II 
 
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BANCROFT 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 

JAMES SWISHER. 
 
HOW I KNOW, 
 
 OR 
 
 SIXTEEN YEARS' EVENTFUL EXPERIENCE. 
 
 AN 
 
 AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE, 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 A BRIEF RECORD OF SERIOUS AND SEVERE SERVICE ON THE BATTLE-FIELDS 
 OF THE SOUTH; A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF HAZARDOUS ENTERPRISES, 
 THRILLING ADVENTURES, NARROW ESCAPES, AND DIRE DISASTERS 
 ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER AND IN THE WILDS OF THE WEST; 
 LIFE AMONG THE MORMONS, THE MINERS, AND THE IN- 
 DIANS; THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE OF 
 THE GREAT WEST; THE WONDERFUL GRANDEUR 
 AND BEAUTY OF ITS SCENERY AND ITS LAND- . 
 SCAPES; ITS GREAT MINERAL AND AGRI- 
 CULTURAL RESOURCES; A GLANCE AT 
 THE MORE IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 
 ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOP- 
 MENT, ETC., ETC. 
 
 BY JAMES S WISHER, I $ <f Cj _ 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR: 
 CINCINNATI, OHIO. 
 
 1880. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1880, BY JAMES SWISHER. 
 
 Comp. and Electrotyped 
 
 PRESS OF BY 
 
 JONES BROTHERS & Co. CAMPBELL & COMPANY, 
 
 CINCINNATI. CINCINNATI, O. 
 
UBRAHt 
 
 I HAVE written this book, not because I make any 
 pretensions as an author or writer, but at the earnest 
 request of many of my friends in different parts of the 
 country, who have urged me to prepare and publish an 
 account of my travels and experiences. 
 
 I have thought it unnecessary to speak, except in 
 the briefest manner possible, of my experiences in the 
 Civil War. I have said enough on this subject, how- 
 ever, to vividly recall to the minds of my comrades- 
 in-arms the thrilling incidents of those dark days, and 
 to awaken the memory of the keen interest and the 
 trembling apprehension with which the dire conflict 
 was viewed from the thousands of homes and firesides, 
 by mother, wife and sister. 
 
 I have been vain enough to hope that my book 
 may not be entirely devoid of interest to those who 
 love such grandly magnificent and beautiful works of 
 Nature as are to be seen in so many places in the 
 West. Of these I have given such glimpses and de- 
 scriptions as the limits of the book and my ability as 
 a writer would allow. 
 
 Of the Mormons, Indians, miners, and other classes 
 of people of which I speak, I say only such things as 
 I have learned by personal association and observation. 
 
iv PREP A CE. 
 
 Although in some cases my account may not be com- 
 plete and exhaustive, yet I think it will be always in- 
 teresting and valuable from the fact that it is reliable. 
 
 In what I have said of the mining and agricultural 
 resources and the commercial interests of the West, I 
 have been guided by an extensive and varied experi- 
 ence, and a wide opportunity for observation. I have 
 been laborer, lumberman, explorer, guide, traveler, 
 prospector, miner, hunter, Indian-fighter, government 
 surveyor and civil engineer, freighter, herder, stock- 
 broker, and transient sojourner. In one or another of 
 these capacities I have visited nearly every portion of 
 the West, and consequently know whereof I speak. 
 
 I do not expect to escape criticism. I am well 
 aware that I am in great need of it. Still I hope that 
 those who read this book will belong to that class of 
 true critics who endeavor, as far as possible, to seek out 
 that which is commendable and praiseworthy, and to 
 overlook that which is imperfect and incomplete. I can 
 but express the hope that each one who reads the book 
 may derive some little benefit from what I have written. 
 
 In conclusion, it is but proper that I should here 
 express my sincere thanks to Messrs. Jones Brothers 
 & Co., Cincinnati, for the generous kindness with 
 which they have afforded me every needed assistance 
 and facility for the proper printing, binding and illus- 
 tration of my book. Their friendly favors shall ever be 
 held in most grateful remembrance. 
 
 J. S. 
 
 January, 1880. 
 
coNTENTs 
 
 fr 
 
 CHAPTER I. WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMY CORPS. 
 
 Birth-place Joins the Army Sketch of the Twentieth Corps Battles 
 of Lookout Mountain, Rocky Face Ridge and Resaca Capture of Pine Knob 
 Kenesaw Mountain Peach Tree Creek Siege of Atlanta The "March to 
 the Sea" Savannah occupied Devastation of the "Mother of Secession" 
 Pursuit of Johnston's flying Forces The Surrender at Raleigh Homeward 
 The grand Review at Washington Home and Friends. . . . 11-25 
 
 CHAPTER II. UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 
 
 The "Western Fever" In a Utah mining Camp Situation of Utah The 
 
 Mormons Mountain Meadow Massacre Bishop S 's " Revelations " A 
 
 horrible Outrage Murder of D. P. Smith Another Instance of Mormon 
 Atrocity Nationality of the Mormons Adobe Houses Practical Polygamy 
 Scenery in Utah Hot and cold Springs Irrigation Mountains and Des- 
 erts Grass, Cattle and Timber Mining Early Mining Experiences Sinks 
 a Shaft, and some Money The Webster Lode General Reflections. . 26-44 
 
 CHAPTER III. NEVADA. 
 
 Nevada for a Change Carson City Lake Tahoe Mining Fever again 
 Stock-speculator The Comstock Mines The Narrow Guage Rarlroad The 
 long Flume Heat and Water in the Mines Ventilation The Sutro Tunnel 
 Climate of Nevada Stock and Farming Hot Springs Alkali The 
 
 brackish Water. 45~53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. CALIFORNIA. 
 
 From Carson City to San Francisco The Enchanting Scenery Donner 
 Lake Pulpit Rock Sad Story of the Donner Family Indian Tradition In 
 the old Mining District Virgin Gold Geological History Theories Placer 
 Mining Some big Nuggets Northward TheYosemiteValley The "Garden 
 of the Gods" Nevada Fall The Giant Trees California Vegetables The 
 Golden City Its Splendor and Magnificence Fertile Valleys and Immense 
 Crops The Seasons Stock-raising Grape Culture Drawbacks Something 
 of a Shake Volcanic and Desert Regions The Earthquake of 1872. . 54-74 
 
 CHAPTER V. THE CHINESE. 
 
 The Chinese Their Appearance Their Dress Their Numbers Most 
 of Them in Servitude The Six Companies Low Wages Idol Worship A 
 Law unto Themselves The Chinese Quarter Coolies Legislation General 
 Review of California Resources Wealth per capita Commercial Enterprises 
 Agricultural Resources Remarkably Healthy Climate Colonizing Gov- 
 ernment Lands Area and Population Internal Improvements. . 75~$ 2 
 CHAPTER VI. OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 
 
 Portland The Varied Climate The Fertile Tracts Population The 
 Columbia River The Cascade Range The Lava Beds Fine Stock Wil- 
 lamette Valley Agricultural Products of the State Grains and Fruits 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 Washington Territory Lumbering The Cold Weather Fish and Game 
 
 The Indians The grand Scenery of the North-west. . . . 83-90 
 
 CHAPTER VII. MEXICO. 
 
 Eleven Months in Mexico The Mexicans The Climate Mexican Char- 
 acter Mining Primitive Processes Employed The Dwellings General De- 
 cay A Stranger's Impressions Amusements Gambling Mexican Horse- 
 manship Corraling Wild Stock Lassoing Riding a Wild Horse Cheap 
 Horses The Beauty of the Country The Delightful Climate Chihuahua 
 The Casas Grandes Ruins Explorations Relics of the Inhabitants of the 
 Ancient Cities Other Ancient Ruins The Moqui Indians of Arizona The 
 Cliff-dwellers A Legend Character of the Moqui. . . . 91-103 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. ARIZONA. 
 
 Heat and Sand Other Disagreeable Features Mr. Janin's Great Scheme 
 
 Prospector's Outfit Burros Packs and Pack-saddles Perils of Prospect- 
 ing Ancient Mines The Inhabitants Drinking and Gambling Indians 
 Cock-fighting Is Civilization a Failure? ..... 104-112 
 
 CHAPTER IX. NAVAJOES. 
 
 A Long Trip on Horseback Chosen Leader The Outfit Grand and 
 Beautiful Scenery First Camp A Dreary Night Wet, Worn and Wear}- 
 Following a Mountain Trail Night in the Forest Indian Signs An Unex- 
 pected Visitor Sketch of Bennett " Injuns! Injuns!" A Fierce Fight The 
 Indians Retreat The Killed and Wounded Burying the Dead Forward! 
 An Indian Ambush But Five Escape Closely Pursued Fishing for Food 
 Worn out Sad Reflections A Dreadful Night Friends Discovered Names 
 of Those Killed. .......... 113-132 
 
 CHAPTER X. THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
 The Colorado Canon A large Prospecting Party The Start No Road 
 
 Traveling by Night No Water A Mutiny A Bad Situation Plain Talk 
 
 Another Mutiny A Separation Off Again Deserters Return Cornered 
 by a Grizzly Habits of the Grizzly Hunting the Grizzly The Grizzly 
 Killed A Lofty Outlook Standing Guard Pleasant Dreams A Gloomy 
 Ride Creeping down the Mountain Side Meets a Panther A Frightful 
 Situation The Last Chance A Lucky Shot Safe in the Valley Day- 
 light The Dead Panther Trout-fishing Dreadful Dreams " Raising the 
 Color." ............ 
 
 CHAPTER XI. THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. [CONTINUED.] 
 
 A Mightv Precipice The Grand Canon Buckskin Mountains "Heads 
 or Tails " Up the River Rough Traveling Down the Gulch An Im- 
 pressive Situation The Head of the Canon Ancient Ruins An Oasis A 
 Dangerous Swim Safely Over Eastern Side of the River Apache Visitors 
 " Heap Bad Injun "Prospecting An Undesirable Location Callville 
 John D. Lee Murderous Mormons. .... I 53~ I ^4 
 
 CHAPTER XIL MONTANA AND IDAHO. 
 
 First Settlers Rich Resources The Gallatin Valley Other Valleys- 
 Occupations Advantages of the Railroads Staging and Freighting Cor- 
 rinne Warehouses A Bad Road High Prices" Self-risers," " Pilgrims," 
 "Tenderfoots." .......... 165-168 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 
 
 Waters of the West Great Salt Lake Its Outlet The Lake Rising- 
 Bathing Lake Tahoe Good Place for Captain Boy ton Crystal Lake Va- 
 rieties of Waters Hot Springs Phenomena in Connection with Hot Springs 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 A Large Spring The Yellowstone A Tide Spring A Mud Spring 
 The Steamboat Spring Alkaline Streams Causes of Hot Springs, Earth- 
 quakes, and Volcanoes 169-177 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. LA PAZ. 
 
 Surveying in Arizona Two Days' Ride in a " Jerkey "Stage-coach Ex- 
 periences The Factotum Expressman La Paz A Dilapidated Town Rough 
 Customers The Hotel The Landlord A Bad Lot Street Scenes Riot Let 
 Loose A Rush for " Hash " The Barroom The Landlord's Stories Greas- 
 ers A Night in Bedlam Another Lodging-place A Drunken Texan 
 Pleasant Anticipations Taking a Tumble Complimentary Comments A 
 Big Dinner Night Scenes Routed by Bed-bugs Another Tumble Family 
 History Impressions of La Paz Back to Fort McDowell Does " Roughing 
 It "Pay? 178-192 
 
 CHAPTER XV. STOCK-RAISING. 
 
 Successful Men Life of a Stock-raiser The Cow-boys Branding Stock 
 County Inspectors A Stock Range Changing Range's A " Round-up " 
 Description of the " Cow-boys " Dangers of a Herder's Life Indian 
 Raids 193-201 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 
 
 San Francisco " Bulls " and " Bears "A Good Run of Luck A Bad 
 Run Two-thirds of Capital Lost Off for Salt Lake City Meeting Old 
 Friends Outfit of Wagons Bought Instance of Mormon Atrocity The 
 Gilson Brothers Buying Oxen at Manti Loading up with Flour Learning 
 to Drive Oxen Handling the Whip Yoking the Cattle Stuck in the Mud 
 Doubling Up The Second of March Completely Disgusted The Final 
 Start from Manti Names of the Party Salina A Herder's Camp Snow 
 Five Weary Weeks Advice Thirteen Miles in Six Weeks Desolate Coun- 
 try 202-218 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 
 
 Streams in Castle Valley Description of the Valley Rock Wells Bad 
 Water Wretched Traveling Green River Valley High Water A Long 
 Ride for a Boat A Pleasant Camp Trip to the Canon Grand Mountain 
 View Mountain Sheep Back to Camp Beaver and Otter Snakes A Rat- 
 tlesnake Den Wolves An Exciting Chase Habits of the Wolves Wait- 
 ing 219-232 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. VEXATIOUS DELAYS. 
 
 The Boat Arrives Ferrying the Wagons and Loads Across Swimming 
 the Cattle A Wearisome Effort The Virtue of Patience Cattle Stampeded 
 by a Grizzly Back Across the River Again A Dangerous Situation A 
 little out of Humor A Strange Discovery A Remarkable Trail What 
 Could the Cloven-footed " Varmint " Be? No Cattle A Hazardous Under- 
 taking The Cattle Found Driven Over the River Again The Green 
 Brothers Murdered Something of their History The " Saints " and their 
 Principles Persecution of the Gentiles The Green Brothers' Ranch 'Their 
 Horrible Death Trail of the Murderers A Clue to the Mystery A Warning 
 to Hasten A Fatiguing Journey Grand River Valley The Paradise of Col- 
 orado Ancient Ruins Two Miles a Day Serious Reflections. . 233-252 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 
 
 Colorado as a Health Resort Lack of Society Two Years' Isolation 
 A Test of Character The Lazy Man The Cheerful Man Wealth and Rank 
 Worth and Character The Use of Tobacco Lonesomeness Money-mak- 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 ing and Mining Duped Carrying Weapons Game on Green River A 
 Hunter's Requisites Methods of Hunting Mountain Sheep Deer Face of 
 the Country Mirages Gold^-Scenery A Beautiful Prospect Civilization 
 Once More Chief Ouray The Ute Indians Their Farming (?) Los Pinos 
 Agency Selling Out 253-271 
 
 CHAPTER XX. SHALL THE YOUNG MAN GO WEST? 
 
 A Mining Region Mining Enterprises Great Corporations Their Im 
 mense Power Prosperity The Real Sovereigns Advisability of Mining 
 Ventures Chances of the Investor and Prospector The San Juan Region 
 Disappointment and Dissipation Immigration Leadville Mr. W. H. Ste- 
 vens Soft Carbonates Bonanzas Roughing It A Mining Excitement 
 Idlers Unpoetic Poverty Overplus of Population Condition of San Fran- 
 cisco Let the Young Man Stay at Home The Puzzled Englishman Decep- 
 tive Appearances "Cloud-bursts.". ...... 272-288 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 
 
 Ojo Calienta The Early Comers A Front Seat at the Corral The 
 Spectators The Matador e The Bull The First Rush A Prolonged En- 
 counter The Bull Vanquished Another Bull Brought in The Matadore 
 Tossed Severely Injured A Panic Scaffolding Gives Way A Firm Reso- 
 lution 289-295 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. THE INDIANS. 
 
 Their Wigwams Bedding Hunting and Amusements Trading Dis- 
 posal of the Dead Instance of Cruelty Medicine Men Exorcising Evil 
 Spirits Religious Belief. 296-301 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 
 The Tragedy of June 25, 1876 Sorrow of the Nation Sketch of Custer's 
 Life Hancock's Campaign Hancock Outwitted Custer's First Indian Fight 
 " Circling " Massacre of Lieutenant Kidder and Party Horrid Scenes 
 General Sully's Campaign Custer's Washita Campaign Yellowstone Ex- 
 pedition Murder of Honzinger and Baliran Arrest of Rain-in-the-Face 
 He Escapes and Swears Vengeance against Custer Black Hills Expedition 
 Gold in the Hills Events of 1875 Campaign against Sitting Bull and Crazy 
 Horse Custer in Disgrace at Headquarters The Miserable Belknap Affair 
 Three Columns Converge upon the Hostile Camp The Bloody Ending 
 Close of the Campaign Sitting Bull Goes to Canada, and Crazy Horse to the 
 Happy Hunting-grounds Perhaps. ...... 302-348 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE? 
 
 Go West! Southern Minnesota Iowa Southern Dakota Nebraska 
 Kansas The Indian Territory No! Texas Don't Believe All You Hear! 
 The Indian Border California: Land Monopoly Oregon Climate and Soil 
 " The Great American Desert "Probable Population in 1900 Whither is 
 the Surplus Population to Go? Good Land Pretty Well Occupied What 
 will be the Result? Western Wilds will Continue Wild for a Century to 
 
 Come 349~3 81 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. CONCLUSION. 
 
 Homeward Bound Old Memories Aroused A Surprise A Pleasant 
 Meeting Time's Changes Contrasts Preparing for a Little Trip Detained 
 Another Surprise -A Happy Birthday Concluding Reflections. 382-384 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, 13 
 
 Jefferson Davis, . . . . . . . . 16 
 
 Gen. W. T. Sherman, . 18 
 
 Sherman's March to the Sea, ...... 21 
 
 Gen. Robt E. Lee, ..22 
 
 Gen. U. S. Grant, 2 
 
 Mountain Meadow Massacre, ....... 2 
 
 Mormon Persecution, ....... 31 
 
 Brigham Young, . ........ 34 
 
 Mormon Tabernacle, ....... 37 
 
 New Mining Town, ........ 40 
 
 View near Lake Tahoe, ....... 46 
 
 Blue Canon, Sierra Nevada, ...... 48 
 
 Humboldt Palisades, ........ 52 
 
 Dormer Lake, ......... 54 
 
 Pulpit Rock, Echo Canon, ........ 55 
 
 Scene near Eagle Lake, California, ..... 59 
 
 The Two Guardsmen, ....... 61 
 
 The Yosemite Falls, 63 
 
 Bridal Veil Fall, Yosemite Valley, ..... 65 
 
 A California Stump, ........ 67 
 
 Northern California Scenery, ...... 70 
 
 Cape Horn, Central Pacific R. R., . ....... . .72 
 
 Chinese Quarter, San Francisco, ..... 79 
 
 Rapids of the Upper Columbia, ....'. 84 
 
 View in the Modoc Country, . . . . . . 86 
 
 View on the Oregon Coast, ....... 88 
 
 Border Mexicans, ........ 91 
 
 Mexican Border Town, . . . . . .94 
 
 Mexican Border Invasion, ..... 97 
 
 Arizona Sand Plains, . . . . . . . . 101 
 
 A Train of Burros, . . . . . ... . 107 
 
 Perils of Prospecting, . . . . . . . . 108 
 
 Civilization in Arizona, ....... no 
 
 An Arizona Scrimmage, . . . . . . .in 
 
 Scene in the Sierra Del Cariso Range, . . . . 114 
 
 Following a Mountain Trail, . . . . . .118 
 
 Attacked by Navajo Indians, . . . . . . 123 
 
 An Indian Ambuscade, 127 
 
 The Grand Canon of the Colorado, ..... 134 
 
 The Search for Water, ........ 137 
 
 Coi'nered by Grizzlies, ....... 141 
 
 In the Colorado Canons, . . . . . . .150 
 
 Sunset in the Colorado Canons, . . . . . 156 
 
 ix 
 
X ILL US TRA TIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Prospecting in the Colorado Canons, ..... 160 
 
 Execution of John D. Lee, ...... 163 
 
 Great Salt Lake, . . . . . . . . .170 
 
 Vernal Falls, California, ....... 173 
 
 "Giantess," Big Geyser of the Yellowstone, . . . 17^ 
 
 A Western Frontiersman, ...... 195 
 
 Ready for a Raid, ........ 199 
 
 Salt Lake City, 1857, 203 
 
 Sevier River, Wasatch Mountains, . . . . .213 
 
 Herders' Camping House, ...... 215 
 
 Shoshonee Indians in the Sevier Valley, . . . .217 
 
 Camp in Green River Valley, ...... 223 
 
 Night Scene in Green River Canon, ..... 225 
 
 Peak in Green River Valley, ...... 230 
 
 Orson Pratt, Mormon Prophet, . . . . . .241 
 
 Former Residences of Brigham Young, .... 243 
 
 George A. Smith, Mormon Apostle, ..... 243 
 
 "The Swift Dashing Water," 248 
 
 Lonely Three Thousand Miles from Home, . . .251 
 
 "Oh, Solitude, Where are thy Charms?" . . . 254 
 
 Scalp-Dance of the Ute Indians, ...... 200 
 
 Hunting Buffalo in the Olden Time, .... 265 
 
 He Paid a Big Price, . . 276 
 
 These Did Not Grow in a Mining Region, . . . 279 
 
 An Old '4961' Not Yet Rich, 282 
 
 Dead Broke, 284 
 
 Mexican Outlaws, ........ 290 
 
 Mexican Maiden, Lower Class, ..... 291 
 
 Pueblo Cacique, New Mexico, 293 
 
 Mexican Indians, ........ 294 
 
 Indian Wigwam, ......... 297 
 
 Black Hawk, 299 
 
 Un Inc 1; o Bravo, Texas, ....... 300 
 
 "Go West," 305 
 
 "Busted," 307 
 
 Ouster's First Indian Fight, ...... 310 
 
 Western Scout, Wild Bill, 313 
 
 Rude Surgery of the Plains, . . . . . . 3*9 
 
 Scene of the Sioux War, 326 
 
 Getting the First Shot, 333 
 
 Fighting Hand to Hand, ....... 339 
 
 Winter in the Minnesota Pineries, 351 
 
 Droughty Kansas, ......... 355 
 
 Texas and Coahuila in 1830, .... . 359 
 
 Skirmish with Indians, ........ 305 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, New Mexico, 1855, .... 367 
 
 A California Big Tree, . . 371 
 
 Nevada Falls, Yosemite Valley, 375 
 
HOW I KNOW. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMY CORPS. 
 
 THE author of this work was born in Champaign 
 County, Ohio, in June, 1849, and, at the age of 
 thirteen years, nine months and twenty- three days, 
 joined the army. He was assigned to Company E, of 
 the Fifth Ohio Infantry, twentieth army corps, and sent 
 to the field. "What fun I shall have," thought he to 
 himself, as he took his position in the ranks. Little 
 does a boy know, at that age, about the life of a soldier. 
 Since every one has read and re-read the history of 
 the war, I will condense what I saw into a few words, 
 merely giving a little history of the different battles in 
 which the twentieth corps took part. No body of 
 troops in the Northern army made for itself a prouder 
 history than the twentieth army corps. Its life was 
 crowded with events not one of which brings dishonor 
 to its proudest member, although it was formed from the 
 most daring, cultivated, and resolute men of the North. 
 "The best fruit trees are clubbed the most," and, in the 
 army, detraction often follows the exhibition of superior 
 merit in discipline, appearance, or achievements. From 
 
12 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 the rigid tests of Manchester, Port Republic, Antietam, 
 Dumfries, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, Gen. Hooker 
 brought his men to the Army of the Cumberland at a 
 perilous hour. 
 
 The troops of Gen. Bragg, full sixty thousand strong, 
 nerved with an earnest devotion to their cause, and en- 
 couraged by the doubtful result at Chickamauga, occu- 
 pied an almost impregnable position near Chattanooga, 
 while in front of them Rosecrans held an uncertain 
 footing. His soldiers had seen the hopes of an early 
 peace quickly 'disappear. They were almost appalled 
 at the gigantic proportions the rebellion had assumed. 
 They w r ere disheartened by the absence, without leave, 
 of thousands of their comrades. Their line of supplies 
 was in imminent danger, and the country was at that 
 time enshrouded in such gloom that the growing glory 
 of President Lincoln could scarcely be discerned. It 
 was at this crisis that the men whose badges imaged the 
 lights that rule the night came and kindled a lustre in 
 Wauhatchie Valley, that rose and spread until it bathed 
 in matchless splendor old Lookout Mountain's rugged 
 peak. Rosecrans was saved! Tennessee was saved! 
 A portion of the corps then hurried away to Knoxville, 
 with others from the fifteenth corps, and soon broke the 
 bands in which Longstreet had kept Burnside hampered, 
 almost to the point of starvation. The remainder of 
 the corps went into winter quarters. 
 
 It was on the 4th of April, 1864, that the twentieth 
 corps was formed, the beloved Joe Hooker being placed 
 at its head. The corps retained the star of the twelfth 
 
WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 
 
 13 
 
 corps as its insignia. Its real history began with the 
 campaign that soon opened. On the 8th of May, the 
 enemy was found occupying a strong position on Rocky 
 Face Ridge. A severely contested fight followed. It 
 had been said that if Johnston could not hold that place 
 he could not hold any in Georgia, and the firmest deter- 
 mination charac- 
 terized the con- 
 test until night- 
 fall, when both 
 armies retired; 
 Johnston to his 
 works at Resaca, 
 and our troops 
 to pass through 
 Snake Creek Gap 
 and then attack 
 them again. 
 
 Constant skir- 
 mishing was kept 
 up until, on the 
 1 4th of May, at 
 Resaca, the Con- 
 federate forces 
 advanced under a flag so faded that it was taken for a 
 flag of truce. In cansequence of this mistake a terrible 
 ^blow was given to our forces. The blow was aimed at 
 the fourteenth corps, and shook it to the center. But 
 Gen. Hooker, by throwing out a brigade with that 
 marvelous dexterity in which none could surpass him. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
14 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 saved the Fifth Indiana Battery when on the very point 
 of capture, checked the advance of the enemy, and held 
 his ground until dark. The next morning the entire 
 corps moved forward upon the enemy, now firmly in- 
 trenched in a series of lines so arranged as to make an 
 attack very difficult. The momentum of the first charge 
 carried it over the first line, where it gallantly reformed 
 its somewhat confused ranks, and at once pressed on. 
 Now came emphatically the tug of war. With strain- 
 ing sinews and grimmest courage, gray-haired veterans 
 and proud-eyed youths fought on and on, gaining always 
 some ground ; but so slowly that evening was at hand 
 when the weary but still resolute men reached the fourth 
 and last chain of defenses. Here was displayed as true 
 grit as was ever known among men. So fierce was the 
 assault that the rebels could not hold their works, and 
 so tenacious the defense that the national forces could 
 not occupy them; and there stood an empty fort and an 
 idle battery between the lines, which surged and swayed 
 and clamored around them for hours. But scarcely had 
 the favoring darkness come, ere the Fifth Ohio boys 
 crept to the wall, dug through, and hauled out the guns 
 by hand. 
 
 On the 25th of May, while the second division of the 
 twentieth corps was crossing Pumpkin Vine Creek, a 
 bridge broke down, completely isolating those who had 
 crossed; but their very renown shielded them from at- 
 tack until help arrived. The situation was critical. No 
 intrenching tools had been taken over the stream, and 
 orders to recross were expected. But to pass away the 
 
WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 15 
 
 time, and to deceive the enemy, the men went to work 
 using their bayonets and cooking utensils instead of picks 
 and shovels, to dig their trenches. But this could not 
 long deceive the watchful foe, and while the remainder 
 of the corps was in the act of crossing they made a 
 most furious attack. Having checked this, the corps 
 moved directly on the well-formed and well-defended 
 works in its front. The fighting was desperate. Gen- 
 erals Sherman and Thomas were there to direct the 
 movement, and there the fact was impressed on all, as 
 Gen. Hooker has since said, that a good line of works, 
 well manned, cannot be taken by infantry alone. Hav- 
 ing lost two thousand men, the movement was aban- 
 doned, and then followed seven days of skirmishing, so 
 annoying to the enemy that Johnston fell back disgusted 
 with the neighborhood. No language can adequately 
 depict the perils of that week. All felt that the welfare 
 of their respective causes was to be made sure or gravely 
 periled by the issue of that field. At last the Army of 
 the Cumberland, by extending its flank, pressed the right 
 of the hostile line back, which then retired to Dallas. 
 The twentieth corps was now placed in reserve for six 
 days, at the end of which time, it moved into line, reliev- 
 ing the fourth corps, which took position further to the left. 
 Marching, digging, and fighting, alternately, our forces 
 pressed on, and, finally, by the middle of June, were in 
 line beyond Pine Knob. Here Lieut. Gen. Polk was 
 killed and it became evident that the dearest hopes of 
 the rebel South were doomed to perish beneath the 
 blows of the sturdy Northmen. But none could expect 
 
16 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 the daring sons of Dixie to tamely yield their sectional 
 claims, cherished so many years. 
 
 Valor and patience and labor and diligence and 
 skill and blood must all be given to the nation's cause, 
 by Sherman's noble men, and lavishly were they be- 
 stowed. It cost some of our regiments full twenty per 
 
 cent of their 
 strength to force 
 the line at Pine 
 Knob; but the 
 victors went on 
 to seek another 
 fateful field, as 
 light of spirit and 
 as strong of heart 
 
 as the farmer 
 who goes to the 
 harvest field of 
 peace. 
 
 Lost Mount- 
 ain having been 
 abandoned, the 
 Army of the Ten- 
 nessee advanced 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
 several miles, and found Johnston preparing to stand. 
 The Thirteenth New York Battery, Lieutenant Bundy 
 commanding, coming up, attacked the enemy skillfully, 
 and won a reputation among soldiers that will not dim 
 while memory holds her seat. The insurgent chief was 
 forced back once more. He then carefully selected a 
 
WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 17 
 
 strong line of defense on Kenesaw Mountain. As the 
 first division of the twentieth corps was forming its line 
 on the right of the second, a large force was hurled upon 
 it, which force was nearly annihilated by the artillery 
 happily at that moment massed at the extreme front. 
 The unprecedented slaughter discouraged the assailants, 
 and they retired to their works, remaining in them sev- 
 eral days. 
 
 The twentieth corps celebrated the Fourth of July in 
 line of battle, forgetting their own crowding honors in 
 the just glories of our hero sires of 1776. Girding up 
 their loins, they pressed on toward the Chattahoochee 
 with renewed courage, for Atlanta, the Gate City of the 
 South was now in sight. 
 
 In proportion as victory cheered them, defeat carried 
 sorrow and despair to their opponents. General Hood 
 was sent to relieve General Johnston, whose farewell 
 address was audible to our pickets. He instituted at 
 once a more decisive policy, staking the very existence 
 of his army, and requiring equal risks on the part of his 
 opponents. Gaming the left bank of the Chattahoochee 
 with admirable skill, Sherman approached Peach Tree 
 Creek, where the united skill of both rebel chiefs had 
 prepared formidable work for the intrepid travelers. 
 On the zoth of July, the star corps, while in order of 
 march, was assailed by the entire force then and there 
 gathered for the deliverance of Georgia. A terrible 
 battle ensued. The Southern troops were burning to 
 retrieve their losses, and felt that another defeat might 
 be fatal to their cause. Their base of supplies was at 
 
18 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 hand, and their entire force was available. The ground 
 was well adapted for defense. Now, or never, they must 
 crush this daring invader. To break his lines was to 
 annihilate his army; to fail in that was to have him soon 
 thunder at the gates. Nor could Sherman now afford 
 defeat it was ruin. His long line of communication 
 
 could not be held 
 a day after such 
 an event. The* 
 immense gains of 
 the summer's toil 
 would all be lost. 
 A new campaign 
 added to the bur- 
 dens of the al- 
 ready heavily la- 
 den nation could 
 hardly restore 
 ^ what might now 
 be secured by 
 persevering en- 
 ergy and the un- 
 daunted courage 
 that had made 
 these men heroic. 
 True, their ground was unfavorable; they must stand 
 the more stubbornly. A deep, crooked stream was be- 
 fore them; they must use more skill in crossing. They 
 could not form in line; every man must be his own 
 support. They were called upon to brave all difficulties, 
 
 GEN. W. T. SHERMAN. 
 
WITH THE TWENTIETH A If Mr CORPS. 19 
 
 and they did it. They were to win success by sacrifices, 
 and they suffered and succeeded. Peach Tree Creek 
 was made one of the holy spots where the nation's chil- 
 dren were faithful unto death, and victory planted there 
 a laurel that will never fade. Two days later the Army 
 of the Tennessee was similarly attacked with similar 
 results, and Hood retired to Atlanta. The siege of the 
 doomed city began at once. The twentieth corps had 
 been under fire more than one hundred days, with only 
 six days intermission. It had lost over thirteen thousand 
 men, about three-fifths of its entire number, and still it 
 retained its characteristic energy, and was a pride to its 
 friends and a terror to its foes. Taking its place in the 
 lines about the city, it bore a conspicuous part in that 
 skillful siege. Meantime the lamented M'Pherson (com- 
 manding the Army of the Tennessee) fell, and General 
 Hooker was recommended as his successor. But Gen- 
 eral Howard was appointed, and " Fighting Joe" could 
 only ask to be relieved from duty under Sherman. 
 
 General Williams assumed his command, and by a 
 change afterward made in the plan of the siege, this 
 trusty corps was sent to hold the line of the Chattahoo- 
 chee, guard trains, deceive the enemy, and, if possible, 
 annoy him while Sherman flanked the great northern 
 defenses, and approached the town from the rear. The 
 corps, there being now confidence in every man belong- 
 ing to it, stretched out in line for nearly ten miles, the 
 men being in some instances ten or twelve feet apart. 
 They held their position, and fully answered the expec- 
 tation of their commander. When Hood left, the twen- 
 
20 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 tieth moved on, and was the first to enter the fallen 
 stronghold. There it lay and recruited while the re- 
 mainder of the army drove Hood to the arms of Thomas 
 at Nashville, where Hood lost his power. Several thou- 
 sand new troops joined the corps at Atlanta. Having 
 repelled some trifling attacks at different times, here, 
 preparations were made for another campaign. Where 
 now? was a much mooted question among the men; but 
 the accomplished Sherman suffered friend and foe alike 
 to wonder and conjecture. On the I5th of November 
 (1864) we set out for the south-east, and Mobile, Savan- 
 nah, Charleston, Augusta, Wilmington, and even Rich- 
 mond, were confidently named as probable points we 
 were to reach. Very meagre were the supplies we 
 carried, and the rebel papers we saw from time to time, 
 were filled with the most glowing prophecies of our 
 swift destruction. The resources of the country through 
 which we passed were at once put under contribution. 
 The accumulated edibles of Georgia, its numerous cat- 
 tle, horses, mules, calves, etc., disappeared as by magic 
 along our route. Too strong to be stopped or seriously 
 hindered by any effort the foe could make, four co-oper- 
 ating corps swept along, and the great raid became the 
 most magnificent march of modern history. Our ex- 
 perience was more like that of a band of mischievous 
 travelers than an invading army. Destroying railroads, 
 cotton gins, warehouses, and bridges; making roads 
 across plantations and through swamps, and marching 
 leisurely on with song and shout, and endless badinage; 
 foraging, cooking, and eating alternated with each other 
 
WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 
 
 21 
 
 through the entire thirty days we spent in reaching the 
 defenses of Savannah. Our corps was assigned the 
 direct approach by the Augusta pike, with the fourteenth 
 as reserve, and twelve miles from the city the outer 
 defense was carried gallantly after a very brief ac- 
 tion. The next line, five miles from town, was its 
 real reliance. 
 
 The complete destitution of the troops, in respect to 
 some important supplies, caused comparative inactivity 
 until the fall of 
 M'Allister open- 
 ed a line for 
 supplies. Then 
 heavy fatigue 
 parties were 
 employed in the 
 raising of coun- 
 ter works, which 
 were scarcely 
 
 begun before SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 
 
 Hardee evacuated the place. No sooner had his sharp- 
 shooters crept away from the outer rifle pits than an 
 enterprising New Yorker crept into them, and hurrying 
 back, roused his officers with the welcome intelligence. 
 Wonderful was the forbearance of the victorious 
 warriors. General Sherman alludes to it, in his report, 
 as a most gratifying proof of their good discipline. The 
 citizens, terrified by the horrible tales with which South- 
 ern editors had tried to fire the Southern heart, seemed 
 to expect barbarities almost unendurable. Their own 
 
22 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 soldiers had wantonly murdered many negroes during 
 the night, for manifesting joy at the coming of the 
 Yankees. Nearly the whole day was spent arranging 
 and stationing the usual guard, during which the city lay 
 completely at the mercy of our men. The conduct of 
 these sons of our free civilization in that hour, furnished 
 
 testimony in favor 
 of liberty and equal 
 rights that the 
 people of Savan- 
 nah should never 
 forget. The re- 
 mainder of the ar- 
 my subsequently 
 took position in the 
 vicinity. On our 
 departure, six 
 weeks later, the 
 | reiterated regrets 
 of the citizens was 
 a most honorable 
 proof of general 
 good conduct. 
 Earnest public ef- 
 forts were made to retain the second division of the 
 twentieth corps as a city guard. But it had proved 
 itself too useful in the field to be excused from aiding 
 in the great effort soon to be made. 
 
 Moving up the river in the latter part of January the 
 army crossed into South Carolina, and entered with 
 
 GEN. ROBT. E. LEE. 
 
WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 3 
 
 more than usual energy upon the work of devastation. 
 For a considerable distance hardly anything combustible 
 was left unburned. Neither strength nor weakness, 
 wealth nor poverty could shield the luckless citizens of 
 the Mother of Secession from the hot zeal of the aveng- 
 ers. Gradually, however, passion subsided, and a calm, 
 quiet resolve to enforce justice and right took its place, 
 and then more discrimination marked our deeds. By 
 the time we reached Winnsborough, February the 2oth, 
 even Wade Hampton had learned the disposition of our 
 men so well as to assure the citizens, by letter, that " If 
 the twentieth corps occupy the place, private rights will 
 be respected." His confidence was not misplaced. A 
 feeling of mutual respect, based on profound self-respect, 
 seemed to pervade both citizens and soldiers, and our 
 stay there will ever be one of the most agreeable mem- 
 ories of the campaign. We now pushed more to the 
 eastward, and a monotonous journey succeeded. Cross- 
 ing the Catawba during a dark, rainy night, we moved 
 on to Cheraw, crossed the Great Pedee, and three days 
 later entered North Carolina. Here a general order was 
 published, reminding the army of the greater loyalty of 
 the old North State, and recommending a milder pol- 
 icy. A few days later we reached Fayetteville, and 
 from that point dispatched a mail. 
 
 Much rain had made the roads heavy, and the trains 
 were therefore sent to Goldsborough for supplies, w T hile 
 the main portion of the second corps was sent up the Ra- 
 leigh plank road. At Averysborough the long-cherished 
 plans of Joe Johnston were proved futile, his army badly 
 
now i KNOW. 
 
 punished, and the old reputation of our corps honorably 
 sustained. At Bentonville the disheartened leaders of 
 the rebellion made their last despairing, wild, but fruit- 
 less stand before Sherman's troops. For a little time 
 their assault showed something of their ancient vigor ; 
 but, as our scattered forces came flocking to the field, 
 
 their discretion 
 prevailed, and they 
 retired. After rest- 
 ing a few days at 
 G o 1 dsborough to 
 refit, we hurried on 
 to Raleigh. The 
 foe seemed intent 
 only on necessary 
 flight. Here we 
 received their 
 very welcome sur- 
 render. 
 
 And now, having 
 finished the work 
 assigned us, and 
 brought again ev- 
 ery portion of our 
 beloved country under the control of the national arms, 
 we gladly turned toward home, loving the arts and du- 
 ties of peace far better than the harsh scenes of war. 
 Reaching Washington, the twentieth corps participated 
 in the grand review, and won high compliments from 
 the spectators. An impartial writer has declared the 
 
 GEN. U. S. GRANT. 
 
WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 25 
 
 second division of the corps the crack division of the 
 vast assemblage. A few days later the corps was dis- 
 banded, and now most of its noble members are enjoy- 
 ing the well earned comforts of the homes they so val- 
 orously defended. May they long live to recount their 
 great achievements, and to perpetuate in narrative, and 
 song the memories of their brave fellows who fell in the 
 conflict, and who sleep everywhere from Maryland to 
 Mississippi. 
 
26 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 
 
 RETURNING home at the close of the war, I re- 
 mained for nearly two years, a portion of the time 
 with my father, and the remainder with friends in Mad- 
 ison County, Ohio. This period I will pass over with- 
 out further notice. 
 
 In 1863 an uncle, my mother's brother, went to Cali- 
 fornia. He was continually writing for me to come to 
 him. I hesitated a long time. Finally he became, as 
 he thought, permanently located in Piute County, Utah 
 Territory. Then he again wrote me, holding out in- 
 ducements so strong that I could no longer resist. He 
 wrote to his brothers and to me of the enormous for- 
 tunes that were made in a few days ( like Jonah's gourd, 
 that sprung up in a night), and that people who would 
 or did come there would amass fortunes ten and twenty 
 times faster than they could in Ohio. 
 
 Consequently I could not rest satisfied until I had 
 turned all my resources into cash, and the Fall of '68 
 found me in Utah, in a new mining camp located two 
 hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. I was green 
 in the business of mining. I had some money; but I 
 loaned it to uncle and his friends. The consequence 
 was, I must work or starve. This now brings me up 
 to the beginning of a three years' sojourn in Utah. 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 27 
 
 Utah is situated in the great basin between the 
 Rocky Mountains on the East and the Sierra Nevada 
 on the West. Some of the valleys owned and worked 
 by the Mormon saints are as fertile as any on the conti- 
 nent. They raise everything for their own use, and 
 have considerable of an export trade with the adjacent 
 States and Territories. But, for all that, I found it was 
 as much as people could do to live there, for the Terri- 
 tory was populated with fanatics, and unless you were 
 one of their creed, and agreed with them in their wild 
 notions, you were liable to be forever lost unless you 
 passed through the ordeal of Blood Atonement. You 
 should be murdered for the remission of your sins. 
 And they were careful that this should be done in se- 
 cret. Not that the chosen of the Lord should operate 
 with deadly revenge, on dark nights; but that the per- 
 petrators of their criminal deeds might be the better 
 concealed from the eyes of the Law and of the Christian 
 world. Unless persons residing there were of their 
 faith, or upheld them in their deeds of violence, such as 
 murdering, stealing, and burning the property belonging 
 to the Gentiles, they were regarded as evil doers, by the 
 Mormon profession. Violent acts, fully premeditated, 
 and without any cause or provocation whatever, were 
 committed time and again; were almost daily occur- 
 rences, indeed. Numbers of instances could I mention, 
 but they have been fully narrated heretofore by others, 
 such as following up and murdering in the most brutal 
 manner, one whole emigrant train of men, women, 
 and children, who were on their way to California. 
 
28 
 
 HOW 1 KNOW. 
 
 To this day their bones lie bleaching in the sun. Some 
 claim that they did have a burial; but, judging from 
 appearances and the manner in which I saw the bones 
 lying scattered over the plain, it would be very difficult 
 for Brigham Young, Haight, Higbee, and Delee, and 
 their hordes of destroying angels to verify the statement 
 
 MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE. 
 
 that they did bury those that were massacred at Mount- 
 ain Meadow. 
 
 Taking a view of the picturesque and beautiful land- 
 scapes which compose the Mountain Meadows, one 
 would hardly think that this had been the scene of such 
 a wanton outrage. But this was no worse than hun- 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS, 29 
 
 dreds of others. Several incidents have come under 
 my own observation. One I may mention, occurred in 
 Manti, San Pete County. There was a young man living 
 there who had become entangled in a love affair with a 
 young lady of the same place. It so happened that 
 
 Bishop S , of the precinct, had had revelations; that 
 
 is, the Lord had commanded him to take this young lady 
 as his wife, notwithstanding the fact that he had several 
 wives already. The bishop tried to reason the young 
 lady out of having anything to say to the young man. 
 But the fact was, the young couple were engaged to be 
 married; and the bishop, finding that loving words to 
 his desired darling were of no avail, resolved not to be 
 outdone, but to seek revenge on the young man. Con- 
 sequently he had a secret conference with a few of the 
 brethren, and they decided to hold a meeting in the 
 school-house, which meeting the young man should be 
 prevailed upon to attend. At this meeting these plot- 
 ters in a most cruel manner destroyed the manhood of 
 the young man. He, after lingering some time in great 
 suffering, died. Several instances of like character have 
 taken place in Utah, all in obedience to the "revelations 
 of the Lord," as given to those whose lives have been 
 passed worse than brutes of the field. Another way of 
 seeking revenge is for some one to sell horses or cattle 
 to one not belonging to the faith. Then officers are 
 sent to arrest him for stealing. He is certain to receive 
 no mercy, because they will murder him on the road 
 to trial, and make a report to the effect that he had 
 been some desperado of the worst dye. The case of 
 
30 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 D. P. Smith, of Piute County, is a good illustration. He 
 bought a span of mules from a certain saint who resided 
 in Ogden, a settlement thirty-six miles north of Salt 
 Lake City, and took them to the mines on the Sevier 
 River. They followed and arrested him on the charge 
 of stealing the mules, .and started to take him to the city 
 for trial. They soon became tired of him, and, after 
 hauling him twenty-five miles, they shot him, and buried 
 the body in an old manure bank. 
 
 One more illustration of their saintliness. Captain 
 Hawley, now living at Pleasant Grove, Utah, hired a 
 young man of seventeen years of age to work for him. 
 After the young fellow had labored six months Captain 
 Hawley paid him off with an old horse that was not 
 worth a cent, since good broncos were selling at only 
 ten and twelve dollars a piece. The young fellow, glad 
 to get anything, took the horse, and started toward 
 Corinne. Captain Hawley waited a sufficient time for his 
 victim to get well on his way, then got the sheriff and fol- 
 lowed and arrested him, before he had reached Corinne, 
 on the charge of having stolen the horse. The Mormons, 
 being so bitterly opposed to worldly immigration into 
 Utah, would charge any criminal offense against a Gen- 
 tile already in the Territory. So it was with the young 
 man with the horse. He was taken to the nearest tree 
 and hung by the neck, his hands being untied. When 
 he was swung off he commenced to climb the rope 
 hand over hand. Captain Hawley then took a small 
 cedar post that lay there and broke both of the young 
 man's arms, and, after pounding him with the club until 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 
 
 31 
 
 satisfied, he rode off and left the poor fellow to the 
 mercy of some one who could show enough sympathy 
 for such unfortunates to give him a burial. 
 
 The people in Utah who piofess to belong to the 
 Mormon Church are two-thirds of them direct from Eu- 
 rope (Danes and Swedes being largely in the majority), 
 and among the most of them ignorance predominates. 
 I have seen in Southern Utah the women out plowing 
 with cattle, breaking up the ground, harrowing and 
 seeding it, and tending and gathering their crops, while 
 the men were 
 too shiftless t o 
 either help them 
 or otherwise to 
 provide suste- 
 nance for their 
 household. 
 
 Hundreds of 
 them live in 
 adobe houses. These are made by mixing black earth 
 to the consistency of thick mud and forming it into very 
 large-sized blocks shaped like bricks. Then they are 
 spread over a piece of ground leveled off for the pur- 
 pose, there to be sun-dried, when they are considered 
 fit material of which to build their houses. Then they 
 go to the canon and there cut small straight poles 
 for the roof. The poles are laid along the sides of the 
 house, one end resting on a large log that is laid up 
 for a center beam, the other on the top of the adobe 
 wall; after which they mix more mud and water together 
 
 MORMON PERSECUTION. 
 
32 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 and plaster these poles all over. This forms the roof. 
 Shingle and all other expensive roofs are dispensed with. 
 Here in those castles the saints have their wives brush- 
 ing up their dirt floors, washing, mending, ironing, cook- 
 ing and indeed providing for the support of the house- 
 hold, while they themselves spend their time in receiving 
 revelations from the Lord regarding the future prosper- 
 ity of Mormondom and the number of additional wives 
 it would be necessary to take in order to obtain celestial 
 glory. 
 
 The following illustration is given to convey some idea 
 of marriage in Utah. A certain Mr. Buntz, who is now 
 living in San Pete County, Utah, received a revelation 
 from the Lord, as he claimed, that, notwithstanding he 
 had already a number of wives, he must still increase 
 his better half by taking to his arms and marrying three 
 sisters who were living near by. He married all three 
 at one and the same time with as much unconcern as if 
 it were an every-day occurrence. Another instance I 
 will notice. There w r as a certain bishop then living in 
 Provost City, who became enamored with a married 
 lady of one of the adjoining villages. In order to obtain 
 his sixth loved one he went to the lady's husband, and 
 there in pleading tones he narrated the revelations he 
 had received from the Lord, setting forth the way in 
 which he must do in order to receive his share of celes- 
 tial glory in the world to come. The husband listened 
 very attentively until the bishop had finished his request; 
 then, in a good-natured way, he showed him the fallacy 
 of such proceedings both in a moral and religious view. 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 33 
 
 But the bishop was not to be argued out of his hope of 
 celestial happiness. That night the husband was fol- 
 lowed and murdered in cold blood upon his own door- 
 step. Some who read this may think that I am overstat- 
 ing the facts. Indeed such is not the case ; for I have 
 given only a few instances when I could recount more 
 than one hundred such, most of which can be verified 
 by many who are still living in Utah, and in surrounding 
 States and Territories. 
 
 I will next speak of the scenery. In traveling through 
 Utah from the north-east you are constantly passing into 
 and out of canons with mountains on either side, tower- 
 ing for thousands of feet above you. These mountain 
 sides, where not too rocky and abrupt, are covered with 
 a dense growth of timber, while between the mountains 
 in the canons are clear running brooks of cold water, in 
 most of which trout abound. 
 
 In traveling along one frequently passes alkaline 
 springs, boiling springs, and springs of almost freezing 
 water oftentimes located only a few feet apart. Many 
 of these springs are intermittent in their action and they 
 are all a source of unfailing interest to the traveler and 
 geologist. 
 
 The Jordan River and City Creek run through the 
 city of Salt Lake, affording an abundant supply of the 
 purest water in any city as large as this, in the world. 
 Most beautiful trout are hooked out of the streams, by 
 the little boys, right in the street. 
 
 After leaving Salt. Lake City, going south, one is 
 struck with the prominence of the old Wasatch range, 
 
 3 
 
34 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 now ascending gradually, then rising abruptly in broken, 
 rough, and dangerous looking precipices. At other 
 places it looks as if the country had been inundated with 
 water, and the rock, being in some places' softer than its 
 connecting sides, had been worn away, leaving canons 
 of all shapes, depths, and lengths. t 
 
 The valleys through Juab and San Pete Counties are 
 made very productive by irrigation. This is done by 
 
 taking water and con- 
 ducting it through 
 ditches all over the land 
 under cultivation. After 
 their crops are planted, 
 and it becomes necessa- 
 ry to moisten the ground, 
 the water is turned into 
 these small ditches and 
 left running until the 
 earth is sufficiently moist- 
 ened, when it is shut off 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG. until it becomes neces- 
 
 sary to repeat the operation. The valleys are of a dark, 
 loamy soil mixed with sand, and before they are brought 
 under cultivation are covered with sage brush a small 
 scrubby bush that grows sometimes to the height of six 
 feet. It is found from the British possessions on the 
 the North to the Gulf of Mexico on the South. All the 
 valleys and plains throughout the mountains of the West 
 produce the sage bush in great abundance. The sage 
 bush is the home of the jack-rabbit. Dozens of them 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 35 
 
 may be seen at any time running in all directions from 
 the traveler, as he journeys over the plains. 
 
 Some of the loftiest peaks of Utah can be seen at a 
 distance of many miles. Mt. Nebo is as prominent as 
 any, with an elevation of a little over twelve thousand 
 feet. As the traveler journeys on South, through the 
 Territory, he travels over sandy deserts, unsettled and 
 uncultivated, except in a few places where the streams 
 flow through from the mountains, furnishing water suffi- 
 cient for irrigating purposes. Generally along these 
 streams a few of the saints have settled in adobe houses, 
 built after their own fashion, usually surrounded by a 
 stone wall built in the form of a square, and often con- 
 taining as much as an acre of land. Into this they 
 remove their families, and use it as a fortress in defend- 
 ing themselves against the Indians, when they make 
 their raids through the settlements. 
 
 The bench lands all over the Territory produce great 
 quantities of bunch grass, a very nutritious grass that 
 grows to the height of eighteen inches, and in bunches. 
 In passing through the Territory you see thousands and 
 thousands of cattle feeding upon this grass. The val- 
 leys are productive of no timber whatever, unless it be 
 a few scattering cottonwoods along the banks of the 
 streams. But sufficient timber grows in the mountains 
 for all necessary purposes. Mahogany and cedar con- 
 stitute the kinds that grow on that side of the ranges 
 lacing the South, while the pine, fir, spruce, balsam, 
 and small scrub-oaks, with a few more scrubby little 
 bushes, constitute the timber on the North slope. 
 
36 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Mines were discovered in Utah years ago; but owing 
 to the influences brought to bear by the Mormon 
 leaders upon their not so well enlightened followers, 
 mining was prohibited within the limits of the Territory. 
 But as time passed on, and people began to emigrate to 
 the West in greater numbers, crowding full the older 
 places, and seeking for newer fields, where fortunes 
 might be dug from the earth, at last, and in the face of 
 all opposition from the Mormons, prospecting and min- 
 ing throughout the Territory began. So that to-day 
 thousands of honest, hard-working miners can be seen 
 toiling and striving for the treasures of gold and silver, 
 and other minerals that lie buried underneath the surface 
 earth of Utah. Notwithstanding the many difficulties 
 that the pioneer miners of the Territory had to encoun- 
 ter and overcome, some of them have done extremely 
 well. And now some who were so bitterly opposed to 
 opening up mines there, finding it useless to resist the 
 fast growing population of miners, are zealously engaged, 
 themselves, in opening up some of the Territory's pre- 
 cious wealth. 
 
 Gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc, iron, salt, and a few 
 other minerals are found in many parts of the Territory 
 in sufficient quantities to leave a balance over all expen- 
 ditures in running them. 
 
 At different places throughout the Territory, salt is 
 found in the mountains, and is easily taken out and 
 refined. Large deposits of coal are found in various 
 places throughout the Territory. 
 
 While in Utah my home was in a mining camp 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 
 
 37 
 
 located on Sevier River. A great number of locations 
 was recorded. The recorder was kept busy writing 
 out and recording claims, as people would do nothing 
 but locate and then record. I often times thought to 
 myself, "What will this amount to?" But green as I 
 
 THE MORMON TABERNACLE. 
 
 was, I could only do as others did. I then knew no 
 more about mining than a two-year-old boy knows about 
 making an arasta, or quartz mill. I worked a few days 
 and obtained a little money enough for a grub-stake 
 then I went to hunting for hidden millions, along with 
 
38 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 others. I would write out a notice and post it up on 
 everything that my ignorance claimed as a very valuable 
 mine. It was only a short time until every bowlder and 
 pile of rocks for miles around the camping spot was 
 located and recorded. The recorder would most always, 
 do the work of recording, and wait for his fees until the 
 mine became a paying property. And I rather think that 
 the recorder of Ohio District is yet waiting, like Micaw- 
 ber, for some of the miners that located there to turn up. 
 
 It would sometimes happen that two or more notices 
 would be found on the same bowlder. Then war would 
 be the result. A mine is of no value until a few per- 
 sons are butchered over it, in an effort to determine the 
 question as to who shall be the possessor of it. 
 
 Thousands of locations are made throughout the 
 mountains, when work to the amount of one dollar has 
 not been done upon them; yet the location is named, 
 filed, and recorded, and the worthy claimant struts 
 around and talks of his mine as though it were worth 
 thousands, when in reality it is not worth the paper he 
 has soiled in writing the notice. But stay with your 
 mine, pard, you may sell it for several thousand yet. It 
 is very easy to tell a prospector from any one else. The 
 prospector always has his pockets full of rocks of all 
 sizes, shapes, colors, and kinds, each piece of which he 
 will tell you the nature of, the probability of its value, 
 and all the different combinations of mineral that it con- 
 tains, with as much ease, and all the grace of a first- 
 class mineralogist. If he is not able to do this he is a 
 " tenderfoot," and has much to learn in the art of min- 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 39 
 
 ing. To prospect successfully he should send to some 
 friend in California and have some very rich specimens 
 of gold rock sent to him. Then, if he keeps his little 
 tongue in the right channel, the whole camp is soon on 
 its feet, anxious to see a specimen of the richest gold- 
 bearing quartz rock that was ever heard of; and the 
 next day, and for days after, the lucky miner is watched 
 in his every movement, to see in what direction he leaves 
 camp. He is then still watched and carefully trailed. 
 
 Miners in well doing are the most excitable of men. 
 Often and often will they leave mines or claims that pay 
 well, to go to a distance, led by some new excitement; 
 and when they arrive there it frequently happens that they 
 find nothing but disappointment and starvation staring 
 them in the face. The White Pine excitement, in Ne- 
 vada, is a good illustration. Hundreds flocked there to 
 spend the last cent they had, and then to leave, packing 
 their blankets on their backs; that is, they who were 
 fortunate enough to have blankets, for hundreds had not 
 even a meal's provisions to serve them on their exit 
 from what a few days before was supposed to be one of 
 the richest camps the world had ever seen. 
 
 A miner's fortune is like a mushroom it springs up 
 where least expected, then again it vanishes with as great 
 rapidity as it came. I shall always remember the first 
 mine I endeavored to work for myself. After prospect- 
 ing for two months on all quarters of the compass from 
 Bullion City, the mining town I was holding responsible 
 for my bed and board, I at last resolved to go to work 
 on what I supposed the best of my many locations. So 
 
40 
 
 now i KNOW. 
 
 I laid in a supply of drills, hammers, powder and fuse, 
 and hired a man to work with me for four dollars a day. 
 Then, after spending a day surveying the location and 
 arguing the many advantages one spot had over another 
 for working, we at last concluded that the cheapest and 
 best way to work the mine advantageously was to go 
 down below the mine on the slope of the mountain and 
 
 NEW MINING TOWN. 
 
 run a tunnel in until we struck the vein, then we would 
 be at a sufficient depth to ascertain the value of our 
 ore. So we spent the whole day, and did nothing ex- 
 cept to come to the conclusion that a tunnel was the 
 cheapest and best method, and that by running in 
 twenty feet we could tap the lead at about that or a 
 little greater depth, and that the next morning we would 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 41 
 
 begin digging the tunnel. After digging, picking, drill- 
 ing and blasting one month we had run a tunnel in 
 twenty-seven feet and had found no ledge. Then what 
 to do I did not know, for my money was exhausted and 
 I had been running in debt at the store for provisions 
 two weeks. At last I resolved to have some older, ex- 
 perienced miners to go up with me and see my claim 
 and give me some idea of what I should do in order to 
 show up my vein of ore, for I was sure it was there 
 some place, and plain to be seen on top I thought. 
 Some said I was working it right; others were doubt- 
 ful. At last one of them agreed to come the next 
 morning and to help me work some on it from the top 
 in exchange for work, which I accepted. 
 
 The next morning found me on the ground as usual, 
 but not to tunnel. I was now about to sink a shaft 
 right down on what I considered to be the vein. After 
 spending the day in prying around large rocks and 
 pushing off smaller ones, we were ready to begin sink- 
 ing the next morning. Before noon we had sunk a 
 shaft clear through my mine, and there was now no 
 more of an indication left than there is on a barn floor. 
 So I was out about three hundred dollars in time, 
 money, and provisions, not counting my tools in, for I 
 still had them all because I was no miner, but simply 
 wanted to do something I knew nothing about. This 
 was my first out in mining. 
 
