
+great a profusion of fruit is at our hand for the gathering,
+and very many other things which to me are most
+interesting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have learned to love this land even more than I
+did Pike County, which at one time I believed the most
+beautiful spot on earth, and although it pleases me now
+and then, when settlers come over the long trail, to
+hear the younger members of the company singing
+"My name it is Joe Bowers," I have almost forgotten
+that Missouri was once my home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have come to look upon myself as belonging to
+this beautiful valley where Nature is so lavish with all
+her gifts, and therefore, instead of calling myself a
+Piker, as in the days gone by, I dearly love to write so
+all may see, that I am now, and ever shall be as long
+as the good God allows me to remain in this world,
+Martha of California.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_142' name='Page_142'>[142]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BOOKS CONSULTED IN WRITING
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<ul class="none">
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Bryant, Edwin</span>: What I Saw in California. D. Appleton &amp;
+Co.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Clampitt, John W.</span>: Echoes from the Rocky Mountains.
+Belford, Clarke &amp; Co.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Connelly, William Elsey</span>: Doniphan's Expedition. Pub. by
+the Author.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Dexter, A. Hersey</span>: Early Days in California. Tribune-Republican
+Press.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Drake, Samuel Adams</span>: The Making of the Great West.
+Charles Scribner's Sons.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Frémont, J. C.</span>: The Second Expedition. Washington.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Knower, Daniel</span>: The Days of a Forty-Niner. Weed, Parsons
+Print. Co.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Paxson, Frederick L.</span>: The Last American Frontier. The
+Macmillan Company.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Thornton, J. Quinn</span>: Oregon and California. Harper &amp;
+Brothers.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Woods, Daniel B.</span>: Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings.
+Harper &amp; Brothers.
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44600 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #44600 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44600)
diff --git a/old/44600-0.txt b/old/44600-0.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Martha of California
+       A Story of the California Trail
+
+Author: James Otis
+
+Release Date: January 6, 2014 [EBook #44600]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
+  signs=.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Map to illustrate the Story of Martha of California]
+
+
+
+
+     MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+     A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL
+
+     BY
+     JAMES OTIS
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO
+     AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+JAMES OTIS'S PIONEER SERIES
+
+
+  =ANTOINE OF OREGON=: A STORY OF THE OREGON TRAIL.
+
+  =BENJAMIN OF OHIO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF MARIETTA.
+
+  =HANNAH OF KENTUCKY=: A STORY OF THE WILDERNESS ROAD.
+
+  =MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA=: A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL.
+
+  =PHILIP OF TEXAS=: A STORY OF SHEEP RAISING IN TEXAS.
+
+  =SETH OF COLORADO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF DENVER.
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY
+MRS. A. L. KALER.
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+The author of this series of stories for children has endeavored simply
+to show why and how the descendants of the early colonists fought
+their way through the wilderness in search of new homes. The several
+narratives deal with the struggles of those adventurous people who
+forced their way westward, ever westward, whether in hope of gain or
+in answer to "the call of the wild," and who, in so doing, wrote their
+names with their blood across this country of ours from the Ohio to the
+Columbia.
+
+To excite in the hearts of the young people of this land a desire to
+know more regarding the building up of this great nation, and at the
+same time to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to noble
+deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them there is nothing
+of romance, but only a careful, truthful record of the part played
+by children in the great battles with those forces, human as well as
+natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast portion of this broad
+land against the advance of home seekers.
+
+With the knowledge of what has been done by our own people in our own
+land, surely there is no reason why one should resort to fiction in
+order to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime disregard of
+suffering in nearly every form.
+
+                                                             JAMES OTIS.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+  A CHANGE OF HOMES                                     9
+  "JOE BOWERS"                                         10
+  THE REASONS FOR MOVING                               12
+  MOTHER'S ANXIETY                                     14
+  HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL                                15
+  OUR MOVABLE HOME                                     18
+  LEAVING ASHLEY                                       19
+  EBEN JORDAN                                          22
+  ON THE ROAD                                          25
+  EBEN'S PREDICTIONS                                   26
+  WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA                       27
+  THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT                                 28
+  NIGHT IN CAMP                                        31
+  THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE                             32
+  KANSAS INDIANS                                       34
+  LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE                  35
+  A STORMY DAY                                         36
+  A LACK OF FUEL                                       38
+  MAKING CAMP IN A STORM                               40
+  A THUNDERSTORM                                       42
+  ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS                            43
+  THE STOCK STRAY AWAY                                 45
+  AN INDIAN VILLAGE                                    47
+  I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING                       48
+  EBEN'S BOASTS                                        50
+  SUFFERING WITH THIRST                                51
+  IN SEARCH OF WATER                                   53
+  QUENCHING OUR THIRST                                 55
+  MAKING BUTTER                                        57
+  A KANSAS FERRY                                       58
+  THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK                        60
+  BREAD MAKING                                         62
+  PRAIRIE PEAS                                         63
+  EBEN AS A HUNTER                                     65
+  A HERD OF BUFFALOES                                  66
+  EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP                               67
+  A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT                              68
+  CURING THE MEAT                                      69
+  A WASH DAY                                           71
+  UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING                              72
+  ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY                   74
+  INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES                               75
+  PRAIRIE DOGS                                         77
+  COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP                             79
+  CHIMNEY ROCK                                         81
+  AT FORT LARAMIE                                      82
+  COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE                      84
+  TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS                       85
+  ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE                               87
+  INDEPENDENCE ROCK                                    88
+  ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER                              90
+  WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA                     92
+  AT BEAR RIVER                                        93
+  THE COMING OF WINTER                                 94
+  UTAH INDIANS                                         97
+  A DANGEROUS TRAIL                                    98
+  SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW                   100
+  A FOREST FIRE                                       102
+  THE GREAT SALT LAKE                                 104
+  EBEN AS A FISHERMAN                                 105
+  GRASSHOPPER JAM                                     107
+  A DESERTED VILLAGE                                  109
+  THE GREAT SALT DESERT                               111
+  PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY                   112
+  BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING                             114
+  BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT                           115
+  THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT                     117
+  A PLAIN OF SALT                                     117
+  LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK                           119
+  SALT DUST                                           120
+  A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT                             122
+  COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER                             122
+  A SPRING OF SWEET WATER                             123
+  THE OASIS                                           125
+  SEARCHING FOR WATER                                 126
+  THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY                                128
+  SNAKE INDIANS                                       130
+  A SCARCITY OF FOOD                                  132
+  SPRINGS OF HOT WATER                                133
+  IN THE LAND OF PLENTY                               135
+  THE TRUCKEE RIVER                                   136
+  A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY                     138
+  THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ                             139
+  OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA                              141
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+
+
+A CHANGE OF HOMES
+
+
+In case one should ask in the years to come how it happened that I,
+Martha Early, who was born in Ashley, Pike County, in the state of
+Missouri, and lived there until I was twelve years old, journeyed
+across the prairies and deserts to California, the question can be
+answered if I write down what I saw when so many people from our county
+went to make new homes in that state where gold had been found in such
+abundance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+For my part, I used to wonder why people should be willing to leave
+Missouri, enduring the many hardships they knew awaited them on the
+journey of two thousand miles, in order to buy land in a country where
+nearly all the inhabitants were Spaniards and Mexicans.
+
+I suppose the stories told about the wonderful quantity of gold which
+had suddenly been found in California caused our people to think
+particularly of that far-off land. When the excitement of getting rich
+by digging in the earth a few weeks or a few months had in a measure
+died away, there came tales regarding the fertile soil and the beauty
+of the country, until nearly every one in Pike County, as well as in
+the county of the same name just across the Mississippi River in the
+state of Illinois, much the same as had a fever for moving.
+
+Perhaps that is why the people we met while journeying called all
+the emigrants "Pikers." You see there were so many from both the Pike
+counties who went into California in the year 1851, that it appeared to
+strangers as if every person on the trail had come from Pike County.
+
+
+
+
+"JOE BOWERS"
+
+
+Then, too, fully half of all these emigrants were singing or whistling
+that song of "Joe Bowers," which was supposed to have been written by
+a Piker, and to represent a man from Missouri or Illinois.
+
+Surely every one remembers it. The first verse, and if I have heard it
+once I certainly have a thousand times, goes like this:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+The song was intended to show that this Joe Bowers came from our
+county, and, perhaps, because so many of the emigrants were singing
+it, all of us who went into California in the year 1851 were, as I have
+said, called "Pikers."
+
+However the name came about, I was a Piker, and before we arrived in
+this wondrously beautiful country, I wished again and again that I had
+been almost any other than an emigrant, for the way was long, and oh!
+so wearisome.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I must always think of Missouri as being one of the best of all the
+states in the Union, because it was there I was born and there I went
+to school until father caught the California fever, which resulted in
+our setting out on a journey which, for a time, seemed endless.
+
+My father had no idea of going so far simply to dig for gold. He had
+seen many who went across the country in 1849 believing they would come
+back rich as kings, yet who returned home poorer in pocket than when
+they left; therefore he came to understand that only a few of all that
+vast army of miners who hastened into California after the discovery
+at Sutter's Mill, got enough of the precious metal to pay for the food
+they ate.
+
+Father thought he could buy better land in California than was to be
+found in Pike County, for to have heard the stories told by some of the
+people who had come back disappointed from the land of gold, you might
+have believed that one had only to put a few seeds at random in the
+ground in order to gather marvelous crops.
+
+
+
+
+THE REASONS FOR MOVING
+
+
+Nor was my father the only man who put faith in at least some of
+the fanciful tales told concerning the land of California which had
+so lately been given up to the United States by the Spaniards. Our
+neighbors for miles around were in a state of unrest and excitement,
+until it was decided that nearly all would undertake the long journey,
+and I could not prevent myself from wondering if Pike County would
+not feel lonely to have the people abandon it, for it surely seemed as
+if every man, woman, and child was making haste to leave Missouri in
+search of the wondrous farming lands.
+
+Mother looked woefully solemn when, on a certain evening, father came
+home and told us that he had sold the plantation for about half as much
+as it had cost him, and was going to join the next company that set out
+from Pike County.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a long time before mother would have very much to say about
+the journey, but as the days passed and the neighbors who were going
+with us came to our home that they might talk over the preparations
+for moving, she became interested in making plans, although again and
+again, when we two were alone, she told me that this trailing over two
+thousand miles of deserts and mountains was not to her liking.
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER'S ANXIETY
+
+
+It was only natural she should be worried about making such a great
+change, for all father's worldly goods consisted of the Pike County
+plantation and the live stock, and if, after selling the land and
+spending very nearly all his money to provide for the journey, we found
+that California farms were no better than the one we were leaving, it
+would be the saddest kind of mistake.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+"Your father has set his mind on going; the homestead has been sold,
+and we must make the best of it, Martha, hoping that half the stories
+we have heard about California are true," she said to me so many times
+that I came almost to believe it was a foolish venture upon which we
+were about to embark.
+
+Then, when I began to wonder how we were to live during such a long
+journey, and asked mother if it would be possible for us to cook and
+churn and do the family washing while traveling in an ox wagon, she
+would say with a sigh:--
+
+"Don't, Martha, don't ask questions that I can't answer! It seems to me
+almost certain that we shall starve to death before getting anywhere
+near California, even if we are not killed by Indians or wild beasts,
+without having had time to get very hungry or dirty."
+
+Yet we did travel the two thousand miles, walking the greater part of
+the way, and although there were many times when all of us were hungry,
+none actually starved to death; nor were we killed by wild beasts or
+Indians, else I could not be here in this beautiful place writing this
+story.
+
+Father spent days and days getting ready for the moving. After he
+had finished the preparations, I thought the journey would not be so
+terribly hard, because he had arranged everything so snug and cozy for
+mother and me, that it really seemed as if we might take actual comfort
+in case we could make shift to do housework in a wagon.
+
+
+
+
+HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL
+
+
+We owned only four yoke of cattle, but with some of the money received
+from the sale of the plantation, we bought as many more, which gave
+us sixteen oxen. We were to take with us all five of the cows and both
+the horses, on which father said mother and I might ride when we were
+tired of sitting in the wagon; but I knew what kind of animals ours
+were under the saddle, and said to myself that it would be many a long
+day before I would trust myself on the back of either.
+
+It would have done you good to see our movable home after father had
+made it ready, and by that I mean the wagon in which mother and I were
+to ride. It was small compared with the other, in which were to be
+carried enough furniture for a single room, farming tools, grain for
+the cattle, and a host of things; but I did not give much heed to the
+load because I was so deeply interested in what was to be a home for
+mother and me during many a month.
+
+That wagon was enough to attract the attention of any girl, for, fitted
+up as I first saw it, the inside looked really like a playhouse, and
+when I said as much to father, he declared that I was indeed the right
+kind of girl to go into a wild country, if I could find anything like
+sport during the tramp from Pike County to California.
+
+I surely must tell you about that wagon before setting down anything
+concerning the journey. It was what is known as a Conestoga, and one
+may see many of the same kind on the Santa Fe or the Oregon trail.
+Imagine a boxlike cart nearly as long as an ordinary bedroom and so
+wide that I could stretch myself out at full length across the body.
+The top and sides were covered with osnaburg sheeting, which is cloth
+made of flax or tow. Some people really sleep between sheets made of
+that coarse stuff, but it is so rough and irritating to the flesh that
+I had far rather lie on the floor than in a bed where it is used.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Osnaburg sheeting makes excellent wagon covers, however, for the rain
+cannot soak through the cloth, and it is so cheap that one can well
+afford to use it in double thickness, which serves to keep out the wind
+as well as the water.
+
+
+
+
+OUR MOVABLE HOME
+
+
+The front of the wagon and a small window-like place at the end were
+left open, but could be securely closed with curtains that buttoned at
+the sides.
+
+Around the inside of the wagon were hung such things as we might need
+to use often during the journey. There were pots and pans, towels,
+clothing, baskets, and two rifles, for father believed weapons might be
+required when we came upon disagreeable savages, or if game was to be
+found within shooting distance.
+
+Our cookstove was set up at the rear end of the wagon, where it could
+be pushed out on a small shelf fastened to the rear axle, when we
+wanted to use it. A most ingenious contrivance we found that shelf to
+be, for mother and I could remain inside the wagon and do our cooking
+in stormy weather; but those women of the company whose husbands had
+not been so thoughtful were forced to stay out of doors while preparing
+a meal, no matter how hard it might be raining.
+
+Our beds were laid in the bottom of the wagon and covered with the
+bedclothes to save them from being badly soiled, as would be likely if
+we slept upon them at night, and cooked, ate, and did the housework on
+them during the daytime.
+
+We did not try to carry many dishes, because there were so many chances
+they would be broken, but nearly everything of the kind we used was of
+metal, such as tin or iron.
+
+Underneath the cart were hung buckets, the churn, lanterns, and such a
+collection of articles that I could not but fancy people might believe
+we were peddlers carrying so large an assortment of goods that they had
+overrun the wagon body.
+
+What puzzled me before we started on the journey was how we could
+persuade the cows to travel as we would have them; but I soon came to
+understand that it was a simple matter.
+
+
+
+
+LEAVING ASHLEY
+
+
+You must know that father was not the only man in Ashley that intended
+to build up a new home in California. More than half of the people
+were making preparations for the journey, and when we finally set off
+the procession was very imposing, with more than fifty wagons, not one
+of them drawn by less than three yoke of oxen or four pairs of mules;
+there were cows almost without number and a flock of thirty or forty
+sheep.
+
+I said to myself then, that we need have no fear the savages would try
+to make trouble for us, because when they saw so many people, the poor,
+ignorant things would believe everybody on the banks of the Mississippi
+was heading for California, and it would be a very brave Indian who
+dared be other than polite to such a large company.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even though you had never before heard of Pike County, it would have
+been most interesting to see the people of Ashley on the morning we
+set off. As Ellen Morgan, a particular friend of mine who was going to
+California also, said to me just before we drove away, "It is much as
+if all the folks in the world had come to see us leave town."
+
+The streets were actually thronged, as I have heard it said the streets
+of a large city oftentimes are, and what with the shouts of the men,
+the screams of the children, and the lowing of the cattle, it was quite
+as much as I could do to make myself heard when I tried to tell Ellen
+that at the last minute mother had given permission for her to ride in
+our wagon.
+
+Of course the noise in the street could not have been as great as I
+fancied, for Ellen had no trouble in hearing me, as was shown when she
+came running back to our wagon with her Sunday frock and other valuable
+things neatly done up in a corn sack.
+
+Then it seemed to me that no improvement could be made upon our manner
+of traveling, for we two girls were to be together all the while, and
+even when the weather was stormy, it would seem really cozy under our
+double thickness of osnaburg cloth.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It surprised me very much because mother acted as if it saddened her to
+set off on what could not fail to be a delightful journey. I saw tears
+in her eyes when she came out of our old home for the last time, and
+wondered if she was sorry because she was leaving the house where we
+had lived so long, or whether she believed we would never find another
+such delightful town as Ashley.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course I felt just a little tearful when those people who were to
+remain at home gathered around the wagon to say "good-by"; but there
+were so many of our neighbors in the company we would not have a chance
+to be lonely, and I was certain that all the friends we were leaving
+behind would soon join us, having come to realize, as had father, that
+California was the only proper place in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN JORDAN
+
+
+If I could have had everything arranged exactly to please me, I would
+have insisted that Eben Jordan be left in Ashley. He is a boy about six
+months older than I, who always seems to take the greatest delight in
+teasing us girls. I had no doubt but that he would be very disagreeable
+at times, and felt, on that first day, as if there could be no cloud on
+the California skies if Eben had remained in Pike County.
+
+It is no more than fair for me to say, however, that, much as I
+disliked the boy, Eben Jordan was one who ever kept his ears open to
+the conversation of his elders and was more than willing to repeat to
+Ellen and me whatever he learned.
+
+Even before our company had left Ashley, he told us the journey was to
+be begun by first going to Independence, a town on the Missouri River
+where the Santa Fe traders and those who would journey by the Oregon
+trail made ready for the long march.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Up to this time I had had no idea of how we were to get to California,
+save we drove directly across the prairies and over the mountains,
+always in a westerly direction.
+
+But I must have understood that we could not strike off across the
+country in any direction we fancied, because we must follow some trail
+in order to find a plentiful supply of grass for the cattle and mules
+and sheep, as well as water for ourselves.
+
+Eben said that the leaders of the company, among whom was my father,
+had talked not a little regarding the country through which we should
+pass. Thus he learned that we would journey over what is known as the
+Oregon trail as far as Fort Bridger, after which, striking off to the
+southward somewhat, we would go along the shores of the Great Salt
+Lake, past Ogden's Hole, to the land of the Bannock Indians. Then the
+course was to be as nearly westward as the foothills would permit.
+
+"It will be a rare time for us all," Eben said gleefully, after having
+told us girls that we would journey nearly two thousand miles before
+coming to that land for which we sought. "There will be game until
+a fellow can't rest, and after we are once well on the way, we shall
+come upon Indian tribe after Indian tribe, when you girls will be only
+too glad to shelter yourselves under my wing, for there is no knowing
+what the savages may take it into their heads to do, providing the
+opportunity offers."
+
+Ellen was not a little displeased because Eben seemingly believed we
+would be glad of his protection, and I really felt uneasy in mind when
+the lad left us to go to his father's wagon, saying:--
+
+"It isn't well for you girls to be so high and mighty, because before
+this journey has come to an end you may be glad that I am willing to
+lend a hand."
+
+Ellen laughed at the idea that the time would ever come when we
+might accept a favor from Eben Jordan. She seemed so certain nothing
+disagreeable could happen to us while our company was so large, that
+I soon put away all forebodings and gave strict attention to what was
+before us.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE ROAD
+
+
+It had taken our fathers considerable time to get the people and the
+cattle in proper marching order; but once this was done, they gave the
+word for the procession to move forward, and the people at Ashley whom
+we were leaving behind cheered us wildly as we went slowly out from the
+town.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed much like taking part in some wondrous celebration, to be
+riding thus amid those who were cheering and, I dare say, envying us.
+
+Mother was content to sit inside the wagon, where father had placed a
+short-legged chair for her convenience, but Ellen and I remained on the
+front seat where we could see all that was going on, and until we were
+well clear of the town it did seem to me that I was a very important
+person.
+
+It was late in the forenoon before we started, therefore no halt was to
+be made for dinner, but this gave me little uneasiness, for mother had
+an ample supply of cooked provisions on hand.
+
+Our neighbors at Ashley had spoken again and again of the hardships
+which we would encounter before arriving at the shores of the Pacific
+Ocean, and I said to Ellen, when we were two or three miles from the
+town, that I could not understand how any one could believe such a
+journey might be either wearisome or dangerous.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S PREDICTIONS
+
+
+Surely we were as comfortable as two girls could be, with a covering
+over our heads in case it rained, and enough food to satisfy our
+desires.
+
+Therefore what difference did it make, as I said to Ellen, whether we
+were five months or six on the march? Eben Jordan, who had come back
+from his father's wagon along the line of procession as if to see that
+everything was right, overhearing my words, replied with a laugh, which
+sounded to me very disagreeable:--
+
+"You may well say, Martha Early, that this portion of the journey is
+easy. We are now traveling on a beaten road, with nothing to prevent
+our going forward at the best pace of the oxen. Wait until we have
+really started, after having come to Independence, and leave the
+highway to take to the trail. You will find the wagon tumbling and
+pitching over the rocks, or floundering across fords, where watch must
+be kept sharply against the Indians, and every man needs to have his
+eyes open lest he be attacked by wild beasts. Then you shall say to
+me whether it makes no difference to you if this journey requires five
+months or six."
+
+I refused to listen to the lad, who seemed to find the greatest
+pleasure in making other people uncomfortable in mind, and I turned
+toward Ellen, as if speaking to her very earnestly in whispers, thereby
+causing Eben to believe I had not heard what he said, whereupon he went
+off laughing.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA
+
+
+We had heard people talking about the wonderful fortunes to be found
+in California, until it seemed as if we might become rich simply by
+digging in the ground a bit; but, as you shall hear, before our journey
+had come to an end we understood that however much valuable metal there
+might be in the earth, it was not to be gathered like pebbles.
+
+We met on our way hundreds of people who had gone into California with
+great expectations and were coming back poorer than when they set out;
+but on the first day we were ignorant of all this, and quite convinced
+that it was a simple matter to become wealthy by a very little labor.
+
+Before night came there was to me less pleasure than during the
+first hour or two. The wagon jolted over the roads roughly, making
+it necessary to hold firmly to the seat, lest I be thrown off, and it
+became wearisome to sit so long in one position.
+
+Mother, who stretched herself out upon a bed in the bottom of the wagon
+when she was tired of sitting upright, did not weary so soon of this
+kind of traveling; but nevertheless she was quite as well pleased as
+Ellen and I, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, word was given
+that we should halt and make camp.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT
+
+
+We were yet in a fairly thickly settled portion of the country; but
+the leaders of our company determined to make the encampment exactly as
+if we were on the prairie or among the mountains, where there might be
+danger from wild beasts or wilder savages, and you may well fancy that
+Ellen and I were on our feet as soon as the wagon came to a stop, for
+we had heard so much of this camp making that both of us were eager to
+see how it was done.
+
+All the wagons were drawn up in a large circle so that the tongue of
+one came close to the tailboard of another, and just inside this ring
+of vehicles were set up small tents, which many of the company were to
+use at night because their families were so large that every one could
+not be given room in the wagons.
+
+Inside this row of tents were picketed the horses, or, at least, they
+were to be picketed as soon as night should come; but when we first
+halted they were fastened out upon the plain where they might eat the
+grass, while the oxen, cows, and sheep were turned loose with half a
+dozen of the men and boys watching lest they should stray.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Because the people were not accustomed to thus making an encampment,
+no little time was spent in getting everything into what the leaders of
+the company believed to be proper order, and then our mothers set about
+cooking supper.
+
+In our wagon the stove was pushed back upon the shelf made expressly
+for it, short lengths of pipe were run through the osnaburg cloth and
+tied by wire to the topmost part of the rear wagon bow, so they might
+be held straight, and then mother set about her work much as if she had
+been at home.
+
+It was most pleasant camping in the open air, and before we had been
+halted an hour the place was quite homelike.
+
+At nearly every wagon one or more women were making ready for supper;
+a short distance away the men and the boys were herding the cattle, and
+near by, inside or out of the inclosure, were scores and scores of idle
+ones, who, their work being done, were now enjoying a time of rest.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There was much talking and shouting, but above all one could hear that
+song of the true Pikers:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers,
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+
+
+
+NIGHT IN CAMP
+
+
+How Ellen and I enjoyed the supper on this first night of the journey!
+Mother made sour-milk biscuit; the stove worked to perfection, as if
+delighted because it was being carried to California; and what with
+cold meat and steaming hot tea it seemed as if I had never tasted
+anything better than that meal.
+
+Although we had enjoyed ourselves hugely, especially during the first
+part of the day's march, both Ellen and I were tired, and when mother
+said we might make up our bed on the bottom of the wagon, we were not
+only willing, but eager to do so, for after the hearty supper it seemed
+as if sleep had become a necessity.
+
+Once we had crossed over into Dreamland, our eyes were not opened again
+until the sun was near to rising; then the shouts of the men and the
+lowing of the cattle caused us to spring up suddenly, almost fancying
+that the camp had been attacked by savages, even though we were not yet
+out of Pike County.
+
+If I had the time, it would please me to describe the journey from our
+home in Ashley to a town known as Independence, on the Missouri River,
+where the Oregon trail begins; but since, as father said again and
+again, we did not really start until we had struck the Oregon trail,
+it is best that I leave out all that happened while we were coming from
+Pike County to the Missouri River.
+
+
+
+
+THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+We traveled slowly, because the cows were not easily herded, and, as
+Eben Jordan said, none of our people were accustomed to such kind of
+marching.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We did, however, finally arrive at the real starting point after eight
+days, during which time Ellen and I came to understand that, however
+pleasant it was to sit in the wagon and look out upon the country
+through which we passed, it might grow wearisome.
+
+Ellen and I had fancied we would see something very new and wonderful
+at Independence, and yet, while everything was strange and there was
+much to attract one's attention, it was not so very different from
+other settlements through which we had passed.
+
+There was, however, a constant bustle and confusion such as one could
+not see elsewhere. Enormous wagons, which Eben Jordan said belonged
+to the traders who went over the Santa Fe trail, were coming into
+town or going out, each drawn by eight or ten mules and accompanied by
+Spaniards or Negroes, until one could but wonder where so many people
+were going.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There were trains, much like our own, belonging to settlers who were
+going into Oregon, or, like ourselves, into California. Those were
+halted just outside the town, until the entire settlement was literally
+surrounded, while among them all, near the wagons of the traders as
+well as those of the emigrants, lounged Indians, nothing like the
+people I had imagined the savages to be.
+
+
+
+
+KANSAS INDIANS
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As Ellen said, if that was the kind of Indian we should meet with
+during the journey, then we need have little or no fear, for the
+savages we saw at Independence were nothing more nor less than beggars,
+who would greedily pick up and devour anything eatable that was thrown
+at them. Eben Jordan made himself ridiculous by marching around armed
+with a rifle, and a huge knife thrust in his belt, as if expecting each
+instant to be called upon to defend his life.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were tired of the settlement, even before we had fairly arrived, and
+after Ellen and I walked through the town, wondering not a little at
+seeing a number of the houses and stores built entirely of brick, we
+were content to return to our own encampment, which was about half a
+mile out on the prairie.
+
+
+
+
+LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE
+
+
+Up to this time mother and I had but little trouble in preparing the
+meals whenever we came to a halt; but I heard some of the men say that
+within a few days after we were once on the trail, all this would be
+changed. There would be many times when we might not find sufficient
+fuel to keep a fire in the stove, when we would feel the pangs of
+thirst because of not being able to get enough water, and when, the
+stock of provisions which we had brought with us having been consumed,
+we would know what it was to be hungry.
+
+When I repeated to mother what I had heard, she nodded her head
+sadly, replying that she had thought of all these things when father
+first determined to seek a new home in the California country, and
+she doubted not that we would come to know much suffering, before we
+arrived at our journey's end.
+
+As may be supposed, I was not in a cheerful mood when Ellen and I went
+to bed that night. During the half hour or more while we lay there
+wakeful, we spoke of all the possibilities of the future, and almost
+regretted that our parents had decided to leave Pike County, for
+surely they could find nowhere on the face of this earth a place more
+agreeable in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+A STORMY DAY
+
+
+When another morning came, it surely seemed as if all my fears were
+about to be realized, for the day dawned dark and forbidding, the rain
+came down in torrents, while the wind sighed and moaned as it drove
+floods of water from one end of the wagon to the other, wetting us
+completely even before we were awake.
+
+I could not believe father would set off on the journey at such a time
+as this, and was wondering how we should be able to cook breakfast,
+when he called to mother that she make ready the morning meal, for in
+half an hour the train would be in motion.
+
+No one had been sufficiently thoughtful to store beneath the wagon a
+supply of dry fuel, and the consequence was that we had nothing with
+which to build a fire, save a few armfuls of water-soaked wood which
+father and Eben Jordan succeeded in gathering, for where so many
+emigrants were encamped, fuel of any kind was indeed scarce.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I almost forgave Eben for having appeared so ridiculous when he
+strutted around fully armed, as I saw him striving to gather wood for
+us when he might have remained under the cover of his father's wagon;
+indeed, before many days passed both Ellen and I saw that there was
+much good in the boy's heart, even though he was too often disposed to
+make matters disagreeable for us girls.
+
+
+
+
+A LACK OF FUEL
+
+
+Mother and I made our first attempt at cooking while the stove was
+beneath the wagon cover and the pipe thrust out through the hole in the
+rear.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+If we had had plenty of dry wood, I have no doubt but that the work
+could have been done with some degree of comfort; but as it was, we
+were put to our wits' ends, even to get sufficient heat to boil the
+water, and when word was given for the company to start, we had not
+really begun to cook the breakfast.
+
+Of course it would have been dangerous for us to attempt to keep a fire
+burning while the wagon was moving. Therefore we would have been forced
+to set off without breakfast, had not Ellen's mother kindly sent us
+some corn bread which she had baked the night before, and this, with
+fresh milk, made up our meal.
+
+At the time I thought I was much injured because of not having more
+food; but before we had come to the land of California I often looked
+back upon that morning with longing, remembering the meal of corn bread
+and milk as though it was a feast.
+
+During all the long day, except for half an hour at noon, the
+patient oxen plodded wearily on amid the rain, oftentimes sinking
+fetlock-deep in the marshy places. Everything was damp and every place
+uncomfortable, and at times it seemed as if I could no longer bear up
+under the suffering.
+
+In order to teach me that, instead of grumbling, I ought to be thankful
+for the comforts I could enjoy, mother told me to look at those who
+were exposed to the storm. I saw father and the other men walking
+beside the oxen, the rain pelting down upon them pitilessly; I heard
+the cry of a baby in pain; and I soon came to understand that my lot
+was far less hard than that of many others.
+
+She read me a lesson on patience and contentment, whatever might
+be my surroundings, until I grew ashamed of having shown myself so
+disagreeable.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING CAMP IN A STORM
+
+
+Determined as I was to make the best of whatever might happen, I
+could not but be disheartened when, nearly at nightfall, we halted to
+make camp again. The rain was still descending like a cloud-burst;
+everything around us, including the bedding, seemed saturated with
+water. Yet I saw the men spread the thin cloth tents, after the wagons
+had been drawn up in a circle, or made into a corral as the travelers
+on the trail call it; I saw them wade ankle-deep in the mud, but with
+never an impatient word or gesture. It appeared sufficient to them if
+their women and children could enjoy some little degree of comfort.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Again we strove to do our cooking under the wagon covers, and again we
+were in need of fuel. Ellen and I, with the skirts of our gowns over
+our heads for protection, scurried here and there, picking up twigs and
+crying out with delight when we came upon a piece of wood as large as
+one's fist.
+
+You can well imagine what kind of supper we had that night. The inside
+of the wagon was filled with smoke, for the short length of stovepipe
+did not afford a strong draft, and mother labored, with the tears
+streaming down her cheeks, to fry as much bacon as would satisfy our
+hunger.
+
+The smoke was so dense that we all wept, smiling even in the midst of
+our seeming tears when father said, after he had milked the cows and
+had brought in quite as much water as milk, that it was a question
+with him whether he could stand better the smoke or the rain. He was
+inclined to think he had rather be soaked with water than cured like a
+ham.
+
+Again Eben Jordan showed his kindness of heart, for he insisted upon
+helping this man and that, milk the cows and herd the oxen and sheep,
+and he did whatever came to his hand, all the while humming "Joe
+Bowers."
+
+When Eben came into our wagon later in the evening, Ellen and I treated
+him very kindly, for we were coming to understand that this boy, who
+found so much pleasure in vexing us girls, was ever ready to do a good
+turn to another, even when it cost him much labor and discomfort.
+
+
+
+
+A THUNDERSTORM
+
+
+During all that night it rained; but shortly after midnight there came
+up such a terrific storm of thunder and lightning that it seemed as if
+the very heavens were bursting.
+
+Then all our men and boys were forced to go and quiet the cattle, for
+the beasts were even as frightened as we girls were, and, so father
+said, would have stampeded, leaving us to spend the next day searching
+for them on the prairies, had it not been for the precautions of our
+people.
+
+When I complained to mother, just after father had gone out into the
+tempest, that this journey to California was nothing like what I had
+pictured it, she said mildly that if I was growing disheartened now, it
+would have been better had I never set out from Pike County, for thus
+far matters had gone much to our convenience and that shortly we would
+find real trials and real troubles.
+
+Next morning, however, my spirits rose, for the sun was shining
+brightly when I awoke; but word was passed around the camp that
+instead of setting off at once, we might spend two hours drying the bed
+clothing and such of our belongings as had been saturated during the
+storm.
+
+Then there was presented such a scene as would have interested any one
+who had never witnessed the like before. On every wagon tongue were
+hung blankets and garments of all kinds, and over the wheels of each
+cart lay feather beds or bolsters, until it must have looked as if
+every member of our company had spent a day in washing, and was now
+about to do the ironing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan went here and there, aiding this one or that when he had
+done what he might for his mother, all the while singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," until, even before our breakfast had been cooked, fully
+half the company were joining in that foolish song. Mother said almost
+fretfully, when Ellen and I took up the refrain, that she wished the
+senseless words had never been written, or that we had never heard
+them.
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS
+
+
+Although we started off late that morning, owing to the drying out, we
+halted early in the afternoon, for we had come upon a company of men
+and women who, like ourselves, were bound for the land of California.
+The leader of the company was Colonel Russell.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To my surprise and delight these people also proved to be Pikers,
+having come from a settlement about twenty miles south of our old home.
+You may readily fancy how enjoyable was that evening, when we visited
+from wagon to wagon, listening to the stories of what had thus far
+happened to the company, and repeating our own adventures, if such they
+could be called.
+
+While we women and girls were thus engaged, the men of both companies
+decided to travel together, believing that by increasing the number
+there might be less danger from the Indians, for Eben Jordan said that
+the savages we saw at Independence were but imitations of the fiercer
+ones whom we were most likely to meet before our journey's end.
+
+
+
+
+THE STOCK STRAY AWAY
+
+
+I suppose it was the excitement occasioned by the meeting with Colonel
+Russell's company, which caused our men in charge of the cattle to be
+careless during the evening and later in the night, for when morning
+came we found that nearly all the oxen and a goodly number of the cows
+had strayed from the camp and disappeared completely.
+
+When Eben Jordan first told us of this, I believed a great disaster
+had come upon us; but straightway father and half a dozen of the other
+men mounted the horses and set off across the prairie in search of the
+missing cattle, as if this was trouble to be expected.
+
+In fact, before many days passed, I came to look upon the straying or
+the stampeding of the live stock as of little consequence.
+
+We had plenty of time to cook breakfast that morning while the men were
+searching over the prairie for the cattle, and, much to my surprise,
+within three hours all the stock had been brought into the encampment
+and we were making ready once more for the day's journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before noon we arrived at Blue Creek, where we had, as it seemed to me,
+much trouble because the trail leading to the stream was deep with mud,
+and the bottom of the creek so soft that our people were forced to wade
+waist-deep on either side of the wagons, lest the wheels sink so far
+down that the oxen would not be able to pull the heavy loads across.
+
+Again and again the men laid hold of the wheels, straining every muscle
+as the drivers of the cattle urged the patient beasts to their utmost
+exertions, and before all our company had crossed that small creek
+the day was so nearly at an end that there was nothing left for us to
+do save camp once more, although we had traveled only six miles since
+setting out.
+
+Then came Sunday morning, when I believed we would remain idle, for
+it did not seem right that we should travel on the Lord's day; but, as
+father said, while we were making such a long journey it was necessary
+to push ahead during every hour of fair weather, and to take our day of
+rest only when it was absolutely necessary.
+
+And so, instead of worshiping God as we would have done had we
+remained in Pike County, we went forward, fording two small creeks and
+journeying over a dull, level plain, whereon, save flowers, nothing was
+to be seen to delight the eye.
+
+
+
+
+AN INDIAN VILLAGE
+
+
+Within an hour of sunset we came to a veritable Indian village,
+although there were not many of the savages living in it, and Ellen and
+I took advantage of this first opportunity to see the redskins in their
+homes.
+
+There were but four men, with perhaps a dozen women and children, all
+living in lodges made of smoke-dried skins, and looking exceedingly
+dirty and disagreeable.
+
+We girls were not inclined to linger there long, although the Indians
+were willing we should, and when our short visit had been brought to
+a close, they followed us, clustering around our wagons and waiting
+patiently for food to be thrown to them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+From this time on during a full week we continued to push steadily
+forward, moving so slowly that even we girls could understand the
+journey would be exceedingly long and wearisome.
+
+
+
+
+I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING
+
+
+More than once did I reproach myself with having been so eager to leave
+Pike County, and many times I said to myself that a girl who has a
+happy home is indeed foolish to wish for a change, lest, like Ellen and
+me, they find, as mother often says, that they have jumped out of the
+frying pan into the fire.
+
+One day was much like another. Now the trail would be hard underfoot
+and the traveling easy, and again we would cross a stream, the bottom
+lands of which were so marshy that the oxen lugged and strained at
+their yokes, until oftentimes it was necessary to double up the teams
+in order that the heavy wagons could be pulled over the soft footing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The only thing I remember which came to break the monotony of the slow
+march was when, on a certain evening, father returned with his pockets
+and hands full of wild onions which he had found on the prairie.
+Because our meals had consisted chiefly of corn bread and salted meat,
+I said to myself that now we would have a feast.
+
+But alas! those wild onions were like my dreams about traveling to the
+land of California. While they looked fair on the outside before being
+cooked, they were so strong to the taste that one nearly choked in
+trying to eat them.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S BOASTS
+
+
+Eben Jordan, hearing of my disappointment, said with a laugh that when
+we came to the country where game was to be found he intended to bring
+into camp all the fresh meat the company could eat, and one might have
+thought from the way the boy talked that he believed himself capable of
+feeding all our company unaided.
+
+It would have been well if Eben had contented himself with predicting
+the marvels which he counted on performing; but, instead, he reminded
+me that before we had come into the Land of Promise I might be
+more than willing to eat wild onions and "smack my lips over the
+disagreeable food."
+
+It seems that he heard, while in Independence, of the sufferings of
+some people who had journeyed over that same trail, when they found
+no game and their provisions were consumed before the march came to an
+end.
+
+It would have been better, so I said to him, if he had not repeated
+such things, for surely we were getting all the discomfort that was
+needed to show how foolish we had been in leaving Pike County, where no
+one suffered from hunger or thirst, if he had a tongue in his head to
+make known his desires.
+
+It seemed almost as if the boy was a real prophet, for within a few
+hours Ellen and I did come to know what thirst--bitter, parching
+thirst--was like.
+
+We had started out one morning when the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us so fervently that the wagon covering seemed to be no protection, and
+the only relief we had was from the gentle breeze which was blowing,
+not with sufficient force to relieve our suffering, but enough to
+prevent us from being literally baked.
+
+
+SUFFERING WITH THIRST
+
+We drank, as did all our company, of the water which we carried in kegs
+stowed in the wagons, and gave no heed to the fact that the supply was
+scanty, for until this time there had never been any lack of water.
+
+At noon even the breeze died away; there was not a cloud in the sky,
+the trail was smooth and hard, running over what father called the
+tableland of the prairie, and the heat so intense that there were times
+when it surely seemed as if I could not longer continue to breathe.
+
+Then, when our sufferings were seemingly as great as they could
+possibly be, mother discovered that our store of water had been
+exhausted, and called to father, asking that he get a supply from one
+of the other wagons.
+
+It seemed strange to me then, and does even now, that at almost the
+same time all our company had run short of water, and from one end
+of the long train to the other we could not beg enough to moisten our
+tongues.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Perhaps it was the knowledge that I could not quench my thirst which
+caused me to suffer more severely, and when father said we must travel
+no less than twelve miles before coming to any stream, my heart sank
+within me.
+
+Ellen was suffering quite as much as I, except that she had the good
+sense to hold her peace, and mother, patient with me as ever, said all
+she could to prevent me from dwelling too much upon my condition.
+
+Nor was I the only one in that company to suffer severely. Whenever the
+train came to a halt that the cattle might have a breathing spell, I
+could hear the smaller children crying for something to drink, and once
+during the afternoon Eben Jordan came alongside our wagon, asking if
+our water kegs were empty.
+
+Then I saw upon his face that look of eagerness and desire such as I
+had read on Ellen's, and when I told him we were suffering from thirst
+even more than any other members of the company, he shook his head and
+replied:--
+
+"It is the younger ones who suffer the most, Martha Early, for they
+cannot be made to understand that it is necessary to wait; while you
+and I, who are older, know it is only a case of grinning and bearing it
+as best we may."
+
+
+
+
+IN SEARCH OF WATER
+
+
+I was irritated because Eben should read me a lesson, for indeed his
+words sounded like a reproof. I turned away from him, saying to myself
+that if it was not possible to make the oxen move more rapidly, there
+was danger of my dying, all of which was foolishness, even wickedness,
+as you will agree.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To force the beasts to a more rapid pace was absolutely impossible.
+Already the sheep as well as the oxen were showing signs of exhaustion
+and panting for water. Their tongues were hanging out, and they moved
+slowly as if unable to go farther, while five of the cows had dropped
+down on the trail as if dying.
+
+We were forced to leave them behind, fearing lest if time was spent in
+trying to get the beasts on their feet again, more of the stock would
+fall.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I hardly knew how the remainder of that day passed, for I gave no heed
+to anything save my own suffering, thereby showing myself wickedly
+selfish, until a great shout went up from those who were in advance,
+telling that at last, after what seemed like many, many long hours, we
+had come within sight of a stream of water.
+
+Then the oxen, wild with thirst and smelling the dampness in the air,
+plunged forward as if in a fury, for the drivers were unable to hold
+them in check.
+
+In a mad race went every yoke of the cattle, drawing the heavy wagons
+that lurched first on one side and then on the other as we went over
+the uneven surface of the trail, until all the contents which had been
+stowed so carefully were thrown violently about, while we girls and
+mother had the greatest difficulty to save ourselves from being flung
+out.
+
+
+
+
+QUENCHING OUR THIRST
+
+
+The oxen continued on until every yoke of them stood in the creek, and
+there they halted, drinking eagerly until their sides swelled out as if
+bursting.
+
+Regardless of the fact that our wagon was standing in not less than
+twelve inches of water, Ellen and I leaped out and drank from the
+stream like dogs, too thirsty to wait longer.
+
+I have been in need of water many times since that day, but never have
+I suffered so keenly, and I now understand that the distress which
+well-nigh overcame me was caused for the most part by my foolishly
+dwelling upon the lack of water, whereas if I had forced myself to
+think of other matters, much pain might have been avoided.
+
+It was impossible to force the oxen across the creek, and we were
+obliged to make camp on the easterly side, for it seemed as if they
+would never have done with drinking.
+
+When they were so full that it was impossible to swallow another
+mouthful, they refused to cross, but struggled to get among the rich
+grass which covered the bottom lands of the creek.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After the horses, as well as the men and the cattle, had been thus
+refreshed, half a dozen of our people, among whom was Eben Jordan, rode
+back on the trail, hoping to drive in some of the cows that had fallen
+by the wayside. It was not until a late hour in the evening that they
+returned, bringing with them only two of the animals.
+
+Thus we suffered our first loss on the journey, and it seemed to me
+a most serious matter; but even before we had come to the trail which
+led to California, the loss of even twice as many cattle could not have
+disturbed me, for I had come to believe that we should arrive at that
+Land of Promise, if indeed we were so fortunate as to survive, almost
+empty-handed, owing to the difficulties of the way which the beasts
+could not overcome.
+
+The next day's march was ended early in the afternoon, because then we
+had come to a stream, and those who were familiar with the trail knew
+we could not arrive at another place where water would be found until
+late in the night.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING BUTTER
+
+
+So we encamped early, and mother decided to set about churning, for
+long ago our store of butter had been exhausted. We had but a small
+quantity of cream, all of which had been saved since morning.
+
+No sooner had she begun her work than fully half the women of the
+company followed her example, and at the side or in the rear of nearly
+every wagon was a churn set out with either the girls or the boys
+working the dasher.
+
+As Eben Jordan said when he offered to spell me at the churn, it looked
+as if we people, who had set out from Ashley to find a new home in the
+land of California, had decided to abandon the idea and turn all our
+attention to making butter.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next morning we were forced to continue the journey before having
+breakfast, for we were nearing the Kansas River, and would arrive there
+about noon if the march was begun as soon as daylight. Even then there
+would be hardly more than time before the sun set to get all our train
+over, for the stream was so deep that it could not be forded, and we
+must send the wagons across in boats.
+
+
+
+
+A KANSAS FERRY
+
+
+Although we were, as one might have supposed, in an uninhabited
+country, father told me that at this crossing of the Kansas River
+was a ferry owned by two half-breed Indians, who made a business of
+freighting heavy wagons across for a fee of one dollar each; but all
+the live stock would be forced to swim.
+
+Now since none of the boats could carry more than one wagon at a time,
+you may readily understand how many hours would be needed in order to
+get all our train from one side of the river to the other, even though
+it was no more than two hundred yards from bank to bank. Therefore, as
+I have said, it was necessary we arrive at the ferry at the earliest
+possible moment, lest night overtake us while half the company yet
+remained on the eastern shore.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The ferryboats were nothing more than square, shallow boxes, which the
+Indians pushed across by poles, after the cargo of wagons had been put
+on board.
+
+Of course the women and the girls had nothing to do with this ferrying,
+save to remain under the wagon coverings where they would be out of the
+way. I envied Eben Jordan, who could move about at will, for verily my
+heart was in my mouth, so to speak, during all the time we were working
+our slow way across the stream, fearing lest our boat should sink
+beneath us.
+
+
+
+
+THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK
+
+
+Not until nearly six o'clock were all our company on the western side
+of the river, and then I supposed that we would immediately make camp;
+but to my surprise word was given for the train to move on, and we
+journeyed three miles more, coming to the bank of Soldier Creek before
+darkness.
+
+It was at this place that a most pleasant surprise awaited us. Colonel
+Russell's wife, who had walked ahead while our train was being ferried
+across the river, found quantities and quantities of wild strawberries
+near the camping place. As soon as we women and girls arrived, we set
+about gathering the berries, until each family had a good supply of
+the luscious fruit. Milk was not a poor substitute for cream to us who
+had been living upon corn bread and salt meat ever since we left the
+settlement of Independence.
+
+During the next two days we traveled steadily onward, slowly, to be
+sure, but yet each step, as Ellen said again and again, was taking us
+nearer the end of the journey. In time I came to be impatient whenever
+a halt was called, so eager was I to have done with riding, for however
+comfortable a girl might make herself in one of the wagons, her limbs
+were certain to become cramped before night.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+On the third day after crossing the Kansas River, the leaders of our
+company decided that a halt was needed in order to give the animals a
+rest. Their hoofs had become dry and cracked from traveling over the
+matted grass of last year, which covered the prairie even beneath the
+new crop, and it was necessary that something be done for them without
+delay.
+
+I had been looking forward to a full day's halt, even though impatient
+when we were not moving forward, for Ellen and I had planned to wander
+as far from the encampment as we could, searching for flowers and wild
+peas, which grew there in great abundance, so we had been told.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD MAKING
+
+
+Mother decided that now had come a time when she must bake a plentiful
+supply of bread, for she was determined not to be put to such straits
+as we were during the rain storm, when it was next to impossible to
+build a fire in the stove, and, of course, I was glad to do whatever I
+might to aid her.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before father had fairly got the stove out of the wagon and set up
+where it could be most conveniently used, nearly every other woman in
+the company had decided to follow mother's example, and then came such
+a scene as was presented when each family did its churning.
+
+In the rear or at the side of nearly every wagon a stove was set up,
+and one might see everywhere women rolling or kneading dough, girls
+running about on errands, and boys doing their share by keeping the
+fires going.
+
+I must say to Eben Jordan's credit that he was of great assistance to
+mother and me that day. If he had been a saint upon earth, he could
+not have done more or worked with greater patience than he did, running
+from stove to stove when the other boys had neglected their duties.
+
+Mother told him laughingly that many times while we lived in Ashley she
+had been vexed because of the boyish pranks he played; but from this
+time onward she should remember what he had done in the way of aiding
+the cooks, and would overlook almost anything which mischief might
+prompt him to do.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE PEAS
+
+
+The baking came to an end, so far as our family was concerned,
+shortly after noon; then Ellen and I, taking Eben with us as guide and
+protector, went out in search of peas and brought home enough to supply
+several families, who had been neighbors of ours, with a generous mess.
+
+
+Save for the fact that these prairie peas look somewhat like those we
+have at home, I could find no likeness between the two varieties. The
+wild peas have a tough rind, and there are several seeds in the middle
+of each; but after they have been boiled and allowed to remain in
+vinegar a few hours, they make a fairly pleasing dish.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When we began the march once more, I hoped to see the cattle moving
+more spiritedly than before the halt; but in this I was mistaken. It
+seemed to me that they limped painfully, and worse than ever; that I
+was not mistaken was proved, to my satisfaction at least, when I heard
+father and another man saying to each other that before many days we
+should be forced to kill two or three whose feet were in the worst
+condition.
+
+However, the days went on and our cattle continued to work fairly
+well, although I noticed that when we came to rough places, such as the
+crossing of a stream, where it was necessary to climb a high bank on
+the opposite side, the drivers were forced to double up the teams more
+often than before, because the poor creatures could not haul so heavy
+a load as when we first started out.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A HUNTER
+
+
+Within a week from the time of leaving Soldier Creek, Eben Jordan
+was indeed puffed up with pride. He came into camp late one afternoon
+dragging behind him an antelope which he had shot within two miles of
+where we halted an hour previous. This proof that he had shown himself
+a skillful hunter, caused the boy literally to swell with joy as he
+strutted around the body of the beautiful animal while our people were
+looking at it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed too bad to kill such an innocent creature as that antelope,
+and yet I forgot all the cruelty of it when Eben brought to our
+wagon enough steaks to provide all of us with a slice of fresh meat.
+Afterward it seemed to me much as if we had been cannibals when we so
+eagerly devoured the handsome animal.
+
+From that day on, whenever we made camp before dark, Eben went out
+with his rifle, and more than once he brought in a deer of some kind,
+dividing the meat generously and fairly among us all.
+
+
+
+
+A HERD OF BUFFALOES
+
+
+Then came the time when we had our first glimpse of buffaloes, and
+never shall I forget the scene. We had been traveling in the bottom
+lands where we found multitudes of paths deeply cut into the ground,
+which some of our people said had been made by buffaloes; but we girls
+never so much as dreamed we might be near the beasts, until one morning
+father called me hurriedly to look out of the wagon.
+
+Then I screamed, for we were literally surrounded by thousands upon
+thousands of those fierce-looking, yet stupid, beasts, who gave no more
+heed to our encampment than if they had been accustomed to such things
+all their lives.
+
+They circled around within a quarter of a mile of where our cattle
+were feeding, and father said afterward that unless our men had been
+exceedingly watchful and active, the oxen and cows would have been
+stampeded beyond a doubt.
+
+
+
+
+EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP
+
+
+Our animals were in a high state of excitement, striving to get
+through the lines of men who guarded them, and of course there was no
+possibility of our breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,
+so father said, there was not a driver in the company who could handle
+half a dozen yoke of oxen while the buffaloes were so near.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea of animals as did
+Ellen and I. You may be certain Eben Jordan was among the first to go
+out dangerously near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all the
+men of the company, save those who were guiding our live stock.
+
+I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their heels when a
+rifle was discharged; but much to my surprise they paid little or no
+attention at first to the reports of the firearms.
+
+I dare not venture to say how many of the animals were killed; but
+certainly it seemed to me, when about noon the entire herd rushed off,
+the rumbling of their hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder,
+that there were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plain
+within a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up to form a corral.
+
+
+
+
+A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT
+
+
+There was so much game for us to bring in, that during the remainder
+of the day every man and boy that could be spared was kept busy at work
+skinning the dead buffaloes or cutting up the flesh.
+
+What a feast we had that evening! We had buffalo tongues baked in the
+ovens, or in front of small fires which had been built here and there.
+Then there were what father called hump ribs, steaks, and meat of every
+kind that could be taken from a buffalo. Each member of the company was
+eager to learn how every eatable portion of the animal tasted, and,
+therefore, cooked two or three times as much as could be used at one
+meal.
+
+Our people had no more than time to skin and cut up the carcasses
+before dark; on the following morning word was passed around that each
+family must dry, or smoke-cure, as much of the flesh as possible within
+the next four and twenty hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Straightway every man, woman, and child set about either slicing the
+meat as thin as it could be cut with sharp knives, or putting together
+racks made of sticks, on which the strips of flesh were to be hung and
+exposed to the rays of the sun, as well as to the smoke of the fires
+that were to be built directly beneath them.
+
+
+
+
+CURING THE MEAT
+
+
+It was disagreeable work, and yet we were all, even to the smallest
+girl, content to do our part, knowing that we were thus laying up food
+for the future when it might not be possible to procure game, and when
+all the stores we had brought with us from Pike County had been eaten.
+
+The arms of the men who acted as carvers were stained with blood to the
+elbows, while the hands and even the faces of the women and children
+who carried the sliced meat to hang it on the framework of sticks, were
+colored in the same way.
+
+In addition to curing the meat in the sun and smoking it, some of the
+men made what is called pemmican, a most disagreeable looking mixture
+of flesh and fat which I afterward came to eat greedily, when we had
+nothing else with which to satisfy our hunger.
+
+Pemmican is made by first drying the very thinnest of thin slices of
+meat in the sun, until they are so hard that it is possible to rub or
+pound them to a powder.
+
+A bag is then formed of the buffalo skin, and into it is packed
+powdered meat sufficient to fill it considerably more than half full,
+after which tallow is melted and poured into the bag until it can hold
+no more. Then the entire mass is allowed to cool and harden. It is then
+fit for eating, so father said; but mother, when the time came that
+we were glad to have our portion of the stuff, always boiled it so it
+might be served hot.
+
+It is not appetizing to me, and because I have seen the mixture
+prepared I can eat it only when I am very hungry.
+
+
+
+
+A WASH DAY
+
+
+Two full days were spent in curing the meat and making pemmican, and
+even then we did not continue the journey immediately, for the work
+had brought our clothing to such a condition that a day for washing
+was absolutely necessary. Therefore we remained for another twenty-four
+hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were encamped near a small stream where could be had plenty of water
+for the animals, and on either side of this tiny creek, shortly after
+sunrise, could be seen many fires, kettles, and washtubs.
