8 Conservative *
N THE EA.KLY DAYS.
Along the Overland Trull In Nebraska In
1852 Written for the NoliniHkn Stnte
Historical Society.
On the 16th of March , 1852 , I started
with several others from Monroe , Mich. ,
on the overland trail to California.
Nothing of importance occurred dnriug
our travel through the states except the
general bad roads , causing us to make
poor progress. Crossing the Mississippi
river at Warsaw , 111. , we kept along the
northern tier of counties in Missouri
which were heavily timbered and
sparsely settled. Bearing southwest we
arrived at St. Joseph , Mo , on the first
day of May.
The town was a collection of one-
story , cheap , wooden buildings located
along the river and up Rattlesnake Hol
low. The inhabitants appeared to be
chiefly French and half breed Indians.
The principal business was in selling out
fits to the immigrants , trading in horses ,
mules and cattle. The level land below
the town was the camp of the immigra
tion. There was one steam ferry boat
which had several days' crossing regis
tered ahead. So the next day or two
we started and drove up to the town of
Savannah. After laying in some more
supplies we drove to the Missouri river ,
at what was called"Savannah Landing. "
There we crossed over on a hand ferry ,
and for the first time wo pressed the soil
of the then unsettled plains of the Great
West. Working our way through the
heavily timbered bottom , we camped
under the bluffs wet and weary.
Here we rested over Sunday , when we
completed our company organization.
The weather cleared up and Monday
morning at sunrise we started on a trail
that led up the hollow and on to the
"great plains" of Kansas and Nebraska.
The day was warm and the sun shone
bright and clear. It was the most
beautiful sight I had ever seen. Not a
tree nor any obstacle could be seen before
us , only this great rolling sea of the
brightest green. This , then , was the
land that we were told in later years ,
was the "Great American Desert. " We
have often heard it expressed from the
rostrum and the pulpit inviting to look
about what was half a century ago a
"barren sandy desert , " and they said it
was so represented by early immigrants
to California. True , one spoke of the
deserts in Nebraska , but they are now
in Nevada , for we stepped out of the
territory of Nebraska into California on
the summit of the Sierra Nevada moun
tains. Having lived here for twenty-
one yearn , I know it was then as good as
it has been any year since. The first
Indians we saw were at Wolf Creek ,
where they had made a bridge of logs
and brush and charged us fifty cents a
wagon to pass over it. We paid it and
drove on , coming now in the vicinity of
the Big Blue river at a point near
where Barneston , Gage county , is now
located.
Our company as organized consisted
of twenty-four men and one woman , the
wife of W. W. Wadsworth , our captain.
We had eight wagons and forty-seven
head of horses and mules. Four men
wore detailed each night to stand guard ,
two till one o'clock , when they were re
lieved by two others who came in at
daylight.
As a couple of horsemen were riding
in advance , we came suddenly to the
Big Blue river , where on the opposite
bank stood a party of thirty or forty
Indians. We fell back and when the
train came up a detail was made of eight
men to drive the teams and the other
sixteen were to wade the river , rifle in
liaud. Being one of the skirmish line ,
I remember how cold and blue the water
was , and as to depth , it came into our
vest pockets. We walked up to the
Indians and said "How" and had some
presents of copper cents and tobacco to
offer them. We soon saw that they
were merely looking on to see us ford
the stream.
They were Pawnees , were gaily dressed
and armed with bows and arrows. We
passed several pipes among them and
seeing they were quiet , the train was
signalled and all came through the ford
without any mishap excepting the water
coming up four to six inches in the
wagon bed , wetting their contents to
that extent.
After the train was out in the open
prairie again , we bade the Indians good
bye and were all glad we got off so
easily. At noon we moved off the trail ,
turned out the animals and all hands
proceeded to dismount the wagons and
spread their contents out on the grass to
dry , as everything next to the bottom of
the wagon beds was soaked with water.
I forgot to say that in making prepara
tions to ford the river , as a precaution
of safety , the captain had placed his
wife down in the bottom of their wagon
bed and piled sacks of flour around her
as a protection in case of a fight , and of
course in passing the ford , she was
necessarily drawn through the water in
a very alarming and uncomfortable
manner. But she was one of the
bravest of women , and in this instance ,
as in many others , of danger and fatigue ,
befora we reached our journey's end ,
she always displayed such courage and
good temper as to win the admiration of
all the company.
We now move on in the direction of
Diller and Endicott , where we joined
the main line of immigration coming
through from St. Joe , and crossing the
Big Blue where Maryvillo , Kansas , is
located , we were soon coming up to the
Little Blue , passing up on the east side
and about one mile this side of Fair-
bury. Our trail now lay along the up
lands through the day , where we could
Bee the long line of covered wagons ,
sometimes two or three abreast , drawing
itself in its windings like a great white
snake across this great sea of rolling
green. This line could be seen many
miles to the front and rear , so far that
the major portion of it seemed to the
observer to be motionless.
We now come to a stream called the
Big Sandy ( I believe it is in the south
west part of Fillmore county ) about 0
o'clock a. m. , when we were suddenly
alarmed by the unearthly whoops and
yells of 100 or more Indians ( Pawnees )
all mounted and riding up and down
across the trail on the open upland op
posite us , about a good rifle shot dis
tance. Our company were tha only
people there. A courier was imme
diately sent back for reinforcements.
Wo hastily put our camp in position of
defense ( as we had been drilled ) by
placing our wagons in a circle with our
stock and ourselves on the inside. The
Indians constantly kept up their noise
and rode up and down , brandishing their
arms at us , and we thought that every
minute they would make a break for us.
We soon had recruits mounted and
well armed coming up , when our captain
assumed command and all were assigned
to their positions. This was kept up
until about 1 o'clock , when we decided
that our numbers would warrant us in
making a forward movement.
As a preliminary , skirmishers were
ordered forward down towards the creek
through some timber and thick under-
brash , I being one of them. My partner
and myself on coming to the creek first
discovered an empty whiskey barrel ,
and going a little further in the brush
we saw two tents. Coming carefully
up to them we heard groans as of some
one in great pain. Peeping through a
hole in the tent we saw two white men ,
who on entering the tent we learned
were badly wounded by knife and
bullet. From them we learned the fol
lowing facts which were the cause of all
our fear and trouble that morning.
They said the night before two large
trains had camped there and as these
men were keeping the "Post , " they of
course had whiskey to sell. These camp
ers got on a drunk , quarreled and got
into a general fight. As a result these
men were wounded. On the trail over
where the Indians were some immi
grants were camped and a guard was
placed at the roadside. While the shoot
ing was going on down at the "Post"
an Indian hearing the noise had como
along the trail when he was halted by
the guard , and not answering the guard
fired and killed him on the spot. These
people immediately hitched up and
moved on. The Indians we confronted
coming there found the dead Indian
lying in the road , which roused their
anger and kept us on the ragged edge
for several hours.
The Indians all rode off as we began
to approach them , and as the trail was
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