 But I remained by no means an idle prospector, show- 
 ing nothing but notices' on file. A company often of us 
 went in on the Webster Location Lode, and we located 
 
42 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 all of the available ground that the law specified we 
 should have and more too, and then went to work on it, 
 some of my partners expecting to sell out in a few days 
 for fabulous amounts. But my courage was none of 
 the best in developing; for my first work spent in tun- 
 neling had proved such an entire failure. We had hard 
 rock to blast, and progress was slow. At a called meet- 
 ing of the members of the company, we concluded to 
 put in the remainder of the work done in developing by 
 sinking a shaft parallel with the vein. We got along very 
 well with this until we had attained the depth of fifty or 
 sixty feet, when the walls became scaly and we had to 
 timber the shaft. Then the water came in in torrents, 
 which had to be kept out, and the consequence was our 
 progress was so impeded that we were two years sink- 
 ing on the Webster Lode and only obtained a depth of 
 two hundred feet. I always will think it is a good mine, 
 could it be worked with any reasonable expense; but it 
 can not. So there it lies yet with no one doing any- 
 thing with it. 
 
 Thus it is with thousands of others who have located 
 and worked claims until they were satisfied that the 
 mineral extracted from the lead would not pay expenses 
 of labor and cost of milling, and have abandoned claims 
 that sometimes assay hundreds of dollars to the ton. In 
 this way prospecting is going on all over the West and 
 not one mine out of every ten thousand that is located 
 and even put on file in the county or district clerk's office 
 ever pays back the cost of expenditures, counting money, 
 time, provisions, tools, and all other necessary expenses. 
 
UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 43 
 
 It can, therefore, plainly be seen that all men can not 
 make a fortune mining; but the majority of people that 
 are carried away by mining excitements rush in pell- 
 mell, without ever taking time to think what they can 
 or will do when they get there. They seem to think 
 that the precious metals are lying around in quantities 
 sufficient for them to amass enormous fortunes, so that 
 they may live at ease and in luxury and splendor the 
 balance of their lives; and all this is to be obtained 
 within a short time and at little or no expense, merely 
 expecting to shovel the gravel into a sluice box, or by 
 some other method to separate the gold from the mother 
 earth. Now, friends, this is all a mistake. Where one 
 man reaps a fortune in a mining field, scores are retiring 
 to hunt some other place where the chance would seem 
 better in their favor, and they will never find it. Mining 
 is a legitimate business, as much so as farming or any 
 other branch of industry that one might engage in. But 
 yet there is more chance work connected with mining 
 than with all the other different pursuits of business. I 
 am well aware there are a great many writing to the 
 contrary, and I would not wish to try to dissuade any 
 one from mining ; but, on the contrary, go if you want 
 to. There is yet plenty to learn. Hundreds will go to 
 the West, expecting to make their mark in some pro- 
 fession where shrewdness and education are required. 
 They will find all the professions full and much more 
 so than is needed. Some want to know where to go. 
 Bear patiently with me and I will show you where there 
 is yet room before I come to the end of this book. 
 
44 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Mining, when you are on a good mine, is an invest- 
 ment or enterprise that surpasses all other enterprises 
 that I know of as a high road to fortune. Thousands of 
 dollars have rewarded the sturdy prospector in some in- 
 stances in a single day. But the day is past when the 
 miner can take up his pan and in an hour or two pan 
 out enough dust to supply himself and friends with 
 abundant funds. One meets hundreds of good old fel- 
 lows, who will tell of the money they made in the early 
 days of California and how they spent it, thinking there 
 were such vast quantities lying in the gulches, that they 
 could be possessors of all the luxuries of the land as 
 long as they lived. 
 
NEVADA. 45 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 NEVADA. 
 
 AFTER remaining in Utah Territory until I became 
 weary of not well doing, I concluded to go to Ne- 
 vada. I settled temporarily in Carson City, which, at 
 that time, was a very small place; but was, nevertheless, 
 bustling with life and energy. My finances not being 
 cumbersome, I resolved to go to work at the first op- 
 portunity. This presented itself two days after, when 
 I went to work for Yerrington, Bliss & Co., who were 
 large wood and lumber contractors. They owned large 
 tracts of timber lands lying in proximity to Lake Tahoe, 
 together with saw-mills and flumes. Tahoe is a beau- 
 tiful lake, about which enough has been said to justify 
 me in passing over the beauties and grandeur of the 
 lake, and the surrounding locality. (Read Mark Twain.) 
 I began work in a saw-mill, as screw-turner, and 
 remained there until the mill closed in the Fall, which 
 it does every year on account of cold and snow. But 
 I had made good use of my time, and when I went 
 down to Carson City I had six hundred and forty dol- 
 lars, nearly all of which I had made that Summer. 
 There the mining fever was raging, as it always is. 
 Excitement ran high, and every one men, women, and 
 children, old and young, rich and poor if they were 
 able to raise only five dollars, were dealing or dabbling 
 
46 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 in stocks of the celebrated Comstock mines, which 
 were just then receiving so much attention in the San 
 Francisco Stock Exchange. I, of course, must try my 
 luck, with the others. So I invested the half I had, 
 and became a constant attendant at the broker's office, 
 and w r atcher of the bulletin boards, along with the 
 crowded masses of different nationalities that are always 
 there watching every change that is noted down with 
 
 VIEW NEAR LAKE TAHOE. 
 
 the fluctuation of the stock in San Francisco. 
 
 Fortune for once, I thought, seemed to be in my 
 favor, for during that Winter I made the little sum of 
 sixteen hundred dollars; not by my shrewdness, how- 
 ever, for I declare I knew nothing about it, except that 
 I would give Messrs. Rice & Peters my money, with 
 orders to buy such and such stock, and in a short time 
 I would make sale at a large profit, and buy again. 
 
 Nevada possesses some of the richest producing 
 
NEVADA. 47 
 
 mines in the world. The Comstock mines are the best 
 in the State. Millions and millions have been produced 
 from some of the oldest locations on this lode, with vast 
 bodies of ore yet in sight. No one who has never been 
 at Virginia City can form an idea of the vast amount 
 of work that is required to carry on the mining busi- 
 ness there. Some of the finest machinery that the 
 world has yet produced can there be seen. This must 
 be had in order to mine successfully in deep mines. 
 Millions of dollars are annually spent in erecting hoist- 
 ing works, quartz mills, and other, necessary improve- 
 ments. The water that they use comes through pipes 
 from Marlette or Silver Lake miles away, down the 
 mountain side, across valleys, then to ascend again, to 
 be distributed throughout the city. The mines are 
 always in need of vast quantities of wood and lumber, 
 a greater portion of which comes from the mountain 
 sides around Lake Tahoe. The lumber is sawed at the 
 different mills along the eastern shore of the lake. A 
 great many men are employed in this work. Some 
 cutting logs at different points around the lake, others 
 hauling and dumping them into the water, where rafts 
 are formed and then towed across the lake to the mills, 
 where they have large break-waters constructed to 
 keep the logs from being carried back into the lake and 
 lost. When the logs are sawed, the lumber is all piled 
 up, each kind by itself, after which it is loaded on the 
 cars and taken to the dividing ridge of the mountain 
 between the lake and Carson City, where it is again 
 piled up as before, alongside a flume. 
 
48 
 
 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 Now, to go back a little, the Lake Tahoe Narrow 
 Gauge Railroad was built from the lake at Glenbrook to 
 the summit. In a direct line, the distance is a little short 
 of three miles; but to get from the lake up, they made 
 nine miles of road, and some of that has a grade of 
 one hundred and sixty feet to the mile. They have 
 two engines on the road, which run all the time, except 
 
 in the dead 
 of Winter, 
 bringing up 
 wood and 
 lumber to 
 the summit 
 yards. 
 
 From the 
 summit to 
 Carson City 
 is fourteen 
 miles, and 
 the distance 
 is spanned 
 by a long 
 flume. The 
 
 capacity of the flume is unknown. There have been over 
 one million feet of lumber and four hundred cords of 
 wood sent from the summit to Carson in a single day's 
 run of ten hours. The flume is built of two-inch plank 
 sixteen feet in length, and twenty and twenty-two 
 inches in width. These boards are placed the bottom 
 of one on the flat edge of the other, and securely 
 
 BLUE CANON, SIERRA NEVADA. 
 
NEVADA. 49 
 
 nailed with large spike nails, forming a V shaped box. 
 After the flume bed has been laid with stringers prop- 
 erly graded, the boxes are put in place and securely 
 supported by generally five bracket bearings to each 
 box. The brackets are made with arms extending 
 enough to admit of another two-inch plank ten or 
 twelve inches in width, being placed in on either side 
 if necessary. Then a head of water is turned on at 
 the upper end of the flume and it is ready for opera- 
 tion. Sometimes fifty men can be seen throwing in 
 wood without checking its movement in the least. 
 When at the yard, running lumber, I have seen one 
 hundred and thirty-four thousand feet run from the yard 
 in a single hour. I have seen green sticks of timber 
 forty feet long, sixteen by eighteen inches square, 
 thrown in and run along with more ease than a boat 
 through the water. 
 
 Miles of flume can be seen at this date extending 
 up along the mountain sides, used to flume wood to 
 Carson. Large bodies of men are everywhere at work 
 cutting wood. The timber around the lake is pine of 
 different varieties, white and red fir, spruce, and tama- 
 rack. All grow to large size. The forest land around 
 Lake Tahoe is very rough, broken, and of no value 
 except for the timber that is on it. 
 
 But to return to the Comstock Mines. The mines 
 are very deep and the deeper down they go the hotter 
 they become. Vast quantities of water are continually 
 rnnning in and are as rapidly pumped to the top by 
 mammoth machinery. The water is hoisted twenty- 
 
50 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 three hundred feet out of some of the deepest loca- 
 tions. A few years ago they claimed that they hoisted 
 ^through their pumps fish without eyes; they were 
 living when found, but, after being exposed to the 
 cold air on the surface, soon died. The heat on the 
 lower levels of the Comstock Lode is intense, vary- 
 ing according to particular parts visited, but averaging 
 about one hundred and forty degrees. Air pumps are 
 constantly at work, forcing down cool air, and at the 
 same time tons of ice are being lowered. And yet it 
 is more like traveling in an oven that is heated and still 
 heating than in the pure breezes from off Mt. David- 
 son. Eight hours constitute a day's work down in these 
 depths, where no light except the feeble flicker of the 
 miner's candle ever shines to guide him on his narrow 
 pathway underneath the ground. The miners' wages 
 average four dollars a day. 
 
 The Comstock Lode and Sutro Tunnel Company 
 entered into an agreement in 1866 to tap and drain the 
 lode. The tunnel was commenced at what is now 
 Sutro City, and was pushed along under the super- 
 vision of Mr. Sutro. Millions of money have been 
 expended in the undertaking. They now think they 
 will be able to use it by the first of June, 1879. Mr. 
 Sutro estimates that, after the mines are drained, con- 
 nections with the tunnel made, and cross-cutting under 
 way, the average daily output of ore will be three thou- 
 sand tons, a great portion of which will be first-class or 
 good ore. The Tunnel Company expect to reap bene- 
 fits in many ways, viz: by revenues they will receive 
 
NEVADA. 51 
 
 for the use of the tunnel for purposes of transportation, 
 furnishing fire-wood, timber, compressed air, water for 
 power, irrigation, mill supplies, etc. 
 
 The climate of Nevada is cold in Winter and pleas- 
 ant in Summer. All through the Sierra Nevada range 
 deep snow falls, and covers the ground until late in the 
 Spring, in many places not melting off entirely at all, but 
 remaining until snow falls again. 
 
 A few years ago, in going from Lake Tahoe down 
 to Carson City, while on that part of the road lying be- 
 tween Mr. Spooner's and the Flinne camp, I passed 
 through a tunnel of snow for several hundred feet, 
 where the snow had been shoveled out along the side 
 of the wagon road and wood had been hauled in and 
 burned to melt the snow. I do not know how thick 
 the roof of the tunnel was, but I know it was on the 
 fourth day of July that I passed through it. Large for- 
 ests of the finest of timber lying between the lake and 
 Eagle Valley have all been cut and used for the ben- 
 efit of the Comstock Mines. 
 
 There are a great many horses and cattle scattered 
 throughout the State, but not in droves and herds, such as 
 are seen on the plains and bench lands of Utah or Col- 
 orado. Farming is not a success in Nevada for many 
 reasons. The seasons are too short. There is gener- 
 ally frost every month in the year, or, at least, I found 
 it so during my stay in the State. 
 
 Hot Springs abound all along the valley of the Hum- 
 boldt. Some of these springs are situated entirely 
 alone, while others lie very near springs of cold water. 
 
52 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 I remember having seen a hot and cold spring so near 
 together that the two hands could be placed one in 
 each spring at the same time. Some of these springs 
 are very shallow, while others extend to unknown or, 
 at least, unsounded depths. 
 
 The valleys are covered with alkali, varying from a 
 thin sheet to three inches in thickness. The water 
 
 HUMBOLDT PALISADES. 
 
 standing in drains, ponds, and lakes in the valleys is 
 all brackish, containing a vast amount of alkali. In 
 many places travelers and wagon trains, passing to and 
 fro, laden with freight, suffer to the utmost extremity 
 for the want of fresh water, since all the fresh-water 
 streams from the mountains have sunk and disappeared 
 on the bench lands, ere they reach the low lands or 
 
NEVADA. 3 
 
 valleys. It is nothing uncommon to see animals of bur- 
 den lying dead along the roads, killed by drinking this 
 alkaline water. You meet travelers and freighters go- 
 ing and coming in all directions, with sore and inflamed 
 eyes, oftentimes so bad that they are unable to see; lips 
 parched, cracked, and often swollen far beyond their 
 usual size; gums sore; throat and lungs sometimes 
 so painful that it is with great effort the individual can 
 eat or speak all arising from the winds and the dust 
 that sweep along over these alkaline plains. Nevada 
 deserts are very bad; but I will point out further along 
 some localities where the Humboldt or Walker River 
 valleys would be pleasant by comparison. 
 
54 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 IN going from Nevada to the coast, one traverses 
 over three hundred and twenty-four miles of rail- 
 road, between Carson City and San Francisco. The 
 enchanting views of this whole distance will awaken 
 
 DONNER LAKE. 
 
 the traveler's keenest admiration. Donner Lake is not 
 equaled in grandeur and picturesqueness anywhere in 
 the East. It is three and one-half miles long by one 
 
CALIFORNIA. 
 
 55 
 
 in width. It lies at the base of the Sierra range, two 
 miles west of Truckee. It is hemmed in on three sides 
 by the Sierras, and a more beautiful place is hard to 
 find. The lake is filled with fish. There are three 
 kinds of trout and a few other kinds of fish. The lake 
 is entirely surrounded by forests of magnificent growth. 
 One of the attractive places about the lake is Pulpit 
 Rock in Echo Canon, where the voice will be repeated 
 so often and distinctly that it 
 produces a peculiarly pleasing 
 and interesting effect. This is 
 the place the Donners perished 
 in 1846. They were on their 
 way to the valleys of California 
 from Illinois. Here they be- 
 came hemmed in by snow, only 
 a portion of their number es- 
 caping and that after undergoing 
 terrible suffering and hardship 
 in traveling through mountains 
 and canons across the range, in 
 
 Search of some One to go to the PULPIT ROCK, ECHO CANON. 
 
 relief of their comrades. A party finally went to their 
 rescue, but only to find them all dead, except one, a 
 German, who, it is said, was subsisting on a portion of 
 Mrs. Donner's body when found, and was in a most 
 wretched condition. 
 
 There are a great many stones in circulation con- 
 cerning Donner Lake. The Indians claim that the 
 place where the lake now is was formerly a volcano's 
 
56 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 crater, and discharged hot cinders, fire and smoke con- 
 tinually. Whether this be true or not, I do not pre- 
 tend to say. I was told that the Lake had been 
 sounded to the depth of two thousand feet without 
 finding bottom. 
 
 But Donner Lake takes its name from the unfortu- 
 nates who perished there in one of those dreadful storms 
 that pass over that region of the Sierras every Winter, 
 where the snow sometimes falls to the depth of ten or 
 twelve feet. Traveling is then out of the question, un- 
 less provided with snow-shoes; and then one unaccus- 
 tomed to their use would find it difficult and laborious 
 to make any progress. 
 
 Going north from here one comes to the Sierra Val- 
 ley, where there is an abundance of grass in the sum- 
 mer; but farming is limited as the altitude is so high 
 that it is liable to freeze any night during the Summer 
 months. But this is still in a mining region, and mining is, 
 directly or indirectly, the leading occupation of the set- 
 tlers. Farther north we pass through Plumas, Tehama, 
 Shasta, Lassen, Siskiyou and Modoc Counties, all noted 
 for their mining industries. The mountains are full of 
 holes and tunnels. The gulches have been washed 
 over and over through strings of sluices, and still the 
 miner is washing away with as much or more energy 
 and ambition than in the years of '50 and '51. Sierra 
 County has been the scene of excitement ever since 
 gold was discovered in 1847. Thousands of dollars 
 have been brought into Downieville day after day as a 
 reward for the early and successful prospector. Ditches 
 
CALIFORNIA. 57 
 
 have been run for miles to convey water for washing 
 down by the use of hydraulic ram whole sides of high 
 bars or mountains, as I might term them. 
 
 I have often been asked how gold looks in the earth; 
 in what form it is generally found, and of what size are 
 the nuggets. The last two questions admit of a num- 
 ber of answers. The first question I will answer by 
 saying that persons who can recognize gold after it has 
 been taken from the earth, and refined and cleaned, 
 would generally recognize it when seen in quartz rock, 
 or in nuggets, in the sand and gravel. Gold most always 
 has its distinctive bright yellow appearance, although I 
 have sometimes seen it when it seemed to be covered 
 with a coat of rust. When this is the case the color 
 of the outside coating varies greatly. The gold I have 
 seen so shaded has generally been where the water was 
 saturated with different combinations of minerals. 
 
 The second question I will answer by stating that all 
 gold is formed in quartz, and quartz (not float quartz) 
 generally lies in veins. Where it does not, there has been 
 a general upheaval of the earth's surface, grinding and 
 mingling it into one conglomerate mass. In a case of 
 this kind the quartz is in confusion and is scattered ir- 
 regularly throughout the locality of such visitation. The 
 veins of quartz are found in crevices in rocks of a pre- 
 vious formation. Veins are either of a different material 
 or like that of the surrounding rock; in either case the 
 filling-up of the vein has succeeded the formation of 
 the country rock. 
 
 Bishop Mohr says, as to the formation of these crev- 
 
53 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 ices : " There seems to be no doubt that they have 
 their origin in the rending of the crust of the earth, 
 caused by plutonic or volcanic action in the interior of 
 the earth, or by the formation .and lifting of newly- 
 formed masses from lower depths into higher regions, 
 and a consequent rending of the overlying rocks. As 
 the latter are lifted into higher regions of the globe, 
 which have a larger diameter, these masses must of 
 course break, or separate, and become detached from 
 the neighboring rocks, producing chasms and crevices. 
 The material with which these crevices are filled out 
 has entered from below, from above, or from the neigh- 
 boring strata, as a solution, cither from the country 
 rocks, or from deeper regions. 
 
 Water was very likely the principal medium, which, 
 together perhaps with some gases, acted as a receiver 
 for the particles of metal and other substances which lay 
 distributed in the different strata of rocks, and depos- 
 ited them, far more concentrated, by a slow and often 
 repeated process." The uneven distribution of minerals 
 in veins, the often symmetric and parallel texture of 
 veins, as well as their composition, so different often 
 from that of the neighboring rocks, seems to be proof 
 for this explanation. Veins are usually found within 
 those places where the surrounding country rock is in 
 a decomposed state. 
 
 Some scientists cling to the idea that veins are 
 formed entirely by the heating process. I will not en- 
 deavor to dispute with them. But one thing I will say, 
 that the walls of veins show nowhere the action of fire, 
 
CALIFORNIA. 
 
 59 
 
 as would be the case where the wall-rock was of a 
 nature difficult to fuse. Now this is where the gold in 
 veins is obtained, the metal is distributed throughout 
 this vein matter, and often in very rich rock or ore the 
 
 SCENE NEAR EAGLE LAKE, CALIFORNIA. 
 
 particles are so small that the eye can not discover a 
 trace either of gold or silver. At other times the rock, 
 or ore, will be dotted throughout with grains of gold, 
 sometimes with golden wires woven together, and then 
 
60 HOW I KNOV>'. 
 
 again small nuggets can be picked from the ore with a 
 pocket knife. 
 
 Placer mining is for gold that has been thrown from 
 these veins where the rock has become softened and 
 has been washed from the mother vein. The gold, 
 owing to its very heavy nature, is left deposited along 
 the gulches, in canons, and along the mountain sides, 
 and bench lands. The earth, where the gold has been 
 thus deposited, is then washed in different ways and by 
 different processes, until it passes away, leaving the 
 grains of gold. It is seen, therefore, that gold in not all 
 in nuggets; but, on the contrary, some of it is in grains 
 so fine that the eye can not see it until it is gathered 
 together through the washing and cleaning process. 
 Again, there have been some large pieces found. The 
 largest that was ever found in California was brought 
 to light by John J. Finney, one of the Shasta County 
 pioneers, who now resides near French Gulch. He un- 
 earthed it in the early mining times in California, about 
 ten miles from Downieville, Sierra County. It was a 
 chunk of solid gold that weighed five thousand one 
 hundred and twenty ounces. This is said to be the best 
 day's work ever done by a single miner. But John, 
 like the most of old miners, is still prospecting for hid- 
 den wealth. 
 
 Going on to the North, from here, we pass through 
 Lassen County. Large forests of pine and fir hem us 
 in on all sides. We move on past Honey Lake, a 
 picturesque place, and a sight that will be impressed 
 forever upon the memory. A little farther on we come 
 
CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Cl 
 
 to Eagle Lake. There we turn and go into Siskiyou 
 County, and soon we are at the base of old Mt. Shasta. 
 We can then then look up to the top, where she rears 
 her head for over fourteen thousand feet; and there she 
 stands, with snow for a perpetual 
 covering, and clouds dashing like 
 billows all around her. No timber 
 grows upon the top, of course. 
 
 The Yosemite Valley, California, 
 is situated on the Merced River, 
 in the southern part of Mariposa 
 County. It is on the western slope 
 of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and 
 near the center of 
 the State, North and 
 South. The valley is 
 small, being but eight 
 miles in length and 
 three - quarters of a 
 mile in width. It is 
 enclosed with granite || 
 walls rising with al- ^ 
 most unbroken and 
 perpendicular faces to 
 the dizzy height of 
 from three thousand THE TWO GUARDSMEN. 
 
 to six thousand feet above the green valley beneath. 
 Yosemite is the Indian name for grizzly bear. This 
 place is and will be preserved for public use. At Crane 
 Flat there is a small grove of the mammoth trees of 
 
62 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 Mariposa. There are two of these trees, called The 
 Two Guardsmen, growing from the same root, which 
 measure one hundred and fourteen feet in circumference, 
 and are of corresponding height. 
 
 From the brink of the basin to the valley beneath 
 measures four thousand feet. In order to get a descent 
 at this point a trail over seven miles in length has been 
 blasted and worked out of the rock. After the descent 
 is made, you find yourself in what has been well called 
 the "Garden of the Gods." Around you towers some of 
 the grandest scenery that. the world contains. The stu- 
 penduously massive walls seem, as it were, to be closing 
 in around you from all sides. The valley in which 
 you stand, the fertility of which is unsurpassed on the 
 continent, is beautifully set in grass. 
 
 Here we are able to look upon Nature in all of her 
 grandeur. The lofty walls lifting themselves to a per- 
 pendicular height of four or five thousand feet; the water 
 gushing out of the many springs that are everywhere 
 around you, to fall many hundreds of feet below, there 
 to mingle with the waters of the beautiful Merced River. 
 Looking to the east the eye rests upon the Yosemite, 
 spreading out and falling down, like a magnificent bridal 
 veil, a distance of twenty-six hundred feet. This is by 
 far the highest water-fall in the world. There are nu- 
 merous other falls. The Nevada Fall is seven hundred 
 feet high. It is a grand and beautiful sight. It is formed 
 by the Merced River, a stream several feet in depth and 
 from fifty to seventy-five feet in width, continually pour- 
 ing its waters over the cliffs into the valley. 
 
CALIFORNIA. 63 
 
 Standing in the valley on a bright, clear day, one may 
 well go into ecstacies over the many magnificent works 
 
 THE YOSEMITE FALLS. 
 
 of nature that crowd upon the view. Here are the gi- 
 ants of the forest with a circumference, at the earth, of 
 one hundred and six feet, rearing their lofty heads over 
 
04 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 two hundred and seventy feet into the air. There is one 
 lying prostrate, with its whole heart burned out, leaving 
 nothing but the shell. A man can ride on horseback 
 for seventy feet right into it, and yet have plenty of room 
 to turn a horse of ordinary size around and come out. 
 The surrounding country is for fifty or sixty miles dotted 
 with little valleys in which these large trees are found all 
 the way from thirty to one hundred feet in circumfer- 
 ence, and from two hundred to considerably more than 
 three hundred feet in height. 
 
 Vegetables grow to an enormous size here. I have 
 sometimes thought I would say nothing about this, how- 
 ever, for I have my doubts whether the people in the East 
 will believe the statements or not. They may think I am 
 exaggerating when I say I have here seen single heads 
 of cabbage weighing eighty pounds. Melons often weigh 
 one hundred pounds, and pumpkins more than that; 
 beets are three feet in length; onions as large around as 
 a large pie pan; grapes in bunches weighing ten pounds. 
 
 From here we will go to the Golden City. I can not 
 hope to say more than has been said by others, but jus- 
 tice demands that I shall not pass it by without a word. 
 The first house was built in San Francisco in the year 
 1835. Since then a city has sprung up that to-day is 
 the leading city of western North America. The town 
 was not originally laid out in accordance with any def- 
 inite plan, and until a few years ago people continued 
 to build in the same irregular way. Then great im- 
 provements were set on foot by widening the streets, 
 cutting through whole blocks of houses, tearing down 
 
CALIFORNIA. 
 
 65 
 
 the older buildings, and erecting in their stead better 
 and costlier ones. Some magnificent buildings were 
 erected, the San Francisco Mining Exchange, built en- 
 tirely of marble, being the best and 
 handsomest. The Palace Hotel, 
 erected by W. C. Ralston, now dead, 
 is said to be the grandest in the 
 
 BRIDAL VEIL FALL, YOSEMITE VALLEY. 
 
 United States. Mr. Baldwin's Academy of Music is an 
 ornament fit for any European city. So that San Fran- 
 cisco is now, the hoodlums excepted, as beautiful a city 
 as one can find among any of the port towns of the 
 
 5 
 
66 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 United States of the same population, hoodlums not 
 excepted. 
 
 In addition to this the city is filled with attractions 
 of such a number and nature that one need never be at 
 a loss for entertainment. North Beach is filled up with 
 ancient collections in the shape of cobwebs as old as 
 Adam would have been had he not died. The Cliff 
 Rocks, a little more remote from the city, is a great 
 place of resort. Here one gets a fair view of the 
 Pacific Ocean. At this point, a little distance from the 
 shore, are cliffs of rocks projecting out of the water. 
 These are almost constantly covered with sea lions, roll- 
 ing and pitching over another and howling incessantly. 
 
 But, perhaps, the greatest attraction of San Fran- 
 cisco is Woodward's Garden. This is a place of which 
 one never grows weary. Mr. Woodward has, at a 
 great expense of time and money, arranged and opened 
 for exhibition a museum, containing, it is said, eighteen 
 thousand specimens that have been procured from every 
 part of the globe. The museum includes an art gallery, 
 filled with the most beautiful painting and statuary to 
 be procured in Europe and America. There are green- 
 houses, filled with every variety of plants known in 
 botany. There is a zoological department, containing 
 almost all kinds of wild animals and birds. There is an 
 amphitheater, where twenty thousand people may sit 
 and witness the hippodrome performances, such as rac- 
 ing, drills, games of various kinds, and other entertain- 
 ments which may be given there. Mr. Woodward is 
 continually making additions to his already very ex- 
 
CALIFORNIA. 
 
 67 
 
 tensive collections. His grounds are magnificently 
 shaded with many varieties of shade trees. Everything 
 in the collections is arranged and labeled in the most 
 systematic manner. Any one that can see and read 
 may there view intelligently the productions of the 
 world. 
 
 The valleys of California are fertile, and vegetation 
 
 A CALIFORNIA STUMP. 
 
 is thriftier there than in most any other place in the 
 United States. Wheat has been raised, yielding eighty 
 bushels to the acre. Thousands upon thousands of acres 
 are sown annually. I have seen one unbroken field of 
 waving wheat, extending for over forty miles, without a 
 fence or ditch to separate it. The mode of harvesting 
 wheat on the Pacific Coast is different from what it is 
 
68 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 in the Atlantic States. In the West the grain is sown 
 either by drill or broadcast. If, after sowing, the ground 
 .is not moist enough, it is irrigated by letting on water 
 'until it has become sufficiently wet; then the water is 
 shut off again. In this way they regulate the seasons. 
 Harvesting wheat is done by machines called "headers," 
 which cut the heads of the standing wheat and threshes 
 out the grain, sacks and sews up the sacks, all at the 
 same time. Ricks of sacked grain can be seen standing 
 in every direction over the grain fields during the har- 
 vesting. 
 
 It may be as well remarked here that the Pacific 
 Coast is subject to rain only at one season during the 
 year. That is known as the rainy season. It sets in 
 about the month of November, sometimes not until 
 later, and closes in February. Sometimes there will be 
 but a few days' rain during that period of time. Dur- 
 ing other seasons there may be rain for six or seven 
 weeks. When it does rain, it often happens that several 
 inches of water fall in a very short time. 
 
 The foot-hills of California are covered with a very 
 nutritious grass, which during the long summer months 
 has the appearance of being all burnt, parched and 
 and dried up. It, nevertheless, retains a great deal of 
 nutriment. Stock like it and keep fat and sleek as long 
 as they can get plenty of it. Alfalfa is raised through- 
 out the valleys with flattering success. Sometimes as 
 many as four cuttings are procured from the same 
 ground during the year. 
 
 Grapes do better in California than in any other part 
 
CALIFORNIA. 09 
 
 of the United States. Hundreds of acres of vineyards 
 can be seen growing throughout the State. Apples, 
 peaches, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, and oranges all 
 grow there in vast quantities and of as rich and fine a 
 quality and flavor as any I have ever seen in the East 
 or along the Mississippi Valley. Nuts of all kinds and 
 varieties that I know of can be seen growing in many 
 of the southern counties. Cotton and tobacco are said 
 to do well also. Fish and game abound. If a well-to- 
 do man can not enjoy himself in California, it would be 
 difficult for him to find enjoyment anywhere on this 
 continent. 
 
 Of course the State has many drawbacks. Some- 
 times an earthquake shakes up the country considerably, 
 to the consternation of its inhabitants. This was the 
 case when I was in the State in March, 1872. I had 
 been at Vandalia, in Tulare County, for several days. 
 The weather had been very pleasant and sunshiny 
 rather warm, with not a cloud to be seen. But at two 
 o'clock, on the morning of March 26th, I was awakened 
 by the windows rattling and the house cracking and 
 shaking in a violent manner. I had not been thinking 
 of an earthquake, neither did I realize that there was 
 then one already at hand. The building seemed to be 
 moving as on a wagon that was run over a hard, rough 
 road. I did not remain long in bed, for I thought the 
 house would surely soon fall down. When I got upon 
 my feet I could scarcely stand. Then I was sure that 
 the house was being meddled with in some violent man- 
 ner, for it was shaking in such a way that it gave me 
 
70 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 feelings which no pen can express. For once, if never 
 before, I was terribly scared. The oscillations were so 
 short, and in such quick succession, that I was con- 
 tinually bounced about in such a manner that it was 
 
 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SCENERY. 
 
 with great difficulty I could dress myself. There was 
 no more sleep for me, for the shocks continued the 
 remainder of the night; and the whole of the next 
 day shocks could be repeatedly felt. The shocks, on 
 
CALIFORNIA. 71 
 
 this occasion, were felt the whole length of California, 
 and into Mexico on the south, and as far east as Win- 
 nemucca, in Nevada, covering an area seven hundred 
 and fifty miles long, by nearly five hundred miles broad. 
 The center of the shock was in portions of Kern and 
 Inyo Counties, including a desert country along the 
 border line between California and Nevada. 
 
 In this part of the country the Sierra Nevada range 
 breaks off into a number of detached ranges, so that, in 
 San Bernardino and San Diego Counties, the range 
 disappears entirely, as far as its distinctive features are 
 concerned. All this region bears evidence of volcanic 
 eruptions, some of which must have been of a very 
 recent date. Here alkaline lakes, salfataras, hot springs, 
 and mud volcanoes are still seen. In the north-eastern 
 part of San Bernardino County is " Death's Valley;" said 
 to be far below the level of the sea, while the sur- 
 rounding mountains are not less than five thousand feet 
 above it. Still further south, in San Bernardino County, 
 north of the trail leading from Fort Mojave by way of 
 the sink of Mojave, the Mojave Desert and River, to Los 
 Angelos, there are numerous volcanic craters, rising to 
 heights of from fifty to two hundred feet above the des- 
 olate plain, still as perfect as when their fires went out. 
 The earth is covered with lava for many miles in width, 
 and extending to the borders of the Colorado Desert. 
 Hot mineral springs, volcanic ashes in vast beds, lava, 
 pumice stone, and other evidences of comparatively 
 recent volcanic disturbance, are found in abundance. 
 
 It is supposed the Dry Lakes in Bernardino County, 
 
72 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 in the Colorado Desert, was the bed of the sea at a very 
 distant date, and that its present condition is the result 
 of volcanic action. The ancient water-line, which is 
 still distinctly marked by sedimentary discoloration, can 
 be seen extending along the side of the San Gorgonio 
 Mountain, south of San Gorgonio Pass, for some fifty 
 miles. At Dos Palmas, a water station on the north- 
 
 CAPE HORN, CENTRAL PACIFIC R. R. 
 
 eastern side of the Colorado Desert, on the trail from 
 San Bernardino, by way of San Gorgonio Pass, to La 
 Paz, on the Colorado River, in 1868, an earthquake 
 opened a large fissure in the earth, from which flowed a 
 stream of cold water. The fissure is but a short dis- 
 tance from the great hot spring of Dos Palmas, which 
 is still flowing, but is said to have become much cooler 
 
CALIFORNIA. 73 
 
 since that event. At Fort Tejon, in the south-eastern 
 part of Kern County, several years ago the earth was 
 rent into a chasm. 
 
 At Lone Pine, when the terrible earthquake visited 
 that section, in 1872, the inhabitants were awakened by 
 a loud explosion followed by a terrible upheaval and 
 shaking of the earth from north to south. The whole 
 town was instantly in ruins, not a building being left 
 standing. Colonel Whipple, who was in Lone Pine at 
 the time, was sleeping, he says, in the second story of an 
 adobe house; and stated that he just had time to jump 
 from bed and get to the doorway when the house ap- 
 peared to crumble to pieces beneath him, and he was 
 buried in the ruins; but succeeded in extricating himself, 
 though suffering from several painful but not dangerous 
 wounds. He reports that the scenes which ensued beg- 
 gared description. Screams and groans and cries for 
 help rent the air in all directions, for nearly the whole 
 population of the town was buried beneath the ruins. 
 The first shock was followed in quick succession by 
 three others. In fact, the earth was in a constant shock 
 and tremble for over three hours. A chasm was opened 
 extending thirty-five miles down the valley, ranging from 
 three inches to forty feet in width. Rocks were torn 
 from their places and rolled down into the valley. 
 
 Everywhere through the valley are to be seen evi- 
 dences of the terrible convulsion of nature. Before 
 each shock an explosion was heard which seemed to 
 be directly underneath. Over six hundred distinct 
 shocks were felt within fifty-eight hours after the first. 
 
74: HOW I KNOW. 
 
 At Tibbet's ranch, fifteen miles above Independence, 
 forty acres of ground sunk seven feet below the surface 
 of the surrounding country. Big Owens Lake rose four 
 feet. Owens River overflowed its banks, and shoals of 
 fish were left on the shore for a distance of four miles. 
 Through Lone Pine the earth cracked, and on one side 
 it sunk seven or eight feet, leaving a wall of earth over 
 three miles in length where formerly was level country. 
 Innumerable cracks were made throughout the valley, 
 and the Kern and Owens Rivers turned and ran up 
 stream for several minutes, leaving the beds dry, and 
 returned with swollen volume. 
 
 There had been no parallel to this earthquake since 
 1812, when the missions San Juan, Capistrano, and La 
 Purissima, in South California, were destroyed. 
 
THE CHINESE. 75 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CHINESE. 
 
 FOR upward of thirty years there has been a stream 
 of Chinese immigration to the western part of the 
 United States. The Chinese are of a very short but 
 symmetrical build, with a face larger in proportion to 
 the size of the skull, than in the European race, and 
 round instead of oval in shape. The eyes are very 
 small, deep, and obliquely set, with a color resembling 
 that of the almond. Nearly all that come to the coast 
 are of a dirty brown or swarthy complexion, although you 
 occasionally meet one of yellow, olive, or sallow color. 
 
 Their hair is all shaved off smooth and clean around 
 the head, leaving only a small place on the top of the 
 head where the hair is allowed to grow. This tuft is 
 braided into a single strand, and that is lengthened out 
 with other braiding material, so much so that oftentimes 
 it trails upon the ground behind. While at work this 
 queue is generally arranged in a coil around the top 
 part of the head. 
 
 Their manner of dressing differs from the European 
 custom. Their clothing is usually clean and tidy enough; 
 but it is on the " too muchee loosee " fitting order, and 
 is made after the models of their own fashions. They 
 wear wooden shoes; but not after the Holland wooden 
 shoe pattern, for their shoes are small and finely finished. 
 
76 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Their hats are made from the splittings of the bamboo 
 tree, plaited after the manner of straw hats here, with a 
 very narrow and shallow crown, and a rim from seven 
 to ten inches wide. 
 
 There are now one hundred and twenty-five thou- 
 sand Chinese in the State of California, the greater 
 portion of whom live in San Francisco. Most of 
 these people are virtually in a condition of servitude. 
 "Why, how is that?" some one asks. The answer can 
 be given in a few words. The Chinese who are brought 
 to this country are of a very poor class in their own 
 land. They are destitute of money, and even of the 
 common necessities of life. There are in San Francisco 
 six different companies importing them; or, in words 
 a little harsher, making slaves of them, and that to as 
 great an extent as ever was true of the negroes in the 
 South. 
 
 Wages for all kinds of labor in the Chinese Empire 
 are extremely low, amounting, generally, only to about 
 seven cents per day in our money. In some cases the 
 wages are a little higher. Here, briefly stated, is 
 what is to-day causing so much disturbance in the 
 West on this subject. These six companies have 
 agents in the different ports of China. Whenever 
 any new enterprise is undertaken on the Pacific slope 
 requiring great numbers of workmen, these companies 
 hire in China, at the low rates for labor paid there, as 
 many laborers as can be worked millions could be 
 hired, if necessary and bring them over and hire them 
 out again. Now, some one of these companies, by vir- 
 
THE CHINESE. 77 
 
 tue of the contract and agreement made and entered 
 into in China, becomes, to all intents and purposes, the 
 owner of the persons so imported, until they have 
 earned their freedom according to the terms of their 
 contract. From the terms of this contract there can be 
 no variation. These six companies, of course, pocket 
 the difference between what they give and what they 
 receive for these laborers, giving their chattleman such 
 meager credit on his account that he will be compelled 
 to work a long time to gain his freedom. 
 
 The Chinese who emigrate to this country do not 
 become citizens. Applications for naturalization papers 
 have been made time and again, and have as often failed 
 to be granted. They are called " heathen Chinese " be- 
 cause they have their " Big Josh " in all their temples; 
 that is, an idol which they worship. 
 
 They have their own judicial tribunals, before which 
 they try and punish offenders, in all grades of crime 
 that may be registered against them. There is a secret 
 order among them, known as the " Hoeys," the object 
 of which is to protect their own countrymen from 
 American or State laws, and to enforce laws of their 
 own making. Their tribunals are held in secret, and 
 they administer such punishment as they see fit. The 
 penalty of death is enforced very often for the most 
 trivial offenses, such as neglecting to pay a debt. If the 
 culprit is not in custody when the offense with which 
 he is charged is investigated, and he is decided to be 
 guilty, then rewards for his assassination are offered, 
 written in Chinese characters and publicly posted. It 
 
78 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 is with great difficulty that Chinese criminals are con- 
 victed in our courts. Officers are bribed to release 
 them from custody, and Chinamen witnesses in court 
 will commit perjury to get them clear, in order that 
 they may be tried before their own tribunals. A China- 
 man stands in utter fear of telling the truth in our 
 courts, if it should tend to convict a countryman, for he 
 knows that he is sure to lose his life if he does not aid 
 in defeating the administration of justice to them before 
 our tribunals. At the same time the Chinese will use 
 our laws before their own tribunals, to prosecute inno- 
 cent men, in addition to enforcing their own. 
 
 The Chinese occupy their own quarters in the city, 
 where they live more after the manner of herding ani- 
 mals or swarming insects than intelligent human beings. 
 Their houses are compact, one against the other, with 
 very small rooms, all of which on the inside are of the 
 dirtiest, smokiest color. Paint, whitewash, and scrub- 
 brooms are unknown to the Chinese. Often small 
 rooms not more than eight or ten feet square will be 
 the abode of ten or twelve Chinamen, with bunks ar- 
 ranged as in barracks. There they will lie and smoke 
 opium and gamble their hours of idleness away. 
 
 The Chinese are termed " Coolies " in popular West- 
 ern phrase. That is a word used to designate all day- 
 laborers of the East Indian and neighboring countries, 
 where they unlade vessels, bear the palanquins of the 
 wealthy, push and pull the clumsy two-wheeled carts, 
 or carry such things as their employers desire in net-like 
 bags, suspended from the two ends of a bamboo pole, rest- 
 
THE CHINESE. 
 
 79 
 
 ing on their shoulders. These Chinese coolies are rude 
 in manner and noisy, but good-humored and fond of 
 
 CHINESE QUARTER, SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 amusement. Numbers of them can be worked in very 
 small places in ditching, shoveling, picking, blasting, 
 working in sections in railroad cuts or in making roads, 
 
80 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 etc. They are not capable of doing as much work as 
 Americans when put to the test; yet they generally ac- 
 complish as much or more than many Americans really 
 like to do. Much the larger number of Chinese that 
 are imported to this country are adult males. It is 
 estimated that there are four thousand Chinese females 
 in San Francisco, with a great many more scattered 
 at various places throughout the West. 
 
 There has been petitioning and legislating in Cali- 
 fornia for a long time in an effort to prevent the Chi- 
 nese from coming there; but, strange to say, that is 
 done mostly by a set of men who are foreigners by 
 birth themselves. The more distinguished and thought- 
 ful of our own countrymen say this: "The summary 
 disturbance of our existing treaties with China is greatly 
 inconvenient to the much wider and more prominent 
 interests of the country." The Chinese question has 
 been disturbing the minds of the Western people for a 
 long time, and, doubtless, w T ill continue so to do for 
 some time to come. I think that John would have 
 been much happier if he had never wandered away 
 from the home of his idols. 
 
 But now let me speak a few words in general terms 
 in behalf of the State of California. This State has 
 been wonderfully prosperous since its admission into the 
 Union, by reason of its great natural resources and its 
 singularly energetic and enterprising population. It has 
 probably more wealth per capita of its population than 
 most other States of the Union, or, perhaps, countries 
 
THE CHINESE. 81 
 
 r of the world. It, no doubt, has also the materials of 
 progress on a larger scale than has ever existed on any 
 other similar area. 
 
 The two principal cities are San Francisco and Sacra- 
 mento. The business of these two places consists chiefly 
 in trading upon the wealth produced from the soil. The 
 principal element of the future growth of the State will 
 consist in the settlement of the lands by desirable oc- 
 cupants. The lands are naturally very rich and fertile; 
 besides they are situated in an unrivaled climate. 
 Southern California can boast of what but few, if 
 any, other parts of our country can rightfully claim 
 to possess, and that is a mean difference of temper- 
 ature of 15.88. I do not know of a more healthy 
 spot anywhere to reside in, and at the same time reap 
 a large reward for industry. These lands have all to 
 be irrigated. There are irrigating canals and ditches 
 along and adjoining every ranch that is tilled. 
 
 They have been colonizing the State for a few years 
 back, and an earnest interest has been taken in pro- 
 moting the immigration of large numbers. In Califor- 
 nia the Federal, State, and County governments, the 
 settlers upon lands, and the citizens of the commercial 
 marts all take a common interest in the promotion of 
 and working for the welfare of individual and joint en- 
 terprises. 
 
 The Federal Government has several million acres 
 of surveyed lands yet to sell in the State. The area 
 of the State of California alone is one hundred and 
 twenty million nine hundred and forty-seven thousand 
 
82 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 eight hundred and forty acres, of which thirty-four mill- 
 ion acres have been surveyed by the officers of the 
 Federal Government. Of the quantity surveyed, not 
 more than twenty million acres have been disposed of, 
 leaving as much as fourteen million acres of surveyed 
 lands in the hands of the Federal Government. Over 
 two-thirds of the State lands are unsurveyed. 
 
 The entire present population of the State is less 
 than one million. The Federal Government has given 
 three million two hundred thousand acres of the 
 lands in the State to railroads, in order that the 
 value of the whole may be improved by facilitating 
 transportation. If a railroad company receives a grant 
 of land for the purpose of bringing the whole within the 
 reach of market, an irrigation company, whose object is 
 to insure the crops of all those lands, certainly has an 
 equal claim to aid, the more so when the canals which 
 irrigate the lands also complete the means of transport- 
 ing the crops. 
 
 I have tried to do justice to California and the good 
 people of the State. I have traveled the State over, and, 
 while doing so, I have met with a warm-hearted recep- 
 tion from all. May they ever live in enjoyment of all 
 the bountiful blessings of peace and prosperity. 
 
 My visit here is ended. I shall now visit Oregon and 
 see it, that I may be able to compare for my own satis- 
 faction and that of the reader the different shades and 
 experiences of life there. 
 
OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 83 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 
 
 PORTLAND, Oregon, is six hundred and seventy- 
 five miles, by water, from San Francisco. Ore- 
 gon is like California in some respects ; in others it 
 differs from all the rest of the country along the Pacific 
 coast. Portland is a thriving city, with, perhaps, thir- 
 teen thousand inhabitants. Along the coast warm 
 breezes from off the ocean constantly blow inland. In 
 Summer the atmosphere is perfectly delightful and 
 healthy; in Winter it is colder, owing to the winds 
 coming down from the Cascade Mountains on the 
 east. Yet, it is not so cold as to freeze hard, ex- 
 cept at a high altitude. Some of the valleys are very 
 fertile, with a good depth of soil, covered with the finest 
 grass and beautiful flowers, affording natural attrac- 
 tions of a richness seldom met with elsewhere. 
 
 There is splendid water and an abundance of fish in 
 all the streams that are not of an alkaline or brackish 
 character. The State can never have a dense popula- 
 tion, for the valleys I have referred to above, are small 
 and in many places settled thickly enough already. In 
 the southern and south-eastern part of the State the val- 
 leys are not so good, and are often covered with vast 
 beds of sand, alkali, and fields of lava. Much of this 
 part of the State is almost a desert, with only here and 
 
84 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 there a small piece of fertile and watered ground upon 
 which the squatter may settle. The greater portion of this 
 part of the State is worthless and must ever remain so. 
 The Columbia River, which forms the boundary line 
 between Washington Territory and the State of Ore- 
 gon is one of the grandest streams in the North-west. 
 This mighty river has cut its way through solid rock 
 
 RAPIDS OF THE UPPER COLUMBIA. 
 
 for nearly its whole length above the cascades. Here 
 may be seen an instance of what Nature by her mys- 
 terious forces can accomplish. By the constant attri- 
 tion of water, vast mountains of rock have been soft- 
 ened and worn away, leaving the harder portions of the 
 rock standing in all kinds of fanciful and grotesque 
 forms, like the ruins of some ancient castle. After 
 
OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 85 
 
 passing the cascades one is soon enclosed in forests 
 of beautiful timber, composed principally of large and 
 thrifty trees of red-wood, pine and other varieties. 
 
 In many places along the Cascade range the mount- 
 ains are barren and unproductive of either timber or 
 other vegetation. Here are high walls of rock, some- 
 times perpendicular, at other times more sloping. Huge 
 bowlders are piled up in confusion as high and even 
 higher than the clouds. But, where the ranges are not 
 too high and there is a sufficient quantity of soil and 
 moisture, large trees cover the mountain sides, while 
 there is such a dense thicket of underbrush, so filled with 
 old logs and broken branches of trees, that there is no 
 pleasure in making an exploration through these forests. 
 
 Hundreds of little squirrels may here be seen playing 
 about at any time. Let a person or any other moving 
 object be espied and they set to chattering with all 
 their might. Sometimes five or six will be seen gath- 
 ered together, viewing the same object. If the object 
 of their ' curiosity ceases to move, they become more 
 bold and will approach cautiously nearer and nearer, 
 until they will sometimes climb upon and run over the 
 person. As soon as they learn that there is no danger, 
 they become very familiar, playful, and amusing. These 
 little squirrels are found in all parts of the West, filling 
 the woods with their constant and saucy chatter. 
 
 The lava beds of Oregon, the scene of the celebrated 
 Modoc war a few years ago, form a very singular place. 
 This has been at some time, ages ago, the seat or center 
 of some large volcano. There the rock has been melted 
 
HOW I KNOW. 
 
 so that it would boil and run like water. The upheaval 
 in places has been very great. The rock, in cooling off 
 
 VIEW IN THE MODOC COUNTRY. 
 
 after it had been melted and thrown out, has assumed 
 something of a sponge-like appearance. There are 
 
OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 87 
 
 holes, tunnels, caverns, caves, ridges, defiles, canons 
 all running in perpendicular, horizontal and oblique di- 
 rections. I was afraid to venture far into any of the 
 openings in so much darkness, so I did not explore them 
 to any distance. 
 
 This lava has been thrown up and is spread out 
 over thousands and thousands of acres of land. In this 
 region water is not at all abundant, and when obtained 
 it is not good, having a soft, warm, brackish, disagree- 
 able and unhealthy taste. In this part of the State the 
 climate is hot in Summer, the hot winds and sun beat- 
 ing down on the pummice that covers the country, 
 making the shade much preferable to the roads. 
 
 But, returning a little to the north again, we find 
 some small valleys where vegetation is abundant. Cat- 
 tle, horses, and sheep are found here in as good con- 
 dition as anywhere, and of a finer quality than can 
 be found in many of the other western States and 
 Territories. No finer blooded animals can be bought 
 at reasonable prices in the eastern States. Animals 
 imported here from other parts of the country, after 
 becoming acclimated, do well. 
 
 In the Willamette Valley all the way back from 
 Portland, the climate is very remarkable. It is surpris- 
 ing to see here, so far in the North, such a tempera- 
 ture. Here they have but two seasons, Winter and Sum- 
 mer, each having its pleasant and rainy weather. 
 
 The grass is green in Oregon nearly the whole year. 
 The valleys along the coast are very productive, both 
 in quantity and quality. The yield of wheat on the 
 
88 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Pacific slope is good, as is generally known, and Ore- 
 gon is no exception. All other grains are raised almost 
 or quite to perfection. Small grains are perfectly at 
 
 VIEW ON THE OREGON COAST. 
 
 home in Oregon. I have seen farmers feeding peas to 
 their horses and hogs, and the animals looked healthy 
 and fat. It is claimed that this feed is as cheap as corn 
 in the western States. 
 
OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 89 
 
 Fruit of all kinds is raised in the greatest of pro- 
 fusion, and is remarkable for its great size and excellent 
 flavor. Although California fruit is justly in good rep- 
 utation, Oregon apples are, nevertheless, exported to 
 San Francisco, where they bring an advanced price on 
 account of their excellence. Vegetables that come 
 from here to the San Francisco market are held in high 
 favor. Potatoes, especially, that are exported to the 
 southern coast markets are prized highly, and find ready 
 sale at an advanced price in preference to those of 
 home production. 
 
 Washington Territory is very similar to Oregon in 
 productiveness, though the yield is generally less per 
 acre than that of Oregon. Even in Winter the ice 
 never obstructs the passage of vessels along the coast. 
 Boats and vessels are coming and leaving all the time. 
 
 Washington Territory possesses many gigantic trees 
 of different varieties. Here lumber is sawed by millions 
 of feet daily, and shipped to various parts of the world. 
 Hundreds of men and teams are employed in cutting 
 and moving these mammoth trees to the mills, where 
 they are sawed into lumber and loaded on vessels that 
 do nothing else but ply back and forth in the lumber 
 traffic. In the mountains of the Territory the weather 
 is cold dreadful cold and people perish every Winter. 
 
 There is an abundance of splendid fish in the Terri- 
 tory, and some game; but game is not so plentiful as it 
 is on the east side of the mountains, or further south. 
 There are still some Indians here, as in Oregon; but in 
 both places they are disposed to be both sociable and 
 
90 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 peaceable. They live a very hard and uncomfortable 
 sort of life, dressed either very poorly or not at all. 
 They are too lazy either to hunt, fish, or farm. But lit- 
 tle need be said of the Indians here, however, since I 
 shall treat the whole subject fully in a later chapter. 
 
 The scenery of the whole north-western part of the 
 United States is grand. There are gradually-ascending 
 slopes for miles and miles, where the unbroken forest 
 conceals the ground from view. Here and there, by a 
 bold projection, the mountains lift themselves upward, 
 sometimes to heights far above the timber line. In such 
 cases there they stand enveloped in snow for nearly the 
 whole year. 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 I SPENT eleven months in Mexico. I found the 
 Mexicans to be a truly democratic people, there 
 being no distinction of caste among them. The rich and 
 poor meet socially on the same footing, often sharing 
 together the same sleeping apartment. However, in dry 
 seasons, all classes seem to prefer to sleep in the open air. 
 
 The climate of Mex- 
 ico is determined chiefly 
 by elevation. On the 
 coast it is hot; temperate 
 on the slopes, and cold 
 on the table lands and in 
 the higher ranges of the 
 Sierra Madre. Some of 
 the valleys of Mexico are 
 so situated that their climate is one perpetual Spring. 
 The coasts of Mexico produce all the plants indige- 
 nous to hot climates. The table lands produce the 
 plants of the temperate zones, and the higher mountains 
 those that grow farther north. 
 
 The Mexicans, though hospitable and often magnan- 
 imous, are, nevertheless, generally vindictive, cruel, 
 and treacherous. Intellectually, they are an inferior 
 race of people. The natives of Mexico are devoid 
 
 BORDER MEXICANS. 
 
92 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 of enterprise, and almost wholly neglect all public 
 and private improvements. Mexico, as every one 
 knows, is noted for its mining industries. They 
 have good mines in several of their States. The States 
 of Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Durango -claiming 
 the best, with the greatest yield of gold and silver. 
 The Mexicans themselves have been mining in differ- 
 ent localities of these States for long over a century. 
 Some of their mines, properly worked, are probably 
 capable of producing more than the world-renowned 
 Comstock Lode, in Nevada. 
 
 But the manner in which the Mexican people work 
 their mines is such that they would not be able to take 
 out any great wealth in years of toil. Americans have 
 often gone into Mexico to prospect and mine; but have 
 as often been visited by the prowling bandits, w T ho live in 
 the mountains, and have either been killed or had to flee 
 the country for their lives. All Mexicans are not ban- 
 dits; but there are a great many outlaws in the mount- 
 ains who make robbery and plunder their profession. 
 There are still a few Americans interested there in 
 mining; but they are compelled to pay well for the 
 privilege. 
 
 One of the processes by which the Mexicans crush 
 their rock, is to take a large rock and dress it off, first 
 level and flat, then they crease the outer side by cutting 
 and beveling. This rock is then placed on a solid and 
 level foundation and generally near some stream, so as 
 to secure water power after which another rock is 
 made to exactly fit the one already in place, and so 
 
MEXICO. 93 
 
 closely that with a motion of the upper rock the tailing 
 is usually ground very fine, so that little will remain in 
 a fifty-mesh sieve. Then, by following their tedious 
 processes they obtain a small percentage of the royal 
 metals which the rock contains. After this, the tailing 
 is piled up in piles, and salted, one layer on top of 
 another, where it is left to undergo a leaching process. 
 While lying in this way it is occasionally stirred, and 
 sometimes left for two or three years, when it is worked 
 over again, and with more success than was at first 
 obtained. But this is a very slow and tedious process, 
 compared with the crushing and amalgamating of ores 
 in California or Nevada. 
 
 Nine-tenths of the Mexican population live in adobe 
 houses, built out of adobes "and covered with heavily 
 tiled roofs. From a distance, the cities and towns of 
 Mexico have a beautiful and picturesque appearance. 
 The buildings are low very seldom is a La Grande 
 Casie over one story in height the walls are thick, 
 heavy, and cumbersome, with usually grated windows. 
 But as one enters the towns all beauty vanishes. Build- 
 ing after building is found to be all cracked, shaken 
 up, neglected, and on the road to ruin, if not already in 
 ruins. Even in the City of Mexico itself, one-seventh 
 of the houses are uninhabited, and not fit to live in. 
 Some of the stores, hotels, and houses of public resort 
 are very fine, large, and commodious; but private resi- 
 dences are seldom more than one story high. 
 
 Many of their gardens and campos are deserted, and 
 either going or gone to waste. They have been so long 
 
HOW I KNOW. 
 
 neglected that dense thickets of the orange and other 
 trees occupy the ground. Some of their houses are 
 
 MEXICAN BORDER TOWN. 
 
 surrounded with flowers and shade trees as beautiful 
 as grow in any clime. 
 
 A stranger traveling in Mexico would naturally be 
 
MEXICO. 95 
 
 deterred, by the very appearance of things, from asking 
 for hospitality or a night's rest at most of these dwell- 
 ings; but, among that small class of Mexicans who 
 seem to take some little pride in keeping their premises 
 neat and in good repair, I found solid hospitality and 
 comfort. I found this class rather social and somewhat 
 well informed. There is, in the end, but little enjoy- 
 ment to be derived from a trip through Mexico, unless 
 one is master of the language. There are very few 
 Mexicans who can speak English, and those who can 
 will seldom do so. 
 
 They are all very fond of their wine, or liquor 
 (Mescale), oftentimes indulging more freely than they 
 should. They are fond of amusements, and the more 
 barbarous and cruel the entertainment may be, the better 
 it is liked by both young and old. Horse-racing, bull- 
 fighting, dog-fighting, sheep-fighting, chicken-fighting, 
 and other kinds of cruelty are much sought after. Such 
 scenes are attended and witnessed by thousands, with 
 glee and mirth. 
 
 The Mexicans are a nation of gamblers. They en- 
 gage freel^ in all the different games of chance or skill. 
 Generally they do not bet heavily; but they continue the 
 game, oftentimes, until they have lost the last cent. 
 