+
+What a tired girl I was when I stretched myself out on mother's feather
+bed in the wagon that night! It seemed to me that I had no more than
+closed my eyes before I was asleep, and not until father was bustling
+around inside the wagon next morning trying to build a fire in the
+cookstove, did I awake.
+
+Then the patter, patter of rain on the wagon covering told that we were
+to be treated to another downpour of water, and eager though I was to
+reach California, I hoped most fervently we would remain in camp yet
+longer.
+
+
+
+
+UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING
+
+
+It was really difficult for me to open my eyes, so heavily did slumber
+weigh upon them, when I asked father if he had any idea of setting
+off in such a storm, at the same time reminding him how our beasts had
+struggled through the mud during the last rain.
+
+He laughingly told me that we would continue on the trail, regardless
+of the weather; that a rain storm was not to be compared in the way
+of discomfort with snow. He said that unless we came to our journey's
+end before the season of frost set in, we might never arrive, but
+would be in danger of perishing, as others had who, striving to reach
+California, had been overtaken by winter among the mountains.
+
+"So long as the cattle are in condition to push on, just so long shall
+we continue to march, regardless of whether the rain falls or the sun
+shines," he said, speaking very solemnly, and mother's face grew grave
+as if she was already beginning to understand the better what might be
+before us.
+
+"There will be all too many days when we must remain in camp; but now,
+after such a long rest, it would be little less than wicked to remain
+idle here simply because it might be more to our comfort."
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There is little need for me to explain how disagreeable it is to get up
+in the morning and attempt to keep a fire going with wet fuel.
+
+Everything was damp and uncomfortable to the touch, and all the
+surroundings looked much as Ellen and I felt when we helped mother
+prepare breakfast.
+
+After that very unsatisfactory meal had been eaten, for we had nothing
+save some half-fried bacon with cold corn bread, not being able to
+make coffee because the fire would persist in going out, the train
+was started. Ellen and I, crouching in the rear end of the wagon where
+the rain could not drive in upon us, sat close to the stove, which now
+seemed warmer than when we were trying to cook breakfast, and talked of
+the future.
+
+Of course I cannot set down all we said, for much of it was foolish;
+but some of the conversation I have remembered clearly even to this
+day.
+
+
+ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY
+
+
+Ellen, when I had told her it was my intent to write the story of our
+coming from Pike County, said that it would not be proper for me to
+write anything about what we saw or did while on the Oregon trail. We
+were bound for California, and would not be upon the direct road to
+that country until we had left Fort Bridger.
+
+It was her idea that I should begin the story with the time when we
+turned from the trail leading to Oregon, and set our faces directly
+toward California; but, as has been seen, I nearly forgot her advice,
+and even now it seems impossible to do exactly as she proposed.
+
+I intend, however, in order to please her, to set down only such
+matters as seem to me of the greatest importance, and thereby hurry
+over a certain portion of the march, beginning in earnest with the time
+when we finally came to Fort Bridger.
+
+
+
+
+INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES
+
+
+Now you must bear in mind, although I may not speak of them again, that
+we were constantly meeting with Indians. Hardly a day passed that we
+did not come upon a village, meet a party of hunters, or receive visits
+from groups of two, three, or four who came to beg.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Strange though it may seem, we became accustomed to the savages as one
+does to seeing a dog or a cat around the house, and gave little or no
+attention to them save when they made themselves disagreeable.
+
+One other thing I will speak about now. Mosquitoes and tiny flies,
+which seemed as fierce as tigers, were with us all the time by day as
+well as by night.
+
+When we first left Independence, it was difficult for me to sleep at
+night because of these insects, and during the day I spent the greater
+portion of my time striving to keep them off my hands or face. As the
+journey progressed it seemed as if they became less poisonous; but I
+suppose my body had become accustomed to the wounds, and I gave little
+heed to them except when the weather was exceedingly warm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Until we came among the foothills, which is to say, after we left Fort
+Bridger, we found game in abundance. What had been sport to Eben became
+now a real labor, and he sought for fresh meat only when urged to do so
+by his father or some of us girls.
+
+There were days when our men brought in no game because they were
+unable to come across any; but we were in a country abounding with
+deer, elks, buffaloes, and even bears, and so did not suffer for food.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE DOGS
+
+
+Even though I say nothing more regarding the remainder of our journey
+over the Oregon trail, I must speak of the little prairie dogs which we
+came upon from time to time.
+
+They live in villages, sometimes, as father has said, several acres
+in extent, and their houses are holes in the ground, with a top or
+extension, made of earth which they have pushed up from beneath.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan declares, and several men in the company who have talked
+with the trappers or hunters say, that in every prairie dog's house may
+be found a little gray owl, who has lodgings there, and oftentimes with
+this owl is a rattlesnake. Now just fancy the prairie dog, the owl,
+and the rattlesnake living together! All I ever saw of the family was
+the dog, and he is about the size of a large rat, with hair which is a
+mixture of light brown and black in color.
+
+It is impossible for me to tell you how entertaining these little
+creatures are. When we passed by the villages you could see them
+scampering around and barking. Again and again I have seen them playing
+about or sitting on the top of their houses, giving no heed to us until
+the wagon train was close upon them, when the entire colony would pop
+into their holes with every evidence of fear.
+
+A moment later each little fellow would stick his head out, his black,
+beadlike eyes glistening, while he looked around as if asking whether
+or not you saw how quickly he could get under cover when it pleased him
+to do so.
+
+I know of nothing more comical than these little animals, and yet they
+look so much like rats that I would greatly prefer to see them at a
+distance rather than make any attempt at taming them, as Eben Jordan
+declares is his intention to do as soon as he can catch one alive.
+
+I have my doubts, however, about his being able to catch one, unless he
+is cruel enough to wound it first with a rifle ball.
+
+
+
+
+COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP
+
+
+Just before we arrived at the Platte River, we crossed a small creek,
+the bottom of which was exceedingly soft; the men were forced to
+double up the teams in order to draw the heavy loads along, and Colonel
+Russell's wagon upset in midstream, where the water was two or three
+feet deep.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Now there was nothing comical in such a mishap, and yet Ellen and I,
+who were standing on the bank of the creek where we could see all that
+was going on, laughed until I felt actually ashamed of myself. It was
+all so ridiculous that I could not have kept my face straight whatever
+might have been the result.
+
+If the accident had happened quickly, there would not have been
+anything so very funny about it; but, instead, the wagon toppled
+slowly, the men striving meanwhile to prevent it from going entirely
+over. In the heavy wagon were Mrs. Russell and four children. We saw
+first the youngest child, as if some one had tossed him out, come
+shooting from the wagon and strike the water. Then another child, and
+so on, one after another, exactly like a lot of grasshoppers, until
+Mrs. Russell herself appeared. Out they marched in the same order,
+water streaming from their clothing, which was bedaubed with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Mother reproved Ellen and me severely for laughing when our neighbors
+were suffering; but even as she spoke the Russell procession passed
+along the edge of the bank, marking the way with mud and water, and I
+noticed that it was all she could do to keep her face straight while
+she scolded us.
+
+
+
+
+CHIMNEY ROCK
+
+
+When finally we crossed the Platte River, the men of the company
+rejoiced, although I was unable to learn why, except that it marked, as
+mother suggested, the first stage of the journey, the second of which
+would come to an end at Fort Bridger, and the third in that land where
+we hoped to settle.
+
+Not long after crossing this river we had a first glimpse of that
+enormous mass which travelers speak of as Court House Rock, which, so
+those who have seen both say, looks from the distance not unlike the
+Capitol at Washington. A few miles farther on we saw another huge pile
+called Chimney Rock.
+
+I doubt not but that both would have been well worth the seeing, yet
+our desire to look at them more closely was not gratified. The trail
+leads some distance off, and when mother proposed to father that we
+might halt for a day in order to get a nearer view of the curiosities,
+he shook his head decidedly, saying, almost gruffly, that we who were
+bent on finding new homes had no time to fritter away in looking at
+this odd thing or at that.
+
+Eben Jordan, however, borrowing one of his father's horses, rode off
+to Chimney Rock by himself, and when he came back he told Ellen and me
+that we need not shed many tears because of failing to see it close at
+hand, because it was nothing more than a lot of big stones that looked
+as if they might have been carelessly plastered together with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course this couldn't be the fact; but Eben has no eye for scenery
+and, I dare say, might turn his nose up at what every one else would
+believe wonderful or full of beauty.
+
+
+
+
+AT FORT LARAMIE
+
+
+Forty-eight days after leaving Independence we came to Fort Laramie,
+which is more like a trading post than like a fortification. It stands
+on the banks of the river Platte, is owned by the American Fur Company,
+and is six hundred and seventy-two miles from Independence by the trail
+we came over.
+
+Just fancy! We had traveled nearly seven hundred miles, the men of the
+company walking all the way; yet during that time, with the exception
+of the mishap to Colonel Russell's wagon and the loss of a few head of
+cattle, we had come to no harm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+At Fort Laramie we slept in a real house for the first time since
+starting on the long journey. It was not such a building as we lived in
+at Ashley, and yet it was to me almost beautiful, after I had remained
+so long in the wagon.
+
+I fancied I would sleep on that night as never before since the
+march began, and that we would have supper and breakfast properly and
+conveniently served.
+
+I had supposed the mosquitoes and the midges were as thick in our
+wagons as it would be possible to find them anywhere; but when we came
+into that house the place was swarming with them, and they prevented us
+from closing our eyes in rest during the entire night. Never was a girl
+better pleased than I when the first light of day came in through the
+windows.
+
+
+
+
+COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE
+
+
+After striving to cook food in front of one of the two fireplaces in
+that house, I was actually ashamed of having complained because our
+stove in the wagon on a stormy morning had seemed to me like some
+contrary animal.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+However much trouble we might have had with wet fuel and lack of draft
+owing to the shortness of the stovepipe, it was as nothing compared
+with those rude fireplaces, where our faces were burned almost to a
+crisp, our eyes filled with smoke, and whatever was cooking came from
+the heat thickly incrusted with ashes.
+
+I resolved not to grumble at anything we might find in California,
+provided we had conveniences where we could cook with some degree of
+comfort, and a place in which to lie down where we would be protected
+from insects.
+
+
+
+
+TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS
+
+
+I suppose Eben might describe Fort Laramie so that it would to a
+stranger present the appearance of a stronghold; but for my part I saw
+there only scores upon scores of savages, loitering around outside the
+walls, gambling, racing horses, bartering furs, or gorging themselves
+with half-cooked meat, while here and there could be seen the noisy
+trappers, some dressed fancifully after the fashion of the Indians, and
+others decked out in buckskin clothing.
+
+There were boasting hunters who swaggered around, peering curiously
+under our wagon covers when we had taken refuge there; and all around,
+corralled or feeding near at hand, were cattle and ponies almost
+without number.
+
+Our company was not the only party of Pikers at Fort Laramie. It seemed
+to me there must have been three or four hundred who had been traveling
+as we had traveled, some hoping to go into that land of Oregon which
+was represented as being wondrously beautiful, and others bound for
+California.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I would have visited among the strange Pikers had it not
+been for the throngs of trappers, hunters, and Indians, such as I have
+already written about. Mother declared it would be well for us girls to
+stay in our wagon, and this she came to believe firmly after two of the
+trappers engaged in a downright battle wherein both used knives, and
+both were sorely wounded.
+
+The people round about did not appear to think this fighting wicked
+or strange, and instead of endeavoring to make peace among them, all,
+even a few women, stood around watching the fray as if it was some
+exhibition of an innocent nature.
+
+I was sick with the sights of Fort Laramie even before mother sent
+Ellen and me to the wagon, and felt well content to remain there until
+next morning, never grumbling when I struggled to keep a fire going in
+the stove in order that we might cook supper.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE
+
+
+It seemed to me that every member of our company, with the possible
+exception of Eben Jordan, was delighted when the word had been passed
+around during the evening that we should pull out at early daybreak.
+
+We were getting near to that forking of the trail where we would bear
+southward and then westward, passing around a great salt sea on our way
+to California.
+
+We soon came among the foothills, and it was really a relief to be
+climbing up one hill and sliding down another, instead of driving over
+a level plain where was nothing to vary the monotony. Although Ellen
+and I were pleased with this change in the appearance of the country,
+our fathers found little in it to give them pleasure, for we had come
+to where grass was scanty and the way difficult for the animals.
+
+As father said, from then on we might suffer such privations and
+hardships as we had not experienced since leaving Independence; but
+that I could hardly credit, for it did not seem to me possible we would
+have more discomfort than when we were marching in the rain, with the
+ground so soft that the cattle could only with difficulty drag the
+wagon along.
+
+I suppose our people did have some trouble in finding grass for the
+animals; but we girls knew little regarding such matters. Our work was
+to aid in preparing the meals, and, as Ellen said, in keeping our minds
+as cheerful as possible; these tasks we performed to the best of our
+ability, without hearing very much of the perplexities of the men, save
+when Eben Jordan came to us with tales of trouble.
+
+
+
+
+INDEPENDENCE ROCK
+
+
+After leaving Fort Laramie the first thing which particularly attracted
+my attention was a perfect mountain of rock, fully a hundred feet in
+height and more than a mile in circumference, father told me, which
+stood near the Sweetwater River, between the ranges of mountains which
+border the Sweetwater Valley.
+
+It was an "imposing work of nature," so Colonel Russell said; but to me
+the most interesting thing about it was that the first celebration of
+the Fourth of July by a company of people bound to Oregon was held at
+the place. On the rocks, as high up as one can see, are a multitude of
+names, many, many hundreds, some painted, and others cut into the soft
+stone by those who had visited the place.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Another thing about Independence Rock which causes me to remember it
+even more than as "an imposing work of nature," was that near it one
+could pick up all the saleratus he needed, for there are veritable
+ponds of it, where, so father said, water filled with the salts had
+evaporated, leaving the saleratus itself in pools which looked as if
+made of milk.
+
+Next morning we came upon a great gap in the mountain wall which is
+called the Devil's Gate; through it flows a beautiful stream, on the
+banks of which we found wild currants and gooseberries in greatest
+abundance.
+
+
+
+
+ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER
+
+
+About the middle of July we arrived at Fort Bridger, where we were to
+turn off upon the California trail, and where, if Ellen's advice had
+been followed, this story of mine would have begun.
+
+Why it should be called _Fort_ Bridger I fail to understand, for there
+are no signs of a fort about, but only three or four miserable log huts
+in which live two fur traders with their trappers and hunters.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+One might have believed it quite an important place, however, because
+when we arrived there were no less than five hundred Indians of the
+Snake tribe encamped round about the log huts. Beyond them on every
+hand could be seen wagon train after wagon train of people who had come
+not only from Pike County, but from Ohio and Indiana, as well as from
+Illinois and Missouri, the greater number intent on gaining the Oregon
+country, with perhaps two hundred who were going to California.
+
+Of course there were also at this place hunters and trappers, traders
+coming from or going into Oregon or California, Spaniards, Negroes, and
+red men, the greater number of all this throng living in canvas tents,
+in wagons or log huts, while the rest made shift as best they might in
+the open air.
+
+It was, like Fort Laramie, a place where Ellen and I had best remain
+in the wagons, for no one could tell what the savages might do if two
+girls wandered among their lodges, and certainly we had no desire to
+make their acquaintance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Here, as everywhere since leaving Independence, we heard that song
+which by this time had grown threadbare,--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers."
+
+The Negroes and the Spaniards, the trappers and the hunters, were all
+singing it, and the wonder to Ellen and me was where so many people
+could have heard it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA
+
+
+After spending one day at Fort Bridger we set off early in the morning
+with our faces turned toward California, and our hearts beating
+furiously. For the first time since leaving home it seemed as if we
+were really on the journey.
+
+The trail ran up hill or down, all the way, but there was very little
+difference, so far as hardships were concerned, from that which we had
+already experienced.
+
+During the first three or four days our fathers had no difficulty in
+finding grass and water in plenty for the cattle, although there were
+times, of course, when for mile after mile we passed through nothing
+but sage grass, which even the oxen would not eat. Every night during
+this time, we came upon a pleasant place in which to camp, and, best
+of all, so Eben Jordan thought, the game was abundant everywhere. When
+he had shot a small bear and brought it into camp, it seemed as if his
+cup of happiness was full. One might have thought the lad had performed
+some wondrous deed, from the way he strutted to and fro, repeating
+marvelous accounts of his battle with the beast.
+
+
+
+
+AT BEAR RIVER
+
+
+It was when we came to Bear River that I began to understand how
+different this trail was from the one which we had been traveling.
+
+Instead of finding a safe ford, we came upon a swiftly running river,
+with a bed of rocks. So strong was the current that when father waded
+in to drive the oxen it was necessary for him to hold firmly to the bow
+of the foremost yoke lest he be thrown from his footing; the heavy cart
+pitched about until I was certain it would be overturned even as had
+Mrs. Russell's.
+
+Mother said that if such an accident should befall us, it would be no
+more than a just punishment to Ellen and me because we had laughed so
+rudely when the Russell family were in trouble.
+
+
+
+
+THE COMING OF WINTER
+
+
+Two days after leaving Fort Bridger we had the first indication that
+winter was near at hand, even though it was then July. That night the
+buckets of water were crusted with ice a full half inch thick, and
+upon the tops of the mountains which towered so high above us snow had
+fallen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+You can well fancy how we shivered while making ready to cook
+breakfast. When the train had started, Ellen and I crawled under the
+bed clothing, for it seemed as if we were like to freeze, and no one
+knows how long we might have remained had not mother insisted that we
+should sit once more on the front seat, where we could see the wondrous
+beauties everywhere around us.
+
+Just at that time we were traveling through what seemed to be a
+mountain gorge; towering many hundred feet above our heads on either
+side were crags which had been formed in the most comical figures. Some
+of them really looked like animals, and I could see now and then the
+head of an elephant or of a lion.
+
+Later in the day father told us that we had passed in the early
+morning, while Ellen and I were asleep, a rock which looked so much
+like a beast that the trappers had given it the name of the Elephant's
+Statue.
+
+During nearly two days we continued along these rocky roads, with the
+mountains overshadowing us, and in places the cliffs hanging so low
+that it seemed as if the rumbling of our wagons must cause them to fall
+upon our heads.
+
+The next night we kept a fire in the cookstove because of the heavy
+frost in the air; then we came to a narrow pass between the mountains,
+where was a gorge or chasm, so deep that we could readily believe Eben
+Jordan when he said the people at Fort Bridger told him the sun never
+penetrated to the bottom.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was what is known as Ogden's Hole, and got its name, according to
+one story, through being the death place of a trapper by the name of
+Ogden, who had hidden himself there from the Indians and was either
+killed by them or starved to death, Eben was not certain which.
+
+
+
+
+UTAH INDIANS
+
+
+There among the mountains we met a party of Utah Indians armed only
+with bows and arrows, and they journeyed with us until we camped for
+the night, counting as a matter of course upon our feeding them.
+
+The Utahs looked to me more manly than any other Indians we had yet
+met. Surely they behaved themselves in a seemly manner, for when supper
+had been made ready, they seated themselves in a circle and waited
+decently to be invited to partake of food.
+
+On the following morning, after we had traveled about two miles, we
+came upon mountains which looked as if they were standing there to
+bar our advance, and for the life of us neither Ellen nor I could
+understand how it would be possible to continue the journey.
+
+Even the men of the company were perplexed, and during half an hour or
+more the entire train was halted while our people went first this way
+and then that, seeking some trail over which we could pass.
+
+Then Colonel Russell came back to where we were waiting anxiously and
+said he saw a narrow trail winding directly up over those enormous
+cliffs. When he pointed it out to the other men, we girls overheard
+what he said, and I could not repress a cry of fear, for surely it did
+not seem as if any member of our company could climb to such a height,
+over so narrow a path, let alone trying to drive the oxen with the
+heavy carts.
+
+
+
+
+A DANGEROUS TRAIL
+
+
+However, there was nothing to be done save attempt the dangerous
+passage, unless, indeed, we were willing to turn our faces toward Fort
+Bridger, admitting we had been beaten.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+My heart was literally in my mouth when we began that terrible climb
+among loose rocks, over a path so narrow that it seemed, if the wheels
+of the wagon slipped ever so little, we would be hurled to the bottom
+of the cañon, which is another word for a deep valley or a rift in the
+rocks.
+
+The ascent was so steep that when we started no less than twelve yoke
+of oxen were needed to each wagon, and there was a steady, upward
+scrambling climb of fully two miles; therefore you can well understand
+how many hours we spent in making that short portion of the journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Only one wagon was sent up the trail at a time, lest through some
+accident it should run backward and crush whatever might be in its
+path.
+
+Until we were upon the side of the mountain where the trail pitched
+downward into the valley, I kept my eyes tightly closed, not daring
+to look at that dreadful depth into which the slightest mishap might
+plunge us.
+
+When the panting oxen were brought to a standstill, the fearful labor
+having been performed, Ellen said that she had been so frightened she
+was actually exhausted, and indeed the perspiration, caused no doubt
+by fear, was streaming down her face when I ventured to open my eyes in
+order to look around.
+
+I can conceive of nothing more horrifying than that journey, short
+though it was in point of distance, yet so long while one was in a
+state of terror as to seem almost endless.
+
+In going down on the other side, but one yoke of cattle was hitched to
+each wagon, and kept there only in order to hold the tongue steady and
+thus steer the huge cart, while the hind wheels were chained, so that,
+not being able to turn, they might act as a drag to prevent us from
+sliding swiftly to destruction.
+
+Father said we had traveled no more than seven miles when we had
+crossed that terrible mountain. There we found ourselves in a valley
+green with grass, where ran a small brook which was most pleasing to
+look upon, since it told us that we would have water in abundance.
+Coming upon such a spot after so much horror, caused it to appear all
+the more beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW
+
+
+Without knowing it at the moment of halting, we made camp near two
+Indian lodges, where lived ten or twelve of the Utah tribe; having
+gained so favorable an impression of those savages when some of the
+members had visited our camp, Ellen and I, with Eben Jordan, went among
+them, finding that they had set themselves up for traders, counting
+upon the settlers bound for the land of California, as customers. The
+women showed us a store of powder made from sunflower seeds, which had
+been parched and then pulverized; this they offered in exchange for
+food, or for ammunition. Ellen gave a loaf of corn bread for perhaps a
+quart of the stuff, and found it most agreeable to the taste.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+That evening one of the men brought in a fat antelope, and mother made
+our portion into as savory a stew as I had eaten since we left Pike
+County. After that delicious meal and with the pleasing knowledge that
+we had come in safety over so terrible a road, I slept that night as
+soundly as I should have slept in my own bed at home.
+
+It was decided that we would remain in that place, which mother
+called the Happy Valley, for a day, in order to give the cattle a long
+rest before they did more mountain climbing, and the housewives took
+advantage of the opportunity to wash clothing, bake bread, and do up
+such small chores as were necessary.
+
+Consequently all the young people were busily engaged keeping the fires
+going, churning, or performing such other tasks as were required, so
+that we gave little heed to what was going on around us until, when
+the forenoon was about half spent, Eben Jordan excitedly called our
+attention to a huge column of smoke which was rising from the mountains
+to the westward.
+
+
+
+
+A FOREST FIRE
+
+
+At first I gave little heed to the matter, thinking it might betoken
+the location of some Indian village; but within another hour, so strong
+was the wind, the fire had been driven up over the summit of the huge
+mountain at the foot of which we were encamped, when straightway we
+had over our heads, as it were, a canopy of flame and smoke which shut
+out the light of day, causing it to appear as if night had come and the
+clouds were ablaze.
+
+Half-burned leaves and ashes were scattered upon us until we were
+literally powdered as if with dust, and the men found it necessary to
+keep sharp watch over the coverings of the wagons, lest an ember should
+drop upon them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+During all the remainder of the day and until nearly morning, the
+fire raged with greatest fury; but, fortunately, the flames did not
+come down into the valley. When we set off next day, the cattle, much
+refreshed, went on at a swift pace; but the air was yet so full of
+smoke that my eyes ached, while the tears ran down my cheeks in tiny
+streams.
+
+Our way now lay along the foot of the range of mountains which sloped
+down to the marshy plains bordering that vast inland sea, which has
+always seemed so mysterious to me because of being salt.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT LAKE
+
+
+It was about noon when we had our first view of the Great Salt Lake,
+and although I had never then seen an ocean, I could not believe the
+existence of anything more wondrous than that huge body of salt water
+among the mountains.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Father says the lake is probably a full hundred miles long, and at its
+widest part no less than sixty miles; but this he knows only from that
+which he heard from the hunters or trappers, therefore I am not setting
+it down as positive information. It seems to me I remember having read
+in one of my schoolbooks that it is no more than seventy-five miles
+long and thirty miles wide.
+
+However, this much which father says is true: that the lake has no
+outlet, and four barrels of its water being evaporated, will produce
+nearly a barrel of salt; therefore you can understand how much more
+salty it is than a real ocean.
+
+No fish can live in it, and Eben Jordan declared that one of the
+trappers at Fort Bridger told him a man could not sink beneath the
+surface, so buoyant is the water.
+
+The shore of this great inland sea was white with a crust of soda or
+salt, and the odor which came from the stagnant water in the marshes
+was so unpleasant as to cause me to feel really ill.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A FISHERMAN
+
+
+It was on this night, when we had our first view of the Great Salt
+Lake, that Eben Jordan gave us a most pleasing surprise. We had
+halted quite early in the afternoon, and even before camp was made he
+disappeared; but I gave no heed to the matter when I heard his mother
+inquiring after him, for I thought the boy had gone off to try his
+skill as a hunter again.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Two or three hours later, however, it appeared that, instead of chasing
+deer or bears, he had turned fisherman for the time being, and when
+he came into camp just before we began to get supper, he had with him
+seventeen of the most beautiful trout you could imagine, which he had
+caught in one of the mountain streams.
+
+They were so large that he literally staggered under the weight, and
+the single fish which he gave mother made an ample meal for all our
+family. It surely was delicious, and while eating it I made a mental
+resolve never again to speak impatiently or angrily to Eben, whatever
+he might do, for many times since our journey began he had been very
+kind to us all.
+
+It really began to seem as if, after we had turned into the California
+trail, we were to come across everything which was strange and
+wonderful, for next day, after our train had rounded the base of one
+of the mountains, we came upon six or seven springs of water which was
+actually hot to the touch, as if on the point of boiling, and which
+smelled so strongly of sulphur that one would have been in danger of
+suffocation had the fumes been inhaled.
+
+Those odd springs seemingly came up out of the solid rock, and mother,
+whose curiosity was so far aroused as to induce her to taste of the
+water, said it was bitter and most disagreeable; but she had no doubt
+it might be well for us all to take fairly strong doses by way of
+medicine.
+
+
+
+
+GRASSHOPPER JAM
+
+
+We were yet within sight of the Great Salt Lake when, one evening,
+three Indian men and two squaws, miserably clad and very ugly, came
+into camp bringing for sale or barter something that looked much like
+preserves.
+
+Even though these people were so wretchedly dirty, I was hoping mother
+might be induced to buy some of their wares, so keenly did I hunger
+for something sweet; but I speedily lost all desire for anything of
+the kind, when one of the men in the company explained what it was the
+Indians had for sale.
+
+It seems impossible human beings could eat such things, and yet this
+man told me it was true that the Indians gathered a fruit called
+service berries, crushed them into jam and mixed the pulp with
+grasshoppers that had been dried over the fire and then pounded to a
+powder.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+He called the stuff "Indian fruit cake," and, much to my disgust, not
+only bought a generous portion, paying for it with needles, powder, and
+bullets, but actually ate the mixture. I could not bring myself even to
+look upon it, after knowing what it really was.
+
+Once more we came upon the mountains after leaving the shores of Great
+Salt Lake, and again we climbed up the steep ascents, with all the oxen
+toiling at a single wagon, and then slipped down on the opposite side,
+until it seemed certain some terrible accident must befall.
+
+
+
+
+A DESERTED VILLAGE
+
+
+One night we came to another place much like the one we had called the
+Happy Valley, and there we found an Indian village of fifteen or twenty
+lodges, every one deserted, although we knew the people could not be
+far away, for fires were burning brightly in front of the dwellings,
+dogs were barking, and many willow baskets filled with service berries
+were standing about.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a beautiful spot for a home, and I could almost have wished
+father would settle there, rather than continue on over a trail which
+was as dangerous as the one spread out before us.
+
+There were in the valley poplar and pine trees with many willows, and
+here and there a patch of sunflowers shining out from the surrounding
+green with a golden glory.
+
+I had supposed our people would camp there; but instead of doing so
+they continued on, planning to spend the night on the higher land.
+When we were halfway up the ridge which led out from the valley, the
+Indians, whom we had evidently frightened, came out from their hiding
+places, whooping and shouting as if to scare us, although I saw no
+token that they were bent on doing us mischief.
+
+We camped on a slope of the ridge, down which ran a small brook, and
+those who had tents set them up in a grove of cedar trees where they
+looked most inviting. When, however, Ellen and I strolled that way we
+found the mosquitoes and midges so thick that it seemed as if we had a
+veil in front of our faces.
+
+That night the men of our company gathered apart from the women and
+children, seemingly to discuss some important matter; my curiosity
+was so far aroused that when I saw Eben Jordan I called upon him for
+an explanation, and he told me that we had come to the most dangerous
+part of our journey, where we must encounter perils so great that those
+which had already been overcome would seem as nothing.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT DESERT
+
+
+We were near what is known as the Great Salt Desert; in fact, were
+to cross it on the morrow, and when Eben Jordan led me some distance
+farther up the ridge, I could see it at my feet.
+
+The desert is covered with salt like sand, and on it grows nothing
+except wild sage, while from where we were then camped, until it would
+be possible again to find water, is no less than sixty miles, as Eben
+said.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Sixty miles over a soft surface where the animals would oftentimes sink
+fetlock-deep, and the wheels of the wagons plow into the salt sand
+until the progress must be woefully slow. In addition, all the while
+we would plod along knowing that no water was to be had, save what we
+carried with us, until the train gained the opposite side.
+
+We were camped on the side of a mountain which seemed to be made up
+almost wholly of rock; this place had been decided upon because there
+could be found a small spring, yielding barely enough water to satisfy
+the desires of ourselves and the animals.
+
+It was the last spring or stream of fresh water we should come upon
+until we had traveled across that desert, which, from the distance,
+looked like a great sea of milk. Once we had started upon the journey,
+it would be necessary to continue on, heeding not those who might fall
+by the way, so I heard father and Colonel Russell say, for the lives of
+our people depended upon our going steadily forward.
+
+
+
+
+PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY
+
+
+Orders were given by the leaders of the party that our mothers cook
+no pemmican nor any salted food, lest it increase our thirst, and we
+ate bread with as much milk as could be had from the cows; within a
+few hours, for we were to set off again at midnight, another meal,
+consisting wholly of bread made from corn meal, would be served.
+
+The water of the spring was so salty as to be almost undrinkable.
+During the evening the women and girls were busily engaged making
+coffee, for in such form the water was a trifle more palatable, and
+we were advised to fill with the coffee every vessel that would hold
+liquid.
+
+As for the cattle, they would be forced to make the march of sixty
+miles with nothing to drink save what could be carried in two casks
+which had been bought at Fort Bridger for that especial purpose.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When I asked father how it would be possible for us to give the animals
+drink even once, from no more than sixty gallons of water, he said
+they were not intending to allow the poor creatures to have what they
+wanted. The supply of water would be used simply to moisten the mouths
+of those that were suffering most severely. There could be no question
+whatsoever but that the live stock would be in great misery, and if it
+so chanced that we people escaped dire distress, then indeed we should
+hold ourselves fortunate.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING
+
+
+Fortunately Ellen and I had little time in which to borrow trouble
+concerning the future, for every woman and girl found plenty with
+which to occupy her hands, as we prepared for the most dangerous and
+disagreeable portion of all the journey.
+
+We made corn bread in abundance, cooking no less than three times
+as much as we could eat, for Colonel Russell suggested that it was
+possible we might abate the thirst of the animals by giving them bread
+in small quantities during the march, and so we filled every available
+place in the wagon with this food.
+
+Mother made coffee enough to provide us with a supply on that night,
+as well as for breakfast, and, in addition, we had filled to the brim
+every vessel which was water-tight, until I should think we must have
+had no less than three gallons, while every other wagon was equally
+well supplied.
+
+The men and boys were not idle while we baked the corn bread and made
+coffee. They had enough and plenty with which to occupy their time,
+for every piece of harness, every yoke bow, wheel, or other portion of
+the outfit which might give way, was looked after carefully, lest there
+be a delay, because a halt on the desert, so we had been told at Fort
+Bridger, might mean death to us all.
+
+That night the animals were corralled inside our circle of wagons
+in order that they might be ready when the hour came for us to set
+off, and for the first time since I had known Eben Jordan I saw an
+expression of anxiety upon the lad's face.
+
+Wherever one looked among our people he could see gloomy faces, and
+there was no more singing of "Joe Bowers," no whistling and joking
+among the lads, as was usually the case during an evening in camp.
+
+
+
+
+BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT
+
+
+When midnight came, I had a very good idea that there was more danger
+to be met in crossing the desert than I had been willing to believe,
+for we were awakened and told that the march would be begun in half an
+hour.
+
+Father urged mother and us girls to eat and drink heartily while we
+might. When I asked him why we were to set off at such an unusual hour,
+he replied in a serious manner that from the moment we started until
+the desert had been crossed, there would be no halt made unless some
+of the oxen fell by the wayside and we were forced to delay in order to
+unyoke them.
+
+When Ellen asked him how long a time the crossing would take, he said
+he hoped no more than twenty or twenty-four hours. He also told us
+it had been agreed that if one of the wagons should break down, or
+any accident happen, the unfortunate ones were to be left behind, the
+remainder of the company continuing on without making any effort to aid
+them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then, perhaps for the first time, I began to realize how much danger
+lay before us. Surely if our fathers had agreed that during the coming
+march they would make no halt for any reason, there must be grave cause
+for fear.
+
+The men made ready for the march by the light of the moon, and there
+were yet no signs of the coming day when we set off; and then we were
+a mournful party indeed, the drivers urging their beasts to the utmost,
+as if they realized that every moment was precious.
+
+
+
+
+THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT
+
+
+There was nothing very dreadful to be seen on the first six miles of
+the march, for then we were winding our way up the ridge, on the side
+of which we had been encamped, and save for the fact that Ellen and I
+were suffering from the cold, the journey was much the same as we had
+already known.
+
+Then we rode down the other side of the ridge, among stunted cedar
+trees which looked as if they were dying from lack of water, and Eben
+Jordan came past our wagon to say we had come upon Captain Frémont's
+trail.
+
+The fact that we were to follow in the footsteps of other human beings
+gave me more courage and caused Ellen to appear almost cheerful.
+
+We crossed a valley where nothing was growing save wild sage, and then
+over rocky ridges which looked much like masses of dark green glass,
+through a narrow gap which might have been cut by the hand of man in
+the solid ledge, after which we saw spread out before us that vast
+desert plain, white as a sea of milk and most desolate and forbidding
+in appearance.
+
+
+
+
+A PLAIN OF SALT
+
+
+Not a vestige of any green thing could be seen within our range of
+vision. No bird was flying, and the silence was so like the silence
+of the tomb that I did not dare to speak aloud while calling mother's
+attention to this thing or that, when we halted for a short time.
+
+This was the last stop we would make, save in case of accident. Some of
+the animals ate the bread, others refused it, and then I saw what would
+have been, under other circumstances, a comical sight, for the men were
+going about with wet cloths moistening the mouths of the oxen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After spending nearly an hour in making the final preparations, word
+was given for the train to set off. Instead of being like milk, we
+found that the desert was made up of a bluish clay, covered here and
+there in blotches with what was much like salt, and these white spots
+were so large and numerous as to give to the whole the appearance of
+milky white when seen from the distance.
+
+The oxen sank fetlock-deep, and as we advanced there were times when
+they broke through what was like a crust, even to their very knees;
+therefore one can well fancy that the wheels plowed into this yielding
+surface until it was quite as much as the cattle could do to pull the
+wagons along.
+
+
+
+
+LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK
+
+
+If all the way had been as difficult as the start, we might never have
+gained the other side; but as we advanced the surface grew harder and
+harder, until finally even the shoes of the horses failed to make any
+impression upon it. Then I heard father say, as he came back from time
+to time to speak with mother, that it appeared to him as if we were
+traveling over a solid crust of salt.
+
+At the end of an hour, perhaps, we came upon what Ellen called another
+"soft spot," and for a distance of two or three miles the oxen strained
+and tugged at the yokes as they barely succeeded in drawing the wagons
+at a snail's pace.
+
+Then we girls had most terrible forebodings, for it seemed certain we
+could never hope to cross that place before all the company had died
+from thirst.
+
+To our great relief as well as the relief of the cattle, we came upon
+a hard surface once more, and the oxen were urged to their utmost speed
+in order to make up for the time we had lost while toiling through the
+salty dust.
+
+There was no halting for dinner. Now and then we ate the corn bread,
+for with such terrible anxiety in our hearts none of us were conscious
+of hunger; but again and again and again did we sip the cold coffee,
+using it sparingly, however.
+
+
+
+
+SALT DUST
+
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock in the forenoon when a dark cloud began to
+gather in the south, and I said to mother, with great joy, that we
+would at least know the pleasure of being wet, even though we could not
+get all we wanted to drink, for surely there was a shower close upon
+us.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Indeed, we did have wind, with thunder and lightning, but not a drop
+of water fell. On the contrary, the breeze stirred up the dust from the
+plain and filled the air with it, and our parched throats grew yet more
+dry because of the salt which we were forced to inhale, even though we
+covered our faces with cloths.
+
+How the poor beasts suffered! Their tongues were actually covered with
+salt, and not a mouthful of water could they have as a relief from
+their distress.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Save for the absence of rain, it was a veritable tempest of thunder
+and lightning, lasting about twenty minutes; then the sun came out
+with more heat, as it seemed to me, than before, which but served to
+increase our desire for water.
+
+When the sun was no more than three hours from setting, I strained my
+eyes ahead, hoping to see the end of this horrible journey, although
+mother had told me there was no possibility of our coming to water
+until late in the night, and I saw the foremost of the wagons leaving
+the white plain, and passing over what promised to be a good road,
+toward a rocky range.
+
+Then I shouted aloud in my joy, that we would soon come to where it
+would be possible to quench our thirst.
+
+
+
+
+A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
+
+
+For the moment mother believed I was right, but then Eben Jordan
+dampened our joy by telling us that we must ride over the ridge five or
+six miles, where were no signs of water, and then we would come upon
+another plain of salt, which was not less than twelve miles in width.
+Only after that had been crossed might we find ourselves in safety.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen threw herself face downward upon the bed in the bottom of the
+wagon, and lay there as if in a fit of the sulks, while I crouched by
+mother's side, wondering how long it would be before death came, for I
+had grown so foolish in my sufferings that it was as if life was nearly
+at an end.
+
+
+
+
+COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER
+
+
+Mother left us to ourselves during half an hour or more, and then told
+us plainly that we were showing ourselves to be very foolish girls.
+She insisted that we eat the harder portions of the corn bread; that we
+take frequent drinks of the coffee, and, above all, that we resolutely
+calm our minds.
+
+It must have been that amid all my distress I fell asleep, for suddenly
+I heard, as though coming from afar off, shouts of joy and the voices
+of men calling one to another.
+
+Starting up, I asked mother what was happening, and gazed around
+wildly, for night had come and the moon was not yet risen.
+
+"Thank God! the desert has been crossed, and we have come at last to
+where water may be obtained!" my mother cried fervently.
+
+She leaped out of the wagon, we two girls following, and, running
+hurriedly, we went to where the men, boys, and animals had gathered in
+a group.
+
+I believed we had come to a stream of sweet water, but it was only a
+narrow brook, where ran hardly more than a thread of water which had
+already been trampled upon by the animals until it was like liquid mud.
+
+
+
+
+A SPRING OF SWEET WATER
+
+
+At this moment Eben Jordan, taking Ellen and me by the hands, said,
+forcing us to run with him:--
+
+"By following the stream to its head we shall surely come upon a
+spring."
+
+And this we did, finding within two hundred yards a spring of the
+sweetest water I have ever taken into my mouth.
+
+Ellen and I drank again and again, seemingly never to be satisfied, and
+it was only after I had shown myself very selfish that I remembered
+poor mother, who, most likely, was standing by that muddy stream
+waiting until the water had grown clear so she might drink.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then Eben Jordan went back, and a few moments later returned, bringing
+with him all the women and children, and many of the men.
+
+Having drunk our fill, Ellen and I went back to the wagon, where we
+ate heartily of corn bread, and then laid ourselves down to sleep,
+while the men and boys were bringing the teams into a circle to form a
+corral.
+
+
+
+
+THE OASIS
+
+
+After this we remained idle thirty-six hours, being forced to do so, as
+father said, because the animals were so nearly exhausted that a long
+time of rest was absolutely necessary.
+
+It was during this time that Eben Jordan again displayed his skill as
+a hunter, for toward nightfall he brought in two small antelopes; but
+the animals were so tiny that each family had no more than half enough
+to satisfy their craving for fresh meat, and we were forced to complete
+the meal with bacon.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Our halting place was on what can be described only as an oasis,
+stretching from that sea of white to the rocky cliffs beyond, and
+father told us that while we would not be forced to march over a plain
+of salt during the next day, the journey would be exceedingly wearisome
+and our suffering considerable, for another entire day must be spent
+without water.
+
+Again we made preparations for a time of distress, by boiling more
+coffee and filling up the water casks with sweet water from the spring.
+
+This time the anticipation was worse than the reality. On resuming the
+march, we traveled over the side of the barren ridge more than twelve
+miles, until we came to a well-defined wagon trail which, so some of
+our people said, had first been made by emigrants from Missouri.
+
+I gave little heed as to who might first have passed over the trail,
+rejoicing with Ellen that at last we had come to some evidence of human
+beings; it seemed as if our troubles were well-nigh at an end, for we
+were told that this trail would lead us by the most direct course into
+that land of California where we hoped to find rest and comfort.
+
+
+
+
+SEARCHING FOR WATER
+
+
+From this on, during four wearisome days, we were kept upon a short
+allowance of water, and did not dare eat much food lest it should
+unduly excite our thirst.
+
+Now and then we came upon a spring, when our water casks and every
+vessel that could be used for the purpose were filled to the brim, and
+yet again and again we suffered from thirst, but not so keenly as while
+crossing the desert.
+
+Whenever I slept, it was to dream of the river we had left behind us on
+the border of Pike County, wishing that it might be possible for me to
+go to its banks once more, and, even though the water was muddy, drink
+my fill.
+
+In due time we came to that point in the trail where we were forced to
+march directly over the face of the mountains. Here our fathers found
+the way so difficult that once more the teams were doubled up, twelve
+or fifteen yoke of cattle being put on one wagon, and, after hauling
+the heavy load to the summit of the range, driven back to get another.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course our progress was slow, and we traversed mile after mile only
+with severe labor on the part of the men and boys, for we girls and the
+women did no more than walk in order to lessen the load.
+
+Then we came to a narrow passage amid the rocks, which was most
+frightful to look upon, although there was nothing whatever about it to
+cause alarm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a gorge or cañon much like a tunnel, where the light from
+above was like a slender silver thread, and we went down into a narrow
+defile, where was barely room for the wagons to pass, and where the
+rocks, dark and fearsome, rose hundreds of feet above our heads.
+
+
+
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY
+
+
+When we had passed through that forbidding place we received our
+reward, for we came into a most beautiful valley with water and grass
+in abundance, and, although it was yet early in the afternoon, there
+was no thought of anything save making camp, that we might enjoy the
+blessings which were spread out before us.
+
+Before the sun had set Eben Jordan had killed another antelope; but he
+did not dare go far from the encampment in search of other game, for no
+sooner had twilight come than we could hear the howling of the wolves
+around us, until one's very blood ran cold. It seemed certain, and
+indeed was a fact, that we were literally surrounded by those ravenous
+animals, which were kept at a respectful distance only by the glare of
+our camp fires.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next day, when we took up the line of march again, it was the same old
+story of climbing over rocky ridges and descending into valleys where
+could be found no signs of vegetation, until we had come to a very
+network of streams.
+
+At our next camp we were visited by a party of Snake Indians, who, like
+the other savages we had seen, pressed around us, begging for bits of
+bread.
+
+
+
+
+SNAKE INDIANS
+
+
+Those Indians were not at all like any we had seen before; their
+clothing, what little there was of it, consisted mostly of rabbit
+skins sewed together to form cloaks. To my mind they resembled more the
+Negroes than the Indians; but father said, save for their inclination
+to steal anything upon which they could lay their hands, that we need
+have no fear whatever regarding them, because they were known to be
+peaceable. The men were armed only with bows and arrows and seemed to
+have great fear of a gun or a pistol.
+
+The visitors had with them a quantity of dried meat and roots which
+they wanted to trade with us for bread or for blankets; but our store
+of provisions was not so low that we would willingly eat what those
+creatures had prepared.
+
+They lingered around the encampment, however, coming as closely to the
+wagons as our people would permit, and we girls and boys were told to
+keep careful watch lest they steal all our possessions.
+
+Just at sunset, one of the men who was standing guard over the cows
+shouted that a wild beast was creeping up on us from a thicket a short
+distance away, to the right of where father's wagon stood.
+
+Looking up quickly, I saw a huge panther crawling, as you might say,
+much as a cat approaches a mouse, and it seemed to me that he was
+making ready to spring directly upon us girls.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I clambered shrieking into the wagon, where we hid our heads
+in a feather bed like the silly children we were, and straightway there
+ensued the greatest tumult that can be imagined, as our hunters strove
+to kill the ferocious animal.
+
+It is, perhaps, needless for me to say that the panther escaped,
+although Eben Jordan claimed it would have been possible for him to
+kill the beast, had he not been hampered by frightened girls and men.
+
+
+
+
+A SCARCITY OF FOOD
+
+
+When the march was taken up once more, we journeyed over a less
+forbidding, although a not very pleasant, country, seeing antelopes at
+a distance, but so wild that even Eben Jordan strove in vain to bring
+one down.
+
+During four or five days we marched westward, seeing now and then great
+numbers of animals which would have served to provide us with fresh
+meat, but our men were unable to kill any; then we found our supply of
+food growing so small that it was decided each person should have at a
+single meal no more than one slice of bacon and a piece of corn bread
+as big as a man's hand.
+
+There is no good reason why I should set down such mournful details.
+While we were pressing steadily but painfully westward, so hungry
+that it seemed to me I could have eaten anything resembling food, and
+thirsty until my tongue was parched, the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us with pitiless fury, until we were so worn that life seemed at times
+like some frightful dream.
+
+I can remember distinctly, however, what happened on that day when
+we heard those who were leading the train, shout that we had come
+upon water in abundance. When Ellen and I, leaping out of the wagon,
+ran forward, we saw before us several large springs from which the
+water was bubbling generously. Our delight was even as great as the
+disappointment was bitter, when the water was found to be almost
+boiling hot.
+
+
+
+
+SPRINGS OF HOT WATER
+
+
+It seems hardly possible that any liquid could come out of the earth so
+warm, and if I had never left Pike County I would have set down such a
+tale as a fable; but we did find boiling water, so hot that when Eben
+Jordan let down into one of those springs a slice of bacon tied to a
+string, it was well boiled in less than fifteen minutes.
+
+However, we were not to be deprived of water even though it was hot,
+for father proposed that we fill some of our cups, declaring it would
+be sweet to the taste once it was cool.
+
+This we did not only once, but three or four times, during the
+continuation of the march, for we came upon many of those hot springs
+on the trail after we left the banks of Mary's River.
+
+Then came a day in August when, after an unusually wearisome march, we
+suddenly overtook two emigrant wagons in which were fourteen people who
+had come from Missouri.
+
+Verily it seemed as if old friends were meeting, for as our train
+came in sight, some of the strangers began to sing, "My name it is Joe
+Bowers," and however weary I had once been of hearing that tune, it now
+sounded in my ears like music.
+
+That evening we spent visiting; those people, like ourselves, were
+traveling toward the land of California, and only those who have been
+journeying in the desert and through the wilderness, without meeting
+any human beings save Indians, can understand how intent was the
+pleasure we experienced in being with our own kind again.
+
+The emigrants decided to join our train, and we were right glad to have
+them with us, although their store of provisions was no greater than
+ours; but all were put on what father called "short allowance," which
+was to each person two slices of bacon and two pieces of bread during
+one entire day. All our men who had guns were continually searching for
+game; but while we could see antelope and even wild fowl, both beasts
+and birds were so shy that the best hunters among us could not get
+within gunshot.
+
+
+
+
+IN THE LAND OF PLENTY
+
+
+And so we traveled on, hungry, thirsty, and weary, despairing now and
+then of ever coming again into a land of plenty, until we arrived at
+the Truckee River, which was more beautiful to my eyes than ever had
+been the broad Mississippi.
+
+The waters of the river were clear as crystal and very cool, while
+from it our people took within an hour a sufficient number of trout to
+satisfy the hunger of all. It seemed necessary we should eat until it
+was absolutely impossible to swallow more, in order to atone in some
+way for the hunger that had pressed so sorely upon us during the ten
+days previous.
+
+Eben Jordan said laughingly that we were much like the savages, who
+were starved one day and in danger of bursting with food the next.
+
+
+
+
+THE TRUCKEE RIVER
+
+
+It pleased me right well when father said that we were to remain in
+camp one full day by the side of this river, in order to give the
+animals the opportunity of feeding upon the rich grass which grew in
+abundance on every hand.
+
+At last we had come into California, and a beautiful country indeed
+it appeared to me while we remained near the river,--all the more
+beautiful, perhaps, because of the suffering which it had cost us to
+get there. Both Ellen and I now came to believe our fathers had been
+wise indeed to leave the banks of the muddy Mississippi for so glorious
+a river as the Truckee.
+
+All around us were evidences of bountiful nature, for the land was
+seemingly overcrowded with game, with food on every hand for the
+cattle, beautiful flowers, and everything which goes to make one happy.
+
+How long the journey had been I did not really know until Eben Jordan
+came to where Ellen and I were sitting on the grass with the skirts
+of our gowns filled with flowers. He had in his hands a bit of paper
+on which he had set down, from what had been told him by the leaders
+of the company, the distance we people had traveled since leaving
+Independence. This was no less than two thousand and ninety miles,
+to which one must add, in order to learn how long was our march, the
+distance from Pike County to Independence, which would, so Eben said,
+make a total of about two thousand two hundred.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even then we were nearly two hundred miles from San Francisco; however
+it was not the intention of our fathers to journey so far across
+California, for we had not come expecting to find gold, but to make for
+ourselves farms, where we could live comfortably by honest industry.
+
+Already I am writing as if we had come to an end of our journey, and so
+it seemed to me while we remained in camp on the bank of the Truckee
+River; but there were yet many days of toil before we arrived at the
+place where our people had decided to buy land.
+
+It was yet necessary that we cross the Sierra Nevada, where we found a
+seemingly impassable trail over the mountains, yet we knew that people
+like ourselves, traveling in the same way, had gone before us, and all
+the dangers and the difficulties seemed lessened because of the fact
+that we had come so near to where we intended to make our new homes.
+
+
+
+
+A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
+
+
+After much labor in descending the Sierras, we came upon the first
+settler's house we had seen since starting out. It stood in the valley
+of the Sacramento, on what is called Bear Creek, and was owned by Mr.
+Johnson, who himself was a Piker.
+
+To me the house was odd looking, not because of being so small as to
+have only two rooms, but because it was built half of logs and half
+of adobes, or bricks of mud which have been dried in the sun. It was a
+rough building, and yet how homelike it appeared!
+
+Unfortunately Mr. Johnson and his family were not at home. The building
+was closed, and although the door was not really locked, it had been
+fastened with strips of rawhide in such a manner as to show that the
+owner wished to keep out stragglers.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As we journeyed leisurely and comfortably down the valley of the
+Sacramento, we saw now and then large droves of wild horses and elks
+feeding peacefully on the plains, and there was never a night when Eben
+Jordan, or some other of the hunters, did not bring in an abundance of
+game.
+
+
+
+
+THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ
+
+
+Then came that day when we arrived at the little village which is
+called the Mission of San José, and although everything about us was
+strange, we said to ourselves that at last we had come to our new home,
+for it was near that place our fathers intended to buy land.
+
+The village of San José must at one time have had many hundred
+inhabitants; but when we arrived it was little better than a ruin. The
+houses, built of sun-dried bricks, were without roofs and crumbling
+slowly away, all of which appeared the more pitiful because of the
+well-kept church and the fortlike two-story house where lived the
+priests. Both buildings were in such good repair that they afforded a
+striking contrast to the tumble-down dwellings which could be seen near
+at hand.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I would love to tell how father built for himself a house on land which
+he bought from the priests of the Mission, and how mother and I set
+about making a home which should be somewhat the same in appearance as
+the one we had left in Pike County, but it is not for me to do so.
+
+
+
+
+OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA
+
+
+It may be that at some time when our home here is fully made as we
+would have it, I can tell you how we live, what odd Spanish dishes
+we have on the table, how great a profusion of fruit is at our hand
+for the gathering, and very many other things which to me are most
+interesting.
+
+I have learned to love this land even more than I did Pike County,
+which at one time I believed the most beautiful spot on earth, and
+although it pleases me now and then, when settlers come over the long
+trail, to hear the younger members of the company singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," I have almost forgotten that Missouri was once my home.
+
+I have come to look upon myself as belonging to this beautiful valley
+where Nature is so lavish with all her gifts, and therefore, instead of
+calling myself a Piker, as in the days gone by, I dearly love to write
+so all may see, that I am now, and ever shall be as long as the good
+God allows me to remain in this world, Martha of California.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS CONSULTED IN WRITING MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+  BRYANT, EDWIN: What I Saw in California. D. Appleton & Co.
+
+  CLAMPITT, JOHN W.: Echoes from the Rocky Mountains. Belford,
+    Clarke & Co.
+
+  CONNELLY, WILLIAM ELSEY: Doniphan's Expedition. Pub. by the
+    Author.
+
+  DEXTER, A. HERSEY: Early Days in California. Tribune-Republican
+    Press.
+
+  DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS: The Making of the Great West. Charles
+    Scribner's Sons.
+
+  FRÉMONT, J. C.: The Second Expedition. Washington.
+
+  KNOWER, DANIEL: The Days of a Forty-Niner. Weed, Parsons Print.
+    Co.
+
+  PAXSON, FREDERICK L.: The Last American Frontier. The Macmillan
+    Company.
+
+  THORNTON, J. QUINN: Oregon and California. Harper & Brothers.
+
+  WOODS, DANIEL B.: Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings. Harper &
+    Brothers.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA ***
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Martha of California
+       A Story of the California Trail
+
+Author: James Otis
+
+Release Date: January 6, 2014 [EBook #44600]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
+  signs=.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Map to illustrate the Story of Martha of California]
+
+
+
+
+     MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+     A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL
+
+     BY
+     JAMES OTIS
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO
+     AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+JAMES OTIS'S PIONEER SERIES
+
+
+  =ANTOINE OF OREGON=: A STORY OF THE OREGON TRAIL.
+
+  =BENJAMIN OF OHIO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF MARIETTA.
+
+  =HANNAH OF KENTUCKY=: A STORY OF THE WILDERNESS ROAD.
+
+  =MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA=: A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL.
+
+  =PHILIP OF TEXAS=: A STORY OF SHEEP RAISING IN TEXAS.
+
+  =SETH OF COLORADO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF DENVER.
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY
+MRS. A. L. KALER.
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+The author of this series of stories for children has endeavored simply
+to show why and how the descendants of the early colonists fought
+their way through the wilderness in search of new homes. The several
+narratives deal with the struggles of those adventurous people who
+forced their way westward, ever westward, whether in hope of gain or
+in answer to "the call of the wild," and who, in so doing, wrote their
+names with their blood across this country of ours from the Ohio to the
+Columbia.
