MMWiaeMKMBM ,YEAR$ OF IRIE LIFE y. p. PRiCh P^ijit A:f !r*» "-^ ,M ■ i'^/ .' Qass f (o Bh m(i(c) SEVEN YEARS OF PRAIRIE LIFE }9 SEVEN YEARS OF PRAIRIE LIFE By JAMES P. PRICE. 1891 : JAKEMAN & CARVER, HEREFORD. Ui. // <^t*^ Preface TN putting forth this httle volume of my personal experiences of Hfe on the American prairie, I do not feel that I am treading on ground which has been covered by other writers on the vast subject of America. My object has been to give some of those details of travel, impressions, and experiences, which will probably fall to the lot of the emigrant, but which do not come within the ken of the ordinary traveller. In the matter of even successful prairie farming "things are not what they seem," notwithstanding the extravagant puff of the newspaper article, or the book that is intended to advertize the new country, at the same time rousing hopes of a " Promised Land " in the breast of the European farmer, who is struggling for existence. It is not the object of this book to do either. PREFACE. One great misfortune in the settling of the West is the desire on the part of emigrants to obtain land, without the slightest regard to the law of supply and demand, as applying to farm produce ; whilst another important factor has been the natural desire of every one of the older settlers to see the land around them settled up, so that their farms may become more valuable. Hence the suppression of truth — truth, which the settler in his stoutness of heart, and buoyant hopefulness, will not even admit to himself. Nothing could have given me greater pleasure than to have found that the wholesale emigration of our surplus population was the panacea to all evils attending an overpeopled country, but in all honesty, after a most careful study of the question, I cannot see that any emigration — except such as goes on, on voluntary lines, or in such cases as Dr. Barnardo's — will ever be attended with success. Therefore, I trust, that some measure will soon be passed such as is mentioned in my last chapter, so that our rural population will be largely increased, and this, with the undoubted desire of both political parties to improve the social condition of the people, should be no Utopian or chimerical idea. PREFACE. Vll. If the steerage passenger has his wants better attended to, and his sense of decency more carefully considered now, than he did when I crossed and re-crossed the Atlantic, I shall rejoice to hear of it, but if not, I hope that the strictest investigation will be made, so that a better state of things may be brought about for the benefit of the British emigrant. To any person having leisure, and the necessary means at his disposal, a visit to America must prove of interest, for America is a country which " must be seen to be believed." I should, in closing this, my introduction, which I find, like many other prefaces, is not an introduction at all, like to place on record that nothing lives in my memory more vividly than the uniform kindness which I received at the hands of my fellow residents in that far off country, and should this volume by chance reach any of them, I may fairly hope, that they will at least think with me that I have extenuated nothing nor set down aught in malice. J. P. P. Contents. CHAPTER 1. THE RIDE TO KANSAS. The sea voyage— Going aboard— A dense fog— Two collisions— Where's the luggage? — A confused scene — Incipient sea sickness — Pat and his box— Pat in love— The breach of promise— Trial and verdict— Sea sickness— Time and ginger beer works wonders— Sunday on board ship— The rolling vessel— Floating icebergs— Sea-gulls- Flying fish— Death and burial at sea— Land a-head— Preparing to land— The Custom House officers— Passengers and luggage again afloat— Castle Garden— A German boarding-house— Special reporter— IVIore trouble with the luggage— An easy-going " baggage master "—On the train — The appearance of the country — Fifteen miles an hour— Offer of employment — Breakfast under difficulties — Queer advertisements — Crossing the Mississippi— St. Louis— Twelve hours delay— The Missouri river — The journey's end. CHAPTER II. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Alighting on the prairie— Amateur housebreaking— A friend to the rescue— Interior of the prairie home-r-The tinkling cow bell— A view from the window— Sunrise on the prairie— Welcome into society— A drive to town—" The metropolis of tlie West "—Stores and storekeepers —Dinner at the restaurant— Prairie fires at night— A weird sight. X. CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. STOCK AND CROPS. Looking for a team of horses — Dilapidated horse flesh — The livery stable proprietor— A squatter's shanty— We dine— Codlin and Short— The Kansas mule and the British War Department— Josh Billings on the mule — Hogs — Hereford and Shorthorn cattle — Sheep— How Indian corn is grown — The soil — Thunderstorms— Pleasing prospects — A hailstorm and cyclone — Gathering corn — Prairie hay — Selling stock and produce — Taxation. CHAPTER IV. RELIGIOUS, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL LIFE. Sunday school and religious services — Supporting the minister- Education and teachers — School districts