 They possess great powers of endurance. Even the 
 inclemencies of the mountain rains and snows possess no 
 terrors to the swarthy native. They are skilled in 
 horse-back riding, often performing the most hazardous 
 and reckless feats. In the saddle, with a lasso, they are 
 perfectly at home, throwing the lariat with dexterity, 
 
96 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 and with such accuracy that they seldom miss the 
 object of pursuit, whether out in the open country or 
 confined in the corral. 
 
 The common domestic animals run wild in Mexico, 
 and frequently become vicious. Great droves and herds 
 of them are found in the foot hills, away from the 
 villages and settlements. When any one or more of 
 these animals is needed for use, the herd is surrounded 
 and driven into some strong and convenient corral. 
 The corral is a small piece of ground inclosed with a 
 strong fence or barricade of small trees, usually cut in 
 lengths to suit and placed on end in a ditch, somewhat 
 after the manner of a stockade. After the animals are 
 once confined inside of the corral, it is then a very 
 easy task to throw the lariat over the heads of such 
 as are needed. The rest of the animals are then 
 allowed to return to their range, and they generally lose 
 no time in going. 
 
 I might say here that this is the method of handling 
 stock throughout the west beyond the Missouri River. 
 Horses are known by various terms, such as mustangs, 
 broncos, or ciyuse. Cattle in Mexico are^ known by 
 the following terms: souaves, toros, vacas, and so on. 
 Lassoing those wild, vicious animals, where so many 
 are corralled together, is attended with danger. None 
 but a daring, resolute, self-reliant man dare enter a cor- 
 ral full of wild Mexican stock for the purpose of making 
 selections. After the lariat has been thrown and the 
 animal is ensnared, an exciting scene takes place. The 
 lassoed animal goes rearing, plunging, running, strug- 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 97 
 
 gling, and snorting through the herd at a tremendous 
 rate, dragging the would-be captor after it for a time, 
 it may be, at a comparatively easy gait, and then again 
 lifting him, by a jerk, several feet through the air. By 
 this time the animals all become frightened, and around 
 
 MEXICAN BORDER INVASION. 
 
 and around the corral they go until assistance enough 
 has arrived to hold the animal, or else the poor beast 
 gives up from exhaustion. 
 
 If the animal be a horse, he is led out and a saddle 
 securely fastened to his back. A bridle, that needs to 
 
 7 
 
98 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 be seen for it can not well be described, is also put 
 upon him, when some buckarier advances with a spur 
 on either foot, with a rowel as much as two inches 
 across, and locks attached to the center pivot, making 
 as much noise when he steps as a little boy with a 
 parcel of bells. The horse is held, generally, until the 
 rider is seated and ready. /Then commences another 
 ordeal, in which man and beast are generally both se- 
 verely tried. The Mexican horse is small, but yet pos- 
 sesses great strength. He is slender limbed, well-mus- 
 cled, and very active. They very seldom weigh one 
 thousand pounds, unless crossed with eastern horses. 
 They can be ridden or driven further than any eastern 
 horse could go in the same time with the same 
 treatment. They usually get no grain, and even 
 when in use are picketed to a stake, driven firmly into 
 the ground, in some convenient spot, near camp, pro- 
 ducing the greatest amount of grass. These horses 
 have often been ridden one hundred miles, and, in some 
 of the Mexican incursions during the border troubles, 
 one hundred and thirty miles in a single day. 
 
 Horses here and in southern California are very 
 cheap ; whole herds can, in some instances, be bought 
 for from eight to twelve dollars per head. An extra good 
 riding horse of native stock can be had for from twenty 
 to thirty dollars. 
 
 Mexico is a beautiful country. The climate is de- 
 lightful. The scenery is picturesque, and the forests 
 are immense, extending along the sides and into the 
 gorges and canons of the old Sierra Madre range, and 
 
MEXICO. 99 
 
 overlooking the beautiful valleys beneath. Some of the 
 low lands in the valleys are covered for miles each way 
 with lagoons. A lagoon is a very shallow lake, cover- 
 ing, sometimes, thousands of acres of land. In the 
 northern part of the Republic there are large deserts, 
 or plains, where there is no vegetation, neither can 
 wood or water be procured. 
 
 Chihuahua is the State lying in the northern part 
 of the the Republic just south of Arizona and New 
 Mexico. This State is very thinly settled by Indians 
 only, and they not civilized. The valleys are small, 
 and, in some parts where there is water, very produc- 
 tive. The country shows unmistakable signs of having 
 once contained large cities and towns, the ruins of 
 which are now leveled to the ground. The valleys are 
 of a sandy soil, which washes very easily. In this 
 shifting, sandy soil there are found covered, or partially 
 covered, ruins of old chimneys and walls, and vases 
 and pottery of many varieties, mementoes of a bygone 
 race. I have there found some specimens of earthen- 
 ware in almost a perfect state. But, generally, time 
 has told upon it and it is found in scales, not entirely 
 separated, but still hanging together, showing that it 
 has been ages in existence. 
 
 Near the head of the Rio San Miguel, in Chihuahua 
 State, there is what is called the Casas Grandes ruins, 
 that, no doubt, have been standing for hundreds and 
 hundreds of years, but which to-day can be examined 
 as easily as if built but yesterday. Some of the build- 
 ings are still partly standing, while others have nothing 
 
100 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 left to mark the spot they once occupied, except a rough 
 pile of earth and rock. At this place I have found 
 earthen pots with the ornamental figures upon them as 
 perfect apparently as when they were first made. 
 The vessels, however, showed great age and rough 
 usage. I, with others, have dug into several of these 
 heaps of ruins to see if we could unearth anything. We 
 found nothing different from what was to be found on 
 the surface. We found abundant proof, however, that 
 at some time, at a very early day, there had been a city 
 there over a mile square in extent. There is evidence 
 of some magnificent buildings. 
 
 The inhabitants of these ancient cities must have 
 been of a race far superior to those found there to-day. 
 Many large, polished blocks of stone are found. Por- 
 tions of whitened walls are still standing in perfect 
 shape. Earthen-ware vessels, large enough to hold five 
 gallons have been discovered. Hundreds of flint arrow 
 heads are found. The parts of walls still standing have 
 been built of stone. Where the walls have been pro- 
 tected from the storms and sun, they show such neat- 
 ness of finish and workmanship as shows the painstak- 
 ing efforts of highly-skilled workmen. There are many 
 places in Mexico, where ruins similar to these are dis- 
 covered. Northward we find traces of ancient cities. 
 In Arizona there are innumerable remains of villages, 
 towns, and cities that have long since crumbled away. 
 
 In the canons in the northern part of the Territory, 
 and in places on the Rio de La Mancas, in Arizona, and 
 on the Piorere, and in the country of the Rio Virgin 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 101 
 
 in Utah, ancient dwellings are found high up in the 
 cliffs. On the Rio Virgin and Rio de La Mancas these 
 dwellings are deserted, and have been for a long time. 
 In Arizona the Moqui (pronounced Mo-kee) Indians 
 inhabit some of the caves and rocky houses of the an- 
 cient cliff-dwellers. I found in and around the ruins 
 of Chihuahua pottery of the same material, character, 
 manufacture and flowering as is found in these cliff vil- 
 lages. It would seem, therefore, that these may have 
 been one and the same race of people. Some have 
 thought that 
 the p re-his- 
 toric races of 
 Mexico and 
 Arizona were 
 two distinct 
 races of civil- 
 ized beings. 
 My idea is 
 that they be- 
 longed to one and the same race. The fragments and 
 ruins are all similar, with only this difference : at the 
 ruins of the Casas Grandes I found remains of polished 
 walls in a few places. These I saw nowhere else. 
 
 The Moqui Indians live in villages or houses, some 
 of them five, six, and seven stories high. These struc- 
 tures are built from sand, rock and mud. The lower 
 story has a strong wall, in some places eight feet in 
 thickness. The roof of the first story forms the floor 
 of the next, which is entered by a ladder from the out- 
 
 ARIZOXA SAND PLAINS. 
 
102 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 side, and, when necessary, the ladder is pulled up in- 
 side. The inside walls are whitewashed, and, though 
 their houses on the inside look rather strange, yet they 
 are neat and tidy. 
 
 Arizona is a dry, barren country, with little water 
 and less vegetation, unless it be the prickly pear, which 
 covers the whole face of the earth. No soil but sand, 
 which lies in one broad expanse of heat and sultriness. 
 Consequently the Moqui Indians are not farmers and 
 producers from the soil to the extent that some writers 
 have represented. They have in places little gardens, 
 perhaps two rods square. Their houses are away up 
 in the cliffs, like sparrow nests. In some places they 
 are as much as eight hundred feet above the level of 
 the valley beneath, and they can only reach them by 
 the aid of ropes made generally from raw-hide. These 
 Indians are fed, clothed, and supported by the Govern- 
 ment through its agents. 
 
 It is supposed by many that they belong to the an- 
 cient New Mexican race, called "town-builders" or "cliff- 
 dwellers," who first lived in cities on the plateaus, and, 
 as they became less numerous from war and disease, 
 removed to the cliffs, so as to be the better prepared 
 to resist and take advantages in attacks that were from 
 time to time made upon them by other savage tribes. 
 
 There is a legend to the effect that they are descend- 
 ants of the Scotch. For myself, I am better prepared 
 to believe the legend than to think they descend direct 
 from the Indian, Spanish, or any of the northern tribes. 
 The language spoken is different from that spoken by 
 
MEXICO. 103 
 
 N 
 
 any of the other Indian tribes in the West. Many of 
 their words have that peculiarity of accent so notice- 
 able among the broad-speaking Scotch people. 
 
 The Moquis are highly sociable in their rude way, 
 and show ready hospitality to the stranger. Among 
 themselves they are most wantonly cruel. They are 
 very superstitious in their belief, and worship a fire- 
 god. If one is evil disposed, and steals, murders, 
 or commits an offense which they consider of a 
 very serious nature, he is burned in a furnace. They 
 are very ignorant, yet they seem to have sensitive feel- 
 ings. They wear woolen clothes, partly of their own 
 make and partly such as the agents issue. They are 
 lovers of the chase, and continually at war with other 
 tribes. I traveled through that part of the country, 
 helping to make a government survey. 
 
 In the next chapter I will give a somewhat extended 
 account of this little known part of our country. 
 
104= HOW I KNOW. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ARIZONA. 
 
 WE found Arizona the worst country we ever saw: 
 heat oppressive, sand ankle-deep, and no timber 
 to be had to build fires for cooking, except in some 
 places small quantities of "grease wood," which is a little 
 thorny bush that, in Arizona, only grows about ten or 
 twelve inches in height and not to exceed one inch in 
 thickness. We had to carry our water with us, often 
 carrying enough to last us, if used sparingly, for two 
 days. 
 
 I believe Arizona has some good gold and silver- 
 bearing mines; but very little prospecting has been done 
 there. Traveling through the Territory has a few de- 
 lightful features, but many more of a disagreeable char- 
 acter. On the whole, when the prospector once gets 
 there, he is so harrassed by Indians, a lack of provis- 
 ions, water, wood, and other things, that his next move 
 is to retrace his steps, or to get away in some other 
 direction as soon as possible. 
 
 There have been some great excitements gotten up in 
 order to induce people to go to Arizona. Great stories 
 of rich mines of gold and silver have been published. 
 It is said that a Mr. Janin even went so far as to buy 
 up a large quantity of diamonds in London and in- 
 duced people to go to Arizona by representing that he 
 
ARIZONA. 105 
 
 had discovered vast diamond fields there, from which 
 he had obtained the diamonds which he exhibited. He 
 stated that rubies, emeralds, opals, garnets, sapphires, 
 and diamonds were there in abundance and that, if he 
 could get a good number of men to go there, millions of 
 wealth were in store for them. He sent specimens to the 
 Savage Mining Company to be tested, who pronounced 
 them genuine. Others were sent to lapidaries in New 
 York City for testing. The decision was, of course, 
 every time satisfactory, since the gems submitted were 
 all really genuine. This, naturally, soon caused a ter- 
 rible excitement throughout the mining communities of 
 the West. Hundreds went rushing into Arizona from 
 all directions, only to find, when too late, that they had 
 been disastrously hoaxed. A great many perished on 
 the road out for want of supplies. The remainder soon 
 left, for there was nothing for such a vast crowd to 
 subsist upon. 
 
 Perhaps miners will some time learn to take 
 these great excitements for what they are worth, and 
 remain where they are. I never was carried away by 
 one yet, without returning poorer than when I started. 
 And so, in a large majority of case~ it is with the rest 
 of them. 
 
 A man, to prospect properly anywhere, must lay in 
 a full supply of blankets, provisions, a prospecting out- 
 fit of tools, and utensils necessary for cooking. When 
 he adds to these his gun and ammunition, he has much 
 more of a load than he can carry. He is, then, com- 
 pelled to procure a pack-horse or two, or not to go at 
 
106 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 all. Mexican burros are plenty and cheap. Good 
 ones can be bought for from fifteen to twenty-five dol- 
 lars, while inferior ones can be had for the taking away. 
 These burros are small, sorry-looking animals, with 
 ears nearly as long as their legs, and heads as large as 
 their bodies. The foot is like a mule's, only very small, 
 not much larger than a trade dollar. When the burro 
 walks, you must be near him to be sure that he moves. 
 
 These animals will carry a load weighing from one 
 hundred and forty to three hundred pounds. They 
 carry these loads across the mountains, over trails and 
 through places where it is impossible to use convey- 
 ances of any other kind. There are saddles made on 
 purpose for packing. These are formed of four short 
 square sticks, two in front crossed, and two behind in 
 the same way. Then there is a board the length of the 
 saddle on either side, and on the inside of the sticks, to 
 keep them from hurting the burro's back. This pack- 
 saddle is fastened on a horse in the same way that any 
 other saddle, by "sinching" or girthing. A rope is then 
 attached to the front cross-stake of the saddle, brought 
 over and allowed to remain across the saddle double. 
 
 Now we are ready to begin packing. One man 
 generally works on either side. The first two bundles 
 are as near the same size as we can make them. One 
 of these is placed on each side of the saddle, and the 
 rope on the saddle is taken and tied over both, to stay 
 them until the load is made up. We now have plenty 
 of room to pile on the remainder, consisting of our bed, 
 flour, meat, sugar, coffee, beans, fish, cooking outfit 
 
ARIZONA. 
 
 107 
 
 consisting of a bake oven, frying pan, and coffee pot 
 and our prospecting outfit, consisting of a sledge, pick, 
 shovel, gold pan, etc. By the time our burro is packed 
 he has a rather heavy weight on his back A canvas 
 cover is then thrown over the whole load, and then 
 everything is lashed on with a long rope, kept for the 
 purpose, solid and tight. The animal might roll down 
 a mountain for a half mile without losing a single 
 item, A train of packed burros contains about twenty, 
 and is usually run by two men, called packers. A 
 prospector, however, seldom uses 
 more than two burros, and gen- 
 enerally rides a mustang, or walks. 
 Though the burros are good all-day 
 animals, they do not travel far. 
 
 Prospecting in Arizona is at- 
 tended with so much danger from 
 Indians that the country has been 
 explored but little. One may 
 travel there day after day without 
 meeting any one except Indians 
 and half-breeds, and these not always as friendly as 
 they might be. 
 
 Prospecting, besides being very laborious work, is 
 very injurious to the health. The prospector goes climb- 
 ing up the sides of mountains, winding around through 
 canons, traveling over the macas, through sand, and 
 over burning rocks, sometimes holding on to bushes, or 
 clinging vines, and again catching hold of rocks, pull- 
 ing up precipices all for the pleasure of finding hidden 
 
 A TRAIN OF BURROS. 
 
108 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 wealth. 
 
 The unexplored mining ranges are in such 
 
 rough, broken-up 
 belts of the mount- 
 ains that it is im- 
 possible to travel 
 through on horse- 
 back where the 
 prospector wants 
 to go. Consequent- 
 ly they get as close 
 as they can with 
 their horses and 
 pack-animals, and 
 then leave them 
 picketed to stakes 
 on the best grass, 
 to remain there un- 
 til the neighboring 
 country has been 
 prospected on foot. 
 It has often hap- 
 pened in the south- 
 western States, that 
 the Indians have 
 been watching ev- 
 ery movement of 
 the prospecting 
 party, and, as soon 
 as they leave camp, 
 PERILS OF PROSPECTING. down theycome and 
 
ARIZONA. 109 
 
 take their horses and everything about camp, leaving the 
 miners to hunt for meat and to foot it out of the coun- 
 try; that is, providing they are spared to enjoy that 
 privilege, which is not by any means always the case. 
 
 Arizona has some mines worked, no doubt, centu- 
 ries ago. There are tunnels that have been run and 
 are now nearly full of loose and decomposing rocks and 
 earth that have fallen in; at other places there is every 
 indication of vast expenditures of labor having been 
 made, in ditching and in scraping off the bed-rock 
 where they have found it. There are shafts that have 
 been sunk on the bars until they have been forced to 
 abandon them. Hundreds of these old mines, showing 
 evidences of having been worked long ago, can be 
 found throughout the Territory. No one of the present 
 day can know with what success these ancient miners 
 prosecuted the work. 
 
 As every one knows, Arizona Territory is inhabited 
 chiefly by the lower classes of Mexicans and an Indian 
 population. Every day in the week is marked by sim- 
 ilar scenes and occupations. I dare say one-half of the 
 people do not know when Sunday comes, and the other 
 half do not care. In fact, if Sunday is observed at all 
 it is by the special devotion of. that day to the gambling 
 table and horse-racing. 
 
 Their villages are generally lined on each side by a 
 row of gambling dens and miserable billiard and drink- 
 ing hells. Passing the open doorway of one of these 
 places, you can hear the voice of some one calling out 
 something at regular intervals, and can see a deeply 
 
110 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 interested crowd standing or sitting in the interior. 
 This proves it to be a gambling house. Now just step 
 inside. The game may be keno. (They play many dif- 
 ferent kinds of games.) If so, the caller stands at a small 
 table facing the open doorway, and has in his hands a hol- 
 low tin cylinder containing dice. These dice bear figures 
 representing different animals and vegetables, counter- 
 parts of which are supposed to be on the cards in the 
 
 hands of the players. A few 
 vigorous shakes of the cylinder 
 and the game and sing-song 
 commences. So intent are the 
 players in listening to the 
 words falling from the caller's 
 lips, and in watching the cards 
 lying before them, that the 
 entrance of a stranger into the 
 room is unnoticed, and conse- 
 quently attracts no attention. 
 A crowd of Spanish or 
 Mexican men, women and 
 children fills the room. All are intent on the one ob- 
 ject. Here they spend the last cent they have. 
 
 The few Americans and people of other nationalities 
 who live in the Territory are as bad as the others. As 
 far as I could see and judge, gambling is the leading 
 topic of conversation, and the foremost thought of the 
 mind. Here you see men make themselves, many of 
 them, so degraded that they leave all enjoyment of that 
 which is right, reasonable, and just, and seemingly are 
 
 CIVILIZATION IN ARIZONA. 
 
4 
 
 ARIZONA. Ill 
 
 contented only when around these places of resort. 
 However, there is no other resort here unless it be to 
 view Nature in solitude. 
 
 Let us go out and proceed a little further up or 
 down the street. Here we encounter Indians congre- 
 gated before the very corner saloon where they have un- 
 doubtedly obtained the liquor that has intoxicated them. 
 With disheveled hair, foaming mouths, and disordered 
 and dilapidated garments, they present a very disgust- 
 ing and pitiable sight, while their discordant voices, 
 joining in some Indian song, 
 grate harshly upon the ear. 
 Similar sounds come forth from 
 the open doors and windows of 
 the adjoining houses, indicating 
 the presence of others in a like 
 
 Condition. In another portion of AN ARIZONA SCRIMMAGE. 
 
 the town, in front of some crumbling adobes, we see 
 a number of game cocks picketed at regular intervals 
 apart. By and by these will afford amusement to their 
 owners and the spectators by being pitted one against 
 the other. They also provide a means by which the 
 insatiable desire to gamble, which seems to have taken 
 such firm hold of the native western people, may be 
 gratified. It seems to be almost a mania with the most 
 of them to take sides by betting in all games or trials 
 of chance. 
 
 Perchance a hand to hand fight closes the day's orgies. 
 I look upon these facts, which portray in the average 
 citizen of Arizona so much of worthlessness, ignorance, 
 
112 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 and vanity, and speculate upon the probability of his 
 reformation with a feeling that any rational person 
 might experience if gazing upon a greased elephant 
 which he had been commanded to swallow! There 
 is no hope. Civilization can do nothing with a people 
 so ignorant and self-degraded; so lawless and so vain. 
 
NAVAJOES. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NAVAJOES. 
 
 IN 1874, twelve of us started on horseback from 
 Fort Defiance, in the western part of New Mexico, 
 near the eastern line of Arizona, to go to the junction 
 of Green and Grand Rivers, in Utah, to a place known 
 as the Old Mormon Fort, of which I will speak more 
 fully after we have reached it. Our intention was to 
 travel across the country of the Pueblos and Navajoes, 
 since by that route it was some six hundred miles nearer 
 than it would be to go around. 
 
 We had an Indian trail nearly all the way. I car- 
 ried a compass with me all the time, and had been 
 with a surveying corps, establishing Government boun- 
 daries, for three years. I had, also, a good knowledge 
 of the mountains, and felt confident that I could pilot a 
 company of men through the Territory without the 
 least danger of getting lost, if not molested or interfered 
 with by the Indians, who are as thick in that country 
 as grasshoppers in Kansas. It being so much nearer 
 across, no one belonging to the party would hear of 
 any other route being taken, and all insisted that I 
 should be the leader of the party. 
 
 We expected to be able to make the trip across in 
 twenty days. We procured riding and pack animals, 
 and laid in a twenty days' supply of provisions. We 
 
 8 
 
114 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 took no more than this, since we had no doubt but that 
 we could procure provisions in Utah as cheap as in 
 New Mexico, and cheaper than in Arizona. We did 
 not want to be encumbered with so many pack ani- 
 
 SCENE IN THE SIERRA DEL CARISO RANGE. 
 
 mals and so much stuff. We had bedding and every 
 thing necessary for camping out comfortably. We 
 carried, also, good rifles, revolvers, and plenty of am- 
 munition to use on our way, if occasion should require it. 
 
NA VAJOES. 115 
 
 The first day we traveled through sand and some 
 alkali. The next day traveling was a little better; we 
 got on higher ground, and could move along without 
 being wearied to death with the alkali and sand. When 
 we came to the Sierra del Cariso we traveled through 
 portions of the range of great natural beauty and 
 grandeur. The mighty mountain crags lifted their jag- 
 ged crests to dizzy heights toward the deep blue of the 
 distant heaven. In many places their summits were 
 lost to view in the midst of masses of fleecy clouds 
 that cling around their snow-clad slopes, while midway 
 up the sides of some of these mighty mountain peaks 
 were stunted pines of a green and verdant hue peeping 
 from out of the midst of the eternal snows around 
 them. A little lower on the slopes is an occasional 
 tract of pines or firs, often acres in extent, with the 
 trees all dead some standing, others leaning ready to 
 topple over w r ith the slightest push, and a great portion 
 lying in confusion, just as they had been prostrated by 
 the fires from Indian encampments, or the w r inds had 
 thrown them. 
 
 The valleys lying between the hills were here cov- 
 ered with a peculiar grass, such as is seen no where 
 else in the Territory, in a dead and dried-up state. The 
 noisy rush of the swollen mountain streams (for there 
 had been recent rains) as they went rushing down 
 their meandering courses through the deep canons, the 
 far away mountains veiled in the hazy enchantment of 
 distance, the charming little mountain parks, breaking 
 in upon the view here and there, threaded by pure 
 
116 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 rivulets, sparkling with trout, and shut in by arrow-like 
 quaking asps, balsams, and firs, altogether made a 
 scene which awakened the liveliest emotions within us, 
 which found vent in animated conversation and song. 
 Yet, on the other hand, the grand sublimity that envel- 
 oped the higher peaks as they stood in the majesty of 
 primeval beauty, snow-crowned and half hidden in 
 enfolding clouds, often hushed us to silence. 
 
 It had been stormy weather, as we could see before 
 we ascended the mountains, and, as we approached the 
 summit, we knew there was yet more in wait for us, 
 for, as night drew near, it grew darker and more dreary. 
 We selected as our camping place a cluster of trees 
 with a small strip of grass near by. This furnished 
 feed for our mustangs, while the chaparrals afforded 
 some protection and shelter from the wind; but not 
 much from the rain. We made our horses fast to 
 stakes driven into the ground. We protected our packs 
 from the rain, that was by this time falling in torrents 
 out of the darkness above us, by piling all up in one 
 large heap, and covering this up with canvas. We had 
 no tents, and there were no houses nearer than those 
 we had left some two hundred miles behind. No cook- 
 ing could be done, for we could not build a fire. Ev- 
 erything was wet, green, and soaked through. 
 
 After several unsuccessful attempts had been made by 
 different ones to light a fire, and all the paper and kindling 
 material that we carried had been consumed to no pur- 
 pose, and a good share of our matches had been wasted, 
 we concluded to do without fire. We made a very light 
 
NAVAJOES. 117 
 
 supper of crackers and raw meats. We made prepara- 
 tions to camp for the night by cutting some of the 
 largest chaparrals, and placing two on end in the ground 
 opposite each other, allowing the upper ends to stand 
 up four or five feet high, with a ridge pole resting on 
 them. The two posts were placed just far enough 
 apart to allow a double blanket to be stretched over 
 the ridge pole, thus forming a tent and making splendid 
 shelter for the night, where four persons could sleep 
 very comfortably. 
 
 The storm lasted all night, and until ten o'clock the 
 next day. We then built a large fire, and dried our 
 clothing and blankets, and, at the same time, prepared 
 something to eat, for we had eaten but very little since 
 the morning before, and we were all feeling hungry, 
 and none the better for the poor rest of the night. 
 After breakfast we cleaned and dried our guns and re- 
 volvers; then saddled our animals, and packed up. 
 Proceeding on in the afternoon, we found every gorge 
 in the mountain full of water, that went roaring and 
 pitching down its sides, washing before it everything 
 that was loose enough to be moved. Whole trees 
 could be seen floundering and bouncing and crashing 
 along over precipices and around the rocks, turning 
 sharp angles, swept on by the mighty torrent to the 
 valleys below. 
 
 We pushed forward without any road or trail to 
 guide us, the rain having completely obliterated it. We 
 encountered streams and bodies of water continually 
 during the afternoon, a few of which we could leap 
 
118 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 over, but most of which we were compelled to ford. 
 About four o'clock we struck a trail bearing in the 
 direction we wanted to go. We followed it the re- 
 mainder of the evening, until we came to a splendid 
 spring of water, bubbling out of the rocks. There 
 was grass near by, so we camped for the night. But 
 
 we could find no 
 wood. We gath- 
 ered old moss and 
 such stuff as wild 
 animals gather to- 
 gether for beds in 
 the neighborhood of 
 ledges of rocks. We 
 managed to make 
 fire enough to boil 
 our coffee and fry 
 our meat, which two 
 articles soon disap- 
 peared. 
 
 The next day we 
 followed the mount- 
 ain trail, which still 
 led in the direction 
 we were going. It was barely wide enough for a horse 
 to travel on. It went winding around cliffs, often on the 
 very brink of precipices hundreds of feet deep. Should a 
 horse fall, he would be dashed to pieces on the rocks be- 
 neath. Not relishing the idea of such a death, the most of 
 us led our horses along the most difficult, narrow'passes. 
 
 FOLLOWING A MOUNTAIN TRAIL. 
 
NA VAJOES. 119 
 
 That night we camped in a large forest. From 
 every side all manner of strange noises could be heard. 
 The screaming of panthers and wild cats, the screech- 
 ing of birds, and the croaking of innumerable frogs, 
 made up a concert that was novel and lively, if not 
 agreeable. One who has never spent a night in a 
 mountain forest can form no just conception of the 
 strange and unearthly noises which make the hours of 
 darkness hideous. Oftentimes, while one is asleep, some 
 wild animal will come up and smell around your couch 
 and, perhaps, give some terrifying howl that will cause 
 you almost instinctively to clutch your gun and bound 
 from your bed. Looking around you behold the glaring 
 eyes of some wild beast fixed upon and watching you. 
 It may be a panther, mountain lion, grizzly bear, Mex- 
 ican jaguar, American tiger, wolf, or some other of the 
 hundreds of wild beasts that inhabit those wildernesses. 
 You may hear him snuff the air and walk away, for the 
 chances are it will be so dark that you can not shoot. 
 These w r ild animals, however, seldom attack a man, 
 unless goaded by hunger or wounds. 
 
 The next morning when we got up all were com- 
 plaining of a sleepless night, and some of sore limbs 
 and aching heads. After everything was ready for the 
 march, we descended to the valley below, thinking to 
 travel up the valley, as we would have easier traveling 
 and, at the same time, be out where we could see what 
 was going on. This last object was quite desirable, for 
 we were now in an Indian country. The pony and 
 mocassin tracks of the Navajoes could be plainly seen 
 
120 JIOW I KNOW. 
 
 on all sides. We kept our rifles constantly in front of 
 us, ready for instant use. The day was passed, how- 
 erer, without seeing an Indian, though we were con- 
 stantly on the alert, for we knew that the Indians were 
 numerous all through this section of country. 
 
 We halted before sundown, ate supper, and smoked 
 awhile. Some of the boys were just saddling up to 
 proceed onward, I was taking a little stroll from camp 
 and smoking along at my leisure, when suddenly and, 
 after all, unexpectedly, I beheld a traveler, clad in 
 buckskin, hastily making his way toward us. He car- 
 ried a Henry rifle in front of him, and a pair of huge 
 pistols and a hunting knife in his belt. His belt was 
 well filled with cartridges. He seemed to be peering 
 around, and watching every moving object, and listen- 
 ing keenly to every sound; but seemingly intent, nev- 
 ertheless, on coming to us. After he came near enough, 
 I could see that he was a young man, thirty-four or 
 five years of age; and, upon forming his acquaintance, 
 I found him to be a light-hearted and jovial fellow. 
 He was, however, one of those sons of Kentucky, whose 
 early education had been sadly neglected, for he could 
 not read nor even write his name. He was gifted with 
 a good share of caution, and was firm as a grizzly two 
 qualities which we much needed afterwards as you will 
 learn, for Bennett and I remained chums for the next 
 eighteen months. He had carried the United States 
 mail for over a year through Arizona, and was at this 
 time off duty. 
 
 After the usual salutations were passed and our vis- 
 
NAVAJOES. 121 
 
 itor had sat down to a supper one of our boys had 
 prepared for him, the general conversation in refer- 
 ence to business and matters generally, " What are 
 you doing, and where are you going ?" came and 
 went at random, as is usual on such occasions. But, 
 to cut the story short, Bennett was persuaded into the 
 notion of going with our party into Utah Territory 
 He had been out at one of the agencies, and was then 
 on his way to California District, in Arizona. He had 
 seen us as he was crossing one of the divides, and had 
 come down to see who we were. He said the Indians 
 were watching us as he supposed, or else we would 
 have seen plenty of them before we got to the heart 
 of their country, as he had seen numbers of them that 
 day, but none in speaking distance. After supper we 
 again made ready, and were soon on our way to find 
 a place to camp for the night. During the evening I 
 gave Bennett to understand what our business was 
 that we were a company of prospectors, going to the 
 Elk Mountains, at the junction of Green and Grand 
 Rivers, to hunt for some of the hidden wealth that 
 was supposed to lie there in chunks as large as hogs- 
 heads. Bennett went with us until we changed our 
 minds and concluded not to go through. About nine 
 o'clock we camped for the night, all lying down to 
 sleep except the man on guard. We had no fire, as 
 that would be seen a long distance, and would reveal 
 our whereabouts. 
 
 The next morning we had brought our horses close 
 to camp, and were just ready to pack and saddle, when 
 
122 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 one of the men on the lookout, sung out, "Injuns! In- 
 juns!" Immediately the camp was in the midst of a 
 terrible excitement, and though everything was lying 
 near at hand, yet some of the men could not see their 
 guns. There were two in the party who could find 
 nothing they wanted, or that belonged to them. I 
 gave these two and another one orders to attend to the 
 horses. One of them grabbed an ax and went to 
 driving the picket pins down tight, so as not to let our 
 horses be stampeded and get away from us. Up to 
 this time none of us except the sentinel had seen the 
 Indians. I gave orders, that if we had to fight we 
 should scatter out, so as to protect the horses, and at 
 the same time, for each one to look out and secure 
 safety for himself. I then took my gun and ran up on 
 a little eminence, a short distance from camp, so I 
 could get a better view, and ascertain about how many 
 there were of the Indians; and whether we seemed to 
 be the object of their attention, or not. 
 
 Having gained the eminence, I could see twenty- 
 seven Indians, not more than one quarter of a mile 
 away, coming down upon us with their horses on a 
 full run. They were painted up in the most warlike 
 manner. I had scarcely gained the eminence before I 
 was observed. They had been coming in single file; 
 but now they commenced to quicken their speed still 
 more, and to scatter over more ground, so as not to 
 expose so many to the same range. As soon as I got 
 sight of them I knew we would have to fight, or fare 
 worse. I looked around for some place w r here I could 
 
NA VAJOES. 
 
 123 
 
 run for safety. I saw the boys going it in all directions, 
 hunting for the best holes to creep into. I noticed a 
 
 ATTACKED BY NAVAJO INDIANS. 
 
 rock, as I supposed it to be, between where I was and 
 the horses, a little to the right of the direction from 
 
124 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 which the Indians were coming. I broke for that; but 
 was terribly disappointed when I got to it, for it was 
 nothing but a sand heap the ants had piled up. But I 
 had no time to run further. The Indians had already 
 gained the eminence, and were coming down on us as 
 fast as their horses could carry them, and making a 
 more fearful noise with their yells than ten times that 
 many coyotes possible could make. I had run a con- 
 siderable distance and their horses had gained on me 
 until they were not over one hundred yards away. 
 
 The boys had all scattered, so that none of them 
 could be seen except the three who were holding the 
 horses. The others had gone, as I said, every fellow 
 for himself, and not a shot had been fired until I reached 
 my ants' nest, when, as I threw myself behind it, a 
 whole volley of bullets went singing over my head and 
 into the sand above me. The Indians then made a 
 break to capture or stampede the horses. Up to this 
 time I had heard but two shots fired by our side. But 
 as soon as they made for the horses then they were 
 brought fairly into view, and a stream of leaden bullets 
 was poured into their midst from all sides. Horses and 
 riders went careening and falling together. They could 
 stand it no longer than about ten minutes, when they 
 started on a retreat. They almost ran over me, when 
 retreating. One of them certainly would have done so 
 had he not been killed on his way. 
 
 They lost ten of their warriors and six horses. One 
 of our men who was holding the horses was killed, 
 and another shot through the ear. This, together with 
 
NAVAJOES. 125 
 
 the general frightfulness of the situation was enough to 
 make a man feel scared. The Indians seldom leave 
 their dead upon the field. But we got six of these, 
 and only four were carried off. The reason the dead 
 bodies are carried off the field, is because the Indians 
 generally tie themselves to the saddle by a strap that 
 comes over the thighs and holds them on tight, ena- 
 bling them to lean themselves from either side of a 
 horse, -and pick up an object from the ground, the horse 
 being at the same time on a dead run. These ponies 
 are accustomed to running together, and will keep 
 together, rider or no rider, if let alone. So that if an 
 Indian is killed his pony will take him to camp, there 
 to meet a burial after the customs of their tribe. 
 
 We buried our dead comrade by wrapping him up 
 in his blankets and placing him in the sand about three 
 feet deep. We threw the bodies of the Indians into a 
 shallow ditch and pushed some sand over them. This 
 might be considered a little rough; but such is the 
 custom of the country. This is far better, moreover, 
 than the Indians do themselves, as I will show soon. 
 The Indians retreated in the direction from which they 
 came, none of us following them. It was not our in- 
 tention to molest them, or to interfere in any way with 
 their interests, if only permitted to travel through their 
 country in peace. 
 
 We now packed up and moved on, as we wanted to 
 get through as soon as we could, and not to give them 
 a chance to murder our whole party. This, I remem- 
 ber, was as lovely a day as I ever saw; but yet we 
 
126 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 were depressed, and felt sad on account of our dead 
 comrade. His name was Charles Willett; he was from 
 Illinois I do not know from what part of the State. 
 He was twenty-seven or eight years of age, and a very 
 fine young man; and was well liked by all of his com- 
 rades in the West. About noon, or a little after, we 
 came to some splendid water and grass. Here we 
 halted and let the mustangs rest and eat, and provided 
 dinner for ourselves. After resting awhile we moved 
 on to the mouth of the canon where the mountain is 
 traversed by the San Re Nado Pass. 
 
 We had traveled perhaps two miles up the canon 
 when the Indians again set upon us. They were be- 
 hind rocks, on top of the bluffs, and, in fact, they were 
 everywhere it was possible to hide. Not an Indian 
 had we seen since morning not ieven an Indian sign 
 marked the way. The first warning was a volley of 
 bullets coming from the bluffs, from every rock and 
 hole to the right, to the left, behind, in front, and above 
 us ; every place was filled with the noise arid alarm of 
 the Indian rifles, and they so well concealed that not 
 one was to be seen. We saw at once that we were 
 lost; for in such a place there could be no salvation lor 
 us if we went any further. Some of our comrades had 
 fallen at the first volley, and more were falling now. 
 We beat a retreat as fast as we could. When we got 
 out of reach of their guns we found that we had lost 
 seven men and all of our pack animals, food, blankets 
 everything except such things as we had in our pockets. 
 
 There were only four of our original party left. 
 
NAVAJOES. 
 
 127 
 
 These, with Bennett, making five of us, were left 
 to beat our retreat as best we could. We had been 
 only seven days out, and eight of our comrades were 
 
 AX IXDIAX AMBUSCADE. 
 
 already dead, and the rest of us in the greatest danger. 
 There were Indians on all sides of us, whithersoever 
 we might go. Only a few moments before we had felt 
 
128 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 very jolly and confident of getting through without fur- 
 ther fighting. Now there was no hope; the best we 
 could do was to beat a retreat, back the way we came, 
 as best we might without provisions. The Indians 
 followed us all that evening. We traveled all night, 
 and all the next day and night. We halted long 
 enough, at places where there was water and grass, to 
 let our horses rest and feed awhile, for everything 
 depended upon them. 
 
 We were of course getting hungry and tired our- 
 selves; but the Indians were still in sight, pursuing us. 
 Signals could be seen in all directions. We knew that 
 they were following us up as fast as their jaded horses 
 would permit. We could occasionally, from some of 
 the high points we were passing over, see them in the 
 distance coming toward us as fast as their ponies could 
 be urged along. 
 
 For two nights and better than a day we had not 
 tasted a morsel to eat. We knew of a small stream of 
 water a little farther ahead, which we had crossed over 
 on our way out, where we had seen some fish. We 
 had not seen any game that day, or the day before, to 
 kill; and the fish were our only hope of relief from 
 several days more of hunger and suffering. We struck 
 out for the stream, and fortune favored our efforts for 
 once, for we encountered no Indians on our road, nor 
 at the creek. We went to work with a saddle-blanket 
 for a net, and were not long in catching more than 
 we could eat of the nicest kind of small trout, from 
 three to six inches in length. We wasted no time in 
 
NA VAJOES. 129 
 
 cleaning them and roasting them on sticks before the 
 fire, without salt or anything else, unless it was smoke, 
 for seasoning. We thought them excellent; as good 
 as we had ever eaten. 
 
 After resting a short time longer we moved on 
 higher up the mountain. Here we found a small park. 
 We picketed our horses and took the first rest we had 
 been able to enjoy for some time. Our feet were all 
 swollen, and we were tired and sore from riding so far 
 and sitting so long in the saddle. Our horses looked 
 wretched. They \vere worn out. Their feet were 
 very sore and tender. Their limbs were all scratched, 
 bruised, bleeding, and swollen, and they could scarcely 
 walk. We took them to a little spring near by, and 
 washed their backs and limbs all over with cold water, 
 which we dipped from the stream in our hats. We 
 then rubbed them dry, and tied them to stakes where 
 they could be allowed to eat grass. They soon seemed 
 much revived. We washed and bathed ourselves as 
 best we could by taking turns, some keeping a lookout 
 all the time lest the Indians might try to come on us 
 unawares as before. 
 
 After all were done bathing, and we were feeling 
 considerably refreshed, we went to work, and soon 
 gathered a small quantity of dry, quaking asp limbs, and 
 built a small fire, being very careful not to make enough 
 smoke to be seen at any distance. We roasted on 
 sticks the remainder of the fish which we had brought 
 with us. We then took turns in guarding the horses 
 through the night, while the rest would sleep. We did 
 
 9 
 
130 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 not get much sleep, however, for the night was cold, 
 and we had no covering, except the small blankets 
 used under the saddles. These were damp with the 
 sweat of the horses and full of hair. We did not dare 
 to build a fire, as the light would reveal our place of 
 camping a long distance away, and show the Indians 
 our exact locality, and none of us were desiring another 
 fight. We were thankful that we were alive. 
 
 We formed a sad little group as we huddled around 
 close together, telling one another how near we came 
 to being left with our comrades in the San Re Nado 
 Pass. The Indians would, no doubt, have a big pow- 
 wow and war-dance over the scalps of our brave fellows. 
 Such things may be read of, perhaps, without causing 
 much, if any, emotion of feeling ; but no pen can paint 
 the picture; no tongue can tell of it; no idea can be con- 
 veyed to a person who has never been where the dread- 
 ful war-whoop sends terror to the strongest heart, and 
 a shudder even to the very depths of the soul, of the 
 feelings one has under such circumstances. 
 
 Even now I imagine I can see again my comrades 
 as they conversed together around the camp-fire, or 
 sung their merry songs, while traveling over the deso- 
 late wilds of the West. Again I see them in the fierce 
 struggle for life or death with the red men, falling dead 
 or mortally wounded, to be a sacrifice to the knife of 
 the dusky warriors. They take no prisoners. No 
 mercy is shown the white man that is unfortunate 
 enough to fall into their hands in time of war. 
 
 Our sleep on this night was none of the soundest, 
 
NAVA JOES. 131 
 
 for, besides the cold, perhaps by the time we were 
 commencing to doze, some wild animal would utter 
 some fearful scream, striking new terror to our hearts. 
 Such was the first night's rest we had taken for some 
 time. At three o'clock we saddled our horses and 
 started. It was well for us that we did so, for the In- 
 dians were on our trail as soon as it was light enough 
 to see to follow it. But two hours of travel had given 
 us a good start, and, when we had crossed a small 
 valley and were on the last slope leading to the Rio 
 Puerco, we could see the Indians, by looking through 
 Bennett's glass, on the slope between us and the slope 
 where we had camped. 
 
 We reached the Rio Puerco that evening, where we 
 found a party of prospectors, who were returning to 
 Prescott from an unprofitable expedition in search for 
 rich mining ground. They gave us all we could eat and 
 shared blankets with us, so that we got a more com- 
 fortable night's rest than we had enjoyed for some time. 
 
 Perhaps the reader \vould like to know the names of 
 some of our comrades who were killed. I took down 
 all their names and the places from which they came 
 as far as I could remember of their having told me. 
 As everything had fallen into the hands of the Indians 
 in the San Re Nado Pass, I am unable to tell where 
 they were all from. William Fleming, aged near forty, 
 of Philadelphia ; Chris. Olten, of Indiana ; George Good- 
 hall, of Indiana ; D. P. Wheeler, of either Dayton or 
 Springfield, Ohio ; George Brady, of St. Louis ; Wil- 
 liam Carlton, and one more, who went by the name of 
 
132 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 "Arkansaw," because he had formerly been a resident 
 of Arkansas. His name I never knew. The four who 
 escaped with me were : A. Bennett, of Kentucky, still 
 alive ; George Bales, of Keokuk, Iowa, now living in 
 Nevada ; J. T. Taylor, now somewhere in California or 
 Nevada, and John Middleton, now in Leadville, Colo- 
 rado. From Prescott, Bennett and I went to Pioche, 
 Nevada. 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 133 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
 IT was my fortune to spend three 'months in the 
 mountains along the Colorado Canon. The Grand 
 Canon extends from the mouth of the Little Colorado 
 River down to the mouth of the Yampa. The Colo- 
 rado River runs through canons from the mouth of the 
 Dirty Devil, in Utah, to the Rio Virgin, in Nevada. I 
 am unable to say how far this is in miles; but I know 
 that from the mouth of the Dirty Devil to the mouth 
 of the Rio Virgin is twenty days' hard riding by the 
 shortest trail you can go. 
 
 The main Colorado Canon, including all its curves, 
 is over one hundred miles in length, and the river 
 runs through canons for over four hundred miles. The 
 Colorado is the mighty river of the West. The Green, 
 Grand, Cottonwood, Convulsion, Little Colorado, San 
 Juan, Uncompahgre, and a large number of other 
 streams, all pour into it the water from the melting 
 snows in the mountains, and form a mighty river. 
 
 I joined a company of forty-one young fellows (Mr. 
 Bennett was one of the company), who started out 
 from Nevada most of the company from Pioche. The 
 principal object of our expedition was to prospect the 
 Buckskin Mountains. Most all kinds of stories were 
 afloat in reference to this locality, among the rest, that 
 
THE GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 135 
 
 this was where an expedition from California under 
 Col. Baker had gone and found such vast leads of rich 
 deposits of gold. But the Indians had killed all the 
 party except two, Baker himself being among the 
 missing. The two that did escape did so merely by 
 accidental circumstances. 
 
 One fine morning our company all met together at 
 a point between the Dry Valley Mill and Bullion City, 
 and started off to try the chances of newer fields in the 
 Buckskin country. Some of us were mounted on good 
 animals; others on hungry, lean looking mustangs and 
 mules. With our traps and accoutrements, our pack 
 and riding animals, we formed an ideal group of front- 
 iersmen off for an expedition, or, a scout after Indians. 
 
 I had heard much of the place we desired to reach 
 and of the kind of country we would have to travel 
 through; but I afterwards found that I had gained my 
 information from men who knew nothing about the 
 matter. There are always a great many ready to tell 
 you all about the Buckskin Mountains and the Grand 
 Canon of the Colorado. But nine out of ten of them 
 never saw that portion of the country. 
 
 As for a road, there is none. The only way to go 
 is to follow trails, sometimes of Indians, at other times 
 of some wild animals ; and sometimes you must leave 
 the trails entirely and go across the mountains, which 
 are so abrupt, barren, and desolate, that you wish 
 greatly for the land of civilization once more, long be- 
 fore the day passes into night. After we arrived on 
 the Muddy River, in Utah, we then changed our time of 
 
136 1IO W I KNO W. 
 
 traveling from day to night, as we thought that plan 
 would be the safest. 
 
 Sometimes we were in narrow valleys, at other times 
 on top of mountain ranges, traveling across them or 
 lengthwise as the case might be, always keeping to one 
 course as nearly as we possibly could. In one place 
 the top of the range was a vast sheet of lava. We 
 traveled over it for two days without wood or water, 
 for neither was to be found. After we had gone two 
 days without water, and were almost perishing from 
 thirst, Bennett, four others and myself started in search 
 of water, taking all the canteens with us. We must 
 have gone fifteen miles when we found a small supply 
 in a hole in the rocks. There was no way of knowing 
 how long it had been there. It was alive with little 
 wigglers. We took a pocket-handkerchief and strained 
 the water through it from one tin-cup into another, 
 thus procuring enough to fill our canteens; but at the 
 same time throwing a larger bulk from the handker- 
 chief than we were putting into the canteens. I have 
 tasted a great deal of bad water ; but that supply was 
 the worst I ever met with. When we arrived back at 
 camp again, we found there had been a mutiny, and 
 that fifteen of our party had gone off in another direc- 
 tion. They had taken, it was claimed, more than their 
 share of the supplies, and some were growling and 
 swearing about it. Others were in favor of following 
 them up and reclaiming a portion of the supplies. 
 Everything was suggested, but nothing was done. 
 
 As for Bennett and myself, we had made up our 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
 137 
 
 minds to go to the Colorado Canon at least, or to lose 
 
 our scalps on the 
 
 way. So I spoke 
 
 to the men, telling 
 
 them that none 'of 
 
 us had ever been 
 
 there; that we had 
 
 talked the whole 
 
 matter over before 
 
 we left Pioche; and 
 
 at that time we 
 
 were all of one 
 
 opinion. We were 
 
 at the start well 
 
 aware that we must 
 
 stand together for 
 
 the sake of our mu- 
 
 tual protection, or 
 
 else not go at all. I 
 
 acknowledged that 
 
 we were then in the 
 
 worst country I 
 
 had ever seen ; but 
 
 I had not known 
 
 that it was so bad 
 
 before I started. But 
 
 I supposed that we 
 
 were now over the 
 
 worst of the road, 
 
 and I t h O U g h t it THE SEARCH FOR WATER. 
 
138 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 likely that we would soon arrive where there was 
 plenty of water and game. 
 
 But some of them seemed very much down-hearted, 
 depressed, and to be feeling very sore about something, 
 I knew not what. They were growling and complain- 
 ing, and one of them came to me, and said, if I would 
 give him rations to last him on his way back, he would 
 leave us. Then I got mad and told the party, that if 
 there were any who felt timorous or afraid, or did not 
 want to go, they were at perfect liberty to take provis- 
 ions, and leave us in peace. But, if they would leave 
 a proper share of the provisions for Bennett and four 
 more of us, we were going through, if such a thing 
 were possible. Some said they would see us out ; 
 others could not make up their minds as to what they 
 wanted to do for a long time; but finally all came 
 around and were willing to go on. 
 
 .Everything went on all right until we had our ani- 
 mals saddled ready to start, when another mutiny broke 
 out, which lasted for over an hour. I then gathered 
 together from the supplies what was my own, and took 
 care to take my full share. Bennett did likewise. 
 Some still said they would see us through. "No," I 
 said, "I* do not wish any man or set of men to see me 
 out of danger that I voluntarily run into. You all 
 know that I did not raise this company. Hess and 
 others were the leaders in raising the company, and 
 now, if they want to throw the responsibility on a few 
 who only volunteered to go, I for one will not travel 
 with them. But I will go through alone, if no one 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 139 
 
 wishes voluntarily to go with me." Bennett and I had 
 plainly seen that they were endeavoring to throw the 
 whole of the responsibility upon our shoulders, when 
 we really had nothing to do with organizing the expe- 
 dition at all, having merely volunteered to accompany 
 it as members. 
 
 That evening eleven of us started on, leaving the 
 balance to go where they pleased, so they did not 
 travel with us. It was threatened before we left that 
 we would be fired upon. But we had had our say, 
 and at the time I fully expected that we would have 
 a fuss, which would have been very bad for all of us- 
 The other party outnumbered us, but were divided 
 among themselves. But we were as determined as 
 ever men were not to let them get the drop on us, and 
 if a muss did break out, to put it through in the short- 
 est possible way. 
 
 We got started off, however, without any one being 
 hurt, and a merry little crowd we were. There was 
 quite a difference between our little party of eleven, as 
 we jogged along side by side, and the big, noisy, bois- 
 terous crowd that started out together at first. The 
 flying moments passed unheeded by as we rode along, 
 engaged in mutual exchange of thought and feeling. 
 And we were just flattering ourselves over having got- 
 ten rid of the worst part of our crowd so easily, when 
 five of those whom we had left behind overtook us. 
 They reported that the others had gone back. But that 
 they would go with us as long as a button remained to 
 their coats. 
 
140 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 That day we camped in a secluded spot at the foot 
 of one of the peaks, where we found a little water for 
 our horses, which did them a great deal of good, for 
 they had been without water for three days. 
 
 I was on guard that morning, in the first watch. I 
 concluded to go to the top of the peak and make some 
 general observations of the country. Armed with my 
 rifle, revolver, knife, and Bennett's spy-glass, I started 
 to make a circuit of the mountain for some distance, 
 so as to find some place to climb up. I had not gone 
 more than a couple of hundred yards, scarcely out of 
 sight of camp, when I heard a noise, as of a stone 
 rolling down the mountain. I stopped, and looking in 
 the direction of the noise I saw a small stone, as large 
 as my fist, rolling down the slope. Looking up in the 
 direction from which the rock had come, to ascertain 
 what had started it, I beheld, not more than twenty 
 yards to my right, and a little above me, a monstrous 
 grizzly bear, in the act of raising himself in a sitting 
 posture. I suppose that he took this attitude in order 
 to see, think, and determine whether it was best to 
 hold his position or make a retreat. The old fellow 
 did not look so wonderfully savage, for he wore more 
 of a smiling look about his eyes than that of the most 
 ferocious of wild beasts. He sat perfectly upright, 
 and not a muscle or a limb did he move. His fore- 
 arms were drawn up upon his breast, and I could see 
 his paws, with their tremendous claws drooping in front. 
 I could see but little to encourage me in my suddenly 
 perilous situation, when I came to fully appreciate my 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
 141 
 
 danger. He sat there in front of me looking entirely 
 calm and collected, free from all show of excitement. 
 
 CORNERED BY GRIZZLIES. 
 
 and as firm as a rock. I well knew it would need 
 only one blow of his paw to knock me into eternity; 
 for the strength of the grizzly is greater than that of 
 
142 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 any other animal of similar size in existence. He is 
 king of the brute kingdom. The hunting of the grizzly 
 bear averages more ; disasters than the hunting of any 
 other animal. Hunting some of the smaller and more 
 inoffensive animals is followed with enjoyment, and 
 affords recreation and amusement to thousands, who 
 are, in pursuing these animals, in no danger of being 
 killed, crippled, or maimed for life. But there are very 
 few who desire to hunt for the grizzly bear, and though 
 often seen by travelers and scouts when passing through 
 the hills, canons, and forests of the Rocky Mountains, 
 he is generally left to pursue his journey in peace. 
 
 Oftentimes the scout runs up against one as I did 
 this one, and has no chance to retreat, for a grizzly 
 can out-run any man. On a mountain side they can 
 out-run a horse. A horse might out-run a grizzly 
 in the valley, or in rolling country; but there there is 
 no grizzly. He is an inhabitant of rougher regions. 
 In the rough country of California there are hundreds 
 of them. They subsist principally on acorns, berries, 
 and toolie roots, of which they are very fond. These 
 toolies grow around lakes, ponds, marshes, and lagoons, 
 sometimes higher than a man's head, with roots in the 
 muck and soil similar in looks, except smaller and 
 thicker, to the swamp dock of the eastern ponds. Here 
 the grizzly bear and wild hog feed and keep them- 
 selves fat. The bear stays in the mountains all day, 
 and comes down to feed at night. After feeding awhile 
 on roots the grizzly generally goes out to try to finish 
 his feast with a young colt, or a calf, pigs, geese, or 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 143 
 
 anything he can kill and carry away. I have never 
 known them to molest grown cattle or horses. 
 
 Often you will see them chained to posts as pets. 
 These have generally been caught while young. I have 
 seen a great many pet grizzlies; but I never saw but 
 few that I could handle. They are most always cross 
 to strangers. You cannot strike one, for he will sit 
 upright, and either take your stick away from you or 
 knock it out of your hand. When you make your pass 
 at him he will not show the least fear, but rather the 
 more determination to thwart your every move. If 
 you shoot at and only wound him, then the grizzly is 
 a most dangerous animal. At such a time the most 
 perfect nerve is required. He will then charge on his 
 nearest foe, mad with pain, and with more than ordi- 
 nary strength. I have seen large, rough-barked trees 
 where they had torn the bark away, clean into the wood, 
 from a space ten inches square at one single stroke of 
 the paw, and this, too, in their last dying struggles. 
 Even after the animal is fatally wounded he often has 
 strength enough to make an attack. Then all depends 
 upon courage and coolness, and upon rapid and careful 
 shooting. The great danger, the renown incident to the 
 capture of so ferocious, and, when wounded, so blood- 
 thirsty a beast, the nerve required, all combine to lend 
 an extraordinary zest to hunting or attacking the grizzly 
 bear. When a tender-foot first comes West he yearns 
 to encounter a grizzly. And generally when he does 
 get sight of one his courage fails him, and Mr. Bruin 
 is allowed to depart in peace. 
 
144 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 When, on this morning, I beheld this grizzly so near 
 at hand, sitting upon his haunches and looking at me, 
 t l, in a moment, took in the dreadful and dangerous 
 'character of the predicament I was placed in. I was 
 sure to be overtaken if I should run. My only safety, 
 that I could see, was in my rifle. Then I wondered if 
 I was cool enough to take a steady aim. I thought I 
 was; but, at the same time, I knew if I failed there 
 would not be time enough for me to load and shoot 
 my rifle the second time, since he was above me and 
 would immediately charge down upon me at such a 
 rate that I would no doubt get very nervous, and even 
 did I again shoot, it would be with a poor aim, and I 
 would only enrage him the more, and no doubt be torn 
 to pieces by his powerful claws, before assistance could 
 arrive from camp. I looked at him but a moment, 
 and in that moment a profound sense of my great 
 clanger came over me. But I hastily put my fears 
 aside, and, dropping the glass lightly at my feet, I 
 brought my rifle down and fired. I used an ounce 
 explosive ball. My shot was well aimed, and struck 
 him under the fore leg. As he sat a little quartering 
 to me, the ball ranged towards his back-bone, com- 
 pletely smashing it. When the gun cracked I was 
 certain my ball had taken mortal effect. But to make 
 assurance doubly sure, I gave him another shot. Then 
 I heard the boys coming from camp, on double-quick, 
 as I could tell by the way the stones and gravel were 
 thundering down the mountain side. But, by the time 
 they got to me, the fun was over, and Mr. Bruin was 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 145 
 
 my meat. He was very large. We estimated that he 
 would weigh nearly or quite eight hundred pounds. 
 
 After the usual complimentary remarks of the occa- 
 sion had been passed, we left our king of the forest, 
 the boys to return to camp, and I to proceed to the 
 summit of the peak. After I had gained the summit, 
 which was through no little exertion, it being very diffi- 
 cult and hard to climb, I could see a great distance 
 on all sides of me. The bright sun was shining on 
 the many different colored peaks. The calm solitude 
 of the place caused strange feelings, indeed, in my 
 mind. I sat on that peak for six long hours, viewing 
 the many different and curious formations of nature. I 
 noted the many different colors of t % he rocks, as the sun 
 would reflect upon their surface. I could see wild an- 
 imals of various kinds in the distance, such as coyotes, 
 deer in herds, and others which I thought were ante- 
 lopes. And once I saw a band of Indians; they were 
 a long distance off; but I could make out that they 
 were not hunting, but traveling. Perhaps they were 
 going to new hunting and fishing grounds. I could see 
 in what direction they were going, and that was all- 
 important to me. I could not tell how many there 
 were; I could see a large party. 
 
 I was not sorry when I was relieved from the guard, 
 for the warm sunshine had made me sleepy. I did not 
 speak to any one of having seen the Indians, for I 
 considered that they would be none the better off for 
 knowing it; and there was no need to alarm the lads 
 any more than was necessary. 
 