+
+To excite in the hearts of the young people of this land a desire to
+know more regarding the building up of this great nation, and at the
+same time to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to noble
+deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them there is nothing
+of romance, but only a careful, truthful record of the part played
+by children in the great battles with those forces, human as well as
+natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast portion of this broad
+land against the advance of home seekers.
+
+With the knowledge of what has been done by our own people in our own
+land, surely there is no reason why one should resort to fiction in
+order to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime disregard of
+suffering in nearly every form.
+
+                                                             JAMES OTIS.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+  A CHANGE OF HOMES                                     9
+  "JOE BOWERS"                                         10
+  THE REASONS FOR MOVING                               12
+  MOTHER'S ANXIETY                                     14
+  HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL                                15
+  OUR MOVABLE HOME                                     18
+  LEAVING ASHLEY                                       19
+  EBEN JORDAN                                          22
+  ON THE ROAD                                          25
+  EBEN'S PREDICTIONS                                   26
+  WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA                       27
+  THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT                                 28
+  NIGHT IN CAMP                                        31
+  THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE                             32
+  KANSAS INDIANS                                       34
+  LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE                  35
+  A STORMY DAY                                         36
+  A LACK OF FUEL                                       38
+  MAKING CAMP IN A STORM                               40
+  A THUNDERSTORM                                       42
+  ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS                            43
+  THE STOCK STRAY AWAY                                 45
+  AN INDIAN VILLAGE                                    47
+  I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING                       48
+  EBEN'S BOASTS                                        50
+  SUFFERING WITH THIRST                                51
+  IN SEARCH OF WATER                                   53
+  QUENCHING OUR THIRST                                 55
+  MAKING BUTTER                                        57
+  A KANSAS FERRY                                       58
+  THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK                        60
+  BREAD MAKING                                         62
+  PRAIRIE PEAS                                         63
+  EBEN AS A HUNTER                                     65
+  A HERD OF BUFFALOES                                  66
+  EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP                               67
+  A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT                              68
+  CURING THE MEAT                                      69
+  A WASH DAY                                           71
+  UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING                              72
+  ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY                   74
+  INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES                               75
+  PRAIRIE DOGS                                         77
+  COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP                             79
+  CHIMNEY ROCK                                         81
+  AT FORT LARAMIE                                      82
+  COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE                      84
+  TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS                       85
+  ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE                               87
+  INDEPENDENCE ROCK                                    88
+  ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER                              90
+  WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA                     92
+  AT BEAR RIVER                                        93
+  THE COMING OF WINTER                                 94
+  UTAH INDIANS                                         97
+  A DANGEROUS TRAIL                                    98
+  SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW                   100
+  A FOREST FIRE                                       102
+  THE GREAT SALT LAKE                                 104
+  EBEN AS A FISHERMAN                                 105
+  GRASSHOPPER JAM                                     107
+  A DESERTED VILLAGE                                  109
+  THE GREAT SALT DESERT                               111
+  PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY                   112
+  BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING                             114
+  BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT                           115
+  THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT                     117
+  A PLAIN OF SALT                                     117
+  LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK                           119
+  SALT DUST                                           120
+  A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT                             122
+  COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER                             122
+  A SPRING OF SWEET WATER                             123
+  THE OASIS                                           125
+  SEARCHING FOR WATER                                 126
+  THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY                                128
+  SNAKE INDIANS                                       130
+  A SCARCITY OF FOOD                                  132
+  SPRINGS OF HOT WATER                                133
+  IN THE LAND OF PLENTY                               135
+  THE TRUCKEE RIVER                                   136
+  A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY                     138
+  THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ                             139
+  OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA                              141
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+
+
+A CHANGE OF HOMES
+
+
+In case one should ask in the years to come how it happened that I,
+Martha Early, who was born in Ashley, Pike County, in the state of
+Missouri, and lived there until I was twelve years old, journeyed
+across the prairies and deserts to California, the question can be
+answered if I write down what I saw when so many people from our county
+went to make new homes in that state where gold had been found in such
+abundance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+For my part, I used to wonder why people should be willing to leave
+Missouri, enduring the many hardships they knew awaited them on the
+journey of two thousand miles, in order to buy land in a country where
+nearly all the inhabitants were Spaniards and Mexicans.
+
+I suppose the stories told about the wonderful quantity of gold which
+had suddenly been found in California caused our people to think
+particularly of that far-off land. When the excitement of getting rich
+by digging in the earth a few weeks or a few months had in a measure
+died away, there came tales regarding the fertile soil and the beauty
+of the country, until nearly every one in Pike County, as well as in
+the county of the same name just across the Mississippi River in the
+state of Illinois, much the same as had a fever for moving.
+
+Perhaps that is why the people we met while journeying called all
+the emigrants "Pikers." You see there were so many from both the Pike
+counties who went into California in the year 1851, that it appeared to
+strangers as if every person on the trail had come from Pike County.
+
+
+
+
+"JOE BOWERS"
+
+
+Then, too, fully half of all these emigrants were singing or whistling
+that song of "Joe Bowers," which was supposed to have been written by
+a Piker, and to represent a man from Missouri or Illinois.
+
+Surely every one remembers it. The first verse, and if I have heard it
+once I certainly have a thousand times, goes like this:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+The song was intended to show that this Joe Bowers came from our
+county, and, perhaps, because so many of the emigrants were singing
+it, all of us who went into California in the year 1851 were, as I have
+said, called "Pikers."
+
+However the name came about, I was a Piker, and before we arrived in
+this wondrously beautiful country, I wished again and again that I had
+been almost any other than an emigrant, for the way was long, and oh!
+so wearisome.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I must always think of Missouri as being one of the best of all the
+states in the Union, because it was there I was born and there I went
+to school until father caught the California fever, which resulted in
+our setting out on a journey which, for a time, seemed endless.
+
+My father had no idea of going so far simply to dig for gold. He had
+seen many who went across the country in 1849 believing they would come
+back rich as kings, yet who returned home poorer in pocket than when
+they left; therefore he came to understand that only a few of all that
+vast army of miners who hastened into California after the discovery
+at Sutter's Mill, got enough of the precious metal to pay for the food
+they ate.
+
+Father thought he could buy better land in California than was to be
+found in Pike County, for to have heard the stories told by some of the
+people who had come back disappointed from the land of gold, you might
+have believed that one had only to put a few seeds at random in the
+ground in order to gather marvelous crops.
+
+
+
+
+THE REASONS FOR MOVING
+
+
+Nor was my father the only man who put faith in at least some of
+the fanciful tales told concerning the land of California which had
+so lately been given up to the United States by the Spaniards. Our
+neighbors for miles around were in a state of unrest and excitement,
+until it was decided that nearly all would undertake the long journey,
+and I could not prevent myself from wondering if Pike County would
+not feel lonely to have the people abandon it, for it surely seemed as
+if every man, woman, and child was making haste to leave Missouri in
+search of the wondrous farming lands.
+
+Mother looked woefully solemn when, on a certain evening, father came
+home and told us that he had sold the plantation for about half as much
+as it had cost him, and was going to join the next company that set out
+from Pike County.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a long time before mother would have very much to say about
+the journey, but as the days passed and the neighbors who were going
+with us came to our home that they might talk over the preparations
+for moving, she became interested in making plans, although again and
+again, when we two were alone, she told me that this trailing over two
+thousand miles of deserts and mountains was not to her liking.
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER'S ANXIETY
+
+
+It was only natural she should be worried about making such a great
+change, for all father's worldly goods consisted of the Pike County
+plantation and the live stock, and if, after selling the land and
+spending very nearly all his money to provide for the journey, we found
+that California farms were no better than the one we were leaving, it
+would be the saddest kind of mistake.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+"Your father has set his mind on going; the homestead has been sold,
+and we must make the best of it, Martha, hoping that half the stories
+we have heard about California are true," she said to me so many times
+that I came almost to believe it was a foolish venture upon which we
+were about to embark.
+
+Then, when I began to wonder how we were to live during such a long
+journey, and asked mother if it would be possible for us to cook and
+churn and do the family washing while traveling in an ox wagon, she
+would say with a sigh:--
+
+"Don't, Martha, don't ask questions that I can't answer! It seems to me
+almost certain that we shall starve to death before getting anywhere
+near California, even if we are not killed by Indians or wild beasts,
+without having had time to get very hungry or dirty."
+
+Yet we did travel the two thousand miles, walking the greater part of
+the way, and although there were many times when all of us were hungry,
+none actually starved to death; nor were we killed by wild beasts or
+Indians, else I could not be here in this beautiful place writing this
+story.
+
+Father spent days and days getting ready for the moving. After he
+had finished the preparations, I thought the journey would not be so
+terribly hard, because he had arranged everything so snug and cozy for
+mother and me, that it really seemed as if we might take actual comfort
+in case we could make shift to do housework in a wagon.
+
+
+
+
+HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL
+
+
+We owned only four yoke of cattle, but with some of the money received
+from the sale of the plantation, we bought as many more, which gave
+us sixteen oxen. We were to take with us all five of the cows and both
+the horses, on which father said mother and I might ride when we were
+tired of sitting in the wagon; but I knew what kind of animals ours
+were under the saddle, and said to myself that it would be many a long
+day before I would trust myself on the back of either.
+
+It would have done you good to see our movable home after father had
+made it ready, and by that I mean the wagon in which mother and I were
+to ride. It was small compared with the other, in which were to be
+carried enough furniture for a single room, farming tools, grain for
+the cattle, and a host of things; but I did not give much heed to the
+load because I was so deeply interested in what was to be a home for
+mother and me during many a month.
+
+That wagon was enough to attract the attention of any girl, for, fitted
+up as I first saw it, the inside looked really like a playhouse, and
+when I said as much to father, he declared that I was indeed the right
+kind of girl to go into a wild country, if I could find anything like
+sport during the tramp from Pike County to California.
+
+I surely must tell you about that wagon before setting down anything
+concerning the journey. It was what is known as a Conestoga, and one
+may see many of the same kind on the Santa Fe or the Oregon trail.
+Imagine a boxlike cart nearly as long as an ordinary bedroom and so
+wide that I could stretch myself out at full length across the body.
+The top and sides were covered with osnaburg sheeting, which is cloth
+made of flax or tow. Some people really sleep between sheets made of
+that coarse stuff, but it is so rough and irritating to the flesh that
+I had far rather lie on the floor than in a bed where it is used.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Osnaburg sheeting makes excellent wagon covers, however, for the rain
+cannot soak through the cloth, and it is so cheap that one can well
+afford to use it in double thickness, which serves to keep out the wind
+as well as the water.
+
+
+
+
+OUR MOVABLE HOME
+
+
+The front of the wagon and a small window-like place at the end were
+left open, but could be securely closed with curtains that buttoned at
+the sides.
+
+Around the inside of the wagon were hung such things as we might need
+to use often during the journey. There were pots and pans, towels,
+clothing, baskets, and two rifles, for father believed weapons might be
+required when we came upon disagreeable savages, or if game was to be
+found within shooting distance.
+
+Our cookstove was set up at the rear end of the wagon, where it could
+be pushed out on a small shelf fastened to the rear axle, when we
+wanted to use it. A most ingenious contrivance we found that shelf to
+be, for mother and I could remain inside the wagon and do our cooking
+in stormy weather; but those women of the company whose husbands had
+not been so thoughtful were forced to stay out of doors while preparing
+a meal, no matter how hard it might be raining.
+
+Our beds were laid in the bottom of the wagon and covered with the
+bedclothes to save them from being badly soiled, as would be likely if
+we slept upon them at night, and cooked, ate, and did the housework on
+them during the daytime.
+
+We did not try to carry many dishes, because there were so many chances
+they would be broken, but nearly everything of the kind we used was of
+metal, such as tin or iron.
+
+Underneath the cart were hung buckets, the churn, lanterns, and such a
+collection of articles that I could not but fancy people might believe
+we were peddlers carrying so large an assortment of goods that they had
+overrun the wagon body.
+
+What puzzled me before we started on the journey was how we could
+persuade the cows to travel as we would have them; but I soon came to
+understand that it was a simple matter.
+
+
+
+
+LEAVING ASHLEY
+
+
+You must know that father was not the only man in Ashley that intended
+to build up a new home in California. More than half of the people
+were making preparations for the journey, and when we finally set off
+the procession was very imposing, with more than fifty wagons, not one
+of them drawn by less than three yoke of oxen or four pairs of mules;
+there were cows almost without number and a flock of thirty or forty
+sheep.
+
+I said to myself then, that we need have no fear the savages would try
+to make trouble for us, because when they saw so many people, the poor,
+ignorant things would believe everybody on the banks of the Mississippi
+was heading for California, and it would be a very brave Indian who
+dared be other than polite to such a large company.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even though you had never before heard of Pike County, it would have
+been most interesting to see the people of Ashley on the morning we
+set off. As Ellen Morgan, a particular friend of mine who was going to
+California also, said to me just before we drove away, "It is much as
+if all the folks in the world had come to see us leave town."
+
+The streets were actually thronged, as I have heard it said the streets
+of a large city oftentimes are, and what with the shouts of the men,
+the screams of the children, and the lowing of the cattle, it was quite
+as much as I could do to make myself heard when I tried to tell Ellen
+that at the last minute mother had given permission for her to ride in
+our wagon.
+
+Of course the noise in the street could not have been as great as I
+fancied, for Ellen had no trouble in hearing me, as was shown when she
+came running back to our wagon with her Sunday frock and other valuable
+things neatly done up in a corn sack.
+
+Then it seemed to me that no improvement could be made upon our manner
+of traveling, for we two girls were to be together all the while, and
+even when the weather was stormy, it would seem really cozy under our
+double thickness of osnaburg cloth.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It surprised me very much because mother acted as if it saddened her to
+set off on what could not fail to be a delightful journey. I saw tears
+in her eyes when she came out of our old home for the last time, and
+wondered if she was sorry because she was leaving the house where we
+had lived so long, or whether she believed we would never find another
+such delightful town as Ashley.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course I felt just a little tearful when those people who were to
+remain at home gathered around the wagon to say "good-by"; but there
+were so many of our neighbors in the company we would not have a chance
+to be lonely, and I was certain that all the friends we were leaving
+behind would soon join us, having come to realize, as had father, that
+California was the only proper place in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN JORDAN
+
+
+If I could have had everything arranged exactly to please me, I would
+have insisted that Eben Jordan be left in Ashley. He is a boy about six
+months older than I, who always seems to take the greatest delight in
+teasing us girls. I had no doubt but that he would be very disagreeable
+at times, and felt, on that first day, as if there could be no cloud on
+the California skies if Eben had remained in Pike County.
+
+It is no more than fair for me to say, however, that, much as I
+disliked the boy, Eben Jordan was one who ever kept his ears open to
+the conversation of his elders and was more than willing to repeat to
+Ellen and me whatever he learned.
+
+Even before our company had left Ashley, he told us the journey was to
+be begun by first going to Independence, a town on the Missouri River
+where the Santa Fe traders and those who would journey by the Oregon
+trail made ready for the long march.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Up to this time I had had no idea of how we were to get to California,
+save we drove directly across the prairies and over the mountains,
+always in a westerly direction.
+
+But I must have understood that we could not strike off across the
+country in any direction we fancied, because we must follow some trail
+in order to find a plentiful supply of grass for the cattle and mules
+and sheep, as well as water for ourselves.
+
+Eben said that the leaders of the company, among whom was my father,
+had talked not a little regarding the country through which we should
+pass. Thus he learned that we would journey over what is known as the
+Oregon trail as far as Fort Bridger, after which, striking off to the
+southward somewhat, we would go along the shores of the Great Salt
+Lake, past Ogden's Hole, to the land of the Bannock Indians. Then the
+course was to be as nearly westward as the foothills would permit.
+
+"It will be a rare time for us all," Eben said gleefully, after having
+told us girls that we would journey nearly two thousand miles before
+coming to that land for which we sought. "There will be game until
+a fellow can't rest, and after we are once well on the way, we shall
+come upon Indian tribe after Indian tribe, when you girls will be only
+too glad to shelter yourselves under my wing, for there is no knowing
+what the savages may take it into their heads to do, providing the
+opportunity offers."
+
+Ellen was not a little displeased because Eben seemingly believed we
+would be glad of his protection, and I really felt uneasy in mind when
+the lad left us to go to his father's wagon, saying:--
+
+"It isn't well for you girls to be so high and mighty, because before
+this journey has come to an end you may be glad that I am willing to
+lend a hand."
+
+Ellen laughed at the idea that the time would ever come when we
+might accept a favor from Eben Jordan. She seemed so certain nothing
+disagreeable could happen to us while our company was so large, that
+I soon put away all forebodings and gave strict attention to what was
+before us.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE ROAD
+
+
+It had taken our fathers considerable time to get the people and the
+cattle in proper marching order; but once this was done, they gave the
+word for the procession to move forward, and the people at Ashley whom
+we were leaving behind cheered us wildly as we went slowly out from the
+town.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed much like taking part in some wondrous celebration, to be
+riding thus amid those who were cheering and, I dare say, envying us.
+
+Mother was content to sit inside the wagon, where father had placed a
+short-legged chair for her convenience, but Ellen and I remained on the
+front seat where we could see all that was going on, and until we were
+well clear of the town it did seem to me that I was a very important
+person.
+
+It was late in the forenoon before we started, therefore no halt was to
+be made for dinner, but this gave me little uneasiness, for mother had
+an ample supply of cooked provisions on hand.
+
+Our neighbors at Ashley had spoken again and again of the hardships
+which we would encounter before arriving at the shores of the Pacific
+Ocean, and I said to Ellen, when we were two or three miles from the
+town, that I could not understand how any one could believe such a
+journey might be either wearisome or dangerous.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S PREDICTIONS
+
+
+Surely we were as comfortable as two girls could be, with a covering
+over our heads in case it rained, and enough food to satisfy our
+desires.
+
+Therefore what difference did it make, as I said to Ellen, whether we
+were five months or six on the march? Eben Jordan, who had come back
+from his father's wagon along the line of procession as if to see that
+everything was right, overhearing my words, replied with a laugh, which
+sounded to me very disagreeable:--
+
+"You may well say, Martha Early, that this portion of the journey is
+easy. We are now traveling on a beaten road, with nothing to prevent
+our going forward at the best pace of the oxen. Wait until we have
+really started, after having come to Independence, and leave the
+highway to take to the trail. You will find the wagon tumbling and
+pitching over the rocks, or floundering across fords, where watch must
+be kept sharply against the Indians, and every man needs to have his
+eyes open lest he be attacked by wild beasts. Then you shall say to
+me whether it makes no difference to you if this journey requires five
+months or six."
+
+I refused to listen to the lad, who seemed to find the greatest
+pleasure in making other people uncomfortable in mind, and I turned
+toward Ellen, as if speaking to her very earnestly in whispers, thereby
+causing Eben to believe I had not heard what he said, whereupon he went
+off laughing.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA
+
+
+We had heard people talking about the wonderful fortunes to be found
+in California, until it seemed as if we might become rich simply by
+digging in the ground a bit; but, as you shall hear, before our journey
+had come to an end we understood that however much valuable metal there
+might be in the earth, it was not to be gathered like pebbles.
+
+We met on our way hundreds of people who had gone into California with
+great expectations and were coming back poorer than when they set out;
+but on the first day we were ignorant of all this, and quite convinced
+that it was a simple matter to become wealthy by a very little labor.
+
+Before night came there was to me less pleasure than during the
+first hour or two. The wagon jolted over the roads roughly, making
+it necessary to hold firmly to the seat, lest I be thrown off, and it
+became wearisome to sit so long in one position.
+
+Mother, who stretched herself out upon a bed in the bottom of the wagon
+when she was tired of sitting upright, did not weary so soon of this
+kind of traveling; but nevertheless she was quite as well pleased as
+Ellen and I, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, word was given
+that we should halt and make camp.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT
+
+
+We were yet in a fairly thickly settled portion of the country; but
+the leaders of our company determined to make the encampment exactly as
+if we were on the prairie or among the mountains, where there might be
+danger from wild beasts or wilder savages, and you may well fancy that
+Ellen and I were on our feet as soon as the wagon came to a stop, for
+we had heard so much of this camp making that both of us were eager to
+see how it was done.
+
+All the wagons were drawn up in a large circle so that the tongue of
+one came close to the tailboard of another, and just inside this ring
+of vehicles were set up small tents, which many of the company were to
+use at night because their families were so large that every one could
+not be given room in the wagons.
+
+Inside this row of tents were picketed the horses, or, at least, they
+were to be picketed as soon as night should come; but when we first
+halted they were fastened out upon the plain where they might eat the
+grass, while the oxen, cows, and sheep were turned loose with half a
+dozen of the men and boys watching lest they should stray.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Because the people were not accustomed to thus making an encampment,
+no little time was spent in getting everything into what the leaders of
+the company believed to be proper order, and then our mothers set about
+cooking supper.
+
+In our wagon the stove was pushed back upon the shelf made expressly
+for it, short lengths of pipe were run through the osnaburg cloth and
+tied by wire to the topmost part of the rear wagon bow, so they might
+be held straight, and then mother set about her work much as if she had
+been at home.
+
+It was most pleasant camping in the open air, and before we had been
+halted an hour the place was quite homelike.
+
+At nearly every wagon one or more women were making ready for supper;
+a short distance away the men and the boys were herding the cattle, and
+near by, inside or out of the inclosure, were scores and scores of idle
+ones, who, their work being done, were now enjoying a time of rest.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There was much talking and shouting, but above all one could hear that
+song of the true Pikers:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers,
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+
+
+
+NIGHT IN CAMP
+
+
+How Ellen and I enjoyed the supper on this first night of the journey!
+Mother made sour-milk biscuit; the stove worked to perfection, as if
+delighted because it was being carried to California; and what with
+cold meat and steaming hot tea it seemed as if I had never tasted
+anything better than that meal.
+
+Although we had enjoyed ourselves hugely, especially during the first
+part of the day's march, both Ellen and I were tired, and when mother
+said we might make up our bed on the bottom of the wagon, we were not
+only willing, but eager to do so, for after the hearty supper it seemed
+as if sleep had become a necessity.
+
+Once we had crossed over into Dreamland, our eyes were not opened again
+until the sun was near to rising; then the shouts of the men and the
+lowing of the cattle caused us to spring up suddenly, almost fancying
+that the camp had been attacked by savages, even though we were not yet
+out of Pike County.
+
+If I had the time, it would please me to describe the journey from our
+home in Ashley to a town known as Independence, on the Missouri River,
+where the Oregon trail begins; but since, as father said again and
+again, we did not really start until we had struck the Oregon trail,
+it is best that I leave out all that happened while we were coming from
+Pike County to the Missouri River.
+
+
+
+
+THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+We traveled slowly, because the cows were not easily herded, and, as
+Eben Jordan said, none of our people were accustomed to such kind of
+marching.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We did, however, finally arrive at the real starting point after eight
+days, during which time Ellen and I came to understand that, however
+pleasant it was to sit in the wagon and look out upon the country
+through which we passed, it might grow wearisome.
+
+Ellen and I had fancied we would see something very new and wonderful
+at Independence, and yet, while everything was strange and there was
+much to attract one's attention, it was not so very different from
+other settlements through which we had passed.
+
+There was, however, a constant bustle and confusion such as one could
+not see elsewhere. Enormous wagons, which Eben Jordan said belonged
+to the traders who went over the Santa Fe trail, were coming into
+town or going out, each drawn by eight or ten mules and accompanied by
+Spaniards or Negroes, until one could but wonder where so many people
+were going.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There were trains, much like our own, belonging to settlers who were
+going into Oregon, or, like ourselves, into California. Those were
+halted just outside the town, until the entire settlement was literally
+surrounded, while among them all, near the wagons of the traders as
+well as those of the emigrants, lounged Indians, nothing like the
+people I had imagined the savages to be.
+
+
+
+
+KANSAS INDIANS
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As Ellen said, if that was the kind of Indian we should meet with
+during the journey, then we need have little or no fear, for the
+savages we saw at Independence were nothing more nor less than beggars,
+who would greedily pick up and devour anything eatable that was thrown
+at them. Eben Jordan made himself ridiculous by marching around armed
+with a rifle, and a huge knife thrust in his belt, as if expecting each
+instant to be called upon to defend his life.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were tired of the settlement, even before we had fairly arrived, and
+after Ellen and I walked through the town, wondering not a little at
+seeing a number of the houses and stores built entirely of brick, we
+were content to return to our own encampment, which was about half a
+mile out on the prairie.
+
+
+
+
+LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE
+
+
+Up to this time mother and I had but little trouble in preparing the
+meals whenever we came to a halt; but I heard some of the men say that
+within a few days after we were once on the trail, all this would be
+changed. There would be many times when we might not find sufficient
+fuel to keep a fire in the stove, when we would feel the pangs of
+thirst because of not being able to get enough water, and when, the
+stock of provisions which we had brought with us having been consumed,
+we would know what it was to be hungry.
+
+When I repeated to mother what I had heard, she nodded her head
+sadly, replying that she had thought of all these things when father
+first determined to seek a new home in the California country, and
+she doubted not that we would come to know much suffering, before we
+arrived at our journey's end.
+
+As may be supposed, I was not in a cheerful mood when Ellen and I went
+to bed that night. During the half hour or more while we lay there
+wakeful, we spoke of all the possibilities of the future, and almost
+regretted that our parents had decided to leave Pike County, for
+surely they could find nowhere on the face of this earth a place more
+agreeable in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+A STORMY DAY
+
+
+When another morning came, it surely seemed as if all my fears were
+about to be realized, for the day dawned dark and forbidding, the rain
+came down in torrents, while the wind sighed and moaned as it drove
+floods of water from one end of the wagon to the other, wetting us
+completely even before we were awake.
+
+I could not believe father would set off on the journey at such a time
+as this, and was wondering how we should be able to cook breakfast,
+when he called to mother that she make ready the morning meal, for in
+half an hour the train would be in motion.
+
+No one had been sufficiently thoughtful to store beneath the wagon a
+supply of dry fuel, and the consequence was that we had nothing with
+which to build a fire, save a few armfuls of water-soaked wood which
+father and Eben Jordan succeeded in gathering, for where so many
+emigrants were encamped, fuel of any kind was indeed scarce.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I almost forgave Eben for having appeared so ridiculous when he
+strutted around fully armed, as I saw him striving to gather wood for
+us when he might have remained under the cover of his father's wagon;
+indeed, before many days passed both Ellen and I saw that there was
+much good in the boy's heart, even though he was too often disposed to
+make matters disagreeable for us girls.
+
+
+
+
+A LACK OF FUEL
+
+
+Mother and I made our first attempt at cooking while the stove was
+beneath the wagon cover and the pipe thrust out through the hole in the
+rear.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+If we had had plenty of dry wood, I have no doubt but that the work
+could have been done with some degree of comfort; but as it was, we
+were put to our wits' ends, even to get sufficient heat to boil the
+water, and when word was given for the company to start, we had not
+really begun to cook the breakfast.
+
+Of course it would have been dangerous for us to attempt to keep a fire
+burning while the wagon was moving. Therefore we would have been forced
+to set off without breakfast, had not Ellen's mother kindly sent us
+some corn bread which she had baked the night before, and this, with
+fresh milk, made up our meal.
+
+At the time I thought I was much injured because of not having more
+food; but before we had come to the land of California I often looked
+back upon that morning with longing, remembering the meal of corn bread
+and milk as though it was a feast.
+
+During all the long day, except for half an hour at noon, the
+patient oxen plodded wearily on amid the rain, oftentimes sinking
+fetlock-deep in the marshy places. Everything was damp and every place
+uncomfortable, and at times it seemed as if I could no longer bear up
+under the suffering.
+
+In order to teach me that, instead of grumbling, I ought to be thankful
+for the comforts I could enjoy, mother told me to look at those who
+were exposed to the storm. I saw father and the other men walking
+beside the oxen, the rain pelting down upon them pitilessly; I heard
+the cry of a baby in pain; and I soon came to understand that my lot
+was far less hard than that of many others.
+
+She read me a lesson on patience and contentment, whatever might
+be my surroundings, until I grew ashamed of having shown myself so
+disagreeable.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING CAMP IN A STORM
+
+
+Determined as I was to make the best of whatever might happen, I
+could not but be disheartened when, nearly at nightfall, we halted to
+make camp again. The rain was still descending like a cloud-burst;
+everything around us, including the bedding, seemed saturated with
+water. Yet I saw the men spread the thin cloth tents, after the wagons
+had been drawn up in a circle, or made into a corral as the travelers
+on the trail call it; I saw them wade ankle-deep in the mud, but with
+never an impatient word or gesture. It appeared sufficient to them if
+their women and children could enjoy some little degree of comfort.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Again we strove to do our cooking under the wagon covers, and again we
+were in need of fuel. Ellen and I, with the skirts of our gowns over
+our heads for protection, scurried here and there, picking up twigs and
+crying out with delight when we came upon a piece of wood as large as
+one's fist.
+
+You can well imagine what kind of supper we had that night. The inside
+of the wagon was filled with smoke, for the short length of stovepipe
+did not afford a strong draft, and mother labored, with the tears
+streaming down her cheeks, to fry as much bacon as would satisfy our
+hunger.
+
+The smoke was so dense that we all wept, smiling even in the midst of
+our seeming tears when father said, after he had milked the cows and
+had brought in quite as much water as milk, that it was a question
+with him whether he could stand better the smoke or the rain. He was
+inclined to think he had rather be soaked with water than cured like a
+ham.
+
+Again Eben Jordan showed his kindness of heart, for he insisted upon
+helping this man and that, milk the cows and herd the oxen and sheep,
+and he did whatever came to his hand, all the while humming "Joe
+Bowers."
+
+When Eben came into our wagon later in the evening, Ellen and I treated
+him very kindly, for we were coming to understand that this boy, who
+found so much pleasure in vexing us girls, was ever ready to do a good
+turn to another, even when it cost him much labor and discomfort.
+
+
+
+
+A THUNDERSTORM
+
+
+During all that night it rained; but shortly after midnight there came
+up such a terrific storm of thunder and lightning that it seemed as if
+the very heavens were bursting.
+
+Then all our men and boys were forced to go and quiet the cattle, for
+the beasts were even as frightened as we girls were, and, so father
+said, would have stampeded, leaving us to spend the next day searching
+for them on the prairies, had it not been for the precautions of our
+people.
+
+When I complained to mother, just after father had gone out into the
+tempest, that this journey to California was nothing like what I had
+pictured it, she said mildly that if I was growing disheartened now, it
+would have been better had I never set out from Pike County, for thus
+far matters had gone much to our convenience and that shortly we would
+find real trials and real troubles.
+
+Next morning, however, my spirits rose, for the sun was shining
+brightly when I awoke; but word was passed around the camp that
+instead of setting off at once, we might spend two hours drying the bed
+clothing and such of our belongings as had been saturated during the
+storm.
+
+Then there was presented such a scene as would have interested any one
+who had never witnessed the like before. On every wagon tongue were
+hung blankets and garments of all kinds, and over the wheels of each
+cart lay feather beds or bolsters, until it must have looked as if
+every member of our company had spent a day in washing, and was now
+about to do the ironing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan went here and there, aiding this one or that when he had
+done what he might for his mother, all the while singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," until, even before our breakfast had been cooked, fully
+half the company were joining in that foolish song. Mother said almost
+fretfully, when Ellen and I took up the refrain, that she wished the
+senseless words had never been written, or that we had never heard
+them.
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS
+
+
+Although we started off late that morning, owing to the drying out, we
+halted early in the afternoon, for we had come upon a company of men
+and women who, like ourselves, were bound for the land of California.
+The leader of the company was Colonel Russell.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To my surprise and delight these people also proved to be Pikers,
+having come from a settlement about twenty miles south of our old home.
+You may readily fancy how enjoyable was that evening, when we visited
+from wagon to wagon, listening to the stories of what had thus far
+happened to the company, and repeating our own adventures, if such they
+could be called.
+
+While we women and girls were thus engaged, the men of both companies
+decided to travel together, believing that by increasing the number
+there might be less danger from the Indians, for Eben Jordan said that
+the savages we saw at Independence were but imitations of the fiercer
+ones whom we were most likely to meet before our journey's end.
+
+
+
+
+THE STOCK STRAY AWAY
+
+
+I suppose it was the excitement occasioned by the meeting with Colonel
+Russell's company, which caused our men in charge of the cattle to be
+careless during the evening and later in the night, for when morning
+came we found that nearly all the oxen and a goodly number of the cows
+had strayed from the camp and disappeared completely.
+
+When Eben Jordan first told us of this, I believed a great disaster
+had come upon us; but straightway father and half a dozen of the other
+men mounted the horses and set off across the prairie in search of the
+missing cattle, as if this was trouble to be expected.
+
+In fact, before many days passed, I came to look upon the straying or
+the stampeding of the live stock as of little consequence.
+
+We had plenty of time to cook breakfast that morning while the men were
+searching over the prairie for the cattle, and, much to my surprise,
+within three hours all the stock had been brought into the encampment
+and we were making ready once more for the day's journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before noon we arrived at Blue Creek, where we had, as it seemed to me,
+much trouble because the trail leading to the stream was deep with mud,
+and the bottom of the creek so soft that our people were forced to wade
+waist-deep on either side of the wagons, lest the wheels sink so far
+down that the oxen would not be able to pull the heavy loads across.
+
+Again and again the men laid hold of the wheels, straining every muscle
+as the drivers of the cattle urged the patient beasts to their utmost
+exertions, and before all our company had crossed that small creek
+the day was so nearly at an end that there was nothing left for us to
+do save camp once more, although we had traveled only six miles since
+setting out.
+
+Then came Sunday morning, when I believed we would remain idle, for
+it did not seem right that we should travel on the Lord's day; but, as
+father said, while we were making such a long journey it was necessary
+to push ahead during every hour of fair weather, and to take our day of
+rest only when it was absolutely necessary.
+
+And so, instead of worshiping God as we would have done had we
+remained in Pike County, we went forward, fording two small creeks and
+journeying over a dull, level plain, whereon, save flowers, nothing was
+to be seen to delight the eye.
+
+
+
+
+AN INDIAN VILLAGE
+
+
+Within an hour of sunset we came to a veritable Indian village,
+although there were not many of the savages living in it, and Ellen and
+I took advantage of this first opportunity to see the redskins in their
+homes.
+
+There were but four men, with perhaps a dozen women and children, all
+living in lodges made of smoke-dried skins, and looking exceedingly
+dirty and disagreeable.
+
+We girls were not inclined to linger there long, although the Indians
+were willing we should, and when our short visit had been brought to
+a close, they followed us, clustering around our wagons and waiting
+patiently for food to be thrown to them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+From this time on during a full week we continued to push steadily
+forward, moving so slowly that even we girls could understand the
+journey would be exceedingly long and wearisome.
+
+
+
+
+I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING
+
+
+More than once did I reproach myself with having been so eager to leave
+Pike County, and many times I said to myself that a girl who has a
+happy home is indeed foolish to wish for a change, lest, like Ellen and
+me, they find, as mother often says, that they have jumped out of the
+frying pan into the fire.
+
+One day was much like another. Now the trail would be hard underfoot
+and the traveling easy, and again we would cross a stream, the bottom
+lands of which were so marshy that the oxen lugged and strained at
+their yokes, until oftentimes it was necessary to double up the teams
+in order that the heavy wagons could be pulled over the soft footing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The only thing I remember which came to break the monotony of the slow
+march was when, on a certain evening, father returned with his pockets
+and hands full of wild onions which he had found on the prairie.
+Because our meals had consisted chiefly of corn bread and salted meat,
+I said to myself that now we would have a feast.
+
+But alas! those wild onions were like my dreams about traveling to the
+land of California. While they looked fair on the outside before being
+cooked, they were so strong to the taste that one nearly choked in
+trying to eat them.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S BOASTS
+
+
+Eben Jordan, hearing of my disappointment, said with a laugh that when
+we came to the country where game was to be found he intended to bring
+into camp all the fresh meat the company could eat, and one might have
+thought from the way the boy talked that he believed himself capable of
+feeding all our company unaided.
+
+It would have been well if Eben had contented himself with predicting
+the marvels which he counted on performing; but, instead, he reminded
+me that before we had come into the Land of Promise I might be
+more than willing to eat wild onions and "smack my lips over the
+disagreeable food."
+
+It seems that he heard, while in Independence, of the sufferings of
+some people who had journeyed over that same trail, when they found
+no game and their provisions were consumed before the march came to an
+end.
+
+It would have been better, so I said to him, if he had not repeated
+such things, for surely we were getting all the discomfort that was
+needed to show how foolish we had been in leaving Pike County, where no
+one suffered from hunger or thirst, if he had a tongue in his head to
+make known his desires.
+
+It seemed almost as if the boy was a real prophet, for within a few
+hours Ellen and I did come to know what thirst--bitter, parching
+thirst--was like.
+
+We had started out one morning when the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us so fervently that the wagon covering seemed to be no protection, and
+the only relief we had was from the gentle breeze which was blowing,
+not with sufficient force to relieve our suffering, but enough to
+prevent us from being literally baked.
+
+
+SUFFERING WITH THIRST
+
+We drank, as did all our company, of the water which we carried in kegs
+stowed in the wagons, and gave no heed to the fact that the supply was
+scanty, for until this time there had never been any lack of water.
+
+At noon even the breeze died away; there was not a cloud in the sky,
+the trail was smooth and hard, running over what father called the
+tableland of the prairie, and the heat so intense that there were times
+when it surely seemed as if I could not longer continue to breathe.
+
+Then, when our sufferings were seemingly as great as they could
+possibly be, mother discovered that our store of water had been
+exhausted, and called to father, asking that he get a supply from one
+of the other wagons.
+
+It seemed strange to me then, and does even now, that at almost the
+same time all our company had run short of water, and from one end
+of the long train to the other we could not beg enough to moisten our
+tongues.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Perhaps it was the knowledge that I could not quench my thirst which
+caused me to suffer more severely, and when father said we must travel
+no less than twelve miles before coming to any stream, my heart sank
+within me.
+
+Ellen was suffering quite as much as I, except that she had the good
+sense to hold her peace, and mother, patient with me as ever, said all
+she could to prevent me from dwelling too much upon my condition.
+
+Nor was I the only one in that company to suffer severely. Whenever the
+train came to a halt that the cattle might have a breathing spell, I
+could hear the smaller children crying for something to drink, and once
+during the afternoon Eben Jordan came alongside our wagon, asking if
+our water kegs were empty.
+
+Then I saw upon his face that look of eagerness and desire such as I
+had read on Ellen's, and when I told him we were suffering from thirst
+even more than any other members of the company, he shook his head and
+replied:--
+
+"It is the younger ones who suffer the most, Martha Early, for they
+cannot be made to understand that it is necessary to wait; while you
+and I, who are older, know it is only a case of grinning and bearing it
+as best we may."
+
+
+
+
+IN SEARCH OF WATER
+
+
+I was irritated because Eben should read me a lesson, for indeed his
+words sounded like a reproof. I turned away from him, saying to myself
+that if it was not possible to make the oxen move more rapidly, there
+was danger of my dying, all of which was foolishness, even wickedness,
+as you will agree.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To force the beasts to a more rapid pace was absolutely impossible.
+Already the sheep as well as the oxen were showing signs of exhaustion
+and panting for water. Their tongues were hanging out, and they moved
+slowly as if unable to go farther, while five of the cows had dropped
+down on the trail as if dying.
+
+We were forced to leave them behind, fearing lest if time was spent in
+trying to get the beasts on their feet again, more of the stock would
+fall.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I hardly knew how the remainder of that day passed, for I gave no heed
+to anything save my own suffering, thereby showing myself wickedly
+selfish, until a great shout went up from those who were in advance,
+telling that at last, after what seemed like many, many long hours, we
+had come within sight of a stream of water.
+
+Then the oxen, wild with thirst and smelling the dampness in the air,
+plunged forward as if in a fury, for the drivers were unable to hold
+them in check.
+
+In a mad race went every yoke of the cattle, drawing the heavy wagons
+that lurched first on one side and then on the other as we went over
+the uneven surface of the trail, until all the contents which had been
+stowed so carefully were thrown violently about, while we girls and
+mother had the greatest difficulty to save ourselves from being flung
+out.
+
+
+
+
+QUENCHING OUR THIRST
+
+
+The oxen continued on until every yoke of them stood in the creek, and
+there they halted, drinking eagerly until their sides swelled out as if
+bursting.
+
+Regardless of the fact that our wagon was standing in not less than
+twelve inches of water, Ellen and I leaped out and drank from the
+stream like dogs, too thirsty to wait longer.
+
+I have been in need of water many times since that day, but never have
+I suffered so keenly, and I now understand that the distress which
+well-nigh overcame me was caused for the most part by my foolishly
+dwelling upon the lack of water, whereas if I had forced myself to
+think of other matters, much pain might have been avoided.
+
+It was impossible to force the oxen across the creek, and we were
+obliged to make camp on the easterly side, for it seemed as if they
+would never have done with drinking.
+
+When they were so full that it was impossible to swallow another
+mouthful, they refused to cross, but struggled to get among the rich
+grass which covered the bottom lands of the creek.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After the horses, as well as the men and the cattle, had been thus
+refreshed, half a dozen of our people, among whom was Eben Jordan, rode
+back on the trail, hoping to drive in some of the cows that had fallen
+by the wayside. It was not until a late hour in the evening that they
+returned, bringing with them only two of the animals.
+
+Thus we suffered our first loss on the journey, and it seemed to me
+a most serious matter; but even before we had come to the trail which
+led to California, the loss of even twice as many cattle could not have
+disturbed me, for I had come to believe that we should arrive at that
+Land of Promise, if indeed we were so fortunate as to survive, almost
+empty-handed, owing to the difficulties of the way which the beasts
+could not overcome.
+
+The next day's march was ended early in the afternoon, because then we
+had come to a stream, and those who were familiar with the trail knew
+we could not arrive at another place where water would be found until
+late in the night.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING BUTTER
+
+
+So we encamped early, and mother decided to set about churning, for
+long ago our store of butter had been exhausted. We had but a small
+quantity of cream, all of which had been saved since morning.
+
+No sooner had she begun her work than fully half the women of the
+company followed her example, and at the side or in the rear of nearly
+every wagon was a churn set out with either the girls or the boys
+working the dasher.
+
+As Eben Jordan said when he offered to spell me at the churn, it looked
+as if we people, who had set out from Ashley to find a new home in the
+land of California, had decided to abandon the idea and turn all our
+attention to making butter.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next morning we were forced to continue the journey before having
+breakfast, for we were nearing the Kansas River, and would arrive there
+about noon if the march was begun as soon as daylight. Even then there
+would be hardly more than time before the sun set to get all our train
+over, for the stream was so deep that it could not be forded, and we
+must send the wagons across in boats.
+
+
+
+
+A KANSAS FERRY
+
+
+Although we were, as one might have supposed, in an uninhabited
+country, father told me that at this crossing of the Kansas River
+was a ferry owned by two half-breed Indians, who made a business of
+freighting heavy wagons across for a fee of one dollar each; but all
+the live stock would be forced to swim.
+
+Now since none of the boats could carry more than one wagon at a time,
+you may readily understand how many hours would be needed in order to
+get all our train from one side of the river to the other, even though
+it was no more than two hundred yards from bank to bank. Therefore, as
+I have said, it was necessary we arrive at the ferry at the earliest
+possible moment, lest night overtake us while half the company yet
+remained on the eastern shore.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The ferryboats were nothing more than square, shallow boxes, which the
+Indians pushed across by poles, after the cargo of wagons had been put
+on board.
+
+Of course the women and the girls had nothing to do with this ferrying,
+save to remain under the wagon coverings where they would be out of the
+way. I envied Eben Jordan, who could move about at will, for verily my
+heart was in my mouth, so to speak, during all the time we were working
+our slow way across the stream, fearing lest our boat should sink
+beneath us.
+
+
+
+
+THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK
+
+
+Not until nearly six o'clock were all our company on the western side
+of the river, and then I supposed that we would immediately make camp;
+but to my surprise word was given for the train to move on, and we
+journeyed three miles more, coming to the bank of Soldier Creek before
+darkness.
+
+It was at this place that a most pleasant surprise awaited us. Colonel
+Russell's wife, who had walked ahead while our train was being ferried
+across the river, found quantities and quantities of wild strawberries
+near the camping place. As soon as we women and girls arrived, we set
+about gathering the berries, until each family had a good supply of
+the luscious fruit. Milk was not a poor substitute for cream to us who
+had been living upon corn bread and salt meat ever since we left the
+settlement of Independence.
+
+During the next two days we traveled steadily onward, slowly, to be
+sure, but yet each step, as Ellen said again and again, was taking us
+nearer the end of the journey. In time I came to be impatient whenever
+a halt was called, so eager was I to have done with riding, for however
+comfortable a girl might make herself in one of the wagons, her limbs
+were certain to become cramped before night.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+On the third day after crossing the Kansas River, the leaders of our
+company decided that a halt was needed in order to give the animals a
+rest. Their hoofs had become dry and cracked from traveling over the
+matted grass of last year, which covered the prairie even beneath the
+new crop, and it was necessary that something be done for them without
+delay.
+
+I had been looking forward to a full day's halt, even though impatient
+when we were not moving forward, for Ellen and I had planned to wander
+as far from the encampment as we could, searching for flowers and wild
+peas, which grew there in great abundance, so we had been told.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD MAKING
+
+
+Mother decided that now had come a time when she must bake a plentiful
+supply of bread, for she was determined not to be put to such straits
+as we were during the rain storm, when it was next to impossible to
+build a fire in the stove, and, of course, I was glad to do whatever I
+might to aid her.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before father had fairly got the stove out of the wagon and set up
+where it could be most conveniently used, nearly every other woman in
+the company had decided to follow mother's example, and then came such
+a scene as was presented when each family did its churning.
+
+In the rear or at the side of nearly every wagon a stove was set up,
+and one might see everywhere women rolling or kneading dough, girls
+running about on errands, and boys doing their share by keeping the
+fires going.
+
+I must say to Eben Jordan's credit that he was of great assistance to
+mother and me that day. If he had been a saint upon earth, he could
+not have done more or worked with greater patience than he did, running
+from stove to stove when the other boys had neglected their duties.
+
+Mother told him laughingly that many times while we lived in Ashley she
+had been vexed because of the boyish pranks he played; but from this
+time onward she should remember what he had done in the way of aiding
+the cooks, and would overlook almost anything which mischief might
+prompt him to do.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE PEAS
+
+
+The baking came to an end, so far as our family was concerned,
+shortly after noon; then Ellen and I, taking Eben with us as guide and
+protector, went out in search of peas and brought home enough to supply
+several families, who had been neighbors of ours, with a generous mess.
+
+
+Save for the fact that these prairie peas look somewhat like those we
+have at home, I could find no likeness between the two varieties. The
+wild peas have a tough rind, and there are several seeds in the middle
+of each; but after they have been boiled and allowed to remain in
+vinegar a few hours, they make a fairly pleasing dish.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When we began the march once more, I hoped to see the cattle moving
+more spiritedly than before the halt; but in this I was mistaken. It
+seemed to me that they limped painfully, and worse than ever; that I
+was not mistaken was proved, to my satisfaction at least, when I heard
+father and another man saying to each other that before many days we
+should be forced to kill two or three whose feet were in the worst
+condition.
+
+However, the days went on and our cattle continued to work fairly
+well, although I noticed that when we came to rough places, such as the
+crossing of a stream, where it was necessary to climb a high bank on
+the opposite side, the drivers were forced to double up the teams more
+often than before, because the poor creatures could not haul so heavy
+a load as when we first started out.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A HUNTER
+
+
+Within a week from the time of leaving Soldier Creek, Eben Jordan
+was indeed puffed up with pride. He came into camp late one afternoon
+dragging behind him an antelope which he had shot within two miles of
+where we halted an hour previous. This proof that he had shown himself
+a skillful hunter, caused the boy literally to swell with joy as he
+strutted around the body of the beautiful animal while our people were
+looking at it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed too bad to kill such an innocent creature as that antelope,
+and yet I forgot all the cruelty of it when Eben brought to our
+wagon enough steaks to provide all of us with a slice of fresh meat.
+Afterward it seemed to me much as if we had been cannibals when we so
+eagerly devoured the handsome animal.
+
+From that day on, whenever we made camp before dark, Eben went out
+with his rifle, and more than once he brought in a deer of some kind,
+dividing the meat generously and fairly among us all.
+
+
+
+
+A HERD OF BUFFALOES
+
+
+Then came the time when we had our first glimpse of buffaloes, and
+never shall I forget the scene. We had been traveling in the bottom
+lands where we found multitudes of paths deeply cut into the ground,
+which some of our people said had been made by buffaloes; but we girls
+never so much as dreamed we might be near the beasts, until one morning
+father called me hurriedly to look out of the wagon.
+
+Then I screamed, for we were literally surrounded by thousands upon
+thousands of those fierce-looking, yet stupid, beasts, who gave no more
+heed to our encampment than if they had been accustomed to such things
+all their lives.
+
+They circled around within a quarter of a mile of where our cattle
+were feeding, and father said afterward that unless our men had been
+exceedingly watchful and active, the oxen and cows would have been
+stampeded beyond a doubt.
+
+
+
+
+EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP
+
+
+Our animals were in a high state of excitement, striving to get
+through the lines of men who guarded them, and of course there was no
+possibility of our breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,
+so father said, there was not a driver in the company who could handle
+half a dozen yoke of oxen while the buffaloes were so near.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea of animals as did
+Ellen and I. You may be certain Eben Jordan was among the first to go
+out dangerously near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all the
+men of the company, save those who were guiding our live stock.
+
+I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their heels when a
+rifle was discharged; but much to my surprise they paid little or no
+attention at first to the reports of the firearms.
+
+I dare not venture to say how many of the animals were killed; but
+certainly it seemed to me, when about noon the entire herd rushed off,
+the rumbling of their hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder,
+that there were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plain
+within a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up to form a corral.
+
+
+
+
+A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT
+
+
+There was so much game for us to bring in, that during the remainder
+of the day every man and boy that could be spared was kept busy at work
+skinning the dead buffaloes or cutting up the flesh.
+
+What a feast we had that evening! We had buffalo tongues baked in the
+ovens, or in front of small fires which had been built here and there.
+Then there were what father called hump ribs, steaks, and meat of every
+kind that could be taken from a buffalo. Each member of the company was
+eager to learn how every eatable portion of the animal tasted, and,
+therefore, cooked two or three times as much as could be used at one
+meal.
+
+Our people had no more than time to skin and cut up the carcasses
+before dark; on the following morning word was passed around that each
+family must dry, or smoke-cure, as much of the flesh as possible within
+the next four and twenty hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Straightway every man, woman, and child set about either slicing the
+meat as thin as it could be cut with sharp knives, or putting together
+racks made of sticks, on which the strips of flesh were to be hung and
+exposed to the rays of the sun, as well as to the smoke of the fires
+that were to be built directly beneath them.
+
+
+
+
+CURING THE MEAT
+
+
+It was disagreeable work, and yet we were all, even to the smallest
+girl, content to do our part, knowing that we were thus laying up food
+for the future when it might not be possible to procure game, and when
+all the stores we had brought with us from Pike County had been eaten.
+
+The arms of the men who acted as carvers were stained with blood to the
+elbows, while the hands and even the faces of the women and children
+who carried the sliced meat to hang it on the framework of sticks, were
+colored in the same way.
+
+In addition to curing the meat in the sun and smoking it, some of the
+men made what is called pemmican, a most disagreeable looking mixture
+of flesh and fat which I afterward came to eat greedily, when we had
+nothing else with which to satisfy our hunger.
+
+Pemmican is made by first drying the very thinnest of thin slices of
+meat in the sun, until they are so hard that it is possible to rub or
+pound them to a powder.
+
+A bag is then formed of the buffalo skin, and into it is packed
+powdered meat sufficient to fill it considerably more than half full,
+after which tallow is melted and poured into the bag until it can hold
+no more. Then the entire mass is allowed to cool and harden. It is then
+fit for eating, so father said; but mother, when the time came that
+we were glad to have our portion of the stuff, always boiled it so it
+might be served hot.
+
+It is not appetizing to me, and because I have seen the mixture
+prepared I can eat it only when I am very hungry.
+
+
+
+
+A WASH DAY
+
+
+Two full days were spent in curing the meat and making pemmican, and
+even then we did not continue the journey immediately, for the work
+had brought our clothing to such a condition that a day for washing
+was absolutely necessary. Therefore we remained for another twenty-four
+hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were encamped near a small stream where could be had plenty of water
+for the animals, and on either side of this tiny creek, shortly after
+sunrise, could be seen many fires, kettles, and washtubs.
+
+What a tired girl I was when I stretched myself out on mother's feather
+bed in the wagon that night! It seemed to me that I had no more than
+closed my eyes before I was asleep, and not until father was bustling
+around inside the wagon next morning trying to build a fire in the
+cookstove, did I awake.
+
+Then the patter, patter of rain on the wagon covering told that we were
+to be treated to another downpour of water, and eager though I was to
+reach California, I hoped most fervently we would remain in camp yet
+longer.
+
+
+
+
+UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING
+
+
+It was really difficult for me to open my eyes, so heavily did slumber
+weigh upon them, when I asked father if he had any idea of setting
+off in such a storm, at the same time reminding him how our beasts had
+struggled through the mud during the last rain.
+
+He laughingly told me that we would continue on the trail, regardless
+of the weather; that a rain storm was not to be compared in the way
+of discomfort with snow. He said that unless we came to our journey's
+end before the season of frost set in, we might never arrive, but
+would be in danger of perishing, as others had who, striving to reach
+California, had been overtaken by winter among the mountains.
+
+"So long as the cattle are in condition to push on, just so long shall
+we continue to march, regardless of whether the rain falls or the sun
+shines," he said, speaking very solemnly, and mother's face grew grave
+as if she was already beginning to understand the better what might be
+before us.
+
+"There will be all too many days when we must remain in camp; but now,
+after such a long rest, it would be little less than wicked to remain
+idle here simply because it might be more to our comfort."
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There is little need for me to explain how disagreeable it is to get up
+in the morning and attempt to keep a fire going with wet fuel.
+
+Everything was damp and uncomfortable to the touch, and all the
+surroundings looked much as Ellen and I felt when we helped mother
+prepare breakfast.
+
+After that very unsatisfactory meal had been eaten, for we had nothing
+save some half-fried bacon with cold corn bread, not being able to
+make coffee because the fire would persist in going out, the train
+was started. Ellen and I, crouching in the rear end of the wagon where
+the rain could not drive in upon us, sat close to the stove, which now
+seemed warmer than when we were trying to cook breakfast, and talked of
+the future.
+
+Of course I cannot set down all we said, for much of it was foolish;
+but some of the conversation I have remembered clearly even to this
+day.
+
+
+ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY
+
+
+Ellen, when I had told her it was my intent to write the story of our
+coming from Pike County, said that it would not be proper for me to
+write anything about what we saw or did while on the Oregon trail. We
+were bound for California, and would not be upon the direct road to
+that country until we had left Fort Bridger.
+
+It was her idea that I should begin the story with the time when we
+turned from the trail leading to Oregon, and set our faces directly
+toward California; but, as has been seen, I nearly forgot her advice,
+and even now it seems impossible to do exactly as she proposed.
+
+I intend, however, in order to please her, to set down only such
+matters as seem to me of the greatest importance, and thereby hurry
+over a certain portion of the march, beginning in earnest with the time
+when we finally came to Fort Bridger.
+
+
+
+
+INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES
+
+
+Now you must bear in mind, although I may not speak of them again, that
+we were constantly meeting with Indians. Hardly a day passed that we
+did not come upon a village, meet a party of hunters, or receive visits
+from groups of two, three, or four who came to beg.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Strange though it may seem, we became accustomed to the savages as one
+does to seeing a dog or a cat around the house, and gave little or no
+attention to them save when they made themselves disagreeable.