and managers — The school meeting — An awkward customer—" Mr. Chairman " — Woman suffrage and its antidote — Illiteracy not j^revalent — Population and size of Kansas — Government land— Englishman's good opinion of himself at a discount— Political dangers— The popular man and the "prominent citizen " — The Literary and Debating Society— Juvenile orators— The presidential nursery — The bagpipes at close quarters— Manhood suffrage — The State Senate and House of Representatives— County officers — Naturalization of foreigners— Free trade and protection— Enormous rates of interest — Food cheap and good — The cooking — Social gather- ings — A leg of mutton — The hired man, his wages and his ways — The hired girl— The Prohibitory Law— Whiskey in the graveyard— Tobacco chewing— Profane language— Ague— A country funeral. CHAPTER V. A FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION. A brief sketch of the origin of Independence Day— Among the Americans— An anomalous position— A ride along a dusty road— Flags and banners— A walnut grove— The orator— Picnic on the grass— The ubiquitous pie— Three times round the world for a nickel— Yankee Doodle by a left-handed violinist— Music and dancing. CONTENTS. XI. CHAPTER VI. LAND AND WATER, LAW AND ORDER. Prices of land— The land office — The free <;rants of land — The emigrant wagon — The emigrant wagon's return — Dropping into poetry — Colonization by families — Plenty of sun but a lack of water— Wells — The water witch — The divining rod — Prairie fires in the summer — Cyclones— Wild animals— Land leaguers — " Peaceable possession " — Revolver practice— A fatal fight between squatters — The evicted leaguers — Two brave boys — "One down t'other come on" — Assault and battery— Endless litigation — The lawyers — How to join the legal army — The jury system — A promiscuous jury — A J.P. chewing tobacco — Local murders — Self-defence— A sad case — A jury in the district court — The trial, and verdict of guilty — The country newspaper — Some well-intended i-emarks on it— The alteration in the appearance of the country. CHAPTER VII. THE SURPRISE PARTY. THE HOME JOURNEY, Preparations for the home-coming — Kindly feelings and their practical outcome — The surprise party — Host and hostess in curious position — The attempted speech — "Good bye" — Setting out for "home" — The State of Missouri — A night on a Pullman car — Indianapolis — A home of Henry Ward Beecher and President Harrison — The Wales of America— Pittsburgh by night— Philadelphia— Arrival at New York- Some places of interest — Talmage and his Tabernacle — On board ship — Intermediate and steerage passage compared — Insanity, death, and burial at sea — Landing at Liverpool, CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUSION. THE EMIGRATION QUESTION. Brief remarks on some of the farming States of America — The English labourer and his prospects— A Land Transfer Bill— A land office- Encourage the English rural population. CHAPTER I. THE RIDE TO KANSAS. T LEFT Liverpool, accompanied by my wife and child, to journey toward this Western State, on Tuesday, February 21st, on board the Inman line steamship, City of Paris. Scarcely had the ship left port when, owing to a dense fog, a slight collision occurred, to be followed immediately by another of a more serious nature, but how serious was not known to the passengers, no damage being done to our vessel. The fog at length cleared off, and there being then a clear look ahead timid passengers breathed more freely. The luggage — what a nuisance luggage always is ! Where can it be ? Surely it was brought in off the tender ? Stewards tell us to go below — we are steerage — as it is most likely to be found there. What a scene of confusion ! Young ladies trying to fit their keys into strange boxes ; young men gallantly coming to the rescue, and showing the mistake, and aiding in its rectification ; babies crying ;• older people sympathethic, and crying too ; people rushing hither and thither, having a dread suspicion that their luggage is either lost, stolen, or strayed; some leisurely eating pork pies and other viands, utterly oblivious to all around ; Germans trying to converse with Englishmen, waving their hands much, and poking the Englishmen in the SEVEN YEARS OF PRAIRIE LIFE. chest ; steward stepping in and speaking German, and the foreigners gratified to find some one who can understand them. Everything is in a state of disorder — even the stomachs of some persons, thus early in the voyage. By dint of much patience — a most necessary article to bring with you — I found our packages, selecting such as were required on the voyage, and getting things in " ship shape," and in "sailing order" (nautical term excusable), when a man about forty years of age (name forgotten ; address — Emerald Isle) came up to me crying bitterly. Asking his cause for grief, I was told that he had been " rabbed of his praperty." His " praperty " was, in my mind, somehow mixed up with the Land League and the Land Act, and I asked who had supplanted the weeping Hibernian, and sent him howling from his native country ; and was greatly astonished to discover that the property was a trunk, in which he had deposited