 10 
 
146 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 I lay down as soon as I arrived at camp, and was 
 quickly lost in sleep dreaming of the girl in a far-off, 
 friendly land; or the one whom I had never trusted 
 enough in my own native home. At such times the 
 light of the world, for the dreamer, dies out, and only 
 disappointments crown his efforts until at last he loses 
 all hope. Alone in a strange place, without one of his 
 kindred near to know his wants, or to learn even one 
 of the many different conjectures that pass through the 
 brain. But, hold on here! I find I arn leaving my 
 subject entirely. Should I keep on in this strain some 
 kind-hearted people will think I am in love, or in as 
 bad a condition as if I were. 
 
 Well, when I awoke, the sunlight had become as 
 dim as twilight, struggling in only here and there, 
 through the branches of the small trees. When we 
 had finished supper, which was then ready, and were 
 sitting around in a circle, lounging against the trunks 
 of the quaking asps, which grew in great numbers 
 there, we then gave the subject of our journey a grave 
 consideration. Each held between his lips a wooden 
 pipe. The smoke that issued from them went rising 
 above our heads, forming many-shaped curls to be lost 
 sight of in the low boughs above. Our plans had been 
 formed, and the swift darkness of night was falling 
 around us; already the gulches, hollows, and ravines 
 were shrouded in impenetrable gloom, and the black 
 shadows were creeping up the mountain sides when 
 we emerged from our place of repose, to saddle and 
 pack, and jog along. 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 147 
 
 I was riding in the lead, with no trail, no road, 
 nothing that we could see to follow. So we took a 
 star to guide us and on we went, over gulches and 
 gullies, up mountains and down again, to then climb 
 others, perhaps worse than those already passed over. 
 We had traveled nearly all night in this way, when^ 
 about three o'clock in the morning, we came to a place, 
 that baffled us for a long time. It was one of those 
 places, which are to be found in many parts of the 
 West, where the water has left standing perpendicular 
 precipices of rock to fence in the little valleys along 
 the river bottom. Dismounting, I was leading my 
 horse along the edge of the precipice that I might find 
 some place to get down to the valley below. I had 
 gone in this way as much as a mile, trying to find a 
 trail leading down, when I found one as I thought. So, 
 calling one of the boys to hold my horse, I started 
 down the trail to see where it went, and to discover if 
 it were possible for a horse to follow it down. I 
 could see that the bluff was very steep, and if I fell I 
 would fall a long way without any chance of preserva- 
 tion. I wished for daylight, for a balloon, or some fly- 
 ing machine anything to help .me down to the valley 
 below. I knew there was water there, for I could hear 
 it. So, continuing on in the little bit of a trail, that 
 one could scarcely walk in for the unevenness of its 
 bottom, I had made good progress, and was, I thought, 
 half way down, when suddenly, just a few feet in front 
 of me, and a little below on the trail, a wild, terrible 
 howl or scream rang out through the darkness. I 
 
US HOW I KNOW. 
 
 knew at once that I had a panther to contend with, 
 and that is an animal to be terribly dreaded, for it is 
 ^arge, quick, muscular, and powerful. I brought my 
 rifle to position as quickly as ever gun was brought to 
 readiness, I imagine. Scarcely had I done this, when 
 the animal gave vent to another howl, more terrible 
 than the first. 
 
 What should I do? I could not run had I wished 
 to. I was then standing on a little, narrow trail of 
 rocks, with a mighty chasm below me, and a precipice 
 of rocks above me. I doubled myself down as close to 
 the trail as I could, and at the same time drew my 
 knife for further defense. When I got close down to 
 the trail I could see the panther's eyes glistening like 
 two coals of fire. I had hesitated for a little spell. I 
 was afraid to shoot, for in the darkness a shot is un- 
 certain; and, if the animal should spring upon me 
 there, I would certainly fall off. I thought of jumping 
 off; but I did not know the distance down. Then 
 again I knew, if I did anything I must do it at once. 
 So I threw my gun forward and pulled, aiming at his 
 glaring eyes as near as I could. But my gun failed to 
 go for the first time since I had owned it. I drew my 
 pistol, which was a Smith & Wesson forty-four. While 
 I was doing that the beast again gave utterance to a 
 howl that pierced me through, and made me feel that 
 my fate was sealed. I thought that he was stealthily 
 drawing nearer and nearer to me. His eyes were glis- 
 tening with penetrating brightness. I could feel my- 
 self shaking from head to foot. I was terribly fright- 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 149 
 
 ened. I had been on many battle-fields, where men 
 were falling all around me, and the groans of the 
 wounded rent the air; I had heard them plead in vain 
 for assistance that was beyond the power of man to 
 give; but never before in my life did I feel as I then 
 felt. I knew my last chance depended upon my pistol. 
 I could see the long, lithe form settling for the fatal 
 leap. Then, holding my pistol out, resting the barrel 
 and cylinder along my finger, I aimed at his eyes, and 
 pulled the trigger. He bounded into the air, and fell 
 downward into the darkness below. I heard him when 
 he struck; it sounded a long way down. 
 
 I could hear one of my companions calling to me 
 from above to know if I was hurt. Answering him 
 that I was not, I went on down the trail, and found it 
 about the same thing all the way. So I hallooed for 
 my companions to come down carefully. When they 
 had all got down, we pitched camp for the day. We 
 had not long to wait for the morning, as day was fast 
 coming out of the sombre darkness. After daylight 
 we found that we were in a beautiful little park. 
 
 I was interested to know whether I had killed my 
 animal or not. I did not know whether I had hit him, 
 or only frightened him, and made him jump. Three 
 of us went to see if we could find any trace of him. 
 We had not long to look, for we saw him lying on the 
 slide rock, where he had stopped rolling a good bit be- 
 fore we reached the place. He was a nice, sleek, large- 
 looking animal, over seven feet long from the point of 
 the nose to the end of the tail. He had fallen over 
 
150 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 sixty feet from where he was when I shot him. I of- 
 
 ten think 
 and won- 
 der what 
 would my 
 fate have 
 been had 
 he made 
 the spring 
 upon me. 
 I f o u n d 
 that the 
 reason my 
 gun would 
 not go off 
 was be- 
 cause I 
 had got a 
 very small 
 twig f a s t 
 in front of 
 the ham- 
 m er , so 
 the needle 
 could not 
 strike the 
 cap. 
 
 While at 
 this place 
 
 IN THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
 tllC 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 151 
 
 caught plenty of nice trout. Some of them would 
 weigh a pound or more. We were all delighted with 
 the place. After a time I lay down to sleep, but only 
 fell into a disturbed slumber, which was worse than 
 wakefulness, for it was haunted by such terrible dreams. 
 I was dreaming of wild animals howling, and roaming 
 about all night, or else of the savage Indians, and that 
 one of these was in the act of lifting what little hair 
 there was left from the top of my head. I finally 
 awoke, screaming for the boys to run for their lives, as 
 the Indians had me and would soon have the balance 
 of the party. To sleep again was impossible. I was 
 soon up, therefore, to take a view of the country. 
 
 The air had been fresh and nice before sunrise; but 
 now the sun was sending its scorching rays upon and 
 all around us in that little valley. The sky was in- 
 tensely blue, and without the smallest cloud to break 
 its monotony. I spent the afternoon in visiting some 
 of the different peaks, and examining the general char- 
 acter and formation of the ledges that crossed the 
 gulches, and projected from the sides and summits of 
 the main ranges. When the afternoon had been spent 
 in sight-seeing, and in visiting the many little caves, 
 and examining the numerous particles of quartz that we 
 discovered, we then took our gold pans, and tried the 
 creek. We raised the color; but we could do that any 
 place in the mountains. Take a pan of dirt from the 
 top of a range, and wash it out, and you see a little 
 shiner. The mountains, however, afforded us much 
 study here, for they were filled with various classes of 
 
152 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 rock, such as the prospector delights to find, and exhibit 
 in his collections. 
 
 We again start on our way. The sun has set in a 
 tremulous golden glory, and the twilight has already 
 deepened into night. The red and white sands, the 
 silent castles that were by daylight seen rearing their 
 jagged crests far above the surrounding country, have 
 now all disappeared in darkness. We traveled all night 
 without any special adventure. 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS* 153 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
 [CONTINUED.] 
 
 THE morning found us on the verge of a mighty 
 precipice. Before us opened a mighty chasm 
 in the earth, in some places over a mile in depth, and 
 appearing as if it were closing together at the top. 
 You think you can throw a stone across to the other 
 side very easily. But in this you are mistaken. Try 
 it. Ah! see, the stone drops downward out in space 
 far short of the other side. As you watch it on its 
 steady journey downward, a sensation creeps through 
 you that you too are falling from these giddy heights 
 above to the mighty depths below; thence to be borne 
 away by the mighty river that goes rushing onward 
 beneath you; boiling, splashing, and frothing, white 
 with madness. Here you see it pouring over a per- 
 pendicular precipice over fifty feet in height, and over 
 hundreds of others not so high. See it strike and 
 divide against that large bowlder. Thousands of rocks 
 can be seen, projecting their dark-colored heads, as 
 you look up and down the river, above the white, 
 splashing spray. 
 
 " Now," says some reader, "where are you, and what 
 are you describing?" I am sitting upon the mighty 
 
154 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 precipice, overlooking the grand Colorado River, upon 
 the brink of one of the longest and 'deepest cuts in solid 
 rocks that Nature has ever made. Moreover, I am 
 now seeing what few white men ever have seen. There 
 are a great many men who claim to have seen the 
 Grand Canon of the Colorado, when really but few have 
 ever seen it. 
 
 The river runs through a rough, broken, alkaline 
 range. The first morning we arrived at this canon, 
 there being neither wood nor water, we moved back a 
 short distance, where there was some alkaline water, 
 standing in holes in the rocks. We had no wood, and 
 grass was scarce. Neither our horses nor ourselves 
 fared the best. Some of us followed the edge of the 
 canon down the river, while others went up stream 
 (leaving some to take care of the camp), to see what 
 the chances were for crossing. The Buckskin Mount- 
 ains proper are on the eastern side of the Colorado 
 River, though I have seen them represented on some 
 maps as located on the western side. The Indians call 
 the four peaks that stand up so prominent, and which 
 are seen for a long distance, lying on the eastern side 
 of the Colorado, between Colorough Lake and the 
 Grand Canon, and forty miles north of the Yampa, the 
 Buckskin Mountains. 
 
 We wanted to get across the river, and were una- 
 ble to cross there. At that time none of the party 
 knew at what part of the cafion we were. We tossed 
 up a four penny bit to determine whether we should 
 go up the river or down. Mr. S. Jones tossed up the 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 155 
 
 piece, which came down heads up, deciding that we 
 should travel up stream until we could find a crossing. 
 We thought that a rough journey was before us, which- 
 ever way we might go. We struck up the trail that 
 had been marked out by the ponies of the savages in 
 their wanderings up and down the canon. We felt 
 sure the trail would lead us aright through the, to us, 
 unknown regions. 
 
 We were very fortunate, for we met with no Indians 
 on our way up the canon. All the difficulty we had to 
 contend with was the lack of water and the roughness 
 of the mountains. It was so rough that we now changed 
 our time of traveling from night back to day again. 
 At times we were close to the brink of the precipice; 
 at other times we were entirely out of sound of the 
 river, in some deep gorge or ravine, or behind some 
 mountain. At times we were traveling directly from 
 the river, and then climbing and sweating and working 
 our way back again. Sometimes when we looked 
 down into the canon, it was impossible to see down 
 to the water. The vapor or mist that was rising from 
 the water looked like a cloud or thick smoke ascending. 
 Again, when we could see down, we could see in the 
 walls on either side caves, rooms, and openings that the 
 water had formed in its downward cutting. In some 
 places the canon walls are much farther apart at the 
 bottom than at the top. While at other places the top 
 of the canon will be more than a mile in width; but 
 the walls are so steep and rough that nothing can get 
 to the water below without falling down, down for 
 
156 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 hundreds of feet. For fifty miles we got down to the 
 water's edge but once, and that was by following down 
 
 SUNSET IN THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
 a dry gulch that started from the mountains a long way 
 back from the river. While traveling down this gulch 
 one has a feeling not easily described. You are going 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 157 
 
 down all the time, either jumping down from perpen- 
 dicular declivities in the rock, or groping your way 
 over and down from large bowlders. This gulch is 
 very narrow, not more than seven feet wide at the 
 bottom. It is hemmed in with perpendicular walls in 
 places. At others the walls project over until they meet 
 or lap at the top. As you approach the river the higher 
 these hard rocky walls get to be. You look up from 
 your low position, down deep between these mighty 
 walls, and in many places see them closed above your 
 head. Again there are places "where you are able to 
 see the top. That is where the top of the canon has 
 some little width. 
 
 It was a bright, sunny day when we went down. 
 Ever and anon I would try to see the top. I well 
 remember how I felt, but can find no words to express 
 what I would like to say. Imagine yourself for a mo- 
 ment way down, down, down for thousands of feet in a 
 deep, narrow gulch, walled in with rock, which time 
 and water have worn smooth as glass. Then you will 
 have the idea, if not the realizing effect. As you 
 move on down towards the river, the roaring of the 
 water gets louder and still louder as it goes beating, 
 knocking, splashing, bounding, and rebounding on its 
 course, for here the canon is very deep and narrow; 
 and consequently the mighty force of the river must 
 exhaust itself upon the confining walls. The noise in 
 this narrow confinement became so great that I did 
 not hear the loudest hallooing that was, as I was after- 
 wards told, shouted in my very ear. 
 
158 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 The Colorado River does not appear to be very wide 
 here. But take into consideration where you are; see 
 the mighty, dark-colored walls all around you, and far 
 above, covered here and there with moss; see the 
 mighty river rushing past you with steep descent, and 
 solid rock for bottom. I cannot say that it was beauti- 
 ful to me; but it was marvelous. 
 
 We continued on our journey up the river until we 
 arrived above where it enters the canon, when we came 
 to a small tract of bottom land lying nearly as low as 
 the river. This valley is a little more than one mile 
 in length and is half as wide. Then the river is again 
 confined in a narrow canon. 
 
 In this valley we found the ruins of buildings, with 
 portions of the walls yet standing. In several places 
 the walls are yet eight feet in height. As I mentioned, 
 when speaking of the ruins in Arizona, and the Casa 
 Grandas, in Chihuahua, Mexico, pieces of plate and 
 other articles of earthenware are found here also, scat- 
 tered among the ruins. A large spring flows out high up 
 in the rocks. The water comes tearing down through 
 the little channel it has cut and then goes rippling 
 through what has at one time been an inhabited town. 
 
 This little secluded place affords an abundance of 
 grass, which was thickly set and as high as our ponies' 
 knees. The country all around is made up of high, 
 mountainous lands, with little or no vegetation. In this 
 little valley the river widens out. At the upper end the 
 water runs in a smooth sheet, denoting depth. At the 
 lower end, or near it, the fall is greater, and the water 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 159 
 
 goes at a much more rapid rate. This we found was 
 our only chance to cross the river. By entering the 
 water well up towards the upper end of the valley, 
 our horses could swim over very easily, without drift- 
 ing into the rapids below. If once swept into these 
 rapids there is no chance for man or rider to be saved. 
 We met with splendid success in crossing, and lost 
 nothing of any value. We got wet, of course, but soon 
 dried ourselves. 
 
 On the eastern side of the river the country is still 
 broken with ravines, gulches, and canons. The mount- 
 ains are fully as high as on the western side; but hardly 
 as barren and sterile as the range we had come up. 
 There are some small streams and one good large 
 creek between where we crossed and the mouth of 
 the Little Colorado. At the last mentioned place we 
 camped for two days and prospected for gold. The 
 place looked more favorable for deposits than any we 
 had seen since leaving Nevada. 
 
 We found some very fine specimens of float quartz, 
 and also some veins of quartz, but generally barren; 
 that is, quartz that carries no metals of value. While 
 here we were blessed with plenty of venison and fish. 
 With a single hook one man caught, in an hour, more 
 fish than, together with some venison, we ate during 
 our stay. The next day we crossed and camped on 
 the Little Colorado, which is at this place a beautiful 
 stream; but having a valley of no width. 
 
 Here a party of Apache hunters came and camped 
 with us for the night. They were very talkative; more so 
 
160 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 than common. 
 
 Of inquisitiveness they undoubtedly had 
 more than their 
 share. They soon 
 warmed up toward 
 us and then wanted 
 to swap guns, as 
 we had arms supe- 
 rior to theirs. We 
 might have done 
 well in the way of 
 a trade, to have 
 swapped our rifles 
 for their guns and 
 horses; but we did 
 not care to do this. 
 We divided our 
 "baca" with them, 
 and the next morn- 
 ing they moved up 
 the Little Colorado; 
 but not before they 
 had warned us of 
 " heap bad Injun at 
 Buckskin Mount- 
 ains. Ma-be-so 
 see 'em to-day heap 
 bad Injun. We 
 heap good Injun. 
 We no care for 
 white man catch 
 
 PROSPECTING IN THE COLORADO CANONS. 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CAiVONS. 161 
 
 'em fish not too many eat 'em. Kill 'em deer eat 
 'em. Heap white men shoot 'em Buckskin, poom- 
 poom no eat 'em. Kots bueno (no good). Ma-be-so 
 (holding up one finger) sleep see you. Ma-be-so (hold- 
 ing up the fist with fingers closed) see you Buckskin 
 Mountain. You siguea?" "Yes," 1 say. "Me heap 
 good Injun. Buckskin Mountain no good Injun." After 
 warning us in this way, and passing the friendly salu- 
 tation, they went their way, leaving us on our way to 
 the Buckskin Mountains. 
 
 This country we prospected as well as we could 
 under the circumstances. We found several gold and 
 silver-bearing quartz leads. How valuable they may 
 hereafter prove to be, I do not know. We found some 
 gravel claims that I always will think, if properly 
 worked and under the right kind of management, will 
 pay. I have taken as many as twenty pans of dirt and 
 washed it out and I never got less than three cents to 
 the pan. In one pan I got one nugget that weighed 
 seven dollars and sixty-four cents, at the First National 
 Bank of Utah. I sold it for that to Mr. Warren Hus- 
 sey, president of the bank. He said it was of a good 
 quality of gold. 
 
 I have often been asked why I did not stay there. 
 I will here say that we were not prepared to stay long 
 at this time. We had nothing to work with; no saws of 
 any kind, and we could not saw lumber without a whip 
 saw. Neither did we have provisions enough to last 
 us long. Our company had only sixteen men left. The 
 others, you remember, had taken a skip and left us. 
 
 ii 
 
162 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 I tried to get there once afterwards, of which I will 
 speak further on. We reached the Buckskin Mount- 
 ains without any resistance from the Indians. A few 
 jof them were friendly, and a great many otherwise. 
 As we kept a guard out night and day, they offered no 
 violence more than some abusive epithets which were 
 not resented on our part. We prospected the ranges 
 all through that section of country. We found gold, 
 silver, iron, lead, copper, bismuth, and cinnabar in vari- 
 ous places. But whether in paying quantities or not, I 
 do not pretend to say. We also found bench and bar 
 claims; but nothing to justify any very heavy outlay or 
 expense. 
 
 We then pushed on to Callville, below the Yampa, 
 the highest point of navigation on the Colorado River. 
 From here some of the party went to Pioche. Four 
 of us went to Salt Lake City. We traveled over an 
 abundance of alkaline and grease-wood land, where 
 nothing else was to be seen; not even a jack-rabbit, 
 an animal of which I have already spoken. 
 
 We called at a Mormon house occasionally, and 
 bought milk or butter, which they were very ready to 
 sell for cash, and at a much more reasonable figure 
 than we could buy at in any of the other Territories. 
 I may mention, in passing, that at Callville we were 
 ferried over the river by John D. Lee, who has since 
 been shot on the scene of the Mountain Meadow Mas- 
 sacre of the Kansas emigrants, which he superintended 
 in person. It is said that he took an active part, per- 
 sonally, in the slaying of the unfortunate children that 
 
THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 163 
 
 belonged to the train. I am told that, in one instance, 
 two sisters, small children, were begging for mercy that 
 they might be spared; and some of the blood-atoning 
 followers of Lee and other Mormon saints were about 
 to spare them; but Lee dashed in, revolver in hand, 
 and shot them both, with the remark, "They are too 
 old to live." I have been told often by men, some of 
 
 EXECUTION OF JOHN D. LEE. 
 
 whom now live in the Territory, and do know whereof 
 they speak, that until only a few years before Brigham 
 Young's death, he rode in the carriage that was captured 
 by his murdering this train of emigrants. He was not 
 there in person, of course; neither does a President 
 need go in person to quell a rebellion; but yet they can 
 
164 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 act as instigators or accessories to the act of having it 
 done. Other things, such as clothing, wagons, guns, 
 etc., went to the highest bidders in Cedar, Parowan, 
 Beaver, and other settlements. Such live-stock as the 
 Church could handle was considered as Church prop- 
 erty, and found its way, a lot of it, to the Church 
 Island, where no one ever went except those intrusted 
 with the care of that kind of property. Church Island 
 is an island in the Great Salt Lake, where a good por- 
 tion of the stock of the Co-operative Company is kept. 
 
MONTANA AND IDAHO. 165 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MONTANA AND IDAHO. 
 
 MONTANA and Idaho, like California, were settled 
 originally by gold-hunters. At first they neither 
 knew nor cared whether the Territory possessed any 
 agricultural advantages or not; but when the easily 
 skimmed cream of the placers had been gathered, and 
 more difficult and permanent quartz mining succeeded, 
 the pressing needs of a settled population turned the 
 attention of a large number of the people to farming. 
 The country was then found to be as rich in agricul- 
 tural as in mineral resources. 
 
 Montana is celebrated for its many large productive 
 valleys. The Gallatin Valley is situated in the south- 
 ern part of the Territory, and is one of the largest and 
 finest grain-producing valleys in the West. Some very 
 nice little orchards have been set out. Whether these 
 will prove productive or not, I am unable to say. In 
 Jefferson, Madison, Bowlder, Prickly Pear, Bitter Root, 
 Marias, Milk River, and a number of other valleys they 
 raise magnificent crops of wheat. Although Idaho is 
 south of Montana, the valleys are as cold as those of 
 Montana. They produce no better grain, neither any 
 greater variety. 
 
 Estimating from what I could learn, about one-half 
 of the population of these two Territories is engaged 
 
166 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 in agricultural pursuits. The other half, in mining, 
 stock raising, and other branches of industry. The 
 roads are generally lined with freight and immigrant 
 wagons. The larger part of the best land has been 
 taken up. There are a great many quartz mills. Some 
 are idle; but many are doing a thriving business. 
 
 Before the Pacific Railroad was built, all goods for 
 Montana were sent up the Missouri River in the 
 Spring to Fort Benton, which is at the head of navi- 
 gation. The distance up is thirty-one hundred miles, 
 along a most tortuous course, requiring very careful 
 piloting. Steamers would consume from three to four 
 months in making the trip. Their progress depended 
 greatly upon the nature of the current, and the depth 
 of water on the almost innumerable shoals. This diffi- 
 cult and exasperating method of transportation had 
 nothing to recommend it except that it was the best 
 then within reach. Very little freight is now sent by 
 the river. The great bulk of it goes over the Union 
 and Central Pacific Railroads. 
 
 At present all goods for Montana, whether from the 
 East or West, go to Corinne, Utah, on the Central Pa- 
 cific Railroad. It is thirty-one miles west of Ogden. 
 Ogden is the junction of the Union and Central Pacific 
 Railroads. Corinne is four hundred and seventy miles 
 south of Helena, the chief town of Montana. The two 
 places are connected by a wagon road, over which 
 there is a line of fast stages, fast and slow freight 
 wagons, and innumerable mule teams. Since the great 
 Washoe teaming business has been discontinued, there 
 
MONTANA AND IDAHO. 167 
 
 is no other Territory that gives employment to as many 
 freight teams as Montana. 
 
 The largest freight warehouses in the West have been 
 built at Corinne for the storage of merchandise for Mon- 
 tana. They are always well-filled with goods. Dozens 
 of teams are constantly to be seen at the depot, either 
 loading up with freight, or waiting their turn to be 
 loaded. The freighters generally drive mules and 
 horses. During a brief portion of the year, in the 
 summer months, cattle may be used with advantage. 
 
 From Corinne to Helena is a hazardous road. A 
 good portion of the year there is snow on many parts 
 of it. When the snow melts, streams of water con- 
 tinually run across or along the road, making it very 
 difficult for heavily-loaded teams to move along. They 
 are either mired down in the mud, or fording ponds 
 and streams of water one-half the time. The other 
 half is spent in winding around and up over ridges and 
 mountains, turning sharp curves, climbing steep mount- 
 ain grades, and skirting along the edge of lofty preci- 
 pices. Sometimes wagons, horses, goods, and every 
 thing go rolling over the precipice, and pitching down 
 the steep mountain side, to land at the bottom a total 
 wreck. Goods are scattered the whole distance down; 
 the wagon is smashed to fragments, and the animals 
 killed or hopelessly crippled. Hundreds of skeletons 
 of animals line the road on either side the whole dis- 
 tance. 
 
 In the summer there is plenty of grass along the 
 route, so that animals have good grazing. But during 
 
168 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 the greater part of the year they must be full fed with 
 grain, such as chop feed, rye, oats, barley, peas, and 
 corn. If none of the above can be had, then wheat is 
 used, which is an excellent feed for horses or mules. 
 Hay commands a good price at all times, sometimes as 
 much as eight cents a pound. Before the Pacific Rail- 
 road was built, at times everything sold at enormous 
 prices in some of the mining camps where provisions 
 were scarce. Eggs have sold for fifty cents a piece. 
 Flour seventy-five cents a pound, and at one time one 
 dollar and fifty cents a pound. Tea, coffee, and a great 
 many other such things were not to be had at all. 
 Tobacco retailed for two and four bits a chew, a bit 
 being twelve and one-half cents. 
 
 Californians, are called in Montana " Self-risers," to 
 distinguish them from the "Pilgrims" or "Tender- 
 foots," who footed it into Montana from the south-west- 
 ern States. The "Self-risers" largely monopolize the 
 mercantile and mining interests, while the " Pilgrims " 
 generally guide the plow and handle the hoe. A great 
 many people who have gone to Montana have done 
 extremely well. 
 
LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 169 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 
 
 THIS chapter I will devote exclusively to the wa- 
 ters of the West. There are in the West many 
 kinds of water, with different qualities and properties. 
 There are waters of many colors. Water, we all 
 know, is found in Nature in three forms, vaporous, 
 fluid, and solid. Science teaches us that water is a 
 compound of one part of hydrogen, and eight parts of 
 oxygen. Water is never pure, but always impregnated. 
 Take the waters of the wells, springs, rivers, etc., east 
 of the Missouri they are mostly fresh. Take them in 
 the mountains west they are saline (salty), alkaline 
 (some mineral being held in solution), and often caloric 
 (that is warm or hot). 
 
 The Great Salt Lake is situated in Utah Territory 
 in the great basin. The water of this lake is saline, 
 with one part out of four salt. There is no living thing 
 in this lake. Bear River, coming down out of Idaho, 
 empties in on the north. This is, commonly speaking, 
 fresh water, where splendid fish are caught in large 
 quantities. There is no outlet to Salt Lake that I 
 know anything about, and I have been told there is 
 none. It has been stated that there is an underground 
 outlet, and that the water at a certain place out in the 
 lake is continually in a whirl, caused by the suction 
 
170 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 from below. This, I think, is a mistake. I was 
 often on the lake in 1868 and 1869. I have talked 
 
 GREAT SALT LAKE. 
 
 with different individuals well acquainted with the lake, 
 all of whom deny the assertion. 
 
LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 171 
 
 The water of Great Salt Lake is rising all the time. 
 When the Mormons first settled there, all the available 
 fertile land around the lake was fenced to the water's 
 edge with post fences. Owing to the presence of large 
 quantities of salt in the soil, the posts have been pre- 
 served from rotting. And now the fences are still 
 standing, but are under water, in many places entirely 
 out of sight. Whole fields that once were cultivated 
 are now under water. 
 
 People often go into Salt Lake bathing. If they 
 have sores, cuts, or broken flesh, their sufferings are 
 severe. When they come out there is a saline coating 
 all over the body, so that they have to bathe in other 
 water to wash the salt off. The lake spreads over a 
 vast scope of land, and is in some places deep. 
 
 Lake Tahoe, or Lake Bigler as some call it, is in 
 Nevada. The former is an Indian name; the latter is 
 the name of the first white man of any note in that part 
 of the now State. This lake is called fresh water. 
 There are hot springs boiling up out in the lake. At 
 Hot Spring City they began at the bottom of the lake, 
 and built a wall around one of these springs, and con- 
 tinued the wall until above the surface of the lake. 
 This wall is solid, and keeps the water separated. The 
 lake water is cold around the outer side of the wall, 
 while the water on the inner side is hot. 
 
 Fresh water is much lighter than salt water. The 
 water of Lake Tahoe is undoubtedly the hardest to 
 swim in I ever tried. It is almost impossible to swim in 
 it even for a short distance. It would be a great place for 
 
172 HOW i KNOW. 
 
 Captain Paul Boyton to experiment in. Another feature 
 of the Tahoe water is, that if a person is unfortunate 
 enough to be drowned in it, as has been the case of 
 several persons, his body is never recovered. Bodies 
 have never been known to rise to the surface, nor 
 have they been found drifted to shore. This water is 
 very transparent, and is said to be the clearest water 
 in the world. You can see down in it to the great 
 depth of over one hundred feet. It is so transparent 
 that it does not appear to be over ten or fifteen feet 
 deep. Near the shore, while rowing in a boat, you feel 
 sure you could wade it, when at the same time there 
 will be twenty feet of water beneath you. Large 
 trout are caught in Lake Tahoe, weighing often over 
 twenty pounds. 
 
 Crystal Lake, west of Tahoe and distant two miles, 
 is a small lake of like properties to Tahoe. It is about 
 one mile long and half as wide. It is very deep. 
 Some claim that it is deeper than Tahoe. Large 
 numbers of fish are caught in this lake. Schools of 
 them can be seen sporting and swimming down deep 
 in the water. 
 
 The river water in the Winter, in many instances, 
 tastes as if free from minerals. But as soon as Win- 
 ter is over, and the water gets warmer, then it tastes 
 strongly of substances held in solution. 
 
 Water is found in the West at every temperature, 
 from the freezing to the boiling point. It appears in 
 various mineralized forms; sweet, sour, sulphurous, 
 siliceous, chalybeate, and other forms. 
 
LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 
 
 173 
 
 Throughout the West hot springs are numerous. 
 Some of these springs are of great depth, while others 
 seem to be entirely on the surface. All around a 
 hot spring the surface of the earth is heated, and is 
 generally mound-shaped, sometimes several feet higher 
 than the 
 surround- 
 ing sur- 
 face earth. 
 Sometimes 
 the spring 
 runs out 
 f r o m the 
 side of a 
 mountain. 
 The earth 
 below is 
 all crusted 
 over with 
 sediment- 
 rock vary- 
 ingincolor. 
 This crust 
 of rock is 
 formed out 
 
 Of the Sub- VERNAL FALLS, CALIFORNIA. 
 
 stances the water contains. Often it partakes of the 
 nature of burnt brick, or clay. In some places it is 
 compact, and in others it is not, but is in globular and 
 sponge-like form. Sometimes it is of a white color. 
 
HO W I KNO W. 
 
 When mounds are formed as at the hot springs in 
 Ouray Park, Colorado, these mounds slope off grad- 
 ually, until the surface earth is reached. The Pecoshia 
 Springs are similar to these, but larger and grander. 
 These springs are boiling hot. The water will boil 
 and bubble up continually from the bottom to the sur- 
 face, like water boiling in a vessel on a fire. The wa- 
 ter in the Pecoshia Springs is nice, clear, and as pretty 
 as any water I ever saw. Looking at the water, you 
 would not suspect it to be so hot. A large stream of 
 hot water Hows continually from the spring, and retains 
 its heat for a good distance before it finally cools off. 
 Hundreds of these hot springs are found throughout 
 the West, in Colorado, Utah, California, Arizona, and 
 the States of Mexico on the north. 
 
 The largest warm spring I ever saw was close to 
 Ojo Caliente, in Mexico. It is over forty feet wide and 
 very deep. It had no outlet that was visible; neither 
 did the water reach the surface, as is generally the 
 case where springs are perennial, and constantly dis- 
 charging their volumes of water. A great many of 
 these springs show no diminuition in the seasons of 
 longest drought. Fresh-water springs are intermittent, 
 depending entirely upon the prevailing character of the 
 seasons. They gush forth after heavy rains, and flow 
 freely for a time, and then fail to flow in continued 
 dry weather. 
 
 Now allow me to lead you to the Yellowstone, 
 to behold some of the natural wonders of that place. 
 Here, far up the valley, we come to an ebb or tide 
 
LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 
 
 175 
 
 spring that flows at intervals or seasons. Part of the 
 time the water 
 gushes from one 
 side of the knoll 
 formed around it, 
 and runs off in a 
 little rill; then, ceas- 
 ing to flow on that I 
 side, it bulges forth 
 on the other. It 
 never, so far as I 
 was able to dis- 
 cover, runs from both 
 sides' at the same 
 time. I was told, by 
 an old gentleman 
 who had long lived 
 with the Indians 
 there, that this spring 
 would run for five 
 or six months from 
 one side, and then 
 would s h i f t to the 
 other. In very dry 
 seasons it would dry 
 up. This is called 
 a tide spring, and 
 is singular in its 
 way of running, and 
 
 itS like is Seldom GIANTESS," BIG GEYSER OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 
 
176 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 seen elsewhere. Why the water changes its course in 
 this way I am unable to say. Some say this is caused 
 by the action of the tide. It may be, but I do not 
 think so. I do not think the tide has anything to do 
 with it, for this reason. This place is shut off from 
 the ocean by two distinct ranges of mountains on the 
 west, and a large extent of mountainous lands on the 
 north and south. We are over seven thousand feet 
 above sea level. Now if this spring is governed by 
 the action of the tide, why does it not flow continually 
 from the same side of the butte. But it does not, as I 
 have been assured by the Indians themselves. I leave 
 this, as I came to it, in my own mind nonplussed. 
 
 At some distance from this, lower down, we have a 
 mud spring. This is not a spring that runs mud, 
 neither is it, as I could see, a spring that runs water, 
 although there is water in it, and that to an enormous 
 depth. It has a natural wall formed of sediment, com- 
 pact and solid as though hewn from rock itself. It 
 was thirty feet to the water when I saw it, and I 
 could not touch the bottom with two lariat ropes tied 
 together, making nearly one hundred feet of line. This 
 spring is in a little valley to itself, and is not only curi- 
 ous, but marvelous. Seven miles below this mud spring 
 is what is known as the Steamboat Spring. It works 
 upon the principle of an exhaust to a steam engine. 
 The water recedes from the surface of the earth around 
 the spring, and then comes rushing up clear out and 
 above the surrounding surface; then it recedes again to 
 gather more force and come again. The time between 
 
LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 177 
 
 each two discharges is as much as four minutes. The 
 temperature of this spring is one hundred and forty 
 degrees. There is a vast amount of sulphur in it. 
 The air for a long distance around is full of the odor 
 of sulphur. 
 
 In the valleys there are numerous alkaline streams, 
 in some of which the water is so strong that nothing 
 can drink it. They often dry up, when the alkali is 
 left deposited along their beds, sometimes for two or 
 three inches in depth. 
 
 We are unable to trace the intimate connection of 
 hot springs, and the discharging of hot water, steam 
 and gases. Yet it is impossible to doubt the direct 
 relationship of these different phenomena and their mu- 
 tual dependence upon one grand cause, namely: A 
 high temperature prevailing in the earth at an unknown 
 depth below the surface. No doubt this is the original 
 cause of earthquakes that burst forth with deep jarr- 
 ing noises from below, without warning, and open up 
 fissures, and rend' the rocks apart. Evidences of this 
 is seen in volcanoes, as on the Sandwich Islands, where 
 there is a large opening all ablaze, like a lake on fire. 
 Around these springs the earth seems to be only a 
 crust hollowed out underneath. So that one is treading 
 as it were upon an arched bridge over the cauldron 
 below. 
 
178 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LA PAZ. 
 
 I WILL devote this chapter to giving a bit of my 
 experience while connected with the surveying 
 party in Arizona. We had halted at Fort McDowell. 
 I had expected to meet some friends from California at 
 this place. When we reached the Fort, my friends were 
 not there; but I found a letter requesting me to come on 
 immediately and meet them in La Paz. La Paz is a small 
 town in Yuma County. I therefore bustled around and 
 was soon ready, and waiting for the "Jerkey" to take 
 me through. I was jolted, bounced and bumped about 
 in the stage all day, all night, and next day, without 
 sleep or comfort. 
 
 Let my readers for a moment imagine themselves 
 in some cramped-up, little, crowded-to-death corner 
 of one of these overloaded stage-coaches; the seats 
 are all filled with passengers; the space between the 
 seats is filled with trunks, valises, blankets, bedding of 
 all kinds, new blankets and old blankets, half-worn 
 blankets, torn blankets, and bedding of the same de- 
 scription; prospecting outfits of picks, shovels, pans 
 and provisions; arms and ammunition, enough for an 
 arsenal. The boots are full of mail sacks, packages 
 and papers. The passengers are of all kinds, grades 
 and nationalities, and crowd full every inch of available 
 
LA PAZ. 179 
 
 room inside and on top of the coach. Now you are 
 to be whirled along at a most reckless rate over a 
 rough mountain road. At one moment, passengers 
 and traps are all piled up in confusion in one end of 
 the stage, to be suddenly thrown the next moment to 
 the other, there to be jostled, now to one side, then 
 with renewed force to the other; and thus you go on 
 bounding and bouncing over rocks, through ruts, 
 hollows, holes, wash-outs and everything else that is 
 met in the road. This description gives but a faint idea 
 of stage riding. However, stage-coach passengers, 
 especially in the Territories, are not supposed to have 
 any feelings. 
 
 The expressman knows by name every one he 
 meets along his route. He is continually tossing 
 letters, newspapers, periodicals and bundles from the 
 top of the stage. His legs often appear in frightful 
 proximity to the rapidly revolving wheels, for he is 
 climbing on and off the coach while it is going at a 
 sweeping rate. In gallantry, energy and knowledge he 
 is generally superior to all the other passengers. He will 
 answer the questions of a whole group of persons and 
 attend to some matter of business, all at the same time. 
 
 When I alighted from the coach at La Paz, I was 
 like one paralyzed in all his joints and limbs. I could 
 scarcely stand, much less walk. 
 
 I looked around at the adobe walls and the deserted 
 houses Avith walls, windows, roofs, floors, everything from 
 garret to cellar, from pavement to rear fence, all going 
 to decay. I thought the Mexicans here much worse 
 
180 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 off than those in other localities. Very rough-looking 
 customers were to be seen in front of saloons, groceries 
 and in groups on corners. I could not but think that 
 a great many of them must be common vagrants, with 
 no means of support. The word ragged conveys but 
 a feeble idea of their miserable dress. These poor 
 wretches all carried six-shooters, and knives sticking 
 out boldly and defiantly from their persons. Verily, 
 they were hard-looking specimens of the human race. 
 I gathered my things from among the bundles that 
 had been tossed pell-mell in a heap together from the 
 stage, and went to the hotel. The only one then in 
 the town was kept by an American. I stood gloomily 
 clutching my things, waiting until my host should give 
 me checks for them. Some how or other, he had got 
 his checks mismatched, and I thought he never would 
 find two of a corresponding number. He did finally, 
 however, fish up the checks from some quarter of the 
 house, or out of some of his pockets. Giving me one, 
 he tied the remaining tag to my things. Being relieved 
 of my baggage, I turned and took a seat. The land- 
 lord then began to ply me with questions. " Do you 
 desire a room for the night?" "Where did you get on 
 the stage?" "Do you want supper?" "How are the 
 roads?" "Any road-agents at work down about the 
 Fort?" and so on, until I wondered if he would ever 
 come to the end. He then offered me the drinks, 
 which I politely declined, telling him I had never 
 drank any in my life, and could very well get along 
 without it now. "Well, then, do you ever smoke?" 
 
LA PAZ. 181 
 
 "Yes, sir." So I accepted a cigar that was certainly 
 made from some weed worse if possible, than tobacco, 
 and that would not draw any more than a piece of 
 iron -wood. I soon tired of such enjoyment as an 
 effort to smoke this afforded. I threw the cigar aside, 
 and went out and took a wash. After this, I felt in a 
 better humor in mind, and considerably revived other- 
 wise. 
 
 After I had taken a survey of the people, and 
 the things inside of the house, I was not very favora- 
 bly impressed with my stopping-place. Everything 
 and everybody seemed to be suffering from a severe 
 attack of hard times. The windows and doors were all 
 cut and scratched; various calculations and reckonings 
 had been scrawled upon the door and window casings 
 and walls, and names had been written everywhere, 
 until there was no available room for more. Every 
 thing was disagreeable and uninviting. I felt doomed 
 to dreariness. Everything to intoxicate and degrade 
 was here. There was the "valley tan" flavor of uneasi- 
 ness hovering over the whole place. Here w r ere men 
 who long had outraged every law of Nature, gathered 
 in groups around circular tables, gambling. Others 
 went staggering around the room, or were lying pros- 
 trate under the influence of liquor. 
 
 I went to the door, and looked out on the street. 
 The sight was appalling. Here were men swearing in 
 a jargon of Spanish and broken English, with now and 
 then a plain-spoken English phrase, for there were some 
 Americans in town. Some were betting on horse- 
 
182 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 races; some on cock-fights, bull-fights, foot-racing, 
 jumping, wrestling, and future chances in general. 
 Some were stripping for a fight; others fighting, chums 
 taking sides either actively or with a great deal of harm- 
 less bluster. Some had pistols drawn, and the whole 
 town seemed to be in a riot. The tumult and racket 
 sometimes lulled for a moment, only to break out again 
 afresh in new groups quickly formed elsewhere. It 
 seemed to me that boarding in this place would only 
 be from the lack of a better place to go to. 
 
 While I was standing, contemplating the different 
 faces before me, the landlord announced that "hash" 
 was ready. As I entered the door, a number of per- 
 sons (I suppose, regular boarders) made a rush for the 
 dining-room, and engaged in a general scramble as to 
 who should get seated first, just as if there was not 
 enough for a mouthful a piece. I got a seat, finally, 
 at one end of the table, but really I would have pre- 
 ferred to have had my portion handed out to me, that 
 I might have eaten it under some tree, and there made 
 my dinner in peace. Every fellow was going for what 
 he could get, as if it were the last meal that he ever 
 expected to eat, and as if he had not partaken of a 
 mouthful for several days. 
 
 After the meal was over, we went back to the 
 saloon, (for this was 'also the sitting-room). The 
 crowd immediately arranged themselves around the 
 stove, some with their feet on the stove, and leaning 
 back in different positions ; others with their legs hang- 
 ing over and resting upon chairs, some smoking, others 
 
LA PAZ. 183 
 
 chewing tobacco, as if they all were trying to get the 
 taste of the meal out of their mouths. Thus, they 
 resigned themselves to indigestion. The landlord was 
 a short, heavy-set, good-looking specimen of a frontiers- 
 man. His every action and whole manner showed him 
 to be a man accustomed to but one single thought, and 
 that thought was to get all he could, regardless of the 
 method employed. I sat and talked with him awhile 
 and found him perfectly at home upon the different 
 topics of conversation. He told me several stories, all 
 bearing a strong flavor of the roughness of the place. 
 He told me also what a wilderness of a place it was 
 when he first moved there. I could but think while 
 he was telling me this that it must have grown worse 
 instead of better, since it was settled; for, though I had 
 seen rough civilization before, I had seen none to com- 
 pare with what I saw that day. He told how he had 
 killed several " Injuns," and several times was nearly 
 scalped himself. All this he told with much candor, 
 but, as I thought, with a good deal of braggadocio. 
 
 I after a little left the bar-room, and went to the 
 post-office. There I found a letter, informing me that 
 my friends would not be in town for three days yet to 
 come. I then took a stroll through the streets, if 
 streets they can be called. Here I beheld numerous 
 specimens of the "Greaser," dark and swarthy, and well 
 named Greaser, each jabbering to his friend in " Mexi- 
 cana." I saw the freighter loading up his teams with 
 hides, to take to some of the coast towns in California. 
 I found the saloon-keeper everywhere, with his sign up 
 
184 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 above the door, and, perchance, he himself standing 
 as conspicuously in the door-way, inviting those who 
 would to indulge in drink. I whiled my hours away, 
 strolling about until time to return to the hotel. 
 
 After resting a while, I prepared to retire for the 
 night. Preceded by my redoubtable hero of a host, 
 and a flaring candle, I followed up-stairs to my room. 
 It was the only spare bed he had, he told me. The 
 room had a cloth partition on one side, and large 
 holes through the wooden partition on the other. It 
 was unfurnished, nothing in it, except the spare bed. 
 It had a very small window on one side, which rattled 
 fearfully every time the wind came against it. From 
 the bar-room came one continued uproar of profane 
 epithets and drunken orgies, all night long. I tried to 
 sleep, but could not. I covered up my head, thinking 
 to drown the tumult. Everything I could do failed to 
 let me have a moment's relief from the gang of gam- 
 bling and drinking fellows down stairs. The night 
 was long. I thought daylight would never come. I 
 arose early in the morning, and was told that I could 
 get no breakfast until seven o'clock. I had firmly 
 resolved to leave this boarding-house that morning, 
 provided I could find another. So killing time as best 
 I could, until breakfast was over, I started in search of 
 another hotel. Any place I thought would be better 
 than that one. 
 
 After searching the town over, I at last found a 
 place which I thought would suit me. It was a small, 
 two-story adobe house, kept by an old lady and her two 
 
LA PAZ. 185 
 
 daughters. After all arrangements had been made, 
 and it was settled that I should take up my stay with 
 them until my companions came from Los Angelos, 
 I went back to the hotel to get my things. When I 
 arrived, everything was still in an uproar. One big 
 Texan, beastly drunk, was lying flat on his back in 
 the bar-room, with a large dragoon revolver in each 
 hand, shooting at everything in the room he could get 
 sight of. He had frightened everybody out of the 
 room, so that he was like Robinson Crusoe, monarch 
 of all he surveyed. He had the large looking-glass 
 that was back of the bar shattered to pieces with bul- 
 lets. I suppose he had been trying to kill himself, or 
 the fellow that looked like him in the glass. There were 
 pictures with holes shot through them, holes in the 
 ceiling over head, holes in the windows. The stove 
 was lying on its side, broken up in his amusement. 
 He had done a great deal of mischief in a short time. 
 I told my host I would settle my bill and take my 
 things. He was sorry, as he expressed himself, that I 
 would not remain longer, but I had not an insurance 
 on my life, though I would have taken out a policy 
 at almost any price, the way I was feeling just 
 then. I settled up, and gladly took my departure from 
 that ill-managed house. 
 
 The idea of going where I thought there would be 
 a social family circle, was particularly pleasant. This 
 would naturally be the case with most any single man 
 like myself. I had been tumbling and pitching over 
 pumice rocks in the w r ilds of Arizona, with a load of 
 
186 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 surveying apparatus upon my back, for the season past. I 
 pictured to myself the sitting-room and dining-room with 
 the old lady and two buxom, grown daughters, bustling 
 around to make the place sociable and comfortable. But 
 how often our imaginations prove delusions ! I shouldered 
 my things, and off I went to my new boarding-house. 
 I had my mind fixed on how I would act, and what 
 nice things I would say to the old lady, and how sweetly 
 I would talk to the daughters. I heard them bustling 
 around in the house, when I knocked at the hall door. 
 My knock was answered by the eldest daughter. I 
 was told to walk in. I was just commencing one of 
 my sweet sentences, and had just got out, " How ha " 
 when my foot caught in a hole in the carpet. I never 
 finished my sentence, for I went falling into the hall, 
 over the young lady, upsetting her and knocking 
 down the hat-stand, making a dreadful racket and 
 crash. 
 
 The noise brought Mrs. Pierce and her remaining 
 daughter to the scene, to behold my things strewn 
 along the hall. The eldest daughter had regained an 
 upright position against the wall, and was no doubt 
 wondering what kind of a boarder they had got, and I 
 was trying to regain my equilibrium in another part of 
 the hall, with all my sweet words withered and forever 
 lost. Mrs. Pierce had her sleeves rolled up to her el- 
 bows. She had been making up the bread. Not a 
 smile was visible on her countenance. Her daughter 
 with a dusting-pan was close by, wondering no doubt 
 if I was drunk or had taken a " conniption fit," which 
 
LA PAZ. 187 
 
 last, I presume, was most likely. Her sister was evi- 
 dently frightened almost out of her wits. My position 
 was to me more embarrassing than amusing. I blurted 
 out some kind of an apology. I do not remember 
 what I said. When I had gathered my things together 
 I was ushered into a small room, certainly not very 
 well furnished, which was used as a sitting-room. 
 Here I was left alone to wonder what they thought 
 of me. I heard the daughters say to each other, 
 "How clumsy he is!" 
 
 " Yes, he is so. I wonder if he is drunk. " 
 
 "What a stumbling w^ay he has of coming into a 
 
 room!' 
 
 "I should say he had. Did you see him? He fell 
 over me and knocked me down. He frightened me 
 so I could hardly get my breath to speak. I wonder 
 who he is, and what he has got in his valise, and how 
 long he intends to stay here," etc., with innumerable 
 other questions and comments, until I thought my 
 position rather unenviable and unpromising. 
 
 I had not been there long, before dinner was 
 announced. When I went in to dinner, I found the 
 table had been laid with care, and that I was the only 
 boarder present. Mrs. Pierce headed the table, and 
 the two daughters sat opposite me, eating in a lazy 
 manner, and occasionally casting inquisitive glances 
 across the table at me, (a sort of Arkansas courtship). 
 I was dreadfully hungry, and it seemed to me that they 
 were counting how many chops and what amount of 
 other things I ate, so that they might calculate the 
 
188 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 expense of my meal. I was ashamed of my appetite, 
 but I determined to eat as much as I could. Toward 
 the end of my meal, for the others had finished, the 
 eldest daughter arose and donned her hat and shawl. 
 Having given her mother some instructions in reference 
 to supper, and bade us " Good afternoon," she took her 
 departure. I heard her slam the door after her as 
 she left the house. I took the hint and stopped eating. 
 I betook myself to the country for the remainder of the 
 day. I saw nothing worthy of special notice, only a dry, 
 barren, desolate-looking plain, dotted all over here and 
 there with buttes of black rock or lava stone. When 
 I returned to town, the sun was sinking from sight 
 behind the dark-colored mountains in the west. 
 
 After supper I strolled around over town again a 
 little while, to see, as on the previous evening, crowds 
 assembled to again pass the night away in gambling, 
 drinking, and carousing. But this time there were 
 to be more serious results. There was quite a lot of 
 soldiers in town this evening for some purpose, I know 
 not what. All the gambling houses were filled with 
 soldiers and natives. They spent the evening in gam- 
 bling, until it became monotonous, as I suppose, when 
 soldiers and citizens changed the sport into shooting 
 and cutting one another. Two men were killed out- 
 right during the night, and others were badly hurt. 
 This drunken and gambling carousal was going on as 
 long as I remained in La Paz. Horse-racing, chicken- 
 fighting, dog-fighting, and everything involving the 
 principle of chance was sought after for gambling pur- 
 
LA PAZ. 189 
 
 poses. Every occasion of this kind generally ended 
 in a row, to be settled with the pistol or knife. 
 
 After I had seen enough of their rioting, I returned 
 to my lodgings. I was tired and sleepy, and soon 
 went up-stairs to bed. I have seen better beds in 
 Ohio. This one was filled with bed-bugs. The walls 
 of the room were filled; the floor was full. They 
 were of all sizes and colors. They all wanted to be in 
 the bed. I could see them, and smell them, and could 
 hear them falling from the ceiling upon the bed. They 
 ran all over me. They bit me with an energy that 
 could only have been inspired by much previous fasting. 
 I suppose I was a stranger, and they enjoyed a change 
 of diet. Sleep was out of the question. After I had 
 lain for, perhaps, half an hour turning and twisting 
 frantically, trying to keep the bugs out of my ears and 
 face, I began to wish I had not gone to bed. I re- 
 gretted that I had come to La Paz. When a restless 
 hour had been spent with the bugs, I got up and 
 dressed myself, swearing inwardly at La Paz and the 
 whole country. 
 
 There had been a fire down in the sitting-room. Per- 
 haps it was still burning. I had brought a small piece 
 of candle up-stairs with me, but no matches. I opened 
 my door and groped my way along the passage made 
 doubly gloomy by the whistling of the night wind. 
 In feeling for the stairway, I got to the wrong end of 
 the opening. There was no railing around it, and, 
 groping along in the darkness, I stepped off into space 
 and fell down through the opening, hard enough to 
 
190 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 have broken every bone in my body. The memory of 
 that fall makes me laugh even now. I do wonder if other 
 people ever fall down stairs. It gives one curious feel- 
 ings, to fall down stairs in a strange house. I picked 
 myself up as best I could at the foot of the stairs, and 
 entered the room. I found the fire still burning a 
 little. I was very much jammed and bruised, and was 
 bleeding in several places where I had been hurt 
 by the fall. I stirred the fire up, and, drawing a chair 
 close to the stove, was just falling into some serious 
 meditations over my situation, when the door was 
 opened, and the eldest daughter looked into the room 
 in a frightened way. She had heard me falling down 
 stairs, and, wondering what could cause so much dis- 
 turbance, she had gathered up courage enough to come 
 down and see. I tried to explain the situation by tell- 
 ing her that the bed they had given me to sleep in was 
 already taken with hungry occupants, etc. 
 
 We fell into a conversation, and I learned many 
 particulars from her in reference to the history of the 
 family. There were only the three of them at home. 
 They had a sister married, and a brother in the Fresno 
 Mines, in California. Mr. Pierce, their father, had been 
 killed in a row two years before at one of the mining 
 camps north. We talked until I was sleepy. I then 
 asked her to give me a spare blanket, if they had one. 
 She gave me a number of them. I then made a bed 
 on the floor, where I enjoyed as good a sleep, as I ever 
 had, for I was tired and sleepy. I did not awake until 
 the sun was shining brightly through the window. I 
 
LA PAZ. 191 
 
 remained in La Paz and vicinity for two more days 
 and nights, when my friends arrived. I slept on the 
 floor each night, in preference to any of their beds. 
 
 Before I leave I will sum up my impressions of the 
 place briefly. The sun blazes down upon the town 
 from the cloudless skies day after day in succession, 
 until one's weary eyes long for relief from the dazzling 
 light. There can not be found a hotter place on the 
 American Continent, taking the year around, than 
 Yuma County, Arizona. The natives of La Paz are 
 principally Mexican Greasers. Their stock in trade is 
 horse-racing, whisky, cards, tobacco, cigarettes, a knife, 
 one and often two revolvers, a lasso or lariat, with a 
 few other like articles. It may be that it would be 
 more gracious, and more to my credit, did I not find 
 so much fault with the natives of Arizona. But I spent 
 some time there, and all the scenes I have narrated, 
 and will yet speak of, took place. Consequently, I am 
 profoundly of the opinion that a good part of the natives 
 need to be enlightened and civilized. 
 
 I went back to the Fort again on the stage, as I 
 came. We went first to Los Posos, a Spanish town; 
 then, from there, we went across over the South Granite 
 Mountains. The next station we halted at was Deep 
 Well, where we cross the Mass Kampa River, which is 
 one of the northern tributaries of the Gila River; thence 
 to White Tanks, and thence to Fort McDowell. Fort 
 McDowell is situated on the Francisco River. This 
 stream empties into the Solado River, and the Solado 
 runs into the Gila. Fort McDowell is hemmed in on 
 
192 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 all sides by low, broken hills, much lower than those a 
 little farther distant. These side hills produce but little 
 vegetation. Scarcely any grass could be seen on them. 
 At the foot of these hills, in some places where there 
 is water, as along the river bottoms, there is some very 
 good grass; but it is not as plentiful, neither is the soil 
 as productive, as where the climate is cooler, and there 
 is less drought. Even if it rains hard in Arizona, the 
 water soon disappears in the sandy soil. The Fort is 
 situated midway between Prescott on the north and 
 Tucson on the south. 
 
 I was glad enough to arrive back again, where 
 my companions were awaiting my return. It was 
 about eleven o'clock at night when the "Jerkey" 
 wagon drove up. I was tired and hungry. My appe- 
 tite flourishes with exercise in the open air. But I had 
 a good supper of venison, fish, potatoes, bread, etc., 
 followed by an hour's talk with those who had not yet 
 retired to sleep, but had been awaiting the arrival of 
 the mail. The remainder of the night, spent in sound 
 sleep, put me in good shape again, and I felt better 
 than I had at any time since I had left there to go to 
 La Paz. Roughing it is very pleasant, of course; but 
 I would not advise anyone to try it on. In this expe- 
 rience you must meet with various, unexpected, and 
 vexatious misfortunes, seldom thought of or met else- 
 where. It is only the man of rare good fortune that 
 in such a life as this meets with sufficient reward to 
 justify and compensate him for all his loss of comfort 
 and enjoyment. 
 
STOCK-RAISING. 193 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 STOCK-RAISING. 
 
 AMONG all the various enterprises in the West 
 stock-raising ranks first. With many of these 
 western settlers it seems as natural and easy to raise 
 stock successfully as it is for the farmer of Illinois to 
 raise corn. Some men are always more successful in an 
 undertaking than others are who may have equal, if not 
 better, advantages; and they generally succeed, too, with 
 more ease, less attention to business apparently, and 
 with a certain don't-care, go-ahead kind of spirit that 
 seems, to a beholder, to border closely upon recklessness. 
 The ease and success with which this business is pros- 
 ecuted, depends principally upon the number of cattle 
 one has in the herd, and the locality and situation of 
 the range. As in other enterprises, the more attention 
 bestowed upon it, and the greater care exercised, the 
 greater the profits. To start into the cattle business a man 
 must have money. He purchases a brand for marking his 
 stock, which is generally the initials of his name, or some- 
 times an imitation of some instrument. This brand or 
 mark is recorded at the nearest county clerk's office. 
 
 The man that goes into raising stock must 
 content himself to live along the frontier, away 
 from all society, except of a few frontier neighbors. 
 He is shut off from all communication with the 
 
194 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 world at large, away from railroads and post-offices, 
 sometimes as much as three hundred miles in earlier 
 days, much further than this, indeed. Stock-raisers gen- 
 erally go into the foot hills, because there they find past- 
 urage and water. The foot-hill and mountain bunch 
 grass is excellent food for stock. The herd consists of 
 cattle of all kind and all ages. After these are all prop- 
 erly branded, they are turned loose on their respective 
 ranges. Some of the stockmen who have been in the 
 business a long time have enormous herds. These are 
 left in the hands of herders, or, as they are called in 
 Texas, " Cow-boys." These herders are a very rough, 
 uncouth, and untidy class of fellows. 
 
 When an animal is sold from a herd, then the former 
 owner brands it with what is known as a vending brand. 
 This vending brand is recorded like the former. It is 
 used to cancel the former brand. When this is applied 
 to an animal, it indicates that the former owner relin- 
 quishes all right and title to said animal. When an 
 owner's whole stock is purchased, then the purchaser 
 generally buys the brand also, and that saves canceling. 
 All the animals that can be found bearing the former 
 owner's brand, belong to the last purchaser. When 
 animals are bought and driven away, it is customary to 
 give a bill of sale, which bill is recognized and re- 
 spected by law. 
 