+
+One other thing I will speak about now. Mosquitoes and tiny flies,
+which seemed as fierce as tigers, were with us all the time by day as
+well as by night.
+
+When we first left Independence, it was difficult for me to sleep at
+night because of these insects, and during the day I spent the greater
+portion of my time striving to keep them off my hands or face. As the
+journey progressed it seemed as if they became less poisonous; but I
+suppose my body had become accustomed to the wounds, and I gave little
+heed to them except when the weather was exceedingly warm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Until we came among the foothills, which is to say, after we left Fort
+Bridger, we found game in abundance. What had been sport to Eben became
+now a real labor, and he sought for fresh meat only when urged to do so
+by his father or some of us girls.
+
+There were days when our men brought in no game because they were
+unable to come across any; but we were in a country abounding with
+deer, elks, buffaloes, and even bears, and so did not suffer for food.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE DOGS
+
+
+Even though I say nothing more regarding the remainder of our journey
+over the Oregon trail, I must speak of the little prairie dogs which we
+came upon from time to time.
+
+They live in villages, sometimes, as father has said, several acres
+in extent, and their houses are holes in the ground, with a top or
+extension, made of earth which they have pushed up from beneath.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan declares, and several men in the company who have talked
+with the trappers or hunters say, that in every prairie dog's house may
+be found a little gray owl, who has lodgings there, and oftentimes with
+this owl is a rattlesnake. Now just fancy the prairie dog, the owl,
+and the rattlesnake living together! All I ever saw of the family was
+the dog, and he is about the size of a large rat, with hair which is a
+mixture of light brown and black in color.
+
+It is impossible for me to tell you how entertaining these little
+creatures are. When we passed by the villages you could see them
+scampering around and barking. Again and again I have seen them playing
+about or sitting on the top of their houses, giving no heed to us until
+the wagon train was close upon them, when the entire colony would pop
+into their holes with every evidence of fear.
+
+A moment later each little fellow would stick his head out, his black,
+beadlike eyes glistening, while he looked around as if asking whether
+or not you saw how quickly he could get under cover when it pleased him
+to do so.
+
+I know of nothing more comical than these little animals, and yet they
+look so much like rats that I would greatly prefer to see them at a
+distance rather than make any attempt at taming them, as Eben Jordan
+declares is his intention to do as soon as he can catch one alive.
+
+I have my doubts, however, about his being able to catch one, unless he
+is cruel enough to wound it first with a rifle ball.
+
+
+
+
+COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP
+
+
+Just before we arrived at the Platte River, we crossed a small creek,
+the bottom of which was exceedingly soft; the men were forced to
+double up the teams in order to draw the heavy loads along, and Colonel
+Russell's wagon upset in midstream, where the water was two or three
+feet deep.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Now there was nothing comical in such a mishap, and yet Ellen and I,
+who were standing on the bank of the creek where we could see all that
+was going on, laughed until I felt actually ashamed of myself. It was
+all so ridiculous that I could not have kept my face straight whatever
+might have been the result.
+
+If the accident had happened quickly, there would not have been
+anything so very funny about it; but, instead, the wagon toppled
+slowly, the men striving meanwhile to prevent it from going entirely
+over. In the heavy wagon were Mrs. Russell and four children. We saw
+first the youngest child, as if some one had tossed him out, come
+shooting from the wagon and strike the water. Then another child, and
+so on, one after another, exactly like a lot of grasshoppers, until
+Mrs. Russell herself appeared. Out they marched in the same order,
+water streaming from their clothing, which was bedaubed with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Mother reproved Ellen and me severely for laughing when our neighbors
+were suffering; but even as she spoke the Russell procession passed
+along the edge of the bank, marking the way with mud and water, and I
+noticed that it was all she could do to keep her face straight while
+she scolded us.
+
+
+
+
+CHIMNEY ROCK
+
+
+When finally we crossed the Platte River, the men of the company
+rejoiced, although I was unable to learn why, except that it marked, as
+mother suggested, the first stage of the journey, the second of which
+would come to an end at Fort Bridger, and the third in that land where
+we hoped to settle.
+
+Not long after crossing this river we had a first glimpse of that
+enormous mass which travelers speak of as Court House Rock, which, so
+those who have seen both say, looks from the distance not unlike the
+Capitol at Washington. A few miles farther on we saw another huge pile
+called Chimney Rock.
+
+I doubt not but that both would have been well worth the seeing, yet
+our desire to look at them more closely was not gratified. The trail
+leads some distance off, and when mother proposed to father that we
+might halt for a day in order to get a nearer view of the curiosities,
+he shook his head decidedly, saying, almost gruffly, that we who were
+bent on finding new homes had no time to fritter away in looking at
+this odd thing or at that.
+
+Eben Jordan, however, borrowing one of his father's horses, rode off
+to Chimney Rock by himself, and when he came back he told Ellen and me
+that we need not shed many tears because of failing to see it close at
+hand, because it was nothing more than a lot of big stones that looked
+as if they might have been carelessly plastered together with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course this couldn't be the fact; but Eben has no eye for scenery
+and, I dare say, might turn his nose up at what every one else would
+believe wonderful or full of beauty.
+
+
+
+
+AT FORT LARAMIE
+
+
+Forty-eight days after leaving Independence we came to Fort Laramie,
+which is more like a trading post than like a fortification. It stands
+on the banks of the river Platte, is owned by the American Fur Company,
+and is six hundred and seventy-two miles from Independence by the trail
+we came over.
+
+Just fancy! We had traveled nearly seven hundred miles, the men of the
+company walking all the way; yet during that time, with the exception
+of the mishap to Colonel Russell's wagon and the loss of a few head of
+cattle, we had come to no harm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+At Fort Laramie we slept in a real house for the first time since
+starting on the long journey. It was not such a building as we lived in
+at Ashley, and yet it was to me almost beautiful, after I had remained
+so long in the wagon.
+
+I fancied I would sleep on that night as never before since the
+march began, and that we would have supper and breakfast properly and
+conveniently served.
+
+I had supposed the mosquitoes and the midges were as thick in our
+wagons as it would be possible to find them anywhere; but when we came
+into that house the place was swarming with them, and they prevented us
+from closing our eyes in rest during the entire night. Never was a girl
+better pleased than I when the first light of day came in through the
+windows.
+
+
+
+
+COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE
+
+
+After striving to cook food in front of one of the two fireplaces in
+that house, I was actually ashamed of having complained because our
+stove in the wagon on a stormy morning had seemed to me like some
+contrary animal.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+However much trouble we might have had with wet fuel and lack of draft
+owing to the shortness of the stovepipe, it was as nothing compared
+with those rude fireplaces, where our faces were burned almost to a
+crisp, our eyes filled with smoke, and whatever was cooking came from
+the heat thickly incrusted with ashes.
+
+I resolved not to grumble at anything we might find in California,
+provided we had conveniences where we could cook with some degree of
+comfort, and a place in which to lie down where we would be protected
+from insects.
+
+
+
+
+TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS
+
+
+I suppose Eben might describe Fort Laramie so that it would to a
+stranger present the appearance of a stronghold; but for my part I saw
+there only scores upon scores of savages, loitering around outside the
+walls, gambling, racing horses, bartering furs, or gorging themselves
+with half-cooked meat, while here and there could be seen the noisy
+trappers, some dressed fancifully after the fashion of the Indians, and
+others decked out in buckskin clothing.
+
+There were boasting hunters who swaggered around, peering curiously
+under our wagon covers when we had taken refuge there; and all around,
+corralled or feeding near at hand, were cattle and ponies almost
+without number.
+
+Our company was not the only party of Pikers at Fort Laramie. It seemed
+to me there must have been three or four hundred who had been traveling
+as we had traveled, some hoping to go into that land of Oregon which
+was represented as being wondrously beautiful, and others bound for
+California.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I would have visited among the strange Pikers had it not
+been for the throngs of trappers, hunters, and Indians, such as I have
+already written about. Mother declared it would be well for us girls to
+stay in our wagon, and this she came to believe firmly after two of the
+trappers engaged in a downright battle wherein both used knives, and
+both were sorely wounded.
+
+The people round about did not appear to think this fighting wicked
+or strange, and instead of endeavoring to make peace among them, all,
+even a few women, stood around watching the fray as if it was some
+exhibition of an innocent nature.
+
+I was sick with the sights of Fort Laramie even before mother sent
+Ellen and me to the wagon, and felt well content to remain there until
+next morning, never grumbling when I struggled to keep a fire going in
+the stove in order that we might cook supper.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE
+
+
+It seemed to me that every member of our company, with the possible
+exception of Eben Jordan, was delighted when the word had been passed
+around during the evening that we should pull out at early daybreak.
+
+We were getting near to that forking of the trail where we would bear
+southward and then westward, passing around a great salt sea on our way
+to California.
+
+We soon came among the foothills, and it was really a relief to be
+climbing up one hill and sliding down another, instead of driving over
+a level plain where was nothing to vary the monotony. Although Ellen
+and I were pleased with this change in the appearance of the country,
+our fathers found little in it to give them pleasure, for we had come
+to where grass was scanty and the way difficult for the animals.
+
+As father said, from then on we might suffer such privations and
+hardships as we had not experienced since leaving Independence; but
+that I could hardly credit, for it did not seem to me possible we would
+have more discomfort than when we were marching in the rain, with the
+ground so soft that the cattle could only with difficulty drag the
+wagon along.
+
+I suppose our people did have some trouble in finding grass for the
+animals; but we girls knew little regarding such matters. Our work was
+to aid in preparing the meals, and, as Ellen said, in keeping our minds
+as cheerful as possible; these tasks we performed to the best of our
+ability, without hearing very much of the perplexities of the men, save
+when Eben Jordan came to us with tales of trouble.
+
+
+
+
+INDEPENDENCE ROCK
+
+
+After leaving Fort Laramie the first thing which particularly attracted
+my attention was a perfect mountain of rock, fully a hundred feet in
+height and more than a mile in circumference, father told me, which
+stood near the Sweetwater River, between the ranges of mountains which
+border the Sweetwater Valley.
+
+It was an "imposing work of nature," so Colonel Russell said; but to me
+the most interesting thing about it was that the first celebration of
+the Fourth of July by a company of people bound to Oregon was held at
+the place. On the rocks, as high up as one can see, are a multitude of
+names, many, many hundreds, some painted, and others cut into the soft
+stone by those who had visited the place.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Another thing about Independence Rock which causes me to remember it
+even more than as "an imposing work of nature," was that near it one
+could pick up all the saleratus he needed, for there are veritable
+ponds of it, where, so father said, water filled with the salts had
+evaporated, leaving the saleratus itself in pools which looked as if
+made of milk.
+
+Next morning we came upon a great gap in the mountain wall which is
+called the Devil's Gate; through it flows a beautiful stream, on the
+banks of which we found wild currants and gooseberries in greatest
+abundance.
+
+
+
+
+ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER
+
+
+About the middle of July we arrived at Fort Bridger, where we were to
+turn off upon the California trail, and where, if Ellen's advice had
+been followed, this story of mine would have begun.
+
+Why it should be called _Fort_ Bridger I fail to understand, for there
+are no signs of a fort about, but only three or four miserable log huts
+in which live two fur traders with their trappers and hunters.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+One might have believed it quite an important place, however, because
+when we arrived there were no less than five hundred Indians of the
+Snake tribe encamped round about the log huts. Beyond them on every
+hand could be seen wagon train after wagon train of people who had come
+not only from Pike County, but from Ohio and Indiana, as well as from
+Illinois and Missouri, the greater number intent on gaining the Oregon
+country, with perhaps two hundred who were going to California.
+
+Of course there were also at this place hunters and trappers, traders
+coming from or going into Oregon or California, Spaniards, Negroes, and
+red men, the greater number of all this throng living in canvas tents,
+in wagons or log huts, while the rest made shift as best they might in
+the open air.
+
+It was, like Fort Laramie, a place where Ellen and I had best remain
+in the wagons, for no one could tell what the savages might do if two
+girls wandered among their lodges, and certainly we had no desire to
+make their acquaintance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Here, as everywhere since leaving Independence, we heard that song
+which by this time had grown threadbare,--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers."
+
+The Negroes and the Spaniards, the trappers and the hunters, were all
+singing it, and the wonder to Ellen and me was where so many people
+could have heard it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA
+
+
+After spending one day at Fort Bridger we set off early in the morning
+with our faces turned toward California, and our hearts beating
+furiously. For the first time since leaving home it seemed as if we
+were really on the journey.
+
+The trail ran up hill or down, all the way, but there was very little
+difference, so far as hardships were concerned, from that which we had
+already experienced.
+
+During the first three or four days our fathers had no difficulty in
+finding grass and water in plenty for the cattle, although there were
+times, of course, when for mile after mile we passed through nothing
+but sage grass, which even the oxen would not eat. Every night during
+this time, we came upon a pleasant place in which to camp, and, best
+of all, so Eben Jordan thought, the game was abundant everywhere. When
+he had shot a small bear and brought it into camp, it seemed as if his
+cup of happiness was full. One might have thought the lad had performed
+some wondrous deed, from the way he strutted to and fro, repeating
+marvelous accounts of his battle with the beast.
+
+
+
+
+AT BEAR RIVER
+
+
+It was when we came to Bear River that I began to understand how
+different this trail was from the one which we had been traveling.
+
+Instead of finding a safe ford, we came upon a swiftly running river,
+with a bed of rocks. So strong was the current that when father waded
+in to drive the oxen it was necessary for him to hold firmly to the bow
+of the foremost yoke lest he be thrown from his footing; the heavy cart
+pitched about until I was certain it would be overturned even as had
+Mrs. Russell's.
+
+Mother said that if such an accident should befall us, it would be no
+more than a just punishment to Ellen and me because we had laughed so
+rudely when the Russell family were in trouble.
+
+
+
+
+THE COMING OF WINTER
+
+
+Two days after leaving Fort Bridger we had the first indication that
+winter was near at hand, even though it was then July. That night the
+buckets of water were crusted with ice a full half inch thick, and
+upon the tops of the mountains which towered so high above us snow had
+fallen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+You can well fancy how we shivered while making ready to cook
+breakfast. When the train had started, Ellen and I crawled under the
+bed clothing, for it seemed as if we were like to freeze, and no one
+knows how long we might have remained had not mother insisted that we
+should sit once more on the front seat, where we could see the wondrous
+beauties everywhere around us.
+
+Just at that time we were traveling through what seemed to be a
+mountain gorge; towering many hundred feet above our heads on either
+side were crags which had been formed in the most comical figures. Some
+of them really looked like animals, and I could see now and then the
+head of an elephant or of a lion.
+
+Later in the day father told us that we had passed in the early
+morning, while Ellen and I were asleep, a rock which looked so much
+like a beast that the trappers had given it the name of the Elephant's
+Statue.
+
+During nearly two days we continued along these rocky roads, with the
+mountains overshadowing us, and in places the cliffs hanging so low
+that it seemed as if the rumbling of our wagons must cause them to fall
+upon our heads.
+
+The next night we kept a fire in the cookstove because of the heavy
+frost in the air; then we came to a narrow pass between the mountains,
+where was a gorge or chasm, so deep that we could readily believe Eben
+Jordan when he said the people at Fort Bridger told him the sun never
+penetrated to the bottom.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was what is known as Ogden's Hole, and got its name, according to
+one story, through being the death place of a trapper by the name of
+Ogden, who had hidden himself there from the Indians and was either
+killed by them or starved to death, Eben was not certain which.
+
+
+
+
+UTAH INDIANS
+
+
+There among the mountains we met a party of Utah Indians armed only
+with bows and arrows, and they journeyed with us until we camped for
+the night, counting as a matter of course upon our feeding them.
+
+The Utahs looked to me more manly than any other Indians we had yet
+met. Surely they behaved themselves in a seemly manner, for when supper
+had been made ready, they seated themselves in a circle and waited
+decently to be invited to partake of food.
+
+On the following morning, after we had traveled about two miles, we
+came upon mountains which looked as if they were standing there to
+bar our advance, and for the life of us neither Ellen nor I could
+understand how it would be possible to continue the journey.
+
+Even the men of the company were perplexed, and during half an hour or
+more the entire train was halted while our people went first this way
+and then that, seeking some trail over which we could pass.
+
+Then Colonel Russell came back to where we were waiting anxiously and
+said he saw a narrow trail winding directly up over those enormous
+cliffs. When he pointed it out to the other men, we girls overheard
+what he said, and I could not repress a cry of fear, for surely it did
+not seem as if any member of our company could climb to such a height,
+over so narrow a path, let alone trying to drive the oxen with the
+heavy carts.
+
+
+
+
+A DANGEROUS TRAIL
+
+
+However, there was nothing to be done save attempt the dangerous
+passage, unless, indeed, we were willing to turn our faces toward Fort
+Bridger, admitting we had been beaten.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+My heart was literally in my mouth when we began that terrible climb
+among loose rocks, over a path so narrow that it seemed, if the wheels
+of the wagon slipped ever so little, we would be hurled to the bottom
+of the cañon, which is another word for a deep valley or a rift in the
+rocks.
+
+The ascent was so steep that when we started no less than twelve yoke
+of oxen were needed to each wagon, and there was a steady, upward
+scrambling climb of fully two miles; therefore you can well understand
+how many hours we spent in making that short portion of the journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Only one wagon was sent up the trail at a time, lest through some
+accident it should run backward and crush whatever might be in its
+path.
+
+Until we were upon the side of the mountain where the trail pitched
+downward into the valley, I kept my eyes tightly closed, not daring
+to look at that dreadful depth into which the slightest mishap might
+plunge us.
+
+When the panting oxen were brought to a standstill, the fearful labor
+having been performed, Ellen said that she had been so frightened she
+was actually exhausted, and indeed the perspiration, caused no doubt
+by fear, was streaming down her face when I ventured to open my eyes in
+order to look around.
+
+I can conceive of nothing more horrifying than that journey, short
+though it was in point of distance, yet so long while one was in a
+state of terror as to seem almost endless.
+
+In going down on the other side, but one yoke of cattle was hitched to
+each wagon, and kept there only in order to hold the tongue steady and
+thus steer the huge cart, while the hind wheels were chained, so that,
+not being able to turn, they might act as a drag to prevent us from
+sliding swiftly to destruction.
+
+Father said we had traveled no more than seven miles when we had
+crossed that terrible mountain. There we found ourselves in a valley
+green with grass, where ran a small brook which was most pleasing to
+look upon, since it told us that we would have water in abundance.
+Coming upon such a spot after so much horror, caused it to appear all
+the more beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW
+
+
+Without knowing it at the moment of halting, we made camp near two
+Indian lodges, where lived ten or twelve of the Utah tribe; having
+gained so favorable an impression of those savages when some of the
+members had visited our camp, Ellen and I, with Eben Jordan, went among
+them, finding that they had set themselves up for traders, counting
+upon the settlers bound for the land of California, as customers. The
+women showed us a store of powder made from sunflower seeds, which had
+been parched and then pulverized; this they offered in exchange for
+food, or for ammunition. Ellen gave a loaf of corn bread for perhaps a
+quart of the stuff, and found it most agreeable to the taste.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+That evening one of the men brought in a fat antelope, and mother made
+our portion into as savory a stew as I had eaten since we left Pike
+County. After that delicious meal and with the pleasing knowledge that
+we had come in safety over so terrible a road, I slept that night as
+soundly as I should have slept in my own bed at home.
+
+It was decided that we would remain in that place, which mother
+called the Happy Valley, for a day, in order to give the cattle a long
+rest before they did more mountain climbing, and the housewives took
+advantage of the opportunity to wash clothing, bake bread, and do up
+such small chores as were necessary.
+
+Consequently all the young people were busily engaged keeping the fires
+going, churning, or performing such other tasks as were required, so
+that we gave little heed to what was going on around us until, when
+the forenoon was about half spent, Eben Jordan excitedly called our
+attention to a huge column of smoke which was rising from the mountains
+to the westward.
+
+
+
+
+A FOREST FIRE
+
+
+At first I gave little heed to the matter, thinking it might betoken
+the location of some Indian village; but within another hour, so strong
+was the wind, the fire had been driven up over the summit of the huge
+mountain at the foot of which we were encamped, when straightway we
+had over our heads, as it were, a canopy of flame and smoke which shut
+out the light of day, causing it to appear as if night had come and the
+clouds were ablaze.
+
+Half-burned leaves and ashes were scattered upon us until we were
+literally powdered as if with dust, and the men found it necessary to
+keep sharp watch over the coverings of the wagons, lest an ember should
+drop upon them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+During all the remainder of the day and until nearly morning, the
+fire raged with greatest fury; but, fortunately, the flames did not
+come down into the valley. When we set off next day, the cattle, much
+refreshed, went on at a swift pace; but the air was yet so full of
+smoke that my eyes ached, while the tears ran down my cheeks in tiny
+streams.
+
+Our way now lay along the foot of the range of mountains which sloped
+down to the marshy plains bordering that vast inland sea, which has
+always seemed so mysterious to me because of being salt.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT LAKE
+
+
+It was about noon when we had our first view of the Great Salt Lake,
+and although I had never then seen an ocean, I could not believe the
+existence of anything more wondrous than that huge body of salt water
+among the mountains.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Father says the lake is probably a full hundred miles long, and at its
+widest part no less than sixty miles; but this he knows only from that
+which he heard from the hunters or trappers, therefore I am not setting
+it down as positive information. It seems to me I remember having read
+in one of my schoolbooks that it is no more than seventy-five miles
+long and thirty miles wide.
+
+However, this much which father says is true: that the lake has no
+outlet, and four barrels of its water being evaporated, will produce
+nearly a barrel of salt; therefore you can understand how much more
+salty it is than a real ocean.
+
+No fish can live in it, and Eben Jordan declared that one of the
+trappers at Fort Bridger told him a man could not sink beneath the
+surface, so buoyant is the water.
+
+The shore of this great inland sea was white with a crust of soda or
+salt, and the odor which came from the stagnant water in the marshes
+was so unpleasant as to cause me to feel really ill.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A FISHERMAN
+
+
+It was on this night, when we had our first view of the Great Salt
+Lake, that Eben Jordan gave us a most pleasing surprise. We had
+halted quite early in the afternoon, and even before camp was made he
+disappeared; but I gave no heed to the matter when I heard his mother
+inquiring after him, for I thought the boy had gone off to try his
+skill as a hunter again.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Two or three hours later, however, it appeared that, instead of chasing
+deer or bears, he had turned fisherman for the time being, and when
+he came into camp just before we began to get supper, he had with him
+seventeen of the most beautiful trout you could imagine, which he had
+caught in one of the mountain streams.
+
+They were so large that he literally staggered under the weight, and
+the single fish which he gave mother made an ample meal for all our
+family. It surely was delicious, and while eating it I made a mental
+resolve never again to speak impatiently or angrily to Eben, whatever
+he might do, for many times since our journey began he had been very
+kind to us all.
+
+It really began to seem as if, after we had turned into the California
+trail, we were to come across everything which was strange and
+wonderful, for next day, after our train had rounded the base of one
+of the mountains, we came upon six or seven springs of water which was
+actually hot to the touch, as if on the point of boiling, and which
+smelled so strongly of sulphur that one would have been in danger of
+suffocation had the fumes been inhaled.
+
+Those odd springs seemingly came up out of the solid rock, and mother,
+whose curiosity was so far aroused as to induce her to taste of the
+water, said it was bitter and most disagreeable; but she had no doubt
+it might be well for us all to take fairly strong doses by way of
+medicine.
+
+
+
+
+GRASSHOPPER JAM
+
+
+We were yet within sight of the Great Salt Lake when, one evening,
+three Indian men and two squaws, miserably clad and very ugly, came
+into camp bringing for sale or barter something that looked much like
+preserves.
+
+Even though these people were so wretchedly dirty, I was hoping mother
+might be induced to buy some of their wares, so keenly did I hunger
+for something sweet; but I speedily lost all desire for anything of
+the kind, when one of the men in the company explained what it was the
+Indians had for sale.
+
+It seems impossible human beings could eat such things, and yet this
+man told me it was true that the Indians gathered a fruit called
+service berries, crushed them into jam and mixed the pulp with
+grasshoppers that had been dried over the fire and then pounded to a
+powder.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+He called the stuff "Indian fruit cake," and, much to my disgust, not
+only bought a generous portion, paying for it with needles, powder, and
+bullets, but actually ate the mixture. I could not bring myself even to
+look upon it, after knowing what it really was.
+
+Once more we came upon the mountains after leaving the shores of Great
+Salt Lake, and again we climbed up the steep ascents, with all the oxen
+toiling at a single wagon, and then slipped down on the opposite side,
+until it seemed certain some terrible accident must befall.
+
+
+
+
+A DESERTED VILLAGE
+
+
+One night we came to another place much like the one we had called the
+Happy Valley, and there we found an Indian village of fifteen or twenty
+lodges, every one deserted, although we knew the people could not be
+far away, for fires were burning brightly in front of the dwellings,
+dogs were barking, and many willow baskets filled with service berries
+were standing about.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a beautiful spot for a home, and I could almost have wished
+father would settle there, rather than continue on over a trail which
+was as dangerous as the one spread out before us.
+
+There were in the valley poplar and pine trees with many willows, and
+here and there a patch of sunflowers shining out from the surrounding
+green with a golden glory.
+
+I had supposed our people would camp there; but instead of doing so
+they continued on, planning to spend the night on the higher land.
+When we were halfway up the ridge which led out from the valley, the
+Indians, whom we had evidently frightened, came out from their hiding
+places, whooping and shouting as if to scare us, although I saw no
+token that they were bent on doing us mischief.
+
+We camped on a slope of the ridge, down which ran a small brook, and
+those who had tents set them up in a grove of cedar trees where they
+looked most inviting. When, however, Ellen and I strolled that way we
+found the mosquitoes and midges so thick that it seemed as if we had a
+veil in front of our faces.
+
+That night the men of our company gathered apart from the women and
+children, seemingly to discuss some important matter; my curiosity
+was so far aroused that when I saw Eben Jordan I called upon him for
+an explanation, and he told me that we had come to the most dangerous
+part of our journey, where we must encounter perils so great that those
+which had already been overcome would seem as nothing.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT DESERT
+
+
+We were near what is known as the Great Salt Desert; in fact, were
+to cross it on the morrow, and when Eben Jordan led me some distance
+farther up the ridge, I could see it at my feet.
+
+The desert is covered with salt like sand, and on it grows nothing
+except wild sage, while from where we were then camped, until it would
+be possible again to find water, is no less than sixty miles, as Eben
+said.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Sixty miles over a soft surface where the animals would oftentimes sink
+fetlock-deep, and the wheels of the wagons plow into the salt sand
+until the progress must be woefully slow. In addition, all the while
+we would plod along knowing that no water was to be had, save what we
+carried with us, until the train gained the opposite side.
+
+We were camped on the side of a mountain which seemed to be made up
+almost wholly of rock; this place had been decided upon because there
+could be found a small spring, yielding barely enough water to satisfy
+the desires of ourselves and the animals.
+
+It was the last spring or stream of fresh water we should come upon
+until we had traveled across that desert, which, from the distance,
+looked like a great sea of milk. Once we had started upon the journey,
+it would be necessary to continue on, heeding not those who might fall
+by the way, so I heard father and Colonel Russell say, for the lives of
+our people depended upon our going steadily forward.
+
+
+
+
+PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY
+
+
+Orders were given by the leaders of the party that our mothers cook
+no pemmican nor any salted food, lest it increase our thirst, and we
+ate bread with as much milk as could be had from the cows; within a
+few hours, for we were to set off again at midnight, another meal,
+consisting wholly of bread made from corn meal, would be served.
+
+The water of the spring was so salty as to be almost undrinkable.
+During the evening the women and girls were busily engaged making
+coffee, for in such form the water was a trifle more palatable, and
+we were advised to fill with the coffee every vessel that would hold
+liquid.
+
+As for the cattle, they would be forced to make the march of sixty
+miles with nothing to drink save what could be carried in two casks
+which had been bought at Fort Bridger for that especial purpose.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When I asked father how it would be possible for us to give the animals
+drink even once, from no more than sixty gallons of water, he said
+they were not intending to allow the poor creatures to have what they
+wanted. The supply of water would be used simply to moisten the mouths
+of those that were suffering most severely. There could be no question
+whatsoever but that the live stock would be in great misery, and if it
+so chanced that we people escaped dire distress, then indeed we should
+hold ourselves fortunate.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING
+
+
+Fortunately Ellen and I had little time in which to borrow trouble
+concerning the future, for every woman and girl found plenty with
+which to occupy her hands, as we prepared for the most dangerous and
+disagreeable portion of all the journey.
+
+We made corn bread in abundance, cooking no less than three times
+as much as we could eat, for Colonel Russell suggested that it was
+possible we might abate the thirst of the animals by giving them bread
+in small quantities during the march, and so we filled every available
+place in the wagon with this food.
+
+Mother made coffee enough to provide us with a supply on that night,
+as well as for breakfast, and, in addition, we had filled to the brim
+every vessel which was water-tight, until I should think we must have
+had no less than three gallons, while every other wagon was equally
+well supplied.
+
+The men and boys were not idle while we baked the corn bread and made
+coffee. They had enough and plenty with which to occupy their time,
+for every piece of harness, every yoke bow, wheel, or other portion of
+the outfit which might give way, was looked after carefully, lest there
+be a delay, because a halt on the desert, so we had been told at Fort
+Bridger, might mean death to us all.
+
+That night the animals were corralled inside our circle of wagons
+in order that they might be ready when the hour came for us to set
+off, and for the first time since I had known Eben Jordan I saw an
+expression of anxiety upon the lad's face.
+
+Wherever one looked among our people he could see gloomy faces, and
+there was no more singing of "Joe Bowers," no whistling and joking
+among the lads, as was usually the case during an evening in camp.
+
+
+
+
+BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT
+
+
+When midnight came, I had a very good idea that there was more danger
+to be met in crossing the desert than I had been willing to believe,
+for we were awakened and told that the march would be begun in half an
+hour.
+
+Father urged mother and us girls to eat and drink heartily while we
+might. When I asked him why we were to set off at such an unusual hour,
+he replied in a serious manner that from the moment we started until
+the desert had been crossed, there would be no halt made unless some
+of the oxen fell by the wayside and we were forced to delay in order to
+unyoke them.
+
+When Ellen asked him how long a time the crossing would take, he said
+he hoped no more than twenty or twenty-four hours. He also told us
+it had been agreed that if one of the wagons should break down, or
+any accident happen, the unfortunate ones were to be left behind, the
+remainder of the company continuing on without making any effort to aid
+them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then, perhaps for the first time, I began to realize how much danger
+lay before us. Surely if our fathers had agreed that during the coming
+march they would make no halt for any reason, there must be grave cause
+for fear.
+
+The men made ready for the march by the light of the moon, and there
+were yet no signs of the coming day when we set off; and then we were
+a mournful party indeed, the drivers urging their beasts to the utmost,
+as if they realized that every moment was precious.
+
+
+
+
+THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT
+
+
+There was nothing very dreadful to be seen on the first six miles of
+the march, for then we were winding our way up the ridge, on the side
+of which we had been encamped, and save for the fact that Ellen and I
+were suffering from the cold, the journey was much the same as we had
+already known.
+
+Then we rode down the other side of the ridge, among stunted cedar
+trees which looked as if they were dying from lack of water, and Eben
+Jordan came past our wagon to say we had come upon Captain Frémont's
+trail.
+
+The fact that we were to follow in the footsteps of other human beings
+gave me more courage and caused Ellen to appear almost cheerful.
+
+We crossed a valley where nothing was growing save wild sage, and then
+over rocky ridges which looked much like masses of dark green glass,
+through a narrow gap which might have been cut by the hand of man in
+the solid ledge, after which we saw spread out before us that vast
+desert plain, white as a sea of milk and most desolate and forbidding
+in appearance.
+
+
+
+
+A PLAIN OF SALT
+
+
+Not a vestige of any green thing could be seen within our range of
+vision. No bird was flying, and the silence was so like the silence
+of the tomb that I did not dare to speak aloud while calling mother's
+attention to this thing or that, when we halted for a short time.
+
+This was the last stop we would make, save in case of accident. Some of
+the animals ate the bread, others refused it, and then I saw what would
+have been, under other circumstances, a comical sight, for the men were
+going about with wet cloths moistening the mouths of the oxen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After spending nearly an hour in making the final preparations, word
+was given for the train to set off. Instead of being like milk, we
+found that the desert was made up of a bluish clay, covered here and
+there in blotches with what was much like salt, and these white spots
+were so large and numerous as to give to the whole the appearance of
+milky white when seen from the distance.
+
+The oxen sank fetlock-deep, and as we advanced there were times when
+they broke through what was like a crust, even to their very knees;
+therefore one can well fancy that the wheels plowed into this yielding
+surface until it was quite as much as the cattle could do to pull the
+wagons along.
+
+
+
+
+LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK
+
+
+If all the way had been as difficult as the start, we might never have
+gained the other side; but as we advanced the surface grew harder and
+harder, until finally even the shoes of the horses failed to make any
+impression upon it. Then I heard father say, as he came back from time
+to time to speak with mother, that it appeared to him as if we were
+traveling over a solid crust of salt.
+
+At the end of an hour, perhaps, we came upon what Ellen called another
+"soft spot," and for a distance of two or three miles the oxen strained
+and tugged at the yokes as they barely succeeded in drawing the wagons
+at a snail's pace.
+
+Then we girls had most terrible forebodings, for it seemed certain we
+could never hope to cross that place before all the company had died
+from thirst.
+
+To our great relief as well as the relief of the cattle, we came upon
+a hard surface once more, and the oxen were urged to their utmost speed
+in order to make up for the time we had lost while toiling through the
+salty dust.
+
+There was no halting for dinner. Now and then we ate the corn bread,
+for with such terrible anxiety in our hearts none of us were conscious
+of hunger; but again and again and again did we sip the cold coffee,
+using it sparingly, however.
+
+
+
+
+SALT DUST
+
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock in the forenoon when a dark cloud began to
+gather in the south, and I said to mother, with great joy, that we
+would at least know the pleasure of being wet, even though we could not
+get all we wanted to drink, for surely there was a shower close upon
+us.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Indeed, we did have wind, with thunder and lightning, but not a drop
+of water fell. On the contrary, the breeze stirred up the dust from the
+plain and filled the air with it, and our parched throats grew yet more
+dry because of the salt which we were forced to inhale, even though we
+covered our faces with cloths.
+
+How the poor beasts suffered! Their tongues were actually covered with
+salt, and not a mouthful of water could they have as a relief from
+their distress.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Save for the absence of rain, it was a veritable tempest of thunder
+and lightning, lasting about twenty minutes; then the sun came out
+with more heat, as it seemed to me, than before, which but served to
+increase our desire for water.
+
+When the sun was no more than three hours from setting, I strained my
+eyes ahead, hoping to see the end of this horrible journey, although
+mother had told me there was no possibility of our coming to water
+until late in the night, and I saw the foremost of the wagons leaving
+the white plain, and passing over what promised to be a good road,
+toward a rocky range.
+
+Then I shouted aloud in my joy, that we would soon come to where it
+would be possible to quench our thirst.
+
+
+
+
+A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
+
+
+For the moment mother believed I was right, but then Eben Jordan
+dampened our joy by telling us that we must ride over the ridge five or
+six miles, where were no signs of water, and then we would come upon
+another plain of salt, which was not less than twelve miles in width.
+Only after that had been crossed might we find ourselves in safety.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen threw herself face downward upon the bed in the bottom of the
+wagon, and lay there as if in a fit of the sulks, while I crouched by
+mother's side, wondering how long it would be before death came, for I
+had grown so foolish in my sufferings that it was as if life was nearly
+at an end.
+
+
+
+
+COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER
+
+
+Mother left us to ourselves during half an hour or more, and then told
+us plainly that we were showing ourselves to be very foolish girls.
+She insisted that we eat the harder portions of the corn bread; that we
+take frequent drinks of the coffee, and, above all, that we resolutely
+calm our minds.
+
+It must have been that amid all my distress I fell asleep, for suddenly
+I heard, as though coming from afar off, shouts of joy and the voices
+of men calling one to another.
+
+Starting up, I asked mother what was happening, and gazed around
+wildly, for night had come and the moon was not yet risen.
+
+"Thank God! the desert has been crossed, and we have come at last to
+where water may be obtained!" my mother cried fervently.
+
+She leaped out of the wagon, we two girls following, and, running
+hurriedly, we went to where the men, boys, and animals had gathered in
+a group.
+
+I believed we had come to a stream of sweet water, but it was only a
+narrow brook, where ran hardly more than a thread of water which had
+already been trampled upon by the animals until it was like liquid mud.
+
+
+
+
+A SPRING OF SWEET WATER
+
+
+At this moment Eben Jordan, taking Ellen and me by the hands, said,
+forcing us to run with him:--
+
+"By following the stream to its head we shall surely come upon a
+spring."
+
+And this we did, finding within two hundred yards a spring of the
+sweetest water I have ever taken into my mouth.
+
+Ellen and I drank again and again, seemingly never to be satisfied, and
+it was only after I had shown myself very selfish that I remembered
+poor mother, who, most likely, was standing by that muddy stream
+waiting until the water had grown clear so she might drink.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then Eben Jordan went back, and a few moments later returned, bringing
+with him all the women and children, and many of the men.
+
+Having drunk our fill, Ellen and I went back to the wagon, where we
+ate heartily of corn bread, and then laid ourselves down to sleep,
+while the men and boys were bringing the teams into a circle to form a
+corral.
+
+
+
+
+THE OASIS
+
+
+After this we remained idle thirty-six hours, being forced to do so, as
+father said, because the animals were so nearly exhausted that a long
+time of rest was absolutely necessary.
+
+It was during this time that Eben Jordan again displayed his skill as
+a hunter, for toward nightfall he brought in two small antelopes; but
+the animals were so tiny that each family had no more than half enough
+to satisfy their craving for fresh meat, and we were forced to complete
+the meal with bacon.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Our halting place was on what can be described only as an oasis,
+stretching from that sea of white to the rocky cliffs beyond, and
+father told us that while we would not be forced to march over a plain
+of salt during the next day, the journey would be exceedingly wearisome
+and our suffering considerable, for another entire day must be spent
+without water.
+
+Again we made preparations for a time of distress, by boiling more
+coffee and filling up the water casks with sweet water from the spring.
+
+This time the anticipation was worse than the reality. On resuming the
+march, we traveled over the side of the barren ridge more than twelve
+miles, until we came to a well-defined wagon trail which, so some of
+our people said, had first been made by emigrants from Missouri.
+
+I gave little heed as to who might first have passed over the trail,
+rejoicing with Ellen that at last we had come to some evidence of human
+beings; it seemed as if our troubles were well-nigh at an end, for we
+were told that this trail would lead us by the most direct course into
+that land of California where we hoped to find rest and comfort.
+
+
+
+
+SEARCHING FOR WATER
+
+
+From this on, during four wearisome days, we were kept upon a short
+allowance of water, and did not dare eat much food lest it should
+unduly excite our thirst.
+
+Now and then we came upon a spring, when our water casks and every
+vessel that could be used for the purpose were filled to the brim, and
+yet again and again we suffered from thirst, but not so keenly as while
+crossing the desert.
+
+Whenever I slept, it was to dream of the river we had left behind us on
+the border of Pike County, wishing that it might be possible for me to
+go to its banks once more, and, even though the water was muddy, drink
+my fill.
+
+In due time we came to that point in the trail where we were forced to
+march directly over the face of the mountains. Here our fathers found
+the way so difficult that once more the teams were doubled up, twelve
+or fifteen yoke of cattle being put on one wagon, and, after hauling
+the heavy load to the summit of the range, driven back to get another.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course our progress was slow, and we traversed mile after mile only
+with severe labor on the part of the men and boys, for we girls and the
+women did no more than walk in order to lessen the load.
+
+Then we came to a narrow passage amid the rocks, which was most
+frightful to look upon, although there was nothing whatever about it to
+cause alarm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a gorge or cañon much like a tunnel, where the light from
+above was like a slender silver thread, and we went down into a narrow
+defile, where was barely room for the wagons to pass, and where the
+rocks, dark and fearsome, rose hundreds of feet above our heads.
+
+
+
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY
+
+
+When we had passed through that forbidding place we received our
+reward, for we came into a most beautiful valley with water and grass
+in abundance, and, although it was yet early in the afternoon, there
+was no thought of anything save making camp, that we might enjoy the
+blessings which were spread out before us.
+
+Before the sun had set Eben Jordan had killed another antelope; but he
+did not dare go far from the encampment in search of other game, for no
+sooner had twilight come than we could hear the howling of the wolves
+around us, until one's very blood ran cold. It seemed certain, and
+indeed was a fact, that we were literally surrounded by those ravenous
+animals, which were kept at a respectful distance only by the glare of
+our camp fires.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next day, when we took up the line of march again, it was the same old
+story of climbing over rocky ridges and descending into valleys where
+could be found no signs of vegetation, until we had come to a very
+network of streams.
+
+At our next camp we were visited by a party of Snake Indians, who, like
+the other savages we had seen, pressed around us, begging for bits of
+bread.
+
+
+
+
+SNAKE INDIANS
+
+
+Those Indians were not at all like any we had seen before; their
+clothing, what little there was of it, consisted mostly of rabbit
+skins sewed together to form cloaks. To my mind they resembled more the
+Negroes than the Indians; but father said, save for their inclination
+to steal anything upon which they could lay their hands, that we need
+have no fear whatever regarding them, because they were known to be
+peaceable. The men were armed only with bows and arrows and seemed to
+have great fear of a gun or a pistol.
+
+The visitors had with them a quantity of dried meat and roots which
+they wanted to trade with us for bread or for blankets; but our store
+of provisions was not so low that we would willingly eat what those
+creatures had prepared.
+
+They lingered around the encampment, however, coming as closely to the
+wagons as our people would permit, and we girls and boys were told to
+keep careful watch lest they steal all our possessions.
+
+Just at sunset, one of the men who was standing guard over the cows
+shouted that a wild beast was creeping up on us from a thicket a short
+distance away, to the right of where father's wagon stood.
+
+Looking up quickly, I saw a huge panther crawling, as you might say,
+much as a cat approaches a mouse, and it seemed to me that he was
+making ready to spring directly upon us girls.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I clambered shrieking into the wagon, where we hid our heads
+in a feather bed like the silly children we were, and straightway there
+ensued the greatest tumult that can be imagined, as our hunters strove
+to kill the ferocious animal.
+
+It is, perhaps, needless for me to say that the panther escaped,
+although Eben Jordan claimed it would have been possible for him to
+kill the beast, had he not been hampered by frightened girls and men.
+
+
+
+
+A SCARCITY OF FOOD
+
+
+When the march was taken up once more, we journeyed over a less
+forbidding, although a not very pleasant, country, seeing antelopes at
+a distance, but so wild that even Eben Jordan strove in vain to bring
+one down.
+
+During four or five days we marched westward, seeing now and then great
+numbers of animals which would have served to provide us with fresh
+meat, but our men were unable to kill any; then we found our supply of
+food growing so small that it was decided each person should have at a
+single meal no more than one slice of bacon and a piece of corn bread
+as big as a man's hand.
+
+There is no good reason why I should set down such mournful details.
+While we were pressing steadily but painfully westward, so hungry
+that it seemed to me I could have eaten anything resembling food, and
+thirsty until my tongue was parched, the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us with pitiless fury, until we were so worn that life seemed at times
+like some frightful dream.
+
+I can remember distinctly, however, what happened on that day when
+we heard those who were leading the train, shout that we had come
+upon water in abundance. When Ellen and I, leaping out of the wagon,
+ran forward, we saw before us several large springs from which the
+water was bubbling generously. Our delight was even as great as the
+disappointment was bitter, when the water was found to be almost
+boiling hot.
+
+
+
+
+SPRINGS OF HOT WATER
+
+
+It seems hardly possible that any liquid could come out of the earth so
+warm, and if I had never left Pike County I would have set down such a
+tale as a fable; but we did find boiling water, so hot that when Eben
+Jordan let down into one of those springs a slice of bacon tied to a
+string, it was well boiled in less than fifteen minutes.
+
+However, we were not to be deprived of water even though it was hot,
+for father proposed that we fill some of our cups, declaring it would
+be sweet to the taste once it was cool.
+
+This we did not only once, but three or four times, during the
+continuation of the march, for we came upon many of those hot springs
+on the trail after we left the banks of Mary's River.
+
+Then came a day in August when, after an unusually wearisome march, we
+suddenly overtook two emigrant wagons in which were fourteen people who
+had come from Missouri.
+
+Verily it seemed as if old friends were meeting, for as our train
+came in sight, some of the strangers began to sing, "My name it is Joe
+Bowers," and however weary I had once been of hearing that tune, it now
+sounded in my ears like music.
+
+That evening we spent visiting; those people, like ourselves, were
+traveling toward the land of California, and only those who have been
+journeying in the desert and through the wilderness, without meeting
+any human beings save Indians, can understand how intent was the
+pleasure we experienced in being with our own kind again.
+
+The emigrants decided to join our train, and we were right glad to have
+them with us, although their store of provisions was no greater than
+ours; but all were put on what father called "short allowance," which
+was to each person two slices of bacon and two pieces of bread during
+one entire day. All our men who had guns were continually searching for
+game; but while we could see antelope and even wild fowl, both beasts
+and birds were so shy that the best hunters among us could not get
+within gunshot.
+
+
+
+
+IN THE LAND OF PLENTY
+
+
+And so we traveled on, hungry, thirsty, and weary, despairing now and
+then of ever coming again into a land of plenty, until we arrived at
+the Truckee River, which was more beautiful to my eyes than ever had
+been the broad Mississippi.
+
+The waters of the river were clear as crystal and very cool, while
+from it our people took within an hour a sufficient number of trout to
+satisfy the hunger of all. It seemed necessary we should eat until it
+was absolutely impossible to swallow more, in order to atone in some
+way for the hunger that had pressed so sorely upon us during the ten
+days previous.
+
+Eben Jordan said laughingly that we were much like the savages, who
+were starved one day and in danger of bursting with food the next.
+
+
+
+
+THE TRUCKEE RIVER
+
+
+It pleased me right well when father said that we were to remain in
+camp one full day by the side of this river, in order to give the
+animals the opportunity of feeding upon the rich grass which grew in
+abundance on every hand.
+
+At last we had come into California, and a beautiful country indeed
+it appeared to me while we remained near the river,--all the more
+beautiful, perhaps, because of the suffering which it had cost us to
+get there. Both Ellen and I now came to believe our fathers had been
+wise indeed to leave the banks of the muddy Mississippi for so glorious
+a river as the Truckee.
+
+All around us were evidences of bountiful nature, for the land was
+seemingly overcrowded with game, with food on every hand for the
+cattle, beautiful flowers, and everything which goes to make one happy.
+
+How long the journey had been I did not really know until Eben Jordan
+came to where Ellen and I were sitting on the grass with the skirts
+of our gowns filled with flowers. He had in his hands a bit of paper
+on which he had set down, from what had been told him by the leaders
+of the company, the distance we people had traveled since leaving
+Independence. This was no less than two thousand and ninety miles,
+to which one must add, in order to learn how long was our march, the
+distance from Pike County to Independence, which would, so Eben said,
+make a total of about two thousand two hundred.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even then we were nearly two hundred miles from San Francisco; however
+it was not the intention of our fathers to journey so far across
+California, for we had not come expecting to find gold, but to make for
+ourselves farms, where we could live comfortably by honest industry.
+
+Already I am writing as if we had come to an end of our journey, and so
+it seemed to me while we remained in camp on the bank of the Truckee
+River; but there were yet many days of toil before we arrived at the
+place where our people had decided to buy land.
+
+It was yet necessary that we cross the Sierra Nevada, where we found a
+seemingly impassable trail over the mountains, yet we knew that people
+like ourselves, traveling in the same way, had gone before us, and all
+the dangers and the difficulties seemed lessened because of the fact
+that we had come so near to where we intended to make our new homes.
+
+
+
+
+A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
+
+
+After much labor in descending the Sierras, we came upon the first
+settler's house we had seen since starting out. It stood in the valley
+of the Sacramento, on what is called Bear Creek, and was owned by Mr.
+Johnson, who himself was a Piker.
+
+To me the house was odd looking, not because of being so small as to
+have only two rooms, but because it was built half of logs and half
+of adobes, or bricks of mud which have been dried in the sun. It was a
+rough building, and yet how homelike it appeared!
+
+Unfortunately Mr. Johnson and his family were not at home. The building
+was closed, and although the door was not really locked, it had been
+fastened with strips of rawhide in such a manner as to show that the
+owner wished to keep out stragglers.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As we journeyed leisurely and comfortably down the valley of the
+Sacramento, we saw now and then large droves of wild horses and elks
+feeding peacefully on the plains, and there was never a night when Eben
+Jordan, or some other of the hunters, did not bring in an abundance of
+game.
+
+
+
+
+THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ
+
+
+Then came that day when we arrived at the little village which is
+called the Mission of San José, and although everything about us was
+strange, we said to ourselves that at last we had come to our new home,
+for it was near that place our fathers intended to buy land.
+
+The village of San José must at one time have had many hundred
+inhabitants; but when we arrived it was little better than a ruin. The
+houses, built of sun-dried bricks, were without roofs and crumbling
+slowly away, all of which appeared the more pitiful because of the
+well-kept church and the fortlike two-story house where lived the
+priests. Both buildings were in such good repair that they afforded a
+striking contrast to the tumble-down dwellings which could be seen near
+at hand.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I would love to tell how father built for himself a house on land which
+he bought from the priests of the Mission, and how mother and I set
+about making a home which should be somewhat the same in appearance as
+the one we had left in Pike County, but it is not for me to do so.
+
+
+
+
+OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA
+
+
+It may be that at some time when our home here is fully made as we
+would have it, I can tell you how we live, what odd Spanish dishes
+we have on the table, how great a profusion of fruit is at our hand
+for the gathering, and very many other things which to me are most
+interesting.
+
+I have learned to love this land even more than I did Pike County,
+which at one time I believed the most beautiful spot on earth, and
+although it pleases me now and then, when settlers come over the long
+trail, to hear the younger members of the company singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," I have almost forgotten that Missouri was once my home.
+
+I have come to look upon myself as belonging to this beautiful valley
+where Nature is so lavish with all her gifts, and therefore, instead of
+calling myself a Piker, as in the days gone by, I dearly love to write
+so all may see, that I am now, and ever shall be as long as the good
+God allows me to remain in this world, Martha of California.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS CONSULTED IN WRITING MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+  BRYANT, EDWIN: What I Saw in California. D. Appleton & Co.
+
+  CLAMPITT, JOHN W.: Echoes from the Rocky Mountains. Belford,
+    Clarke & Co.
+
+  CONNELLY, WILLIAM ELSEY: Doniphan's Expedition. Pub. by the
+    Author.
+
+  DEXTER, A. HERSEY: Early Days in California. Tribune-Republican
+    Press.
+
+  DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS: The Making of the Great West. Charles
+    Scribner's Sons.
+
+  FRÉMONT, J. C.: The Second Expedition. Washington.
+
+  KNOWER, DANIEL: The Days of a Forty-Niner. Weed, Parsons Print.
+    Co.
+
+  PAXSON, FREDERICK L.: The Last American Frontier. The Macmillan
+    Company.
+
+  THORNTON, J. QUINN: Oregon and California. Harper & Brothers.
+
+  WOODS, DANIEL B.: Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings. Harper &
+    Brothers.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Martha of California, by James Otis.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Martha of California
+       A Story of the California Trail
+
+Author: James Otis
+
+Release Date: January 6, 2014 [EBook #44600]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="tnbox">
+<p class="center"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b></p>
+<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original
+document have been preserved.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="376" height="550" alt="Cover" />
+</div>
+
+<div class='figcenter p6'>
+  <img src="images/i-001.jpg" width="550" height="344" alt="" />
+<p class='caption'>Map to illustrate<br />
+the Story of<br />
+Martha of California</p>
+</div>
+
+<h1>
+<span class='smcap'>Martha of California</span></h1>
+
+<p class="center p4 b12"><span class='smcap'>A Story of the California Trail</span></p>
+
+<p class="center p4">BY<br />
+JAMES OTIS</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter p4'>
+<img src="images/i-002.jpg" width="94" height="99" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center p4">NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO<br />
+AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+</p>
+
+<div class="bbox p6">
+<h2 class="chap1">
+JAMES OTIS'S PIONEER SERIES
+</h2>
+
+<ul class="none">
+<li>
+<b>ANTOINE OF OREGON</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Oregon Trail</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>BENJAMIN OF OHIO</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Settlement of
+Marietta</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>HANNAH OF KENTUCKY</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Wilderness
+Road</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the California
+Trail</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>PHILIP OF TEXAS</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of Sheep Raising in Texas</span>.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<b>SETH OF COLORADO</b>: <span class='smcap'>A Story of the Settlement of
+Denver</span>.
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+</div>
+
+<p class="center s08 p6">
+<span class='smcap'>Copyright, 1913, by<br />
+Mrs. A. L. KALER.</span><br />
+
+<span class='smcap'>Copyright, 1913, in Great Britain.</span></p>
+<hr class="l05" />
+<p class="center s08">MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_3' name='Page_3'>[3]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+FOREWORD
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The author of this series of stories for children
+has endeavored simply to show why and how the
+descendants of the early colonists fought their way
+through the wilderness in search of new homes. The
+several narratives deal with the struggles of those
+adventurous people who forced their way westward,
+ever westward, whether in hope of gain or in answer
+to "the call of the wild," and who, in so doing,
+wrote their names with their blood across this
+country of ours from the Ohio to the Columbia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To excite in the hearts of the young people of
+this land a desire to know more regarding the building
+up of this great nation, and at the same time
+to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to
+noble deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them
+there is nothing of romance, but only a careful,
+truthful record of the part played by children in
+the great battles with those forces, human as well
+as natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_4' name='Page_4'>[4]</a></span>
+portion of this broad land against the advance of
+home seekers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With the knowledge of what has been done by
+our own people in our own land, surely there is
+no reason why one should resort to fiction in order
+to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime
+disregard of suffering in nearly every form.
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+JAMES OTIS.