a new suit of clothes, with which he had intended to adorn himself at New York, to surprise some friends in affluent circumstances in that region. Later on, I found him on a box, singing bits from Moore's melodies, in a tone that a musical critic w^ould consider scarcely preferable to his crying. I presumed he had found his property : " Sorr," said he, "the Lord has favoured me." Before the voyage was over, he became very popular on board, and being of an amorous disposition, fell in love, and became defendant in an action for breach of promise to marry. The sham court of justice was presided over by the ship's purser, and the writer — who had considered himself a witness for the defence — was retained as counsel for the plaintiff, with a young Irish farmer as opposing counsel. A jury found a verdict for the plaintiff. The THE RIDE TO KANSAS. court was crowded, many of the members of the " Upper House " — the title given to the saloon — being spectators of the scene. This is given for what it may be worth before the due time, but I will not further mention our boisterous mirth, which was very plentiful after that dread scourge, to be mentioned presently, had passed over us. Queenstown was reached by noon on Wednesday, when our passengers were increased to 296. The vessel lay in the bay, passengers and mails being brought on a tender. At four o'clock orders were given to start, and the ship was turned completely round, and we " steered for the open sea." As night fell, the craggy rocks on the Irish coast were lost to view, and long before day dawned we were out of sight of land, and were sailing briskly over water a little rougher than we had hitherto experienced. Did ever any person go on the sea for the first time without being well stocked with instructions how to prevent sea sickness ? I was advised to eat nothing for the first three days ; to eat everything I could ; to have my meat well cooked ; and an admirer of Lord Byron recommended raw beaf steak. I was told to lie perfectly still ; and I was told to jump up and walk briskly on deck. All these remedies I tried — at intervals — but they were unavailing. Ginger beer was the only thing that seemed to give relief. Some passengers thought that sea sickness arose from injudicious consumption of bilious food, and resolved not to be sick ; but they found their stomachs as weak as their resolutions. Everything comes to an end, and so did this expectoration, and all went " as merry as a marriage bell." On Saturday night a large parcel of books was brought out and distributed. They were chiefly New York Christian papers, Bibles, and tracts, SEVEN YEARS OF PRAIRIE LIFE. in various languages. These are eagerly sought after, and are read with much pleasure. In taking a walk round the tables I found Irish boys teaching Dutch girls to read English, but I fear with very poor success. This night, soon after retiring to rest (which we didn't get), the ship commenced rocking, and there was much noise caused by the crying of babies, the smashing of crockery, and the tumbling of forms, and of terrified passengers, who had got up to walk about. The vessel rocked and rocked — a veritable " cradle of the deep " — without intermission until morning. Sunday morning — people seemed anxious to get an extra good wash, and to go up on deck for that purpose. See this fellow — the tall one — picking his way along toward the water tap. He has a towel over his shoulder, a tin and soap in his one hand, and with the other he is holding on to the rail beside the cabin. He meets with another fellow returning with a little drop of the much-needed cleansing article. They are like the two goats on the narrow mountain pass — both loose the rail for each other to proceed, the ship gives a plunge, and down go the two men, sliding against the side of the ship, while the two bowls go careering merrily along the deck. The ship gives a backward plunge, and throws the two men "as you were," their nether extremities two feet apart. Having secured their tins, they decide to wash " when the sea is quieter." Sailors come along, and say " 'Tis nothing, nothing," and I suppose it is so. The vessel sinks down on the larboard side, hops back on the starboard, rises for'ard to sink astern, then rises astern to sink for'ard; passengers in most undignified positions — in fact, every conceivable position except standing steadily on their feet. At half-past ten the bell tolls for Divine service, THE RIDE TO KANSAS. which the captain conducts in the dining-room of the saloon ; and a few, a very few, attend. The wind ceases, and sails are once more hoisted, and we go on splendidly. On Wednesday the banks of Newfoundland are crossed, and soon after we pass large quantities of field ice, and one iceberg said to be fifteen feet high. We pass but few vessels — not more than one a day. Seagulls follow the ship almost the entire voyage, and it is a very pretty sight to see them swoop down in a flock to devour any small or large thing in the way of eatables which may be thrown overboard. One day we saw what were said to be flying fish, but they appeared to have a very strong dash of the bird about them, in the distance much like the common