 In early days an owner of cattle could drive his herd 
 where he liked; but now there are inspectors in nearly 
 every county in which a large business in stock-raising 
 is carried on. Before stock is taken from the county, 
 
5 TO CK-RA IS ING. 
 
 195 
 
 it is inspected by the County Inspector. Then the 
 owner is permitted to pass with his stock where he 
 
 A WESTERN FRONTIERSMAN. 
 
 pleases. When stock is on the ranges that the owners 
 have assigned for it, it is left entirely in the hands of 
 
196 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 herders, or cow-boys. These look after the stock, stand 
 guard over it, and, if any animals wander away, they 
 look after and hunt them up. Oftentimes several own- 
 fers of stock join together, and let their herders run the 
 same range. Some of the herding grounds are as much 
 as fifty miles square. The cattle are allowed to run at 
 will on this large scope of territory. The herders re- 
 main on the outskirts, where they ride around from post 
 to post, keeping the stock within the proper bounds. 
 A good range consists of any territory away from the 
 settlements, with sufficient room, plenty of good grass, 
 a supply of water, and plenty of shelter, either timber or 
 bluffs. The herder is allowed sometimes as many as five 
 or six ponies, which he rides by turns while herding. 
 
 The most work the herder has, is when a herd is 
 removed from one range to another. Then great dili- 
 gence is required from the herders, until the animals 
 become accustomed to their new range. This may 
 take some time, as some animals are naturally much 
 inclined to wander. If some start from a herd, a great 
 many more will follow. If animals leave the herd, 
 and the direction they have gone is not known, which 
 is often the case, then the range is circled until their 
 tracks are discovered, when they are followed up and 
 brought back. If stock is taken to a new range in the 
 fall of the year, and is fed and salted occasionally, 
 until they can get good grass, they do not then incline 
 so much to rambling. Stock is very seldom fed in the 
 West, where herded. Work cattle and milch cows 
 are sometimes fed in bad weather. 
 
STOCK -RAISING. 197 
 
 The stock-men have certain times when they make 
 what they call " round-ups." Then all who are inter- 
 ested in stock-raising, turn out and round in their 
 stock. The calves are all branded and marked by 
 their respective owners. This is an exciting time. 
 The long-horned Texas and Mexican cattle, the full- 
 bloods of that breed, wild and vicious, come pitching 
 at horse and rider with all their mad and enraged 
 strength. They will run right over one, if possible, and 
 trample and gore him to death. 
 
 Here is Mr. Rust's description of the cow-boys, 
 and their customs: "There are various rules and cus- 
 toms among stock-men. Some of their practices are 
 in diametrical opposition to the statutory provisions and 
 common law. Cow-boys are said, in the way of laud- 
 ation, to be brave, bold, free-hearted and true to their 
 friends. In the fulfillment of the above specification, 
 they take pride, even though not in strict obedience to 
 law and order. Yet, the services of the expert cow- 
 boys are indispensable, and they must be tolerated, 
 although they arrogate to themselves superior powers, 
 and at times set law at defiance. There is practically 
 no appeal from their decisions, they being out of the 
 reach of law. They defend themselves most vigor- 
 ously against what they may deem any encroachment 
 upon their sacred rights. Arrests or apprehensions are 
 seldom made on their grounds. They, like the Mor- 
 mons, keep the law in their own hands. 
 
 >6 When a new cow-boy enters a camp, a few of the 
 boys propose a hunt. All agree. A part of the 
 
198 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 campers, including the new one, wheel into rank for 
 the hunt. They make a half day's ride out to some 
 convenient hunting ground, where they prepare a 
 camp. They leave here a proper number on guard, of 
 which number the new comer is one. This guard is 
 to give an alarm, in case of a surprise by Indians. 
 Another party, from the main camp, in full Indian 
 costume then comes rushing upon the camp about 
 midnight. They fire twenty or thirty blank shots, and 
 give the war whoop. The sleeping hunters awake, 
 and raise the cry of ' Indians, boys, Indians! Run, 
 run!' All, Greeny included, rush pell-mell into the 
 bush, leaving the horses. It often happens that the 
 new one is never seen again. I do not mean to insin- 
 uate that there is ever foul play used on such occasions. 
 The new comer has simply gone off after a stock of 
 courage." 
 
 There are many such tricks resorted to, for the 
 sole purpose of testing the courage of a new hand. 
 These cow-boys, or stock-herders, are bound by the sa- 
 crecl ties of brotherhood to defend one another. These, 
 with the Indians, are about the only neighbors one 
 has on the frontier. 
 
 Often you will find men with small herds, which 
 they look after themselves; they seldom venture as far 
 away from the pale of society as those with larger 
 herds, who have a number of cow-boys in their 
 employ. 
 
 The life of the frontier herder is one of continual 
 danger. Indians are supposed to be either on reserva- 
 
STOCK-RAISING. 
 
 199 
 
 tions and peaceable, or back from the frontier. Yet, 
 they will often come swooping down like an eagle after 
 
 READY FOR A RAID. 
 
 its prey, and kill the herders, and drive the whole 
 herd away to their retreat. And this is so common an 
 occurrence, that it happens every day in some part of 
 
200 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 the West. Whole settlements have been left destitute 
 of horses, cattle and sheep, in a short time, as the 
 principal part of the frontier-man's wealth consists of 
 stock. When this stock is run off, he is in a very poor 
 condition. Frequently, hard fights follow, to recover 
 property from the Indians, where whole settlements 
 are sometimes either murdered or driven away from 
 their homes entirely. Of this I will speak again, 
 further on. 
 
STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 
 
 NEW Year's Day, 1877, found me in San Fran- 
 cisco, California. I had for some time been deal- 
 ing in mining stocks, and, like the majority of people 
 who dabbled in stocks that winter, I had been unsuc- 
 cessful. I had bought Ophir, Mexican, Union-Consol- 
 idated and Sierra Nevada stock at a high figure. 
 The Board of Brokers in the Stock Exchange is 
 divided into two factions, one the opposite of the 
 other. These factions are known to the public by 
 their well-earned titles of "Bulls" and "Bears." 
 The object of the "Bulls" is to keep stock up to a 
 good price; while the "Bears" do their best to break 
 the market by large sales of stock, often going so far 
 as to sell stock that is not in their possession. 
 
 During the Winter both factions had taken a very 
 active part; but the " Bears " finally won the field, and 
 the " Bulls " had been compelled to retreat in confusion. 
 The market had gone down, until mining stock was 
 a drug. Previous to this time stocks had fluctuated 
 more or less, and generally stood at fair prices. A 
 person of shrewd judgment could make fair profits on 
 quick sales, often doubling the money invested in a 
 week's transaction of business. I remember that in the 
 early part of the Winter I made a purchase of several 
 
202 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 shares in one of the leading Washoe mines, and in ten 
 days I sold out for nearly four times what the stock 
 cost me. But, about January i, there came a depres- 
 sion. To double up stock now was only to lose, and to 
 double on a margin was sure destruction. I with hun- 
 dreds of others found myself losing daily. I could see no 
 better way out than to sell, and save what I could by 
 putting it into my pocket. I did so. I then found that 
 I had lost about two-thirds of the money I had when I 
 began. Out of the eleven thousand dollars I started in 
 with, I saved three thousand. 
 
 I continued watching the market closely, and often 
 thought another investment in such and such stock 
 would prove a splendid speculation. But I was afraid 
 to invest. This was my situation, when I received a 
 dispatch from my uncle in Utah Territory to come on 
 there immediately. He wished me to invest some 
 money in teams, and to go with him as a partner to Col- 
 orado with flour. We could buy flour in Utah for 
 three dollars a hundred. In Ouray, Colorado, flour 
 was worth fifteen dollars a hundred, and we could 
 readily get that price for all we might take there. We 
 would have a good road all the way, but it was through 
 the Ute and Piute country. The road was traveled but 
 little, since few persons cared to undertake such a 
 hazardous journey. My uncle had just come over the 
 road in company with some others, and thought that 
 we could make the trip in thirty-five days with freight 
 teams. Having been a heavy loser in California stocks, 
 I thought this looked like a big thing for me, and that 
 
STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 
 
 203 
 
 I would not be likely to find any better opportun- 
 ity to redeem my shattered fortunes. I sent a letter to 
 my uncle, asking for full particulars, and meanwhile 
 began to settle up all my affairs, preparatory to joining 
 him. My letter was delayed for some time on the road. 
 I did not get an answer until near the end of the month. 
 When the answer did come, it was sufficiently satis- 
 factory to induce me to make the venture and see 
 w r hat we could do. So, on the fourth of February, I 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY, 1857. 
 
 left San Francisco for Salt Lake City, which place I 
 reached two days after. The city of the Latter-Day 
 Saints presented a bustling, thriving appearance, having 
 grown from a mere straggling village in 1857 to a 
 Mormon metropolis of some 15,000 inhabitants in 1874. 
 I found Uncle there, but by no means ready to start. 
 Here I met with a number of persons I had known 
 when I first came West. Some of them I now found 
 
204 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 in good circumstances. Others were evidently rather 
 the worse for hard luck; a great many of them in very 
 poor circumstances, without money or property of 
 any kind. 
 
 I was there several days, waiting to see what was 
 to be done, for I had learned on my arrival that there 
 were to be three partners in the undertaking. I amused 
 myself by going to the theater in the evenings, and by 
 hunting up and talking with old acquaintances during 
 the day. I went one day to see Captain Bogardus kill 
 his forty-four birds out of a possible fifty. The Cap- 
 tain gained celebrity in San Francisco in the sport of 
 shooting. He is considered the crack shot of the 
 world. The boarding at the Salt Lake House, where 
 I stopped, was wretched. I could not stand it. I 
 slept there, and went to the Arcade Restaurant, where 
 I could get a good meal, for fifty cents, of anything I 
 called for. 
 
 On Thursday, the i5th, we went to Lowell & Co., in 
 Salt Lake City, and bought wagons, and a complete out- 
 fit of everything pertaining to them, as bows, covers, etc. 
 The next day we shipped these, via the Utah Southern 
 Railroad, to York, at that time the terminus of the road. It 
 is nearly one hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. We 
 went to York the same day, unloaded our wagons, and 
 set them up. They were all large, four and one-half 
 inch thimble, Fish Brothers' wagons, made at Racine, 
 Wisconsin, with high beds and broad tread. We staid 
 in York over night, and the next morning hired a 
 man to take the wagons to Fountain Green, a settle- 
 
STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 205 
 
 ment in the northern part of San Pete County. We 
 went to Salt Creek by stage, and staid all night at a 
 Gentile hotel, owned and managed by a Mr. Seely. 
 There were a great many miners and others there, all 
 Gentiles. 
 
 Mr. Seely being a Gentile, the Mormons would not 
 put up with him. They preferred to stop with Mr. 
 Foot, who kept a Mormon house. He is the man who 
 has attained considerable notoriety from having taken 
 so active a part in sheltering and deceiving the two 
 wounded men who had escaped and made their way to 
 his place, more dead than alive, from the horrible 
 butchery of their party on the banks of the Sevier 
 River, south of Salt Creek, by Brigham Young's in- 
 famous "destroying angels." After these two poor 
 fellows had remained some days with Foot, they en- 
 deavored to procure transportation to Salt Lake City. 
 An old wagon was furnished them by one man, and 
 after a little time they found a Mormon, who agreed to 
 hitch his team to the wagon and take them to the city. 
 Foot had taken possession of their revolvers, and would 
 not give them up. He, by the way, has one of them 
 yet in his possession, a very handsome revolver, 
 mounted in gold. When they had gone a short dis- 
 tance from town, the driver halted under the pretense 
 of watering his horses. The two poor fellows were 
 again immediately set upon by some of these hellish 
 rascals, who were lying in wait for them, and shot with 
 doubled-barreled shot-guns. One of them fell dead in 
 the wagon, and the other on the outside. Their bodies 
 
206 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 were then taken to what is known as the Bottomless 
 Spring, close by the scene of the tragedy, and there 
 weighted with rocks, and thrown in; the cold-blooded 
 murderers thus hiding in this spring the evidences of 
 another of their most foul deeds. This same Foot is 
 still keeping a hotel in Salt Creek, or was when I was 
 there, and the rest of the perpetrators of that deed are 
 running at large. 
 
 At Mr. Seely's, I met with a number of persons I 
 had formerly known. Among the rest were the Gilson 
 brothers, owners of a large herd of California horses, 
 which they kept in Castle Valley. Sam Gilson was 
 United States Marshal in Utah. These brothers are 
 large, strong, daring and resolute men, each standing 
 over six feet in height. They are very well liked by the 
 Gentiles, but feared and held in dread by the Mormons, 
 who repeatedly make assaults on them. They are all 
 scarred and cut in many places on their persons, but, 
 like cats, they are very tenacious of life. 
 
 The next day we hired a man to take us to Manti. 
 This is a settlement in San Pete County, and entirely 
 Mormon. The Mormons are erecting at this place 
 another temple, similar to the one in Salt Lake City. 
 Here we went to buying work-oxen of the Mormons. 
 We wanted fifty yoke of cattle, so that we could work 
 six yoke to the team, and have two yoke as extras. 
 Six yoke of cattle and two wagons constitute a team, 
 with one driver. We were in Manti until the morning 
 of the twenty-fifth. We had not yet bought a suffi- 
 cient number of cattle. We took twenty-four yoke 
 
STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 207 
 
 and went to Fountain Green, to Mr. Dougall's flour- 
 ing mill, and loaded up fifty thousand pounds of flour. 
 There was no trouble in driving the cattle up to 
 Fountain Green, for they were all loose, and traveled 
 as fast as we wanted to go. 
 
 I had never driven cattle in my life, but I did not 
 see anything to hinder me from driving. I thought 
 about all there was to do was to walk along and keep 
 them in the road, and, if an ox shirked a little, to touch 
 him up with the whip. But that word "whip" brings 
 to my memory the many painful cuttings and slashings 
 that I inflicted upon myself. I had a whip with a lash 
 eighteen feet long, near two inches in diameter at the 
 largest part, and a stock about four feet long. This whip 
 worried me. I could not crack it like other ox drivers 
 did. I was continually trying. I wondered how they 
 could make their whip crack so. I thought there 
 must be some slight in it. My companions in the pro- 
 fession had been driving before; they had had experience. 
 They tried to teach me. I would try, try again; I 
 kept trying, and all I could accomplish would be to 
 slash the tail end of my whip around my head and 
 neck. I would then try the under hand lick; would 
 succeed in cutting myself most unmercifully around the 
 legs, or else in getting the lash all coiled and entangled 
 about my feet, almost throwing me down. I would 
 stop and uncoil it, and get it all straightened out, and 
 then try to swing it over and around my head, but 
 there was something wrong with the whip, for the 
 snapper and my head were continually coming in 
 
208 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 contact with each other, bringing the water to my eyes. 
 I was, of course, angry, and out of patience, but I kept 
 my sufferings to myself. Myself and whip afforded 
 much amusement to the boys. I was vexed to think I 
 was outdone. I would steal out with my whip where 
 I thought I would be unobserved, to practice striking 
 at some object. But the boys were wide-awake fellows 
 when there was any prospect for fun. They would 
 steal a march on me, and lie concealed and watch me 
 cutting and slashing away with that whip in very dead 
 earnest. When they had laughed until their sides were 
 sore, and their cheeks were wet with tears of amuse- 
 ment (and mine, meanwhile, with tears of anger and 
 pain), they would then laugh outright, and make their 
 presence known to me. Then I would invariably wilt. 
 After our flour was all loaded, we then set to work 
 to yoke up the cattle. That was another job I 
 dreaded, and the more so after we had the cattle corral- 
 ed in a large pen. I was nervous, I have no doubt, 
 for some of the cattle had horns, and, oh! what horns! 
 nearly as long as the rest of the body; they looked 
 frightful. Some of the cattle were wild, very wild, 
 while others were friendly, in fact, too friendly, for they 
 would come as far as they could get their horns 
 through the corral fence to meet us. I do not know 
 why, but somehow or other, it became an understood 
 thing, from the start, that I was to help yoke and 
 tend the cattle. I cannot tell the experience of 
 others, but my first lesson in yoking up convinced me 
 of several things. First, that Texas and Mexican cat- 
 
STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 209 
 
 tie have horns, and that they are not particular how 
 they use them. And, secondly, that each one of them 
 is in possession of a pair of hind legs that a mule might 
 be proud of. Probably the only thing that kept me 
 from using my revolver, which I was carrying in my 
 belt, was that such action might be fraught with much 
 more danger to the persons around the corral, watching, 
 laughing and joking, and to my companions on the in- 
 side, than to the particular ox which was just then the 
 object of my ire. Some of these cattle were easy to 
 yoke. We had to lasso others of them, and draw them 
 up to a post. We would put a yoke on the one caught, 
 and then lasso another and draw him up beside that 
 one. We used the gentle ones for leaders, and would 
 drive these around in front of t.he wild ones, and fasten 
 them together by a chain, before we let them loose. 
 After a long time had been spent in yoking and 
 hitching up, we drove out, starting back to Manti, 
 where we expected to get more cattle and more freight. 
 The roads were very muddy. In the settled portion 
 of Utah, there is a ditch on either side of every street 
 and road, and many cross-ditches, so that water is 
 running in every direction, to be used for irrigating 
 and other purposes. These ditches are seldom, if ever, 
 bridged, and the mud is much deeper than the water. 
 Whenever we came to one of these settlements, we 
 would put twelve yoke of cattle to one wagon, and 
 then a number of drivers would range themselves on 
 each side of the team, and whoop, and cut, and slash, 
 until we got through town. All the people in the vil- 
 
 14. 
 
210 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 lage would run to their doors, and stand in groups 
 through the streets, watching the fun. Sometimes a 
 chain would break; it was sure to break when the 
 wagon was in the worst place. Then we would put 
 on more cattle, sometimes we would have twenty 
 yoke of cattle to one wagon; and, by this time, if it 
 was in town, the whole population would be gathered 
 around, looking at the team and wagon, and laughing 
 and passing remarks, not the most complimentary. 
 We would then try again, all hands assisting, by push- 
 ing the wagon, and endeavoring to roll the wheels. 
 Everybody not engaged in whipping the cattle or push- 
 ing the wagon, would assist by shaking their hats, and 
 yelling at the top of their voices; and the poor cattle 
 would by this time be so terribly frightened, that, 
 if a chain did not break, they were sure to run 
 out with the wagon. In a scene ot this kind, the 
 drivers were very apt, accidently of course, to let 
 some of the bystanders feel the weight of their whips, 
 which action always added not a little to the confusion 
 ol the moment. I was very Villing at such times to 
 give up my whip, and go back in the mud and water, 
 and push, for, had I tried to use the whip, no one else 
 could have come near the same side of the cattle. 
 Neither was I safe from a whip in my own hands. 
 
 I remember, the second day of March, w^e had got 
 to Parley Alfred's place, in San Pete County, Utah. There 
 we stuck in the mud about noon. We worked until 
 twelve at night, whipping and slashing, until there 
 were, I know, as many as three hundred people around, 
 

 STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 211 
 
 pulling and pushing, and helping us through a mud 
 hole that was not over three hundred feet across. 
 Here I fared roughly, for, in the early part of the after- 
 noon, I had gone in among the cattle to fix a chain, 
 when one of them kicked me, knocking me down in the 
 mud, with which I was completely covered, and, while 
 I was trying to get out, he struck me another lick, 
 knocking me back against the off-pointer. He was 
 an ugly brute. He made a pass at me with his long 
 horns, but I was so close to him that he only struck 
 me with the side of them. He knocked me clean out 
 of time, however. I landed, not as one usually sits 
 down, but on the flat of my back in the mud. Then 
 and 'there I swore vengeance upon that ox. To find 
 myself crawling out of the mud in this pitiable plight, 
 looking more like a hog that had just been wallowing 
 in the mire than the well-dressed city lad I had been 
 but a few days before, was more than human nature 
 could endure. I rebelled. If I could have had my 
 money back that I had already invested, I would 
 have given up the freighting business on the spot, and 
 would never have tried to drive another ox. But I 
 was like other men often have been, and will continue 
 to be; I had got my foot into the mud, and must either 
 push through or stick fast. 
 
 We got back to Manti on the night of the fifth of 
 March. The roads had been muddy all the way. 
 Here we remained for two days, buying up more cattle, 
 to fill out our teams. We also filled out our loads, 
 making ten thousand pounds of freight to the team. 
 
212 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 On the morning of the eighth, we had everything in 
 readiness, including beds, clothing, guns, provisions for 
 two months, and a cooking outfit. The . roads were 
 (heavy, and we made but a short drive the first day. 
 
 We were now on the road for San Juan, Colorado. 
 We intended to follow the old road that Captain Gunni- 
 son took his soldiers over in 1855. It had never been 
 traveled over since. It will be my endeavor to describe 
 the route, as I go along, the best I can. I think that I 
 have had a better opportunity to view that section of 
 country than any white ma-n that ever was there 
 before me. 
 
 Our train was arranged as follows: William John- 
 son Black, of Manti, drove the lead team. I was 
 second. George B. Kelly, of Salt Lake City, next; 
 William Stringan, of Manti, fourth; Albert Stevens, of 
 Salt Lake City, next; Charley Manser, next; Neals 
 Mortison, of Salina, Utah, next; and one of the young 
 Taylors, of Utah, last. Each one had his regular duty 
 assigned to him. Charley Manser did the cooking. I 
 attended to the cattle when unyoked; saw that they 
 got water, and were put on feed for the night, when I 
 could find any. Then Dave Mortison took them off of 
 my hands, and herded them until morning. Dave 
 herded at night, and slept in the day-time in one of the 
 wagons. In the morning I would saddle the horse I used, 
 and go and help to round up the cattle, and drive them 
 to camp, preparatory to yoking. The others attended 
 to getting wood, water, greasing wagons, and other 
 things that were necessary. Mr. Hess was the " boss," 
 
STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 
 
 213 
 
 or had charge of the outfit, and as he had been over 
 the road, or part of it at least, he was supposed to 
 know more about it than the balance of us. I had 
 never been east of Salina through the country, and it 
 was all new to me. 
 
 The first night we camped at Six Mile Creek, and 
 the next on the bend of the Sevier River, Wasatch 
 Mountains. The third night we reached Salina; this 
 is the last settle- 'C^ Bi6iF=, 
 
 ment we will pass 
 through in Utah. 
 Salina is a small 
 place, only a few 
 Mormon families 
 living there. There 
 were at one time 
 nearly one hundred 
 families there, but 
 they were fright- 
 ened away, or killed 
 by the Indians. Sa- 
 lina is in a very 
 nice location, at the 
 foot of the Wasatch range. On the south is an elbow 
 of the range, that shuts off all view from town in 
 that direction; on the east is the main range; while, 
 about one-half mile to the west of town, is the Sevier 
 River, which runs into Sevier Lake, and then dis- 
 appears. 
 
 Salina Creek runs through the town in irrigating 
 
 SEVIER RIVER, WASATCH MOUNTAINS. 
 
214 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 ditches. We found a great many of the houses de- 
 serted, and falling down. There was an old stone 
 fort near the center of town, at this time used for a 
 corral. There is a post-office and one small co-oper- 
 ative store. The houses are well made of adobes, 
 with dirt roofs. The place presents a gloomy and 
 dismal appearance. The land all around this place is 
 sandy, and better adapted to raising potatoes than 
 anything else. Children do well here, I suppose, for 
 they are very numerous. 
 
 From this place we go into Salina Canon, and 
 follow it to its head, which is the summit of the Wa- 
 satch range, for we are now wanting to get to Castle 
 Valley. Six miles before we get to the summit, the 
 canon w r idens out and rolls gradually away on each 
 side, for two miles or more, thus forming a small 
 valley. In front the range becomes more steep. We 
 find a small stream of water running through this park, 
 and a small cabin built of quaking asps. This is used 
 as a shelter and camping-house, by Mr. Jennings' herd- 
 ers. Mr. Jennings, of Salt Lake City, has taken up and 
 located land here, and has had others to locate lands 
 for him, until he claims here a large stock ranch. He 
 has hundreds of cattle here running wild, including all 
 ages from sucking calves to old, full-grown animals, 
 and they are scattered all over the country. We found 
 two young men here herding for Mr. Jennings. 
 
 Here we came to snow, the first we had seen on 
 the way. It was six miles to the top of the range, and 
 about the same distance down the other side out of 
 
STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 215 
 
 the snow. The ground was very muddy underneath, 
 where it was not rocky. In some places the snow was 
 fifteen feet deep. We had to shovel a road through 
 the snow. Our hands got wet and soft, and blistered 
 all over the palms. We were compelled to wade 
 through snow and mud all day long. None of us 
 expected such obstructions on the way. It was a 
 terrible undertaking to work our way over. We took 
 
 HERDERS' CAMPING HOUSE. 
 
 up one wagon at a time, and the rest of the party, not 
 needed in keeping the wagons up, were continually 
 shoveling snow. Our faces were all burned to a 
 blister, and our eyes presented a frightful appearance. 
 There was but little feed for our cattle, as the herded 
 droves had consumed all there was in that region. We 
 kept teams hauling hay from the settlements by con- 
 tract, until we passed the summit. Mr. Jennings had a 
 large corral in the park, to which we drove our cattle 
 
216 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 after the day's work was done, and fed them upon 
 the hay. In this way, for five long, hard weeks, we 
 labored to reach the summit, Then commenced 
 another task of getting down, for the snow was as 
 deep on one side as on the other. But, on the west 
 side, the mountain was very steep. We rough-locked 
 all the wheels, then cut pine trees, and chained them 
 by the top to the hind end of the wagon. We used a 
 single yoke of heavy-wheel oxen to guide and keep 
 the tongue straight in the road. 
 
 Allow just a word of advice to any who may be 
 contemplating traveling over that road. Go on horse- 
 back. Take pack animals and plenty of provisions, 
 and not too much baggage. You will not go far 
 before you find baggage a great nuisance, and wish 
 you were rid of it. Take but few dishes in your 
 cooking outfit, as they are a nuisance. You will soon 
 learn that the fewer dishes you have, the fewer you 
 will need to wash, and, if they are no women in the 
 party, you will find dish-washing a burden. It is im- 
 possible to keep warm in camp, on the summit of the 
 Wasatch in March. The wind is continually blowing, 
 and the snow flying and drifting, so that you can 
 not see, and can scarcely stand. 
 
 Around our meals we would console ourselves with 
 the thought that we must expect the bitter with the 
 sweet. But before we get through with shoveling 
 snow, pushing wagons, thrashing cattle, and climbing 
 up and down that mountain, we concluded that we 
 were getting far more than our share of the bitter. 
 
STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 
 
 217 
 
 The clouds had hung low and black nearly all the time 
 we had been crossing the range. Enough snow kept 
 falling to make matters still more uncomfortable. We 
 were six weeks making thirteen miles, and we worked 
 every day, Sunday not excepted. This was less than 
 one-third of a mile a day. Our cattle were nearly starved. 
 
 SHOSHONEE INDIANS IN THE SEVIER VALLEY. 
 
 They were fat when we started, and already they were 
 reduced to skeletons. Complimentary remarks would 
 often be passed about the thinnest ones, such as propos, 
 als to tie knots in their tails, to keep them from running 
 through the bows of the yoke. From Gilson's ranch 
 
218 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 it was difficult to realize that we were in a straight 
 line, only twenty miles from Salina. But such was 
 the case. After passing over the summit and coming 
 to Gilson's, we saw rolling country ahead of us, as far 
 as the eye could reach. Upon inquiry, I learned that 
 we would not go on in that direction, however, but 
 would turn to the left as soon as we reached the valley 
 still lower down. There was little snow here, conse- 
 quently the cattle got plenty to eat. Here was a 
 splendid stream of water also. We moved on down 
 the canon to Ivy Creek, and were then sixty-seven 
 miles from Manti. The country is very dreary, and is 
 uninhabited, except by straggling bands of half-starved 
 Shoshonee Indians. It is very seldom that a white 
 man visits this section. In the following chapter I will 
 speak further of our experiences on this journey. 
 
IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 
 
 WE reached Green River the eighth day of May, 
 having been exactly two months on the road. 
 We had now passed through Castle Valley, so named 
 from the numerous castle rocks that can be seen in all 
 directions. Hundreds of rocks can be seen rearing 
 their heads in dome-like or spiral shape, high above 
 the mountains that encompass the valley. There is 
 no one living in this valley. Not a house is to 
 be seen for one hundred and fifty miles west of Green 
 River. White men are seldom seen here. There were 
 two brothers, white men, living on Grand River, of 
 whom I will speak again later. They were killed while 
 we were on Green River. With their exception, we 
 were the only white men in this part of the country. 
 There are a great many little streams running across 
 Castle Valley into Green River. Ivies Creek has clear, 
 good water. The next is Salaratus Creek, seven miles 
 from Ivies Creek. The water in this is not fit for man 
 or beast to drink; it is so strong of alkali. The next 
 is Convulsion Creek, eight miles further up. This is a 
 dangerous stream, narrow, with high banks. The 
 water runs with a very swift current. 
 
 The next stream is the Quickapaw, two miles 
 further on. This water, like that of Convulsion Creek, 
 
220 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 is not good. The next is the Muddy, a very dangerous 
 stream of muddy water, and where we crossed with a 
 quick-sand bottom. We had to strain the sand and 
 mud out of the water, and then allow it to settle before 
 we could drink it. This is brackish also. From the 
 Muddy to the Ferrons is nine miles. This stream is 
 of clear, brackish water, between high banks. From the 
 Ferrons to the Cottonwood is ten miles. From the Cot- 
 tonwood to Huntington Creek is three miles. Hunt- 
 ington Creek is of fresh water, and is a pretty stream, 
 with high banks and gravelly bottom. We turned to 
 the right at Huntington Creek, and went on past the 
 Rock Wells. The first wells are eleven, and the 
 second fifteen miles from Huntington Creek. From 
 this point to the Green River is thirty-five miles. It is 
 one hundred and sixty-four miles to the settlements. 
 
 Castle Valley includes an area of several thousand 
 acres, but it is not very valuable for agricultural pur- 
 poses. There is some little grass, but it is nearly all 
 alkali grass. The soil is full of sand and fine gravel. 
 The mountains on either side (until we get near Green 
 River), are of sand and sand rock. There are large 
 bowlders and fragments of sand rock scattered over 
 the lower end of the valley. Hundreds of sand buttes 
 are to be seen scattered about here and there. Time, 
 the rains and the wind have crumbled and washed 
 down their sides, until they stand up like tall pyramids, 
 hundreds of feet in height. We could climb to the top 
 of some of them by a very easy and safe ascent. 
 Others are so perpendicular that the top cannot be 
 
IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 221 
 
 reached without the aid of some mechanical contrivance. 
 From some of these giant points of sand rock, we could 
 look out over the many lower buttes standing in the valley. 
 The place appeared very much as if you were standing in 
 the center of the plain, overlooking an immense ruin. 
 
 Rock Wells are well named from the place in which 
 they are located. They are not wells of water fed 
 from below the ground; they are merely holes in the 
 naked, black rock, which is found here without dirt 
 enough on a square mile of it to cover a bushel of 
 potatoes. It is a large, bare plain of smooth rock, 
 dipping in all directions up and down. There are 
 holes in these rocks, from one foot to hundreds of feet 
 in depth. It sometimes rains very hard here, and these 
 holes are then filled with water. When we passed 
 through, we suffered very much for want of good water. 
 What we got from these holes had to be strained, and 
 then boiled, before we could use it. It was full of little 
 animals, from the minutest size up to as large as a man's 
 thumb. After we strained the water, we had a larger 
 pile of these than there was bulk of water. The 
 cattle fared worse than we did. We watered them 
 from buckets, and then turned them loose, to hunt over 
 the mountains for what feed they could find growing 
 out of the crevices in the rocks, w r hich was so very 
 little that they almost starved. 
 
 Going down this mountain, we traveled for miles 
 over the solid bed rock. Sometimes we would have 
 all the wheels of the wagons locked. Then we would 
 go for a little distance with the locks all off, and then 
 
222 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 again would be compelled to double up the teams for 
 a hard pull. After we got over this, we came to an 
 alkali sand plain. The alkali is so thick that it looks 
 like snow. This is a wretched place through which to 
 travel. The sand is so loose that the wagons cut 
 down to the axles all the time. The dry alkali flying 
 in the air soon blinds both man and beast. We were 
 white with dust. Our flesh burned and smarted with 
 an itching and pain. Of all the alkali plains in the 
 West, this is the worst I ever traveled over. 
 
 When we reached Green River, we found a most 
 beautiful valley. It was so different from any thing I had 
 ever seen, that I pronounced it at first sight one of 
 the prettiest places in the West. Beautiful grass was 
 waving on the river bottoms, and the trees were all out 
 in leaf and bloom. Green River Valley is narrow at the 
 point where we entered it. The river runs crosswise 
 of the first bench lands. The bottom lands are a half 
 mile in width. On either side of the bench lands, the 
 river runs through canons, with rugged, rough mount- 
 ains on either side, towering up higher than the timber 
 line. The canon is here separated by a valley eight 
 miles in width, so that the length of Green River Valley 
 is the width of Salaratus Valley, the valleys crossing 
 each other. Green River Valley is ninety feet lower 
 than Salaratus Valley. 
 
 When we reached the river, it was so high we 
 could not ford it. We tried a raft, but failed to get 
 over in this way, as the swift, running current would 
 sweep a heavy log raft into the canon below. The river 
 
IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 223 
 
 was eight hundred feet wide between the banks, which 
 are high and undermined in many places with the 
 water. They are on this account continually falling in 
 here and there, making a terrible noise that can be 
 
 CAMP IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 
 
 heard a long distance. After we tried to cross by a raft 
 and failed, we had to send a man on horseback back to 
 Manti for a boat, and the rest of us remained to guard 
 
224 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 the train and herd the cattle. I passed away part of 
 the time in hunting up and down the river. We had 
 a beautiful place for our camp. This was the first 
 perfect camping place we had found. There were 
 beautiful groves of large cotton-wood trees along the 
 river bottom, furnishing plenty of wood for fires; no 
 mud, some sand, abundance of grass for our cattle, 
 and plenty of fish and game. This abundance of good 
 things was enough to repay us for much of the hard- 
 ship thus far encountered. There were some in the 
 party who seemed to have no idea of the beautiful. 
 They might travel all over the country, and see all its 
 beauties, and after all would pick out a well-filled cup- 
 board as the prettiest sight they ever met with. They 
 never could understand how anything was to be gained 
 by such a journey as this, though through such grand and 
 beautiful scenery. Their idea of traveling would be to 
 follow the valley roads, and feast with their Mormon 
 brothers over night. 
 
 We had all started out with bright anticipations of a 
 two months' trip. We had now been over two months 
 out, and were not yet across the first river, and there 
 were several wide rivers yet to cross. But there we were, 
 and I determined to get all the enjoyment possible out 
 of this journey. I was very thankful to be out of the 
 cold and chilly storms of the Wasatch. The skies 
 were blue, and the days were as warm as in summer. 
 
 After having rested a day or two, I concluded to 
 go up the river to the canon, about five miles distant. 
 So taking my gun, I started early in the morning. 
 
IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 
 
 225 
 
 Near the river were patches of brush, so thick that it 
 was impossible to pass through. In addition to the brush 
 were numerous 
 sloughs full of water, 
 some of them deep. 
 These sloughs were 
 covered with ducks 
 and geese, which 
 would fly f r o m 
 one side to the other 
 as I approached near 
 them. I saw deer 
 and antelope feeding 
 in large numbers. 
 They would bound 
 away upon my ap- 
 proach. I went back 
 f a r t h e r from the 
 river, and got upon 
 higher ground, out 
 of the brush. There 
 I found the ground 
 cut up with deep gul- 
 lies. After traveling 
 a number of miles, 
 I came to the mouth 
 of the canon. I found 
 
 it narrow, with Steep NIGHT SCENE IN GREEN RIVER CANOX. 
 
 and rugged mountains on either side of the river, which is 
 very narrow, and runs with a much swifter current here. 
 
 is 
 
226 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 I concluded, as it was yet early, to climb to the top 
 of the mountain, and take a view of the surrounding 
 country. I found this a difficult undertaking. I would 
 climb awhile, and then rest. I could look back and see 
 the river twisting along in its course to the canon below, 
 there to be lost sight of in another range ol mountains, 
 separate from the one I was then climbing. This is an 
 uninhabited region, and has never been marred by the 
 hand of civilization. The members of our party are 
 the only white men on the river. Flowers of the 
 richest hues, and of endless variety adorned as with a 
 robe of beauty the extended valley below, while the 
 distant green groves, dotting the banks of the river 
 here and there before me, appeared like emerald isles 
 floating in a sea of glory. I could but gaze with rapture 
 upon the magnificent scenes, the beauties and sublim- 
 ities of nature as they lay unrolled before me. I was 
 far above the valleys on either side of the river, and 
 could see far out in the direction we desired to go. 
 
 I kept climbing higher and higher until I wondered 
 if I would ever reach the top. I would sometimes 
 come up plump against the steep sides of a ledge. 
 Then I would have to meander up and down,' and 
 around, to get to the top of that, and there, most likely, 
 come up against another one. I saw numbers of 
 mountain sheep, and shot one of them. These sheep 
 are as noble-looking and as pretty a wild animal as I 
 ever saw. They are harmless. I have been told that 
 they will jump off of precipices, and strike on their 
 heads, on the rocks below, and then go bounding off 
 
IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 227 
 
 from danger. This may be true, but I never saw them 
 going through such any unpleasant performances. The 
 sheep are natives of i#cky places, so I think this 
 locality exactly suited to them. Their horns are at the 
 largest part six inches in diameter, are tapering and 
 curved, and from ten to fifteen inches in length. 
 
 I found the mountain barren of vegetation, and with 
 many deep wash-outs. The canon was very deep and 
 narrow, as far as I could see. When I returned to 
 camp I carried with me a quarter of the sheep I had 
 killed. I was tired and hungry when I got into camp, 
 but plenty of fish, bread and venison had been pre- 
 pared in good style, and I was soon seated on the front 
 end of the wagon, feasting as sumptuously as a king. 
 
 Beaver and otter are very numerous at this place. 
 Dozens of them could be seen in the evening carrying 
 sticks to form their houses or dams, or swimming in 
 the water, or climbing up the steep banks. All along 
 the river where there are little groves of trees, the 
 marks of their cuttings can be seen. Trees over one 
 foot across have been cut down with their teeth. I have 
 seen as many as three, all cutting on the same tree. 
 They are very cautious and cunning. The least noise 
 will drive them to the water, to be seen no more for 
 hours. They have their trails from the water to their 
 cuttings. Their slides in places are worn down several 
 feet in depth, on the edge of steep banks. When the 
 beaver travels on land, his trowel-shaped tail is so 
 heavy that it drags the ground, like a board dragged 
 along by one end. When swimming along in the water, 
 
228 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 the least motion or noise will cause them to dive sud- 
 denly, striking the water at the same time with their 
 ^flat tails, making a noise similar to striking on the water 
 'with a long paddle. At night they keep up a noise the 
 whole time, fighting, squealing and slapping the water 
 with their tails. They are sixty pounds and upward in 
 weight. They are easily trapped, if the trapper under- 
 stands his business, but unless he does know how to go 
 about it he will not catch any except by accident. It is 
 interesting and amusing to watch three or four beavers 
 cutting down a tree. They sit down, and twist their 
 heads a little sidewise, and then with their broad, chisel- 
 like teeth, they cut deep into the wood at every bite. 
 They cut round and round, equally on all sides. In 
 many places in the West, beavers are very numerous, 
 but a great many are caught every season. Their 
 houses are generally formed by burrowing in under 
 the deep banks, and then filling up in front with huge 
 piles of weeds, mud and sticks. 
 
 Here, on Green River, is the worst place for snakes I 
 know of. I did not see them corded up in piles, as 
 large as some people write about, and scores of feet in 
 length, but for numbers and varieties this locality can 
 not be surpassed. Often when one is not thinking of 
 them, they frighten him terribly by crawling up 
 against him. I am not afraid of a snake, but then I do 
 not like to be social with them. 
 
 The snakes live in colonies on Green River. I have 
 seen them crawling in every direction at the same time. 
 Some of them are very large, as much as seven feet 
 
IJ\ r GREEN RIVER VALLET. 229 
 
 long. Rattlesnakes are numerous, and of all sizes, 
 from tiny ones up to three and one-half feet in length. 
 Some of these have lived to a good old age. I killed 
 one three feet long, that had twenty-two rattles, 
 and a button on the end of his tail, so that if I am 
 informed correctly, he was twenty-three years of age. 
 It is said that a rattlesnake has a button on the end of 
 his tail the first year, and for every succeeding year 
 a rattle. I think this is correct. 
 
 When we would start out to look after the cattle, 
 we would cut a good, heavy club before we went far, 
 with which to kill snakes. I remember that one morn- 
 ing I was out looking up the cattle. I had a desire to 
 climb to the top of one of the rocky buttes. I had 
 not gone far up the hill-side when I could see snakes 
 lying coiled up, or stretched out in every shape, sun- 
 ning themselves on and among the rocks. I think 
 these were all rattlesnakes. I had not yet come 
 close enough to arouse them, for I saw them before 
 they began to rattle. I counted over twenty, without 
 moving from where I stood. I moved on toward 
 them, keeping a careful watch at my feet. They were 
 soon aroused, and, coiling themselves up, there was 
 immediately a great rattling along the lines on both 
 sides of me. Their eyes were glittering, and their 
 forked tongues protruding, and every one warning me 
 that I was then trespassing on forbidden ground. They 
 seemed to be more numerous on this slope than I had 
 ever before seen in any mountain country. In Rattlesnake 
 Gulch, California, there are thousands of them, but this 
 
230 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Green River slope leads in snakes. I retreated and left 
 them in possession of their stronghold. This was but a 
 small, rocky knoll or knob, rising about two hundred 
 feet above the plain, and covering perhaps, two acres. 
 There must be thousands of snakes there. On the 
 
 river bottom, a 
 long, yellow-spotted 
 snake is found in 
 great numbers. This 
 species can run like 
 a racer. These are 
 called bull-snakes, I 
 believe. 
 
 At another time 
 I had occasion to go 
 to the top of one of 
 the peaks ; for, if 
 cattle are not in 
 sight while you are 
 standing on the plain, 
 they may often be 
 seen from some ele- 
 vation, feeding in the 
 distance. I was sit- 
 ting on one of these 
 high points one morning, early. From this position 
 I could look to the east, and at the foot of the 
 butte running east, was a deep depression. The 
 butte had been rather difficult to climb, and I was 
 halting a little to rest my lungs, as a person finds 
 
 PEAK IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 
 
IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 231 
 
 some difficulty in breathing, when climbing one of these 
 high peaks here in the mountains. This, however, was 
 a high peak in the valley between the mountains. I 
 could hear the distant howl of wolves in various direc- 
 tions. I noticed that they seemed to get nearer, and 
 more numerous. They soon were howling all around 
 me. I wondered what was up. Soon a number of 
 them came in sight. I now saw what was the matter. 
 They had started a deer, and were chasing it down. It 
 was out-running the wolves, but there were too many 
 closing in on all sides. They were at the far end of 
 the basin from me, but I could see the chase very 
 plain. The wolves took turns, running and heading off 
 the deer, until they finally succeeded in capturing it, 
 when they became so eager after the poor thing's car- 
 cass, that I could hear their teeth snapping together 
 two hundred yards away. There were twenty wolves 
 taking part in the feast. 
 
 When a hunter, wounds a deer, and, darkness coming 
 on stops the chase for the night, should it be renewed 
 next morning, he will often find where the deer has 
 been caught and devoured by wolves. They can scent 
 blood or fresh meat a long distance away. When 
 chasing game, their howling is very different from that 
 at other times, and is of such a nature that they 
 apparently all understand what is going on, for they 
 seem to come running together immediately, and to 
 form themselves into a circle. Once, later, when I was 
 in the Dolores country of Colorado, I remember seeing 
 them chasing a jack-rabbit. They would take turns 
 
232 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 running. A single wolf would not run far at any one 
 time before he would be relieved by a fresh animal. 
 And so among all these varied scenes, and amid 
 the varied scenery, each successive day brought with it 
 some novelty, and such scenes and incidents as kept 
 up an unabating and lively interest in the minds of our 
 party, until the boat arrived from Manti, which was not 
 until the eleventh day of June. 
 
VEX A TIO US DEL A TS. 233 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 VEXATIOUS DELAYS. 
 
 r I ^HE boat having arrived, we began to unload, and 
 JL to take the wagons to pieces. The boat was 
 small, only three and one-half feet in width by fourteen 
 feet in length. It was flat-bottomed, built of three- 
 quarter inch pine lumber. With close packing it would 
 carry twelve hundred pounds. Everything had to be 
 adjusted very carefully, or else the boat would list 
 to the heavy side and become unmanageable. We got 
 along very well, however, carrying over two wagons 
 and their loads in a day. We left the cattle until the 
 last. We undertook to make them swim over by tying 
 a rope around the horns of one of them, and attaching 
 the other end of the rope to the boat, and thus towing 
 him over. One of us would row the boat, while the 
 rest would drive the other cattle into the water, and 
 then whoop and halloo until our throats were sore, 
 and throw clods and sticks and stones at them, trying 
 to make them follow across. The cattle would go well 
 enough until they struck the main current; then they 
 would begin to " mill," the current carrying them down 
 stream all the time, until they would finally strike back 
 for the same side they had started from. The current 
 would beat them back against the high banks, where 
 they remained struggling in the water, scattered nearly 
 all the way down to the canon. Then we would have 
 
234 no w i KNO w. 
 
 to go to work and dig down the banks, so that they 
 could get out. 
 
 In this way we kept on trying, never getting over 
 more than six at any one time, and often only the one 
 that was towed over. We were two days getting all 
 the cattle over. Some of them, while being towed, 
 would dive apparently straight down, and come up 
 almost under the boat. Towing the cattle across the 
 stream was a dangerous undertaking, for the little 
 boat was too light to hold them, and they could nearly 
 master the oarsman. I got out of patience, and tried 
 to ride some of them over; but all to no purpose. My 
 uncle and my other companions kept advising me to 
 be patient. Patience is a very good thing, and all well 
 enough; but how any man can have patience for many 
 days while trying, as we were, to swim cattle over 
 Green River, with, the mosquitoes eating him up all the 
 time, is more than I can tell. 
 
 We had everything safely over by the 23d of June. 
 We were very busy all that day fixing things in read- 
 iness for moving on the next morning. But during 
 the night a grizzly got down among the cattle where 
 the herder was tending them on the river bottom, and 
 frightened them off in all directions. Two yoke jumped 
 into the river, and crossed back to the other side again. 
 We could not see them, but could hear them on the 
 opposite side of the river, splashing in the water, and 
 bellowing. At this time, however, we did not know 
 how many had crossed over, but we felt confident that 
 these were some of our cattle. So we unloaded the 
 
VEX A TIO US DEL A rs. 235 
 
 boat from the wagon, where we had it packed up to 
 haul to Grand River, and carried it down to the river, 
 and hunted up a lot of ropes, and some shovels. Then 
 four of us struck across in the darkness for the other 
 side, which we soon reached. 
 
 We felt sure that the cattle were below where we 
 landed. The banks of Green River are so undermined in 
 time of high water that there is a constant caving in, and 
 a consequent splashing and eddying of the water, and a 
 variety of noises. This seems to be particularly the 
 case when you are hunting for cattle in the darkness 
 that you know are in the water and needing assistance, 
 and are compelled to find them by hearing, instead of 
 seeing. This was our situation at this time. I was 
 keeping down close to the bank, while the other boys 
 were keeping off considerable distance from the river. 
 The noise of the rushing water often made me think 
 there was an ox where there was none. I was listen- 
 ing at the different sounds intently, trying to discern the 
 cause of each. I told my companions, if I found the 
 oxen I would sing out. We had waded through brush, 
 mud, bogs and everything else disagreeable, when I 
 thought I heard one of the cattle. At this point 
 the bank was about six feet high, and the willows and 
 brush were very thick. I doubt if they can be found as 
 thick at any other point along the river. Some of these 
 had drooped over until their tops were kept constantly 
 in motion by the agitated waters, which here had formed 
 a very deep, ugly-looking place, as I afterwards saw, and 
 had run in to a considerable distance under the bank. / 
 
236 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 When I cautiously advanced to the edge of the stream 
 to ascertain the cause of the great splashing, the whole 
 bank gave way, and in I went. I did not go to the 
 bottom. I began to struggle for the bank as soon as I 
 struck the water, and as soon as I could get my mouth 
 open began to yell for the boys. The water was car- 
 rying me down all the time. I was badly frightened. 
 I soon managed, however, to catch hold of a long root 
 that was being dangled about through the water, and I 
 hung on to this until the boys came with a rope and 
 fished me out. 
 
 The cattle were finally found, and we tied them up 
 to trees, and pulled for camp. I was too mad to talk to 
 any one, and I do believe that at that time I would not 
 have re-crossed the river for the whole train. The next 
 morning we got the cattle back from where we had 
 tied them, and spent the day in camp. But on the 
 next day when the herder brought the cattle to camp, 
 there were seven of them missing. We thought, per- 
 chance, they were in the bush, and had been over- 
 looked; so we started out in various directions to find 
 them. I struck for the high buttes, so that I could 
 look back over the river. I had an idea that they had 
 re-crossed and gone back. About noon I returned to 
 camp, without any success. 
 
 I found a part of the other searchers in camp, but 
 no cattle. They were having a big talk over some- 
 thing that William Stringan had seen. I made inquir- 
 ies in regard to the matter, and in reply heard a 
 rather curious story. It seemed, that, like the rest of 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 237 
 
 us, Mr. Stringan had had poor success in finding cattle, 
 but he had discovered a mysterious-looking track, which 
 he had easily traced for some distance. The track of 
 the right foot was in every particular like that of an 
 ox's foot, with the foot stepping sideways, pointing out 
 from the body, while that of the left foot was of a human 
 barefoot. I listened very intently to his description 01 
 the track, and of how he had followed it, until it led to 
 a certain thicket which he described, when he was 
 afraid to proceed further, and had come to camp. My 
 curiosity was now aroused. I must see that. track, for 
 I had never seen anything to compare with it. So, 
 as soon as dinner was over, Hess, Stringan and myself 
 started in search of the track, I wondering meanwhile 
 what on earth it could be. After w r alking a consider- 
 able distance, we reached the place where Stringan 
 had discovered the track, and, sure enough, there it 
 was, just as he had described it. It could be seen 
 plainly in the sandy soil; it led from the foot-hills at 
 the base of the mountain toward the river. Hess 
 and Stringan followed the track toward the river, while 
 I took the back track, to see where the half cloven- 
 footed "varmint" had come from. In the valley I 
 could follow the track as fast as I could travel. On 
 higher ground the track disappeared. In such places I 
 would follow the general course I had been coming, 
 and every time I found myself upon reaching the sand 
 again entirely off the track. I thought this was curious; 
 that a direct general course should be followed through 
 the soft sand, but, as soon as the hard earth was 
 
238 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 reached, that then the course should turn in an entirely 
 different direction. Before I had been fooled very many 
 times, I made up my mind that this was a very cunning 
 animal, and once or twice I imagined that there might 
 be something or some body connected with the track, 
 foreboding no good. I followed the track over hills 
 and through hollows, and across gulches and gullies, for 
 three miles or more, when I came to a place where 
 it doubled on itself ; then I had the two tracks to fol- 
 low, one going and one coming. I followed these a 
 short distance across the bench land, and into another 
 deep gully, where I found a pony track, and near by 
 I found where the pony had been picketed. 
 
 This was convincing proof to me, satisfactory 
 enough of what was up; yet I thought it exceedingly 
 strange that one person should come here in this way, 
 and appear in such a peculiarly odd manner. The 
 thought flashed through my mind that something 
 unusual was going to happen, and it might be that 
 there were more connected with this strange move- 
 ment than one single individual. What could he want, 
 who could he be, and why were his feet so disguised? 
 It might be that he had confederates in league with 
 him, and that they had run off a part of the cattle 
 belonging to our train. Why had they not taken all ? 
 I could see no tracks of the cattle here ; but they 
 might have driven them in some other direction. A 
 thousand questions suggested themselves to my mind. 
 I finally came to the conclusion that there must be a 
 band of Indians in the neighborhood, who had got part 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 239 
 
 of our cattle, and were running them off. Of this, I 
 would soon assure myself. I struck for camp after my 
 horse. When I arrived at camp, it was already getting 
 late in the afternoon, being after four o'clock, but the 
 other boys had not returned. 
 
 My horse was picketed close to camp. It was the 
 work of a few minutes only to throw on my saddle and 
 make ready, and I was soon galloping out over the bench 
 land. I had made up my mind to find where the 
 cattle had been driven out, if they had been driven out 
 at all. So I rode to the upper end of the valley, care- 
 fully noticing everything, as a man naturally would 
 when looking for stock under such circumstances. I 
 made a circuit of the whole upper end of the valley, 
 and convinced myself that the cattle had not passed out 
 on the Colorado side of the river. When I arrived in 
 camp again it was dark. The company had all gathered 
 in, but without finding the lost cattle. I was then con- 
 vinced that the cattle had crossed the river. 
 
 So early the next morning, I saddled my horse and 
 rode down to the river. Here I dismounted, and taking 
 off my clothes, I tied them and my revolver in a bun- 
 dle, and secured it to the barrel of my rifle. I then 
 mounted my horse again, and started into the river. 
 It was a frightful undertaking, for the river was high, 
 and the current swift. At this time it was nearly one- 
 half mile in width. Logs, brush, drift-wood and whole 
 trees were sweeping along down the current, as 
 if in a race. Our whole party was at the bank to see 
 me across. It seemed to me at times as if I was 
 
240 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 riding on my last trip. But a horse is a noble swimmer, 
 and mine faithfully carried me across one of the worst 
 streams in North America. I immediately struck back 
 on the road we had come. After going nearly a mile, 
 I discovered the trail of the lost cattle, and, after 
 riding fast, I caught up with them at the Rock Wells. 
 They were all together. Here I met one of the Tay- 
 lors from Utah. He was on his way to the Green 
 brothers, at the old Mormon fort, near the junction of 
 Green and Grand Rivers. We pushed the cattle back 
 at a lively gait, and drove them across the river without 
 much trouble. We stripped off our clothes and crossed 
 the river the same way I had crossed in the morning. 
 The next morning, another of the younger Taylor boys, 
 who had been with the Green brothers, came into 
 camp and reported the Greens killed, and their stock 
 driven off. 
 
 There were two of these brothers ; one named 
 Cyrus, and the other W. T. Green. They had come 
 to Utah a few years prior to this time. They had con- 
 siderable money with them, which they invested in 
 cattle and horses, until they had over two hundred 
 head of cattle, and one hundred and forty head of 
 horses. A greater portion of Utah is unsettled, and 
 consequently the land is unclaimed, and belongs to 
 Uncle Sam. So the boys drove their stock into the 
 upper end of Castle Valley, or rather between Castle 
 Valley and Fish Lake. Here they remained only a 
 short time, as some other parties claimed a prior herd 
 right, and notified them to that effect. 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 
 
 241 
 
 Now, these Green brothers, like hundreds of others 
 who have come into the territory of the Saints, de- 
 nounced them and their notions as wrong; and the gen- 
 eral judgment of mankind likewise so denounces them. 
 For the disciples of Brigham Young constantly pro- 
 claim their conscientiousness in accepting the dogma 
 of polygamy, and one cannot oppose them in this par- 
 ticular without denying the validity of the authority 
 they set up, both in 
 and out of church. 
 This is always the case 
 with every doctrine 
 that runs counter to 
 the general human 
 sense of right. The 
 public judgment of 
 what is proper, is that 
 it must square with 
 the generally accepted 
 ideas of truth and 
 right. What the Mor- 
 mons call faith has 
 been pronounced 
 credulity. What they dignify as a religion has been de- 
 cided to be a superstition. Injustice has been done to all 
 classes not believing in their wild and fanciful notions. 
 Men have been compelled to either leave the Territory or 
 to part with every earthly possession they had accumu- 
 lated. And this Church works in co-operation together 
 throughout the whole country. It has proved itself a 
 
 16 
 
 ORSON PRATT, MORMON PROPHET. 
 
242 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 power in the hands of dangerous men. Their leaders 
 have honors paid them by all their followers, and the 
 more virulence -with which their character is attacked, 
 the greater the esteem in which they are held among 
 their own people. They have lived, however, to see 
 the beginning of an exodus, which may yet involve con- 
 sequences of political significance. Their career has 
 been a marvelous one in its devotion to an absurd idea 
 marvelous in its extravagant notions, especially in 
 reference to the doctrines of their religion. The men 
 who founded these iniquitious institutions are passing 
 away one by one. Those who are left pause in their 
 busy work to clo honor to their dead prophets. They 
 seldom yield to any sense of justice. They scorn any 
 policy based only on just principles. They follow their 
 false premises to their logical conclusions. If they 
 listen at all to reason or justice, they listen only to 
 laugh or despise. The poorer classes make but little pro- 
 vision for their own support. They take a liberal view 
 of the promises of their prophets, and obey their so- 
 called divine injunction. If they fail to obey these, 
 they call down upon themselves the guilt of unpardon- 
 able sin. They ponder and debate, in their weak way, 
 the awful mysteries spoken by their prophets. How 
 often in the course of their career must the doubt have 
 come to them whether they were acting in the spirit 
 of love and obedience, or in that of superstition and 
 credulity. Unrestrained in their traffic, they almost 
 control all that part of the country. A tremendous 
 power is concentrated in the hands of the rulers of the 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 
 
 243 
 
 Mormon Church. They wield a power that any other 
 people would hesitate to exercise. It is clear that it 
 will not answer, even for those who hold the right of 
 private judgment in matters of religion, to allow all to 
 indulge in their vagaries. Wild and untutored notions 
 will soon come to possess many, and the result will be 
 that superstition will grow rife, and, in the name of 
 faith, deeds will be done that will shock the common 
 sense and the conscience of mankind. This, indeed, has 
 
 FORMER RESIDENCES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 been the case time and time again in Utah. The stran- 
 ger and the Saint are frequently dickering together 
 and oftentimes the pretended divine leads his newly 
 formed acquaintance into a lengthy argument, merely 
 for the sake of betrayal before the community. Often- 
 times they run across one that comprehends well what 
 these demonstrations mean, far better than if he had 
 been told in so many words. These much-married 
 
244 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 saints generally appeal to their versions of the divine 
 law. The saints, therefore, berate and oppose the 
 Gentiles in their undertakings. They denounce the 
 'colonization of their Territory. There is, consequently, 
 always a very bitter feeling existing between the two 
 parties. Such was the state of affairs in the Territory 
 when the Green boys drove their cattle over into the 
 bottom lands of Grand River. 
 