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_5' name='Page_5'>[5]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+CONTENTS
+</h2>
+
+<table summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+    <td>&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><span class="s08">PAGE</span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Change of Homes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>"<span class='smcap'>Joe Bowers</span>"</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Reasons for Moving</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Mother's Anxiety</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>How We Were to Travel</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Our Movable Home</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Leaving Ashley</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben Jordan</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>On the Road</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben's Predictions</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>What We Heard about California</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The First Encampment</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Night in Camp</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Town of Independence</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Kansas Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Looking into the Future for Trouble</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Stormy Day</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Lack of Fuel</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Making Camp in a Storm</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Thunderstorm</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_6' name='Page_6'>[6]</a></span></td>
+    <td></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Another Company of Pikers</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Stock Stray Away</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>An Indian Village</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>I Weary with so much Traveling</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben's Boasts</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Suffering with Thirst</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>In Search of Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Quenching our Thirst</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Making Butter</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Kansas Ferry</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Surprise at Soldier Creek</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Bread Making</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Prairie Peas</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben as a Hunter</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Herd of Buffaloes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Excitement in the Camp</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Feast of Buffalo Meat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Curing the Meat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Wash Day</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Uncomfortable Traveling</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Ellen's Advice regarding the Story</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Indians and Mosquitoes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Prairie Dogs</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Colonel Russell's Mishap</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Chimney Rock</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>At Fort Laramie</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_7' name='Page_7'>[7]</a></span></td>
+    <td></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Cooking in Front of a Fireplace</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Trappers, Hunters, and Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>On the Trail Once More</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Independence Rock</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Arrival at Fort Bridger</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>With our Faces toward California</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>At Bear River</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Coming of Winter</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Utah Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Dangerous Trail</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Sunflower Seeds and Antelope Stew</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Forest Fire</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Great Salt Lake</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Eben as a Fisherman</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Grasshopper Jam</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Deserted Village</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Great Salt Desert</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Preparing for a Dangerous Journey</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Bread and Coffee Making</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Breaking Camp at Midnight</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Approach to the Salt Desert</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Plain of Salt</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Like a Sea of Frozen Milk</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Salt Dust</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Bitter Disappointment</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Coffee instead of Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_8' name='Page_8'>[8]</a></span></td>
+    <td></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Spring of Sweet Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Oasis</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Searching for Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Beautiful Valley</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Snake Indians</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Scarcity of Food</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Springs of Hot Water</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>In the Land of Plenty</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Truckee River</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>A Home in the Sacramento Valley</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>The Mission of San José</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class='smcap'>Our Home in California</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_9' name='Page_9'>[9]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center b15 p6">
+MARTHA
+OF CALIFORNIA
+</p>
+
+<hr class="l15" />
+
+<h2 class="chap1">
+A CHANGE OF HOMES
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-010.jpg" width="141" height="309" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p>
+In case one should ask in the years to come
+how it happened that I, Martha Early,
+who was born in Ashley, Pike County,
+in the state of Missouri, and lived there
+until I was twelve years old, journeyed
+across the prairies and deserts to California,
+the question can be answered if
+I write down what I saw when so many
+people from our county went to make new
+homes in that state where gold had been
+found in such abundance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For my part, I used to wonder why people should be
+willing to leave Missouri, enduring the many hardships
+they knew awaited them on the journey of two thousand
+miles, in order to buy land in a country where nearly
+all the inhabitants were Spaniards and Mexicans.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suppose the stories told about the wonderful quantity
+of gold which had suddenly been found in California
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_10' name='Page_10'>[10]</a></span>
+caused our people to think particularly of that far-off
+land. When the excitement of getting rich by digging
+in the earth a few weeks or a few months had in a
+measure died away, there came tales regarding the
+fertile soil and the beauty of the country, until nearly
+every one in Pike County, as well as in the county of the
+same name just across the Mississippi River in the state
+of Illinois, much the same as had a fever for moving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps that is why the people we met while
+journeying called all the emigrants "Pikers." You
+see there were so many from both the Pike counties
+who went into California in the year 1851, that it
+appeared to strangers as if every person on the trail
+had come from Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+"JOE BOWERS"
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then, too, fully half of all these emigrants were
+singing or whistling that song of "Joe Bowers," which
+was supposed to have been written by a Piker, and to
+represent a man from Missouri or Illinois.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Surely every one remembers it. The first verse, and
+if I have heard it once I certainly have a thousand times,
+goes like this:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="o1">
+"My name it is Joe Bowers
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  And I've got a brother Ike.
+</p>
+<p>
+I came from old Missouri,
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  Yes, all the way from Pike."
+</p>
+</div></div>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_11' name='Page_11'>[11]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The song was intended to show that this Joe Bowers
+came from our county, and, perhaps, because so many
+of the emigrants were singing it, all of us who went into
+California in the year 1851 were, as I have said, called
+"Pikers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However the name came about, I was a Piker, and
+before we arrived in this wondrously beautiful country,
+I wished again and again that I had
+been almost any other than an emigrant,
+for the way was long, and oh!
+so wearisome.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-012.jpg" width="496" height="379" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I must always think of Missouri as being one of the
+best of all the states in the Union, because it was there
+I was born and there I went to school until father
+caught the California fever, which resulted in our setting
+out on a journey which, for a time, seemed endless.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_12' name='Page_12'>[12]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My father had no idea of going so far simply to dig for
+gold. He had seen many who went across the country
+in 1849 believing they would come back rich as kings,
+yet who returned home poorer in pocket than when
+they left; therefore he came to understand that only
+a few of all that vast army of miners who hastened
+into California after the discovery at Sutter's Mill,
+got enough of the precious metal to pay for the food
+they ate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father thought he could buy better land in California
+than was to be found in Pike County, for to have
+heard the stories told by some of the people who had
+come back disappointed from the land of gold, you
+might have believed that one had only to put a few
+seeds at random in the ground in order to gather
+marvelous crops.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE REASONS FOR MOVING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Nor was my father the only man who put faith in
+at least some of the fanciful tales told concerning the
+land of California which had so lately been given up
+to the United States by the Spaniards. Our neighbors
+for miles around were in a state of unrest and excitement,
+until it was decided that nearly all would undertake
+the long journey, and I could not prevent myself
+from wondering if Pike County would not feel lonely
+to have the people abandon it, for it surely seemed as
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_13' name='Page_13'>[13]</a></span>
+if every man, woman, and child was making haste to
+leave Missouri in search of the wondrous farming
+lands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother looked woefully solemn when, on a certain evening,
+father came home and told us that he had sold the
+plantation for about half as much as it had
+cost him, and was going to join the next
+company that
+set out from
+Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-014.jpg" width="492" height="359" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It was a long time before mother would have very
+much to say about the journey, but as the days passed
+and the neighbors who were going with us came to
+our home that they might talk over the preparations
+for moving, she became interested in making plans,
+although again and again, when we two were alone, she
+told me that this trailing over two thousand miles of
+deserts and mountains was not to her liking.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_14' name='Page_14'>[14]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+MOTHER'S ANXIETY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was only natural she should be worried about
+making such a great change, for all father's worldly
+goods consisted of the Pike County plantation and
+the live stock, and if, after selling the land and spending
+very nearly all his money to provide for the journey,
+we found that California farms were no better than
+the one we were leaving, it would
+be the saddest kind of mistake.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-015.jpg" width="492" height="252" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+"Your father
+has set his mind
+on going; the
+homestead has
+been sold, and we must make
+the best of it, Martha, hoping that half the stories
+we have heard about California are true," she said to
+me so many times that I came almost to believe it
+was a foolish venture upon which we were about to
+embark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, when I began to wonder how we were to live
+during such a long journey, and asked mother if it would
+be possible for us to cook and churn and do the family
+washing while traveling in an ox wagon, she would say
+with a sigh:&mdash;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_15' name='Page_15'>[15]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't, Martha, don't ask questions that I can't
+answer! It seems to me almost certain that we shall
+starve to death before getting anywhere near California,
+even if we are not killed by Indians or wild beasts,
+without having had time to get very hungry or
+dirty."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet we did travel the two thousand miles, walking
+the greater part of the way, and although there were
+many times when all of us were hungry, none actually
+starved to death; nor were we killed by wild beasts or
+Indians, else I could not be here in this beautiful place
+writing this story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father spent days and days getting ready for the
+moving. After he had finished the preparations, I
+thought the journey would not be so terribly hard, because
+he had arranged everything so snug and cozy for
+mother and me, that it really seemed as if we might
+take actual comfort in case we could make shift to do
+housework in a wagon.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We owned only four yoke of cattle, but with some of
+the money received from the sale of the plantation,
+we bought as many more, which gave us sixteen oxen.
+We were to take with us all five of the cows and both the
+horses, on which father said mother and I might ride
+when we were tired of sitting in the wagon; but I knew
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_16' name='Page_16'>[16]</a></span>
+what kind of animals ours were under the saddle, and
+said to myself that it would be many a long day before
+I would trust myself on the back of either.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would have done you good to see our movable
+home after father had made it ready, and by that I
+mean the wagon in which mother and I were to ride.
+It was small compared with the other, in which were to
+be carried enough furniture for a single room, farming
+tools, grain for the cattle, and a host of things; but I
+did not give much heed to the load because I was so
+deeply interested in what was to be a home for mother
+and me during many a month.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That wagon was enough to attract the attention of
+any girl, for, fitted up as I first saw it, the inside looked
+really like a playhouse, and when I said as much to
+father, he declared that I was indeed the right kind of
+girl to go into a wild country, if I could find anything
+like sport during the tramp from Pike County to California.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I surely must tell you about that wagon before
+setting down anything concerning the journey. It
+was what is known as a Conestoga, and one may see
+many of the same kind on the Santa Fe or the Oregon
+trail. Imagine a boxlike cart nearly as long as an
+ordinary bedroom and so wide that I could stretch
+myself out at full length across the body. The top
+and sides were covered with osnaburg sheeting, which
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_17' name='Page_17'>[17]</a></span>
+is cloth made of flax or tow. Some people really sleep
+between sheets made of that coarse stuff, but it is
+so rough and irritating to the flesh that I had far rather
+lie on the floor than in a bed where it is used.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-018.jpg" width="491" height="465" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Osnaburg sheeting makes excellent wagon covers,
+however, for the rain cannot soak through the cloth,
+and it is so cheap that one can well afford to use it in
+double thickness, which serves to keep out the wind
+as well as the water.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_18' name='Page_18'>[18]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+OUR MOVABLE HOME
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The front of the wagon and a small window-like place
+at the end were left open, but could be securely closed
+with curtains that buttoned at the sides.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Around the inside of the wagon were hung such things
+as we might need to use often during the journey.
+There were pots and pans, towels, clothing, baskets,
+and two rifles, for father believed weapons might be
+required when we came upon disagreeable savages, or
+if game was to be found within shooting distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our cookstove was set up at the rear end of the wagon,
+where it could be pushed out on a small shelf fastened
+to the rear axle, when we wanted to use it. A most
+ingenious contrivance we found that shelf to be, for
+mother and I could remain inside the wagon and do our
+cooking in stormy weather; but those women of the company
+whose husbands had not been so thoughtful were
+forced to stay out of doors while preparing a meal, no
+matter how hard it might be raining.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our beds were laid in the bottom of the wagon and
+covered with the bedclothes to save them from being
+badly soiled, as would be likely if we slept upon them
+at night, and cooked, ate, and did the housework on
+them during the daytime.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We did not try to carry many dishes, because there
+were so many chances they would be broken, but
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_19' name='Page_19'>[19]</a></span>
+nearly everything of the kind we used was of metal,
+such as tin or iron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Underneath the cart were hung buckets, the churn,
+lanterns, and such a collection of articles that I could
+not but fancy people might believe we were peddlers
+carrying so large an assortment of goods that they
+had overrun the wagon body.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What puzzled me before we started on the journey
+was how we could persuade the cows to travel as we
+would have them; but I soon came to understand that
+it was a simple matter.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+LEAVING ASHLEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+You must know that father was not the only man
+in Ashley that intended to build up a new home in
+California. More than half of the people were making
+preparations for the journey, and when we finally set
+off the procession was very imposing, with more than
+fifty wagons, not one of them drawn by less than three
+yoke of oxen or four pairs of mules; there were cows
+almost without number and a flock of thirty or forty
+sheep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I said to myself then, that we need have no fear the
+savages would try to make trouble for us, because when
+they saw so many people, the poor, ignorant things
+would believe everybody on the banks of the Mississippi
+was heading for California, and it would be a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_20' name='Page_20'>[20]</a></span>
+very brave Indian who dared be other than polite
+to such a large company.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-021.jpg" width="504" height="456" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Even though you had never before heard of Pike
+County, it would have been most interesting to see
+the people of Ashley on the morning we set off. As
+Ellen Morgan, a particular friend of mine who was
+going to California also, said to me just before we
+drove away, "It is much as if all the folks in the world
+had come to see us leave town."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The streets were actually thronged, as I have heard
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_21' name='Page_21'>[21]</a></span>
+it said the streets of a large city oftentimes are, and
+what with the shouts of the men, the screams of the children,
+and the lowing of the cattle, it was quite as much
+as I could do to make myself heard when I tried to
+tell Ellen that at the last minute mother had given
+permission for her to ride in our wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course the noise in the street could not have
+been as great as I fancied, for Ellen had no trouble
+in hearing me, as was shown when she came running
+back to our wagon with her Sunday frock and other
+valuable things neatly done up in a corn sack.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then it seemed to me that no improvement could
+be made upon our manner of
+traveling, for we two girls were
+to be together all the while, and
+even when the weather was stormy,
+it would seem really cozy under our
+double thickness of osnaburg cloth.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-022.jpg" width="161" height="232" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It surprised me very much because
+mother acted as if it saddened
+her to set off on what could
+not fail to be a delightful journey. I saw tears in her
+eyes when she came out of our old home for the last
+time, and wondered if she was sorry because she was
+leaving the house where we had lived so long, or
+whether she believed we would never find another
+such delightful town as Ashley.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_22' name='Page_22'>[22]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-023.jpg" width="312" height="260" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Of course I felt just a little tearful when those
+people who were to remain at home gathered around
+the wagon to say "good-by";
+but there were so many of our
+neighbors in the company we
+would not have a
+chance to be lonely,
+and I was certain
+that all the friends
+we were leaving behind
+would soon join us, having
+come to realize, as had
+father, that California was the only proper place in
+which to live.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN JORDAN
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+If I could have had everything arranged exactly to
+please me, I would have insisted that Eben Jordan be
+left in Ashley. He is a boy about six months older
+than I, who always seems to take the greatest delight
+in teasing us girls. I had no doubt but that he would
+be very disagreeable at times, and felt, on that first
+day, as if there could be no cloud on the California
+skies if Eben had remained in Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is no more than fair for me to say, however, that,
+much as I disliked the boy, Eben Jordan was one
+who ever kept his ears open to the conversation of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_23' name='Page_23'>[23]</a></span>
+his elders and was more than willing to repeat to Ellen
+and me whatever he learned.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-024.jpg" width="309" height="314" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Even before our company had left Ashley, he told
+us the journey was to be begun by first going to Independence,
+a town on the
+Missouri River where the
+Santa Fe traders and
+those who would journey
+by the Oregon
+trail made ready
+for the long march.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up to this time I had
+had no idea of how we
+were to get to California,
+save we drove directly
+across the prairies and
+over the mountains, always in a westerly direction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I must have understood that we could not
+strike off across the country in any direction we fancied,
+because we must follow some trail in order to find a
+plentiful supply of grass for the cattle and mules and
+sheep, as well as water for ourselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eben said that the leaders of the company, among
+whom was my father, had talked not a little regarding
+the country through which we should pass. Thus he
+learned that we would journey over what is known as
+the Oregon trail as far as Fort Bridger, after which, striking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_24' name='Page_24'>[24]</a></span>
+off to the southward somewhat, we would go along
+the shores of the Great Salt Lake, past Ogden's Hole, to
+the land of the Bannock Indians. Then the course was
+to be as nearly westward as the foothills would permit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It will be a rare time for us all," Eben said gleefully,
+after having told us girls that we would journey
+nearly two thousand miles before coming to that
+land for which we sought. "There will be game
+until a fellow can't rest, and after we are once well
+on the way, we shall come upon Indian tribe after
+Indian tribe, when you girls will be only too glad to
+shelter yourselves under my wing, for there is no
+knowing what the savages may take it into their
+heads to do, providing the opportunity offers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen was not a little displeased because Eben
+seemingly believed we would be glad of his protection,
+and I really felt uneasy in mind when the lad left
+us to go to his father's wagon, saying:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It isn't well for you girls to be so high and mighty,
+because before this journey has come to an end you
+may be glad that I am willing to lend a hand."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen laughed at the idea that the time would ever
+come when we might accept a favor from Eben Jordan.
+She seemed so certain nothing disagreeable could happen
+to us while our company was so large, that I soon
+put away all forebodings and gave strict attention to
+what was before us.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_25' name='Page_25'>[25]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ON THE ROAD
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It had taken our fathers considerable time to get
+the people and the cattle in proper marching order;
+but once this was done, they gave the word for the
+procession to move forward, and the people at Ashley
+whom we were leaving
+behind cheered us
+wildly as we went
+slowly out from the town.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-026.jpg" width="307" height="399" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It seemed much like
+taking part in some wondrous
+celebration, to
+be riding thus amid
+those who were
+cheering and, I dare
+say, envying us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother was content
+to sit inside the wagon,
+where father had placed a
+short-legged chair for her
+convenience, but Ellen and I remained on the front
+seat where we could see all that was going on, and
+until we were well clear of the town it did seem to
+me that I was a very important person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was late in the forenoon before we started, therefore
+no halt was to be made for dinner, but this gave
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_26' name='Page_26'>[26]</a></span>
+me little uneasiness, for mother had an ample supply of
+cooked provisions on hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our neighbors at Ashley had spoken again and again
+of the hardships which we would encounter before
+arriving at the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and I said
+to Ellen, when we were two or three miles from the
+town, that I could not understand how any one could
+believe such a journey might be either wearisome or
+dangerous.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN'S PREDICTIONS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Surely we were as comfortable as two girls could be,
+with a covering over our heads in case it rained, and
+enough food to satisfy our desires.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Therefore what difference did it make, as I said to
+Ellen, whether we were five months or six on the march?
+Eben Jordan, who had come back from his father's
+wagon along the line of procession as if to see that
+everything was right, overhearing my words, replied
+with a laugh, which sounded to me very disagreeable:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You may well say, Martha Early, that this portion
+of the journey is easy. We are now traveling on a
+beaten road, with nothing to prevent our going forward
+at the best pace of the oxen. Wait until we have
+really started, after having come to Independence, and
+leave the highway to take to the trail. You will find
+the wagon tumbling and pitching over the rocks, or
+floundering across fords, where watch must be kept
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_27' name='Page_27'>[27]</a></span>
+sharply against the Indians, and every man needs to
+have his eyes open lest he be attacked by wild beasts.
+Then you shall say to me whether it makes no difference
+to you if this journey requires five months or six."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I refused to listen to the lad, who seemed to find the
+greatest pleasure in making other people uncomfortable
+in mind, and I turned toward Ellen, as if speaking to
+her very earnestly in whispers, thereby causing Eben
+to believe I had not heard what he said, whereupon
+he went off laughing.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We had heard people talking about the wonderful
+fortunes to be found in California, until it seemed as if
+we might become rich simply by digging in the ground
+a bit; but, as you shall hear, before our journey had
+come to an end we understood that however much
+valuable metal there might be in the earth, it was not
+to be gathered like pebbles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We met on our way hundreds of people who had
+gone into California with great expectations and were
+coming back poorer than when they set out; but on
+the first day we were ignorant of all this, and quite
+convinced that it was a simple matter to become
+wealthy by a very little labor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before night came there was to me less pleasure
+than during the first hour or two. The wagon jolted
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_28' name='Page_28'>[28]</a></span>
+over the roads roughly, making it necessary to hold
+firmly to the seat, lest I be thrown off, and it became
+wearisome to sit so long in one position.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother, who stretched herself out upon a bed in
+the bottom of the wagon when she was tired of sitting
+upright, did not weary so soon of this kind of traveling;
+but nevertheless she was quite as well pleased as Ellen
+and I, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, word
+was given that we should halt and make camp.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were yet in a fairly thickly settled portion of
+the country; but the leaders of our company determined
+to make the encampment exactly as if we were
+on the prairie or among the mountains, where there
+might be danger from wild beasts or wilder savages,
+and you may well fancy that Ellen and I were on our
+feet as soon as the wagon came to a stop, for we had
+heard so much of this camp making that both of us
+were eager to see how it was done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All the wagons were drawn up in a large circle so that
+the tongue of one came close to the tailboard of another,
+and just inside this ring of vehicles were set up
+small tents, which many of the company were to use
+at night because their families were so large that
+every one could not be given room in the wagons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Inside this row of tents were picketed the horses,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_29' name='Page_29'>[29]</a></span>
+or, at least, they were to be picketed as soon as night
+should come; but when we first halted they were
+fastened out upon the plain where they might eat the
+grass, while the oxen, cows, and sheep were turned
+loose with half a dozen of the men and boys watching
+lest they should stray.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-030.jpg" width="500" height="177" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Because the people were not accustomed to thus
+making an encampment, no little time was spent in
+getting everything into what the leaders of the company
+believed to be proper order, and then our mothers
+set about cooking supper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In our wagon the stove was pushed back upon the
+shelf made expressly for it, short lengths of pipe were
+run through the osnaburg cloth and tied by wire to
+the topmost part of the rear wagon bow, so they might
+be held straight, and then mother set about her work
+much as if she had been at home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was most pleasant camping in the open air, and
+before we had been halted an hour the place was
+quite homelike.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_30' name='Page_30'>[30]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At nearly every wagon one or more women were
+making ready for supper; a short distance away the
+men and the boys were herding the cattle, and near by,
+inside or out of the inclosure, were scores and scores
+of idle ones, who, their work being done, were now
+enjoying a time of rest.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-031.jpg" width="499" height="481" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+There was much talking and shouting, but
+above all one could hear that song of the true
+Pikers:&mdash;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_31' name='Page_31'>[31]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="o1">
+"My name it is Joe Bowers,
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  And I've got a brother Ike.
+</p>
+<p>
+I came from old Missouri,
+</p>
+<p class="i1">
+  Yes, all the way from Pike."
+</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<h2>
+NIGHT IN CAMP
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+How Ellen and I enjoyed the supper on this first
+night of the journey! Mother made sour-milk biscuit;
+the stove worked to perfection, as if delighted because
+it was being carried to California; and what with
+cold meat and steaming hot tea it seemed as if I had
+never tasted anything better than that meal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although we had enjoyed ourselves hugely, especially
+during the first part of the day's march, both Ellen and
+I were tired, and when mother said we might make up
+our bed on the bottom of the wagon, we were not only
+willing, but eager to do so, for after the hearty supper
+it seemed as if sleep had become a necessity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once we had crossed over into Dreamland, our eyes
+were not opened again until the sun was near to rising;
+then the shouts of the men and the lowing of the
+cattle caused us to spring up suddenly, almost fancying
+that the camp had been attacked by savages, even
+though we were not yet out of Pike County.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If I had the time, it would please me to describe
+the journey from our home in Ashley to a town known
+as Independence, on the Missouri River, where the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_32' name='Page_32'>[32]</a></span>
+Oregon trail begins; but since, as father said again
+and again, we did not really start until we had struck
+the Oregon trail, it is best that I leave out all that
+happened while we were coming from Pike County to
+the Missouri River.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We traveled slowly, because the cows were not
+easily herded, and, as Eben Jordan said, none of our
+people were accustomed to such kind of marching.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+ <img src="images/i-033.jpg" width="464" height="221" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+We did, however, finally arrive at the real starting
+point after eight days, during which time Ellen and I
+came to understand that, however pleasant it was to
+sit in the wagon and look out upon the country through
+which we passed, it might grow wearisome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I had fancied we would see something
+very new and wonderful at Independence, and yet,
+while everything was strange and there was much
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_33' name='Page_33'>[33]</a></span>
+to attract one's attention, it was not so very different
+from other settlements through which we had
+passed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was, however, a constant bustle and confusion
+such as one could not see elsewhere. Enormous
+wagons, which Eben Jordan said belonged to the
+traders who went over the Santa Fe trail, were coming
+into town or going out, each drawn by eight or ten
+mules and accompanied by Spaniards or Negroes,
+until one could but wonder where so many people
+were going.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-034.jpg" width="500" height="318" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+There were trains, much like our own, belonging
+to settlers who were going into Oregon, or, like ourselves,
+into California. Those were halted just outside
+the town, until the entire settlement was literally
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_34' name='Page_34'>[34]</a></span>
+surrounded, while among them all, near the wagons
+of the traders as well as those of the emigrants, lounged
+Indians, nothing like the people I had imagined the
+savages to be.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+KANSAS INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-035.jpg" width="382" height="431" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+As Ellen said, if that was the kind of Indian we
+should meet with during the journey, then we need have
+little or no fear, for the savages we saw at Independence
+were nothing more nor less than beggars, who would
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_35' name='Page_35'>[35]</a></span>
+greedily pick up and devour anything eatable that was
+thrown at them. Eben Jordan made himself ridiculous
+by marching around armed
+with a rifle, and a huge
+knife thrust in his belt, as
+if expecting each instant
+to be called upon
+to defend his life.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-036.jpg" width="328" height="253" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+We were tired of
+the settlement, even before
+we had fairly arrived, and after
+Ellen and I walked through the town,
+wondering not a little at seeing a number of the
+houses and stores built entirely of brick, we were content
+to return to our own encampment, which was
+about half a mile out on the prairie.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Up to this time mother and I had but little trouble
+in preparing the meals whenever we came to a halt;
+but I heard some of the men say that within a few days
+after we were once on the trail, all this would be changed.
+There would be many times when we might not
+find sufficient fuel to keep a fire in the stove, when we
+would feel the pangs of thirst because of not being
+able to get enough water, and when, the stock of
+provisions which we had brought with us having
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_36' name='Page_36'>[36]</a></span>
+been consumed, we would know what it was to be
+hungry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I repeated to mother what I had heard, she
+nodded her head sadly, replying that she had thought
+of all these things when father first determined to seek
+a new home in the California country, and she doubted
+not that we would come to know much suffering, before
+we arrived at our journey's end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As may be supposed, I was not in a cheerful mood
+when Ellen and I went to bed that night. During
+the half hour or more while we lay there wakeful, we
+spoke of all the possibilities of the future, and almost
+regretted that our parents had decided to leave Pike
+County, for surely they could find nowhere on the face
+of this earth a place more agreeable in which to live.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A STORMY DAY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When another morning came, it surely seemed as if
+all my fears were about to be realized, for the day
+dawned dark and forbidding, the rain came down in
+torrents, while the wind sighed and moaned as it drove
+floods of water from one end of the wagon to the
+other, wetting us completely even before we were
+awake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could not believe father would set off on the journey
+at such a time as this, and was wondering how we
+should be able to cook breakfast, when he called to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_37' name='Page_37'>[37]</a></span>
+mother that she make ready the morning meal, for in
+half an hour the train would be in motion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No one had been sufficiently thoughtful to store
+beneath the wagon a supply of dry fuel, and the consequence
+was that we had nothing with which to build
+a fire, save a few armfuls of water-soaked wood which
+father and Eben Jordan succeeded in gathering, for
+where so many emigrants were encamped, fuel of any
+kind was indeed scarce.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-038.jpg" width="500" height="390" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I almost forgave Eben for having appeared so ridiculous
+when he strutted around fully armed, as I saw him
+striving to gather wood for us when he might have
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_38' name='Page_38'>[38]</a></span>
+remained under the cover of his father's wagon; indeed,
+before many days passed both Ellen and I saw that
+there was much good in the boy's heart, even though
+he was too often disposed to make matters disagreeable
+for us girls.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A LACK OF FUEL
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Mother and I made our first attempt at cooking
+while the stove was beneath the wagon cover and the
+pipe thrust out through the hole in the rear.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-039.jpg" width="311" height="491" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+If we had had
+plenty of dry wood,
+I have no doubt
+but that the work
+could have been
+done with some
+degree of comfort;
+but as it was, we
+were put to our
+wits' ends, even to
+get sufficient heat
+to boil the water,
+and when word was given for the
+company to start, we had not really
+begun to cook the breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course it would have been
+dangerous for us to attempt to
+keep a fire burning while the wagon
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_39' name='Page_39'>[39]</a></span>
+was moving. Therefore we would have been forced
+to set off without breakfast, had not Ellen's mother
+kindly sent us some corn bread which she had baked
+the night before, and this, with fresh milk, made up our
+meal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the time I thought I was much injured because
+of not having more food; but before we had come to
+the land of California I often looked back upon that
+morning with longing, remembering the meal of corn
+bread and milk as though it was a feast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During all the long day, except for half an hour at
+noon, the patient oxen plodded wearily on amid the
+rain, oftentimes sinking fetlock-deep in the marshy
+places. Everything was damp and every place uncomfortable,
+and at times it seemed as if I could no longer
+bear up under the suffering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In order to teach me that, instead of grumbling, I
+ought to be thankful for the comforts I could enjoy,
+mother told me to look at those who were exposed to
+the storm. I saw father and the other men walking
+beside the oxen, the rain pelting down upon them
+pitilessly; I heard the cry of a baby in pain; and I
+soon came to understand that my lot was far less
+hard than that of many others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She read me a lesson on patience and contentment,
+whatever might be my surroundings, until I grew
+ashamed of having shown myself so disagreeable.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_40' name='Page_40'>[40]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+MAKING CAMP IN A STORM
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-041.jpg" width="308" height="349" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Determined as I was to make the best of whatever
+might happen, I could not but be disheartened when,
+nearly at nightfall, we halted to make camp again.
+The rain was still descending like a cloud-burst; everything
+around us, including the bedding, seemed saturated
+with water.
+Yet I saw the
+men spread the thin
+cloth tents, after
+the wagons had
+been drawn up in
+a circle, or made
+into a corral as the
+travelers on the
+trail call it; I saw
+them wade ankle-deep
+in the mud,
+but with never
+an impatient word
+or gesture. It appeared sufficient to them if their
+women and children could enjoy some little degree of
+comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again we strove to do our cooking under the wagon
+covers, and again we were in need of fuel. Ellen and
+I, with the skirts of our gowns over our heads for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_41' name='Page_41'>[41]</a></span>
+protection, scurried here and there, picking up twigs
+and crying out with delight when we came upon a
+piece of wood as large as one's fist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You can well imagine what kind of supper we had
+that night. The inside of the wagon was filled with
+smoke, for the short length of stovepipe did not afford
+a strong draft, and mother labored, with the tears
+streaming down her cheeks, to fry as much bacon as
+would satisfy our hunger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The smoke was so dense that we all wept, smiling
+even in the midst of our seeming tears when father said,
+after he had milked the cows and had brought in quite
+as much water as milk, that it was a question with him
+whether he could stand better the smoke or the rain.
+He was inclined to think he had rather be soaked
+with water than cured like a ham.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again Eben Jordan showed his kindness of heart,
+for he insisted upon helping this man and that, milk
+the cows and herd the oxen and sheep, and he did
+whatever came to his hand, all the while humming
+"Joe Bowers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Eben came into our wagon later in the evening,
+Ellen and I treated him very kindly, for we were
+coming to understand that this boy, who found so
+much pleasure in vexing us girls, was ever ready to do a
+good turn to another, even when it cost him much
+labor and discomfort.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_42' name='Page_42'>[42]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A THUNDERSTORM
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+During all that night it rained; but shortly after
+midnight there came up such a terrific storm of thunder
+and lightning that it seemed as if the very heavens
+were bursting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then all our men and boys were forced to go and
+quiet the cattle, for the beasts were even as frightened
+as we girls were, and, so father said, would have stampeded,
+leaving us to spend the next day searching for
+them on the prairies, had it not been for the precautions
+of our people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I complained to mother, just after father had
+gone out into the tempest, that this journey to California
+was nothing like what I had pictured it, she
+said mildly that if I was growing disheartened now, it
+would have been better had I never set out from
+Pike County, for thus far matters had gone much to
+our convenience and that shortly we would find real
+trials and real troubles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning, however, my spirits rose, for the sun
+was shining brightly when I awoke; but word was
+passed around the camp that instead of setting off at
+once, we might spend two hours drying the bed clothing
+and such of our belongings as had been saturated
+during the storm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then there was presented such a scene as would
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_43' name='Page_43'>[43]</a></span>
+have interested any one who had never witnessed the
+like before. On every wagon tongue were hung
+blankets and garments of all kinds, and over the
+wheels of each cart lay feather beds or bolsters, until
+it must have looked as if every member of our company
+had spent a day in washing, and was now about to do
+the ironing.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-044.jpg" width="492" height="161" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan went here and there, aiding this one
+or that when he had done what he might for his mother,
+all the while singing "My name it is Joe Bowers,"
+until, even before our breakfast had been cooked,
+fully half the company were joining in that foolish
+song. Mother said almost fretfully, when Ellen and
+I took up the refrain, that she wished the senseless
+words had never been written, or that we had never
+heard them.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Although we started off late that morning, owing
+to the drying out, we halted early in the afternoon,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_44' name='Page_44'>[44]</a></span>
+for we had come upon a company of men and women
+who, like ourselves, were bound for the land of California.
+The leader of the company was Colonel
+Russell.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-045.jpg" width="498" height="444" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+To my surprise and delight these people also proved
+to be Pikers, having come from a settlement about
+twenty miles south of our old home. You may readily
+fancy how enjoyable was that evening, when we visited
+from wagon to wagon, listening to the stories of
+what had thus far happened to the company, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_45' name='Page_45'>[45]</a></span>
+repeating our own adventures, if such they could be
+called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While we women and girls were thus engaged, the
+men of both companies decided to travel together, believing
+that by increasing the number there might be
+less danger from the Indians, for Eben Jordan said
+that the savages we saw at Independence were but
+imitations of the fiercer ones whom we were most likely
+to meet before our journey's end.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE STOCK STRAY AWAY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+I suppose it was the excitement occasioned by the
+meeting with Colonel Russell's company, which caused
+our men in charge of the cattle to be careless during the
+evening and later in the night, for when morning came
+we found that nearly all the oxen and a goodly number
+of the cows had strayed from the camp and disappeared
+completely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Eben Jordan first told us of this, I believed a
+great disaster had come upon us; but straightway
+father and half a dozen of the other men mounted the
+horses and set off across the prairie in search of the
+missing cattle, as if this was trouble to be expected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In fact, before many days passed, I came to look upon
+the straying or the stampeding of the live stock as of
+little consequence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had plenty of time to cook breakfast that morning
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_46' name='Page_46'>[46]</a></span>
+while the men were searching over the prairie for
+the cattle, and, much to my surprise, within three hours
+all the stock had been brought into the encampment and
+we were making ready once more for the day's journey.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-047.jpg" width="494" height="286" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Before noon we arrived at Blue Creek, where we had,
+as it seemed to me, much trouble because the trail
+leading to the stream was deep with mud, and the
+bottom of the creek so soft that our people were forced
+to wade waist-deep on either side of the wagons, lest
+the wheels sink so far down that the oxen would not be
+able to pull the heavy loads across.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again and again the men laid hold of the wheels,
+straining every muscle as the drivers of the cattle
+urged the patient beasts to their utmost exertions, and
+before all our company had crossed that small creek the
+day was so nearly at an end that there was nothing
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_47' name='Page_47'>[47]</a></span>
+left for us to do save camp once more, although we
+had traveled only six miles since setting out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came Sunday morning, when I believed we
+would remain idle, for it did not seem right that we
+should travel on the Lord's day; but, as father said,
+while we were making such a long journey it was
+necessary to push ahead during every hour of fair
+weather, and to take our day of rest only when it was
+absolutely necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so, instead of worshiping God as we would have
+done had we remained in Pike County, we went forward,
+fording two small creeks and journeying over a dull,
+level plain, whereon, save flowers, nothing was to be
+seen to delight the eye.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+AN INDIAN VILLAGE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Within an hour of sunset we came to a veritable
+Indian village, although there were not many of the
+savages living in it, and Ellen and I took advantage
+of this first opportunity to see the redskins in their
+homes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were but four men, with perhaps a dozen
+women and children, all living in lodges made of smoke-dried
+skins, and looking exceedingly dirty and disagreeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We girls were not inclined to linger there long,
+although the Indians were willing we should, and when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_48' name='Page_48'>[48]</a></span>
+our short visit had been brought to a close, they followed
+us, clustering around our wagons and waiting
+patiently for food to be thrown to them.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-049.jpg" width="492" height="376" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+From this time on during a full week we continued
+to push steadily forward, moving so slowly that even
+we girls could understand the journey would be exceedingly
+long and wearisome.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+More than once did I reproach myself with having
+been so eager to leave Pike County, and many times
+I said to myself that a girl who has a happy home
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_49' name='Page_49'>[49]</a></span>
+is indeed foolish to wish for a change, lest, like
+Ellen and me, they find, as mother often says,
+that they have jumped out of the frying pan into
+the fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day was much like another. Now the trail
+would be hard underfoot and the traveling easy,
+and again we would cross
+a stream, the bottom
+lands of which
+were so marshy
+that the oxen
+lugged and
+strained at
+their yokes,
+until oftentimes
+it was
+necessary
+to double
+up the
+teams in
+order that the
+heavy wagons could be pulled over the soft footing.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-050.jpg" width="412" height="399" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The only thing I remember which came to break
+the monotony of the slow march was when, on a certain
+evening, father returned with his pockets and
+hands full of wild onions which he had found on the
+prairie. Because our meals had consisted chiefly
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_50' name='Page_50'>[50]</a></span>
+of corn bread and salted meat, I said to myself that
+now we would have a feast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But alas! those wild onions were like my dreams
+about traveling to the land of California. While
+they looked fair on the outside before being cooked,
+they were so strong to the taste that one nearly choked
+in trying to eat them.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN'S BOASTS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan, hearing of my disappointment, said
+with a laugh that when we came to the country where
+game was to be found he intended to bring into camp
+all the fresh meat the company could eat, and one
+might have thought from the way the boy talked that
+he believed himself capable of feeding all our company
+unaided.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would have been well if Eben had contented himself
+with predicting the marvels which he counted on
+performing; but, instead, he reminded me that before
+we had come into the Land of Promise I might be
+more than willing to eat wild onions and "smack my
+lips over the disagreeable food."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seems that he heard, while in Independence, of
+the sufferings of some people who had journeyed over
+that same trail, when they found no game and their
+provisions were consumed before the march came to
+an end.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_51' name='Page_51'>[51]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would have been better, so I said to him, if he had
+not repeated such things, for surely we were getting
+all the discomfort that was needed to show how foolish
+we had been in leaving Pike County, where no one
+suffered from hunger or thirst, if he had a tongue in
+his head to make known his desires.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed almost as if the boy was a real prophet,
+for within a few hours Ellen and I did come to know
+what thirst&mdash;bitter, parching thirst&mdash;was like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had started out one morning when the rays of
+the sun beat down upon us so fervently that the wagon
+covering seemed to be no protection, and the only
+relief we had was from the gentle breeze which was
+blowing, not with sufficient force to relieve our suffering,
+but enough to prevent us from being literally baked.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SUFFERING WITH THIRST
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We drank, as did all our company, of the water which
+we carried in kegs stowed in the wagons, and gave no
+heed to the fact that the supply was scanty, for until
+this time there had never been any lack of water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At noon even the breeze died away; there was not a
+cloud in the sky, the trail was smooth and hard, running
+over what father called the tableland of the prairie,
+and the heat so intense that there were times when it
+surely seemed as if I could not longer continue to
+breathe.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_52' name='Page_52'>[52]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, when our sufferings were seemingly as great
+as they could possibly be, mother discovered that our
+store of water had been exhausted, and called to father,
+asking that he get a supply from one of the other wagons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed strange to me then, and does even now,
+that at almost the same time all our company had run
+short of water, and from one
+end of the long train to the
+other we could not beg
+enough to moisten our
+tongues.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-053.jpg" width="311" height="317" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps it was the
+knowledge that I
+could not quench
+my thirst which
+caused me to suffer
+more severely, and
+when father said
+we must travel no less than twelve miles before coming
+to any stream, my heart sank within me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen was suffering quite as much as I, except that
+she had the good sense to hold her peace, and mother,
+patient with me as ever, said all she could to prevent
+me from dwelling too much upon my condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nor was I the only one in that company to suffer
+severely. Whenever the train came to a halt that the
+cattle might have a breathing spell, I could hear the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_53' name='Page_53'>[53]</a></span>
+smaller children crying for something to drink, and once
+during the afternoon Eben Jordan came alongside our
+wagon, asking if our water kegs were empty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I saw upon his face that look of eagerness and
+desire such as I had read on Ellen's, and when I told him
+we were suffering from thirst even more than any other
+members of the company, he shook his head and replied:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is the younger ones who suffer the most, Martha
+Early, for they cannot be made to understand that it is
+necessary to wait; while you and I, who are older,
+know it is only a case of grinning and bearing it as best
+we may."
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+IN SEARCH OF WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+I was irritated because Eben should read me a
+lesson, for indeed his words sounded like a reproof. I
+turned away from him, saying to myself that if it was
+not possible to make the oxen move more rapidly,
+there was danger of my dying, all of which was foolishness,
+even wickedness, as you will agree.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-054.jpg" width="492" height="200" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_54' name='Page_54'>[54]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+To force the beasts to a more rapid pace was absolutely
+impossible. Already the sheep as well as the oxen
+were showing signs of exhaustion and panting for water.
+Their tongues were hanging out, and they moved slowly
+as if unable to go farther, while five of the cows had
+dropped down on the trail as if dying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were forced to leave them behind, fearing lest
+if time was spent in trying to get the
+beasts on their feet again,
+more of the stock would fall.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-055.jpg" width="498" height="297" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I hardly knew how
+the remainder of that
+day passed, for I gave
+no heed to anything
+save my own suffering, thereby showing myself
+wickedly selfish, until a great shout went up from
+those who were in advance, telling that at last, after
+what seemed like many, many long hours, we had
+come within sight of a stream of water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the oxen, wild with thirst and smelling the
+dampness in the air, plunged forward as if in a fury,
+for the drivers were unable to hold them in check.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_55' name='Page_55'>[55]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a mad race went every yoke of the cattle, drawing
+the heavy wagons that lurched first on one side and
+then on the other as we went over the uneven surface of
+the trail, until all the contents which had been stowed
+so carefully were thrown violently about, while we
+girls and mother had the greatest difficulty to save
+ourselves from being flung out.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+QUENCHING OUR THIRST
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The oxen continued on until every yoke of them
+stood in the creek, and there they halted, drinking
+eagerly until their sides swelled out as if bursting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Regardless of the fact that our wagon was standing
+in not less than twelve inches of water, Ellen and I
+leaped out and drank from the stream like dogs, too
+thirsty to wait longer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have been in need of water many times since that
+day, but never have I suffered so keenly, and I now
+understand that the distress which well-nigh overcame
+me was caused for the most part by my foolishly
+dwelling upon the lack of water, whereas if I had
+forced myself to think of other matters, much pain
+might have been avoided.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was impossible to force the oxen across the creek,
+and we were obliged to make camp on the easterly
+side, for it seemed as if they would never have done
+with drinking.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_56' name='Page_56'>[56]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they were so full that it was impossible to
+swallow another mouthful, they refused to cross, but
+struggled to get among the rich grass which covered
+the bottom lands of the creek.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-057.jpg" width="495" height="419" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+After the horses, as well as the men and the cattle,
+had been thus refreshed, half a dozen of our people,
+among whom was Eben Jordan, rode back on the trail,
+hoping to drive in some of the cows that had fallen
+by the wayside. It was not until a late hour in the
+evening that they returned, bringing with them only
+two of the animals.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_57' name='Page_57'>[57]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus we suffered our first loss on the journey, and it
+seemed to me a most serious matter; but even before
+we had come to the trail which led to California, the loss
+of even twice as many cattle could not have disturbed
+me, for I had come to believe that we should arrive
+at that Land of Promise, if indeed we were so fortunate
+as to survive, almost empty-handed, owing
+to the difficulties of the way which the beasts could
+not overcome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next day's march was ended early in the afternoon,
+because then we had come to a stream, and those
+who were familiar with the trail knew we could not
+arrive at another place where water would be found
+until late in the night.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+MAKING BUTTER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+So we encamped early, and mother decided to set
+about churning, for long ago our store of butter had been
+exhausted. We had but a small quantity of cream,
+all of which had been saved since morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No sooner had she begun her work than fully
+half the women of the company followed her example,
+and at the side or in the rear of nearly every wagon was
+a churn set out with either the girls or the boys working
+the dasher.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Eben Jordan said when he offered to spell me at
+the churn, it looked as if we people, who had set out
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_58' name='Page_58'>[58]</a></span>
+from Ashley to find a new home in the land of
+California, had decided to abandon the idea and
+turn all our attention to making
+butter.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-059.jpg" width="309" height="413" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Next morning we were
+forced to continue the journey
+before having breakfast,
+for we were nearing
+the Kansas River, and
+would arrive there about
+noon if the march was
+begun as soon as daylight.
+Even then
+there would be hardly
+more than time before
+the sun set to
+get all our train over, for the
+stream was so deep that it could
+not be forded, and we must send the wagons across in
+boats.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A KANSAS FERRY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Although we were, as one might have supposed, in
+an uninhabited country, father told me that at this
+crossing of the Kansas River was a ferry owned by two
+half-breed Indians, who made a business of freighting
+heavy wagons across for a fee of one dollar each; but
+all the live stock would be forced to swim.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_59' name='Page_59'>[59]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now since none of the boats could carry more
+than one wagon at a time, you may readily understand
+how many hours would be needed in order to get
+all our train from one side of the river to the other,
+even though it was no more than two hundred yards
+from bank to bank. Therefore, as I have said, it was
+necessary we arrive at the ferry at
+the earliest possible moment, lest night
+overtake us while half
+the company yet remained
+on the eastern shore.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-060.jpg" width="502" height="351" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The ferryboats were nothing more than square,
+shallow boxes, which the Indians pushed across by
+poles, after the cargo of wagons had been put on
+board.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course the women and the girls had nothing to do
+with this ferrying, save to remain under the wagon
+coverings where they would be out of the way. I
+envied Eben Jordan, who could move about at will, for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_60' name='Page_60'>[60]</a></span>
+verily my heart was in my mouth, so to speak, during
+all the time we were working our slow way across the
+stream, fearing lest our boat should sink beneath us.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Not until nearly six o'clock were all our company
+on the western side of the river, and then I supposed
+that we would immediately make camp; but to my
+surprise word was given for the train to move on, and
+we journeyed three miles more, coming to the bank of
+Soldier Creek before darkness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at this place that a most pleasant surprise
+awaited us. Colonel Russell's wife, who had walked
+ahead while our train was being ferried across the
+river, found quantities and quantities of wild strawberries
+near the camping place. As soon as we women
+and girls arrived, we set about gathering the berries,
+until each family had a good supply of the luscious
+fruit. Milk was not a poor substitute for cream to
+us who had been living upon corn bread and salt meat
+ever since we left the settlement of Independence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the next two days we traveled steadily
+onward, slowly, to be sure, but yet each step, as Ellen
+said again and again, was taking us nearer the end of
+the journey. In time I came to be impatient whenever
+a halt was called, so eager was I to have done with
+riding, for however comfortable a girl might make
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_61' name='Page_61'>[61]</a></span>
+herself in one of the wagons, her limbs were certain
+to become cramped before night.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-062.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+On the third day after crossing the Kansas River,
+the leaders of our company decided that a halt was
+needed in order to give the animals a rest. Their
+hoofs had become dry and cracked from traveling
+over the matted grass of last year, which covered the
+prairie even beneath the new crop, and it was necessary
+that something be done for them without delay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had been looking forward to a full day's halt, even
+though impatient when we were not moving forward,
+for Ellen and I had planned to wander as far from the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_62' name='Page_62'>[62]</a></span>
+encampment as we could, searching for flowers and
+wild peas, which grew there in great abundance, so
+we had been told.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BREAD MAKING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Mother decided that now had come a time when
+she must bake a plentiful supply of bread, for she was
+determined not to be put to such straits as we were
+during the rain storm, when it was next to impossible
+to build a fire in the stove, and, of course, I was glad
+to do whatever I might to aid her.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-063.jpg" width="494" height="331" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Before father had fairly got the stove out of the
+wagon and set up where it could be most conveniently
+used, nearly every other woman in the company had
+decided to follow mother's example, and then came such
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_63' name='Page_63'>[63]</a></span>
+a scene as was presented when each family did its
+churning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the rear or at the side of nearly every wagon a
+stove was set up, and one might see everywhere women
+rolling or kneading dough, girls running about on
+errands, and boys doing their share by keeping the
+fires going.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I must say to Eben Jordan's credit that he was of
+great assistance to mother and me that day. If he
+had been a saint upon earth, he could not have done
+more or worked with greater patience than he did,
+running from stove to stove when the other boys had
+neglected their duties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother told him laughingly that many times while
+we lived in Ashley she had been vexed because of
+the boyish pranks he played; but from this time
+onward she should remember what he had done in
+the way of aiding the cooks, and would overlook almost
+anything which mischief might prompt him to do.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+PRAIRIE PEAS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+The baking came to an end, so far as our family
+was concerned, shortly after noon; then Ellen and
+I, taking Eben with us as guide and protector, went
+out in search of peas and brought home enough to
+supply several families, who had been neighbors of
+ours, with a generous mess.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_64' name='Page_64'>[64]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Save for the fact that these prairie peas look somewhat
+like those we have at home, I could find no likeness
+between the two varieties. The wild peas have a
+tough rind, and there are several seeds in the middle
+of each; but after they have been boiled and allowed
+to remain in vinegar a
+few hours, they make
+a fairly pleasing dish.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-065.jpg" width="504" height="416" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+When we began the march once more, I hoped to see
+the cattle moving more spiritedly than before the halt;
+but in this I was mistaken. It seemed to me that they
+limped painfully, and worse than ever; that I was not
+mistaken was proved, to my satisfaction at least,
+when I heard father and another man saying to each
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_65' name='Page_65'>[65]</a></span>
+other that before many days we should be forced to
+kill two or three whose feet were in the worst condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, the days went on and our cattle continued
+to work fairly well, although I noticed that when we
+came to rough places, such as the crossing of a stream,
+where it was necessary to climb a high bank on the
+opposite side, the drivers were forced to double up the
+teams more often than before, because the poor creatures
+could not haul so heavy a load as when we first
+started out.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN AS A HUNTER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Within a week from the time of leaving Soldier
+Creek, Eben Jordan was indeed puffed up with pride.
+He came into camp late one afternoon dragging
+behind him an antelope which he had shot
+within two miles of where we halted an
+hour previous. This proof that he had
+shown himself a skillful hunter, caused
+the boy literally to swell with joy as he
+strutted around the body of
+the beautiful animal
+while our people
+were looking at it.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-066.jpg" width="309" height="263" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It seemed too bad to kill such an innocent creature
+as that antelope, and yet I forgot all the cruelty of
+it when Eben brought to our wagon enough steaks
+to provide all of us with a slice of fresh meat. Afterward
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_66' name='Page_66'>[66]</a></span>
+it seemed to me much as if we had been
+cannibals when we so eagerly devoured the handsome
+animal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From that day on, whenever we made camp before
+dark, Eben went out with his rifle, and more than once
+he brought in a deer of some kind, dividing the meat
+generously and fairly among us all.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A HERD OF BUFFALOES
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then came the time when we had our first glimpse
+of buffaloes, and never shall I forget the scene. We
+had been traveling in the bottom lands where we
+found multitudes of paths deeply cut into the ground,
+which some of our people said had been made by
+buffaloes; but we girls never so much as dreamed we
+might be near the beasts, until one morning father
+called me hurriedly to look out of the wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I screamed, for we were literally surrounded by
+thousands upon thousands of those fierce-looking, yet
+stupid, beasts, who gave no more heed to our encampment
+than if they had been accustomed to such things
+all their lives.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They circled around within a quarter of a mile of
+where our cattle were feeding, and father said afterward
+that unless our men had been exceedingly watchful and
+active, the oxen and cows would have been stampeded
+beyond a doubt.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_67' name='Page_67'>[67]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Our animals were in a high state of excitement,
+striving to get through the lines of men who guarded
+them, and of course there was no possibility of our
+breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,
+so father said, there was not a driver in the company
+who could handle half a dozen yoke of oxen while the
+buffaloes were so near.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-068.jpg" width="498" height="275" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea
+of animals as did Ellen and I. You may be certain
+Eben Jordan was among the first to go out dangerously
+near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all the
+men of the company, save those who were guiding our
+live stock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their
+heels when a rifle was discharged; but much to my
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_68' name='Page_68'>[68]</a></span>
+surprise they paid little or no attention at first to the
+reports of the firearms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I dare not venture to say how many of the animals
+were killed; but certainly it seemed to me, when about
+noon the entire herd rushed off, the rumbling of their
+hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder, that there
+were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plain
+within a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up
+to form a corral.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+There was so much game for us to bring in, that
+during the remainder of the day every man and boy
+that could be spared was kept busy at work skinning
+the dead buffaloes or cutting up the flesh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What a feast we had that evening! We had buffalo
+tongues baked in the ovens, or in front of small fires
+which had been built here and there. Then there were
+what father called hump ribs, steaks, and meat of every
+kind that could be taken from a buffalo. Each member
+of the company was eager to learn how every eatable
+portion of the animal tasted, and, therefore, cooked two
+or three times as much as could be used at one
+meal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our people had no more than time to skin and cut
+up the carcasses before dark; on the following morning
+word was passed around that each family must dry, or
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_69' name='Page_69'>[69]</a></span>
+smoke-cure, as much of the flesh as possible within
+the next four and twenty hours.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-070.jpg" width="498" height="371" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Straightway every man, woman, and child set about
+either slicing the meat as thin as it could be cut with
+sharp knives, or putting together racks made of sticks,
+on which the strips of flesh were to be hung and exposed
+to the rays of the sun, as well as to the smoke of the
+fires that were to be built directly beneath them.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+CURING THE MEAT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was disagreeable work, and yet we were all, even
+to the smallest girl, content to do our part, knowing
+that we were thus laying up food for the future when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_70' name='Page_70'>[70]</a></span>
+it might not be possible to procure game, and when all
+the stores we had brought with us from Pike County
+had been eaten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The arms of the men who acted as carvers were
+stained with blood to the elbows, while the hands and
+even the faces of the women and children who carried
+the sliced meat to hang it on the framework of sticks,
+were colored in the same way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In addition to curing the meat in the sun and smoking
+it, some of the men made what is called pemmican, a
+most disagreeable looking mixture of flesh and fat
+which I afterward came to eat greedily, when we had
+nothing else with which to satisfy our hunger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pemmican is made by first drying the very thinnest
+of thin slices of meat in the sun, until they are so hard
+that it is possible to rub or pound them to a powder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A bag is then formed of the buffalo skin, and into it
+is packed powdered meat sufficient to fill it considerably
+more than half full, after which tallow is melted and
+poured into the bag until it can hold no more. Then
+the entire mass is allowed to cool and harden. It is
+then fit for eating, so father said; but mother, when the
+time came that we were glad to have our portion of the
+stuff, always boiled it so it might be served hot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is not appetizing to me, and because I have
+seen the mixture prepared I can eat it only when I
+am very hungry.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_71' name='Page_71'>[71]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A WASH DAY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Two full days were spent in curing the meat and
+making pemmican, and even then we did not continue
+the journey immediately, for the work had brought
+our clothing to such a condition that a day for washing
+was absolutely necessary. Therefore we remained for
+another twenty-four hours.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-072.jpg" width="496" height="444" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+We were encamped near a small stream where could
+be had plenty of water for the animals, and on either
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_72' name='Page_72'>[72]</a></span>
+side of this tiny creek, shortly after sunrise, could be
+seen many fires, kettles, and washtubs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What a tired girl I was when I stretched myself out
+on mother's feather bed in the wagon that night! It
+seemed to me that I had no more than closed my eyes
+before I was asleep, and not until father was bustling
+around inside the wagon next morning trying to build a
+fire in the cookstove, did I awake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the patter, patter of rain on the wagon covering
+told that we were to be treated to another downpour
+of water, and eager though I was to reach California,
+I hoped most fervently we would remain in camp yet
+longer.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was really difficult for me to open my eyes, so
+heavily did slumber weigh upon them, when I asked
+father if he had any idea of setting off in such a
+storm, at the same time reminding him how our beasts
+had struggled through the mud during the last rain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughingly told me that we would continue on the
+trail, regardless of the weather; that a rain storm was
+not to be compared in the way of discomfort with snow.
+He said that unless we came to our journey's end before
+the season of frost set in, we might never arrive, but
+would be in danger of perishing, as others had who,
+striving to reach California, had been overtaken by
+winter among the mountains.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_73' name='Page_73'>[73]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So long as the cattle are in condition to push on,
+just so long shall we continue to march, regardless of
+whether the rain falls or the sun shines," he said,
+speaking very solemnly, and mother's face grew grave
+as if she was already beginning to understand the
+better what might be before us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There will be all too many days when we must
+remain in camp; but now, after such a long rest, it
+would be little less than wicked to remain
+idle here simply because
+it might be more
+to our comfort."