Enghsh moor-hen, I have mentioned that there were a number of Germans on board. Amongst these were a young couple named Gotz, accom- panied by their two little children. One little one, about a year old, fell ill with inflammation of the lungs, and, notwith- standing the application of a doctor's skill and the most careful attention of the mother and stewardess, it succumbed to the malady on the afternoon before the vessel came to her destination. It was expected that the body would not be buried at sea, but orders were given to the ship's carpenter to make the little coffin. In the evening the rude coffin and its contents were covered with a flag, and borne aft by two sailors to a platform erected at the ship's side. The ship's flag is raised half-mast high ; the sun is sinking, the bell tolling a mournful note ; the figure head is pointing onward ; young mothers press their little ones to hearts filled with gratitude for the preservation of their darlings from such a grave ; the passengers gather around, and not a sound is heard save a gentle wave dashing against the SEVEN YEARS OF PRAIRIE LIFE. ship's sides, whilst the priest reads the Htany for the dead. The service ended, the corpse is dropped into the sea. The sun has set, and in setting has spread the dark shadow of the ship Hke a pall over the grave of the little one. The bell has ceased tolling, but the figure head is still pointing onward. On Saturday, March 4th (the nth day after leaving Liverpool), at day-break, land was sighted, being the first seen since leaving the coast of Ireland. Many passengers had risen at four o'clock, and, decked in their best, were as merry as school boys on a holiday morning. This careful and early toilet was quite unnecessary, as no one had a faint hope of leaving the vessel until afternoon, excepting a few officers, who got on the tender and went in with the mails. We arrived in Sandy Hook at 10 a.m., and as we sailed into the docks, a magnificent view was obtained of Brooklyn new bridge, over a mile long, spanning the East river, and of the town of Brooklyn, and City of New York. There was much consternation amongst passengers when they heard that the City of Berlin (which had left Liverpool a week in advance of the City of Paris) had not arrived. She carried about seven hundred passengers. Fears w^ere entertained as to her safety, but on Sunday — the day after the Paris arrived — she was towed into Boston harbour with her machinery disabled. She had been at the mercy of wind and wave for several days. I met with some of her passengers on my journey out West, who told me that there was quite a panic on board during the anxious suspense, which lasted until they were taken in tow by a passing vessel. But to return to our ship. The City of Paris was brought to anchor at the pier belonging to the Inman Company, and THE RIDE TO KANSAS. we marched past the doctor, like so many soldiers at a review. All being reported right, the Custom House officers came on board, and searched — not very diligently, I must say — the boxes for anything liable to duty. As each package was marked, a brass check was fastened to it by a strap, and a corresponding check was given to the owner (this is the case with luggage on the railroad, and is a most admirable system). Passengers and luggage were now on board a steam boat, which steamed down to Castle Garden. We landed, and were conducted into a large circular building, where we had to wait a little while. Round here to left is a refreshment bar. You go there to " get something," when you find that some of your friends are passing on through a narrow passage to another part of the building, and you follow. Here is a gentleman with a large book ; he is inquisitive. " Where do you come from ? What's your name ? Where are you going to ? Been here before ? Wife ? Name ? Child ? Name ? Pass on." The replies are written in the book, and all having orders to get railroad tickets are questioned on the subject, and are directed what steps to take to get them substituted by the proper ticket, together with the route they have to travel. We are all through now, in the enclosure we were so anxious to get into, and a gentleman mounts a rostrum, auctioneer fashion, and emigrants crowd round, eager bidders for any wares he may have for disposal ; but he shouts out through his nose further instructions for the guidance of his audience, such as the departure of trains, and of letters, &c., that may be awaiting the arrival of owners!; that persons expecting friends should wait for a while in the building; that persons desirous of remaining in the Garden until Monday can do so, free of 8 SEVEN YEARS OF PRAIRIE LIFE. charge, as there are no trains leaving for long distances until the afternoon of that day. (This is, as the reader may have observed, the evening of Saturday.) This latter accommo- dation several persons availed themselves of, as, though the lodgings were not of the best, they had the advantage of cheapness. All instructions were now issued, gates are thrown open, and in a flock a whole host of hotel proprietors, lodging-house-keepers, or their agents, with cards in their hats and others in their pockets, which set