 There had been a fort built there years previous to 
 this time by the Mormons, who thought to colonize and 
 settle up the valley. But to this the Indians were 
 adverse. They attacked the Mormons in their strong- 
 hold, and routed them after a severe fight in which 
 several from both parties were killed. The old fort 
 had stood vacant until the Greens moved into it as 
 a protection against the storms, and a place where they 
 could store away such goods as they had with them. 
 This is a beautiful little valley, with plenty of wood and 
 water, and an abundant supply of grass, where stock 
 by hundreds may graze. Game, of various kinds, is here 
 found in vast quantities, and the waters afford abund- 
 ance of fish. If this valley were not so far from civili- 
 zation, it would be one of the most desirable places in 
 all the country for a few families to settle in. 
 
 Here the Greens had been for over a year, witnessing 
 the rapid increase and prosperity of their herd. Here 
 they were massacred. The first that was known 
 about the horrible butchering was when young Taylor 
 brought back the report. He was not an eye-witness, 
 but had gone to see Cyrus Green on some business. 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 
 
 245 
 
 He found their dog, but no person at the fort, and he 
 went in search of the boys, and soon found every 
 evidence of foul play. He stated that he could readily 
 follow the trail by which the stock had been driven off, 
 as numbers of them had been killed and left along the 
 route. Some had been left crippled, but were not yet 
 dead. He could find no trace of the boys, but from the 
 looks of everything around he was sure they were dead, 
 or had been hardly 
 dealt with. Who- 
 ever had done the 
 deed must have been 
 in somewhat of a 
 hurry, as nearly six- 
 ty head of the cattle 
 were yet left on the 
 range. Their dog 
 was in the fort, but 
 could not be per- 
 suaded or coaxed to 
 leave. Everything 
 about the place was 
 
 just as the Greens GEORGE A. SMITH, MORMON APOSTLE. 
 
 had arranged it. Nothing had been meddled with. 
 Even one of their coats still hung on the corner of the 
 the fort, just as they had left it. 
 
 The news was carried to the settlements as soon 
 as a horse could travel the distance. A large party 
 was immediately organized, which made a forced 
 march on horseback to the place. After considerable 
 
246 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 search, they found the body of the eldest brother, six 
 or seven miles from the fort, lying near the trail in a 
 a thicket of bushes, with a bullet hole in the back of 
 his head. No trace of the younger brother was dis- 
 covered. He had, doubtless, shared the same fate with 
 his brother. 
 
 This, then, gave us some clue to the mysterious 
 tracks and maneuvers around our own camp, about the 
 same time. It was a warning to us to hasten on, or 
 we might meet a fate similar to the Greens. We pulled 
 out for Grand River, not wishing to encounter the 
 danger of following up the trail of the murderers. We 
 found travel between Green and Grand Rivers almost 
 unendurable. There was neither feed, wood nor water, 
 and these things are most essential, especially w T here 
 the stock has to hunt for a living, and the teamsters do 
 their own cooking. Without these, you will have to 
 go to bed in a thirsty, fireless, supperless, ill-humored, 
 cheerless condition, that will utterly take the romance 
 out of your journey. It makes no difference what the 
 weather is, a camp without a fire is lonely and desolate. 
 The country was one continual plain of sand beds and 
 knolls the whole distance. Sand is by all odds worse 
 to travel through than mud. I resigned myself to my 
 fate, and made the best of it. As some writer has said: 
 
 " Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of joy, 
 Bright dreams of the past earth cannot destroy." 
 
 No sign of a habitation is to be seen in this region. 
 
 We were now nearing Grand River, and, what 
 a contrast is to be seen! And the nearer we approach, 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 247 
 
 the more beautiful the place appears. As yet, Grand 
 River, and the rare beauty and majesty of the scenery 
 developed by the passage of the river through the 
 great Rocky Mountain range of Colorado are but 
 little known. The river is hemmed in on either side 
 of the valley with mighty walls of rock, the lower parts 
 of which are fringed with scattered, scrubby pine and 
 cedar, which present a peculiar-looking appearance. 
 But the grassy pastures of the river bottom lands are 
 a thousand times better and prettier than - the sterile 
 plains we have been traveling over, which was certainly 
 the most dreary and desolate-looking place I ever saw. 
 After our wearisome journey across burning sands 
 and alkali bottoms, it was with a glorious feeling of 
 pleasure that we set foot in this paradise of Colorado. 
 Here are objects of interest to every lover of Na- 
 ture's wonders, without number on every side. For 
 who is so base as not to be moved by the beautiful 
 handiwork of Nature. Here a sense of enchantment 
 sends the blood coursing swiftly through the veins. 
 Thousands of little birds are flitting about, amid the 
 berry bushes, warbling their merry notes of praise to an 
 ever-bountiful Providence. The river is thickly dotted 
 with ducks and geese that go swimming over its 
 surface. Deer and antelope are feeding and frisking 
 about, unconscious of the danger that hovers over them 
 with the approach of civilization. Thousands of bears 
 inhabit these regions. Wild cats and wolves scream 
 and howl continually. The higher gravel knolls of the 
 valley, and those near the bench land are all burrowed 
 
248 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 out by badgers. Beaver and otter are numerous in the 
 river, and the timber lands of the bottom bear evidence 
 of their industrious gnawing, for they have most of the 
 smaller trees either entirely cut oif or badly scarred. 
 ^ ^. x -^ -~ ,,--: ^ Along the 
 
 river banks 
 the scene 
 is a strik- 
 ing one . 
 The cot- 
 ton-woods 
 with their 
 brightly- 
 glistening 
 leaves of 
 
 green. 
 
 and 
 
 the endless 
 varieties of 
 berries, 
 peeping 
 from out of 
 the thick- 
 ets that en- 
 close us on 
 every side 
 make a 
 
 robe of beauty for the hillsides. The swift, dashing 
 water, rushing on in its mighty course, makes a noise 
 that is audible for three miles. On either side of the 
 canon are numberless caverns, holes, cracks and crev- 
 
 "THE SWIFT DASHING WATER." 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 249 
 
 ices, which are safe and snug retreats for all such 
 insects and animals as make these places their retreat. 
 But what we appreciated just now the most was the 
 berries. We all set to eating these, and as might have 
 been expected, some ate so many that they made them- 
 selves sick. 
 
 Here, as in many other places in the West, ruins of 
 ancient cities are found. When viewing these, one 
 cannot help wondering what w r ere the history and for- 
 tunes, the virtues and vices of the long since departed 
 inhabitants of these places; those who at some remote 
 time have here passed their day, and acted their brief 
 part in the great drama of the life of the human race, 
 w r hose unknown dust now mingles with the virgin soil. 
 They have long since passed away; but the same hills, 
 knolls and ridges still stand; the same river flows along 
 through the same channel; the same skies look down 
 upon this green valley, now uninhabited by white men. 
 From the abundance of game that abounds here, 
 and all the beautiful objects of Nature that break upon 
 the view, we associate all that is poetic, romantic and 
 heroic with the history of this bygone people, that once 
 lived between these mighty hills and on the shores of 
 this swift and beautiful river. All these lofty mountains, 
 these beautiful streams of snow water, that have grown 
 into mighty rivers; all those rough, craggy cliffs that 
 continue to crumble, wash, and topple over, to form 
 mighty slides of broken rock, these all remain as objects 
 sacred to the memory of the past. Who is there that 
 can tell of the deeds, mighty and valorous, that have 
 
250 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 been here performed? No one can do this. Nothing is 
 left to record the history of this once powerful race, but 
 desolated ruins and thousands of tons of broken earthen- 
 ware. A mighty race has become extinct. No doubt, 
 they loved their wild home, and were as happy and 
 prosperous among themselves, at that remote day, as 
 are the present inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley. 
 For the love of country does not always keep pace 
 with the country's growth, but often diminishes when 
 not urgently aroused. For this reason, those who are 
 constantly warring against other nations, keep alive a 
 patriotic sentiment which links each individual more 
 closely to home and friends, which they are ready to 
 defend, even with their lives. The nature of man seems 
 adapted to this. In all his wanderings, there is no place 
 like home, no country like his own native land. It may 
 be barren and rugged, swept by storms or earthquakes, 
 or overshadowed by frozen hills, or poor in resources, 
 where life is but one continued struggle for existence, 
 with a sickly, sultry, or inhospitable climate, unpropitious 
 seasons, and an unwilling soil. But it is his birthplace; it 
 is where he roamed in his infantile rambles; it is his 
 fatherland, and, sooner than he \vill see its name dishon- 
 ored, or its soil invaded, he will shed his blood in its 
 defense. And I have every reason to suppose that the 
 inhabitants of wild, mountainous regions, and of sterile 
 plains, manifest as strong a love of home and country, 
 as any people in the world. With them, like our- 
 selves, whatever deprives of liberty, trenches upon our 
 power. 
 
VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 251 
 
 But here we are, where there are no other white 
 people nearer than the settlements of Utah, two hundred 
 and fifty miles behind. And we have been, since the 8th 
 of March, coming this distance and this is the 2ist 
 day of July. So that it will be seen that we have not 
 made an average of two miles a day since we started. 
 I have not seen a woman, either white or Indian, since 
 
 LONELY THREE THOUSAND MILES FROM HOME. 
 
 I left the settlements, over four months ago. I have 
 been once before, for a much longer period of time than 
 this, without seeing women; but if the Lord spares me 
 to outlive this miserable trip, never again will I spoil all 
 peace, comfort and happiness, merely for the sake of 
 gratifying an idle curiosity and small gain. I love 
 scenery as well as any mortal on earth; but to gain a 
 
252 PIOW I KNOW. 
 
 knowledge of this place is to sacrifice all earthly enjoy- 
 ment, and to run a risk of falling a victim to the dusky 
 warriors, who claim possession of an enormous tract of 
 country of which this is a part. I find that the Indians 
 are all dangerous, when permitted any liberty by the 
 whites; consequently, they require to be kept within 
 careful bounds. They will often abuse you, and that 
 without provocation, other than trespassing by traveling 
 across their country. 
 
 Yet variety and novelty are usually pleasing. Our 
 natures demand something, once in awhile, to break 
 the monotony of our every-day existence, for we find 
 but little amusement in working hard every day, over 
 the work-bench of life. Oftentimes we get disgusted 
 with our daily routine of business; then Nature stretches 
 out her ready hand and bids us come and behold her 
 beauties, and forget our cares and anxieties as we feast 
 upon her charms. I know that all men are eager to 
 see new things, and are greedy of gain. The great gold 
 excitement of California, in 1849, or, the White Pine 
 excitement in Nevada, a little later, or, a little later still, 
 the Black Hills' excitement, or, at the present writing, 
 the Leadville excitement, are all good illustrations. 
 People go wild to get there, and two-thirds that reach 
 there go wild to get away. 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 
 
 THE climate of Colorado has proved a great bless- 
 ing to persons of weak constitutions. Many who 
 have gone into the State confirmed invalids, have soon 
 grown strong. The shattered system becomes restored 
 again to early strength and vigor, and the pale and 
 sallow cheek soon assumes a bright and healthy glow. 
 
 It is not that here there is as much or more to eat, 
 than can be found in other places; but, then, even on 
 such a trip as we are now making, we have good living 
 for those roughing the wilds. We have plenty of flour, 
 meat, both salt and fresh, all the fresh fish we want, 
 and berries for the picking. These may not always be 
 served in the most pretentious style, but then the reader 
 understands that we have not all the modern conven- 
 iences at command. Remember, also, that neither among 
 our cooks nor boarders are there any of the fair sex, 
 and our white neighbors being a little remote, we sel- 
 dom invite any of them to sit down with us. 
 
 We have no persons to dinner but those who are 
 privileged, always welcomed, and generally wanted. 
 We are here free from the necessity of paying visits. 
 In these parts, the natives follow the usual custom of 
 society and make the first call, but, unfortunately, this 
 is generally done in a very rude and noisy manner, one 
 not altogether sanctioned by the better usages of society. 
 
254 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 But, then, what Lord Chesterfield says, is here to 
 the purpose: "The nature of things," he remarks, "is 
 always and everywhere the same; but the modes of 
 them vary, more or less, in every country." It may 
 be said that man derives knowledge from travel. I 
 grant that he does; but that the knowledge obtained 
 from travel over deserts of sand and alkali, yelling one's 
 self hoarse, in driving stubborn cattle, is better than 
 
 the knowledge that 
 would naturally be 
 gained from a resi- 
 dence in a polite, so- 
 cial community, is 
 hardly reasonable to 
 suppose. No ra- 
 tional-minded man 
 loves entire solitude; 
 neither do six or 
 eight individuals en- 
 joy staying out by 
 themselves on these 
 
 piaittS, IOT <\ 
 
 "OH, SOLITUDE, WHERE ARE THY CHARMS." 
 
 whole year at a time. Place a man in such solitude, 
 and, although he may have all the books of the world 
 at his command, in a few years time, the world will 
 have marched on, and left him far in the rear. 
 
 I speak from two years' experience, when six of us 
 had no companions, except ourselves, and the insects 
 and brutes of the field. We had plenty to eat. We 
 worked nearly every day on the Webster Mine, when 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 255 
 
 it was first located, for nearly the whole two years. 
 Some of the boys went to Salt Lake City after provis- 
 ions ; but I staid out the whole time, and kept up my 
 part of the work. These were the longest two years 
 of my life. I often look back to those days when I 
 was wishing to be a rich man, so that I would not 
 have to stay and toil my life away in solitude. But, as 
 Mr. Haven remarks, " The man who has no higher 
 principle than a regard for the opinions of others, is 
 not likely to accomplish anything great or noble." 
 He further says, that "the true theater for virtue is 
 conscience. There is none greater. The praise of 
 man confers no solid happiness, unless it is felt to 
 be deserved ; and if it be so, that very conscious- 
 ness is sufficient." 
 
 This, therefore, is the best country in which to 
 find men out, in regard to manliness and integrity, 
 and also perseverance and energy. There is none 
 better. We find this a splendid opportunity for the 
 study of human nature, both of others and of ourselves. 
 A man, here, soon shows just what he is. If he is dis- 
 posed to evil, it is soon apparent. If he is a moral 
 man, he shows it. If rough, noisy, and uncouth in 
 manners, it is soon discovered. If industrious, he finds 
 plenty to do, and does it. If lazy, he walks around 
 camp, and watches his comrades carry the wood and 
 water, build fires, and prepare something to eat. But 
 " dead beats " are very common everywhere, and are 
 easily recognized. 
 
 Of all the nuisances that the world is afflicted with, 
 
256 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 the big, stout, lazy individual is the worst. He 
 is worthless to himself, and a detriment and an 
 aggravation to all those around him. There is no 
 occasion for a man to be large and stout, unless it is 
 that he may work. I esteem highly all that endeavor 
 to do anything. Go to work with a will, and, if you do 
 not succeed in doing much, do a little. Show a will- 
 ingness to try, and I will insure you sympathizing 
 friends, providing your pursuits are legitimate. If we 
 get into adverse circumstances, we cannot do better 
 than to study contentment. There is nothing to be 
 gained by brooding and lamenting over the past, for 
 time lost is gone forever. But with the full powder of 
 our strength and willingness of mind, we can use dili- 
 gence and exercise patience, for these virtues offer a 
 relief that the sluggard never gains. Let us try to 
 elevate those around us. It is as easy to say a good 
 word for a neighbor as to be eternally railing at and 
 abusing him. An evil word does no good. 
 
 Give me the man that has a good word of cheer to 
 all. How pleasantly time speeds along while in his 
 company. Such an one does not live for himself alone, 
 but for the good of the world. Such as these extend 
 to their friends a cordial welcome. They have not 
 learned to despise the world nor to hate the human race, 
 and are never cut off from the society of their fellow- 
 man. Aught of evil to mortal man, I cherish not; but 
 fain would bless every living creature, and make happy 
 all this wretched, suffering world. If we have any- 
 thing to do, let us pluck up courage and do it, or we 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 257 
 
 can rest assured that it will never be done. It costs 
 labor on our part if we win anything, but when once 
 won, it will appear to us the more glorious. Nor need 
 any man fear the imputation of cowardice if he curbs his 
 anger at direct abuse of himself. "A soft answer turn- 
 eth away wrath." The approval of the company will 
 always go with the man who keeps his temper, for not 
 only does society feel that to vent wrath is a breach 
 of its laws, but it knows that to conquer one's self is a 
 far more difficult task than to overcome an enemy, and 
 that, therefore, the man who keeps his temper is really 
 strong, and truly courageous. Some people are foolish 
 enough to think that everything depends on birth. 
 What does it matter, for, if a man is fit for good soci- 
 ety, it can make very little difference whether his 
 father was a miner or chancellor, at least it should not 
 with sensible people. 
 
 But wealth without breeding, generally draws the 
 attention of others to the want of taste in its pos- 
 sessor, and gives envy an object to sneer at. I cannot 
 think that rank is necessarily a recommendation to a 
 man. For look around you. Not every officer of 
 trust is by any means a gentleman. 
 
 Another feature of western life is the immense 
 amount of tobacco used. I am a smoker myself, and 
 in solitude with my pipe, I contemplate many things 
 that will never be in print. The mind of the smoker 
 is contemplative, rather than active. I know full well 
 that I have now got my pen started on the subject, 
 and will have to pen my way out. I will not take up 
 
258 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 the question in its medical aspects, and speak of the 
 destroying qualities of the weed. I do believe, that 
 used in moderation it diminishes the violence of the 
 passions, more particularly, of the temper. But what 
 is moderate and what is not, must be determined in 
 each individual case. I believe that the use of tobacco 
 induces a habit of calm reflectiveness. It is the solace 
 of the weary laborer, the support of the ill-fed, the 
 refresher of over-wrought brains, the soother of an- 
 gered feelings, the boast of the exquisite, the pastime 
 of the idle, the companion of the philosopher. 
 
 The ladies claim and protest that it is the dirtiest 
 and most unsociable habit a man can indulge in. Some 
 of the fair ones say they love the smell of tobacco, 
 while others declare that they will never marry one 
 who uses it, which by the way, they in the end gener- 
 ally do, however. Tobacco has won a fame over a 
 wider feld, and among better men, than Noah's grape 
 has ever done. I think that smoking has conduced to 
 make the society of men, when freed from the whole- 
 some restraints of female companions, less riotous, less 
 quarrelsome, and less vicious than what it would be, 
 were they to have nothing with which to drown dull 
 care. In this way the idle man can pass hours away, 
 which he would not have given to work, but, perhaps, 
 to deviltry. With this solace he is no longer restless 
 and impatient for excitement of some kind. 
 
 But it is no wonder that the ladies hate the habit. 
 For the pipe is the worst rival a woman can have, 
 and it is one whose eyes she cannot scratch out ; one 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 259 
 
 which improves with age as she herself declines; which 
 is silent, yet a companion which costs little, and gives 
 much pleasure. One can smoke, if he will, without 
 making himself disgusting to his lady friends, or run- 
 ning them from their drawing-rooms. I do not think 
 a gentleman would offer to smoke where the company 
 was mixed, unless it were a cigar, and that with the 
 consent of all present. But here in the West there are 
 very few but what smoke, and many do worse, for they 
 drink up all the money they make. 
 
 Again, one misses all entertainments of social life 
 by being in such a place as we are now in. There are 
 neither churches, Sunday-schools, theaters, balls, nor 
 anything of that character, either good, bad, or indiffer- 
 ent. We are the sole inhabitants of the valley, at this 
 present time. I, for one, am not at all satisfied here, 
 nor would I be should Uncle Sam give me a clear title 
 to this whole valley, if it were on the condition that I 
 should spend the remainder of my days here. I do not 
 want to be so rich, if it shall deprive me of all society in 
 order to obtain such vast possessions. This valley will, 
 of course, be settled up some day, but at the present 
 time no white man lives near. The entire valley is in 
 possession of the Ute Indians. 
 
 Take a person and put him in the most beautiful 
 place on our continent, and doom to a solitary life, and 
 you surround him f with misery, to be continually tor- 
 mented by a longing for companions. To live in such 
 isolation is to sacrifice all self-esteem. Aristotle says, 
 " Emulation is a good thing, and belongs to good men; 
 
260 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 envy is a bad thing, and belongs to bad men, and what 
 a man is emulous of he strives to attain, that he may 
 
 SCALP-DANCE OF THE UTE INDIANS. 
 
 really possess the desired object; the envious are satis- 
 fied if nobody has it." 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 261 
 
 Money making is the great consideration of all our 
 scheming. Money enables persons to secure and pay 
 for homes, which they cannot otherwise obtain. As a 
 matter of course people generally congregate where 
 the greatest inducements are held out. This has been 
 well illustrated in the mining industries of the West. 
 These began to develop with the discovery of the 
 precious metals, and increased with a rapidity rarely 
 witnessed in any country. These mining enterprises 
 have proven highly remunerative in many instances, 
 and through various channels of business, in addition to 
 mining. All branches of industry, in fact, have profited 
 enormously through mining. The farmer, the mer- 
 chant, the machinist, the mechanic, and the laborer in 
 every department, both East and West. 
 
 Mining is dependent largely upon the transportation 
 of various kinds of stuff. With some of this our wagons 
 
 o 
 
 are loaded at present, for the benefit of the miners at 
 Ouray. Everything has moved so slowly, and gone so 
 contrary to all expectations, that of patience and perse- 
 verance I have but little left. I thought when w r e left 
 Manti that we would see Ouray inside of sixty days, at 
 most. But now I have but little better idea of where 
 Ouray is than one of the " Kanackers " of Central Amer- 
 ica. Some one has said that when a man is in the 
 right path he must persevere. I am free to confess 
 that I am thoroughly tired of persevering on this trip, 
 and I feel that the sooner I can get rid of this outfit 
 the better. I will sell out for half price. For I now 
 feel that I have been duped, and that too, by those 
 
262 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 whom I thought were my friends. I know that many 
 persons naturally look on the dark side of life, and 
 borrow trouble, and become despondent. It may be 
 that they cannot help doing so. But it is wrong. I 
 think a person ought to set his stakes as to what he 
 intends doing, and run for them, leaving despondent 
 feelings far in the rear. 
 
 I, for one, will never again tie myself to the apron 
 strings of relationship outside of the paternal roof. 
 There is more to be lost than gained. I have been 
 made despondent when I should have been elated, and 
 that through no fault of my own. But then there is a 
 little information to be gained every day, and we need 
 never to be beaten twice the same way. I lacked 
 caution when I ventured in this undertaking, or hardly 
 this eitrier, for if I had done as my best judgment dic- 
 tated to me, when at Salt Lake City, I would have 
 returned immediately to California. I do believe that 
 if I would be governed more by the first impulses of 
 my mind, that I would often work out consistent plans 
 with greater ease than I do. 
 
 There is good in everything. It does not do for a 
 complete stranger to put his hands in fighting posture, 
 cock his eyes at you, and inform you by way of intro- 
 duction, "Wall, I guess you're a tarnation logger-head, 
 you aire," meaning to cast some reproach at another's 
 personal appearance, and general mental capacities. 
 You would see a hand gently moving towards the belt 
 that always encircles the waist. It whould be a fine 
 thing if these appendages had never been introduced. 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 263 
 
 Because the danger of being knocked down on the 
 spot, and having his beauty spoiled, is likely to be a 
 much greater inducement to proper behavior, than the 
 pistol, to a man who can offend in this manner. Yet, 
 there are times when the pistol has the effect of awing 
 men into decent politeness. 
 
 Of course, to knock a man down is never good 
 manners. But there is a way of doing it gracefully, 
 and one thing should be observed. Whether you com- 
 mand your temper or not, never show it, except by 
 the blow. Never assail an offender with words, for it 
 has a tendency to make bad, worse. I would not 
 speak as above, but the surrounding circumstances 
 in the West are such, that every man you meet is 
 weighted down with weapons of death and destruc- 
 tion. You very seldom see a man who does not have 
 them, and then it is simply because he is not able to 
 afford something of the sort. There are those here, 
 who for a small gratuity, would decide for another 
 whether their honor was hurt or not. 
 
 Hunting and shooting are the only amusements on 
 Green River at the present time. In fact this, together 
 with boating and hallooing at the cattle, are all the 
 accomplishments we know ; yet these are sufficient to 
 drive away dull care, and to make time less tedious. 
 I know there are a great many who hunt, who have ac- 
 complished but little when the day is over; yet I know of 
 nothing that gives more pleasure to a skillful marksman 
 than the chase. Here deer, elk, antelope, and wolves 
 can be shot without traveling over miles of rugged 
 
264 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 country. Many parts of the West are very thinly 
 settled, or are entirely uninhabited. In such places, 
 game is more easily approached than it is in places 
 where the hunter's or sportsman's fusilade is continually 
 kept up, and where the baying of the dogs is heard on 
 every side, as they go charging on in hot pursuit of the 
 crippled or badly-frightened animals, and where, now 
 and again, the huntsman's voice is heard breaking in, 
 urging on his ever-faithful companions to the capture. 
 
 There are. a great many things essentially necessary 
 to be a good hunter. Skill is needed; as a man must be 
 familiar with the habits of the game he is in pursuit of, 
 in order to approach it. Pluck is needed, for it is weari- 
 some work to carry a heavy rifle and trudge through 
 the forests and over the desolate plains, all day long. 
 Nothing escapes the eye of the old hunter. He quickly 
 discovers the cause of the least rustle. He hears every 
 sound. He is quickly aware of every danger. Years 
 of careful hunting for game have made him familiar 
 with all the various sounds; consequently, he will tell you 
 on the instant what it is that makes a noise. And 
 where a variety of sounds seem all mingled together, 
 he quickly singles each one out, and traces it to its 
 source. 
 
 There are various ways of hunting. In hunting 
 deer, the hunter often goes early and reaches their 
 resorts by break of day, as deer feed in the morning, 
 early. When the sun is warm, they have to be routed 
 from thickets or their sequestered haunts; starting early, 
 then, gives the hunter many advantages that cannot be 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 
 
 265 
 
 had later in the day. The hunter hides himself early, 
 and watches for the feeding or traveling game. In a 
 part of the country, where game is plenty, the hunter 
 seldom misses his "luck" and fails to get something. 
 If he is hunting sheep, he ascends to the highest, rough- 
 est, rockiest mountain fastnesses in the vicinity, as it is 
 
 HUNTING BUFFALO IN THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 here where the mountain sheep love to gambol. Sheep 
 are very different, by nature and disposition, from any 
 other animal. Though they are large, they are inno- 
 cent and inoffensive in every way. They are seldom 
 seen in the low lands. 
 
 Deer, however, are found in every locality. They 
 
266 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 frequent both high mountains and low valleys; but dur- 
 ing the cold winter months, while the snow is deep, they 
 become more numerous in the valleys and low bench 
 lands. At such times they are more easily hunted, 
 and their flesh is fatter and better flavored than at any 
 other time of the year. In warm seasons they frequent 
 the slopes of timbered mountains, high up, where the 
 flies are not so bad. They are difficult to approach, 
 and, once alarmed, they are gone like a shot. When 
 a flock of them is started, in a thicket, they make the 
 brush crack loud enough to be heard half a mile away. 
 They are different from the antelope. The antelope 
 is similar, in size and weight, to the white-tailed deer; 
 their legs are longer, and they are very nimble. They 
 are found, chiefly, where the country is rolling, and on 
 the hills destitute of timber, where grass is found in 
 abundance. 
 
 The country through here is different from any 
 other portion of the West. Both sides are hemmed in 
 with high mountain chains. The valley is thickly 
 dotted over with sand buttes and destitute of water, for 
 miles and miles. And yet, day after day, we seem to 
 be constantly in sight of water; but each time we find 
 that we have been deceived by mirages. This part of 
 the country bears evidences of the presence of min- 
 erals, all the way from the Squash Mountains, or 
 Three Peaks, clear through to Leadville. There is 
 water coming from the canons, on either side, but it all 
 sinks ere it reaches the valley. In some of these 
 places I saw as good indications of gold as there are 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 267 
 
 anywhere in the gold diggings of the West. I have 
 in some of these gulches, seen good pan prospects. 
 Some were worth thirty-four cents. But the Indians 
 are bad, and water is scarce. The supply of timber is 
 limited to the short, scrubby pine and cedars. This is, 
 moreover, three hundred miles from any settlements; 
 so that it will be seen that a small band of men would 
 run great risk in undertaking to stay in this section of 
 the country. 
 
 These valleys constantly vary from one-half to three 
 and five miles in width. This is a beautiful place, as 
 far as looking at the grandeur of nature is concerned, 
 but barrenness and destitution mark all its surround- 
 ings. Either range is covered, for the greater part of 
 the year, with a varying thickness of snow. Here the 
 ranges are white in June. I have been traveling 
 through these valleys often with my companions, when 
 we were all suffering from thirst, when, by looking in 
 the distance, for half a mile or a mile, we could observe 
 a large lake of water, and see men in boats and canoes 
 paddling about in the water, everything looking as na- 
 tural as if it were real. And the famished traveler makes 
 for the lake to slake his thirst. He travels on and on 
 and on, until, finally, the lake, boats and men begin to 
 disappear, and, by and by, the thing is all gone. The 
 traveler is by this time sick at heart, weary, and begins 
 to despair. 
 
 One trip is generally enough to satisfy a wanderer 
 that this is no place in which to linger. Contrast the 
 barrenness of this country with the fertility of the val- 
 
268 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 leys in the East, and mark well the difference, and 
 there is no civilized man on the face of this christian- 
 ized world that would envy the red man of the forest 
 this country. He may like to hunt through the foot- 
 hills for antelope, but the bottom lands contain no 
 allurement for him. He soon grows foot-sore and 
 weary, and it is with pleasure that he reaches a stream 
 of cool water. 
 
 We are now approaching the Gunnison, a small 
 river of snow water, which runs with a rapid current. 
 When we first come in sight of the stream, we are 
 still high up on the top of the mountain, where every- 
 thing is barren and desolate. To come suddenly to 
 the edge of this rugged precipice, and to get an unex- 
 pected glimpse across and up and down the deep val- 
 ley at your feet, to see either bank carpeted with the 
 richest of grass,, and a luxuriant growth of joint rushes, 
 and dotted here and there with clusters of cotton- 
 wood of magnificent growth, and to see game of all 
 kinds in abundance, in every direction, is like taking a 
 peep into the Indian's happy hunting grounds. The 
 sudden contrast is so great as to make an entrance 
 from the surrounding barren mountains into this rich 
 valley like an entrance into a new world. This is cer- 
 tainly a most beautiful place, and I do not know where 
 to find a nicer. This valley is quite small. I suppose 
 that one thousand acres will include all the good land 
 there is in it. 
 
 After crossing the Gunnison, we then travel along 
 the Uncompahgre River. Here, again, we see some 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 269 
 
 beautiful land. Along the river bank, however, is a 
 wilderness of brush. It is only here and there that 
 one can get through this, to the water's edge. We 
 are now in sight of the stage road, that leads from 
 Saguache to Ouray and San Miguel. And, oh, what a 
 blessed sight it is to see the wagons coming toward 
 you, from other directions. The stage road intersects 
 our own road, six miles below Ouray village, which is 
 an Indian town. 
 
 Reader, imagine yourself shut off for six months 
 from all communication with the world, with no op- 
 portunity to hear a word from any of your friends at 
 home, or to see a newspaper, from which to learn any 
 events of the day, and then try to imagine how you 
 would feel in meeting with friends again. I do think 
 that twice as many events transpire during such a 
 period of time as take place at any other time, when 
 we see them and know them as they occur. Every- 
 thing seems new, and one cannot help feeling that he 
 has grown older rapidly, in a short time. There is a 
 strange sensation, in such an experience, that cannot 
 be pictured or told. 
 
 Ouray, the peace chief of the Ute Nation, lives 
 here on the Uncompahgre River. He has a splendid 
 location, in the heart of a beautiful valley. The old 
 chief occupies a good house, which is as nicely finished 
 as though built by a skilled mechanic. He owns one 
 section of land, in his own name, which is somewhat 
 improved, and enclosed with a strong fence. Quite a 
 number of his tribe are always around him, but they 
 
270 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 seem more negligent in the matter of well-doing than 
 Ouray himself. There are dogs here by hundreds, 
 of all breeds, kinds and colors, and of every shade of 
 disposition. They are all sizes and shapes sleek ones 
 and wooly ones, large ones and small ones. Some of 
 them are good for hunting, and others for watching 
 camp ; some seem fitted only for barking, while there 
 are others that will bite ; all are lean and hungry- 
 looking. When a white man enters the village, there 
 is at once a regular pandemonium of yelping, growling, 
 and barking. It is fearful to be beset with four or five 
 hundred such snarling, ugly-looking curs as are found 
 in an Indian village. 
 
 They have horses, cattle, sheep, and goats in large 
 herds. These are seen in many parts of the valley, 
 with Indian herders lying around watching them. They 
 do no farming. I have often seen it stated that the 
 Ute Indians are great farmers. Ten acres will cover 
 all the little patches that are cultivated throughout the 
 whole tribe. The hoe is the principal implement used 
 in tilling these patches. They make no hay, since the 
 country abounds in grass, winter and summer. Snow 
 does not fall deep nor remain long. The valley is so 
 situated that the sun shines into it lengthwise, and the 
 climate is, in consequence, unusually warm, consider- 
 ing the fact that the valley is six thousand feet above 
 sea level. 
 
 Ten miles farther up the river we came to the 
 new Los Pinos Agency. Major Wheeler was at this 
 time acting as distributing Agent for the Ute Indians. 
 
MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 271 
 
 Here the Indians would gather in for the supplies dis- 
 tributed by the agent and furnished by the United 
 States government. There are only a few buildings 
 here, erected by the Government, for the sole purpose 
 of a distributing depot. They have an Agency Post- 
 Office. Not that the Indians need such an institution, 
 however, for none of them can read. They all talk 
 broken Spanish and Indian quite glibly. Twenty-five 
 miles on up the river we came to Ouray City. This 
 is a bustling mining town of perhaps five hundred 
 inhabitants, principally prospecting miners. Saloons 
 are plenty, and there are more stores than are needed 
 for the place, for they are all running behind. Not 
 that there is not a demand for goods, but cash is 
 scarce ; cheek, and promises to pay, seem to be the 
 chief currency 01 the place. 
 
 At this place we unloaded our wagons and sold 
 out, taking almost anything we could get. We sold 
 at ruinous prices. We got cash in part, and promises 
 to pay for the rest, and experience has shown me that 
 they will be promises to pay for a long time to come. 
 And such is life! 
 
272 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SHALL THE YOUNG MAN GO WEST? 
 
 NOW I am once again in a mining community. 
 Here, as in every mining region, we find that 
 other branches of industry are very limited, and that 
 everything depends upon the development of the mines. 
 Quartz mining is always located in rocky regions, 
 where fruits, vegetables, and grain cannot be cultiva- 
 ted. The consequence is that everything which miners 
 consume, or need, must be shipped from other points. 
 A prosperous mining town is always, therefore, a good 
 market-place for vegetables and provisions of all kinds. 
 They command a fair or high price, owing to the dis- 
 tance they are shipped, and the amount on the market. 
 American mining enterprises are generally carried 
 on by corporations, which wield powers unknown in 
 any other country. These, in their efforts to make 
 dividends on fictitious capital, reduce the wages of their 
 employes as low as practicable* and, except at com- 
 peting points, burden production by heavy and discrim- 
 inating rates for transportation. No such tremendous 
 power was ever concentrated elsewhere in the hands of 
 a few men, as is concentrated in the hands of the men 
 who control these great corporations. A few men rule 
 the whole mining business throughout the West. They 
 put rates up or down at pleasure. They wield a power 
 which absolute monarchs would hesitate to exercise. 
 
SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 273 
 
 They generally have no permanent investment of stock 
 in any of their corporations. The business is usually 
 built up by loans on the donated property, and the 
 excess of stock, when disposed of, goes into the pock- 
 ets of the ruling faction, who are stock-holders and 
 directors. These men own (subject to the liens upon 
 them) and absolutely control said incorporations, which 
 have cost them comparatively nothing, and out of 
 which they realize vast riches. They have the full 
 control of the money and stock, and have no fear of 
 competition. They generally control all the approaches 
 to their magnificence. 
 
 Secure in their chartered rights, there can be no 
 interference with their liberal privileges. Unrestrained 
 in their traffic, they control the transportation of the pro- 
 ductions, and in no small measure, the labor of a country 
 vast enough and rich enough for an empire. Whenever 
 two such contending parties begin to strive for suprem- 
 acy, then good times come with a rush for the little folks 
 on the outside. The indications of prosperity can then 
 be seen in the crowded stores, in the busy workshops, 
 in the hopeful and happy faces of miners, mechanics, 
 and speculators ; in every department of industry, in 
 the active stock market, in the mining stock board, in 
 the increased clearings. They can be seen in the bouy- 
 ant spirits of men in every branch of trade, and in the 
 increased confidence of those with money, and of hope 
 among those without money. They open up fair fields, 
 rich in the promises of a glorious harvest. There are 
 
 new enterprises started, which were never thought of 
 
 18 
 
274 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 before; and these, when once started, are pushed on 
 rapidly to completion. These are days of buying and 
 selling money is plenty, and business and speculation, 
 in all directions, are brisk and lively. But it is soon 
 apparent to all that the circulating capital is accumu- 
 lating in the hands of the capitalist. Now, this is in 
 accordance with the laws of trade, and must, inevitably, 
 take place. The majority of the community are not 
 hoarders of, or dealers in money, but spenders of 
 money. Give them any quantity of it, and they will 
 soon part with it for something more desirable. The 
 consequence is, that it then finds its way into the hands 
 of the people who make it their business to hoard it, 
 or loan it at high rates; and no injustice has been done 
 to any class. Yet corporations, as conducted, work 
 injury to all classes. One word more, and then I will 
 open up another subject. 
 
 If the naturalness of the laws of classification of 
 business was fully understood, and, also, the fact that 
 money is only really a commodity, subject to the same 
 laws of exchange, supply and demand as other things, it 
 would go far toward uprooting the pestilential econo- 
 mic heresies, which are such fruitful breeders of 
 popular discontent. The tillers of the soil are the real 
 sovereigns of labor, and of manly independence. A 
 glance at the history of our own country, and at the 
 present condition of industry in England and the conti- 
 nental nations, should be sufficient to make even the 
 chronic grumbler reasonably contented. It is question- 
 able whether there has ever been a time, since the 
 
SHALL THE YOUNG MAN GO WEST. 275 
 
 discovery of America, when a large class of people 
 were not complaining of hard times, and the scarcity 
 of money. Some point to other days as " the good old 
 times," when money was plenty and business lively. 
 We can all have money if we earn and save it. 
 
 Having expressed myself as I have about the incor- 
 porated companies, and their control of the mining 
 interests of the West, some might think I would 
 guarantee fortunes to all who would come West. I 
 cannot do that. You know some men will succeed in 
 anything anywhere, while others will fail in everything 
 everywhere. I desire to be no obstacle to hinder the 
 success of the first, nor can I prevent the failure of the 
 last, though I may aid in shaping the destiny of each. 
 And, even should I do neither, I am not likely to learn 
 of my instrumentality in the latter case, or to hear the 
 last of it in the former. I will assume the pressure. 
 It is my purpose and effort to make clear to the public 
 a description of the West. 
 
 Now, mines can be bought here at prices ranging 
 from a few hundred to a million or more dollars. Pros- 
 pects are for sale for from a few hundreds up to many 
 thousands of dollars, and mining claims from fifty dollars 
 up to some hundreds. To obtain the immense sums 
 asked for some of these mines, owners must show that 
 their mines have yielded thousands of dollars' worth, or 
 millions, as the case may be, of the precious metals. 
 They may never yield as much again, however; for, 
 though in sight, to an apparently vast extent, that 
 extent and value can only be guessed. Still, men will 
 
276 PIOW I KNOW. 
 
 i 
 
 pay millions for a mine that has been mined, who would 
 not pay thousands for a prospect that has not been 
 mined. Others will pay thousands for a prospect, who 
 (would not pay hundreds for a single claim', which some- 
 times sells for a few dollars, and proves of as much 
 value as either of the others. Hence, all have a sell- 
 ing value fluctuating widely from day to day, being 
 governed by influences peculiar to mining districts. 
 There are numerous instances on record here, as else- 
 where, where claims have been sold at large prices, 
 that proved worthless when worked. We often see 
 mines of this class that have been aban- 
 doned for years; and there are hundreds 
 of others whose owners would be much 
 better off if they would quit and let the 
 claims go. Again, there are others that 
 have cost their present owners very little, 
 which have become of great value when 
 developed. The sturdy prospector, when 
 PRICE. ne finds himself the owner of a single 
 undeveloped claim, though it be with rather unpromis- 
 ing surface indications, directs all his first efforts to 
 testing its value, instead of wasting them in sinking a 
 dozen more or less assessment shafts, on as many ad- 
 jacent claims, which could afterwards be purchased at 
 almost any offer. 
 
 The success of judicious investments in partly de- 
 veloped claims is oftentimes well illustrated. There 
 has been an expenditure of a vast amount of money 
 and labor in some of these San Juan districts to 
 
 HE, PAID A BIG 
 
SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 277 
 
 establish confidence with capitalists in the wealth of 
 some of these districts. One great feature in the es- 
 tablishing of a camp is to get men to believe there is 
 no other camp comparatively its equal, and another is 
 to have daily acquisitions of men who have faith in the 
 theory, that underlying the entire district is a body of 
 rich minerals practically inexhaustible, and who, hav- 
 ing means to demonstrate the truth of the theory, will 
 use money to do so. Always try to keep the outlook 
 of a camp away in advance of what it really is. Keep 
 mercantile interests well represented, if anything ahead 
 of the mineral developments the more rapid and the 
 farther ahead, the better prospect for the excitement 
 which must come to a camp before its merits are no- 
 ticed. Wherever mineral is discovered, crowds soon 
 become simply enormous. Hundreds of the new ar- 
 rivals have not a cent in their pockets and no way of 
 obtaining money. Hundreds of men line the streets 
 every day, idle, because they cannot obtain work. 
 
 Here in south-western Colorado are numerous min- 
 ing camps, and hundreds and thousands of people are 
 continually on the move hither and thither, drifting 
 toward the latest excitements. And the truth about 
 the San Juan regions has not and cannot be told on 
 paper, because as long as the excitements continue to 
 (start, the cry is, "Still they come!" Neither snow nor 
 cold seem to offer any obstacle to the anxious crowd 
 of crazy fortune-hunters, who are rushing to this coun- 
 try, supposed to be rich in carbonates and other ores. 
 It is true that mines are in some cases paying. It is 
 
278 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 equally as true that not one in five hundred, who flock 
 here to make their fortunes by digging for minerals, suc- 
 ceeds in making any more than a precarious living. The 
 temptation held out by prospects of sudden wealth over- 
 comes all obstacles, and thousands upon thousands of per- 
 sons, who were making good wages at home, come here 
 to find disappointment of the most bitter and perplexing 
 kind. Unable to make discoveries that will warrant cap- 
 italists in investing their means, failing in their efforts to 
 obtain employment at rates that promise immediate 
 wealth, they become discouraged and dejected, and re- 
 sort to the cup, and in a short time the story is told. 
 This is by no means a fancy sketch, as any one not 
 misled as to the circumstances can inform you. 
 
 In view of what I have seen in my long stay in the 
 West, I think that any one who encourages immigration 
 to mining regions incurs a grave responsibility. And, 
 from what I have seen, it seems probable to my mind 
 that, if the immigration still continues as it has for a few 
 years past, the mountain ranges will soon be whitened 
 with the bones of men who have died from hunger and 
 cold; for it is impossible for the country to feed so 
 many. You may take the richest mining country ever 
 struck on the globe, and there is less than one in ten 
 of the prospectors who ever discover any thing. But 
 this dismal prospect does not alter the facts with regard 
 to the mines. And these facts are readily ascertained 
 by persons who are competent to weigh evidence, and 
 have access to the proper sources of information. This 
 San Juan country is very different from California or 
 
SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 
 
 279 
 
 Nevada. Here we do not find such pleasant regions; 
 but we do find a barren wilderness, more than ten thou- 
 sand feet above the sea, where the soil will not even 
 grow potatoes; where snow falls every month in the 
 year, and men were frozen to death in August, 1878. 
 
 Of Leadville, every one has heard. No discovery 
 of mineral since the California gold excitement of '48 
 and '49 has attracted greater attention than the discov- 
 
 THESE DID NOT GROW IN A MIXING REGION. 
 
 ery and development of the Leadville mines at the head 
 waters of the Arkansas River. Where Leadville now 
 stands was an old mining camp, which had been 
 worked for gold from 1859 to 1867. The yield then 
 was considerable. It is said that, in 1860, three million 
 dollars were taken out. But the diggings were aban- 
 doned in 1867. In those days, it is said, the miners 
 "daubed" their cabins with what was supposed to be 
 mud, but which was really carbonate, worth three or 
 four hundred dollars a ton. 
 
280 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 Mr. W. H. Stevens, of Lake Superior mining fame, 
 a resident of Detroit, was the first to undertake system- 
 atic mining operations for silver in Leadville. Old Cali- 
 fornia and Nevada miners scoffed at the idea of finding 
 anything of value in the carbonates. They were soft, 
 not hard. They were "pancake" deposits, not veins. 
 The oldest and wisest among them had never seen any 
 metal extracted from such stuff. Still Stevens had his 
 followers, however. Numbers of men swarmed upon 
 the hills, and began to sink shafts. Some of them 
 were speedily rewarded. Romantic stories are told of 
 the vicissitudes of fortune which befell the early dis- 
 coverers. How some of them would wander from store 
 to store, vainly begging for a sack of flour to enable 
 them to go on with their work, who, since, in some in- 
 stances, have sold out for enormous sums, and now live 
 in splendor. How some of them gave up in despair 
 while others, on the verge of desperation, would strike 
 the pick into the ground in their rage, and would un- 
 cover the wall of a fissure vein. Whatever of truth 
 there may be in such tales, there is no doubt of the fact 
 that some rich carbonates have been struck, varying in 
 value from eight to ten hundred ounces per ton, and 
 some large fortunes have been realized by the lucky 
 discoverers. The carbonates have been found lying in 
 nearly horizontal deposits, at depths of from thirty to 
 one hundred and fifty feet below the surface. No 
 blasting is required in the shafts, and the ore can be 
 extracted for two dollars a ton. 
 
 Such astonishing bonanzas, of course, created an 
 
SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 281 
 
 excitement far and wide. A grand rush of men came 
 centering from all quarters, twelve thousand arriving 
 in the last three months of 1878. Huge machinery for 
 smelting works and saw-mills was hauled over the 
 mountains at an enormous expense. People came by the 
 hundreds from Denver, walking painfully for one hun- 
 dred and forty miles through the snow, by way of the 
 canon. In December of 1878 Leadville was full of men 
 who had no homes, who, for want of better lodgings, 
 slept in the sawdust on the bar-room floors. The most 
 of these had a little money, perhaps enough to get them 
 food without working. They spent their time in bar- 
 rooms, gambling houses, dance houses, or on the side- 
 walk, discussing the last great strike. Half a bed in 
 some miserable attic was worth two dollars a night. 
 Mechanics' wages were from four to five dollars a day. 
 Town-lots, that were worth fifty dollars in October, 
 commanded three thousand four months after. This is 
 astonishing. In 1876 this region was almost a wilder- 
 ness; now a growing, bustling, roaring town of twelve 
 thousand inhabitants forms the nucleus of a thriving 
 settlement. These people have gathered here from 
 all parts of the compass. Every State and Territory, 
 and every " neck of the woods " are represented. The 
 bulk of the population, however, poured in from west- 
 ern towns and cities, Chicago alone furnishing a large 
 proportion. One paper said every road led to Lead- 
 ville, and every road is lined with adventurers bound 
 for Leadville. 
 
 On the occasion of a big mining excitement hun- 
 
282 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 dreds of people arrive during each twenty-four hours. 
 People rush to the mines pell-mell, expecting to dig up 
 great chunks of silver and to become rich in a day. 
 A majority of them start with no more money than 
 "will pay their traveling expenses and a week's board, 
 and are in a truly pitiable plight when, with no money 
 and nothing to do, they discover that all those beauti- 
 ful day-dreams of riches acquired suddenly, and without 
 
 AN OLD *49ER NOT YET RICH. 
 
 labor, are not to be realized. Even the western papers, 
 which are interested in the settlement of the country, 
 admit that the number of moneyless, idle men in the 
 West is entirely too large. Many old miners who have 
 been there since the discoveries were first made, and 
 have been doing their level best to earn a livelihood, 
 are still destitute. The mines are bonanzas, but men 
 
SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 283' 
 
 of capital usually harvest the profits. Brains and 
 muscle, without money, amount to little in an ex- 
 citement. 
 
 Here in the mountains poverty is of the most prac- 
 tical and unpoetic sort. It means association with 
 reckless adventurers and desperadoes, and no proba- 
 bility of rising above that level. It means scarcely 
 anything to eat; nothing but water to drink, and no 
 railroad ticket for any other point. It means the se- 
 verest hardships, which men are ever compelled to en- 
 dure in this country. I have conversed freely with 
 the best citizens of the West upon this question, and I 
 have yet to find one whose sentiments are not fairly 
 reflected by the foregoing statement. There is abun- 
 dant room for men of moderate means or for capitalists. 
 All over the mountains the mineral is deposited in 
 strata as rich, no doubt, as any yet discovered, and 
 only awaits capital to take it out. It is difficult to fur- 
 nish employment to a hundred men when there is 
 only sufficient to engage one-fifth or one-tenth of that 
 number. 
 
 This is the status of the case in the West. The 
 towns are filled with men, anxious to obtain employ- 
 ment, food and lodgings; but they can find neither. 
 Food is plenty, but these persons have nothing with 
 which to purchase it. The hammer of the mechanic 
 can be heard in every city, in every quarter, and at 
 nearly all hours of the day and night. But there is a 
 limit to the employment of skilled labor. Large num- 
 bers of men are engaged in carrying on the different 
 
284 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 branches of industry. But there are three idle for 
 every one at work. 
 
 When night comes on scores of them sleep wher- 
 ever they can get an opportunity to lie down on the 
 floor. I have seen them also under houses, barns, 
 trees, and even out in the open air, unprotected from 
 the weather, except by a thin woolen blanket. Lodg- 
 ing cannot be obtained without money, and people rush 
 in here, without having the where- 
 withal necessary to furnish personal 
 comforts. In some cases of extreme 
 hunger, some live on "floaters;" that 
 is, they gather the crumbs and crusts 
 from waste baskets and swill tubs, 
 and eat these. I have seen men, 
 who could get nothing to eat, thus 
 fishing in swill buckets for scraps, 
 and eating things that have been 
 thrown from the tables for the pigs 
 and chickens. 
 
 I will gladly leave this subject, for 
 I feel it none of the best to talk about. Although I 
 have said nothing but what I can easily verify by 
 witnesses, many of them men who will readily ac- 
 knowledge that they were in the same boat, adrift 
 without money, without friends, and without home, 
 bread, or bed. One of the most painful sights in 
 this world is to see poor, way-faring mortals, in their 
 helpless poverty, thus compelled to throw them- 
 selves entirely upon the mercies of strangers. They 
 
 DEAD BROKE. 
 
SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 285 
 
 are willing enough to work, but there is no work 
 to do; consequently, they are left to beg and starve. 
 But some may object, and say that no one ever yet 
 starved in America. But I know that persons have 
 starved, for I have seen it. I say this is a deplorable 
 condition for men and women to come to. 
 
 Were it not for the hospitable people of San Fran- 
 cisco, one-tenth of the permanent population of that city 
 would be dead in less than six months, and a large por- 
 tion of the transient population would starve daily. And 
 yet, San Francisco furnishes the cheapest living, and sets 
 tables covered with the choicest fruits, and has the great- 
 est number of wealthy men, according to the population 
 pro rata, of any city in the United States. She has nicer 
 churches, and more infidels; greater heaps of yellow 
 gold, and yet more poverty; magnificent places of amuse- 
 ment, and yet more misery; a splendid climate, and yet 
 more suicides; many most excellent citizens, and yet 
 more leading lives of gambling, wickedness and sin, 
 than any other city in America. 
 
 So in other places, also, the times are different from 
 what they were a few years ago, when the country 
 was new, and before the people had commenced to rush 
 to the West without some ideas of their own before 
 they started. Now it seems that as soon as a young 
 man in the East gets money enough to carry him to 
 the West, even though he sacrifice friends and a re- 
 munerative position, without any object whatever in 
 view, only to get West, away he goes. When he gets 
 here he finds all the mercantile houses well filled with 
 
286 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 clerks and salesmen. The schools are supplied with 
 teachers. The mines have a surplus supply of miners, 
 and, in fact, every branch of labor, science, or skill 
 has already a surplus of " needies " to support. 
 
 To those with little means I would say: If you have 
 been or are now contemplating going to the West, you 
 will find it hard to get there, and much harder to get 
 away. The best policy is to stay where you are doing 
 well, and let "try to do better by going West" alone. 
 To those who have plenty of money I have only to say: 
 You know how you got it, and, if you would travel 
 with it, you can behold untold grandeur in the works 
 of Nature and of man by traveling in the West. You may 
 behold its many rocky heights, some of them covered 
 with perpetual snow. You may descend into valleys of 
 continual spring where snow never falls. What a marked 
 difference of atmospheric temperature one day's travel 
 will make! 'You can go from the cold, chilly mount- 
 ains, where ice and snow are thick and deep, to 
 where it is Spring and the flowers are blooming in 
 their many different colors of beauty. The change is 
 so sudden that one almost imagines himself in a new 
 world of glory, and such, indeed, it is to one who has 
 been in the chilly hills for a year or so. 
 
 I am going to close this chapter, and soon my book. 
 I am leaving out many things that are interesting; but 
 I cannot undertake to write them all. I have some- 
 times thought as the puzzled Englishman did. I will 
 copy his experience. It is a well-known fact that in high 
 altitudes, owing to the rarified condition of the atmos- 
 
SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 287 
 
 phere, objects are visible at a great distance. At 
 the city of Denver the Rocky Mountains, although 
 some sixteen miles distant, seem to be very near by. 
 An English gentleman, a tourist, came in on the 
 Kansas Pacific train one morning, and stopped at the 
 Inter-Ojean Hotel, in Denver. He soon made the ac- 
 quaintance of two of the old citizens. The Englishman 
 was captivated with the appearance of the mountains, 
 and suggested to the two old citizens that, as the 
 mountain range was such a very short distance from 
 the city, they should all take a walk to it, and return 
 in time for dinner. The two old citizens saw a chance 
 for some fun, and immediately consented. The trio 
 started, and walked toward the mountains for about 
 two hours and a half; but the mountains seemed 
 as far away as ever. The Englishman was a good 
 walker, and kept a little in advance of his friends. 
 Finally they saw him deliberately sit down as he came 
 to a small, irrigating ditch, perhaps two feet wide, and 
 begin taking off his boots and stockings. When they 
 came up to where he was sitting, they asked him in 
 some surprise what he was doing that for. The 
 Englishman said he was going to wade the stream. 
 Both the old citizens, looking at him in astonishment, 
 asked him why he didn't step across it. 
 
 "Step across it," he replied, "step across it! Not I! 
 What do I know about the distance in your confounded 
 country? It may be three hundred feet across." 
 
 Now this is not given, of course, for a veritable fact; 
 yet it has a meaning, showing how deceiving appear- 
 
288 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 ances are to one traveling across prairies, valleys, or 
 plains among the mountains. The atmosphere is purer 
 and lighter than at low altitudes. Consequently the 
 eye can distinguish objects at a much greater distance 
 than is realized. You see some point at a distance, 
 and think you can reach that on horsebacl^ in two 
 hours, when you might not arrive at it in a day's 
 travel. In the mountains and canons sounds rumble 
 and re-echo with greater force than elsewhere. The 
 roar of the thunder here is terrible. The lightning is 
 sharper and more brilliant than in low altitudes. Water- 
 spouts or " cloud-bursts " are numerous, often sweeping 
 large gullies out before the roaring cataract. Trees, 
 houses, earth, rock, everything standing in its course, 
 will be swept on to destruction. Whole rivers of 
 water seem to fall from the clouds at once. These are 
 more numerous in the Fall than at any other season of 
 the year. Sometimes they open up with a noise of 
 thunder fearful to hear, that goes rolling and rumbling 
 over the mountains to die in the distance. Oftentimes 
 the winds sweep along at the same time with devastat- 
 ing effect. 
 
A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 
 
 AS I have before said, the Western people are great 
 lovers of amusement. While I was at Ojo Cali- 
 enta, in Mexico, there were advertisements posted, an- 
 nouncing that a bull-fight would take place on a certain 
 day. I had never seen a fight between a man and a 
 bull; so here was something new to me, and, as I had 
 considerable curiosity to see how such a fight would be 
 managed, I remained over until the following Thurs- 
 day to see it. Ojo Calienta is a very pretty little place; 
 but built after the fashion of all its sister towns. It is 
 peopled with Spaniards and Mexicans. I did not see 
 an American, while we remained in the town, other 
 than the members of our own little party. There are 
 about one thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The country people began to flock into town two 
 days before the time set for the fight, and some of the 
 comers were hardly of the first families of Mexico. 
 The place was soon crowded with people from all 
 parts of the country. Long before the time announced 
 for the fight to begin, I made my way to the corral. 
 I had waited to see the fight, and did not wish to be 
 deprived of the opportunity. So I went early to get 
 a favorable position. I found quite a number already 
 assembled. I went forward, and secured a front seat; 
 then I began a survey of all the arrangements for the 
 
 tQ 
 
290 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 entertainment. The fight was to take place in a corral 
 that was enclosed with high adobe walls, so high that 
 neither man nor beast could break out. On three sides 
 of this corral a strong scaffolding has been raised to a 
 level with the wall, gradually rising higher as it re- 
 ceded. On this, seats had been prepared for all those 
 wishing to witness the sport. 
 
 From my seat I could see everything. I watched 
 to see the character of the spectators as they gathered. 
 I saw the old, white-haired Mexicans, with faces fur- 
 rowed by deep- 
 set wrinkles; so 
 old and bent-up 
 that they had to 
 be assisted to their 
 seats. The aged 
 crone was there, 
 browned and 
 withered. Young 
 women were 
 MEXICAN OUTLAWS. there in large 
 
 numbers, some of them with pure w T hite complexions, 
 and eyes as black as coals, and hair of the same color, 
 long enough to reach the ground. The married man was 
 there, with his arms full of children and bundles. The 
 young man was there with his beloved maiden in her 
 very ornamental dress. Many of the lady spectators 
 were of pure Castilian blood, and good-looking enough 
 to be the belles of any society or civilized community. 
 With their long, black hair and their sparkling, black 
 
A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 
 
 291 
 
 eyes; their clear, white complexion, and their gaudy 
 dress, selected more on account of brilliancy of color 
 than of any other quality, and with forms as symmet- 
 rical and graceful as can be found in any clime, I 
 thought them as beautiful a group of the fair sex as I 
 had ever seen anywhere. The young men, darker-col- 
 ored than their sisters, were there with their broad-brim- 
 med hats, from under which a pair of brilliant eyes 
 shone out, apparently taking in all the surroundings at a 
 glance. And, from their dark scowling at one another, 
 I concluded I could eas- 
 ily guess their thoughts. 
 Some of these fellows 
 were well-dressed, while 
 others wore only a hat, 
 sandals and breech-cloth. 
 At length the Mexi- 
 can, who was to be the 
 principal actor in the 
 scene, stepped into the 
 
 Corral. He Was not a MEXICAN MAIDEN, LOWER CLASS. 
 
 large man, but well-built and powerful. He was 
 dressed suitably for the occasion, with a pair of light 
 and close-fitting pants, the waist-band of which was 
 encircled with a large, red morocco belt. On his feet 
 he wore neat-fitting, light slippers, fastened with flash- 
 ing buckles. A short staff, which he carried in his 
 hand, and a knife in his belt were his only weapons for 
 the deadly encounter, in which he was about to engage. 
 The crowd had grown somewhat impatient with wait- 
 
292 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 ing for the entertainment to begin. I had been enjoy- 
 ing myself very much looking at the many fantastic 
 and grotesque spectators gathered around me. 
 