+</p>
+
+<div class="figright">
+<img src="images/i-074.jpg" width="314" height="318" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+There is little
+need for me to explain
+how disagreeable
+it is to get
+up in the morning and
+attempt to keep a fire going
+with wet fuel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everything was damp and uncomfortable to the
+touch, and all the surroundings looked much as Ellen
+and I felt when we helped mother prepare breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After that very unsatisfactory meal had been eaten,
+for we had nothing save some half-fried bacon with
+cold corn bread, not being able to make coffee because
+the fire would persist in going out, the train was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_74' name='Page_74'>[74]</a></span>
+started. Ellen and I, crouching in the rear end
+of the wagon where the rain could not drive in upon
+us, sat close to the stove, which now seemed warmer
+than when we were trying to cook breakfast, and
+talked of the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course I cannot set down all we said, for much
+of it was foolish; but some of the conversation I have
+remembered clearly even to this day.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Ellen, when I had told her it was my intent to write
+the story of our coming from Pike County, said that
+it would not be proper for me to write anything about
+what we saw or did while on the Oregon trail. We
+were bound for California, and would not be upon
+the direct road to that country until we had left
+Fort Bridger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was her idea that I should begin the story with the
+time when we turned from the trail leading to Oregon,
+and set our faces directly toward California; but, as
+has been seen, I nearly forgot her advice, and even now
+it seems impossible to do exactly as she proposed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I intend, however, in order to please her, to set
+down only such matters as seem to me of the greatest
+importance, and thereby hurry over a certain portion
+of the march, beginning in earnest with the time
+when we finally came to Fort Bridger.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_75' name='Page_75'>[75]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Now you must bear in mind, although I may not
+speak of them again, that we were constantly meeting
+with Indians. Hardly a day passed that we did not
+come upon a village, meet a party of hunters, or receive
+visits from groups of two, three, or four who came to
+beg.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-076.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Strange though it may seem, we became accustomed
+to the savages as one does to seeing a dog or a cat around
+the house, and gave little or no attention to them save
+when they made themselves disagreeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One other thing I will speak about now. Mosquitoes
+and tiny flies, which seemed as fierce as tigers, were
+with us all the time by day as well as by night.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_76' name='Page_76'>[76]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we first left Independence, it was difficult
+for me to sleep at night because of these insects, and
+during the day I spent the greater portion of my time
+striving to keep them off my hands or face. As the
+journey progressed it seemed as if they became less
+poisonous; but I suppose my body had become
+accustomed to the wounds, and I gave little heed
+to them except when the weather was exceedingly
+warm.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-077.jpg" width="493" height="398" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Until we came among the foothills, which is to
+say, after we left Fort Bridger, we found game in
+abundance. What had been sport to Eben became
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_77' name='Page_77'>[77]</a></span>
+now a real labor, and he sought for fresh meat only
+when urged to do so by his father or some of us girls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were days when our men brought in no game
+because they were unable to come across any; but we
+were in a country abounding with deer, elks, buffaloes,
+and even bears, and so did not suffer for food.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+PRAIRIE DOGS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Even though I say nothing more regarding the
+remainder of our journey over the Oregon trail, I must
+speak of the little prairie dogs which we came upon
+from time to time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They live in villages, sometimes, as father has said,
+several acres in extent, and their houses are holes in
+the ground, with a top or extension, made of earth
+which they have pushed up from beneath.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-078.jpg" width="477" height="236" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan declares, and several men in the company
+who have talked with the trappers or hunters
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_78' name='Page_78'>[78]</a></span>
+say, that in every prairie dog's house may be found
+a little gray owl, who has lodgings there, and oftentimes
+with this owl is a rattlesnake. Now just fancy
+the prairie dog, the owl, and the rattlesnake living
+together! All I ever saw of the family was the dog,
+and he is about the size of a large rat, with hair
+which is a mixture of light brown and black in
+color.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is impossible for me to tell you how entertaining
+these little creatures are. When we passed by the
+villages you could see them scampering around and
+barking. Again and again I have seen them playing
+about or sitting on the top of their houses, giving no
+heed to us until the wagon train was close upon them,
+when the entire colony would pop into their holes with
+every evidence of fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A moment later each little fellow would stick his
+head out, his black, beadlike eyes glistening, while he
+looked around as if asking whether or not you saw
+how quickly he could get under cover when it pleased
+him to do so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I know of nothing more comical than these little
+animals, and yet they look so much like rats that
+I would greatly prefer to see them at a distance rather
+than make any attempt at taming them, as Eben
+Jordan declares is his intention to do as soon as he can
+catch one alive.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_79' name='Page_79'>[79]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have my doubts, however, about his being able
+to catch one, unless he is cruel enough to wound it
+first with a rifle ball.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Just before we arrived at the Platte River, we
+crossed a small creek, the bottom of which was exceedingly
+soft; the men were forced
+to double up the teams in order
+to draw the heavy loads along,
+and Colonel Russell's wagon upset in midstream, where
+the water was two or three feet deep.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-080.jpg" width="501" height="330" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Now there was nothing comical in such a mishap,
+and yet Ellen and I, who were standing on the bank of
+the creek where we could see all that was going on,
+laughed until I felt actually ashamed of myself.
+It was all so ridiculous that I could not have kept
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_80' name='Page_80'>[80]</a></span>
+my face straight whatever might have been the
+result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the accident had happened quickly, there would
+not have been anything so very funny about it;
+but, instead, the wagon toppled slowly, the men
+striving meanwhile to prevent it from going entirely
+over. In the heavy wagon were Mrs. Russell and
+four children. We saw first
+the youngest child, as if
+some one had
+tossed him out, come shooting
+from the wagon and strike
+the water. Then another child, and so on, one after
+another, exactly like a lot of grasshoppers, until Mrs.
+Russell herself appeared. Out they marched in the
+same order, water streaming from their clothing, which
+was bedaubed with mud.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-081.jpg" width="487" height="308" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Mother reproved Ellen and me severely for laughing
+when our neighbors were suffering; but even as she
+spoke the Russell procession passed along the edge
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_81' name='Page_81'>[81]</a></span>
+of the bank, marking the way with mud and water,
+and I noticed that it was all she could do to keep her
+face straight while she scolded us.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+CHIMNEY ROCK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When finally we crossed the Platte River, the men
+of the company rejoiced, although I was unable to
+learn why, except that it marked, as mother suggested,
+the first stage of the journey, the second of which
+would come to an end at Fort Bridger, and the third
+in that land where we hoped to settle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not long after crossing this river we had a first
+glimpse of that enormous mass which travelers speak
+of as Court House Rock, which, so those who have
+seen both say, looks from the distance not unlike the
+Capitol at Washington. A few miles farther on we
+saw another huge pile called Chimney Rock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I doubt not but that both would have been well
+worth the seeing, yet our desire to look at them more
+closely was not gratified. The trail leads some distance
+off, and when mother proposed to father that
+we might halt for a day in order to get a nearer view
+of the curiosities, he shook his head decidedly, saying,
+almost gruffly, that we who were bent on finding new
+homes had no time to fritter away in looking at this
+odd thing or at that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan, however, borrowing one of his father's
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_82' name='Page_82'>[82]</a></span>
+horses, rode off to Chimney Rock by himself, and
+when he came back he told Ellen and me that we need
+not shed many tears because of failing
+to see it close at
+hand, because it
+was nothing more
+than a lot of big
+stones that
+looked as if they
+might have been carelessly plastered
+together with mud.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-083.jpg" width="489" height="316" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Of course this couldn't be the fact; but Eben has
+no eye for scenery and, I dare say, might turn his nose
+up at what every one else would believe wonderful or
+full of beauty.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+AT FORT LARAMIE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Forty-eight days after leaving Independence we
+came to Fort Laramie, which is more like a trading
+post than like a fortification. It stands on the banks
+of the river Platte, is owned by the American Fur
+Company, and is six hundred and seventy-two miles
+from Independence by the trail we came over.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_83' name='Page_83'>[83]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just fancy! We had traveled nearly seven hundred
+miles, the men of the company walking all the way;
+yet during that time, with the exception of the mishap
+to Colonel Russell's wagon and the loss of a few head
+of cattle, we had come to no harm.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-084.jpg" width="484" height="392" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+At Fort Laramie we slept in a real house for the first
+time since starting on the long journey. It was not
+such a building as we lived in at Ashley, and yet it was
+to me almost beautiful, after I had remained so long
+in the wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I fancied I would sleep on that night as never
+before since the march began, and that we would
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_84' name='Page_84'>[84]</a></span>
+have supper and breakfast properly and conveniently
+served.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had supposed the mosquitoes and the midges were
+as thick in our wagons as it would be possible to find
+them anywhere; but when we came into that house
+the place was swarming with them, and they prevented
+us from closing our eyes in rest during the entire night.
+Never was a girl better pleased than I when the first
+light of day came in through the windows.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After striving to cook food in front of one of the two
+fireplaces in that house, I was actually ashamed of
+having complained because our stove in the wagon on
+a stormy morning had
+seemed to me like
+some contrary
+animal.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-085.jpg" width="401" height="365" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+However much
+trouble we
+might have
+had with
+wet fuel and
+lack of draft
+owing to the
+shortness of
+the stovepipe,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_85' name='Page_85'>[85]</a></span>
+it was as nothing compared with those rude fireplaces,
+where our faces were burned almost to a crisp, our
+eyes filled with smoke, and whatever was cooking
+came from the heat thickly incrusted with ashes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I resolved not to grumble at anything we might find
+in California, provided we had conveniences where we
+could cook with some degree of comfort, and a place
+in which to lie down where we would be protected from
+insects.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+I suppose Eben might describe Fort Laramie so that
+it would to a stranger present the appearance of a stronghold;
+but for my part I saw there only scores upon
+scores of savages, loitering around outside the walls,
+gambling, racing horses, bartering furs, or gorging
+themselves with half-cooked meat, while here and there
+could be seen the noisy trappers, some dressed fancifully
+after the fashion of the Indians, and others decked out
+in buckskin clothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were boasting hunters who swaggered around,
+peering curiously under our wagon covers when we had
+taken refuge there; and all around, corralled or feeding
+near at hand, were cattle and ponies almost without
+number.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our company was not the only party of Pikers at
+Fort Laramie. It seemed to me there must have been
+three or four hundred who had been traveling as we
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_86' name='Page_86'>[86]</a></span>
+had traveled, some hoping to go into that land of
+Oregon which was represented as being wondrously
+beautiful, and others bound for California.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-087.jpg" width="496" height="485" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I would have visited among the strange
+Pikers had it not been for the throngs of trappers,
+hunters, and
+Indians, such as I
+have already written
+about. Mother
+declared it would be well
+for us girls to stay in our wagon, and this she came
+to believe firmly after two of the trappers engaged in
+a downright battle wherein both used knives, and
+both were sorely wounded.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_87' name='Page_87'>[87]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The people round about did not appear to think this
+fighting wicked or strange, and instead of endeavoring
+to make peace among them, all, even a few women,
+stood around watching the fray as if it was some
+exhibition of an innocent nature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was sick with the sights of Fort Laramie even
+before mother sent Ellen and me to the wagon, and
+felt well content to remain there until next morning,
+never grumbling when I struggled to keep a fire going in
+the stove in order that we might cook supper.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It seemed to me that every member of our company,
+with the possible exception of Eben Jordan,
+was delighted when the word had been passed around
+during the evening that we should pull out at early
+daybreak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were getting near to that forking of the trail
+where we would bear southward and then westward,
+passing around a great salt sea on our way to California.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We soon came among the foothills, and it was really
+a relief to be climbing up one hill and sliding down
+another, instead of driving over a level plain where
+was nothing to vary the monotony. Although Ellen
+and I were pleased with this change in the appearance
+of the country, our fathers found little in it to give
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_88' name='Page_88'>[88]</a></span>
+them pleasure, for we had come to where grass was
+scanty and the way difficult for the animals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As father said, from then on we might suffer such
+privations and hardships as we had not experienced
+since leaving Independence; but that I could hardly
+credit, for it did not seem to me possible we would
+have more discomfort than when we were marching
+in the rain, with the ground so soft that the cattle
+could only with difficulty drag the wagon along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suppose our people did have some trouble in finding
+grass for the animals; but we girls knew little regarding
+such matters. Our work was to aid in preparing
+the meals, and, as Ellen said, in keeping our minds as
+cheerful as possible; these tasks we performed to the
+best of our ability, without hearing very much of the
+perplexities of the men, save when Eben Jordan came
+to us with tales of trouble.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+INDEPENDENCE ROCK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After leaving Fort Laramie the first thing which
+particularly attracted my attention was a perfect
+mountain of rock, fully a hundred feet in height and
+more than a mile in circumference, father told me,
+which stood near the Sweetwater River, between the
+ranges of mountains which border the Sweetwater
+Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was an "imposing work of nature," so Colonel
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_89' name='Page_89'>[89]</a></span>
+Russell said; but to me the most interesting thing
+about it was that the first celebration of the Fourth
+of July by a company of people bound to Oregon was
+held at the place. On the rocks, as high up as one can
+see, are a multitude of names, many, many hundreds,
+some painted, and others cut into the soft stone by
+those who had visited the place.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-090.jpg" width="477" height="250" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Another thing about Independence Rock which
+causes me to remember it even
+more than as "an imposing
+work of nature,"
+was that near it one could pick
+up all the saleratus he needed, for there are veritable
+ponds of it, where, so father said, water filled with the
+salts had evaporated, leaving the saleratus itself in
+pools which looked as if made of milk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning we came upon a great gap in the
+mountain wall which is called the Devil's Gate;
+through it flows a beautiful stream, on the banks of
+which we found wild currants and gooseberries in
+greatest abundance.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_90' name='Page_90'>[90]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+About the middle of July we arrived at Fort Bridger,
+where we were to turn off upon the California trail, and
+where, if Ellen's advice had been followed, this story of
+mine would have begun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Why it should be called <i>Fort</i> Bridger I fail to understand,
+for there are no signs of a fort about, but only
+three or four miserable log huts in which live two
+fur traders with
+their trappers
+and hunters.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-091.jpg" width="488" height="268" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+One might have believed it quite an important
+place, however, because when we arrived there were
+no less than five hundred Indians of the Snake tribe
+encamped round about the log huts. Beyond them
+on every hand could be seen wagon train after wagon
+train of people who had come not only from Pike
+County, but from Ohio and Indiana, as well as from
+Illinois and Missouri, the greater number intent on
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_91' name='Page_91'>[91]</a></span>
+gaining the Oregon country, with perhaps two hundred
+who were going to California.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course there were also at this place hunters and
+trappers, traders coming from or going into Oregon or
+California, Spaniards, Negroes, and red men, the greater
+number of all this throng living in canvas tents, in
+wagons or log huts, while the rest made shift as best
+they might in the open air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was, like Fort Laramie, a place where Ellen and
+I had best remain in the wagons, for no one could tell
+what the savages might do if two girls wandered
+among their lodges, and certainly
+we had no desire to make their
+acquaintance.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-092.jpg" width="486" height="450" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_92' name='Page_92'>[92]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Here, as everywhere since leaving Independence,
+we heard that song which by this
+time had grown threadbare,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p>
+"My name it is Joe Bowers."
+</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>
+The Negroes and the Spaniards, the
+trappers and the hunters, were
+all singing it, and the wonder to
+Ellen and me was where so
+many people could
+have heard it.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-093.jpg" width="389" height="550" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+WITH OUR FACES
+TOWARD CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After spending one day
+at Fort Bridger we set
+off early in the morning
+with our faces turned toward
+California, and our
+hearts beating furiously. For
+the first time since leaving home
+it seemed as if we were really on
+the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The trail ran up hill or down, all the way, but there
+was very little difference, so far as hardships were
+concerned, from that which we had already experienced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the first three or four days our fathers had
+no difficulty in finding grass and water in plenty for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_93' name='Page_93'>[93]</a></span>
+the cattle, although there were times, of course, when
+for mile after mile we passed through nothing but
+sage grass, which even the oxen would not eat. Every
+night during this time, we came upon a pleasant place
+in which to camp, and, best of all, so Eben Jordan
+thought, the game was abundant everywhere. When
+he had shot a small bear and brought it into camp, it
+seemed as if his cup of happiness was full. One might
+have thought the lad had performed some wondrous
+deed, from the way he strutted to and fro, repeating
+marvelous accounts of his battle with the beast.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+AT BEAR RIVER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was when we came to Bear River that I began to
+understand how different this trail was from the one
+which we had been traveling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Instead of finding a safe ford, we came upon a swiftly
+running river, with a bed of rocks. So strong was the
+current that when father waded in to drive the oxen
+it was necessary for him to hold firmly to the bow of
+the foremost yoke lest he be thrown from his footing;
+the heavy cart pitched about until I was certain it
+would be overturned even as had Mrs. Russell's.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother said that if such an accident should befall
+us, it would be no more than a just punishment to
+Ellen and me because we had laughed so rudely when
+the Russell family were in trouble.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_94' name='Page_94'>[94]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE COMING OF WINTER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Two days after leaving Fort Bridger we had the
+first indication that winter was near at hand, even
+though it was then July. That night the buckets of
+water were crusted with ice a full half inch thick, and
+upon the tops of the mountains which towered so high
+above us snow had fallen.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-095.jpg" width="500" height="450" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+You can well fancy how we shivered while making
+ready to cook breakfast. When the train had started,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_95' name='Page_95'>[95]</a></span>
+Ellen and I crawled under the bed clothing, for it
+seemed as if we were like to freeze, and no one knows
+how long we might have remained had not mother
+insisted that we should sit once more on the front seat,
+where we could see the wondrous beauties everywhere
+around us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at that time we were traveling through what
+seemed to be a mountain gorge; towering many
+hundred feet above our heads on either side were
+crags which had been formed in the most comical
+figures. Some of them really looked like animals,
+and I could see now and then the head of an elephant
+or of a lion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later in the day father told us that we had passed
+in the early morning, while Ellen and I were asleep, a
+rock which looked so much like a beast that the
+trappers had given it the name of the Elephant's
+Statue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During nearly two days we continued along these
+rocky roads, with the mountains overshadowing us,
+and in places the cliffs hanging so low that it seemed
+as if the rumbling of our wagons must cause them to fall
+upon our heads.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next night we kept a fire in the cookstove
+because of the heavy frost in the air; then we came to
+a narrow pass between the mountains, where was a
+gorge or chasm, so deep that we could readily believe
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_96' name='Page_96'>[96]</a></span>
+Eben Jordan when he said the people at Fort
+Bridger told him the sun never penetrated to the
+bottom.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-097.jpg" width="484" height="487" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It was what is known as Ogden's Hole, and got its
+name, according to one story, through being the death
+place of a trapper by the name of Ogden, who had
+hidden himself there from the Indians and was either
+killed by them or starved to death, Eben was not
+certain which.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_97' name='Page_97'>[97]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+UTAH INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+There among the mountains we met a party of
+Utah Indians armed only with bows and arrows, and
+they journeyed with us until we camped for the
+night, counting as a matter of course upon our feeding
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Utahs looked to me more manly than any other
+Indians we had yet met. Surely they behaved themselves
+in a seemly manner, for when supper had been
+made ready, they seated themselves in a circle and
+waited decently to be invited to partake of food.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the following morning, after we had traveled
+about two miles, we came upon mountains which
+looked as if they were standing there to bar our
+advance, and for the life of us neither Ellen nor I
+could understand how it would be possible to continue
+the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even the men of the company were perplexed, and
+during half an hour or more the entire train was halted
+while our people went first this way and then that,
+seeking some trail over which we could pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Colonel Russell came back to where we were
+waiting anxiously and said he saw a narrow trail
+winding directly up over those enormous cliffs. When
+he pointed it out to the other men, we girls overheard
+what he said, and I could not repress a cry of fear,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_98' name='Page_98'>[98]</a></span>
+for surely it did not seem as if any member of our
+company could climb to such a height, over so narrow
+a path, let alone trying to drive the oxen with the
+heavy carts.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A DANGEROUS TRAIL
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+However, there was nothing to be done save attempt
+the dangerous passage, unless, indeed, we were willing
+to turn our faces toward Fort Bridger, admitting we
+had been beaten.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-099.jpg" width="498" height="307" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+My heart was literally in my mouth when we began
+that terrible climb among loose rocks, over a path so
+narrow that it seemed, if the wheels of the wagon
+slipped ever so little, we would be hurled to the bottom
+of the cañon, which is another word for a deep
+valley or a rift in the rocks.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_99' name='Page_99'>[99]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ascent was so steep that when we started no
+less than twelve yoke of oxen were needed to each
+wagon, and there was a steady, upward scrambling
+climb of fully two miles; therefore you can well
+understand how many hours
+we spent in making that
+short portion of the journey.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-100.jpg" width="498" height="474" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Only one wagon
+was sent up the
+trail at a time, lest
+through some accident
+it should run backward
+and crush whatever might
+be in its path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Until we were upon
+the side of the mountain
+where the trail
+pitched downward into the valley, I kept my eyes
+tightly closed, not daring to look at that dreadful
+depth into which the slightest mishap might plunge us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the panting oxen were brought to a standstill,
+the fearful labor having been performed, Ellen
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_100' name='Page_100'>[100]</a></span>
+said that she had been so frightened she was actually
+exhausted, and indeed the perspiration, caused no
+doubt by fear, was streaming down her face when I
+ventured to open my eyes in order to look around.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can conceive of nothing more horrifying than that
+journey, short though it was in point of distance, yet
+so long while one was in a state of terror as to seem
+almost endless.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In going down on the other side, but one yoke of
+cattle was hitched to each wagon, and kept there only
+in order to hold the tongue steady and thus steer the
+huge cart, while the hind wheels were chained, so that,
+not being able to turn, they might act as a drag to
+prevent us from sliding swiftly to destruction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father said we had traveled no more than seven
+miles when we had crossed that terrible mountain.
+There we found ourselves in a valley green with grass,
+where ran a small brook which was most pleasing to
+look upon, since it told us that we would have water in
+abundance. Coming upon such a spot after so much
+horror, caused it to appear all the more beautiful.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Without knowing it at the moment of halting, we
+made camp near two Indian lodges, where lived ten
+or twelve of the Utah tribe; having gained so favorable
+an impression of those savages when some of the members
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_101' name='Page_101'>[101]</a></span>
+had visited our camp, Ellen and I, with Eben
+Jordan, went among them, finding that they had set
+themselves up for traders, counting upon the settlers
+bound for the land of California, as customers. The
+women showed us a store of powder made from sunflower
+seeds, which had been parched and then pulverized;
+this they offered in exchange for
+food, or for ammunition. Ellen gave
+a loaf of corn bread for perhaps a
+quart of the stuff, and found it most agreeable to the
+taste.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-102.jpg" width="487" height="379" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+That evening one of the men brought in a fat antelope,
+and mother made our portion into as savory a stew as
+I had eaten since we left Pike County. After that
+delicious meal and with the pleasing knowledge that
+we had come in safety over so terrible a road, I slept
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_102' name='Page_102'>[102]</a></span>
+that night as soundly as I should have slept in my own
+bed at home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was decided that we would remain in that place,
+which mother called the Happy Valley, for a day, in
+order to give the cattle a long rest before they did more
+mountain climbing, and the housewives took advantage
+of the opportunity to wash clothing, bake bread,
+and do up such small chores as were necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Consequently all the young people were busily
+engaged keeping the fires going, churning, or performing
+such other tasks as were required, so that we gave
+little heed to what was going on around us until, when
+the forenoon was about half spent, Eben Jordan excitedly
+called our attention to a huge column of smoke
+which was rising from the mountains to the westward.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A FOREST FIRE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+At first I gave little heed to the matter, thinking it
+might betoken the location of some Indian village;
+but within another hour, so strong was the wind, the
+fire had been driven up over the summit of the huge
+mountain at the foot of which we were encamped,
+when straightway we had over our heads, as it were,
+a canopy of flame and smoke which shut out the light
+of day, causing it to appear as if night had come and
+the clouds were ablaze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Half-burned leaves and ashes were scattered upon us
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_103' name='Page_103'>[103]</a></span>
+until we were literally powdered as if with dust, and the
+men found it necessary to keep sharp watch over the
+coverings of the wagons, lest an ember should drop
+upon them.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-104.jpg" width="501" height="480" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+During all the remainder of the day and until nearly
+morning, the fire raged with greatest fury; but, fortunately,
+the flames did not come down into the valley.
+When we set off next day, the cattle, much refreshed,
+went on at a swift pace; but the air was yet so full of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_104' name='Page_104'>[104]</a></span>
+smoke that my eyes ached, while the tears ran down
+my cheeks in tiny streams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our way now lay along the foot of the range of mountains
+which sloped down to the marshy plains bordering
+that vast inland sea, which has always seemed so
+mysterious to me because of being salt.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE GREAT SALT LAKE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was about noon when we had our first view of
+the Great Salt Lake, and although I had never then
+seen an ocean, I could not believe the existence of
+anything more wondrous than that huge body of salt
+water among the mountains.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-105.jpg" width="494" height="321" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Father says the lake is probably a full hundred miles
+long, and at its widest part no less than sixty miles;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_105' name='Page_105'>[105]</a></span>
+but this he knows only from that which he heard from
+the hunters or trappers, therefore I am not setting
+it down as positive information. It seems to me I
+remember having read in one of my schoolbooks that
+it is no more than seventy-five miles long and thirty
+miles wide.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, this much which father says is true:
+that the lake has no outlet, and four barrels of its
+water being evaporated, will produce nearly a barrel
+of salt; therefore you can understand how much more
+salty it is than a real ocean.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No fish can live in it, and Eben Jordan declared that
+one of the trappers at Fort Bridger told him a man
+could not sink beneath the surface, so buoyant is the
+water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shore of this great inland sea was white with
+a crust of soda or salt, and the odor which came from
+the stagnant water in the marshes was so unpleasant
+as to cause me to feel really ill.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+EBEN AS A FISHERMAN
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was on this night, when we had our first view of
+the Great Salt Lake, that Eben Jordan gave us a most
+pleasing surprise. We had halted quite early in the
+afternoon, and even before camp was made he disappeared;
+but I gave no heed to the matter when I
+heard his mother inquiring after him, for I thought
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_106' name='Page_106'>[106]</a></span>
+the boy had gone off to try his skill as a hunter
+again.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-107.jpg" width="411" height="417" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Two or three hours later, however, it appeared that,
+instead of chasing deer or bears, he had turned
+fisherman for the time being,
+and when he came into camp
+just before we began to get
+supper, he had with him
+seventeen of the most beautiful
+trout you could
+imagine, which he
+had caught in
+one of the mountain
+streams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were
+so large that
+he literally
+staggered
+under the
+weight, and the
+single fish which he gave mother made an ample meal
+for all our family. It surely was delicious, and while
+eating it I made a mental resolve never again to speak
+impatiently or angrily to Eben, whatever he might do,
+for many times since our journey began he had been
+very kind to us all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It really began to seem as if, after we had turned
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_107' name='Page_107'>[107]</a></span>
+into the California trail, we were to come across everything
+which was strange and wonderful, for next day,
+after our train had rounded the base of one of the
+mountains, we came upon six or seven springs of water
+which was actually hot to the touch, as if on the point
+of boiling, and which smelled so strongly of sulphur
+that one would have been in danger of suffocation
+had the fumes been inhaled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those odd springs seemingly came up out of the
+solid rock, and mother, whose curiosity was so far
+aroused as to induce her to taste of the water, said
+it was bitter and most disagreeable; but she had no
+doubt it might be well for us all to take fairly strong
+doses by way of medicine.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+GRASSHOPPER JAM
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were yet within sight of the Great Salt Lake
+when, one evening, three Indian men and two squaws,
+miserably clad and very ugly, came into camp bringing
+for sale or barter something that looked much
+like preserves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even though these people were so wretchedly dirty,
+I was hoping mother might be induced to buy some
+of their wares, so keenly did I hunger for something
+sweet; but I speedily lost all desire for anything of
+the kind, when one of the men in the company explained
+what it was the Indians had for sale.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_108' name='Page_108'>[108]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seems impossible human beings could eat such
+things, and yet this man told me it was true that the
+Indians gathered a fruit called service berries, crushed
+them into jam and mixed the
+pulp with grasshoppers that
+had been dried over the fire
+and then pounded to a powder.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-109.jpg" width="497" height="417" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+He called the stuff "Indian fruit cake," and, much
+to my disgust, not only bought a generous portion,
+paying for it with needles, powder, and bullets, but
+actually ate the mixture. I could not bring myself
+even to look upon it, after knowing what it really was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more we came upon the mountains after leaving
+the shores of Great Salt Lake, and again we climbed
+up the steep ascents, with all the oxen toiling at a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_109' name='Page_109'>[109]</a></span>
+single wagon, and then slipped down on the opposite
+side, until it seemed certain some terrible accident
+must befall.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A DESERTED VILLAGE
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+One night we came to another place much like the
+one we had called the Happy Valley, and there we found
+an Indian village of fifteen or twenty lodges, every one
+deserted, although we knew the people could not be
+far away, for fires were burning brightly in front of
+the dwellings, dogs were barking, and many willow
+baskets filled with service berries were standing about.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-110.jpg" width="493" height="285" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It was a beautiful spot for a home, and I could
+almost have wished father would settle there, rather
+than continue on over a trail which was as dangerous
+as the one spread out before us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were in the valley poplar and pine trees
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_110' name='Page_110'>[110]</a></span>
+with many willows, and here and there a patch of
+sunflowers shining out from the surrounding green
+with a golden glory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had supposed our people would camp there; but
+instead of doing so they continued on, planning to
+spend the night on the higher land. When we were
+halfway up the ridge which led out from the valley,
+the Indians, whom we had evidently frightened, came
+out from their hiding places, whooping and shouting
+as if to scare us, although I saw no token that they
+were bent on doing us mischief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We camped on a slope of the ridge, down which ran
+a small brook, and those who had tents set them up
+in a grove of cedar trees where they looked most
+inviting. When, however, Ellen and I strolled that
+way we found the mosquitoes and midges so thick
+that it seemed as if we had a veil in front of our
+faces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night the men of our company gathered apart
+from the women and children, seemingly to discuss
+some important matter; my curiosity was so far
+aroused that when I saw Eben Jordan I called upon
+him for an explanation, and he told me that we had
+come to the most dangerous part of our journey,
+where we must encounter perils so great that those
+which had already been overcome would seem as
+nothing.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_111' name='Page_111'>[111]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE GREAT SALT DESERT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were near what is known as the Great Salt
+Desert; in fact, were to cross it on the morrow, and
+when Eben Jordan led me some distance farther up
+the ridge, I could see it at my feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The desert is covered with salt like sand, and on it
+grows nothing except wild sage, while from where we
+were then camped, until it would
+be possible again to find water,
+is no less than sixty miles,
+as Eben said.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-112.jpg" width="309" height="333" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Sixty miles over a
+soft surface where
+the animals would
+oftentimes sink fetlock-deep,
+and the
+wheels of the wagons
+plow into the salt
+sand until the progress
+must be woefully slow.
+In addition, all the while we would plod along knowing
+that no water was to be had, save what we carried
+with us, until the train gained the opposite side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were camped on the side of a mountain which
+seemed to be made up almost wholly of rock; this
+place had been decided upon because there could be
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_112' name='Page_112'>[112]</a></span>
+found a small spring, yielding barely enough water to
+satisfy the desires of ourselves and the animals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the last spring or stream of fresh water we
+should come upon until we had traveled across that
+desert, which, from the distance, looked like a great
+sea of milk. Once we had started upon the journey,
+it would be necessary to continue on, heeding not
+those who might fall by the way, so I heard father
+and Colonel Russell say, for the lives of our people
+depended upon our going steadily forward.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Orders were given by the leaders of the party that
+our mothers cook no pemmican nor any salted food,
+lest it increase our thirst, and we ate bread with as
+much milk as could be had from the cows; within
+a few hours, for we were to set off again at midnight,
+another meal, consisting wholly of bread made from
+corn meal, would be served.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The water of the spring was so salty as to be almost
+undrinkable. During the evening the women and
+girls were busily engaged making coffee, for in such
+form the water was a trifle more palatable, and we were
+advised to fill with the coffee every vessel that would
+hold liquid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for the cattle, they would be forced to make the
+march of sixty miles with nothing to drink save what
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_113' name='Page_113'>[113]</a></span>
+could be carried in two casks which had been bought
+at Fort Bridger for that especial purpose.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-114.jpg" width="490" height="414" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+When I asked father how it would be possible for
+us to give the animals drink even once, from no more
+than sixty gallons of water, he said they were not intending
+to allow
+the poor creatures
+to have
+what they wanted.
+The supply of water
+would be used simply to
+moisten the mouths of those that were suffering
+most severely. There could be no question whatsoever
+but that the live stock would be in great
+misery, and if it so chanced that we people escaped
+dire distress, then indeed we should hold ourselves
+fortunate.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_114' name='Page_114'>[114]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately Ellen and I had little time in which
+to borrow trouble concerning the future, for every
+woman and girl found plenty with which to occupy
+her hands, as we prepared for the most dangerous and
+disagreeable portion of all the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made corn bread in abundance, cooking no less
+than three times as much as we could eat, for Colonel
+Russell suggested that it was possible we might abate
+the thirst of the animals by giving them bread in
+small quantities during the march, and so we filled
+every available place in the wagon with this food.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mother made coffee enough to provide us with a
+supply on that night, as well as for breakfast, and,
+in addition, we had filled to the brim every vessel
+which was water-tight, until I should think we must
+have had no less than three gallons, while every other
+wagon was equally well supplied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men and boys were not idle while we baked the
+corn bread and made coffee. They had enough and
+plenty with which to occupy their time, for every
+piece of harness, every yoke bow, wheel, or other
+portion of the outfit which might give way, was looked
+after carefully, lest there be a delay, because a halt on
+the desert, so we had been told at Fort Bridger, might
+mean death to us all.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_115' name='Page_115'>[115]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night the animals were corralled inside our
+circle of wagons in order that they might be ready
+when the hour came for us to set off, and for the first
+time since I had known Eben Jordan I saw an expression
+of anxiety upon the lad's face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wherever one looked among our people he could see
+gloomy faces, and there was no more singing of "Joe
+Bowers," no whistling and joking among the lads, as
+was usually the case during an evening in camp.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When midnight came, I had a very good idea that
+there was more danger to be met in crossing the desert
+than I had been willing to believe, for we were awakened
+and told that the march would be begun in half an
+hour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Father urged mother and us girls to eat and drink
+heartily while we might. When I asked him why
+we were to set off at such an unusual hour, he replied
+in a serious manner that from the moment we started
+until the desert had been crossed, there would be no
+halt made unless some of the oxen fell by the wayside
+and we were forced to delay in order to unyoke
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Ellen asked him how long a time the crossing
+would take, he said he hoped no more than twenty or
+twenty-four hours. He also told us it had been agreed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_116' name='Page_116'>[116]</a></span>
+that if one of the wagons should break down, or any
+accident happen, the unfortunate ones were to be left
+behind, the remainder of the company continuing on
+without making any effort to aid them.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-117.jpg" width="499" height="297" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Then, perhaps for the first time, I began to realize
+how much danger lay before us. Surely if our fathers
+had agreed that during the coming march they would
+make no halt for any reason, there must be grave cause
+for fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men made ready for the march by the light of
+the moon, and there were yet no signs of the coming
+day when we set off; and then we were a mournful
+party indeed, the drivers urging their beasts to the
+utmost, as if they realized that every moment was
+precious.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_117' name='Page_117'>[117]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+There was nothing very dreadful to be seen on the
+first six miles of the march, for then we were winding
+our way up the ridge, on the side of which we had been
+encamped, and save for the fact that Ellen and I were
+suffering from the cold, the journey was much the
+same as we had already known.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we rode down the other side of the ridge,
+among stunted cedar trees which looked as if they were
+dying from lack of water, and Eben Jordan came past
+our wagon to say we had come upon Captain Frémont's
+trail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fact that we were to follow in the footsteps of
+other human beings gave me more courage and caused
+Ellen to appear almost cheerful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We crossed a valley where nothing was growing save
+wild sage, and then over rocky ridges which looked
+much like masses of dark green glass, through a narrow
+gap which might have been cut by the hand of man
+in the solid ledge, after which we saw spread out
+before us that vast desert plain, white as a sea of milk
+and most desolate and forbidding in appearance.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A PLAIN OF SALT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Not a vestige of any green thing could be seen
+within our range of vision. No bird was flying, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_118' name='Page_118'>[118]</a></span>
+the silence was so like the silence of the tomb that I
+did not dare to speak aloud while calling mother's
+attention to this thing or that, when we halted for
+a short time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was the last stop we would make, save in case
+of accident. Some of the animals ate the bread, others
+refused it, and then I saw what would
+have been, under other circumstances,
+a comical sight, for the men
+were going about with wet
+cloths moistening
+the mouths of the oxen.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-119.jpg" width="494" height="274" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+After spending nearly an hour in making the final
+preparations, word was given for the train to set off.
+Instead of being like milk, we found that the desert
+was made up of a bluish clay, covered here and there
+in blotches with what was much like salt, and these
+white spots were so large and numerous as to give to
+the whole the appearance of milky white when seen
+from the distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The oxen sank fetlock-deep, and as we advanced
+there were times when they broke through what was like
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_119' name='Page_119'>[119]</a></span>
+a crust, even to their very knees; therefore one can well
+fancy that the wheels plowed into this yielding surface
+until it was quite as much as the cattle could do to
+pull the wagons along.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+If all the way had been as difficult as the start, we
+might never have gained the other side; but as we
+advanced the surface grew harder and harder, until
+finally even the shoes of the horses failed to make any
+impression upon it. Then I heard father say, as he
+came back from time to time to speak with mother,
+that it appeared to him as if we were traveling over a
+solid crust of salt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the end of an hour, perhaps, we came upon what
+Ellen called another "soft spot," and for a distance of
+two or three miles the oxen strained and tugged at the
+yokes as they barely succeeded in drawing the wagons
+at a snail's pace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we girls had most terrible forebodings, for it
+seemed certain we could never hope to cross that place
+before all the company had died from thirst.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To our great relief as well as the relief of the cattle,
+we came upon a hard surface once more, and the
+oxen were urged to their utmost speed in order to make
+up for the time we had lost while toiling through the
+salty dust.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_120' name='Page_120'>[120]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no halting for dinner. Now and then we
+ate the corn bread, for with such terrible anxiety in our
+hearts none of us were conscious of hunger; but again
+and again and again did we sip the cold coffee, using it
+sparingly, however.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SALT DUST
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was nearly ten o'clock in the forenoon when a dark
+cloud began to gather in the south, and I said to mother,
+with great joy, that we would
+at least know the pleasure of being
+wet, even though we could not get all we wanted to
+drink, for surely there was a shower close upon us.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-121.jpg" width="504" height="316" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Indeed, we did have wind, with thunder and lightning,
+but not a drop of water fell. On the contrary, the
+breeze stirred up the dust from the plain and filled the
+air with it, and our parched throats grew yet more
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_121' name='Page_121'>[121]</a></span>
+dry because of the salt which we were forced to inhale,
+even though we covered our faces with cloths.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How the poor beasts suffered! Their tongues were
+actually covered with salt, and not a mouthful of
+water could they have as a relief from their distress.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-122.jpg" width="318" height="329" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Save for the absence of rain, it was a veritable
+tempest of thunder and lightning,
+lasting about twenty minutes;
+then the sun came out with
+more heat, as it seemed to me,
+than before, which but
+served to increase
+our desire for water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the sun
+was no more than
+three hours from
+setting, I strained my
+eyes ahead, hoping to
+see the end of this horrible
+journey, although mother had told me there was no
+possibility of our coming to water until late in the
+night, and I saw the foremost of the wagons leaving
+the white plain, and passing over what promised to be
+a good road, toward a rocky range.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I shouted aloud in my joy, that we would soon
+come to where it would be possible to quench our
+thirst.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_122' name='Page_122'>[122]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+For the moment mother believed I was right, but then
+Eben Jordan dampened our joy by telling us that we
+must ride over the ridge five or six miles, where were no
+signs of water, and then we would come upon another
+plain of salt, which was not less than
+twelve miles in width. Only after
+that had been crossed might we find
+ourselves in safety.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-123.jpg" width="475" height="341" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Ellen threw herself
+face downward
+upon the
+bed in the
+bottom of the wagon, and lay there as if in a fit of
+the sulks, while I crouched by mother's side, wondering
+how long it would be before death came, for I had grown
+so foolish in my sufferings that it was as if life was
+nearly at an end.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Mother left us to ourselves during half an hour or
+more, and then told us plainly that we were showing
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_123' name='Page_123'>[123]</a></span>
+ourselves to be very foolish girls. She insisted that we
+eat the harder portions of the corn bread; that we take
+frequent drinks of the coffee, and, above all, that we
+resolutely calm our minds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It must have been that amid all my distress I fell
+asleep, for suddenly I heard, as though coming from
+afar off, shouts of joy and the voices of men calling one
+to another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Starting up, I asked mother what was happening,
+and gazed around wildly, for night had come and the
+moon was not yet risen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Thank God! the desert has been crossed, and we
+have come at last to where water may be obtained!"
+my mother cried fervently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She leaped out of the wagon, we two girls following,
+and, running hurriedly, we went to where the men,
+boys, and animals had gathered in a group.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believed we had come to a stream of sweet water,
+but it was only a narrow brook, where ran hardly
+more than a thread of water which had already been
+trampled upon by the animals until it was like liquid
+mud.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A SPRING OF SWEET WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+At this moment Eben Jordan, taking Ellen and me
+by the hands, said, forcing us to run with him:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"By following the stream to its head we shall surely
+come upon a spring."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_124' name='Page_124'>[124]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And this we did, finding within two hundred yards
+a spring of the sweetest water I have ever taken into
+my mouth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I drank again and again, seemingly never to
+be satisfied, and it was only after I had shown myself
+very selfish that I remembered
+poor mother, who, most
+likely, was standing by that muddy stream waiting
+until the water had grown clear so she might drink.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-125.jpg" width="494" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Then Eben Jordan went back, and a few moments
+later returned, bringing with him all the women and
+children, and many of the men.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having drunk our fill, Ellen and I went back to the
+wagon, where we ate heartily of corn bread, and then
+laid ourselves down to sleep, while the men and boys
+were bringing the teams into a circle to form a corral.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_125' name='Page_125'>[125]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE OASIS
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src="images/i-126.jpg" width="272" height="311" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+After this we remained idle thirty-six hours, being
+forced to do so, as father said, because the animals
+were so nearly exhausted that a long time of rest was
+absolutely necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was during this time that Eben Jordan again
+displayed his skill as a hunter, for toward nightfall he
+brought in two small antelopes; but the animals
+were so tiny that each family had no
+more than half enough to satisfy
+their craving for fresh meat, and
+we were forced to complete the
+meal with bacon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our halting place was on what
+can be described only as
+an oasis, stretching from
+that sea of white to the
+rocky cliffs beyond, and
+father told us that while
+we would not be forced to march over a plain of salt
+during the next day, the journey would be exceedingly
+wearisome and our suffering considerable, for another
+entire day must be spent without water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again we made preparations for a time of distress,
+by boiling more coffee and filling up the water casks
+with sweet water from the spring.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_126' name='Page_126'>[126]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This time the anticipation was worse than the
+reality. On resuming the march, we traveled over
+the side of the barren ridge more than twelve miles,
+until we came to a well-defined wagon trail which, so
+some of our people said, had first been made by
+emigrants from Missouri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I gave little heed as to who might first have passed
+over the trail, rejoicing with Ellen that at last we had
+come to some evidence of human beings; it seemed
+as if our troubles were well-nigh at an end, for we were
+told that this trail would lead us by the most direct
+course into that land of California where we hoped
+to find rest and comfort.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SEARCHING FOR WATER
+</h2>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-128.jpg" width="500" height="441" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p>
+From this on, during four wearisome days, we were
+kept upon a short allowance of water, and did not
+dare eat much food lest it should unduly excite our
+thirst.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src="images/i-129.jpg" width="153" height="500" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>
+Now and then we came upon a spring, when our
+water casks and every vessel that could be used for
+the purpose were filled to the brim, and yet again and
+again we suffered from thirst, but not so keenly as while
+crossing the desert.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whenever I slept, it was to dream of the river we had
+left behind us on the border of Pike County, wishing
+that it might be possible for me to go to its banks
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_127' name='Page_127'>[127]</a></span>
+once more, and, even though the water was muddy,
+drink my fill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due time we came to that point in the trail where
+we were forced to march directly over the face of
+the mountains. Here our fathers
+found the way
+so difficult that
+once more the teams were
+doubled up, twelve or fifteen
+yoke of cattle being put
+on one wagon, and, after
+hauling the heavy load to the summit of the range,
+driven back to get another.</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Of course our progress was slow, and we traversed
+mile after mile only with severe labor on the part of
+the men and boys, for we girls and the women did no
+more than walk in order to lessen the load.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_128' name='Page_128'>[128]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we came to a narrow
+passage amid the rocks, which
+was most frightful to look
+upon, although there was
+nothing whatever about it to
+cause alarm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a gorge or cañon
+much like a tunnel, where the
+light from above was like a
+slender silver thread, and we
+went down into a narrow defile,
+where was barely room for the
+wagons to pass, and where the
+rocks, dark and fearsome, rose
+hundreds of feet above our
+heads.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When we had passed through
+that forbidding place we received
+our reward, for we came
+into a most beautiful valley
+with water and grass in abundance,
+and, although it was
+yet early in the afternoon, there was no thought of
+anything save making camp, that we might enjoy the
+blessings which were spread out before us.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_129' name='Page_129'>[129]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the sun had set Eben Jordan had killed another
+antelope; but he did not dare go far from the
+encampment in search of other game, for no sooner
+had twilight come than we could hear the howling of
+the wolves around us, until one's very blood ran cold.
+It seemed certain, and indeed was a fact, that we were
+literally surrounded by those
+ravenous animals,
+which were kept at a
+respectful distance only by
+the glare of our camp fires.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-130.jpg" width="496" height="329" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Next day, when we took up the line of march again,
+it was the same old story of climbing over rocky ridges
+and descending into valleys where could be found no
+signs of vegetation, until we had come to a very network
+of streams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At our next camp we were visited by a party of
+Snake Indians, who, like the other savages we had seen,
+pressed around us, begging for bits of bread.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_130' name='Page_130'>[130]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SNAKE INDIANS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Those Indians were not at all like any we had seen
+before; their clothing, what little there was of it,
+consisted mostly of rabbit skins sewed together to
+form cloaks. To my mind they resembled more the
+Negroes than the Indians; but father said, save for
+their inclination to steal anything upon which they
+could lay their hands, that we need have no fear whatever
+regarding them, because they were known to be
+peaceable. The men were armed only with bows
+and arrows and seemed to have great fear of a gun
+or a pistol.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The visitors had with them a quantity of dried meat
+and roots which they wanted to trade with us for bread
+or for blankets; but our store of provisions was not so
+low that we would willingly eat what those creatures
+had prepared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They lingered around the encampment, however,
+coming as closely to the wagons as our people would
+permit, and we girls and boys were told to keep
+careful watch lest they steal all our possessions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at sunset, one of the men who was standing guard
+over the cows shouted that a wild beast was creeping
+up on us from a thicket a short distance away, to the
+right of where father's wagon stood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Looking up quickly, I saw a huge panther crawling,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_131' name='Page_131'>[131]</a></span>
+as you might say, much as a cat approaches a mouse,
+and it seemed to me that he was making ready to spring
+directly upon us girls.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-132.jpg" width="498" height="377" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Ellen and I clambered shrieking into the wagon,
+where we hid our heads in a feather bed like the silly
+children we were, and straightway there ensued the
+greatest tumult that can be imagined, as our hunters
+strove to kill the ferocious animal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is, perhaps, needless for me to say that the panther
+escaped, although Eben Jordan claimed it would have
+been possible for him to kill the beast, had he not been
+hampered by frightened girls and men.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_132' name='Page_132'>[132]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A SCARCITY OF FOOD
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+When the march was taken up once more, we journeyed
+over a less forbidding, although a not very
+pleasant, country, seeing antelopes at a distance, but
+so wild that even Eben Jordan strove in vain to bring
+one down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During four or five days we marched westward, seeing
+now and then great numbers of animals which would
+have served to provide us with fresh meat, but our men
+were unable to kill any; then we found our supply of
+food growing so small that it was decided each person
+should have at a single meal no more than one slice of
+bacon and a piece of corn bread as big as a man's hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is no good reason why I should set down such
+mournful details. While we were pressing steadily but
+painfully westward, so hungry that it seemed to me I
+could have eaten anything resembling food, and thirsty
+until my tongue was parched, the rays of the sun beat
+down upon us with pitiless fury, until we were so worn
+that life seemed at times like some frightful dream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can remember distinctly, however, what happened
+on that day when we heard those who were leading
+the train, shout that we had come upon water in
+abundance. When Ellen and I, leaping out of the
+wagon, ran forward, we saw before us several large
+springs from which the water was bubbling generously.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_133' name='Page_133'>[133]</a></span>
+Our delight was even as great as the disappointment
+was bitter, when the water was found to be almost
+boiling hot.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+SPRINGS OF HOT WATER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It seems hardly possible that any liquid could come
+out of the earth so warm, and if I had never left
+Pike County I would have set down
+such a tale as a fable; but we did find
+boiling water, so hot that
+when Eben Jordan let
+down into one of those springs a slice of bacon tied to
+a string, it was well boiled in less than fifteen minutes.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i-134.jpg" width="496" height="365" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+However, we were not to be deprived of water even
+though it was hot, for father proposed that we fill
+some of our cups, declaring it would be sweet to the
+taste once it was cool.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_134' name='Page_134'>[134]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This we did not only once, but three or four times,
+during the continuation of the march, for we came
+upon many of those hot springs on the trail after
+we left the banks of Mary's River.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came a day in August when, after an unusually
+wearisome march, we suddenly overtook two emigrant
+wagons in which were fourteen people who had come
+from Missouri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Verily it seemed as if old friends were meeting, for
+as our train came in sight, some of the strangers began
+to sing, "My name it is Joe Bowers," and however
+weary I had once been of hearing that tune, it now
+sounded in my ears like music.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That evening we spent visiting; those people,
+like ourselves, were traveling toward the land of California,
+and only those who have been journeying in
+the desert and through the wilderness, without meeting
+any human beings save Indians, can understand how
+intent was the pleasure we experienced in being with
+our own kind again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The emigrants decided to join our train, and we
+were right glad to have them with us, although their
+store of provisions was no greater than ours; but all
+were put on what father called "short allowance,"
+which was to each person two slices of bacon and two
+pieces of bread during one entire day. All our men
+who had guns were continually searching for game;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_135' name='Page_135'>[135]</a></span>
+but while we could see antelope and even wild fowl,
+both beasts and birds were so shy that the best hunters
+among us could not get within gunshot.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+IN THE LAND OF PLENTY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+And so we traveled on, hungry, thirsty, and weary,
+despairing now and then of ever coming again into a
+land of plenty, until we arrived at the Truckee River,
+which was more beautiful to my eyes than ever had
+been the broad Mississippi.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i-136.jpg" width="491" height="321" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The waters of the river were clear as crystal and
+very cool, while from it our people took within an hour
+a sufficient number of trout to satisfy the hunger of
+all. It seemed necessary we should eat until it was
+absolutely impossible to swallow more, in order to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_136' name='Page_136'>[136]</a></span>
+atone in some way for the hunger that had pressed so
+sorely upon us during the ten days previous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eben Jordan said laughingly that we were much
+like the savages, who were starved one day and in
+danger of bursting with food the next.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE TRUCKEE RIVER
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It pleased me right well when father said that we
+were to remain in camp one full day by the side of this
+river, in order to give the animals the opportunity of
+feeding upon the rich grass which grew in abundance
+on every hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last we had come into California, and a beautiful
+country indeed it appeared to me while we remained
+near the river,&mdash;all the more beautiful, perhaps, because
+of the suffering which it had cost us to get there. Both
+Ellen and I now came to believe our fathers had been
+wise indeed to leave the banks of the muddy Mississippi
+for so glorious a river as the Truckee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All around us were evidences of bountiful nature,
+for the land was seemingly overcrowded with game,
+with food on every hand for the cattle, beautiful
+flowers, and everything which goes to make one happy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How long the journey had been I did not really know
+until Eben Jordan came to where Ellen and I were
+sitting on the grass with the skirts of our gowns filled
+with flowers. He had in his hands a bit of paper on
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_137' name='Page_137'>[137]</a></span>
+which he had set down, from what had been told him
+by the leaders of the company, the distance we people
+had traveled since leaving Independence. This was no
+less than two thousand and ninety miles, to which one
+must add, in order to learn how long was our march,
+the distance from Pike County to Independence, which
+would, so Eben said, make a total of about two thousand
+two hundred.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-138.jpg" width="482" height="319" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Even then we were nearly two hundred miles from
+San Francisco; however it was not the intention of our
+fathers to journey so far across California, for we had
+not come expecting to find gold, but to make for ourselves
+farms, where we could live comfortably by
+honest industry.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_138' name='Page_138'>[138]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Already I am writing as if we had come to an end
+of our journey, and so it seemed to me while we
+remained in camp on the bank of the Truckee River;
+but there were yet many days of toil before we
+arrived at the place where our people had decided to
+buy land.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was yet necessary that we cross the Sierra Nevada,
+where we found a seemingly impassable trail over the
+mountains, yet we knew that people like ourselves,
+traveling in the same way, had gone before us, and all
+the dangers and the difficulties seemed lessened because
+of the fact that we had come so near to where we
+intended to make our new homes.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+After much labor in descending the Sierras, we
+came upon the first settler's house we had seen since
+starting out. It stood in the valley of the Sacramento,
+on what is called Bear Creek, and was owned by Mr.
+Johnson, who himself was a Piker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To me the house was odd looking, not because of
+being so small as to have only two rooms, but because
+it was built half of logs and half of adobes, or bricks
+of mud which have been dried in the sun. It was a
+rough building, and yet how homelike it appeared!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Unfortunately Mr. Johnson and his family were
+not at home. The building was closed, and although
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_139' name='Page_139'>[139]</a></span>
+the door was not really locked, it had been fastened
+with strips of rawhide in such a manner as to show that
+the owner wished to keep out stragglers.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-140.jpg" width="495" height="279" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+As we journeyed leisurely and comfortably down the
+valley of the Sacramento, we saw now and then large
+droves of wild horses and elks feeding peacefully on the
+plains, and there was never a night when Eben Jordan,
+or some other of the hunters, did not bring in an
+abundance of game.
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+THE MISSION OF SAN JOSÉ
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then came that day when we arrived at the little
+village which is called the Mission of San José, and
+although everything about us was strange, we said to
+ourselves that at last we had come to our new home, for
+it was near that place our fathers intended to buy land.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_140' name='Page_140'>[140]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The village of San José must at one time have had
+many hundred inhabitants; but when we arrived it
+was little better than a ruin. The houses, built of sun-dried
+bricks, were without roofs and crumbling slowly
+away, all of which appeared the more pitiful because of
+the well-kept church and the fortlike two-story house
+where lived the priests. Both buildings were in such
+good repair that they afforded a striking contrast to
+the tumble-down dwellings which could be seen near
+at hand.