forth the peculiar advantages of the establishments they represent. These cards were distributed with utter impartiality. I had sufficient to play a hand of whist with had they been of a different kind. I had been recommended to a German house in Greenwich street, close to the Garden, whither a party of us wended our way, and found the excellence of the mode of conducting the establishment no ways exaggerated. The prices for a decent house range from a dollar to a dollar and a half per day for board and lodging. At the latter price the accommodation is very superior. We had scarcely settled in our comfortable abode before we had a slight experience of the innate desire of the American mind for information. One young gentleman, who said he w\ts the special reporter of the New York Morning Something (and perhaps he was), wished my opinion of winds. Now, I must confess to never having made winds my especial study, though I have now experienced their power, from the English summer breeze to the American cyclone. Still, I gave the young gentleman the benefit of my experience of winds in general, and of those felt in the Atlantic in particular, and he departed to the next new comer, with a look of satisfaction peculiarly gratifying to the interviewed. On Sunday, as we took a THE RIDE TO KANSAS. walk on this ^March morning, down an avenue leading from our hotel to the water, now sparkling in the sunlight, and felt the bright bracing air, with the little birds chirping a carol of welcome to spring, I could not help noticing that the weather the Americans kept for home consumption was superior to that exported to the British and Norwegian coasts {vide daily papers any time these last few years) ; but this impression, though firmly rooted at the time, has become eradicated. We wended our way in the direction of that magnificent building. Trinity Church, where we found many fine monuments to heroes of the American war. Sunday passed, and on Monday morning I went to the Castle Garden to inquire for the luggage, of which I had seen nothing since leaving the ship. I was shown mto a large warehouse, where there were hundreds of boxes and packages, of all colours, shapes, and sizes. I was introduced to a porter with a snuff-coloured moustache, who demanded my checks and nodded his head in the direction of the luggage, indicating that I must go amongst this maze of packages and select mine. This, after as much wandering as if I were looking over all the furniture rooms in Curtain Road for a single footstool, I succeeded in doing. My next difficulty was to find the gentleman wearing the snuff-coloured moustache. Every porter on the premises seemed to be a patron of that colour. How many times I asked the question, "Did I give you five checks?" and received the brief reply, " Guess not," I won't pretend to say. But at length I detected a man leaning against a post, " God bless the Duke of Argyll ! " (He had been watching me, no doubt, confound him !) I repeated my question. He had a habit of repeating the latter part of the question, like an lO SEVEN YEARS OF PRAIRIE LIFE. echo learning to talk. " Five checks. I presume so." " I have found my luggage ; will you go and fetch it?" Echo — " Go and fetch it. Guess I will." 'Tis a premeditated affair, evidently, for he guesses right. Previous to departure, the luggage, if of any considerable amount, is weighed. Now this operation, simple as it is, will be found very expensive. One hundred pounds is allowed on each third-class ticket. This was the case at New York, but on going further west I found that one hundred and fifty pounds was the allowance, and for every extra one hundred pounds a sum of five dollars and thirty-five cents was chargeable. This was for the extent of my journey — 1,400 miles. Emigrants will find that luggage, except in rare instances, will pay better to be left at home, as, not infrequently, the cost of carnage will exceed the actual value of the goods after they reach their destination. I find the American dollar to be a cumbrous coin, and as large, but no larger, than, the American palm. Yet even the fair damsel behind the refreshment counter, whose delicate hand would scarcely fill a six and a quarter glove, can as easily manage it as the more enlarged hand of toil, as evinced by her handing a very small amount of provisions and a few small and inferior coins in exchange for one. The lowest coin the Yankee trader seems at all disposed to stoop to is five cents. A glass of ale is five cents, and five cents to black a pair of boots, and I believe a shave is five cents (I wonder how a razor will travel so far, as in most instances it has to, for so small a sum), an orange five cents, and three apples are five cents. This latter fact is made known in what to the uninitiated is the inexplicit term of " Three for a nickel." THE RIDE TO KANSAS. IT But here we are again, steaming up the river, past pier after pier. We pass the City of Paris ; a few sailors answer our adieux, waved in pocket-handkerchiefs ; and we are landed at Jersey City, where our train starts. We are marched into a warehouse, amidst sundry packages of kerosene, canned beef, Staffordshire cuts, middles, long cut, hams,