 But, when the glaring, pawing bull was let in sud- 
 denly through a side door, an awful sensation shot 
 through my whole frame. I could but feel a strong 
 sense of fear and dread at the awful tragedy about to 
 begin ; and I think a sort of presentiment of some- 
 thing terrible thrilled the entire multitude. Every 
 noise was hushed into perfect silence, more quickly than 
 I can write this sentence. The animal was large, power- 
 ful, and active. As he stood there, pawing and snorting, 
 his very hair seemed to stand out threateningly. He 
 looked like a terrible opponent to meet in single com- 
 bat. One of the guardsmen gave him a thrust with a 
 sharp-pointed lance, and, simultaneously, others in at- 
 tendance commenced to wave their red flags in front 
 of him. The matadore, all this time, stood near the 
 center of the arena, as firm and still as a post. I 
 looked to see him falter, or show some sign of fear. 
 I could not see the least change of color in his face, 
 as he stood watching the beast, and expecting a rush 
 at any moment. 
 
 I sat looking at the man, and then at the beast, 
 wondering how the battle would begin. I had not 
 long to wait, for the animal had now been tormented 
 into such a state of fury, that his eyes looked almost 
 green with rage. With a roar, that was terrible to 
 all who heard it, he dashed suddenly at the matadore, 
 with his head down, with the evident purpose of toss- 
 
A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 
 
 293 
 
 ing him into eternity. I watched him rushing until I 
 felt sure that his horns had reached their aim. 
 But, no. The Mexican sprang to one side with the 
 agility of a cat, dodging the horns of the angry beast, 
 and, as the animal passed him, he punched him lightly 
 with his staff, but still enough to enrage him all the 
 more. The bull, finding himself baffled, turned, and, 
 with more fury than ever, dashed at him again, only 
 to be again evaded, and thrust harder than before by 
 his adversary. Time after time the enraged beast 
 would renew the encoun- 
 ter, but with no better 
 success; and, every time 
 the man would so nimbly 
 spring out of the way, 
 the audience would 
 applaud and cheer loudly. 
 The fight was kept 
 up in this w r ay until the 
 animal was completely 
 exhausted, and could 
 not be brought to renew the combat. The man was 
 then declared the winner, amid the loud applause of 
 the multitude. 
 
 Another fight was immediately announced to come 
 off in one-half hour, between the same man and an- 
 other bull. We all remained seated, watching some 
 wrestling and jumping, which, by the way, was nothing 
 extra. After about an hour's time another bull was let 
 into the corral. This last was a much smaller animal 
 
 PUEBLO CACIQJJE, NEW MEXICO. 
 
294 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 than the first, but more ferocious, for he made direct 
 for his antagonist. The matadore successfully employed 
 the same tactics as in the first combat, until several 
 rounds were fought, and we were all beginning to think 
 that it would terminate like the first. 
 
 But this was not to be the case; for, all at once, the 
 man either slipped, or made a miscalculation, and the 
 bull caught him on his horns, and tossed him far over 
 to one side, near the wall. The man fell with a heavy 
 thud on the ground, badly hurt. The bull made at him 
 
 again. Then ensued a 
 scene far different from 
 anything that had yet 
 been seen that day. 
 Women and children 
 were screaming with 
 terror. Several of the 
 men,dreading accidents, 
 began to shoot the bull. 
 The spectators, rush- 
 MEXICAN INDIANS. ing together in their 
 
 terror, broke down some of the scaffolding, and several 
 were hurt in that way. They succeeded in killing the 
 bull, before he had killed the matadore. But the man 
 was so severely hurt that he had to be carried from 
 the field, and placed under the care of surgeons and 
 nurses. There was such a crowd around him, that I 
 did not get to see how badly he was injured. A general 
 commotion followed the killing of the animal. Every- 
 thing was in confusion; every one seemed to be trying 
 
A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 295 
 
 to reach the ground first. As soon as the man was 
 taken from the ground, the crowd scattered in different 
 directions, toward their homes. 
 
 I was told that neither one of the fights was com- 
 pleted, as the man generally kills the bull by striking 
 a knife deep into his neck. I do not know how that 
 may be, but I do know that I will never be a witness 
 to another bull-fight. It is a most horrible sight to 
 look upon. But, then, this is no new thing among the 
 Spanish people, for bull-fighting has been carried on as 
 an amusement among them for ages. I would not go 
 into a corral, and fight one bull, for all the money there 
 is in the United States of America. 
 
296 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 
 
 THE INDIANS. 
 
 ~^HE general character of the Indians is very sim- 
 JL ilar throughout all the many different tribes. 
 There is but very little difference in their habits and 
 customs. 
 
 Their wigwams are built of small poles and skins, 
 and most always in the form of a pyramidal tent. The 
 top is open. A low door-way is cut or left in the tent, 
 over which the skin of some animal is usually hung. 
 The entrance is so low that one must stoop to enter. 
 In the center of the hut, or wigwam, a small fire is 
 built, and all the inmates gather close enough around it 
 to almost smother it out. Nearly all the Indians are now 
 in possession of some goods, obtained from the white 
 people; hence, you will often see an iron pot, either on 
 or close by the fire, containing meat, or other food. 
 The wigwam is, of course, almost always full of smoke. 
 
 The floor is strewn with the skins of animals, on 
 which they lounge. They sleep on these skins, lying 
 in a circle around the fire. Each wigwam accommo- 
 dates about seven or eight sleepers. 
 
 The Indians are natural hunters. Some of the tribes 
 possess a great many excellent horses. They wander 
 and hunt over a vast scope of country. The Indians 
 have certain days of festivity and public rejoicing, 
 when large crowds of them assemble together. They 
 
THE INDIANS. 
 
 297 
 
 then have, as the principal part of the day's entertain- 
 ment, horse-races, foot-races, and wrestling-matches. 
 Shooting at a mark is another one of their pastimes, 
 which is indulged in by the hour. They usually select 
 
 INDIAN WIGWAM. 
 
 as a target, some object on a steep hillside, and then 
 watch, by the little puff of dust, to see where the ball 
 strikes. Each shot, be it good or bad, produces the 
 same effect upon the swarthy spectators. 
 
 The Indians are always ready to trade for horses or 
 
298 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 guns. They never trade for anything they cannot move 
 about with them. Often they will exchange a splen- 
 did horse, saddle and bridle for a gun, which, though it 
 may be a good one, is worth not more than forty dollars, 
 while the horse would, perhaps, command over one hun- 
 dred dollars. They are all lovers of whisky, and when 
 they can procure it in sufficient quantities, they use it 
 to great excess. When drunk, they are very noisy, 
 and some of them are dangerous. 
 
 Their modes of disposing of their dead differ in 
 different tribes. The Sioux place their dead bodies in 
 trees, or on a platform, supported by four stakes driven 
 into the ground, whichever is the more convenient; for, 
 on the plains, sometimes they may be hundreds of miles 
 from timber. The Utes sometimes bury the body in 
 the ground, and sometimes place it along the side of 
 some ledge, where it is weighted down with rocks. If 
 an Indian is afflicted with a malarial disease, he is gen- 
 erally left to get well as best he can. If he dies, his 
 body is either left without any attention, or is burned. 
 I was in Utah Territory when Black Hawk, one of 
 the war chiefs of the Indians there, died from some 
 disease he had contracted. His people burned his 
 body, and one of his favorite horses with it. 
 
 At one time, near Manti, some of the Mormon boys 
 were following a trail that led to the mountains above. 
 At a certain place, where there were ledges and bowl- 
 ders without number, they heard some strange noise 
 proceeding from the rocks. Upon investigation they 
 found an aged Indian woman, who, on account of sick- 
 
THE INDIANS. 
 
 299 
 
 ness, had been unable to keep up with the train of her 
 comrades. They had, therefore, taken and weighted 
 her down with rocks, to suffer and starve to death; 
 and, but for the timely assistance of the Mormon boys, 
 who helped her down to an empty cabin, outside of 
 town, where 
 she was cared 
 for, she soon 
 would have 
 been where 
 n o assistance 
 could have 
 reached her. 
 
 The Indians 
 have doctors, 
 or medicine 
 men, among 
 them. When 
 one of the tribe 
 is attacked with 
 sickness his 
 comrades gath- 
 er around him 
 in the evening. BLACK HAWK. 
 
 Some of them will walk around his couch, and most 
 dismally howl until tired out, when fresh ones take 
 their places. Some will be dancing and singing with all 
 their might. Others are out in the darkness shooting, 
 and making all the noise in their power. In this way 
 they keep up a dreadful racket during the whole night. 
 
300 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 I have tried to gain admittance at such times, but 
 always found sentinels surrounding the camp, who 
 would allow no one to enter. They told me that this 
 
 UN INDIO BRAVO, TEXAS. 
 
 demonstration was made for the purpose of keeping 
 off the evil spirits, that were supposed to hover around 
 the couch of the sick one, ready to convey his spirit 
 
THE INDIANS. 301 
 
 away. They think that, if they can keep up a sufficient 
 noise and racket, they will be able to frighten the evil 
 spirits away. The Indians are a very superstitious race 
 of people. They believe in the future existence of 
 mankind, but in this peculiar way. They think that, if 
 an Indian is very courageous and brave, and obtains to 
 that higher point of excellence in this life which, in 
 their minds, constitutes him a "big brave," the good 
 spirits will hover around his dying couch, and, at his 
 last breath, will speed away, on swift wings, with his 
 immortal spirit to a land that is beautiful beyond de- 
 scription; filled w r ith sweet, fragrant flowers, and all 
 kinds of game in never-ending abundance; where he 
 may roam and hunt at will by the side of rivers of 
 clear water, filled with the most beautiful fish. Such, 
 they think, will be the future home of the good Indians. 
 But, if an Indian is not good in their opinion, when he 
 dies his soul is borne away on the wings of an evil 
 spirit, to a land that is barren, wild, and desolate; 
 where there is neither game nor fish. They seem, 
 therefore, to have some sort of wisdom in these mat- 
 ters, even in their ignorance, that is far superior to 
 some of the creeds and practices of their more-enlight- 
 ened fellow men. I refer to Mormonism, Mohammed- 
 anism, and such like. 
 
 The Mormon obtains glory in a higher or lower 
 degree, according as he increases his chances by mar- 
 rying additional wives, each new wife lifting him a step 
 higher toward perpetual happiness. 
 
302 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 O 
 
 THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 [ From WESTERN WILDS, by permission.*} 
 
 N a bright Sunday in June, 1876, while the nation 
 was on the top wave of the Centennial enthusi- 
 asm and the opening of the Presidential campaign, the 
 news went flashing over the wires that General George 
 A. Custer and all his command lay dead in a Montana 
 valley, the victims of a Sioux massacre. With him had 
 died his two brothers, his brother-in-law and a nephew; 
 and of all that entered that battle not one white man 
 survived. For a brief space there was hope that it 
 might be a false report, but soon followed official 
 papers which confirmed every ghastly detail of the first 
 dispatches. For a few days the public sorrow overcame 
 all other considerations; then, by natural revulsion, sor- 
 row gave place to indignation, and that in turn to a 
 fierce demand for investigation and a victim. The 
 public must have a victim when there has been a mis- 
 fortune. Then ensued a performance which was no 
 credit to us as a nation. His opponents attacked Pres- 
 ident Grant as the real cause "of Custer' s death; his 
 friends foolishly defended the President by criticising 
 
 *To the kindness of Mr. J. H. Beadle, author, and Messrs. Jones Brothers 
 & Co., of Cincinnati, publishers, of that very able work, WESTERN WILDS, 
 I am indebted for this chapter on The Custer Massacre, and the following 
 one on Where Shall ive Settle? which I am sure my readers will find both 
 very interesting and very valuable. THE AUTHOR. 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 303 
 
 Custer; the latter's friends in the army savagely at- 
 tacked Major Reno and Captain Benteen as being the 
 cause of the General's misfortunes, and thus the many- 
 sided fight went on. Before stating any facts bearing 
 on this issue, a brief sketch of General Custer's previous 
 experience on the plains is in order. 
 
 George Armstrong Custer was born at New Rum- 
 ley, Ohio, December 5, 1839, and was consequently 
 but thirty-seven years old at the time of his death. At 
 ten years of age he went to live with an older sister in 
 Monroe, Michigan, and ever after considered that place 
 his home. There, on the ninth of February, 1864, he 
 married Elizabeth, only daughter of Judge Daniel S. 
 Bacon. He entered West Point as a cadet in 1857, 
 and graduated four years after away down in the 
 list. Worse still, he was court-martialed for some 
 minor breach of etiquette, and, badly as officers were 
 needed just then, had some trouble in getting located 
 in the army. But we long ago learned that rank at 
 West Point by no means settles the officer's later 
 standing in the army. Soon after graduating he was 
 made Second Lieutenant, and assigned to Company 
 "G," Second United States Cavalry, and arrived just 
 in time to take a little part in the Bull Run battle and 
 stampede. A little later he served on the staff of General 
 Phil. Kearney, and early in the summer of 1862 was 
 made full captain and aid-de-camp of General McClellan. 
 And this contributed not a little to some of his trou- 
 bles in after years, as he was an enthusiastic " McClellan 
 man," and by no means reticent in his views. Ani- 
 
304 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 mosities were excited during that controversy which 
 were not settled till long afterward. 
 
 Little by little Custer fought his way up, and the 
 last year of the war the country was charmed and ex- 
 cited by the brilliant movements of Brigadier-General 
 George A. Custer, of the United States Cavalry. After 
 the war we almost lost sight of him. Except that Pres- 
 ident Johnson took him, along with a few others, as 
 one of the attractions of that starring tour, " swinging 
 'round the circle," we hear no more of Custer till the 
 army was reorganized in 1866, and he was once more 
 a captain in the United States Cavalry, this time on the 
 plains. But it was a different sort of army from that 
 with which he had won his early honors. Language 
 fails to portray the utter demoralization of our regular 
 army from 1865 to 1869 or '70. All the really valua- 
 ble survivors of the volunteer army had returned to 
 civil life; only the malingerers, the bounty-jumpers, the 
 draft-sneaks and worthless remained. These, with the 
 scum of the cities and frontier settlements, constituted 
 more than half the rank and file on the plains. The 
 officers, too, had been somewhat affected by the great 
 revolution. The old West Pointers were dead, or re- 
 tired on half pay, or had grown to such rank in the 
 volunteer army that they could not bear to drop back 
 to their old position in the regular service. The offi- 
 cers consisted of new men from West Point; of men 
 who had been appointed from civil life or from the vol- 
 unteer army, in most instances to oblige some politi- 
 cian; and a few men like Custer, to whom military life 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 
 305 
 
 was both a pleasure and a legitimate business. Deser- 
 tion was so common among the private soldiers that it 
 entailed no disgrace anywhere in the West. Hundreds 
 enlisted simply to get transportation to the Rocky 
 Mountains, and then deserted. When our wagon-train 
 was on its way to Salt Lake in 1868, a deserter trav- 
 eled with us two days, dressed in his military clothing, 
 and without the slightest attempt at concealment. In 
 this wretched state of the service in the West, Custer 
 was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
 put in command 
 of the Seventh 
 United States 
 Cavalry. 
 
 It was but 
 nominally a 
 cavalry regi- 
 ment. The men 
 were there, and 
 the horses, with 
 
 guns, equip- "GO WEST." 
 
 ments, an organization and a name; but as a cavalry 
 regiment he had to make it, and he did it so well 
 that it soon became the reliable regiment of the 
 frontier. The new Colonel's career, for some time 
 to come, was among the hostile Indians of Western 
 and South-western Kansas then the worst section 
 of the Far West for Indian troubles. The tourist 
 who glides rapidly and with such keen enjoyment 
 through this region, by way of the Kansas Pacific 
 
 20 
 
306 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 or Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Road, can scarcely 
 conceive that but a few years have elapsed since it 
 contained thousands of murderous savages; for it is 
 a noteworthy fact that nothing so soon moderates 
 the danger of Indian attacks as a railroad. It seems 
 that, even if no fighting is done, the mere presence of 
 the road, with daily passage of trains, either drives the 
 Indians away or renders them harmless. But in the 
 early days the routes to the Colorado mines were 
 raided at regular intervals. One year there would be 
 almost perfect peace; the next a bloody Indian war. It 
 seems to have been the policy of the Indians to behave 
 well long enough to throw emigrants off their guard; 
 then to swoop down and murder and plunder with im- 
 punity. The region between the Smoky Hill and the 
 Republican was particularly noted for bloody encount- 
 ers. It was raided in turn by Sioux, Cheyennes and 
 Arapahoes, and often by all three in concert. Every 
 ravine and knoll on the route has its own local legend 
 the details, a blending of the ludicrous and horrible. 
 Tradition relates that two bold settlers started for the 
 mines in a time of profound peace, just after the In- 
 dians had concluded a most solemn treaty and shaken 
 hands over their promise to live in eternal peace with 
 the whites; the settlers, in Western mirthfulness, paint- 
 ing on their white wagon-cover the words, " Pike's 
 Peak or Bust." A scouting party sent out from some 
 post came upon them on the Upper Republican, just 
 in time to see the savages vanishing in the distance. 
 The oxen lay dead in the yoke. Beside the wagon 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 
 307 
 
 were the corpses of the two settlers, transfixed with 
 arrows. They had "busted.'' 
 
 In 1864 the savages broke out worse than ever, car- 
 rying off several women captive from the settlements 
 in Kansas. In 1865 there was a precarious peace; but 
 in 1866 and '67 the Indians raided every part of the 
 stage road. Meanwhile the noted "Chivington massa- 
 cre " had occurred, and General P. E. Connor had, by 
 
 'BUSTED. 
 
 extraordinary exertions, killed some Montana Indians; 
 both events were seized upon by Eastern "human- 
 itarians," and for a while they succeeded in completely 
 paralyzing all portions of our army. And here it may 
 be observed that our peculiar, tortuous, uneconomical 
 and most unsatisfactory Indian policy, is the result of a 
 certain conflict of forces highly liable to occur in a free 
 republic. There is, first, a small but eminently respect- 
 
308 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 able and powerful party, which is opposed to fighting 
 the Indian at all, and think that he might be fed and 
 soothed into keeping the peace; and that, at any rate, 
 it would be cheaper to feed all the Indians to repletion 
 than to fight them. And, as to this last point, they 
 are emphatically correct. There is, next, a consider- 
 ably larger number, mostly on the frontiers, who believe 
 in a war of extermination, but they have little or no 
 political influence. There are, also, the traders and 
 agents, some honest and some otherwise, whose inter- 
 ests are involved ; and the sensible middle class, who 
 believe in keeping treaties with the Indians, and 
 thrashing them if they break treaties. Of course, it 
 sometimes happens that one of these parties is ahead, 
 and then another. As a result, our policy is strangely 
 crooked, inconsistent, and expensive. The Indian no 
 sooner gets accustomed to one policy than another is 
 adopted ; he has scarcely learned to trust one officer till 
 another is in his place, who takes a malicious pleasure, 
 apparently, in undoing all that the former has done. 
 This uncertainty entails frightful expense, both in treas- 
 ure and life. But it is a difficulty inseparable, appar- 
 ently, from our form of government. 
 
 It is unnecessary to trace the causes which led to 
 Hancock's campaign against the Indians in 1867. It 
 was a formidable affair on- paper, but accomplished 
 nothing. Our whole force consisted of eight troops of 
 cavalry, seven companies of infantry, and one battery 
 of artillery, the whole numbering 1,400 men. General 
 Hancock, with seven companies of infantry, four of 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 309 
 
 the Seventh Cavalry, and all the artillery, marched from 
 Fort Riley to Fort Harper, and there was joined by 
 two more troops of cavalry. Thence they marched 
 southeast to Fort Larned, near the Arkansas. The 
 hostile Indians, consisting of Cheyennes and Sioux, had 
 appointed a council near by ; but all sorts of difficul- 
 ties seemed to arise to prevent their coming up to time. 
 First, there was a heavy snow, although it was the 
 second week in April 5 and the runners reported that 
 the bands could not come. Then word came that they 
 had started, but found it necessary to halt and kill some 
 buffalo; and, again, that they had once come in sight, but 
 were afraid on account of so many soldiers being present. 
 Then General Hancock proceeded up the stream to 
 hunt the Indian camp, and was met by an imposing 
 band of warriors. Another parley ensued; midway be- 
 tween the hostile forces Generals Hancock, A. J. Smith 
 and others met Roman Nose, Bull Bear, White Horse, 
 Gray Beard and Medicine Wolf, on the part of the 
 Cheyennes, and Pawnee Killer, Bad Wound, Tall-Bear- 
 that-walks-under-Ground, Left Hand and Little Bull 
 and Little Bear, on the part of the Sioux. There was 
 no fighting ; but after a few days more of excuses, the 
 mounted Indians suddenly departed. Then it was dis- 
 covered that the whole proceeding was but a well- 
 played ruse to enable the Indians to get their women 
 and children to a place of safety, and leave the warriors 
 free for contingencies. The accomplished commanders 
 of the American army had been tricked by a lot of dirty 
 savages. Custer in the lead, pushed on with all possible 
 
310 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 speed after the Indians, but in vain. They had struck 
 the stage stations on the Smoky Hill route, and mur- 
 dered several persons; and the war was begun. It 
 ended decidedly to the advantage of the Indians. 
 
 Ouster's first experience in actual Indian-fighting 
 was while escorting a wagon-train loaded with sup- 
 plies from Fort Ellis. The Indians had selected for the 
 fight a piece of ground well cut up with gullies an 
 
 CUSTER'S FIRST INDIAN FIGHT. 
 
 admirable system of " covered ways " by which they 
 hoped to get close up to the wagons without being 
 discovered, and then make a charge. But the watch- 
 ful eye of a scout discovered their plan, and brought 
 on the conflict on ground more favorable to the whites. 
 The train was simultaneously attacked on all sides by 
 six or seven hundred well-mounted Indians, outnum- 
 bering Ouster's party twelve to one. The savages 
 
THZ CUSTER MASSACRE. 311 
 
 attacked in the manner known as "circling" that is, 
 riding round and round the whites, hanging on the 
 opposite side of their horses so as to be shielded, and 
 firing over the animal's back and under his breast. The 
 scout, Comstock, had predicted a long and obstinate 
 battle: " Six hundred red devils ain't a goin' to let fifty 
 men stop them from getting the sugar and coffee that's 
 in these wagons." And they did not yield the prize as 
 long as there was hope. The soldiers were located 
 around the wagons in skirmish order. The Indians en- 
 circled them in a much larger ring; but, though the fir- 
 ing continued for hours, only a few Indians were hit, so 
 difficult was it to take aim at the swiftly-flying horse or 
 rider. All this time the train moved slowly on over the 
 comparatively level prairie, the teamsters shivering with 
 terror, and scarcely needing the command to " keep 
 closed up one team's head right against the next 
 wagon." This fight lasted three hours, and had the 
 Indians maintained it much longer, the soldiers would 
 have run out of ammunition. But the savage scouts, 
 posted all around on the highest points, gave warning 
 that something was wrong; and soon the whole band 
 ceased firing and galloped off. Five of them had been 
 killed and several wounded. The cause of their sud- 
 den retreat proved to be Colonel West's cavalry com- 
 mand, which soon arrived. 
 
 Custer's next anxiety was for Lieutenant Kidder 
 and his party of eleven men, who were known to be 
 moving across from the Republican to Fort Wallace, 
 through a country now swarming with hostile Indians. 
 
312 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Soon after getting the supply train into camp, Comstock, 
 the scout, was appealed to for his opinion as to Kidder's 
 chances. It was far from encouraging. But Corn- 
 stock's reply to the officers contains some hints worth 
 recording. Said he: "Well, gentlemen, there's several 
 things a man must know to give an opinion. No man 
 need tell me any pints about Injuns. Ef I know any- 
 thing, it's Injuns. I know jest how they'll do anything, 
 and when they'll take to do it; but that don't settle the 
 question. Ef I knowed this young lootenint, ef I knowed 
 what sort of a man he is, I could tell you mighty nigh 
 to a sartainty all you want to know; for, you see, Injun- 
 huntin' and Injun-fightin' is a trade all by itself; and, 
 like any other bizness, a man has to know what he's 
 about, or ef he don't, he can't make a livin' at it. I 
 have lots o' confidence in the fightin' sense o' Red 
 Beard, the Sioux chief, who is guidin' the lootenint, and 
 ef that Injun can have his own way, there is a fair 
 show for his guidin' 'em through all right; but, there 
 lays the difficulty. Is this lootenint the kind of a man 
 that is willin' to take advice, even if it does come from 
 an Injun? My experience with you army folks has 
 allays been that the youngsters among ye think they 
 know the most; and this is 'specially true ef they've 
 jist come from West Pint. Ef one o' 'em young fel- 
 lers knowed half as much as they bleeve they do, you 
 could'nt tell 'em nothin'. As to rale book larnin', why 
 I spose they've got it all, but the fact of the matter is, 
 they could'nt tell the difference 'twixt the trail of a war 
 party and one made by a huntin' party to save their 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 
 313 
 
 necks. Half uv 'em, when they first cum here, can't 
 tell a squaw from a buck, because they both ride strad- 
 dle; but they soon larn. But that's neither here nor 
 thar. I'm told that this lootenint we're talkin' about 
 is a new-comer, and that this is his first scout. Ef 
 that be the case, it puts a mighty unsartain look on the 
 whole thing; and, 'twixt you and me, gentlemen, he'll 
 be mighty lucky ef he gets through all right. To-mor- 
 row we'll strike the 
 Wallace trail, and I 
 can mighty soon tell 
 whether he's gone 
 that way." 
 
 Next day the re- 
 lief party, led by 
 Custer, came on 
 Lieutenant Kidder's 
 trail, and after a brief 'f 
 examination Com- ' 
 stock pronounced: 
 
 "The trail shows WESTERN SCOUT WILD BILL. 
 
 that twelve American horses, shod all around, have 
 passed at a walk; and when they went by this pint 
 they war all right, because their horses are movin' 
 along easy, and no pony tracks behind 'em, as would 
 be ef the Injuns had an eye on 'em. It would be 
 astonishin' for that lootenint and his layout to git into 
 the fort without a skrimmage. He may, but ef he 
 does, it'll be a scratch ef ever there was one; and I'll 
 lose my confidence in Injuns." 
 
314 HOW T KNOW. 
 
 Custer ordered the command to hurry up, and, fol- 
 lowing the trail, they came, in a few hours, upon two 
 dead horses with the cavalry brand, but stripped of all 
 accoutrements. A little farther, and they saw that the 
 American horses had been going at full speed, while 
 all around Comstock pointed out the minute but abund- 
 ant evidences that the Indians had fought them from 
 all sides, the pony tracks being numerous. A little 
 farther, and they entered the tall grass and thickets 
 along Beaver Creek, and there saw several buzzards 
 floating lazily in the air, while the trail was sprinkled 
 with exploded cartridges and other debris. That told 
 the tale. Nor were they long in finding the dead. The 
 sight made the blood even of these brave men curdle. 
 Lieutenant Kidder and his companions lay near to- 
 gether, stripped of every article of clothing, and so 
 brutally hacked and mangled that all separate recogni- 
 tion was impossible. Every skull had been broken, 
 every head scalped; the bodies were mutilated in an 
 obscene and indescribable manner, and some lay amid 
 ashes, indicating that they had been roasted to death. 
 The scalp of Red Bead, the friendly Sioux, lay by his 
 body, as it is contrary to their rules to carry away the 
 scalp of one of their own tribe; nor is it permitted 
 among most Indians to keep such a scalp or exhibit it. 
 The exact manner of their death cannot be known, but 
 all the surroundings showed that they had fought long 
 and well. Custer's command buried them on the spot 
 where found, whence the father of Lieutenant Kidder 
 removed his remains the following winter. 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 315 
 
 Custer marched on to Fort Wallace with all possi- 
 ble speed, .but troubles multiplied. The soldiers had 
 begun to desert. Forty men took "French leave" in 
 one night! The next day thirteen men deserted in 
 broad day, in full view of the command, seven mounted 
 and six on foot. After a desperate run the latter were 
 captured, two slightly and one mortally wounded. It 
 is to be noted that they were then in a region where 
 the deserters apprehended no danger from Indians. 
 Two men were killed by the Indians after all danger 
 was thought to be past. From Fort Wallace the com- 
 mand marched eastward to Fort Hayes. The war 
 was over and Custer applied for and obtained leave to 
 visit, by rail, Fort Riley, where his family was then 
 located; and for this, and other matters connected 
 with that campaign, Custer was court-martialed! This 
 proceeding appears to have been purely malicious, 
 prompted by the dislike of some inferior officers over 
 whom Custer had exercised pretty severe discipline. 
 The charges were drawn by one whom he had severely 
 reprimanded for drunkenness. He had left Fort Wal- 
 lace without orders, because, under the circumstances, 
 he thought proper to report to his commander in per- 
 son. To this they added the fact that he went on to 
 Riley to visit his family, and thus constructed a charge 
 that he had abandoned his post for his private con- 
 venience! Mean as this attack was, it was successful. 
 Custer was suspended from rank and pay for one year! 
 
 Meanwhile another summer campaign was under- 
 taken against the hostile Indians, with equally barren 
 
316 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 results. General Sully marched, in 1868, against the 
 combined Cheyennes, Kioways and Arapahoes, whom 
 he struck near the present Camp Supply. If this was 
 a "drawn battle," that is the best that can be said of 
 it. Sully retired, badly crippled, and made no further 
 attempts. At the same time General " Sandy " For- 
 sythe, with a company of scouts and plainsmen enlisted 
 for the purpose, was hunting for the hostile Sioux on 
 the Northern affluents of the Republican. He found 
 them. They also found him. Of his total force of 
 fifty-one men, six were killed and twenty wounded; 
 all their horses were captured, and the command was 
 only saved from annihilation by the arrival of re-in- 
 forcements. The Noble Red Man evidently understood 
 his business better than the Generals opposed to him. 
 The people of Colorado grew sarcastic. Western 
 people often do when mail and supplies are cut off 
 for weeks at a time. It appeared that the mountain 
 territories were in a fair way to be isolated from the 
 rest of the country. California Joe, a scout who had 
 been with several of the commanders, thus "gave in his 
 experience: 
 
 u I've been with 'em when they started out after 
 the Injuns on wheels in an ambulance as if they 
 war goin' to a town funeral in the States, and they 
 stood about as much chance o' ketchin' the Injuns as 
 a six-mule train would o' ketchin' a pack o' coyotes. 
 That sort o' work is only fun for the Injuns; they 
 don't want anything better. Ye ought to seen how 
 they peppered it to us, and w r e doin' nothin' all the 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 317 
 
 time. Some war afraid the mules war a goin 5 to stam- 
 pede and run off with all our grub, but that war on- 
 possible; for, besides the big loads of corn and bacon, 
 thar war from eight to a dozen infantry men piled into 
 every wagon. Ye'd ought to heard the quartermaster 
 in charge o' the train tryin' to drive the men outen the 
 wagons and git them into the fight. He was an Irish- 
 men, and he sez to 'em: 'Git out of thim waggins. 
 Yez 'ill have me tried for disobadience ov orders for 
 marchin' tin men in a waggin whin I've orders but 
 for eight.' " 
 
 But the rude common sense of General Sheridan, 
 soon after his arrival on the plains, put an end to sum- 
 mer campaigning. He and Sherman united in asking 
 for the restoration of Custer; and, on the i2th of No- 
 vember, 1868, that officer, at the head of his command 
 again, started out on his famous Washita campaign. 
 Soon after the departure from Fort Dodge, on the 
 Arkansas, the command was overtaken by a violent 
 snow-storm; but this the commander thought all the 
 more favorable to his plans. General Sheridan could 
 only point out to Custer the neighborhood of the hos- 
 tiles' camp, and leave all details to his judgment. With 
 four hundred wagons, and a guard of infantry for them, 
 and the Seventh Cavalry in fighting order, he pressed 
 rapidly southward to the edge of the Indian country, 
 where a camp was established for the wagons, as a 
 base of supplies, and the cavalry pressed on. California 
 Joe and other scouts accompanied the expedition, be- 
 sides a small detachment of Osage Indians, headed by 
 
318 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Little Beaver and Hard Rope, who did excellent ser- 
 vice. After a terrible winter march, the command, 
 eight hundred strong, arrived at the bluff of the Washita 
 at midnight, and saw below them, in the ' moonlight, 
 the hostile camp. It was evident, at a glance, that the 
 Indians trusted implicitly in the old army habit of fight- 
 ing them only in Summer. They had no scouts out, 
 and were buried in repose. The command w r as divided 
 into four nearly equal detachments; and, by making 
 wide detours, the Indian camp was completely sur- 
 rounded before daylight. The night was terribly cold, 
 but no fire could be lighted, and the suffering was 
 intense. As Custer stood upon the brow of the hill, 
 and peered through the darkness into the camp, he dis- 
 tinctly heard the cry of an Indian baby, borne through 
 the cold, still air, and reflected with pain that, under 
 the circumstances, there was so much probability that 
 the troopers' bullets would make no distinction of age 
 or sex. Soon after daylight the attack was made. 
 Although taken by surprise, the Indians fought des- 
 perately, but were utterly routed. It practically an- 
 nihilated Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes. A hun- 
 dred and three warriors were killed; fifty-three squaws 
 and children captured, eight hundred and seventy-five 
 ponies taken and a vast amount of other property. Of 
 the force, two officers and nineteen men were killed, 
 three officers and eleven men wounded. In the very 
 hour of victory Custer discovered that this was but one 
 of a long line of villages, extending down the Wash- 
 ita; but he had struck such terror that the others did 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 
 319 
 
 not gather force sufficient to attack, and he returned to 
 camp in safety. 
 
 And here it may be noted that, in plains' travel and 
 fighting, there is no difficulty so great as dealing with 
 the wounded. With all the appliances furnished our 
 
 RUDE SURGERY OF THE PLAINS. 
 
 army surgeons, there must still be many deficiencies; 
 and, with the ordinary plainsman, a bad wound is 
 either certain death or a long and terrible struggle, in 
 which nothing saves the man but an iron constitution. 
 In the old days a regular backwoods' science grew up 
 
320 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 among trappers and voyageurs; they treated gunshot 
 wounds and broken bones, extracted bullets and arrows, 
 or amputated shattered limbs in a way that would have 
 amazed the faculty, but was singularly successful. The 
 camp-saw and a well-sharpened bowie-knife were their 
 surgical instruments; their cauteries, hot irons; and 
 their tourniquets, a handkerchief twisted upon the 
 limb with a stick run through the knot and turned to 
 press upon the artery. f Arrows w r ere often drawn 
 through the limb, the feathers having been cut off; 
 and bullets flirted out of an incision quickly made with 
 a sharp razor. In winter the wounded limb was al- 
 most frozen by snow or ice applied before the amputa- 
 tion; in summer there was nothing for it but to suffer 
 it through. An old voyageur, with but one arm, gave 
 me an account of his losing the other, which made my 
 " each particular hair to stand on end." The arm was 
 completely shattered below the elbow; it was amputa- 
 tion or death, and the party was a thousand miles from 
 any surgeon. But with knife, saw, and red-hot iron 
 the job was skillfully done; he survived such rude 
 surgery without a shock to his fine constitution. 
 
 After a brief rest Custer was again sent to the 
 Washita, where he alternately negotiated with and 
 threatened the savages, until he had recovered some 
 captives they held, and located the Indians near the 
 forts. And here originated the difficulty between him 
 and General W. B. Hazen, then in charge of the southern 
 Indians Custer maintaining that Satanta's and Lone 
 Wolf's bands of Kioways had been in the fight against 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 321 
 
 him, Hazen denying it. It was six years before the 
 matter was settled, Hazen producing unquestionable 
 evidence that he was right. We find evidences, from 
 time to time, that Custer was somewhat hasty in his 
 judgments, and very impulsive in giving utterance to 
 them in short, that he had some of the faults as well 
 as all the virtues of a dashing, impetuous man. 
 
 For two years there was peace on the plains; but 
 in the spring of 1873, the first Yellow Stone expedition 
 went out. From Yankton the Seventh Cavalry, with 
 Custer in command, marched all the way to Fort Rice, 
 six hundred miles, Mrs. Custer and other ladies accom- 
 panying the column on horseback. There the ladies 
 halted; but it was not until July that the entire expedi- 
 tion started cavalry, infantry, artillery and scouts, 
 numbering seventeen hundred men all under com- 
 mand of Major-General D. S. Stanley. The main ob- 
 ject was to explore the country, and open a way for 
 the surveyors of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Cus- 
 ter, as usual, was put in the lead, and soon after reach- 
 ing the Yellow Stone had several skirmishes with the 
 Indians, who were desperately resolved against the 
 passage of a railroad through the country. If they 
 could only have looked forward over the next year of 
 the financial world they might have been spared all 
 anxiety on that point. During this march the sutler 
 and veterinary surgeon of the Seventh Cavalry were 
 murdered by a Sioux called Rain-in-the-Face; and out 
 of that matter grew the latter's hostility to Custer, and 
 perhaps the latter's tragic death three years after. 
 
322 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Early in 1874 began the memorable Black Hills ex- 
 pedition, an undertaking that began in the grossest in- 
 justice and ended in wholesale murder. From the first 
 discovery in California, rumors had constantly prevailed 
 of great gold placers in the Black Hills, but the region 
 was a mystery. The Warren Expedition, in 1857, had 
 gone around the whole district, but the Sioux emphat- 
 ically prohibited them from entering it, stating that it 
 was sacred ground. Other expeditions proved that the 
 region was a great oval, about a hundred by sixty 
 miles in extent, cut up by numerous low mountain 
 ranges covered with timber; that it possessed, as do all 
 such mountainous regions, a more rainy climate than 
 the plains, and scores of little valleys of great fertility. 
 It is obvious from the lay of the country, that the re- 
 gion cannot contain any great area of agricultural land, 
 but quite probable that it abounds in good mountain 
 pastures and timbered hills. The tenacity with which 
 the Sioux clung to it only the more convinced the 
 Westerners that it contained gold by millions, and many 
 were the exciting stories told. The treaty of 1868 con- 
 firmed it to Red Cloud and other chiefs in person in 
 Washington, and the Black Hills were declared inviola- 
 ble a section of the Indian reservation never to be 
 trespassed upon by white men. The Custer expedition 
 of 1874 was undertaken in direct violation of that treaty, 
 and upon the half-avowed principle that treaties were 
 not to be kept with Indians, if whites needed the 
 country in question. Consistent with this ill-faith the 
 expedition was made the occasion of ridiculous exag- 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 323 
 
 geration, not to say downright falsehood. Correspond- 
 ents were sent along with descriptive powers suited to 
 an earthly Eden, and they described one; explorers 
 went to find gold by millions, and they found it. The 
 country needed a sensation, and the Government took 
 the contract of supplying it. When the expedition had 
 returned, and the brilliant correspondents had made 
 their report, General Hazen undertook to moderate pop- 
 ular enthusiasm by portraying the high plains as they 
 generally are; but the public rejected him, and found 
 in his testimony only another evidence of his animosity 
 to General Custer. The general result was, settlement 
 of the Black Hills before the Indian title was extinguished 
 and another* expensive and fruitless Indian war. 
 
 The next year Rain-in-the-Face, a noted brave of 
 the Uncpapa Sioux, was arrested for the murder of Dr. 
 Honzinger and Mr. Baliran, of the Yellow Stone Expedi- 
 tion of 1873. He was brought before Custer, thoroughly 
 examined, and sentenced to death, but managing to 
 escape, joined the hostile band of Sitting Bull, and sent 
 word that he was prepared to take revenge for his im- 
 prisonment. There is evidence, though not quite con- 
 clusive, that this Indian gave Custer the death-blow. 
 Here it is necessary to point out an important distinc- 
 tion in the organization of different bands. The 
 ordinary Indian government is patriarchal, and in 
 many bands a majority of the families are in some 
 way related to the chief; but, though the chieftainship 
 is nominally hereditary, its continuance in any line 
 finally depends on the prowess of the claimant. If he 
 
324 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 fails in any particular, another chief at once supplants 
 him. Hence the absurdity of the plan generally adopted 
 by our Government, of trying to choose chiefs for the 
 Indians, or to recognize one rather than another. If 
 the young men cannot have the leader they want, they 
 generally join the "hostiles." These bands are made 
 up on an entirely different plan by convenience rather 
 than relationship. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, or some 
 other active fighter, gets a reputation as war chief, and 
 all the discontented braves join him; as a rule there 
 are few women in such a band, and the number of men 
 is, therefore, apt to be underrated on distant view. Still 
 more distinct is a third class, commonly known as 
 "dog soldiers." These are outcasts or runaways from 
 all the tribes, who get together in squads of from five 
 to five hundred; sometimes they dissolve and melt into 
 the original tribes; sometimes are merged into some 
 one big tribe, or simply wear out. Their communica- 
 tion at first is entirely by the " sign language ;" if to- 
 gether long enough, a new Indian dialect arises from 
 the jargon of so many tongues. It has occasionally 
 happened that a large band of "dog soldiers" would 
 capture women enough for their wants, conquer a ter- 
 ritory for themselves, and in time grow into an entirely 
 new tribe. Thus the Comanches, Arapahoes and 
 Apaches are said to have descended from the original 
 Shoshonees; while the Navajoes resulted from the 
 union of part of the old Aztecs with an offshoot of the 
 Shoshonees or of the original Athabascan stock, from 
 which the latter sprang. 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 325 
 
 In 1876, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led the hostile 
 Sioux, and to them rapidly gathered all the discon- 
 tented young braves from the agencies. As near as 
 can be determined, the latter chief began the season 
 with eight hundred braves the former with nearly 
 twice as many. Their position was the best that mili- 
 tary art could have selected. From it the affluents of 
 the Yellow Stone ran northward; the lower affluents of 
 the Missouri eastward; on the east and north it was 
 doubly protected by the "bad lands;" northwest and 
 west were rugged mountains, and southward the high 
 plains stretched for many hundred miles. Around the 
 extreme outer edge of the hostile country, from north- 
 west and north to north-east and east, ran the Mis- 
 souri; on that stream were located all the agencies, and 
 from them, through " friendly" Indians, went a constant 
 stream of supplies to the warriors. By careful exam- 
 ination of the books (after the damage had been done), 
 it was proved that these bands received in five months 
 fifty-six cases of arms, containing one thousand one 
 hundred and twenty Winchester and Remington rifles, 
 and four hundred and thirteen thousand rounds of pat- 
 ent ammunition, besides considerable quantities of loose 
 powder, lead and primers. It takes many such lessons 
 as this to convince the American people that this ma- 
 chine we call government is the most awkward, ex- 
 pensive and inefficient of all human inventions; and yet 
 the lesson is not learned, for in spite of daily multiply- 
 ing evidences of its inherent inefficiency, new parties 
 start up every year, urging that government should run 
 
326 
 
 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 our schools and churches, our mills, mines and work- 
 shops, our social, moral and industrial institutions. 
 Daily is the lesson thrust upon us, that whatever gov- 
 ernment does is done wrong; and daily we hear fresh 
 demands that government should do things which it 
 was never organized to do. The plain English of the 
 foregoing figures is, that government first armed the 
 savages with repeating rifles; then sent an inferior force 
 to attack them on ground of their own choosing. 
 
 Three columns were to 
 proceed from three points 
 and converge on the hos- 
 tile region: Gibbon east- 
 ward from Fort Ellis, 
 Montana; Crook north- 
 ward from Fort Fetter- 
 man; and Terry westward 
 from Fort Abe Lincoln, 
 just across the Missouri 
 from Bismarck, Dakota. 
 Of course they could not 
 start at the same time. General Crook, with seven 
 hundred men and forty days' supplies, started the 
 ist of March, and reached and destroyed the village 
 of Crazy Horse, on Powder River, the i7th of March. 
 But the Indians got away with most of their ani- 
 mals and supplies. The Gibbon column did not figure 
 greatly till the junction with Terry on the Yellow 
 Stone. Meanwhile the Terry column, in which Gen- 
 eral Custer was the leading spirit, was delayed in a 
 
 SCENE OF THE SIOUX WAR. 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 327 
 
 score of ways. It could not start as early as that of 
 Crook anyhow, as it was to move through a colder 
 latitude, and, while waiting, Custer was summoned to 
 Washington. The Belknap investigation was in prog- 
 ress, and Hon. Heister Clymer, Chairman of the House 
 Committee, got it into his head that Custer could give 
 important information. In vain did Custer dispatch 
 that he really knew nothing about the case, and Terry 
 urge that his call to Washington would delay and im- 
 peril the expedition. Clymer was all the more cer- 
 tain Custer had important information, and should be 
 brought before the committee and rigidly interrogated. 
 On the 6th of March, Custer telegraphed a request 
 that he might be examined at Fort Lincoln. This 
 Clymer flatly refused. Custer had to go to Washing- 
 ton, and there it was found that he really knew noth- 
 ing about the case, and had only, as was natural to one 
 of his impulsive nature, talked freely about what he had 
 heard. But Heister Clymer had the satisfaction of 
 compelling . a General to come before his committee, 
 and delaying Custer's march after Sitting Bull a whole 
 month. Then President Grant took hold. The grim, 
 impassive, hard-to-change General Grant took rt into 
 his head that Custer's talk about the case had been an 
 intentional affront to him ivhy, no one ever knew. 
 He refused to see Custer, though the latter repeatedly 
 called at the White House, and once sent in a card, 
 asking in plain terms for a reconciliation. 
 
 Custer then called at the office of General Sherman, 
 only to learn that the latter was in New York, and 
 
328 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 might not return for some time; then, on the night of 
 May i ? took the train for Chicago. Next day Sherman 
 returned, and telegraphed to General Sheridan at Chi- 
 cago, that Custer "was not justified in leaving here 
 without seeing me (Sherman) or the President," and or- 
 dered that Custer remain at Saint Paul till further orders. 
 Somebody was evidently playing sad havoc with Cus- 
 ter' s character and plans. He had, perhaps, talked too 
 much that was his fault, if any thing but it is im- 
 possible for the non-military mind to see any other 
 harm he had done. He was in genuine distress. He 
 telegraphed at length to General Sherman, and then to 
 President Grant, and the final result was that, after a 
 deal of red tape all around, he received permission to 
 go with the expedition, in command of his regiment, 
 the Seventh United States Cavalry. The Terry col- 
 umn consisted of the Seventh Cavalry entire, three 
 companies of the Sixth and Seventeenth Infantry, with 
 four Gatling guns and a small detachment of Indian 
 scouts, about eight hundred men in all. Gibbon 
 was coming in from the west with four hundred men, 
 and Crook had made another start from the south with 
 fifteen hundred men. Thus there were twenty-seven 
 hundred armed men, distributed on the circumference 
 of a circle about three hundred miles wide, to con- 
 centrate near the center where the hostiles were sup- 
 posed to be. 
 
 Crook first found the enemy. On the 8th of June, 
 his force had a skirmish with the Sioux, and repulsed 
 them. A week later his Indian scouts reported that 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 329 
 
 they had seen Gibbon's command on the other side of 
 the hostile Sioux, on the Tongue River. On the i6th 
 Crook pushed rapidly forward toward the hostiles. 
 Next morning Sitting Bull attacked his camp in great 
 force and with astonishing vigor. It was not exactly 
 a surprise, but all must agree that Crook gained no 
 advantage, and that Sitting Bull handled his forces 
 admirably. Twice during the action he succeeded in 
 getting his warriors into positions where they poured 
 an enfilading fire into Crook's command. Meanwhile 
 Generals Terry and Gibbon had communicated, and 
 the latter had shown, by thorough scouting, that the 
 hostiles were as yet all south of the Yellow Stone. A 
 glance at the map will show that the Powder, Tongue, 
 Rosebud, and Big Horn, run north into the Yellow 
 Stone, and the Little Horn into the Big Horn; and 
 that, after these various scouts, it was certain the hos- 
 tiles were somewhere on those streams. Accordingly 
 Terry commenced scouting for them in that direction. 
 So far the general plan had worked well; its defect 
 now appeared to be that Gibbon and Terry were 
 separated from Crook by at least a hundred miles of 
 mountainous country, and that in that region some- 
 where were the hostiles, in good position to move 
 either way. The whole object of this plan was to pre- 
 vent the Indians getting away without a fight, and as 
 to that it was a perfect success. The contingency of 
 the Indians being well prepared for a fight had appar- 
 ently not been considered. 
 
 Careful scouting narrowed the field, and finally it 
 
330 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 was decided that the Indians were either at the head 
 of the Rosebud or on the Little Horn, a ridge about 
 fifteen miles wide separating the two streams. Terry 
 and Gibbon, on the Yellow Stone, near the mouth of 
 Tongue River, then held a council, and decided that 
 Ouster's column should be pushed forward to strike 
 the first blow. Crook was too far south to be consid- 
 ered in this arrangement at all. The general plan is 
 briefly stated in Terry's dispatch to General Sheridan, 
 from the former's camp at the mouth of the Rosebud, 
 just before the final movement, as follows: 
 
 Traces of a large and recent camp of Indians have been discovered twenty 
 or thirty miles up the Rosebud. Gibbon's column will move this morning on 
 the north side of the Yellow Stone (see map), where it will be ferried across 
 by the supply steamer, and whence it will proceed to the mouth of the Little 
 Horn, and so on. Custer will go up the Rosebud to-morrow with his whole 
 regiment, and thence to the head-waters of the Little Horn, thence down the 
 Little Horn. 
 
 The object, of course, was for Custer to head off the 
 escape of the Indians toward the east, while Gibbon 
 would move up the Big Horn and intercept them in 
 that direction. It has been absurdly said that Custer 
 disobeyed or exceeded the general orders he received 
 from Terry; but, in fact, those orders were so very 
 "general," that, aside from the instructions as to route 
 and sending scouts to seek Gibbon, they might have 
 been condensed to " Go ahead, do your best; I trust all 
 to you." Similar orders directed the march of Gibbon 
 up the Big Horn. Should both columns march equally, 
 all else being equal, it would result that they would 
 come together on the Big Horn, some distance above 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 331 
 
 (south) the junction of the Little Horn. There appears 
 to have been no special order given as to rates of 
 marching; and so far the witnesses do not agree very 
 well as to what either commander was to do if he 
 struck the Indians first. The reasonable supposition 
 is, that it was understood beforehand that they were to 
 fight on sight. It was hardly to be supposed that Sit- 
 ting Bull would accommodate them by slowly retiring 
 before either, until the other could come up in his rear. 
 Custer's command received rations for fifteen days. 
 Thus supplied, and thus directed with only general or- 
 ders and plenary powers under them, Custer and his 
 cavalry set out up the Rosebud on the afternoon of 
 June 22, 1876, which is the last account we have from 
 him in person. Thereafter his movements are known 
 only by the report of Major Reno, who succeeded to 
 the command of that section of the regiment which 
 survived; the statements of various officers in the same 
 command; the evidence of Curly, an Upsaroka scout, 
 who alone survived the massacre, and some unsatisfac- 
 tory accounts from the enemy. From all these sources, 
 and a careful examination of the trails and battle- 
 ground, the following facts are proved: 
 
 On the 22d, Custer marched his command about 
 twelve miles up the Rosebud, and encamped. On the 
 23d, they continued up the Rosebud for about thirty- 
 five miles, perhaps a little less. On the 24th, they ad- 
 vanced rapidly twenty-eight miles, and, finding a fresh 
 Indian trail, halted for reports from scouts. By night 
 they had received full reports, and, about 9.30 p. M., 
 
332 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Custer called the officers together and informed them 
 that the Indians were in the valley of the Little Horn, 
 and that to surprise them they must cross over from 
 one stream to the other in the night. Accordingly 
 they moved off at n P. M.; but, about 2 A. M. of the 
 25th, the scouts gave notice that the command could 
 not get across the divide before daylight; so halt was 
 made, provisions prepared, and breakfast eaten. Right 
 here, apparently, Custer's original plan failed. It would 
 seem to have been his intention to repeat the Washita 
 battle, and attack at sunrise. By 8 A. M., the command 
 was nearing the Little Horn. Here the regiment was 
 divided. Major Reno took command of companies M, 
 A and G; Captain Benteen of H, D and K; Custer re- 
 tained companies C, E, F, I and L, and Captain Mc- 
 Dougall, with company B, was placed as rear-guard 
 with the pack-train. As they moved down the creek 
 toward the Little Horn, Custer was on the right bank, 
 Major Reno on the left bank, and Captain Benteen 
 some distance to the left of Reno, and entirely out of 
 sight. As near as can be determined the command 
 had marched some ninety miles since leaving Terry; 
 but it is claimed by some that this last night and fore- 
 noon march was much longer than reported. 
 
 About noon they came in sight of the Indian camp, 
 on the opposite side of the river, which at that point 
 runs a little to west of north, with a considerable bend 
 to the north-east. Enclosed within this bend, on the 
 left (west) side of the stream, began the Indian camps, 
 which continued thence a long way down the Little 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 
 333 
 
 Horn. As the command now enters the battle in 
 three divisions, we must consider them separately. As 
 
 GETTING THE FIRST SHOT. 
 
 far as Custer's plan can be known, it was for Reno to 
 cross, attack the upper end of the Indian camp, and 
 
334 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 drive them down stream, if possible; at any rate, to 
 employ the warriors fully, while Custer himself, to be 
 re-inforced by Benteen, should gallop around the bend 
 of the Little Horn and down some distance, then cross, 
 and attack from that side. It was evident that the 
 time for a complete surprise was past. The last order 
 Reno had from Custer was: "Move forward at as 
 rapid a gait as you think prudent; charge afterwards, 
 and the whole outfit will support you." Pursuant 
 thereto, Reno with his command took a sharp trot for 
 two miles down the stream to a convenient ford; then 
 crossed, deployed with the Ree scouts on his left, and 
 opened the battle, the Indians retiring before him about 
 two and a half miles. And here comes in the first 
 doubtful proceeding. Reno says: "I saw that I was 
 being drawn into some trap. * * * j could not see 
 Custer or any other support, and at the same time the 
 ground seemed to grow Indians. They were running 
 toward me in swarms, and from all directions." He 
 retired a little to a piece of woods, dismounted, had 
 his men fight on foot, and advanced again. He says 
 that the odds were five to one, and he saw he must 
 regain high ground or be surrounded. Accordingly he 
 remounted his men, charged across the stream, some 
 distance below where he had crossed before, and hur- 
 ried to the top of the bluff, losing three officers and 
 twenty-nine men killed and seven men wounded in 
 this operation. In fact, nearly his entire loss occurred 
 in this retreat, men and horses being shot from behind. 
 It would seem to a civilian, who has, perhaps, no right 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 335 
 
 to criticize an Indian fight, that it would have been far 
 cheaper, and more nearly in accordance with his orders, 
 to stick to the woods on the west side, and fight it 
 out for a few hours. The surgeon present says there 
 was only one man wounded before Reno abandoned 
 the timber. 
 
 We turn now to Benteen. That officer, having 
 been ordered to the extreme left while marching down 
 the affluent toward the Little Horn, was necessarily 
 several miles off when the rest of the command turned 
 to the right and down the Little Horn. Finding no 
 Indians, he re-crossed the affluent and marched down 
 the trail left by Custer. About three miles, as he says, 
 from where Reno first crossed, he met a sergeant car- 
 rying orders to Captain McDougall to hurry up the 
 pack-train; a little further on he met Trumpeter Mar- 
 tin with an order from Custer, written by Adjutant 
 McCook, and the last he ever penned, which read: 
 "Benteen, come on; big village; be quick; bring packs." 
 About a mile further on he came in sight of the Lit- 
 tle Horn, and saw Reno retreating up the bluffs. He 
 also saw "twelve or fifteen dismounted men fighting 
 on the plain, the Indians there numbering about nine 
 hundred!" About 2.30 p. M., he came up to where 
 Reno had gathered his forces on the right blufi\ The 
 division of the regiment into three battalions was made 
 at 10.30 A. M.; Benteen says that his scout and return 
 to the main trail occupied about one hour and a half, 
 bringing it to noon. How he consumed the time from 
 then till 2.30 p. M., none of the reports inform us. The 
 
336 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 distance traversed could not have been over five miles, 
 if we can trust any thing to the military map. It also 
 appears from the report that Boston Custer, brother of 
 the General, had time to come to the rear and pack- 
 train, get a fresh horse, and go back to Custer, passing 
 Benteen, and be killed in the final slaughter. The 
 reports by various survivors seem to leave us in 
 ignorance of much that we would like to know. 
 
 It was now near 3 P. M., and as senior major, Reno 
 had in command his own and Benteen's battalions, and 
 the company guarding the pack-train: Companies A, 
 B, D, G, H, K, and M, numbering 380 men, com- 
 manded by Captains Benteen, Wier, French, and Mc- 
 Dougall, and Lieutenants Godfrey, Mathey, Gibson, 
 Edgerly, Wallace, Varnum and Hare. With them was 
 Surgeon Porter. These officers are restrained, to a 
 great extent, by military courtesy, but as far as their 
 statements have been made public they indicate that 
 there was no very determined effort made to aid Cus- 
 ter. Major Reno waited on the bluff awhile (length 
 of time not settled yet), then moved slowly down the 
 stream, and sent Captain Weir with his command to 
 open communication with Custer. Weir soon returned 
 with the information that the Indians were coming en 
 masse; and, in a little while after, Reno's force was 
 furiously attacked. We learn at this stage of the 
 report that it was now 6 P. M. It seems impossible to 
 stretch any action of which mention is made so as to 
 cover the time between three and six. And yet it 
 appears from an examination of the ground, that Cus- 
 
~ THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 337 
 
 ter could not, at three, have been more than three 
 miles away. And, in the interim, the little squad of 
 dismounted men whom Benteen saw across the river, 
 had beaten off the Indians opposed to them and suc- 
 ceeded in reaching Reno without loss I But Reno's 
 command was attacked, as aforesaid, about 6 p. M.; 
 held its ground with the loss of eighteen killed and 
 forty-six wounded, and had the enemy beaten off by 
 9 P. M. There is every evidence that Reno behaved 
 with coolness and bravery, and Benteen with proper 
 activity, during this battle; and still the report does 
 not inform us as to the exercise of those qualities 
 earlier in the afternoon. 
 