+</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src="images/i-141.jpg" width="495" height="286" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I would love to tell how father built for himself a
+house on land which he bought from the priests of the
+Mission, and how mother and I set about making a
+home which should be somewhat the same in appearance
+as the one we had left in Pike County, but it is not for
+me to do so.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_141' name='Page_141'>[141]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+It may be that at some time when our home here
+is fully made as we would have it, I can tell you how we
+live, what odd Spanish dishes we have on the table, how
+great a profusion of fruit is at our hand for the gathering,
+and very many other things which to me are most
+interesting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have learned to love this land even more than I
+did Pike County, which at one time I believed the most
+beautiful spot on earth, and although it pleases me now
+and then, when settlers come over the long trail, to
+hear the younger members of the company singing
+"My name it is Joe Bowers," I have almost forgotten
+that Missouri was once my home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have come to look upon myself as belonging to
+this beautiful valley where Nature is so lavish with all
+her gifts, and therefore, instead of calling myself a
+Piker, as in the days gone by, I dearly love to write so
+all may see, that I am now, and ever shall be as long
+as the good God allows me to remain in this world,
+Martha of California.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_142' name='Page_142'>[142]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<h2>
+BOOKS CONSULTED IN WRITING
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+</h2>
+
+<ul class="none">
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Bryant, Edwin</span>: What I Saw in California. D. Appleton &amp;
+Co.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Clampitt, John W.</span>: Echoes from the Rocky Mountains.
+Belford, Clarke &amp; Co.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Connelly, William Elsey</span>: Doniphan's Expedition. Pub. by
+the Author.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Dexter, A. Hersey</span>: Early Days in California. Tribune-Republican
+Press.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Drake, Samuel Adams</span>: The Making of the Great West.
+Charles Scribner's Sons.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Frémont, J. C.</span>: The Second Expedition. Washington.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Knower, Daniel</span>: The Days of a Forty-Niner. Weed, Parsons
+Print. Co.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Paxson, Frederick L.</span>: The Last American Frontier. The
+Macmillan Company.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Thornton, J. Quinn</span>: Oregon and California. Harper &amp;
+Brothers.
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<span class='smcap'>Woods, Daniel B.</span>: Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings.
+Harper &amp; Brothers.
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
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+</body>
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+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Martha of California
+       A Story of the California Trail
+
+Author: James Otis
+
+Release Date: January 6, 2014 [EBook #44600]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
+  signs=.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Map to illustrate the Story of Martha of California]
+
+
+
+
+     MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+     A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL
+
+     BY
+     JAMES OTIS
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO
+     AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+JAMES OTIS'S PIONEER SERIES
+
+
+  =ANTOINE OF OREGON=: A STORY OF THE OREGON TRAIL.
+
+  =BENJAMIN OF OHIO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF MARIETTA.
+
+  =HANNAH OF KENTUCKY=: A STORY OF THE WILDERNESS ROAD.
+
+  =MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA=: A STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL.
+
+  =PHILIP OF TEXAS=: A STORY OF SHEEP RAISING IN TEXAS.
+
+  =SETH OF COLORADO=: A STORY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF DENVER.
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY
+MRS. A. L. KALER.
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1913, IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+The author of this series of stories for children has endeavored simply
+to show why and how the descendants of the early colonists fought
+their way through the wilderness in search of new homes. The several
+narratives deal with the struggles of those adventurous people who
+forced their way westward, ever westward, whether in hope of gain or
+in answer to "the call of the wild," and who, in so doing, wrote their
+names with their blood across this country of ours from the Ohio to the
+Columbia.
+
+To excite in the hearts of the young people of this land a desire to
+know more regarding the building up of this great nation, and at the
+same time to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to noble
+deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them there is nothing
+of romance, but only a careful, truthful record of the part played
+by children in the great battles with those forces, human as well as
+natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast portion of this broad
+land against the advance of home seekers.
+
+With the knowledge of what has been done by our own people in our own
+land, surely there is no reason why one should resort to fiction in
+order to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime disregard of
+suffering in nearly every form.
+
+                                                             JAMES OTIS.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+  A CHANGE OF HOMES                                     9
+  "JOE BOWERS"                                         10
+  THE REASONS FOR MOVING                               12
+  MOTHER'S ANXIETY                                     14
+  HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL                                15
+  OUR MOVABLE HOME                                     18
+  LEAVING ASHLEY                                       19
+  EBEN JORDAN                                          22
+  ON THE ROAD                                          25
+  EBEN'S PREDICTIONS                                   26
+  WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA                       27
+  THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT                                 28
+  NIGHT IN CAMP                                        31
+  THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE                             32
+  KANSAS INDIANS                                       34
+  LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE                  35
+  A STORMY DAY                                         36
+  A LACK OF FUEL                                       38
+  MAKING CAMP IN A STORM                               40
+  A THUNDERSTORM                                       42
+  ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS                            43
+  THE STOCK STRAY AWAY                                 45
+  AN INDIAN VILLAGE                                    47
+  I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING                       48
+  EBEN'S BOASTS                                        50
+  SUFFERING WITH THIRST                                51
+  IN SEARCH OF WATER                                   53
+  QUENCHING OUR THIRST                                 55
+  MAKING BUTTER                                        57
+  A KANSAS FERRY                                       58
+  THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK                        60
+  BREAD MAKING                                         62
+  PRAIRIE PEAS                                         63
+  EBEN AS A HUNTER                                     65
+  A HERD OF BUFFALOES                                  66
+  EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP                               67
+  A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT                              68
+  CURING THE MEAT                                      69
+  A WASH DAY                                           71
+  UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING                              72
+  ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY                   74
+  INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES                               75
+  PRAIRIE DOGS                                         77
+  COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP                             79
+  CHIMNEY ROCK                                         81
+  AT FORT LARAMIE                                      82
+  COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE                      84
+  TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS                       85
+  ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE                               87
+  INDEPENDENCE ROCK                                    88
+  ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER                              90
+  WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA                     92
+  AT BEAR RIVER                                        93
+  THE COMING OF WINTER                                 94
+  UTAH INDIANS                                         97
+  A DANGEROUS TRAIL                                    98
+  SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW                   100
+  A FOREST FIRE                                       102
+  THE GREAT SALT LAKE                                 104
+  EBEN AS A FISHERMAN                                 105
+  GRASSHOPPER JAM                                     107
+  A DESERTED VILLAGE                                  109
+  THE GREAT SALT DESERT                               111
+  PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY                   112
+  BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING                             114
+  BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT                           115
+  THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT                     117
+  A PLAIN OF SALT                                     117
+  LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK                           119
+  SALT DUST                                           120
+  A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT                             122
+  COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER                             122
+  A SPRING OF SWEET WATER                             123
+  THE OASIS                                           125
+  SEARCHING FOR WATER                                 126
+  THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY                                128
+  SNAKE INDIANS                                       130
+  A SCARCITY OF FOOD                                  132
+  SPRINGS OF HOT WATER                                133
+  IN THE LAND OF PLENTY                               135
+  THE TRUCKEE RIVER                                   136
+  A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY                     138
+  THE MISSION OF SAN JOSE                             139
+  OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA                              141
+
+
+
+
+MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+
+
+A CHANGE OF HOMES
+
+
+In case one should ask in the years to come how it happened that I,
+Martha Early, who was born in Ashley, Pike County, in the state of
+Missouri, and lived there until I was twelve years old, journeyed
+across the prairies and deserts to California, the question can be
+answered if I write down what I saw when so many people from our county
+went to make new homes in that state where gold had been found in such
+abundance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+For my part, I used to wonder why people should be willing to leave
+Missouri, enduring the many hardships they knew awaited them on the
+journey of two thousand miles, in order to buy land in a country where
+nearly all the inhabitants were Spaniards and Mexicans.
+
+I suppose the stories told about the wonderful quantity of gold which
+had suddenly been found in California caused our people to think
+particularly of that far-off land. When the excitement of getting rich
+by digging in the earth a few weeks or a few months had in a measure
+died away, there came tales regarding the fertile soil and the beauty
+of the country, until nearly every one in Pike County, as well as in
+the county of the same name just across the Mississippi River in the
+state of Illinois, much the same as had a fever for moving.
+
+Perhaps that is why the people we met while journeying called all
+the emigrants "Pikers." You see there were so many from both the Pike
+counties who went into California in the year 1851, that it appeared to
+strangers as if every person on the trail had come from Pike County.
+
+
+
+
+"JOE BOWERS"
+
+
+Then, too, fully half of all these emigrants were singing or whistling
+that song of "Joe Bowers," which was supposed to have been written by
+a Piker, and to represent a man from Missouri or Illinois.
+
+Surely every one remembers it. The first verse, and if I have heard it
+once I certainly have a thousand times, goes like this:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+The song was intended to show that this Joe Bowers came from our
+county, and, perhaps, because so many of the emigrants were singing
+it, all of us who went into California in the year 1851 were, as I have
+said, called "Pikers."
+
+However the name came about, I was a Piker, and before we arrived in
+this wondrously beautiful country, I wished again and again that I had
+been almost any other than an emigrant, for the way was long, and oh!
+so wearisome.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I must always think of Missouri as being one of the best of all the
+states in the Union, because it was there I was born and there I went
+to school until father caught the California fever, which resulted in
+our setting out on a journey which, for a time, seemed endless.
+
+My father had no idea of going so far simply to dig for gold. He had
+seen many who went across the country in 1849 believing they would come
+back rich as kings, yet who returned home poorer in pocket than when
+they left; therefore he came to understand that only a few of all that
+vast army of miners who hastened into California after the discovery
+at Sutter's Mill, got enough of the precious metal to pay for the food
+they ate.
+
+Father thought he could buy better land in California than was to be
+found in Pike County, for to have heard the stories told by some of the
+people who had come back disappointed from the land of gold, you might
+have believed that one had only to put a few seeds at random in the
+ground in order to gather marvelous crops.
+
+
+
+
+THE REASONS FOR MOVING
+
+
+Nor was my father the only man who put faith in at least some of
+the fanciful tales told concerning the land of California which had
+so lately been given up to the United States by the Spaniards. Our
+neighbors for miles around were in a state of unrest and excitement,
+until it was decided that nearly all would undertake the long journey,
+and I could not prevent myself from wondering if Pike County would
+not feel lonely to have the people abandon it, for it surely seemed as
+if every man, woman, and child was making haste to leave Missouri in
+search of the wondrous farming lands.
+
+Mother looked woefully solemn when, on a certain evening, father came
+home and told us that he had sold the plantation for about half as much
+as it had cost him, and was going to join the next company that set out
+from Pike County.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a long time before mother would have very much to say about
+the journey, but as the days passed and the neighbors who were going
+with us came to our home that they might talk over the preparations
+for moving, she became interested in making plans, although again and
+again, when we two were alone, she told me that this trailing over two
+thousand miles of deserts and mountains was not to her liking.
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER'S ANXIETY
+
+
+It was only natural she should be worried about making such a great
+change, for all father's worldly goods consisted of the Pike County
+plantation and the live stock, and if, after selling the land and
+spending very nearly all his money to provide for the journey, we found
+that California farms were no better than the one we were leaving, it
+would be the saddest kind of mistake.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+"Your father has set his mind on going; the homestead has been sold,
+and we must make the best of it, Martha, hoping that half the stories
+we have heard about California are true," she said to me so many times
+that I came almost to believe it was a foolish venture upon which we
+were about to embark.
+
+Then, when I began to wonder how we were to live during such a long
+journey, and asked mother if it would be possible for us to cook and
+churn and do the family washing while traveling in an ox wagon, she
+would say with a sigh:--
+
+"Don't, Martha, don't ask questions that I can't answer! It seems to me
+almost certain that we shall starve to death before getting anywhere
+near California, even if we are not killed by Indians or wild beasts,
+without having had time to get very hungry or dirty."
+
+Yet we did travel the two thousand miles, walking the greater part of
+the way, and although there were many times when all of us were hungry,
+none actually starved to death; nor were we killed by wild beasts or
+Indians, else I could not be here in this beautiful place writing this
+story.
+
+Father spent days and days getting ready for the moving. After he
+had finished the preparations, I thought the journey would not be so
+terribly hard, because he had arranged everything so snug and cozy for
+mother and me, that it really seemed as if we might take actual comfort
+in case we could make shift to do housework in a wagon.
+
+
+
+
+HOW WE WERE TO TRAVEL
+
+
+We owned only four yoke of cattle, but with some of the money received
+from the sale of the plantation, we bought as many more, which gave
+us sixteen oxen. We were to take with us all five of the cows and both
+the horses, on which father said mother and I might ride when we were
+tired of sitting in the wagon; but I knew what kind of animals ours
+were under the saddle, and said to myself that it would be many a long
+day before I would trust myself on the back of either.
+
+It would have done you good to see our movable home after father had
+made it ready, and by that I mean the wagon in which mother and I were
+to ride. It was small compared with the other, in which were to be
+carried enough furniture for a single room, farming tools, grain for
+the cattle, and a host of things; but I did not give much heed to the
+load because I was so deeply interested in what was to be a home for
+mother and me during many a month.
+
+That wagon was enough to attract the attention of any girl, for, fitted
+up as I first saw it, the inside looked really like a playhouse, and
+when I said as much to father, he declared that I was indeed the right
+kind of girl to go into a wild country, if I could find anything like
+sport during the tramp from Pike County to California.
+
+I surely must tell you about that wagon before setting down anything
+concerning the journey. It was what is known as a Conestoga, and one
+may see many of the same kind on the Santa Fe or the Oregon trail.
+Imagine a boxlike cart nearly as long as an ordinary bedroom and so
+wide that I could stretch myself out at full length across the body.
+The top and sides were covered with osnaburg sheeting, which is cloth
+made of flax or tow. Some people really sleep between sheets made of
+that coarse stuff, but it is so rough and irritating to the flesh that
+I had far rather lie on the floor than in a bed where it is used.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Osnaburg sheeting makes excellent wagon covers, however, for the rain
+cannot soak through the cloth, and it is so cheap that one can well
+afford to use it in double thickness, which serves to keep out the wind
+as well as the water.
+
+
+
+
+OUR MOVABLE HOME
+
+
+The front of the wagon and a small window-like place at the end were
+left open, but could be securely closed with curtains that buttoned at
+the sides.
+
+Around the inside of the wagon were hung such things as we might need
+to use often during the journey. There were pots and pans, towels,
+clothing, baskets, and two rifles, for father believed weapons might be
+required when we came upon disagreeable savages, or if game was to be
+found within shooting distance.
+
+Our cookstove was set up at the rear end of the wagon, where it could
+be pushed out on a small shelf fastened to the rear axle, when we
+wanted to use it. A most ingenious contrivance we found that shelf to
+be, for mother and I could remain inside the wagon and do our cooking
+in stormy weather; but those women of the company whose husbands had
+not been so thoughtful were forced to stay out of doors while preparing
+a meal, no matter how hard it might be raining.
+
+Our beds were laid in the bottom of the wagon and covered with the
+bedclothes to save them from being badly soiled, as would be likely if
+we slept upon them at night, and cooked, ate, and did the housework on
+them during the daytime.
+
+We did not try to carry many dishes, because there were so many chances
+they would be broken, but nearly everything of the kind we used was of
+metal, such as tin or iron.
+
+Underneath the cart were hung buckets, the churn, lanterns, and such a
+collection of articles that I could not but fancy people might believe
+we were peddlers carrying so large an assortment of goods that they had
+overrun the wagon body.
+
+What puzzled me before we started on the journey was how we could
+persuade the cows to travel as we would have them; but I soon came to
+understand that it was a simple matter.
+
+
+
+
+LEAVING ASHLEY
+
+
+You must know that father was not the only man in Ashley that intended
+to build up a new home in California. More than half of the people
+were making preparations for the journey, and when we finally set off
+the procession was very imposing, with more than fifty wagons, not one
+of them drawn by less than three yoke of oxen or four pairs of mules;
+there were cows almost without number and a flock of thirty or forty
+sheep.
+
+I said to myself then, that we need have no fear the savages would try
+to make trouble for us, because when they saw so many people, the poor,
+ignorant things would believe everybody on the banks of the Mississippi
+was heading for California, and it would be a very brave Indian who
+dared be other than polite to such a large company.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even though you had never before heard of Pike County, it would have
+been most interesting to see the people of Ashley on the morning we
+set off. As Ellen Morgan, a particular friend of mine who was going to
+California also, said to me just before we drove away, "It is much as
+if all the folks in the world had come to see us leave town."
+
+The streets were actually thronged, as I have heard it said the streets
+of a large city oftentimes are, and what with the shouts of the men,
+the screams of the children, and the lowing of the cattle, it was quite
+as much as I could do to make myself heard when I tried to tell Ellen
+that at the last minute mother had given permission for her to ride in
+our wagon.
+
+Of course the noise in the street could not have been as great as I
+fancied, for Ellen had no trouble in hearing me, as was shown when she
+came running back to our wagon with her Sunday frock and other valuable
+things neatly done up in a corn sack.
+
+Then it seemed to me that no improvement could be made upon our manner
+of traveling, for we two girls were to be together all the while, and
+even when the weather was stormy, it would seem really cozy under our
+double thickness of osnaburg cloth.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It surprised me very much because mother acted as if it saddened her to
+set off on what could not fail to be a delightful journey. I saw tears
+in her eyes when she came out of our old home for the last time, and
+wondered if she was sorry because she was leaving the house where we
+had lived so long, or whether she believed we would never find another
+such delightful town as Ashley.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course I felt just a little tearful when those people who were to
+remain at home gathered around the wagon to say "good-by"; but there
+were so many of our neighbors in the company we would not have a chance
+to be lonely, and I was certain that all the friends we were leaving
+behind would soon join us, having come to realize, as had father, that
+California was the only proper place in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN JORDAN
+
+
+If I could have had everything arranged exactly to please me, I would
+have insisted that Eben Jordan be left in Ashley. He is a boy about six
+months older than I, who always seems to take the greatest delight in
+teasing us girls. I had no doubt but that he would be very disagreeable
+at times, and felt, on that first day, as if there could be no cloud on
+the California skies if Eben had remained in Pike County.
+
+It is no more than fair for me to say, however, that, much as I
+disliked the boy, Eben Jordan was one who ever kept his ears open to
+the conversation of his elders and was more than willing to repeat to
+Ellen and me whatever he learned.
+
+Even before our company had left Ashley, he told us the journey was to
+be begun by first going to Independence, a town on the Missouri River
+where the Santa Fe traders and those who would journey by the Oregon
+trail made ready for the long march.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Up to this time I had had no idea of how we were to get to California,
+save we drove directly across the prairies and over the mountains,
+always in a westerly direction.
+
+But I must have understood that we could not strike off across the
+country in any direction we fancied, because we must follow some trail
+in order to find a plentiful supply of grass for the cattle and mules
+and sheep, as well as water for ourselves.
+
+Eben said that the leaders of the company, among whom was my father,
+had talked not a little regarding the country through which we should
+pass. Thus he learned that we would journey over what is known as the
+Oregon trail as far as Fort Bridger, after which, striking off to the
+southward somewhat, we would go along the shores of the Great Salt
+Lake, past Ogden's Hole, to the land of the Bannock Indians. Then the
+course was to be as nearly westward as the foothills would permit.
+
+"It will be a rare time for us all," Eben said gleefully, after having
+told us girls that we would journey nearly two thousand miles before
+coming to that land for which we sought. "There will be game until
+a fellow can't rest, and after we are once well on the way, we shall
+come upon Indian tribe after Indian tribe, when you girls will be only
+too glad to shelter yourselves under my wing, for there is no knowing
+what the savages may take it into their heads to do, providing the
+opportunity offers."
+
+Ellen was not a little displeased because Eben seemingly believed we
+would be glad of his protection, and I really felt uneasy in mind when
+the lad left us to go to his father's wagon, saying:--
+
+"It isn't well for you girls to be so high and mighty, because before
+this journey has come to an end you may be glad that I am willing to
+lend a hand."
+
+Ellen laughed at the idea that the time would ever come when we
+might accept a favor from Eben Jordan. She seemed so certain nothing
+disagreeable could happen to us while our company was so large, that
+I soon put away all forebodings and gave strict attention to what was
+before us.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE ROAD
+
+
+It had taken our fathers considerable time to get the people and the
+cattle in proper marching order; but once this was done, they gave the
+word for the procession to move forward, and the people at Ashley whom
+we were leaving behind cheered us wildly as we went slowly out from the
+town.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed much like taking part in some wondrous celebration, to be
+riding thus amid those who were cheering and, I dare say, envying us.
+
+Mother was content to sit inside the wagon, where father had placed a
+short-legged chair for her convenience, but Ellen and I remained on the
+front seat where we could see all that was going on, and until we were
+well clear of the town it did seem to me that I was a very important
+person.
+
+It was late in the forenoon before we started, therefore no halt was to
+be made for dinner, but this gave me little uneasiness, for mother had
+an ample supply of cooked provisions on hand.
+
+Our neighbors at Ashley had spoken again and again of the hardships
+which we would encounter before arriving at the shores of the Pacific
+Ocean, and I said to Ellen, when we were two or three miles from the
+town, that I could not understand how any one could believe such a
+journey might be either wearisome or dangerous.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S PREDICTIONS
+
+
+Surely we were as comfortable as two girls could be, with a covering
+over our heads in case it rained, and enough food to satisfy our
+desires.
+
+Therefore what difference did it make, as I said to Ellen, whether we
+were five months or six on the march? Eben Jordan, who had come back
+from his father's wagon along the line of procession as if to see that
+everything was right, overhearing my words, replied with a laugh, which
+sounded to me very disagreeable:--
+
+"You may well say, Martha Early, that this portion of the journey is
+easy. We are now traveling on a beaten road, with nothing to prevent
+our going forward at the best pace of the oxen. Wait until we have
+really started, after having come to Independence, and leave the
+highway to take to the trail. You will find the wagon tumbling and
+pitching over the rocks, or floundering across fords, where watch must
+be kept sharply against the Indians, and every man needs to have his
+eyes open lest he be attacked by wild beasts. Then you shall say to
+me whether it makes no difference to you if this journey requires five
+months or six."
+
+I refused to listen to the lad, who seemed to find the greatest
+pleasure in making other people uncomfortable in mind, and I turned
+toward Ellen, as if speaking to her very earnestly in whispers, thereby
+causing Eben to believe I had not heard what he said, whereupon he went
+off laughing.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA
+
+
+We had heard people talking about the wonderful fortunes to be found
+in California, until it seemed as if we might become rich simply by
+digging in the ground a bit; but, as you shall hear, before our journey
+had come to an end we understood that however much valuable metal there
+might be in the earth, it was not to be gathered like pebbles.
+
+We met on our way hundreds of people who had gone into California with
+great expectations and were coming back poorer than when they set out;
+but on the first day we were ignorant of all this, and quite convinced
+that it was a simple matter to become wealthy by a very little labor.
+
+Before night came there was to me less pleasure than during the
+first hour or two. The wagon jolted over the roads roughly, making
+it necessary to hold firmly to the seat, lest I be thrown off, and it
+became wearisome to sit so long in one position.
+
+Mother, who stretched herself out upon a bed in the bottom of the wagon
+when she was tired of sitting upright, did not weary so soon of this
+kind of traveling; but nevertheless she was quite as well pleased as
+Ellen and I, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, word was given
+that we should halt and make camp.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT
+
+
+We were yet in a fairly thickly settled portion of the country; but
+the leaders of our company determined to make the encampment exactly as
+if we were on the prairie or among the mountains, where there might be
+danger from wild beasts or wilder savages, and you may well fancy that
+Ellen and I were on our feet as soon as the wagon came to a stop, for
+we had heard so much of this camp making that both of us were eager to
+see how it was done.
+
+All the wagons were drawn up in a large circle so that the tongue of
+one came close to the tailboard of another, and just inside this ring
+of vehicles were set up small tents, which many of the company were to
+use at night because their families were so large that every one could
+not be given room in the wagons.
+
+Inside this row of tents were picketed the horses, or, at least, they
+were to be picketed as soon as night should come; but when we first
+halted they were fastened out upon the plain where they might eat the
+grass, while the oxen, cows, and sheep were turned loose with half a
+dozen of the men and boys watching lest they should stray.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Because the people were not accustomed to thus making an encampment,
+no little time was spent in getting everything into what the leaders of
+the company believed to be proper order, and then our mothers set about
+cooking supper.
+
+In our wagon the stove was pushed back upon the shelf made expressly
+for it, short lengths of pipe were run through the osnaburg cloth and
+tied by wire to the topmost part of the rear wagon bow, so they might
+be held straight, and then mother set about her work much as if she had
+been at home.
+
+It was most pleasant camping in the open air, and before we had been
+halted an hour the place was quite homelike.
+
+At nearly every wagon one or more women were making ready for supper;
+a short distance away the men and the boys were herding the cattle, and
+near by, inside or out of the inclosure, were scores and scores of idle
+ones, who, their work being done, were now enjoying a time of rest.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There was much talking and shouting, but above all one could hear that
+song of the true Pikers:--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers,
+       And I've got a brother Ike.
+     I came from old Missouri,
+       Yes, all the way from Pike."
+
+
+
+
+NIGHT IN CAMP
+
+
+How Ellen and I enjoyed the supper on this first night of the journey!
+Mother made sour-milk biscuit; the stove worked to perfection, as if
+delighted because it was being carried to California; and what with
+cold meat and steaming hot tea it seemed as if I had never tasted
+anything better than that meal.
+
+Although we had enjoyed ourselves hugely, especially during the first
+part of the day's march, both Ellen and I were tired, and when mother
+said we might make up our bed on the bottom of the wagon, we were not
+only willing, but eager to do so, for after the hearty supper it seemed
+as if sleep had become a necessity.
+
+Once we had crossed over into Dreamland, our eyes were not opened again
+until the sun was near to rising; then the shouts of the men and the
+lowing of the cattle caused us to spring up suddenly, almost fancying
+that the camp had been attacked by savages, even though we were not yet
+out of Pike County.
+
+If I had the time, it would please me to describe the journey from our
+home in Ashley to a town known as Independence, on the Missouri River,
+where the Oregon trail begins; but since, as father said again and
+again, we did not really start until we had struck the Oregon trail,
+it is best that I leave out all that happened while we were coming from
+Pike County to the Missouri River.
+
+
+
+
+THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+We traveled slowly, because the cows were not easily herded, and, as
+Eben Jordan said, none of our people were accustomed to such kind of
+marching.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We did, however, finally arrive at the real starting point after eight
+days, during which time Ellen and I came to understand that, however
+pleasant it was to sit in the wagon and look out upon the country
+through which we passed, it might grow wearisome.
+
+Ellen and I had fancied we would see something very new and wonderful
+at Independence, and yet, while everything was strange and there was
+much to attract one's attention, it was not so very different from
+other settlements through which we had passed.
+
+There was, however, a constant bustle and confusion such as one could
+not see elsewhere. Enormous wagons, which Eben Jordan said belonged
+to the traders who went over the Santa Fe trail, were coming into
+town or going out, each drawn by eight or ten mules and accompanied by
+Spaniards or Negroes, until one could but wonder where so many people
+were going.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There were trains, much like our own, belonging to settlers who were
+going into Oregon, or, like ourselves, into California. Those were
+halted just outside the town, until the entire settlement was literally
+surrounded, while among them all, near the wagons of the traders as
+well as those of the emigrants, lounged Indians, nothing like the
+people I had imagined the savages to be.
+
+
+
+
+KANSAS INDIANS
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As Ellen said, if that was the kind of Indian we should meet with
+during the journey, then we need have little or no fear, for the
+savages we saw at Independence were nothing more nor less than beggars,
+who would greedily pick up and devour anything eatable that was thrown
+at them. Eben Jordan made himself ridiculous by marching around armed
+with a rifle, and a huge knife thrust in his belt, as if expecting each
+instant to be called upon to defend his life.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were tired of the settlement, even before we had fairly arrived, and
+after Ellen and I walked through the town, wondering not a little at
+seeing a number of the houses and stores built entirely of brick, we
+were content to return to our own encampment, which was about half a
+mile out on the prairie.
+
+
+
+
+LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE
+
+
+Up to this time mother and I had but little trouble in preparing the
+meals whenever we came to a halt; but I heard some of the men say that
+within a few days after we were once on the trail, all this would be
+changed. There would be many times when we might not find sufficient
+fuel to keep a fire in the stove, when we would feel the pangs of
+thirst because of not being able to get enough water, and when, the
+stock of provisions which we had brought with us having been consumed,
+we would know what it was to be hungry.
+
+When I repeated to mother what I had heard, she nodded her head
+sadly, replying that she had thought of all these things when father
+first determined to seek a new home in the California country, and
+she doubted not that we would come to know much suffering, before we
+arrived at our journey's end.
+
+As may be supposed, I was not in a cheerful mood when Ellen and I went
+to bed that night. During the half hour or more while we lay there
+wakeful, we spoke of all the possibilities of the future, and almost
+regretted that our parents had decided to leave Pike County, for
+surely they could find nowhere on the face of this earth a place more
+agreeable in which to live.
+
+
+
+
+A STORMY DAY
+
+
+When another morning came, it surely seemed as if all my fears were
+about to be realized, for the day dawned dark and forbidding, the rain
+came down in torrents, while the wind sighed and moaned as it drove
+floods of water from one end of the wagon to the other, wetting us
+completely even before we were awake.
+
+I could not believe father would set off on the journey at such a time
+as this, and was wondering how we should be able to cook breakfast,
+when he called to mother that she make ready the morning meal, for in
+half an hour the train would be in motion.
+
+No one had been sufficiently thoughtful to store beneath the wagon a
+supply of dry fuel, and the consequence was that we had nothing with
+which to build a fire, save a few armfuls of water-soaked wood which
+father and Eben Jordan succeeded in gathering, for where so many
+emigrants were encamped, fuel of any kind was indeed scarce.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I almost forgave Eben for having appeared so ridiculous when he
+strutted around fully armed, as I saw him striving to gather wood for
+us when he might have remained under the cover of his father's wagon;
+indeed, before many days passed both Ellen and I saw that there was
+much good in the boy's heart, even though he was too often disposed to
+make matters disagreeable for us girls.
+
+
+
+
+A LACK OF FUEL
+
+
+Mother and I made our first attempt at cooking while the stove was
+beneath the wagon cover and the pipe thrust out through the hole in the
+rear.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+If we had had plenty of dry wood, I have no doubt but that the work
+could have been done with some degree of comfort; but as it was, we
+were put to our wits' ends, even to get sufficient heat to boil the
+water, and when word was given for the company to start, we had not
+really begun to cook the breakfast.
+
+Of course it would have been dangerous for us to attempt to keep a fire
+burning while the wagon was moving. Therefore we would have been forced
+to set off without breakfast, had not Ellen's mother kindly sent us
+some corn bread which she had baked the night before, and this, with
+fresh milk, made up our meal.
+
+At the time I thought I was much injured because of not having more
+food; but before we had come to the land of California I often looked
+back upon that morning with longing, remembering the meal of corn bread
+and milk as though it was a feast.
+
+During all the long day, except for half an hour at noon, the
+patient oxen plodded wearily on amid the rain, oftentimes sinking
+fetlock-deep in the marshy places. Everything was damp and every place
+uncomfortable, and at times it seemed as if I could no longer bear up
+under the suffering.
+
+In order to teach me that, instead of grumbling, I ought to be thankful
+for the comforts I could enjoy, mother told me to look at those who
+were exposed to the storm. I saw father and the other men walking
+beside the oxen, the rain pelting down upon them pitilessly; I heard
+the cry of a baby in pain; and I soon came to understand that my lot
+was far less hard than that of many others.
+
+She read me a lesson on patience and contentment, whatever might
+be my surroundings, until I grew ashamed of having shown myself so
+disagreeable.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING CAMP IN A STORM
+
+
+Determined as I was to make the best of whatever might happen, I
+could not but be disheartened when, nearly at nightfall, we halted to
+make camp again. The rain was still descending like a cloud-burst;
+everything around us, including the bedding, seemed saturated with
+water. Yet I saw the men spread the thin cloth tents, after the wagons
+had been drawn up in a circle, or made into a corral as the travelers
+on the trail call it; I saw them wade ankle-deep in the mud, but with
+never an impatient word or gesture. It appeared sufficient to them if
+their women and children could enjoy some little degree of comfort.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Again we strove to do our cooking under the wagon covers, and again we
+were in need of fuel. Ellen and I, with the skirts of our gowns over
+our heads for protection, scurried here and there, picking up twigs and
+crying out with delight when we came upon a piece of wood as large as
+one's fist.
+
+You can well imagine what kind of supper we had that night. The inside
+of the wagon was filled with smoke, for the short length of stovepipe
+did not afford a strong draft, and mother labored, with the tears
+streaming down her cheeks, to fry as much bacon as would satisfy our
+hunger.
+
+The smoke was so dense that we all wept, smiling even in the midst of
+our seeming tears when father said, after he had milked the cows and
+had brought in quite as much water as milk, that it was a question
+with him whether he could stand better the smoke or the rain. He was
+inclined to think he had rather be soaked with water than cured like a
+ham.
+
+Again Eben Jordan showed his kindness of heart, for he insisted upon
+helping this man and that, milk the cows and herd the oxen and sheep,
+and he did whatever came to his hand, all the while humming "Joe
+Bowers."
+
+When Eben came into our wagon later in the evening, Ellen and I treated
+him very kindly, for we were coming to understand that this boy, who
+found so much pleasure in vexing us girls, was ever ready to do a good
+turn to another, even when it cost him much labor and discomfort.
+
+
+
+
+A THUNDERSTORM
+
+
+During all that night it rained; but shortly after midnight there came
+up such a terrific storm of thunder and lightning that it seemed as if
+the very heavens were bursting.
+
+Then all our men and boys were forced to go and quiet the cattle, for
+the beasts were even as frightened as we girls were, and, so father
+said, would have stampeded, leaving us to spend the next day searching
+for them on the prairies, had it not been for the precautions of our
+people.
+
+When I complained to mother, just after father had gone out into the
+tempest, that this journey to California was nothing like what I had
+pictured it, she said mildly that if I was growing disheartened now, it
+would have been better had I never set out from Pike County, for thus
+far matters had gone much to our convenience and that shortly we would
+find real trials and real troubles.
+
+Next morning, however, my spirits rose, for the sun was shining
+brightly when I awoke; but word was passed around the camp that
+instead of setting off at once, we might spend two hours drying the bed
+clothing and such of our belongings as had been saturated during the
+storm.
+
+Then there was presented such a scene as would have interested any one
+who had never witnessed the like before. On every wagon tongue were
+hung blankets and garments of all kinds, and over the wheels of each
+cart lay feather beds or bolsters, until it must have looked as if
+every member of our company had spent a day in washing, and was now
+about to do the ironing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan went here and there, aiding this one or that when he had
+done what he might for his mother, all the while singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," until, even before our breakfast had been cooked, fully
+half the company were joining in that foolish song. Mother said almost
+fretfully, when Ellen and I took up the refrain, that she wished the
+senseless words had never been written, or that we had never heard
+them.
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER COMPANY OF PIKERS
+
+
+Although we started off late that morning, owing to the drying out, we
+halted early in the afternoon, for we had come upon a company of men
+and women who, like ourselves, were bound for the land of California.
+The leader of the company was Colonel Russell.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To my surprise and delight these people also proved to be Pikers,
+having come from a settlement about twenty miles south of our old home.
+You may readily fancy how enjoyable was that evening, when we visited
+from wagon to wagon, listening to the stories of what had thus far
+happened to the company, and repeating our own adventures, if such they
+could be called.
+
+While we women and girls were thus engaged, the men of both companies
+decided to travel together, believing that by increasing the number
+there might be less danger from the Indians, for Eben Jordan said that
+the savages we saw at Independence were but imitations of the fiercer
+ones whom we were most likely to meet before our journey's end.
+
+
+
+
+THE STOCK STRAY AWAY
+
+
+I suppose it was the excitement occasioned by the meeting with Colonel
+Russell's company, which caused our men in charge of the cattle to be
+careless during the evening and later in the night, for when morning
+came we found that nearly all the oxen and a goodly number of the cows
+had strayed from the camp and disappeared completely.
+
+When Eben Jordan first told us of this, I believed a great disaster
+had come upon us; but straightway father and half a dozen of the other
+men mounted the horses and set off across the prairie in search of the
+missing cattle, as if this was trouble to be expected.
+
+In fact, before many days passed, I came to look upon the straying or
+the stampeding of the live stock as of little consequence.
+
+We had plenty of time to cook breakfast that morning while the men were
+searching over the prairie for the cattle, and, much to my surprise,
+within three hours all the stock had been brought into the encampment
+and we were making ready once more for the day's journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before noon we arrived at Blue Creek, where we had, as it seemed to me,
+much trouble because the trail leading to the stream was deep with mud,
+and the bottom of the creek so soft that our people were forced to wade
+waist-deep on either side of the wagons, lest the wheels sink so far
+down that the oxen would not be able to pull the heavy loads across.
+
+Again and again the men laid hold of the wheels, straining every muscle
+as the drivers of the cattle urged the patient beasts to their utmost
+exertions, and before all our company had crossed that small creek
+the day was so nearly at an end that there was nothing left for us to
+do save camp once more, although we had traveled only six miles since
+setting out.
+
+Then came Sunday morning, when I believed we would remain idle, for
+it did not seem right that we should travel on the Lord's day; but, as
+father said, while we were making such a long journey it was necessary
+to push ahead during every hour of fair weather, and to take our day of
+rest only when it was absolutely necessary.
+
+And so, instead of worshiping God as we would have done had we
+remained in Pike County, we went forward, fording two small creeks and
+journeying over a dull, level plain, whereon, save flowers, nothing was
+to be seen to delight the eye.
+
+
+
+
+AN INDIAN VILLAGE
+
+
+Within an hour of sunset we came to a veritable Indian village,
+although there were not many of the savages living in it, and Ellen and
+I took advantage of this first opportunity to see the redskins in their
+homes.
+
+There were but four men, with perhaps a dozen women and children, all
+living in lodges made of smoke-dried skins, and looking exceedingly
+dirty and disagreeable.
+
+We girls were not inclined to linger there long, although the Indians
+were willing we should, and when our short visit had been brought to
+a close, they followed us, clustering around our wagons and waiting
+patiently for food to be thrown to them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+From this time on during a full week we continued to push steadily
+forward, moving so slowly that even we girls could understand the
+journey would be exceedingly long and wearisome.
+
+
+
+
+I WEARY WITH SO MUCH TRAVELING
+
+
+More than once did I reproach myself with having been so eager to leave
+Pike County, and many times I said to myself that a girl who has a
+happy home is indeed foolish to wish for a change, lest, like Ellen and
+me, they find, as mother often says, that they have jumped out of the
+frying pan into the fire.
+
+One day was much like another. Now the trail would be hard underfoot
+and the traveling easy, and again we would cross a stream, the bottom
+lands of which were so marshy that the oxen lugged and strained at
+their yokes, until oftentimes it was necessary to double up the teams
+in order that the heavy wagons could be pulled over the soft footing.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The only thing I remember which came to break the monotony of the slow
+march was when, on a certain evening, father returned with his pockets
+and hands full of wild onions which he had found on the prairie.
+Because our meals had consisted chiefly of corn bread and salted meat,
+I said to myself that now we would have a feast.
+
+But alas! those wild onions were like my dreams about traveling to the
+land of California. While they looked fair on the outside before being
+cooked, they were so strong to the taste that one nearly choked in
+trying to eat them.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN'S BOASTS
+
+
+Eben Jordan, hearing of my disappointment, said with a laugh that when
+we came to the country where game was to be found he intended to bring
+into camp all the fresh meat the company could eat, and one might have
+thought from the way the boy talked that he believed himself capable of
+feeding all our company unaided.
+
+It would have been well if Eben had contented himself with predicting
+the marvels which he counted on performing; but, instead, he reminded
+me that before we had come into the Land of Promise I might be
+more than willing to eat wild onions and "smack my lips over the
+disagreeable food."
+
+It seems that he heard, while in Independence, of the sufferings of
+some people who had journeyed over that same trail, when they found
+no game and their provisions were consumed before the march came to an
+end.
+
+It would have been better, so I said to him, if he had not repeated
+such things, for surely we were getting all the discomfort that was
+needed to show how foolish we had been in leaving Pike County, where no
+one suffered from hunger or thirst, if he had a tongue in his head to
+make known his desires.
+
+It seemed almost as if the boy was a real prophet, for within a few
+hours Ellen and I did come to know what thirst--bitter, parching
+thirst--was like.
+
+We had started out one morning when the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us so fervently that the wagon covering seemed to be no protection, and
+the only relief we had was from the gentle breeze which was blowing,
+not with sufficient force to relieve our suffering, but enough to
+prevent us from being literally baked.
+
+
+SUFFERING WITH THIRST
+
+We drank, as did all our company, of the water which we carried in kegs
+stowed in the wagons, and gave no heed to the fact that the supply was
+scanty, for until this time there had never been any lack of water.
+
+At noon even the breeze died away; there was not a cloud in the sky,
+the trail was smooth and hard, running over what father called the
+tableland of the prairie, and the heat so intense that there were times
+when it surely seemed as if I could not longer continue to breathe.
+
+Then, when our sufferings were seemingly as great as they could
+possibly be, mother discovered that our store of water had been
+exhausted, and called to father, asking that he get a supply from one
+of the other wagons.
+
+It seemed strange to me then, and does even now, that at almost the
+same time all our company had run short of water, and from one end
+of the long train to the other we could not beg enough to moisten our
+tongues.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Perhaps it was the knowledge that I could not quench my thirst which
+caused me to suffer more severely, and when father said we must travel
+no less than twelve miles before coming to any stream, my heart sank
+within me.
+
+Ellen was suffering quite as much as I, except that she had the good
+sense to hold her peace, and mother, patient with me as ever, said all
+she could to prevent me from dwelling too much upon my condition.
+
+Nor was I the only one in that company to suffer severely. Whenever the
+train came to a halt that the cattle might have a breathing spell, I
+could hear the smaller children crying for something to drink, and once
+during the afternoon Eben Jordan came alongside our wagon, asking if
+our water kegs were empty.
+
+Then I saw upon his face that look of eagerness and desire such as I
+had read on Ellen's, and when I told him we were suffering from thirst
+even more than any other members of the company, he shook his head and
+replied:--
+
+"It is the younger ones who suffer the most, Martha Early, for they
+cannot be made to understand that it is necessary to wait; while you
+and I, who are older, know it is only a case of grinning and bearing it
+as best we may."
+
+
+
+
+IN SEARCH OF WATER
+
+
+I was irritated because Eben should read me a lesson, for indeed his
+words sounded like a reproof. I turned away from him, saying to myself
+that if it was not possible to make the oxen move more rapidly, there
+was danger of my dying, all of which was foolishness, even wickedness,
+as you will agree.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+To force the beasts to a more rapid pace was absolutely impossible.
+Already the sheep as well as the oxen were showing signs of exhaustion
+and panting for water. Their tongues were hanging out, and they moved
+slowly as if unable to go farther, while five of the cows had dropped
+down on the trail as if dying.
+
+We were forced to leave them behind, fearing lest if time was spent in
+trying to get the beasts on their feet again, more of the stock would
+fall.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I hardly knew how the remainder of that day passed, for I gave no heed
+to anything save my own suffering, thereby showing myself wickedly
+selfish, until a great shout went up from those who were in advance,
+telling that at last, after what seemed like many, many long hours, we
+had come within sight of a stream of water.
+
+Then the oxen, wild with thirst and smelling the dampness in the air,
+plunged forward as if in a fury, for the drivers were unable to hold
+them in check.
+
+In a mad race went every yoke of the cattle, drawing the heavy wagons
+that lurched first on one side and then on the other as we went over
+the uneven surface of the trail, until all the contents which had been
+stowed so carefully were thrown violently about, while we girls and
+mother had the greatest difficulty to save ourselves from being flung
+out.
+
+
+
+
+QUENCHING OUR THIRST
+
+
+The oxen continued on until every yoke of them stood in the creek, and
+there they halted, drinking eagerly until their sides swelled out as if
+bursting.
+
+Regardless of the fact that our wagon was standing in not less than
+twelve inches of water, Ellen and I leaped out and drank from the
+stream like dogs, too thirsty to wait longer.
+
+I have been in need of water many times since that day, but never have
+I suffered so keenly, and I now understand that the distress which
+well-nigh overcame me was caused for the most part by my foolishly
+dwelling upon the lack of water, whereas if I had forced myself to
+think of other matters, much pain might have been avoided.
+
+It was impossible to force the oxen across the creek, and we were
+obliged to make camp on the easterly side, for it seemed as if they
+would never have done with drinking.
+
+When they were so full that it was impossible to swallow another
+mouthful, they refused to cross, but struggled to get among the rich
+grass which covered the bottom lands of the creek.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After the horses, as well as the men and the cattle, had been thus
+refreshed, half a dozen of our people, among whom was Eben Jordan, rode
+back on the trail, hoping to drive in some of the cows that had fallen
+by the wayside. It was not until a late hour in the evening that they
+returned, bringing with them only two of the animals.
+
+Thus we suffered our first loss on the journey, and it seemed to me
+a most serious matter; but even before we had come to the trail which
+led to California, the loss of even twice as many cattle could not have
+disturbed me, for I had come to believe that we should arrive at that
+Land of Promise, if indeed we were so fortunate as to survive, almost
+empty-handed, owing to the difficulties of the way which the beasts
+could not overcome.
+
+The next day's march was ended early in the afternoon, because then we
+had come to a stream, and those who were familiar with the trail knew
+we could not arrive at another place where water would be found until
+late in the night.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING BUTTER
+
+
+So we encamped early, and mother decided to set about churning, for
+long ago our store of butter had been exhausted. We had but a small
+quantity of cream, all of which had been saved since morning.
+
+No sooner had she begun her work than fully half the women of the
+company followed her example, and at the side or in the rear of nearly
+every wagon was a churn set out with either the girls or the boys
+working the dasher.
+
+As Eben Jordan said when he offered to spell me at the churn, it looked
+as if we people, who had set out from Ashley to find a new home in the
+land of California, had decided to abandon the idea and turn all our
+attention to making butter.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next morning we were forced to continue the journey before having
+breakfast, for we were nearing the Kansas River, and would arrive there
+about noon if the march was begun as soon as daylight. Even then there
+would be hardly more than time before the sun set to get all our train
+over, for the stream was so deep that it could not be forded, and we
+must send the wagons across in boats.
+
+
+
+
+A KANSAS FERRY
+
+
+Although we were, as one might have supposed, in an uninhabited
+country, father told me that at this crossing of the Kansas River
+was a ferry owned by two half-breed Indians, who made a business of
+freighting heavy wagons across for a fee of one dollar each; but all
+the live stock would be forced to swim.
+
+Now since none of the boats could carry more than one wagon at a time,
+you may readily understand how many hours would be needed in order to
+get all our train from one side of the river to the other, even though
+it was no more than two hundred yards from bank to bank. Therefore, as
+I have said, it was necessary we arrive at the ferry at the earliest
+possible moment, lest night overtake us while half the company yet
+remained on the eastern shore.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+The ferryboats were nothing more than square, shallow boxes, which the
+Indians pushed across by poles, after the cargo of wagons had been put
+on board.
+
+Of course the women and the girls had nothing to do with this ferrying,
+save to remain under the wagon coverings where they would be out of the
+way. I envied Eben Jordan, who could move about at will, for verily my
+heart was in my mouth, so to speak, during all the time we were working
+our slow way across the stream, fearing lest our boat should sink
+beneath us.
+
+
+
+
+THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK
+
+
+Not until nearly six o'clock were all our company on the western side
+of the river, and then I supposed that we would immediately make camp;
+but to my surprise word was given for the train to move on, and we
+journeyed three miles more, coming to the bank of Soldier Creek before
+darkness.
+
+It was at this place that a most pleasant surprise awaited us. Colonel
+Russell's wife, who had walked ahead while our train was being ferried
+across the river, found quantities and quantities of wild strawberries
+near the camping place. As soon as we women and girls arrived, we set
+about gathering the berries, until each family had a good supply of
+the luscious fruit. Milk was not a poor substitute for cream to us who
+had been living upon corn bread and salt meat ever since we left the
+settlement of Independence.
+
+During the next two days we traveled steadily onward, slowly, to be
+sure, but yet each step, as Ellen said again and again, was taking us
+nearer the end of the journey. In time I came to be impatient whenever
+a halt was called, so eager was I to have done with riding, for however
+comfortable a girl might make herself in one of the wagons, her limbs
+were certain to become cramped before night.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+On the third day after crossing the Kansas River, the leaders of our
+company decided that a halt was needed in order to give the animals a
+rest. Their hoofs had become dry and cracked from traveling over the
+matted grass of last year, which covered the prairie even beneath the
+new crop, and it was necessary that something be done for them without
+delay.
+
+I had been looking forward to a full day's halt, even though impatient
+when we were not moving forward, for Ellen and I had planned to wander
+as far from the encampment as we could, searching for flowers and wild
+peas, which grew there in great abundance, so we had been told.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD MAKING
+
+
+Mother decided that now had come a time when she must bake a plentiful
+supply of bread, for she was determined not to be put to such straits
+as we were during the rain storm, when it was next to impossible to
+build a fire in the stove, and, of course, I was glad to do whatever I
+might to aid her.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Before father had fairly got the stove out of the wagon and set up
+where it could be most conveniently used, nearly every other woman in
+the company had decided to follow mother's example, and then came such
+a scene as was presented when each family did its churning.
+
+In the rear or at the side of nearly every wagon a stove was set up,
+and one might see everywhere women rolling or kneading dough, girls
+running about on errands, and boys doing their share by keeping the
+fires going.
+
+I must say to Eben Jordan's credit that he was of great assistance to
+mother and me that day. If he had been a saint upon earth, he could
+not have done more or worked with greater patience than he did, running
+from stove to stove when the other boys had neglected their duties.
+
+Mother told him laughingly that many times while we lived in Ashley she
+had been vexed because of the boyish pranks he played; but from this
+time onward she should remember what he had done in the way of aiding
+the cooks, and would overlook almost anything which mischief might
+prompt him to do.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE PEAS
+
+
+The baking came to an end, so far as our family was concerned,
+shortly after noon; then Ellen and I, taking Eben with us as guide and
+protector, went out in search of peas and brought home enough to supply
+several families, who had been neighbors of ours, with a generous mess.
+
+
+Save for the fact that these prairie peas look somewhat like those we
+have at home, I could find no likeness between the two varieties. The
+wild peas have a tough rind, and there are several seeds in the middle
+of each; but after they have been boiled and allowed to remain in
+vinegar a few hours, they make a fairly pleasing dish.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When we began the march once more, I hoped to see the cattle moving
+more spiritedly than before the halt; but in this I was mistaken. It
+seemed to me that they limped painfully, and worse than ever; that I
+was not mistaken was proved, to my satisfaction at least, when I heard
+father and another man saying to each other that before many days we
+should be forced to kill two or three whose feet were in the worst
+condition.
+
+However, the days went on and our cattle continued to work fairly
+well, although I noticed that when we came to rough places, such as the
+crossing of a stream, where it was necessary to climb a high bank on
+the opposite side, the drivers were forced to double up the teams more
+often than before, because the poor creatures could not haul so heavy
+a load as when we first started out.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A HUNTER
+
+
+Within a week from the time of leaving Soldier Creek, Eben Jordan
+was indeed puffed up with pride. He came into camp late one afternoon
+dragging behind him an antelope which he had shot within two miles of
+where we halted an hour previous. This proof that he had shown himself
+a skillful hunter, caused the boy literally to swell with joy as he
+strutted around the body of the beautiful animal while our people were
+looking at it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It seemed too bad to kill such an innocent creature as that antelope,
+and yet I forgot all the cruelty of it when Eben brought to our
+wagon enough steaks to provide all of us with a slice of fresh meat.
+Afterward it seemed to me much as if we had been cannibals when we so
+eagerly devoured the handsome animal.
+
+From that day on, whenever we made camp before dark, Eben went out
+with his rifle, and more than once he brought in a deer of some kind,
+dividing the meat generously and fairly among us all.
+
+
+
+
+A HERD OF BUFFALOES
+
+
+Then came the time when we had our first glimpse of buffaloes, and
+never shall I forget the scene. We had been traveling in the bottom
+lands where we found multitudes of paths deeply cut into the ground,
+which some of our people said had been made by buffaloes; but we girls
+never so much as dreamed we might be near the beasts, until one morning
+father called me hurriedly to look out of the wagon.
+
+Then I screamed, for we were literally surrounded by thousands upon
+thousands of those fierce-looking, yet stupid, beasts, who gave no more
+heed to our encampment than if they had been accustomed to such things
+all their lives.
+
+They circled around within a quarter of a mile of where our cattle
+were feeding, and father said afterward that unless our men had been
+exceedingly watchful and active, the oxen and cows would have been
+stampeded beyond a doubt.
+
+
+
+
+EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP
+
+
+Our animals were in a high state of excitement, striving to get
+through the lines of men who guarded them, and of course there was no
+possibility of our breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,
+so father said, there was not a driver in the company who could handle
+half a dozen yoke of oxen while the buffaloes were so near.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea of animals as did
+Ellen and I. You may be certain Eben Jordan was among the first to go
+out dangerously near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all the
+men of the company, save those who were guiding our live stock.
+
+I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their heels when a
+rifle was discharged; but much to my surprise they paid little or no
+attention at first to the reports of the firearms.
+
+I dare not venture to say how many of the animals were killed; but
+certainly it seemed to me, when about noon the entire herd rushed off,
+the rumbling of their hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder,
+that there were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plain
+within a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up to form a corral.
+
+
+
+
+A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT
+
+
+There was so much game for us to bring in, that during the remainder
+of the day every man and boy that could be spared was kept busy at work
+skinning the dead buffaloes or cutting up the flesh.
+
+What a feast we had that evening! We had buffalo tongues baked in the
+ovens, or in front of small fires which had been built here and there.
+Then there were what father called hump ribs, steaks, and meat of every
+kind that could be taken from a buffalo. Each member of the company was
+eager to learn how every eatable portion of the animal tasted, and,
+therefore, cooked two or three times as much as could be used at one
+meal.
+
+Our people had no more than time to skin and cut up the carcasses
+before dark; on the following morning word was passed around that each
+family must dry, or smoke-cure, as much of the flesh as possible within
+the next four and twenty hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Straightway every man, woman, and child set about either slicing the
+meat as thin as it could be cut with sharp knives, or putting together
+racks made of sticks, on which the strips of flesh were to be hung and
+exposed to the rays of the sun, as well as to the smoke of the fires
+that were to be built directly beneath them.
+
+
+
+
+CURING THE MEAT
+
+
+It was disagreeable work, and yet we were all, even to the smallest
+girl, content to do our part, knowing that we were thus laying up food
+for the future when it might not be possible to procure game, and when
+all the stores we had brought with us from Pike County had been eaten.
+
+The arms of the men who acted as carvers were stained with blood to the
+elbows, while the hands and even the faces of the women and children
+who carried the sliced meat to hang it on the framework of sticks, were
+colored in the same way.
+
+In addition to curing the meat in the sun and smoking it, some of the
+men made what is called pemmican, a most disagreeable looking mixture
+of flesh and fat which I afterward came to eat greedily, when we had
+nothing else with which to satisfy our hunger.
+
+Pemmican is made by first drying the very thinnest of thin slices of
+meat in the sun, until they are so hard that it is possible to rub or
+pound them to a powder.
+
+A bag is then formed of the buffalo skin, and into it is packed
+powdered meat sufficient to fill it considerably more than half full,
+after which tallow is melted and poured into the bag until it can hold
+no more. Then the entire mass is allowed to cool and harden. It is then
+fit for eating, so father said; but mother, when the time came that
+we were glad to have our portion of the stuff, always boiled it so it
+might be served hot.
+
+It is not appetizing to me, and because I have seen the mixture
+prepared I can eat it only when I am very hungry.
+
+
+
+
+A WASH DAY
+
+
+Two full days were spent in curing the meat and making pemmican, and
+even then we did not continue the journey immediately, for the work
+had brought our clothing to such a condition that a day for washing
+was absolutely necessary. Therefore we remained for another twenty-four
+hours.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+We were encamped near a small stream where could be had plenty of water
+for the animals, and on either side of this tiny creek, shortly after
+sunrise, could be seen many fires, kettles, and washtubs.
+
+What a tired girl I was when I stretched myself out on mother's feather
+bed in the wagon that night! It seemed to me that I had no more than
+closed my eyes before I was asleep, and not until father was bustling
+around inside the wagon next morning trying to build a fire in the
+cookstove, did I awake.
+
+Then the patter, patter of rain on the wagon covering told that we were
+to be treated to another downpour of water, and eager though I was to
+reach California, I hoped most fervently we would remain in camp yet
+longer.
+
+
+
+
+UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING
+
+
+It was really difficult for me to open my eyes, so heavily did slumber
+weigh upon them, when I asked father if he had any idea of setting
+off in such a storm, at the same time reminding him how our beasts had
+struggled through the mud during the last rain.
+
+He laughingly told me that we would continue on the trail, regardless
+of the weather; that a rain storm was not to be compared in the way
+of discomfort with snow. He said that unless we came to our journey's
+end before the season of frost set in, we might never arrive, but
+would be in danger of perishing, as others had who, striving to reach
+California, had been overtaken by winter among the mountains.
+
+"So long as the cattle are in condition to push on, just so long shall
+we continue to march, regardless of whether the rain falls or the sun
+shines," he said, speaking very solemnly, and mother's face grew grave
+as if she was already beginning to understand the better what might be
+before us.
+
+"There will be all too many days when we must remain in camp; but now,
+after such a long rest, it would be little less than wicked to remain
+idle here simply because it might be more to our comfort."
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+There is little need for me to explain how disagreeable it is to get up
+in the morning and attempt to keep a fire going with wet fuel.
+
+Everything was damp and uncomfortable to the touch, and all the
+surroundings looked much as Ellen and I felt when we helped mother
+prepare breakfast.
+
+After that very unsatisfactory meal had been eaten, for we had nothing
+save some half-fried bacon with cold corn bread, not being able to
+make coffee because the fire would persist in going out, the train
+was started. Ellen and I, crouching in the rear end of the wagon where
+the rain could not drive in upon us, sat close to the stove, which now
+seemed warmer than when we were trying to cook breakfast, and talked of
+the future.
+
+Of course I cannot set down all we said, for much of it was foolish;
+but some of the conversation I have remembered clearly even to this
+day.
+
+
+ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY
+
+
+Ellen, when I had told her it was my intent to write the story of our
+coming from Pike County, said that it would not be proper for me to
+write anything about what we saw or did while on the Oregon trail. We
+were bound for California, and would not be upon the direct road to
+that country until we had left Fort Bridger.
+
+It was her idea that I should begin the story with the time when we
+turned from the trail leading to Oregon, and set our faces directly
+toward California; but, as has been seen, I nearly forgot her advice,
+and even now it seems impossible to do exactly as she proposed.
+
+I intend, however, in order to please her, to set down only such
+matters as seem to me of the greatest importance, and thereby hurry
+over a certain portion of the march, beginning in earnest with the time
+when we finally came to Fort Bridger.
+
+
+
+
+INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES
+
+
+Now you must bear in mind, although I may not speak of them again, that
+we were constantly meeting with Indians. Hardly a day passed that we
+did not come upon a village, meet a party of hunters, or receive visits
+from groups of two, three, or four who came to beg.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Strange though it may seem, we became accustomed to the savages as one
+does to seeing a dog or a cat around the house, and gave little or no
+attention to them save when they made themselves disagreeable.
+
+One other thing I will speak about now. Mosquitoes and tiny flies,
+which seemed as fierce as tigers, were with us all the time by day as
+well as by night.
+
+When we first left Independence, it was difficult for me to sleep at
+night because of these insects, and during the day I spent the greater
+portion of my time striving to keep them off my hands or face. As the
+journey progressed it seemed as if they became less poisonous; but I
+suppose my body had become accustomed to the wounds, and I gave little
+heed to them except when the weather was exceedingly warm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Until we came among the foothills, which is to say, after we left Fort
+Bridger, we found game in abundance. What had been sport to Eben became
+now a real labor, and he sought for fresh meat only when urged to do so
+by his father or some of us girls.
+
+There were days when our men brought in no game because they were
+unable to come across any; but we were in a country abounding with
+deer, elks, buffaloes, and even bears, and so did not suffer for food.
+
+
+
+
+PRAIRIE DOGS
+
+
+Even though I say nothing more regarding the remainder of our journey
+over the Oregon trail, I must speak of the little prairie dogs which we
+came upon from time to time.
+
+They live in villages, sometimes, as father has said, several acres
+in extent, and their houses are holes in the ground, with a top or
+extension, made of earth which they have pushed up from beneath.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Eben Jordan declares, and several men in the company who have talked
+with the trappers or hunters say, that in every prairie dog's house may
+be found a little gray owl, who has lodgings there, and oftentimes with
+this owl is a rattlesnake. Now just fancy the prairie dog, the owl,
+and the rattlesnake living together! All I ever saw of the family was
+the dog, and he is about the size of a large rat, with hair which is a
+mixture of light brown and black in color.
+
+It is impossible for me to tell you how entertaining these little
+creatures are. When we passed by the villages you could see them
+scampering around and barking. Again and again I have seen them playing
+about or sitting on the top of their houses, giving no heed to us until
+the wagon train was close upon them, when the entire colony would pop
+into their holes with every evidence of fear.
+
+A moment later each little fellow would stick his head out, his black,
+beadlike eyes glistening, while he looked around as if asking whether
+or not you saw how quickly he could get under cover when it pleased him
+to do so.
+
+I know of nothing more comical than these little animals, and yet they
+look so much like rats that I would greatly prefer to see them at a
+distance rather than make any attempt at taming them, as Eben Jordan
+declares is his intention to do as soon as he can catch one alive.
+
+I have my doubts, however, about his being able to catch one, unless he
+is cruel enough to wound it first with a rifle ball.
+
+
+
+
+COLONEL RUSSELL'S MISHAP
+
+
+Just before we arrived at the Platte River, we crossed a small creek,
+the bottom of which was exceedingly soft; the men were forced to
+double up the teams in order to draw the heavy loads along, and Colonel
+Russell's wagon upset in midstream, where the water was two or three
+feet deep.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Now there was nothing comical in such a mishap, and yet Ellen and I,
+who were standing on the bank of the creek where we could see all that
+was going on, laughed until I felt actually ashamed of myself. It was
+all so ridiculous that I could not have kept my face straight whatever
+might have been the result.
+
+If the accident had happened quickly, there would not have been
+anything so very funny about it; but, instead, the wagon toppled
+slowly, the men striving meanwhile to prevent it from going entirely
+over. In the heavy wagon were Mrs. Russell and four children. We saw
+first the youngest child, as if some one had tossed him out, come
+shooting from the wagon and strike the water. Then another child, and
+so on, one after another, exactly like a lot of grasshoppers, until
+Mrs. Russell herself appeared. Out they marched in the same order,
+water streaming from their clothing, which was bedaubed with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Mother reproved Ellen and me severely for laughing when our neighbors
+were suffering; but even as she spoke the Russell procession passed
+along the edge of the bank, marking the way with mud and water, and I
+noticed that it was all she could do to keep her face straight while
+she scolded us.
+
+
+
+
+CHIMNEY ROCK
+
+
+When finally we crossed the Platte River, the men of the company
+rejoiced, although I was unable to learn why, except that it marked, as
+mother suggested, the first stage of the journey, the second of which
+would come to an end at Fort Bridger, and the third in that land where
+we hoped to settle.
+
+Not long after crossing this river we had a first glimpse of that
+enormous mass which travelers speak of as Court House Rock, which, so
+those who have seen both say, looks from the distance not unlike the
+Capitol at Washington. A few miles farther on we saw another huge pile
+called Chimney Rock.
+
+I doubt not but that both would have been well worth the seeing, yet
+our desire to look at them more closely was not gratified. The trail
+leads some distance off, and when mother proposed to father that we
+might halt for a day in order to get a nearer view of the curiosities,
+he shook his head decidedly, saying, almost gruffly, that we who were
+bent on finding new homes had no time to fritter away in looking at
+this odd thing or at that.
+
+Eben Jordan, however, borrowing one of his father's horses, rode off
+to Chimney Rock by himself, and when he came back he told Ellen and me
+that we need not shed many tears because of failing to see it close at
+hand, because it was nothing more than a lot of big stones that looked
+as if they might have been carelessly plastered together with mud.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course this couldn't be the fact; but Eben has no eye for scenery
+and, I dare say, might turn his nose up at what every one else would
+believe wonderful or full of beauty.
+
+
+
+
+AT FORT LARAMIE
+
+
+Forty-eight days after leaving Independence we came to Fort Laramie,
+which is more like a trading post than like a fortification. It stands
+on the banks of the river Platte, is owned by the American Fur Company,
+and is six hundred and seventy-two miles from Independence by the trail
+we came over.
+
+Just fancy! We had traveled nearly seven hundred miles, the men of the
+company walking all the way; yet during that time, with the exception
+of the mishap to Colonel Russell's wagon and the loss of a few head of
+cattle, we had come to no harm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+At Fort Laramie we slept in a real house for the first time since
+starting on the long journey. It was not such a building as we lived in
+at Ashley, and yet it was to me almost beautiful, after I had remained
+so long in the wagon.
+
+I fancied I would sleep on that night as never before since the
+march began, and that we would have supper and breakfast properly and
+conveniently served.
+
+I had supposed the mosquitoes and the midges were as thick in our
+wagons as it would be possible to find them anywhere; but when we came
+into that house the place was swarming with them, and they prevented us
+from closing our eyes in rest during the entire night. Never was a girl
+better pleased than I when the first light of day came in through the
+windows.
+
+
+
+
+COOKING IN FRONT OF A FIREPLACE
+
+
+After striving to cook food in front of one of the two fireplaces in
+that house, I was actually ashamed of having complained because our
+stove in the wagon on a stormy morning had seemed to me like some
+contrary animal.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+However much trouble we might have had with wet fuel and lack of draft
+owing to the shortness of the stovepipe, it was as nothing compared
+with those rude fireplaces, where our faces were burned almost to a
+crisp, our eyes filled with smoke, and whatever was cooking came from
+the heat thickly incrusted with ashes.
+
+I resolved not to grumble at anything we might find in California,
+provided we had conveniences where we could cook with some degree of
+comfort, and a place in which to lie down where we would be protected
+from insects.
+
+
+
+
+TRAPPERS, HUNTERS, AND INDIANS
+
+
+I suppose Eben might describe Fort Laramie so that it would to a
+stranger present the appearance of a stronghold; but for my part I saw
+there only scores upon scores of savages, loitering around outside the
+walls, gambling, racing horses, bartering furs, or gorging themselves
+with half-cooked meat, while here and there could be seen the noisy
+trappers, some dressed fancifully after the fashion of the Indians, and
+others decked out in buckskin clothing.
+
+There were boasting hunters who swaggered around, peering curiously
+under our wagon covers when we had taken refuge there; and all around,
+corralled or feeding near at hand, were cattle and ponies almost
+without number.
+
+Our company was not the only party of Pikers at Fort Laramie. It seemed
+to me there must have been three or four hundred who had been traveling
+as we had traveled, some hoping to go into that land of Oregon which
+was represented as being wondrously beautiful, and others bound for
+California.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I would have visited among the strange Pikers had it not
+been for the throngs of trappers, hunters, and Indians, such as I have
+already written about. Mother declared it would be well for us girls to
+stay in our wagon, and this she came to believe firmly after two of the
+trappers engaged in a downright battle wherein both used knives, and
+both were sorely wounded.
+
+The people round about did not appear to think this fighting wicked
+or strange, and instead of endeavoring to make peace among them, all,
+even a few women, stood around watching the fray as if it was some
+exhibition of an innocent nature.
+
+I was sick with the sights of Fort Laramie even before mother sent
+Ellen and me to the wagon, and felt well content to remain there until
+next morning, never grumbling when I struggled to keep a fire going in
+the stove in order that we might cook supper.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE TRAIL ONCE MORE
+
+
+It seemed to me that every member of our company, with the possible
+exception of Eben Jordan, was delighted when the word had been passed
+around during the evening that we should pull out at early daybreak.
+
+We were getting near to that forking of the trail where we would bear
+southward and then westward, passing around a great salt sea on our way
+to California.
+
+We soon came among the foothills, and it was really a relief to be
+climbing up one hill and sliding down another, instead of driving over
+a level plain where was nothing to vary the monotony. Although Ellen
+and I were pleased with this change in the appearance of the country,
+our fathers found little in it to give them pleasure, for we had come
+to where grass was scanty and the way difficult for the animals.
+
+As father said, from then on we might suffer such privations and
+hardships as we had not experienced since leaving Independence; but
+that I could hardly credit, for it did not seem to me possible we would
+have more discomfort than when we were marching in the rain, with the
+ground so soft that the cattle could only with difficulty drag the
+wagon along.
+
+I suppose our people did have some trouble in finding grass for the
+animals; but we girls knew little regarding such matters. Our work was
+to aid in preparing the meals, and, as Ellen said, in keeping our minds
+as cheerful as possible; these tasks we performed to the best of our
+ability, without hearing very much of the perplexities of the men, save
+when Eben Jordan came to us with tales of trouble.
+
+
+
+
+INDEPENDENCE ROCK
+
+
+After leaving Fort Laramie the first thing which particularly attracted
+my attention was a perfect mountain of rock, fully a hundred feet in
+height and more than a mile in circumference, father told me, which
+stood near the Sweetwater River, between the ranges of mountains which
+border the Sweetwater Valley.
+
+It was an "imposing work of nature," so Colonel Russell said; but to me
+the most interesting thing about it was that the first celebration of
+the Fourth of July by a company of people bound to Oregon was held at
+the place. On the rocks, as high up as one can see, are a multitude of
+names, many, many hundreds, some painted, and others cut into the soft
+stone by those who had visited the place.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Another thing about Independence Rock which causes me to remember it
+even more than as "an imposing work of nature," was that near it one
+could pick up all the saleratus he needed, for there are veritable
+ponds of it, where, so father said, water filled with the salts had
+evaporated, leaving the saleratus itself in pools which looked as if
+made of milk.
+
+Next morning we came upon a great gap in the mountain wall which is
+called the Devil's Gate; through it flows a beautiful stream, on the
+banks of which we found wild currants and gooseberries in greatest
+abundance.
+
+
+
+
+ARRIVAL AT FORT BRIDGER
+
+
+About the middle of July we arrived at Fort Bridger, where we were to
+turn off upon the California trail, and where, if Ellen's advice had
+been followed, this story of mine would have begun.
+
+Why it should be called _Fort_ Bridger I fail to understand, for there
+are no signs of a fort about, but only three or four miserable log huts
+in which live two fur traders with their trappers and hunters.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+One might have believed it quite an important place, however, because
+when we arrived there were no less than five hundred Indians of the
+Snake tribe encamped round about the log huts. Beyond them on every
+hand could be seen wagon train after wagon train of people who had come
+not only from Pike County, but from Ohio and Indiana, as well as from
+Illinois and Missouri, the greater number intent on gaining the Oregon
+country, with perhaps two hundred who were going to California.
+
+Of course there were also at this place hunters and trappers, traders
+coming from or going into Oregon or California, Spaniards, Negroes, and
+red men, the greater number of all this throng living in canvas tents,
+in wagons or log huts, while the rest made shift as best they might in
+the open air.
+
+It was, like Fort Laramie, a place where Ellen and I had best remain
+in the wagons, for no one could tell what the savages might do if two
+girls wandered among their lodges, and certainly we had no desire to
+make their acquaintance.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Here, as everywhere since leaving Independence, we heard that song
+which by this time had grown threadbare,--
+
+     "My name it is Joe Bowers."
+
+The Negroes and the Spaniards, the trappers and the hunters, were all
+singing it, and the wonder to Ellen and me was where so many people
+could have heard it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+WITH OUR FACES TOWARD CALIFORNIA
+
+
+After spending one day at Fort Bridger we set off early in the morning
+with our faces turned toward California, and our hearts beating
+furiously. For the first time since leaving home it seemed as if we
+were really on the journey.
+
+The trail ran up hill or down, all the way, but there was very little
+difference, so far as hardships were concerned, from that which we had
+already experienced.
+
+During the first three or four days our fathers had no difficulty in
+finding grass and water in plenty for the cattle, although there were
+times, of course, when for mile after mile we passed through nothing
+but sage grass, which even the oxen would not eat. Every night during
+this time, we came upon a pleasant place in which to camp, and, best
+of all, so Eben Jordan thought, the game was abundant everywhere. When
+he had shot a small bear and brought it into camp, it seemed as if his
+cup of happiness was full. One might have thought the lad had performed
+some wondrous deed, from the way he strutted to and fro, repeating
+marvelous accounts of his battle with the beast.
+
+
+
+
+AT BEAR RIVER
+
+
+It was when we came to Bear River that I began to understand how
+different this trail was from the one which we had been traveling.
+
+Instead of finding a safe ford, we came upon a swiftly running river,
+with a bed of rocks. So strong was the current that when father waded
+in to drive the oxen it was necessary for him to hold firmly to the bow
+of the foremost yoke lest he be thrown from his footing; the heavy cart
+pitched about until I was certain it would be overturned even as had
+Mrs. Russell's.
+
+Mother said that if such an accident should befall us, it would be no
+more than a just punishment to Ellen and me because we had laughed so
+rudely when the Russell family were in trouble.
+
+
+
+
+THE COMING OF WINTER
+
+
+Two days after leaving Fort Bridger we had the first indication that
+winter was near at hand, even though it was then July. That night the
+buckets of water were crusted with ice a full half inch thick, and
+upon the tops of the mountains which towered so high above us snow had
+fallen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+You can well fancy how we shivered while making ready to cook
+breakfast. When the train had started, Ellen and I crawled under the
+bed clothing, for it seemed as if we were like to freeze, and no one
+knows how long we might have remained had not mother insisted that we
+should sit once more on the front seat, where we could see the wondrous
+beauties everywhere around us.
+
+Just at that time we were traveling through what seemed to be a
+mountain gorge; towering many hundred feet above our heads on either
+side were crags which had been formed in the most comical figures. Some
+of them really looked like animals, and I could see now and then the
+head of an elephant or of a lion.
+
+Later in the day father told us that we had passed in the early
+morning, while Ellen and I were asleep, a rock which looked so much
+like a beast that the trappers had given it the name of the Elephant's
+Statue.
+
+During nearly two days we continued along these rocky roads, with the
+mountains overshadowing us, and in places the cliffs hanging so low
+that it seemed as if the rumbling of our wagons must cause them to fall
+upon our heads.
+
+The next night we kept a fire in the cookstove because of the heavy
+frost in the air; then we came to a narrow pass between the mountains,
+where was a gorge or chasm, so deep that we could readily believe Eben
+Jordan when he said the people at Fort Bridger told him the sun never
+penetrated to the bottom.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was what is known as Ogden's Hole, and got its name, according to
+one story, through being the death place of a trapper by the name of
+Ogden, who had hidden himself there from the Indians and was either
+killed by them or starved to death, Eben was not certain which.
+
+
+
+
+UTAH INDIANS
+
+
+There among the mountains we met a party of Utah Indians armed only
+with bows and arrows, and they journeyed with us until we camped for
+the night, counting as a matter of course upon our feeding them.
+
+The Utahs looked to me more manly than any other Indians we had yet
+met. Surely they behaved themselves in a seemly manner, for when supper
+had been made ready, they seated themselves in a circle and waited
+decently to be invited to partake of food.
+
+On the following morning, after we had traveled about two miles, we
+came upon mountains which looked as if they were standing there to
+bar our advance, and for the life of us neither Ellen nor I could
+understand how it would be possible to continue the journey.
+
+Even the men of the company were perplexed, and during half an hour or
+more the entire train was halted while our people went first this way
+and then that, seeking some trail over which we could pass.
+
+Then Colonel Russell came back to where we were waiting anxiously and
+said he saw a narrow trail winding directly up over those enormous
+cliffs. When he pointed it out to the other men, we girls overheard
+what he said, and I could not repress a cry of fear, for surely it did
+not seem as if any member of our company could climb to such a height,
+over so narrow a path, let alone trying to drive the oxen with the
+heavy carts.
+
+
+
+
+A DANGEROUS TRAIL
+
+
+However, there was nothing to be done save attempt the dangerous
+passage, unless, indeed, we were willing to turn our faces toward Fort
+Bridger, admitting we had been beaten.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+My heart was literally in my mouth when we began that terrible climb
+among loose rocks, over a path so narrow that it seemed, if the wheels
+of the wagon slipped ever so little, we would be hurled to the bottom
+of the canyon, which is another word for a deep valley or a rift in the
+rocks.
+
+The ascent was so steep that when we started no less than twelve yoke
+of oxen were needed to each wagon, and there was a steady, upward
+scrambling climb of fully two miles; therefore you can well understand
+how many hours we spent in making that short portion of the journey.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Only one wagon was sent up the trail at a time, lest through some
+accident it should run backward and crush whatever might be in its
+path.
+
+Until we were upon the side of the mountain where the trail pitched
+downward into the valley, I kept my eyes tightly closed, not daring
+to look at that dreadful depth into which the slightest mishap might
+plunge us.
+
+When the panting oxen were brought to a standstill, the fearful labor
+having been performed, Ellen said that she had been so frightened she
+was actually exhausted, and indeed the perspiration, caused no doubt
+by fear, was streaming down her face when I ventured to open my eyes in
+order to look around.
+
+I can conceive of nothing more horrifying than that journey, short
+though it was in point of distance, yet so long while one was in a
+state of terror as to seem almost endless.
+
+In going down on the other side, but one yoke of cattle was hitched to
+each wagon, and kept there only in order to hold the tongue steady and
+thus steer the huge cart, while the hind wheels were chained, so that,
+not being able to turn, they might act as a drag to prevent us from
+sliding swiftly to destruction.
+
+Father said we had traveled no more than seven miles when we had
+crossed that terrible mountain. There we found ourselves in a valley
+green with grass, where ran a small brook which was most pleasing to
+look upon, since it told us that we would have water in abundance.
+Coming upon such a spot after so much horror, caused it to appear all
+the more beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ANTELOPE STEW
+
+
+Without knowing it at the moment of halting, we made camp near two
+Indian lodges, where lived ten or twelve of the Utah tribe; having
+gained so favorable an impression of those savages when some of the
+members had visited our camp, Ellen and I, with Eben Jordan, went among
+them, finding that they had set themselves up for traders, counting
+upon the settlers bound for the land of California, as customers. The
+women showed us a store of powder made from sunflower seeds, which had
+been parched and then pulverized; this they offered in exchange for
+food, or for ammunition. Ellen gave a loaf of corn bread for perhaps a
+quart of the stuff, and found it most agreeable to the taste.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+That evening one of the men brought in a fat antelope, and mother made
+our portion into as savory a stew as I had eaten since we left Pike
+County. After that delicious meal and with the pleasing knowledge that
+we had come in safety over so terrible a road, I slept that night as
+soundly as I should have slept in my own bed at home.
+
+It was decided that we would remain in that place, which mother
+called the Happy Valley, for a day, in order to give the cattle a long
+rest before they did more mountain climbing, and the housewives took
+advantage of the opportunity to wash clothing, bake bread, and do up
+such small chores as were necessary.
+
+Consequently all the young people were busily engaged keeping the fires
+going, churning, or performing such other tasks as were required, so
+that we gave little heed to what was going on around us until, when
+the forenoon was about half spent, Eben Jordan excitedly called our
+attention to a huge column of smoke which was rising from the mountains
+to the westward.
+
+
+
+
+A FOREST FIRE
+
+
+At first I gave little heed to the matter, thinking it might betoken
+the location of some Indian village; but within another hour, so strong
+was the wind, the fire had been driven up over the summit of the huge
+mountain at the foot of which we were encamped, when straightway we
+had over our heads, as it were, a canopy of flame and smoke which shut
+out the light of day, causing it to appear as if night had come and the
+clouds were ablaze.
+
+Half-burned leaves and ashes were scattered upon us until we were
+literally powdered as if with dust, and the men found it necessary to
+keep sharp watch over the coverings of the wagons, lest an ember should
+drop upon them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+During all the remainder of the day and until nearly morning, the
+fire raged with greatest fury; but, fortunately, the flames did not
+come down into the valley. When we set off next day, the cattle, much
+refreshed, went on at a swift pace; but the air was yet so full of
+smoke that my eyes ached, while the tears ran down my cheeks in tiny
+streams.
+
+Our way now lay along the foot of the range of mountains which sloped
+down to the marshy plains bordering that vast inland sea, which has
+always seemed so mysterious to me because of being salt.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT LAKE
+
+
+It was about noon when we had our first view of the Great Salt Lake,
+and although I had never then seen an ocean, I could not believe the
+existence of anything more wondrous than that huge body of salt water
+among the mountains.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Father says the lake is probably a full hundred miles long, and at its
+widest part no less than sixty miles; but this he knows only from that
+which he heard from the hunters or trappers, therefore I am not setting
+it down as positive information. It seems to me I remember having read
+in one of my schoolbooks that it is no more than seventy-five miles
+long and thirty miles wide.
+
+However, this much which father says is true: that the lake has no
+outlet, and four barrels of its water being evaporated, will produce
+nearly a barrel of salt; therefore you can understand how much more
+salty it is than a real ocean.
+
+No fish can live in it, and Eben Jordan declared that one of the
+trappers at Fort Bridger told him a man could not sink beneath the
+surface, so buoyant is the water.
+
+The shore of this great inland sea was white with a crust of soda or
+salt, and the odor which came from the stagnant water in the marshes
+was so unpleasant as to cause me to feel really ill.
+
+
+
+
+EBEN AS A FISHERMAN
+
+
+It was on this night, when we had our first view of the Great Salt
+Lake, that Eben Jordan gave us a most pleasing surprise. We had
+halted quite early in the afternoon, and even before camp was made he
+disappeared; but I gave no heed to the matter when I heard his mother
+inquiring after him, for I thought the boy had gone off to try his
+skill as a hunter again.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Two or three hours later, however, it appeared that, instead of chasing
+deer or bears, he had turned fisherman for the time being, and when
+he came into camp just before we began to get supper, he had with him
+seventeen of the most beautiful trout you could imagine, which he had
+caught in one of the mountain streams.
+
+They were so large that he literally staggered under the weight, and
+the single fish which he gave mother made an ample meal for all our
+family. It surely was delicious, and while eating it I made a mental
+resolve never again to speak impatiently or angrily to Eben, whatever
+he might do, for many times since our journey began he had been very
+kind to us all.
+
+It really began to seem as if, after we had turned into the California
+trail, we were to come across everything which was strange and
+wonderful, for next day, after our train had rounded the base of one
+of the mountains, we came upon six or seven springs of water which was
+actually hot to the touch, as if on the point of boiling, and which
+smelled so strongly of sulphur that one would have been in danger of
+suffocation had the fumes been inhaled.
+
+Those odd springs seemingly came up out of the solid rock, and mother,
+whose curiosity was so far aroused as to induce her to taste of the
+water, said it was bitter and most disagreeable; but she had no doubt
+it might be well for us all to take fairly strong doses by way of
+medicine.
+
+
+
+
+GRASSHOPPER JAM
+
+
+We were yet within sight of the Great Salt Lake when, one evening,
+three Indian men and two squaws, miserably clad and very ugly, came
+into camp bringing for sale or barter something that looked much like
+preserves.
+
+Even though these people were so wretchedly dirty, I was hoping mother
+might be induced to buy some of their wares, so keenly did I hunger
+for something sweet; but I speedily lost all desire for anything of
+the kind, when one of the men in the company explained what it was the
+Indians had for sale.
+
+It seems impossible human beings could eat such things, and yet this
+man told me it was true that the Indians gathered a fruit called
+service berries, crushed them into jam and mixed the pulp with
+grasshoppers that had been dried over the fire and then pounded to a
+powder.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+He called the stuff "Indian fruit cake," and, much to my disgust, not
+only bought a generous portion, paying for it with needles, powder, and
+bullets, but actually ate the mixture. I could not bring myself even to
+look upon it, after knowing what it really was.
+
+Once more we came upon the mountains after leaving the shores of Great
+Salt Lake, and again we climbed up the steep ascents, with all the oxen
+toiling at a single wagon, and then slipped down on the opposite side,
+until it seemed certain some terrible accident must befall.
+
+
+
+
+A DESERTED VILLAGE
+
+
+One night we came to another place much like the one we had called the
+Happy Valley, and there we found an Indian village of fifteen or twenty
+lodges, every one deserted, although we knew the people could not be
+far away, for fires were burning brightly in front of the dwellings,
+dogs were barking, and many willow baskets filled with service berries
+were standing about.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a beautiful spot for a home, and I could almost have wished
+father would settle there, rather than continue on over a trail which
+was as dangerous as the one spread out before us.
+
+There were in the valley poplar and pine trees with many willows, and
+here and there a patch of sunflowers shining out from the surrounding
+green with a golden glory.
+
+I had supposed our people would camp there; but instead of doing so
+they continued on, planning to spend the night on the higher land.
+When we were halfway up the ridge which led out from the valley, the
+Indians, whom we had evidently frightened, came out from their hiding
+places, whooping and shouting as if to scare us, although I saw no
+token that they were bent on doing us mischief.
+
+We camped on a slope of the ridge, down which ran a small brook, and
+those who had tents set them up in a grove of cedar trees where they
+looked most inviting. When, however, Ellen and I strolled that way we
+found the mosquitoes and midges so thick that it seemed as if we had a
+veil in front of our faces.
+
+That night the men of our company gathered apart from the women and
+children, seemingly to discuss some important matter; my curiosity
+was so far aroused that when I saw Eben Jordan I called upon him for
+an explanation, and he told me that we had come to the most dangerous
+part of our journey, where we must encounter perils so great that those
+which had already been overcome would seem as nothing.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SALT DESERT
+
+
+We were near what is known as the Great Salt Desert; in fact, were
+to cross it on the morrow, and when Eben Jordan led me some distance
+farther up the ridge, I could see it at my feet.
+
+The desert is covered with salt like sand, and on it grows nothing
+except wild sage, while from where we were then camped, until it would
+be possible again to find water, is no less than sixty miles, as Eben
+said.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Sixty miles over a soft surface where the animals would oftentimes sink
+fetlock-deep, and the wheels of the wagons plow into the salt sand
+until the progress must be woefully slow. In addition, all the while
+we would plod along knowing that no water was to be had, save what we
+carried with us, until the train gained the opposite side.
+
+We were camped on the side of a mountain which seemed to be made up
+almost wholly of rock; this place had been decided upon because there
+could be found a small spring, yielding barely enough water to satisfy
+the desires of ourselves and the animals.
+
+It was the last spring or stream of fresh water we should come upon
+until we had traveled across that desert, which, from the distance,
+looked like a great sea of milk. Once we had started upon the journey,
+it would be necessary to continue on, heeding not those who might fall
+by the way, so I heard father and Colonel Russell say, for the lives of
+our people depended upon our going steadily forward.
+
+
+
+
+PREPARING FOR A DANGEROUS JOURNEY
+
+
+Orders were given by the leaders of the party that our mothers cook
+no pemmican nor any salted food, lest it increase our thirst, and we
+ate bread with as much milk as could be had from the cows; within a
+few hours, for we were to set off again at midnight, another meal,
+consisting wholly of bread made from corn meal, would be served.
+
+The water of the spring was so salty as to be almost undrinkable.
+During the evening the women and girls were busily engaged making
+coffee, for in such form the water was a trifle more palatable, and
+we were advised to fill with the coffee every vessel that would hold
+liquid.
+
+As for the cattle, they would be forced to make the march of sixty
+miles with nothing to drink save what could be carried in two casks
+which had been bought at Fort Bridger for that especial purpose.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+When I asked father how it would be possible for us to give the animals
+drink even once, from no more than sixty gallons of water, he said
+they were not intending to allow the poor creatures to have what they
+wanted. The supply of water would be used simply to moisten the mouths
+of those that were suffering most severely. There could be no question
+whatsoever but that the live stock would be in great misery, and if it
+so chanced that we people escaped dire distress, then indeed we should
+hold ourselves fortunate.
+
+
+
+
+BREAD AND COFFEE MAKING
+
+
+Fortunately Ellen and I had little time in which to borrow trouble
+concerning the future, for every woman and girl found plenty with
+which to occupy her hands, as we prepared for the most dangerous and
+disagreeable portion of all the journey.
+
+We made corn bread in abundance, cooking no less than three times
+as much as we could eat, for Colonel Russell suggested that it was
+possible we might abate the thirst of the animals by giving them bread
+in small quantities during the march, and so we filled every available
+place in the wagon with this food.
+
+Mother made coffee enough to provide us with a supply on that night,
+as well as for breakfast, and, in addition, we had filled to the brim
+every vessel which was water-tight, until I should think we must have
+had no less than three gallons, while every other wagon was equally
+well supplied.
+
+The men and boys were not idle while we baked the corn bread and made
+coffee. They had enough and plenty with which to occupy their time,
+for every piece of harness, every yoke bow, wheel, or other portion of
+the outfit which might give way, was looked after carefully, lest there
+be a delay, because a halt on the desert, so we had been told at Fort
+Bridger, might mean death to us all.
+
+That night the animals were corralled inside our circle of wagons
+in order that they might be ready when the hour came for us to set
+off, and for the first time since I had known Eben Jordan I saw an
+expression of anxiety upon the lad's face.
+
+Wherever one looked among our people he could see gloomy faces, and
+there was no more singing of "Joe Bowers," no whistling and joking
+among the lads, as was usually the case during an evening in camp.
+
+
+
+
+BREAKING CAMP AT MIDNIGHT
+
+
+When midnight came, I had a very good idea that there was more danger
+to be met in crossing the desert than I had been willing to believe,
+for we were awakened and told that the march would be begun in half an
+hour.
+
+Father urged mother and us girls to eat and drink heartily while we
+might. When I asked him why we were to set off at such an unusual hour,
+he replied in a serious manner that from the moment we started until
+the desert had been crossed, there would be no halt made unless some
+of the oxen fell by the wayside and we were forced to delay in order to
+unyoke them.
+
+When Ellen asked him how long a time the crossing would take, he said
+he hoped no more than twenty or twenty-four hours. He also told us
+it had been agreed that if one of the wagons should break down, or
+any accident happen, the unfortunate ones were to be left behind, the
+remainder of the company continuing on without making any effort to aid
+them.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then, perhaps for the first time, I began to realize how much danger
+lay before us. Surely if our fathers had agreed that during the coming
+march they would make no halt for any reason, there must be grave cause
+for fear.
+
+The men made ready for the march by the light of the moon, and there
+were yet no signs of the coming day when we set off; and then we were
+a mournful party indeed, the drivers urging their beasts to the utmost,
+as if they realized that every moment was precious.
+
+
+
+
+THE APPROACH TO THE SALT DESERT
+
+
+There was nothing very dreadful to be seen on the first six miles of
+the march, for then we were winding our way up the ridge, on the side
+of which we had been encamped, and save for the fact that Ellen and I
+were suffering from the cold, the journey was much the same as we had
+already known.
+
+Then we rode down the other side of the ridge, among stunted cedar
+trees which looked as if they were dying from lack of water, and Eben
+Jordan came past our wagon to say we had come upon Captain Fremont's
+trail.
+
+The fact that we were to follow in the footsteps of other human beings
+gave me more courage and caused Ellen to appear almost cheerful.
+
+We crossed a valley where nothing was growing save wild sage, and then
+over rocky ridges which looked much like masses of dark green glass,
+through a narrow gap which might have been cut by the hand of man in
+the solid ledge, after which we saw spread out before us that vast
+desert plain, white as a sea of milk and most desolate and forbidding
+in appearance.
+
+
+
+
+A PLAIN OF SALT
+
+
+Not a vestige of any green thing could be seen within our range of
+vision. No bird was flying, and the silence was so like the silence
+of the tomb that I did not dare to speak aloud while calling mother's
+attention to this thing or that, when we halted for a short time.
+
+This was the last stop we would make, save in case of accident. Some of
+the animals ate the bread, others refused it, and then I saw what would
+have been, under other circumstances, a comical sight, for the men were
+going about with wet cloths moistening the mouths of the oxen.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+After spending nearly an hour in making the final preparations, word
+was given for the train to set off. Instead of being like milk, we
+found that the desert was made up of a bluish clay, covered here and
+there in blotches with what was much like salt, and these white spots
+were so large and numerous as to give to the whole the appearance of
+milky white when seen from the distance.
+
+The oxen sank fetlock-deep, and as we advanced there were times when
+they broke through what was like a crust, even to their very knees;
+therefore one can well fancy that the wheels plowed into this yielding
+surface until it was quite as much as the cattle could do to pull the
+wagons along.
+
+
+
+
+LIKE A SEA OF FROZEN MILK
+
+
+If all the way had been as difficult as the start, we might never have
+gained the other side; but as we advanced the surface grew harder and
+harder, until finally even the shoes of the horses failed to make any
+impression upon it. Then I heard father say, as he came back from time
+to time to speak with mother, that it appeared to him as if we were
+traveling over a solid crust of salt.
+
+At the end of an hour, perhaps, we came upon what Ellen called another
+"soft spot," and for a distance of two or three miles the oxen strained
+and tugged at the yokes as they barely succeeded in drawing the wagons
+at a snail's pace.
+
+Then we girls had most terrible forebodings, for it seemed certain we
+could never hope to cross that place before all the company had died
+from thirst.
+
+To our great relief as well as the relief of the cattle, we came upon
+a hard surface once more, and the oxen were urged to their utmost speed
+in order to make up for the time we had lost while toiling through the
+salty dust.
+
+There was no halting for dinner. Now and then we ate the corn bread,
+for with such terrible anxiety in our hearts none of us were conscious
+of hunger; but again and again and again did we sip the cold coffee,
+using it sparingly, however.
+
+
+
+
+SALT DUST
+
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock in the forenoon when a dark cloud began to
+gather in the south, and I said to mother, with great joy, that we
+would at least know the pleasure of being wet, even though we could not
+get all we wanted to drink, for surely there was a shower close upon
+us.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Indeed, we did have wind, with thunder and lightning, but not a drop
+of water fell. On the contrary, the breeze stirred up the dust from the
+plain and filled the air with it, and our parched throats grew yet more
+dry because of the salt which we were forced to inhale, even though we
+covered our faces with cloths.
+
+How the poor beasts suffered! Their tongues were actually covered with
+salt, and not a mouthful of water could they have as a relief from
+their distress.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Save for the absence of rain, it was a veritable tempest of thunder
+and lightning, lasting about twenty minutes; then the sun came out
+with more heat, as it seemed to me, than before, which but served to
+increase our desire for water.
+
+When the sun was no more than three hours from setting, I strained my
+eyes ahead, hoping to see the end of this horrible journey, although
+mother had told me there was no possibility of our coming to water
+until late in the night, and I saw the foremost of the wagons leaving
+the white plain, and passing over what promised to be a good road,
+toward a rocky range.
+
+Then I shouted aloud in my joy, that we would soon come to where it
+would be possible to quench our thirst.
+
+
+
+
+A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
+
+
+For the moment mother believed I was right, but then Eben Jordan
+dampened our joy by telling us that we must ride over the ridge five or
+six miles, where were no signs of water, and then we would come upon
+another plain of salt, which was not less than twelve miles in width.
+Only after that had been crossed might we find ourselves in safety.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen threw herself face downward upon the bed in the bottom of the
+wagon, and lay there as if in a fit of the sulks, while I crouched by
+mother's side, wondering how long it would be before death came, for I
+had grown so foolish in my sufferings that it was as if life was nearly
+at an end.
+
+
+
+
+COFFEE INSTEAD OF WATER
+
+
+Mother left us to ourselves during half an hour or more, and then told
+us plainly that we were showing ourselves to be very foolish girls.
+She insisted that we eat the harder portions of the corn bread; that we
+take frequent drinks of the coffee, and, above all, that we resolutely
+calm our minds.
+
+It must have been that amid all my distress I fell asleep, for suddenly
+I heard, as though coming from afar off, shouts of joy and the voices
+of men calling one to another.
+
+Starting up, I asked mother what was happening, and gazed around
+wildly, for night had come and the moon was not yet risen.
+
+"Thank God! the desert has been crossed, and we have come at last to
+where water may be obtained!" my mother cried fervently.
+
+She leaped out of the wagon, we two girls following, and, running
+hurriedly, we went to where the men, boys, and animals had gathered in
+a group.
+
+I believed we had come to a stream of sweet water, but it was only a
+narrow brook, where ran hardly more than a thread of water which had
+already been trampled upon by the animals until it was like liquid mud.
+
+
+
+
+A SPRING OF SWEET WATER
+
+
+At this moment Eben Jordan, taking Ellen and me by the hands, said,
+forcing us to run with him:--
+
+"By following the stream to its head we shall surely come upon a
+spring."
+
+And this we did, finding within two hundred yards a spring of the
+sweetest water I have ever taken into my mouth.
+
+Ellen and I drank again and again, seemingly never to be satisfied, and
+it was only after I had shown myself very selfish that I remembered
+poor mother, who, most likely, was standing by that muddy stream
+waiting until the water had grown clear so she might drink.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Then Eben Jordan went back, and a few moments later returned, bringing
+with him all the women and children, and many of the men.
+
+Having drunk our fill, Ellen and I went back to the wagon, where we
+ate heartily of corn bread, and then laid ourselves down to sleep,
+while the men and boys were bringing the teams into a circle to form a
+corral.
+
+
+
+
+THE OASIS
+
+
+After this we remained idle thirty-six hours, being forced to do so, as
+father said, because the animals were so nearly exhausted that a long
+time of rest was absolutely necessary.
+
+It was during this time that Eben Jordan again displayed his skill as
+a hunter, for toward nightfall he brought in two small antelopes; but
+the animals were so tiny that each family had no more than half enough
+to satisfy their craving for fresh meat, and we were forced to complete
+the meal with bacon.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Our halting place was on what can be described only as an oasis,
+stretching from that sea of white to the rocky cliffs beyond, and
+father told us that while we would not be forced to march over a plain
+of salt during the next day, the journey would be exceedingly wearisome
+and our suffering considerable, for another entire day must be spent
+without water.
+
+Again we made preparations for a time of distress, by boiling more
+coffee and filling up the water casks with sweet water from the spring.
+
+This time the anticipation was worse than the reality. On resuming the
+march, we traveled over the side of the barren ridge more than twelve
+miles, until we came to a well-defined wagon trail which, so some of
+our people said, had first been made by emigrants from Missouri.
+
+I gave little heed as to who might first have passed over the trail,
+rejoicing with Ellen that at last we had come to some evidence of human
+beings; it seemed as if our troubles were well-nigh at an end, for we
+were told that this trail would lead us by the most direct course into
+that land of California where we hoped to find rest and comfort.
+
+
+
+
+SEARCHING FOR WATER
+
+
+From this on, during four wearisome days, we were kept upon a short
+allowance of water, and did not dare eat much food lest it should
+unduly excite our thirst.
+
+Now and then we came upon a spring, when our water casks and every
+vessel that could be used for the purpose were filled to the brim, and
+yet again and again we suffered from thirst, but not so keenly as while
+crossing the desert.
+
+Whenever I slept, it was to dream of the river we had left behind us on
+the border of Pike County, wishing that it might be possible for me to
+go to its banks once more, and, even though the water was muddy, drink
+my fill.
+
+In due time we came to that point in the trail where we were forced to
+march directly over the face of the mountains. Here our fathers found
+the way so difficult that once more the teams were doubled up, twelve
+or fifteen yoke of cattle being put on one wagon, and, after hauling
+the heavy load to the summit of the range, driven back to get another.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Of course our progress was slow, and we traversed mile after mile only
+with severe labor on the part of the men and boys, for we girls and the
+women did no more than walk in order to lessen the load.
+
+Then we came to a narrow passage amid the rocks, which was most
+frightful to look upon, although there was nothing whatever about it to
+cause alarm.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+It was a gorge or canyon much like a tunnel, where the light from
+above was like a slender silver thread, and we went down into a narrow
+defile, where was barely room for the wagons to pass, and where the
+rocks, dark and fearsome, rose hundreds of feet above our heads.
+
+
+
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY
+
+
+When we had passed through that forbidding place we received our
+reward, for we came into a most beautiful valley with water and grass
+in abundance, and, although it was yet early in the afternoon, there
+was no thought of anything save making camp, that we might enjoy the
+blessings which were spread out before us.
+
+Before the sun had set Eben Jordan had killed another antelope; but he
+did not dare go far from the encampment in search of other game, for no
+sooner had twilight come than we could hear the howling of the wolves
+around us, until one's very blood ran cold. It seemed certain, and
+indeed was a fact, that we were literally surrounded by those ravenous
+animals, which were kept at a respectful distance only by the glare of
+our camp fires.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Next day, when we took up the line of march again, it was the same old
+story of climbing over rocky ridges and descending into valleys where
+could be found no signs of vegetation, until we had come to a very
+network of streams.
+
+At our next camp we were visited by a party of Snake Indians, who, like
+the other savages we had seen, pressed around us, begging for bits of
+bread.
+
+
+
+
+SNAKE INDIANS
+
+
+Those Indians were not at all like any we had seen before; their
+clothing, what little there was of it, consisted mostly of rabbit
+skins sewed together to form cloaks. To my mind they resembled more the
+Negroes than the Indians; but father said, save for their inclination
+to steal anything upon which they could lay their hands, that we need
+have no fear whatever regarding them, because they were known to be
+peaceable. The men were armed only with bows and arrows and seemed to
+have great fear of a gun or a pistol.
+
+The visitors had with them a quantity of dried meat and roots which
+they wanted to trade with us for bread or for blankets; but our store
+of provisions was not so low that we would willingly eat what those
+creatures had prepared.
+
+They lingered around the encampment, however, coming as closely to the
+wagons as our people would permit, and we girls and boys were told to
+keep careful watch lest they steal all our possessions.
+
+Just at sunset, one of the men who was standing guard over the cows
+shouted that a wild beast was creeping up on us from a thicket a short
+distance away, to the right of where father's wagon stood.
+
+Looking up quickly, I saw a huge panther crawling, as you might say,
+much as a cat approaches a mouse, and it seemed to me that he was
+making ready to spring directly upon us girls.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Ellen and I clambered shrieking into the wagon, where we hid our heads
+in a feather bed like the silly children we were, and straightway there
+ensued the greatest tumult that can be imagined, as our hunters strove
+to kill the ferocious animal.
+
+It is, perhaps, needless for me to say that the panther escaped,
+although Eben Jordan claimed it would have been possible for him to
+kill the beast, had he not been hampered by frightened girls and men.
+
+
+
+
+A SCARCITY OF FOOD
+
+
+When the march was taken up once more, we journeyed over a less
+forbidding, although a not very pleasant, country, seeing antelopes at
+a distance, but so wild that even Eben Jordan strove in vain to bring
+one down.
+
+During four or five days we marched westward, seeing now and then great
+numbers of animals which would have served to provide us with fresh
+meat, but our men were unable to kill any; then we found our supply of
+food growing so small that it was decided each person should have at a
+single meal no more than one slice of bacon and a piece of corn bread
+as big as a man's hand.
+
+There is no good reason why I should set down such mournful details.
+While we were pressing steadily but painfully westward, so hungry
+that it seemed to me I could have eaten anything resembling food, and
+thirsty until my tongue was parched, the rays of the sun beat down upon
+us with pitiless fury, until we were so worn that life seemed at times
+like some frightful dream.
+
+I can remember distinctly, however, what happened on that day when
+we heard those who were leading the train, shout that we had come
+upon water in abundance. When Ellen and I, leaping out of the wagon,
+ran forward, we saw before us several large springs from which the
+water was bubbling generously. Our delight was even as great as the
+disappointment was bitter, when the water was found to be almost
+boiling hot.
+
+
+
+
+SPRINGS OF HOT WATER
+
+
+It seems hardly possible that any liquid could come out of the earth so
+warm, and if I had never left Pike County I would have set down such a
+tale as a fable; but we did find boiling water, so hot that when Eben
+Jordan let down into one of those springs a slice of bacon tied to a
+string, it was well boiled in less than fifteen minutes.
+
+However, we were not to be deprived of water even though it was hot,
+for father proposed that we fill some of our cups, declaring it would
+be sweet to the taste once it was cool.
+
+This we did not only once, but three or four times, during the
+continuation of the march, for we came upon many of those hot springs
+on the trail after we left the banks of Mary's River.
+
+Then came a day in August when, after an unusually wearisome march, we
+suddenly overtook two emigrant wagons in which were fourteen people who
+had come from Missouri.
+
+Verily it seemed as if old friends were meeting, for as our train
+came in sight, some of the strangers began to sing, "My name it is Joe
+Bowers," and however weary I had once been of hearing that tune, it now
+sounded in my ears like music.
+
+That evening we spent visiting; those people, like ourselves, were
+traveling toward the land of California, and only those who have been
+journeying in the desert and through the wilderness, without meeting
+any human beings save Indians, can understand how intent was the
+pleasure we experienced in being with our own kind again.
+
+The emigrants decided to join our train, and we were right glad to have
+them with us, although their store of provisions was no greater than
+ours; but all were put on what father called "short allowance," which
+was to each person two slices of bacon and two pieces of bread during
+one entire day. All our men who had guns were continually searching for
+game; but while we could see antelope and even wild fowl, both beasts
+and birds were so shy that the best hunters among us could not get
+within gunshot.
+
+
+
+
+IN THE LAND OF PLENTY
+
+
+And so we traveled on, hungry, thirsty, and weary, despairing now and
+then of ever coming again into a land of plenty, until we arrived at
+the Truckee River, which was more beautiful to my eyes than ever had
+been the broad Mississippi.
+
+The waters of the river were clear as crystal and very cool, while
+from it our people took within an hour a sufficient number of trout to
+satisfy the hunger of all. It seemed necessary we should eat until it
+was absolutely impossible to swallow more, in order to atone in some
+way for the hunger that had pressed so sorely upon us during the ten
+days previous.
+
+Eben Jordan said laughingly that we were much like the savages, who
+were starved one day and in danger of bursting with food the next.
+
+
+
+
+THE TRUCKEE RIVER
+
+
+It pleased me right well when father said that we were to remain in
+camp one full day by the side of this river, in order to give the
+animals the opportunity of feeding upon the rich grass which grew in
+abundance on every hand.
+
+At last we had come into California, and a beautiful country indeed
+it appeared to me while we remained near the river,--all the more
+beautiful, perhaps, because of the suffering which it had cost us to
+get there. Both Ellen and I now came to believe our fathers had been
+wise indeed to leave the banks of the muddy Mississippi for so glorious
+a river as the Truckee.
+
+All around us were evidences of bountiful nature, for the land was
+seemingly overcrowded with game, with food on every hand for the
+cattle, beautiful flowers, and everything which goes to make one happy.
+
+How long the journey had been I did not really know until Eben Jordan
+came to where Ellen and I were sitting on the grass with the skirts
+of our gowns filled with flowers. He had in his hands a bit of paper
+on which he had set down, from what had been told him by the leaders
+of the company, the distance we people had traveled since leaving
+Independence. This was no less than two thousand and ninety miles,
+to which one must add, in order to learn how long was our march, the
+distance from Pike County to Independence, which would, so Eben said,
+make a total of about two thousand two hundred.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Even then we were nearly two hundred miles from San Francisco; however
+it was not the intention of our fathers to journey so far across
+California, for we had not come expecting to find gold, but to make for
+ourselves farms, where we could live comfortably by honest industry.
+
+Already I am writing as if we had come to an end of our journey, and so
+it seemed to me while we remained in camp on the bank of the Truckee
+River; but there were yet many days of toil before we arrived at the
+place where our people had decided to buy land.
+
+It was yet necessary that we cross the Sierra Nevada, where we found a
+seemingly impassable trail over the mountains, yet we knew that people
+like ourselves, traveling in the same way, had gone before us, and all
+the dangers and the difficulties seemed lessened because of the fact
+that we had come so near to where we intended to make our new homes.
+
+
+
+
+A HOME IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
+
+
+After much labor in descending the Sierras, we came upon the first
+settler's house we had seen since starting out. It stood in the valley
+of the Sacramento, on what is called Bear Creek, and was owned by Mr.
+Johnson, who himself was a Piker.
+
+To me the house was odd looking, not because of being so small as to
+have only two rooms, but because it was built half of logs and half
+of adobes, or bricks of mud which have been dried in the sun. It was a
+rough building, and yet how homelike it appeared!
+
+Unfortunately Mr. Johnson and his family were not at home. The building
+was closed, and although the door was not really locked, it had been
+fastened with strips of rawhide in such a manner as to show that the
+owner wished to keep out stragglers.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+As we journeyed leisurely and comfortably down the valley of the
+Sacramento, we saw now and then large droves of wild horses and elks
+feeding peacefully on the plains, and there was never a night when Eben
+Jordan, or some other of the hunters, did not bring in an abundance of
+game.
+
+
+
+
+THE MISSION OF SAN JOSE
+
+
+Then came that day when we arrived at the little village which is
+called the Mission of San Jose, and although everything about us was
+strange, we said to ourselves that at last we had come to our new home,
+for it was near that place our fathers intended to buy land.
+
+The village of San Jose must at one time have had many hundred
+inhabitants; but when we arrived it was little better than a ruin. The
+houses, built of sun-dried bricks, were without roofs and crumbling
+slowly away, all of which appeared the more pitiful because of the
+well-kept church and the fortlike two-story house where lived the
+priests. Both buildings were in such good repair that they afforded a
+striking contrast to the tumble-down dwellings which could be seen near
+at hand.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+I would love to tell how father built for himself a house on land which
+he bought from the priests of the Mission, and how mother and I set
+about making a home which should be somewhat the same in appearance as
+the one we had left in Pike County, but it is not for me to do so.
+
+
+
+
+OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA
+
+
+It may be that at some time when our home here is fully made as we
+would have it, I can tell you how we live, what odd Spanish dishes
+we have on the table, how great a profusion of fruit is at our hand
+for the gathering, and very many other things which to me are most
+interesting.
+
+I have learned to love this land even more than I did Pike County,
+which at one time I believed the most beautiful spot on earth, and
+although it pleases me now and then, when settlers come over the long
+trail, to hear the younger members of the company singing "My name it
+is Joe Bowers," I have almost forgotten that Missouri was once my home.
+
+I have come to look upon myself as belonging to this beautiful valley
+where Nature is so lavish with all her gifts, and therefore, instead of
+calling myself a Piker, as in the days gone by, I dearly love to write
+so all may see, that I am now, and ever shall be as long as the good
+God allows me to remain in this world, Martha of California.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS CONSULTED IN WRITING MARTHA OF CALIFORNIA
+
+
+  BRYANT, EDWIN: What I Saw in California. D. Appleton & Co.
+
+  CLAMPITT, JOHN W.: Echoes from the Rocky Mountains. Belford,
+    Clarke & Co.
+
+  CONNELLY, WILLIAM ELSEY: Doniphan's Expedition. Pub. by the
+    Author.
+
+  DEXTER, A. HERSEY: Early Days in California. Tribune-Republican
+    Press.
+
+  DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS: The Making of the Great West. Charles
+    Scribner's Sons.
+
+  FREMONT, J. C.: The Second Expedition. Washington.
+
+  KNOWER, DANIEL: The Days of a Forty-Niner. Weed, Parsons Print.
+    Co.
+
+  PAXSON, FREDERICK L.: The Last American Frontier. The Macmillan
+    Company.
+
+  THORNTON, J. QUINN: Oregon and California. Harper & Brothers.
+
+  WOODS, DANIEL B.: Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings. Harper &
+    Brothers.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Martha of California, by James Otis
+
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