 And where all this time was Custer? The trail, 
 the heaps of dead, and the few accounts from eye-wit- 
 nesses tell a plain story. He came at high speed to a 
 ford of the Little Horn, which would have brought 
 him about the middle of the Indian camps. But in 
 this short space of time the Indians had vanquished 
 Reno, and their whole force was there to oppose him. 
 He gave back from the ford, and the Indians followed 
 in overwhelming numbers. They were now on the 
 way he had come, and he continued his retreat along 
 the bluffs down the river. He had in his command 
 but four hundred and twenty men, and the Indians 
 must have numbered nearly two thousand. Who can 
 tell the agony of that terrible retreat and last desperate 
 struggle? When the command had reached a point 
 nearly a mile from the ford, Custer evidently saw that 
 a sacrifice was necessary to save, if possible, a rem- 
 
 22 
 
338 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 nant of his command. To this end he chose his 
 brother-in-law, Lieutenant James Calhoun; with him 
 was Lieutenant Crittenden, their company having been 
 selected to cover the retreat. They were found in 
 line all dead together, the officers in their proper places 
 in the rear, the company having died fighting to the 
 last man. 
 
 A little further on another desperate stand was 
 made. Then a mile from the scene of Calhoun's 
 death, on the ridge parallel with the stream, Captain 
 Keogh's company made a stand to cover the retreat. 
 Keogh had evidently nerved himself for death. He 
 was an old and able soldier. He was an officer in the 
 Papal service when Garibaldi made war upon the Pope, 
 and had served in the army of the Potomac during the 
 war. Down went he and his company, slaughtered in 
 position, every man maintaining his place and fighting 
 desperately to the last. 
 
 Custer, with the remnant of his command had taken 
 up his position on the next hill. Curly, the Upsaroka 
 scout, tells us that he ran to Custer, when he saw that 
 the command was doomed, and offered to show him a 
 way of escape. General Custer dropped his head, as 
 if in thought, for one moment, then suddenly jerking 1 
 it up again he stamped his foot, and, waving Curly 
 away with his sword, turned to rejoin his men. In 
 that brief interval of thought he had decided to die 
 with his men rather than attempt to escape. There 
 had been a short lull in the fight, while the Sioux were 
 maneuvering for a better position. The firing now 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
 
 339 
 
 re-commenced with more fury than ever. Curly 
 dashed into a ravine, let down his hair so as to re- 
 
 FIGHTING HAND TO HAND. 
 
 semble a Sioux as much as possible, mounted a horse, 
 and joined in the next charge; but watched his oppor- 
 
340 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 tunity to put on a Sioux blanket, and in the heat of 
 the battle slipped away. 
 
 Custer had now made his last stand. It was on 
 the most commanding point of the ridge; and there, 
 with Captain Yates, Colonel Cook, Captain Custer, Lieu- 
 tenant Riley, and thirty-two men of Yates' command, 
 he fought desperately to the last. One by one his 
 companions fell around him. Nearer and nearer came 
 the Sioux, like hounds baying a lion, dashing around 
 and firing into the command on all sides. Finally, the 
 whites made a sort of barricade of their dead horses, 
 and again for a few minutes held the savages at bay. 
 Then Rain-in-the-Face, bravest Indian in the North- 
 west, gathered his most trusty followers for a hand-to- 
 hand charge. Custer fought like a tiger. With blood 
 streaming from half a dozen gaping wounds, he killed or 
 disabled three of the enemy with his saber, and when 
 his last support was gone, as he lunged desperately at 
 his nearest enemy, Rain-in-the-Face kept his oath and 
 shot the heroic commander dead. 
 
 But the battle was not over. Captain Custer and 
 Captain Smith tried to cut their way back to the river, 
 and in the ravine leading that way twenty-six men 
 were found dead. The heroic remnant made their last 
 stand near the river, and there every man was found 
 dead in position, every officer in his place, every wound 
 in front. The awful tragedy ended with the day. 
 General Custer lay dead on the hill. Beside him lay 
 Colonel Tom Custer, who enlisted as a private at six- 
 teen, was an officer at nineteen, and had been twice 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 341 
 
 decorated for bravery in action. In the same slaughter 
 died two more of the family. Boston Custer, forage- 
 master of the Seventh Cavalry, had sought the open- 
 air life of the plains to ward off a tendency to con- 
 sumption, which early manifested itself. He avoided a 
 lingering death by a heroic exit, fit subject for epic 
 poem or thrilling romance. And there was young 
 "Autie" Reed, a mere boy, named after General Cus- 
 ter himself, his nephew, son of the older sister, who 
 had, in fact, reared the General. It was cruel that he, 
 too, should die in this fearful massacre. Autie was 
 just out of school, and was eager to go on the plains 
 "with Uncle Autie." To please the lad Custer had 
 him and a class-mate appointed herders, to drive the 
 cattle accompanying the column. He had come with 
 his uncle on this last scout, and here met with his death, 
 equally brave with the bravest. Lieutenant James 
 Calhoun, the remaining member of this relationship, 
 had married Maggie E. Custer, the General's only 
 sister, in 1872; and in every emergency showed him- 
 self worthy of adoption into this brave family. Cheered 
 on by his voice, every man of his company died in 
 place. With him was Lieutenant Crittenden of the 
 Twelfth Infantry, a mere boy, just appointed, but cool 
 as a veteran through all the terrible scene. A whole 
 brotherhood of brave officers were cut off; for Custer 
 had gathered around him a circle of choice spirits, who 
 admired his dash, and emulated his bravery. There was 
 the Adjutant, Col. Wm. W. Cook, a Canadian by birth, 
 who had enlisted in the Twenty-fourth New York 
 
342 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Cavalry at the beginning of the war, and risen to be 
 its Colonel. And Captain Yates, who enlisted as a 
 private at sixteen and worked his way up. They used 
 to call his company the " band-box troop," they were 
 so neat in their dress and equipments; but every man 
 of them died at his post. The last commander of all 
 was Captain Algernon E. Smith, who won renown at 
 the storming of Fort Fisher; was wounded, and for 
 his bravery made brevet Major. But, perhaps, the 
 s-addest loss of all was that of Lieutenant William Van 
 W. Riley. He was of heroic stock. His father, an 
 officer in the navy, went down with his ship in the 
 Indian Ocean a short time before William was born. 
 He left his widowed mother for this expedition, and 
 died in company with all the brave men who then made 
 their last fight. The night fell upon all these brave offi- 
 cers and three hundred men, lying dead upon the field. 
 A full history of the battle is not yet known. This 
 I say, despite the fact that military reports have been 
 made by the commanders, and published by authority. 
 But they leave much unknown. In a quiet way there 
 has been much crimination and re-crimination; one 
 party has accused Reno and Benteen of cowardice or 
 disobedience; the other, including General Grant, has 
 charged that Custer exceeded his orders and sacrificed 
 his command. Without adopting the extreme view 
 of either side, this would seem to a civilian about the 
 correct state of the case: The regiment attacked a 
 force of Indians outnumbering the soldiers two or 
 three to one, and well armed, ready for fight, well 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 243 
 
 posted, in broad day, when me-n and animals were 
 fatigued, and so insured defeat; then, Reno and Ben- 
 teen, seeing that retreat was a certainty, thought best 
 to keep out of the fight, perhaps supposing that Custer 
 would, in like manner, retreat after a brief skirmish. 
 I cannot see that victory would have been possible in 
 any event no matter if the whole force had attacked 
 at once, as originally intended. 
 
 This disaster, of course, spoiled the original plan. 
 General Gibbon came up with re-inforcements, and the 
 Indians moved. Successive minor battles and skir- 
 mishes followed, by which, though no one great victory 
 was gained, the hostiles were slowly worn out and 
 scattered. Many of the braves made their way back 
 to the agencies, others retreated to less accessible posi- 
 tions in the mountains, and Sitting Bull, with a remnant, 
 retreated into British America, whence, at this writing, 
 negotiations are pending to have him removed. The 
 war in that section is dying out, but a few words addi- 
 tional may be appropriate of the Indians in general. 
 A glance at a map of Aboriginal America will show 
 that very few of the Indian nations have retained their 
 original locations; but it must not be judged therefrom 
 that numerous tribes have become extinct. The Indian 
 population of this country, at the landing of Columbus, 
 has been greatly exaggerated. It is demonstrable that 
 all that part of the United States east of the Missis- 
 sippi never contained a half million of Indians; some 
 authorities say a quarter of a million. It is apparent, 
 at a glance, that a country like Ohio will sustain four 
 
344 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 hundred times as many people in the civilized as in the 
 savage state. When men live upon game and the 
 spontaneous products of the earth, it must be a fer- 
 tile land indeed, which will sustain an average of one 
 person to the square mile. When we pass to the 
 Indian of the plains the original population was sparser 
 still. But there we find some of the races on the soil 
 where first discovered. The Sioux have steadily con- 
 tracted their eastern border, while maintaining their 
 western border intact. But if, leaving history, we take 
 tradition, we find that the Indian tribes have been 
 engaged for centuries in a series of migrations, the 
 northern ones, as a rule, slowly pushing southward. 
 As all our mountain chains run north and south, it 
 follows that the people of this country cannot grow 
 into distinct races as in Europe, where different cli- 
 mates and soils are partitioned off by natural barriers. 
 Hence the Indian, from Manitoba to the Gulf of Mexico 
 is one; hence, too, half a million men of the West 
 rose in arms to prevent the mouth of the Mississippi 
 being "held by an alien government." Of the Indian 
 migrations, the best authenticated are those of the 
 Shoshonees and Sioux, which are referred to in the 
 following legend, as related to the interpreter by Susu- 
 ceicha, a Sioux chief: 
 
 "Ages past the Lacotas (or Dakotas, i. ., Sioux) lived 
 in a land far above the sun of winter. 
 
 " Here, then, the Shoshonee had all, but these basins 
 were yet full of water, and the buffalo ranged even to 
 Salt Land (Utah). 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 345 
 
 "Ages passed. The Shoshonees gave place to the 
 Scarred Arms (Cheyennes). The Lacotas came toward 
 the sun and fought long with the Scarred Arms. A 
 great party came far into the inner plain (Laramie) 
 and fell into a snare, all were killed by the Scarred 
 Arms but six; these hid in a hole in the mountain. 
 
 " They built a fire and dressed their wounds; they 
 hoped to stay many days till the Scarred Arms left 
 the plain. But a form rose from the dark corner of 
 the cave; it was a woman old as the red mountain 
 that was scarred by Waukan. Her hair was like wool; 
 she was feeble and wrinkled. She spoke: 
 
 " ' Children, you have been against the Scarred 
 Arms. You alone live. I know it all. But your 
 fire has waked me, and the full time of my dream has 
 come. Listen: 
 
 " ' Long ago the Shoshonees visited the Lacotas; 
 the prairie took in the blood of many Lacota braves, 
 and I was made captive. The Shoshonees brought 
 me here, but I was not happy. I fled. I was weak. 
 I took refuge in this cave. 
 
 "'But look! Where are the Shoshonees? The 
 Lacotas will soon know them, and bring from their 
 lodges many scalps and medicine dogs. They have 
 fled before the Scarred Arms. One-half crossed the 
 snow hills toward sunset; the other went toward the 
 sun, and now hunt the buffalo east of the Ispanola's 
 earth lodges. But my eyes were sealed for ages till 
 my people should come. The Scarred Arms have 
 long thought this land their own, but it is not. Wau- 
 
346 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 kantunga gives it to the Lacotas; they shall possess the 
 land of their daughter's captivity. But why wait ye? 
 Go, gather your warriors and attack the Scarred Arms. 
 Fear not, their scalps are yours.' 
 
 " The warriors did return. They found the Scarred 
 Arms a.t the foot of the mountain, and drove them 
 to the South. Our grateful braves then sought the 
 mountain to reverence the medicine woman, who told 
 them so many good things. But woman and cave 
 were gone. There was only a cleft in the mountain 
 side from which came a cold stream of water. Then 
 the Lacotas made peace with the Scarred Arms. 
 Each year our warriors visit the Shoshonees for scalps 
 and medicine dogs, and each of our braves, as he 
 passes the old woman's spring, stops to quench his 
 thirst and yield a tribute of veneration." 
 
 The Shoshonees not only have a legend answering 
 to this, but name the various times when the Coman- 
 ches, Arapahoes, and Apaches seceded from the main 
 body. Thus, this great colony of the Athabascan 
 race, slowly moving southward, has sent off branches 
 right and left, from the Saskatchewan to the Rio 
 Grande and Gulf of California. 
 
 It would surprise some people who have been 
 indignant over the death of Custer and his companions 
 to learn how small, comparatively, is the number of 
 hostile Indians. A strip of five hundred miles wide, 
 from the Missouri to the Pacific, is rarely visited by 
 hostiles; and at no time, for the past ten years, have 
 more than one-fifth of the race been in arms or even 
 
THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 347 
 
 threatening. All the border States, except Texas, are 
 free from hostiles. Of the nine Territories, only three 
 have been seriously troubled since 1867, and the three 
 Pacific States have had even a longer exemption. Within 
 that time Indian hostilities have been confined to three 
 districts. First, and greatest, is that strip of mountain, 
 forest, and desert, including all Northern Wyoming, 
 South-eastern and Eastern Montana, and a small por- 
 tion of Western Dakota. Next are the highlands of 
 Western Texas, raided by the Comanches and their 
 allies; and, lastly, that part of New Mexico and Ari- 
 zona dominated by the Apaches. To judge how con- 
 temptible a performance an Indian war is, how small 
 the glory in proportion to the aggravation, be it noted 
 that the whole Apache race numbers less than eight 
 thousand, and cannot possibly mount two thousand 
 warriors. 
 
 If it be decided that the three hundred thous- 
 and Indians in the United States (or rather the two 
 hundred thousand wild ones) are to "die off," then by 
 all means let a "feeding policy" be pursued; it is so 
 much cheaper to kill them by kindness than by war. 
 Since 1860 the average cost of killing Indians has 
 been about five hundred thousand dollars each. One- 
 tenth of that amount would stuff one to death. If, I 
 say, the theory of final extermination be adopted, the 
 most Christian and, by all odds, the cheapest plan 
 would be this: Let central depots be established along 
 the Pacific Railway and at other accessible points, and 
 give general notice that every Indian who will come 
 
348 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 there and live shall have all the bread, meat, coffee, 
 sugar, whisky and tobacco he can consume. The last 
 man of them would be dead in ten years, and at a cost 
 not exceeding twenty per cent, of the killing price. 
 Since the Mormons began the feeding policy with their 
 nearest Indian neighbors, the latter have died off much 
 more rapidly than when at war. They can't stand 
 petting any more than a rabbit. 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 349 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE? 
 [From WESTERN WILDS, by permission.] 
 
 FIVE million Americans are asking this question. 
 They will take Greeley's advice and go West; 
 but are as yet undecided as to locality. Let us, there- 
 fore, briefly note the good and bad features of various 
 sections. Imprimis, then, there is no paradise in the 
 West; no region where one will not find serious draw- 
 backs in climate, soil or society. 
 
 If you like a middle northern clime, there is no 
 better place than southern Minnesota and the adjacent 
 parts of Dakota. These have one great advantage 
 over northern Iowa: the vacant land is still in the 
 market at government prices; in Iowa it has been 
 granted too extensively, and railroads and speculators 
 owrr too much of it in large bodies. In the long run 
 they lose money by holding it in this way; they would 
 do well to sell and invest elsewhere; but they have not 
 found that out yet. By and by the residents will learn 
 how to make non-resident land pay all the taxes, as it 
 now pays quite half, and then the speculators will sell 
 cheap; but at present it would be advisable to locate 
 where there is not so much non-resident land. The 
 arguments now so common against these grants apply 
 only to the border States; all the land given to the 
 railroads west of longtitude 100, was not worth one 
 
350 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 day's debate in Congress. The income from it will 
 never pay interest at a dollar an acre. The climate of 
 Minnesota may be divided thus: summer, four months; 
 winter, five months; spring and autumn, six weeks 
 each. In fact, it is less than six weeks from the end 
 of the snowy season to the coming of early fruits; but 
 they call it spring the first of April, though the snow 
 be six inches deep. 
 
 The quickness of vegetation is amazing. In August, 
 along the Blue-Earth River, one can scarcely believe 
 he is not in a tropical country; the heavy forests of 
 lynn and walnut, the groves of sugar maple supporting 
 a dense leafy mass, the dark green vistas and rich natural 
 parks, with the rank grass on the prairies seem out of 
 place so far north. By November this gives way to 
 snow, which remains till April first or tenth. It then 
 seems to disappear all at once. The black sandy soil 
 dries out thoroughly in a week; but the air is still cool 
 enough to justify an overcoat, and for a fortnight there 
 are only brown plains and gray woods, with no hint 
 of dawning life. A few days of warmth, and there is 
 a swelling and fluttering perceptible on the bosom of 
 Nature; then grass, bush, branch and vine spring 
 quickly into living green, and in one month tropic 
 luxuriance succeeds wintry death. But September 
 clothes this region in its most attractive dress. The 
 frost turns one thicket purple, another bright red or 
 golden yellow, while the large timber is still green; 
 through the glades blows the cool and stimulating air, 
 and over all is the soft blue sky of the Garden State. 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 351 
 
 The advantages of this country are: abundant tim- 
 ber and running water, regular and exceedingly health- 
 ful climate, fertile soil, freedom from droughts and 
 freshets, and land of excellent quality still to be had at 
 
 WINTER IX THE MINNESOTA PINERIES. 
 
 reasonable rates. Its disadvantages: a long cold winter 
 and occasional liability to grasshoppers the latter, 
 however, very rare. The vegetable productions are re- 
 markable, though report sometimes exaggerates. Tra- 
 
352 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 dition tells of one Minnesota Granger, who happened 
 to be examining a cucumber just as the season of rapid 
 growth set in. As he backed out to give it room, the 
 growing vine followed him so rapidly that he took to 
 his heels, but was soon overtaken. It grew all around 
 him, tangled up his legs, and threw him down. Reach- 
 ing in great haste for his knife to cut himself loose, 
 he found that a cucumber had gone to seed in his 
 breeches pocket. 
 
 The adjoining part of Dakota has similar climate 
 and soil, but two disadvantages: there is less timber 
 and more wind. But land is much cheaper. Hun- 
 dreds of sections in every county can still be had at 
 Government rates; and in the older settlements im- 
 proved farms can even now be bought very cheap. 
 Timber grows rapidly, and all the old settlers assure 
 me they soon grow accustomed to the wind. I have 
 noticed in all my western wanderings that the regions 
 of abundant wind are those most free from malaria. 
 The only exception, if it is one, is in the Indian Terri- 
 tory, where there is wind enough, and yet much com- 
 plaint on the score of fever and ague. Despite my 
 experience with the high winds of Dakota, I am in- 
 clined to set down as fabulous the statement sometimes 
 made by the envious, that an old Dakotian cannot talk 
 if the wind suddenly stops blowing. So used to it, 
 you know. 
 
 Iowa I have already described at some length. I 
 cannot get rid of the impression that the northern part 
 of it is colder than the neighboring part of Minnesota. 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 353 
 
 There is less timber, and the wind has a fairer fling at 
 a man. Artificial groves grow rapidly, and the soil is 
 of great fertility. And, if you find there is too much 
 non-resident land in your vicinity, you can help your 
 good neighbors stick the taxes on it till the owner is 
 willing to sell for whatever he can get. I have a 
 friend who has paid $620 taxes in ten years on a 
 quarter section of Iowa land, and is now ready to sell 
 to some man who owns a gold mine or a spouting oil- 
 well. We have all heard of the man who ate so much 
 it made him poor to carry it. Similarly, some people 
 own so much western land, that it will break them up 
 to keep it. The settlers do not intend that non-resi- 
 dents shall get the benefit of their hard-pioneering 
 and who shall blame them? 
 
 Let us go a little further south. Northern Nebraska 
 I know but little about, but in the southern part of that 
 State is a region which seems to me peculiarly inviting 
 to men from the Middle Northern States. "South 
 Platte," as this division is called, contains at least 
 twenty-five thousand square miles of fertile land, of 
 which one-half or more is for sale quite cheap. The 
 climate is perceptibly milder than that of "North 
 Platte," and all the fruits and grains of the temperate 
 zone are produced on a generous soil. Along the line 
 of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, land is 
 held at high rates; but in the rest of the country it can 
 be bought at from five to eight dollars per acre.. 
 There is no government land in this section worth 
 naming. The climate is about like that of central 
 
354 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Ohio, with dryer winters and more wind. This last 
 you may retain as a general statement as to all the 
 border States. Society is most excellent. The popu- 
 lation is intelligent and progressive, and nowhere does 
 a man find himself out of reach of the church and 
 school-house. Going westward on any line one will 
 find the winters growing dryer, also more " airish." So 
 the doubting emigrant may ask himself "whether 'tis 
 nobler in a man to suffer" cold healthful winds, to 
 have dry roads and freedom from mud; or take refuge 
 in the wooded regions of Indiana or Missouri, avoid 
 the winds and suffer the other evils. 
 
 We now turn to a region more affected by men 
 from the middle latitudes. In many weeks' travel be- 
 tween the Des Moines and Arkansas, one-fifth or more 
 of those I met were from Ohio, and nearly all of them 
 had sought this region since the war. Kansas, like 
 Nebraska, is divided into northern and southern this 
 by the Kaw, that by the Platte. North-eastern Kansas 
 is already an old country; Donivan County was pretty 
 well settled twenty years ago. A hundred miles west 
 of the Missouri land can still be had at reasonable 
 rates, but I have never visited that section. When we 
 come to southern Kansas an inviting field, indeed, is 
 open to us. Good land is cheaper to-day than it was 
 five years ago. This I happen to know from painful 
 personal experience. But it don't follow that it will be 
 cheaper still five years from now. Surely "the bot- 
 tom" is reached by this time. In the second tier of 
 counties, including Anderson, Allen, Neosho and La- 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 
 
 355 
 
 bette, the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Rail- 
 road Company have large tracts of good land for sale; 
 and private owners a still larger amount. 
 
 This region boasts of many advantages: a mild 
 climate, soil of rare fertility, timber sufficient for all 
 ordinary purposes, rock in abundance, and easy com- 
 munication with the rest of the world. Society is un- 
 surpassed by that of any section, east or west. 
 Churches and school-houses are within convenient 
 reach of every 
 section of land, 
 and a man can 
 not settle in so 
 wild a spot that 
 the mail will 
 not bring him 
 late papers at 
 least twi ce 
 a week. For 
 seven years this 
 region was 
 blessed with 
 good crops; then came the "bad year" of 1874, when 
 drought, chintz-bugs and grasshoppers in succession 
 desolated the land. In Allen County large streams 
 dried to beds of dust, the fish literally parching on the 
 rocks; and pools and springs disappeared which the 
 oldest inhabitants had considered perennial. In 1875 
 nature resumed her wonted courses; but the people 
 had been too poor to sow wheat, and the country re- 
 
 DROUGHTY KANSAS. 
 
356 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 mained in a condition of general poverty. But such a 
 crop otherwise I had never seen. There were miles 
 on miles of cornfields, yielding from forty to eighty 
 bushels per acre, and for sale at twenty cents per 
 bushel; tens of thousands of tons of hay, worth two 
 dollars per ton in the stack; potatoes by millions, and 
 more feed than the stock could eat. And there was 
 the trouble. The people had not a sufficiently diversi- 
 fied industry. They had relied almost entirely on the 
 sale of grain, and this year there was no sale, and they 
 remained poor despite their immense crops. I came 
 down from the mountains on a visit just after the last 
 grasshoppers had left, and a rural wag gave me this 
 dialect picture of his experience with them: 
 
 "You see I bought early in '72 give two thousand 
 two hundred dollars for two hundred and fortv acres. 
 
 / 
 
 Could a bought the same for half that two years after; 
 can buy good land right alongside o' mine now for a 
 V an acre. Been a deal o' cramp in real estate in this 
 country. Well, nobody ever makes a crop the first 
 year in a prairie country think themselves in luck to 
 get fences built and sod broke. I bought a hundred 
 sheep two blooded rams and the rest common ewes 
 and put all the rest of my money in improve- 
 ments. Raised a little corn and oats in 1873, and put 
 thirty acres of the new land, sod broke in 1872, into 
 wheat and went to work with a hurrah in 1874 to 
 make a God-awful crop. Everything come a booming, 
 and I thought I had the world in a sling. Corn, oats, 
 potatoes and wheat just got up and laughed; they 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 357 
 
 grew so fine. Thought I never saw such a country 
 for things to grow. Worked all the week, and used 
 to set on the fence Sunday and calculate how rich I'd 
 be. Went out one fine sunny morning about the first 
 of June, and thought, by jiminy, the whole ground was 
 a moving. Ten million hoppers to the square yard 
 all chawin' away as if the country belonged to 'em. 
 Saturday morning they come into my farm from a 
 ridge just south o' me Sunday noon there wasn't a 
 green thing where the corn, cane and potatoes had 
 been. Job's luck wasn't a circumstance. My corn lot 
 looked as if forty bands of wild Arabs had fell onto it. 
 Not a smidgeon left just bodaciously chawed up and 
 spit out. 
 
 " Well, of course, I had the dumps. But I rallied. 
 'All right,' says I; ' got wheat and tobacco left anyhow.' 
 
 Professor P said they wouldn't eat tobacco; but 
 
 he's a fraud, sir a barefaced fraud. The hoppers 
 just went up on a ridge north of me and shed their 
 second coats, and then come back on the tobacco. 
 They eat every leaf clean to the ground, then dug up 
 the roots and set on the fence and cussed every man 
 that come along, for a chaw. About that time they 
 got wings, and sudden as could be rose in the air and 
 went off north a whirlin', like a shower o' \vhite and 
 yellow paper bits. 'All right,' says I; 'they've left my 
 wheat anyhow.' Singular enough they didn't touch 
 it; it was on t'other side the place, and out o' their 
 track. Well, I rallied again, and counted on six hun- 
 dred bushels o' wheat and wheat's the money crop in 
 
358 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 this country. About June the middle, I noticed all at 
 once that my wheat looked kind o' sick. Come to 
 examine, sir, it was completely lined with a little, mis- 
 erable, black and yellow, nasty-smelling bug. I took 
 some to a man 'at had been here ten years. ' Neigh- 
 bor,' says he, ' you're a goner; them's chintz-bugs, and 
 every head o' that wheat that an't cut, '11 be et up in 
 forty-eight hours.' Well, it was Sunday morning, and 
 the wheat nothing like ripe; but it was a chance, and 
 I got onto my reaper and banged down every hoot of 
 it before Monday night. It cured in the sun and the 
 bugs left it, and out o' the lot I got just a hundred and 
 forty bushels o' shrunk-up stuff. It was a hundred and 
 forty bushels more than any o' my neighbors got. 
 You bet there was improved farms for sale in that 
 neighborhood. My sheep had done well, and that was 
 all I was ahead. Taking it by and large, the only sure 
 crop is sheep." 
 
 He touched the right point in the last sentence; 
 this is the country for stock-growing. Corn and hay 
 can be produced so cheaply that the cost of bringing 
 a full-grown ox into market is less than half what it 
 would be in Ohio. The best of unimproved land, near 
 the railroad, sometimes sells as high as twelve dollars 
 per acre; from that it ranges down to four. In 1875 
 the surplus crop of the State was worth twelve mil- 
 lion dollars. The report, for that year, showed that 
 the corn raised in the State, if shelled and put in box- 
 cars, would have loaded a train sixteen hundred miles 
 long! 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 
 
 359 
 
 The Indian Territory is much talked of, but I would 
 not advise any one to go there with a view to perma- 
 nent settlement. Government cannot open the land to 
 immigration without a shameful breach of good faith, 
 and for one, as an humble citizen, I protest against it. 
 There is such an abundance of good land elsewhere, 
 that we can afford to leave this to the civilized Indians 
 
 for the next fifty years. 
 Then their progress 
 will have been such 
 that they will them- 
 selves throw it open 
 and invite white set- 
 tlers. Texas, just 
 south of it, offers a 
 far better field. Dallas 
 is the center of a re- 
 gion two hundred 
 miles square, which of- 
 fers great inducements 
 to Northern men. The 
 winters are sharp 
 
 tO IttSUTC 
 
 TEXAS AND COAHUILA IN 1830. C 
 
 health and energy; and the summers are not, as far 
 as I could observe, any hotter than in Minnesota. 
 Land through all this section can be had at from four 
 to eight dollars per acre. There are now Congres- 
 sional lands in Texas; it is all State land. This comes 
 of the State having been an independent republic when 
 it came into the Union. It reserved the ownership of 
 
360 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 all lands within its borders, though there are not want- 
 ing lawyers who assert that the general government 
 might have rightfully taken those lands from the State, 
 after the latter had seceded. 
 
 Look out for those beautifully colored maps which 
 divide Texas into various agricultural sections, and 
 locate the " wheat lands " away up on the heads of the 
 Brazos, Colorado and Red River. One can put in his 
 eye all the wheat they will raise up there without an 
 expansive and expensive system of irrigation, and it 
 will puzzle them to find water to irrigate with. If half 
 that region is fit for grazing land, it is the best we can 
 expect. Southern Texas is not very suitable for North- 
 ern men. Along the gulf are immense areas of fine 
 sugar and cotton lands, but the climate is not favor- 
 able. Not that the heat is so great; but the summers 
 are long, the autumns dry, and the winters first warm, 
 moist and debilitating, and then very chilly. Central 
 and northern Texas are free from these disadvantages. 
 The immigrant from the North must learn a new sys- 
 tem of agriculture, but that he can easily do. 
 
 Society? Well, I found it very agreeable. If there 
 is any special hostility to Northern men, or Republi- 
 cans, I never noticed it. The latter maintain their 
 organization, sometimes elect their candidate, and 
 always give him a hearty support, though the State 
 has been Democratic since 1872. Texas may fairly 
 claim to be one of the best governed States in the 
 Union. Except on the south-western border the ratio 
 of crimes is very small. In 1873 the law against 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 361 
 
 carrying concealed weapons was strictly enforced in 
 the railroad towns a good deal more than can be 
 said of any town on the Union or Kansas Pacific 
 Railroads. It is in the "cow counties," in the extreme 
 west and south-west, that some lawlessness still prevails. 
 The law as to concealed weapons excepts those coun- 
 ties, it being considered a necessity that the vacqueros 
 should go prepared for "enterprising Mexicans" and 
 other cattle-thieves. If you like a wild country, that's 
 the place for you, and if that is not wild enough, try 
 the Comanche border. There the mountainous spurs 
 put out toward the lower country, and cut it up into 
 numerous little valleys. Down these spurs come the 
 savages, often lying in ambush for days together in the 
 scrubby timber, watching the ranches below. And all 
 this time the settlers go about their usual work in 
 assured safety, for there is not the slightest danger till 
 after the "strike." One might walk within a rod of 
 the hidden enemy and never be molested. The set- 
 tlers see signs of Indians about, but feel no uneasiness; 
 but once the raid is made, and the robbers on the run 
 for cover, they kill all they encounter, and even slaugh- 
 ter stock they cannot take away. They can get five 
 or ten miles more running out of a horse than can a 
 white man; and five minutes after they leave him he 
 is so near dead that he cannot be forced to walk. 
 When hard pressed they draw a knife, hastily make a 
 few incisions in the animal's hide, and rub in salt and 
 powder. As the cow-boys express it, "it puts new 
 life in a hoss." 
 
362 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 But when long immunity has made the settlers 
 careless, there sometimes occur tragedies which thrill 
 the country with horror, and are told for years by the 
 pioneers' hearth-stone, or around the camp-fire, where 
 rude borderers teach their younger companions eternal 
 hatred of all the Indian race. In the year 1850, a 
 Mississippian, named Lockhardt, settled a little farther 
 up the Colorado than was then usual with families, but 
 still in a region thought to be safe from Comanche 
 raids; and, in a few years, was surrounded with most 
 of the comforts of his more eastern home. Wealth 
 and good taste united to improve the wild beauty of 
 nature; his house, elegant indeed for the border, was a 
 temple of hospitality; his flocks and herds ranged over 
 the arena of a dukedom; his colored servants scarce 
 knew they had a master, so light was his patriarchal 
 sway; and far and near the name of 'Squire Lockhardt 
 was known as that of a natural nobleman and Texas 
 gentleman. The friendly Indians that passed that way 
 also partook of his hospitality, and he made the too 
 common mistake of supposing that this would shield 
 him against the incursions of their wilder congeners. 
 But, of all his possessions, none was so widely cele- 
 brated as his daughter, Minnie. The rude vacgueros 
 were charmed into unusual courtesy at sight of her; 
 and, from far and near, young Texans of more pre- 
 tentions sought her society. On the border, a young 
 woman of beauty and accomplishments often acquires 
 a wide-spread fame that would seem impossible to 
 Eastern people; her graces are recounted in such fervid 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 363 
 
 rhetoric, that the cold critic of an older community 
 would think of her as a fabulous being. Even so the 
 charms of Minnie Lockhardt were sung in a hundred 
 camps, from the Trinity to the Colorado. 
 
 Many other settlers, generally single men, and skillful 
 frontiersmen, had located between Lockhardt and the 
 staked plain, and he had long ceased to think of an 
 Indian raid as even remotely possible, when suddenly, 
 as lightning from a clear sky, the Indian war of 1854 
 -'5 broke out; and, from the settlements on the upper 
 Rio Grande, clear around to the Canadian, the border 
 was in a blaze. The Utes and Apaches on the west 
 pressed the Mexicans and whites, while the Coman- 
 ches, from their fastnesses, carried destruction far down 
 into Texas. The storm broke while Lockhardt was 
 absent from home. Every settler near him was killed; 
 his servants fled for their lives, and his daughter, then 
 but twenty years of age, was carried into captivity. 
 The frenzied father sent an appeal to his fellow- 
 citizens, and it seemed that the whole Texan border 
 was moved by one common impulse. Every young 
 Texan who could supply himself with horse and gun 
 was eager to assist in the rescue of Minnie Lockhardt; 
 and, as soon as a force of two hundred had assembled, 
 the father led them toward the high country, leaving 
 word for the others to follow. Striking the trail of the 
 Comanches, the Texans followed as fast as the strength 
 of their horses would allow, their furious zeal contin- 
 ually aroused anew by the sights along the way, where 
 worn-out captives had been ruthlessly murdered. Sud- 
 
364 HO W I KNO IV. 
 
 denly, at daylight, the pursuers came upon the murder- 
 ers in one of those numerous canons of upper Texas, 
 where the savages had thought themselves safe. 
 
 Then ensued one of the most desperately contested 
 battles of the Texan border. The Indian camp was 
 set far back in a grove of scrubby timber, on all sides 
 of which rose sandy hillocks and detached rocks, fur- 
 nishing admirable lines of defense, as well as retreat. 
 Again and again did the Texans, led by Lockhardt, 
 penetrate almost to the camp, only to be driven back; 
 and, on each advance, they distinctly heard the voice 
 of Minnie calling on them for help, and dreaded lest 
 their attack should be the signal for her death. But it 
 appears the savages were bent on preserving their 
 captive if possible. A double line of warriors sur- 
 rounded the tent in which she was bound; and at last 
 the wretched father, bleeding from a dozen wounds, 
 was forced away by his men, who saw that the attack 
 was hopeless. Having received re-inforcements, they 
 renewed .the fight the second day after, but the Indians 
 had also collected their forces and taken a still stronger 
 position; and to the father, lying helpless with his 
 wounds, the men at last reported that the attack was 
 hopeless, unless with a force large enough to sur- 
 round the Comanche stronghold and reduce it by a 
 regular siege. 
 
 Successive bands of Texans arrived, and in a few 
 days the father again urged them to the attack; but 
 the Indians had managed to retreat, carrying Miss 
 Lockhardt with them. With the devilishness inherent 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 
 
 3G5 
 
 in the Comanche nature, they were all the more de- 
 termined to keep her when they saw the general 
 
 SKIRMISH WITH INDIANS. 
 
 anxiety of the whites for her recovery. But she 
 proved a troublesome prize. The fact of her captivity 
 
366 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 nerved every Texan to desperate measures, and in a 
 short time the Indians were attacked at all points, and 
 forced back toward th.e Pecos. Then, as afterwards 
 appeared, the band having possession of Miss Lockharclt 
 sent her northward, and disposed of her to the Arapa- 
 hoes. Convinced that she was the daughter of a great 
 chief, by the exertions made to recapture her, this tribe 
 opened negotiations with the commandants at Fort 
 Union and Lancaster. But, before any thing could be 
 accomplished, the Utes and Apaches were raiding the 
 entire New Mexican border, and the captive girl in 
 some way was transferred to the former tribe. De- 
 spite the awful hardships of a winter among the sav- 
 ages she survived, and in some way managed to make 
 known her existence to the American commandant at 
 Fort Massachusetts, New Mexico. About this time 
 the Territorial Governor called out five hundred New 
 Mexican volunteers, who were put under command of 
 Colonel Ceran St. Vrain; and, joined by the First 
 Regiment of United States Dragoons, under Colonel 
 T. T. Fauntleroy, the whole force marched into the 
 Indian country early in 1855. They defeated the In- 
 dians in one general battle and several minor skir- 
 mishes, but no trace of Miss Lockhardt could be found. 
 The noted Kit Carson was then intrusted w r ith the task 
 of settling with the Utes and recovering all captives; 
 but other means were at work. 
 
 Worn down by his wounds and mental suffering, 
 Lockhardt returned home in despair; but another party 
 of determined men set out to find the captive, who 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 
 
 367 
 
 had, as it appears, been taken by the Arapahoes and 
 Cheyennes from the Utes, with whom they were at 
 war. Again and again were the whites almost suc- 
 
 FORT MASSACHUSETTS, NEW MEXICO, 1855. 
 
 cessful, and as often was the unfortunate girl hurried 
 away to some more hidden fastness, almost before their 
 
368 HO W I KNO W. 
 
 eyes. The general Indian war ended, and a nominal 
 peace was made; negotation was again attempted, but 
 the third year of her captivity came, and still nothing 
 was done. At length a company of the Texan Rangers, 
 having penetrated almost to the heart of the Guada- 
 loupe Range, came suddenly upon a village of Coman- 
 ches, and, despite the hurried flight of the savages, 
 who had their own women and children with them, 
 the Rangers saw among them a captive white woman. 
 They charged desperately upon the savages, who fled 
 in all directions, but not till one of them had buried his 
 knife in the body of the girl, who was still breathing 
 when the Rangers came up. It was Minnie Lock- 
 hardt. She was just able to smile, as if to welcome 
 the Rangers, then peacefully breathed her last. "And," 
 said the weather-beaten frontiersman who gave me 
 these facts, as he chocked down his emotions, "it was 
 a God's blessin' she was dead, an' her father never 
 seen her." For she had suffered the last terrible indig- 
 nity savage malice could invent. As is common when 
 a captive woman is not taken by one Indian, she be- 
 came the common property of the band; and loath- 
 some disease had worn her to a skeleton. Heart- 
 broken and disfigured, death was to her an unmixed 
 gain. Her afflicted father soon followed her to the 
 grave. The Lockhardt place is now desolate; its 
 dwellings burned, its tenants gone. But the chivalry 
 and hospitality of the father are still the theme of local 
 story, while the beauty and sorrowful fate of the 
 daughter are still told around the camp-fires and 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 369 
 
 hearth-stones of Texas and warm anew the hearts of 
 its sons to undying vengeance against the Comanches. 
 
 Texas ends the list of the border States proper. Ob- 
 serve that in all these States, as one goes west, he rises 
 slowly to a higher, dryer and more barren country, till 
 at last, about longtitude 100 or 101, he enters on "the 
 area of corrugation," as geologists call it, where bar- 
 renness is the rule; and this area includes all the west- 
 ern border of Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma 
 and Texas, of eastern Washington, Oregon and Cali- 
 lifornia, and all of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, 
 Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Let us skip this 
 region of mountain and desert, and pass at once to the 
 fertile section of the Pacific coast, lying west of the 
 Sierra Nevadas. 
 
 California? Well, I should not be in a hurry to 
 recommend it to any man of moderate means. The 
 worst objection is the oppressive land monopoly. "A 
 little ranche of twenty thousand acres " is a common 
 expression. A dozen men each own a dukedom all 
 but the inhabitants. They will own them after awhile, 
 unless this thing is remedied. The beginning of this 
 system was in the Mexican grants. The old Spanish 
 custom was to grant a county of land to an impresario, 
 on condition that he should settle a certain number of 
 families on it. The Mexicans continued the* system 
 with some modifications, and in due time the inferiors 
 became peons to the lord. These titles were all con- 
 firmed by treaty when the United States took posses- 
 sion, and have been sustained by the Supreme Court. 
 
 24 
 
370 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 Again, when the miners took the country they sup- 
 posed the land to be worth but little except for grazing, 
 and many of them took up claims and sold them for a 
 trifle to speculators, and thus the best land in California 
 is now held in immense tracts by an aristocracy. Of 
 course these men are in favor of "Chinese cheap 
 labor," and equally, of course, the poorer whites are 
 unanimously opposed to it. Some have thought that, 
 as our country grew older, all the lands would be held 
 in the same way; but it is somewhat reassuring to note 
 that there is less land monopoly in Massachusetts than 
 in Ohio, and far less in Ohio than in California. In 
 some of the oldest States the land is most equally dis- 
 tributed, thanks to our wise laws of descent and dis- 
 tribution of estates; and in the course of fifty or a 
 hundred years the attrition of a free society will wear 
 out this evil in California. 
 
 It is now very difficult for one to get a small piece 
 of land in that State; and it would be better for intend- 
 ing emigrants to organize in some way, and buy out a 
 grant, of which there are always a few for sale. There 
 are a few places very few I am afraid where the 
 best land is not in the hands of monopolists, and it is 
 already noticeable that such communities improve faster 
 than others. But for many years to come California 
 will continue to be a land of the beggar and the 
 prince. 
 
 In Oregon this evil is not so great, but still great 
 enough. Land in the Willamette Valley is not much 
 cheaper than in Ohio and Indiana, and I cannot think 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 
 
 371 
 
 that enough is gained to make it worth while to go so 
 far. I do not see how a man, 
 wife and five children aver- 
 age Western family can get 
 to Oregon comfortably for 
 less than five or six hundred 
 dollars, which amount would 
 buy eighty acres of first-class 
 land in Kansas or Nebraska, 
 or a hundred acres in Texas; 
 and, having got to Oregon, you 
 must pay more for land than 
 in the other States named, 
 with a moral certainty that 
 the country will develop more 
 slowly. Oregon began to be 
 settled by white men in 1830; 
 before 1848 it contained about 
 ten thousand Americans; its 
 population now is about one 
 hundred thousand. Kansas 
 was thrown open to 
 settlement only 
 twenty-three years 
 ago; it now contains 
 a population of at 
 least six hundred 
 thousand. It strikes 
 me that's the sort 
 of a country to go 
 
 A CALIFORNIA BIG TREE. 
 
372 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 to, if you want your future to hurry up. But, if you 
 like a romantic border country one that is likely to 
 stay border for a long time go to Oregon. Oregon 
 climate? Well, some people like it. I don't. True, it 
 is mild and moist; but I am just Yankee enough to 
 prefer the cold, dry winter to the warm, wet, muggy, 
 and muddy. No five months' rain for me, if you 
 please. I'd rather freeze than smother. In California 
 it's different. There is no more rain there during the 
 so-called "rainy season" than in Ohio, and half the time 
 not as much. In fact, there never is too much rain in 
 California, though there sometimes is too little. The 
 summers in Oregon are delightful enough more pleas- 
 ant than in California; but, as at present advised, I 
 would not recommend either State to the class of em- 
 igrants just now going West. 
 
 Let us now turn to the great interior, and see if we 
 can pick out any oases inviting to settlement between 
 longtitude 100 and the Sierra Nevadas. Nevada is not 
 an agricultural State at all; and for aught we can now 
 see, never will be. It contains ninety-eight thousand 
 square miles, and less good land than three average 
 counties in Ohio. It has population enough for one- 
 third of a member of Congress; but our "paternal" 
 government has granted the State one Representative 
 and two Senators. Nobody need think of going there to 
 engage in farming. In the far distant future, when land 
 is in much greater demand than now, some way will 
 perhaps be found to redeem those arid tracts. Trees 
 will be planted wherever they will grow; the Austra- 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 373 
 
 lian eucalyptus may flourish even on the desert, and 
 thus in a few centuries a moister atmosphere be cre- 
 ated. But for the present the population must consist 
 of capitalists and laboring miners, and their congeners. 
 And here I might indulge in wearying words on the 
 romance and hardship of a miner's life, had I not given 
 him a chapter to himself. Strange it is that he should 
 be the most imaginative of men with a life of such 
 prosaic toil; but it is, doubtless, because his ways 
 are in a path, as Job says, "which no fowl knoweth, 
 and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's 
 whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed 
 by it." (Job xxviii). And no finer, more poetical de- 
 scription of the silver miner's strange life underground 
 was ever written than in that chapter, taking Louth's 
 version: "He putteth forth his hand upon the rocks, 
 he swings above the depths. He cutteth out water- 
 courses through the rocks; and his eye searcheth for 
 precious things. He makes a new way for the floods; 
 he goes in the very stones of darkness in the shadow 
 of death." The perils of the prospector above ground 
 are equally great, but the life has its charms for all that. 
 In Utah are still a few unoccupied plateaus which 
 could be redeemed by canals taken out from some 
 large stream. Bear River Valley contains some sixty 
 thousand acres of fertile land, which might be re- 
 deemed at moderate cost by a canal from Bear River. 
 The climate is mild, not very hot in summer, and de- 
 cidedly pleasant in winter. The Central Pacific runs 
 through the valley, and the location is excellent for a 
 
374 no w i KNO w. 
 
 thriving colony. On the Sevier is a smaller valley of 
 the same character. East of the Wasatch Range are 
 several beautiful valleys. That of Ashley's Fork con- 
 tains land enough for three thousand farms, all of most 
 excellent quality; and it can be had for the taking. 
 Late in 1873 a dozen stock ranchers settled there, and 
 have raised splendid crops every year since. Be it 
 noted that in no part of the temperate zone is fruit a 
 more certain crop than in Utah. Peaches never fail. 
 The Ashley Valley slopes gently to the south-east; snow 
 rarely lies on more than one night, and all the slopes are 
 rich in bunch-grass. Game is abundant in the neighbor- 
 ing hills, and a good road can easily be constructed to 
 the Union Pacific at Bridger Station. The valley of 
 Brush Creek, east of Ashley, is about half as large and 
 equally inviting. In these a colony of ten thousand 
 Americans might make for themselves delightful homes. 
 Farther south are several fine valleys, none quite so 
 large as the foregoing, but very fertile; and small set- 
 tlements have been made in some of them. It is to be 
 noted that these valleys which open eastward from the 
 Wasatch are free from Mormon domination, and will 
 remain so if settled by Gentile colonies. It has always 
 seemed to me that life would be exceedingly pleasant 
 in one of these alpine valleys. The elevation is about 
 five thousand feet above sea-level; the winters are mild; 
 the summer air dry and stimulating. There is game 
 on the hills, and trout in the streams; land enough to 
 produce grain for a sparse population, and almost un- 
 limited grazing ground. But these districts will never 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 
 
 375 
 
 sustain a large population. Between each settled valley 
 and the next there will be a day's ride over barren 
 mountain or grassy 
 hill. All that part 
 of Utah east of the 
 Wasatch will never 
 sustain a hundred 
 thousand people. 
 
 Wyoming con- 
 tains so little farm- 
 ing land that it is 
 not worth while to 
 discuss it; but it is 
 rich in grazing 
 tracts. Of the nine- 
 ty-eight thousand 
 square miles in this 
 Territory, one-half 
 is complete desert; 
 the rest good 
 grazing ground, 
 
 with perhaps five NEVADA FALLS, YOSEM- 
 
 hundred sections 
 
 of farming land, though I never saw 
 
 the latter and do not know where it is 
 
 located. Of course no one pre-empts 
 
 his grazing land; he merely takes up 
 
 meadow land when he can get it convenient; and 
 
 perhaps enough farming land for a garden, if there 
 
 is so much in the neighborhood. One 
 
 year with 
 
376 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 another the herder puts up hay enough for three 
 months' feeding. Sometimes none of it is used, and 
 then it is on hand for the next winter. About half the 
 time the common stock can go through the winter 
 without hay, living on the bunch-grass; but blooded 
 stock should be fed at least two months every winter. 
 By the first of May stock can live well on the range. 
 From that on the grass appears to get more nourishing 
 every day till December. If the winter comes on with 
 snow, grass remains good till the snow melts; but rain 
 takes the sweetness out of it. It will then sustain life, 
 but stock lose flesh rapidly while living on it. It re- 
 quires a much larger area for the same number of 
 stock than in a blue-grass country, as the grass makes 
 but one growth per year, not renewing itself after being 
 eaten off. From all these facts it will be apparent that 
 Wyoming never can sustain a very large population. 
 
 New Mexico? Well, I must, as candidly as may 
 be, admit that I was rather disgusted with it that is, 
 for any thing else than mountains and scenery. Bear in 
 mind that the central portions of New Mexico are really 
 older country than Ohio. Santa Fe was founded a hun- 
 dred and fifty years before Cincinnati. All the good 
 land in the valleys of the Rio Grande and its tributaries 
 was long ago occupied, and the grazing lands of the 
 central section are taken up. West of the Rio Grande 
 the country is practically worthless to a man used to 
 the system of living in Ohio. The Territory has all 
 the faults of an old country, and few of its virtues. As 
 a stock-rancher you have but two chances of success. 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 377 
 
 The one adopted by most live Americans is to go into 
 partnership with one of the nobility. If you have busi- 
 ness ability and a partner who can furnish the blue 
 blood, respectability, local prestige and land, you may 
 in time become a capitalist, and marry ten or twenty 
 thousand sheep, with an incumbrance in the shape of a 
 lady, whose priest will rule her, and her father insist 
 on an ante-nuptial contract that the children shall be 
 reared in the "Holy Catholic faith." The other plan 
 is to go with money enough to buy a thousand sheep 
 and a herd-right that is to say, to be a capitalist your- 
 self. But don't think of going to New Mexico to build 
 up a fortune by hard work. The common fellows 
 there can work for fifty cents a day, and live on jerked 
 mutton and flour. 
 
 If you want to lead a wild harum-scarum sort of 
 life for a while, free from social restraints, where 
 chastity is not a requisite for good society, and morals 
 in general are somewhat relaxed, New Mexico is a 
 splendid place to sow your wild oats. As to the crop 
 to be reaped, I refer you to a very ancient authority. 
 But, if you think much of yourself, better set up your 
 sheep ranche in Colorado or Wyoming, where there is 
 not such an oppressive atmosphere of genta fina, and 
 where the owner of two sheep is still one of the boys, 
 and can dance with the daughter of the man who owns 
 a thousand. In south-western Arizona a progressive 
 community has been built up of late years, and though 
 the fertile area is small, there is still room for thou- 
 sands more. Colorado I have described at some 
 
378 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 length in a previous chapter. It is, in my opinion, the 
 most enlightened and progressive of all the far western 
 communities, though I doubt if it can ever have the 
 population that Dakota will some day contain. . Idaho 
 I know very little about, and of Montana practically 
 still less. But it is universally agreed that they are 
 not agricultural Territories. There are valleys in both 
 which contain considerable good land, and large graz- 
 ing tracts; but mining will be the leading interest of 
 both for some time. Taken as a whole, and allowing 
 for every possible improvement in methods of farming 
 and reclamation of desert lands, the whole vast interior, 
 between longtitude 100 and the Sierra Nevadas, can 
 never average one acre in ten fit for the farmer; and 
 not more than half the rest is of any value for timber 
 or grazing. 
 
 And can such a region ever be filled by prosperous 
 States, which shall rival those of the Mississippi Val- 
 ley ? Never. All calculations as to the shifting of 
 political power, made on the basis of new States, rich 
 and populous, are sure to miscarry. That section has 
 an area greater than that of all the States east of the 
 Mississippi; but its population fifty years hence will 
 not be greater than that of Massachusetts. Only in 
 the Senate will the relative power of the East and 
 West be changed in the future, and probably very little 
 there. Colorado was only admitted after a ten years' 
 struggle. Nevada ought to be set back to a territorial 
 condition to-day, if there were any constitutional way 
 of doing justice. The child is not born that will live 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 379 
 
 to see her with population enough for one congressional 
 district. Here is a liberal estimate of the maximum 
 population these divisions are likely to have in the 
 year 1900: 
 
 Colorado, ...... . 250,000 
 
 Wyoming, 100,000 
 
 Dakota, 300,000 
 
 Idaho, 100,000 
 
 Washington, 125,000 
 
 Utah, , 250,000 
 
 New Mexico, 150,000 
 
 Montana, 100,000 
 
 Nevada, . 75>ooo 
 
 Arizona, 50,000 
 
 Total, ........ 1,500,000 
 
 Extraordinary discoveries may enable some one of 
 the mining regions to get ahead of the others, but the 
 grand total cannot be greater than here set down; and 
 only the* most favorable contingencies can make it so 
 great. The influence which this may have upon our 
 social and national life opens a wide field for discussion. 
 The good land at the disposal of our Government is 
 nearly exhausted. But a few more years and there 
 will be no more virgin soil awaiting the immigrant. 
 Then the half desert lands must be won with great 
 toil, or we must turn back and fill up the corners 
 which have been overrun in our rush for the best 
 spots. Our surplus population will then have no rich 
 heritage to look to, where a homestead can be had 
 for the taking. The paternal farm in the East must 
 be divided again and again, if all the boys are to have 
 a share. What will be the effect on our discontented 
 
380 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 classes? Will it add a new strain to republican gov- 
 ernment, and will the troubles which menace the old 
 world monarchies then come upon us and find us un- 
 prepared to treat them rightly? or is there yet room in 
 the Eastern States for us to grow harmoniously for an- 
 other century? These be momentous questions. 
 
 Certain theorists have further troubled themselves 
 about the silver supply; and timid editors and politi- 
 cians have suggested that, if more bonanzas are dis- 
 covered, silver will soon be " cheap enough to manu- 
 ufacture into door-hinges." To such I guarantee 
 comforting proofs. Let them invest heavily in unde- 
 veloped silver mines, and before they get their money 
 back they will be convinced that silver is still a precious 
 metal hard to get at and correspondingly valuable 
 when got. One Ohio editor says: "Suppose they 
 should discover a mountain of silver !" Suppose they 
 should discover a mountain of ice-cream in August ! 
 The one supposition is as reasonable as the other. In 
 fact, the latter phenomenon would violate fewer of the 
 laws of Nature than the former. Unchanging law de- 
 crees that, even in the richest mineral region, there 
 must be many million times as much dead rock 
 "attle," "rubble," and "country-rock" as silver-bearing 
 rock. Let silver permanently cheapen but five per 
 cent, and two-thirds of the mines in the world would 
 cease to be profitable. 
 
 For another class there is comfort. Poet and ro- 
 mancer, as well as hunter and tourist, have lamented 
 that in so short a time the wild West would be a thing 
 
WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 381 
 
 of the past; that soon all would be tame, dull and 
 common-place. Let them be reassured. The wild 
 West will continue wild for centuries. There will be 
 a million square miles of mountain, desert, rock and 
 sand, of lonely gorge and hidden glen, of walled basin, 
 wind-swept canon and timbered hills, to invite the 
 tourist, the sportsman and the lover of solitude. The 
 mountain Territories will long remain the abode of 
 romance; and "Western Wilds" will be celebrated in 
 song and story, while generation succeeds generation 
 of " the men who redeem them." 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ON the 1 4th day of December, 1878, I left the 
 old Los Pinos Agency for home. I came by 
 way of Saguache to Del Norte on horseback. There 
 I procured a ticket to Chicago for sixty-four dollars. 
 
 Then I was suddenly roused, as by an angel's touch, 
 to the bright hopes of reaching home and meeting friends 
 again after the lapse of fifteen years and nearly nine 
 months. All my former years, all my former school- 
 mates and friendships returned to my memory, and it 
 seemed as if I could not be conveyed fast enough to 
 the home of my childhood. I sat for hours looking 
 out of the car-windows at the vast fertile fields, cov- 
 
382 . HOW I KNOW. 
 
 ered at that time with a light snow. Everything 
 seemed new and improved. Would my mother know 
 me? was a question often in my mind. I wondered if 
 she too had changed like everything else. 
 
 I arrived at home on the 23d day of December, 1878. 
 I came in on the home-folks by surprise. What a gay 
 and happy meeting it was. How glad every one was 
 to see me, and how much more happy was I to see 
 them. How pleasant to sit and talk over the events 
 of the past! But, oh! what changes take place in 
 fifteen long years! When I was a boy I thought I 
 would never be a man. Now that I am a man time 
 flies on fleeting wings. I find that many who were 
 once my friends and companions have passed away. 
 I am no longer permitted to hear that voice to which 
 once I so loved to listen, which was so sweet to me 
 with tender words. No more may I see those friendly 
 smiles which once so thrilled me with pleasure. The 
 beloved form has passed away, and now lies mouldering 
 among the clods of the valley. The virtues of my de- 
 parted friends all come flashing back upon my kindling 
 thoughts. 
 
 I find my old Ohio friends, who are still living, bet- 
 ter supplied with the luxuries and conveniences of life 
 than are the people of the West, unless it be in Cali- 
 fornia. Amid old friends and friendly comforts time 
 speeds swiftly away. 
 
 The 6th day of June, 1879, found me at my father's 
 house. I was preparing to go to Lewisburg, not think- 
 ing about this being the anniversary of my birthday. 
 
CONCLUSION. 383 
 
 My father rather surprised me by suddenly asking me 
 to go over the place with him, to look at the corn, 
 and to salt the stock. To this I readily consented, of 
 course, and we were soon on our way. We left the 
 house early and I thought we would soon return. But 
 such I found was not my father's intention; for, after 
 he had salted every animal on the place, then we must 
 look at the corn; and after that we must cross clear 
 over to the other side of the farm to see if the Col- 
 orado potato-bugs were eating up his peach-blows. I 
 was, by this time, beginning to get tired, and I am in- 
 clined to believe that, had there been any thing more 
 to see, I should have gone back to the house alone. 
 
 But when we did finally return to the house, I saw 
 his object. He was keeping me out as long as possible 
 to give friends and neighbors a chance to come in on 
 me before I should get away from home for the day, as 
 there was a surprise party arranged for my especial 
 benefit. And I should be ungrateful, indeed, if on this 
 occasion, when I enter upon my thirtieth year in 
 the full enjoyment of health and surrounded by all 
 these kind and loving friends, I did not recognize 
 the Omnipotent hand that has brought me safely 
 through all the trials and vicissitudes of my life up to 
 the present, and has now crowned me with comfort 
 and surrounded me with friends such as I never before 
 enjoyed. Old and young, great and small all are 
 here. The presence of these friends and the happy 
 surroundings of the day teach me that there is some- 
 thing infinitely better in this world and the world to 
 
384 HOW I KNOW. 
 
 come than money or position; and, by the help of the 
 kind Providence that has brought me safely through 
 so many dangers and trials, I will henceforth lead a 
 new life, and a better one. 
 
 My faculties were not given me to be wasted in aim- 
 less inactivity, but to be kept from all that is corrupt- 
 ing; to be employed in all that is useful and ennobling. 
 Henceforth let my opinions and judgment of things be 
 formed by a supreme regard for the will of Him who has 
 cared, and still cares for me. I desire to cherish every 
 right principle, to seek every honorable and useful end; 
 to do what is just and true, what is humane and benev- 
 olent; to set my affections only upon that which is most 
 worthy to engage them, to love all that is good and to 
 seek holiness and Heaven; to live for eternity, to be 
 directed in all things by the word of God, and to be 
 conformed to the example of Christ. Thus may I 
 hope to rise into a new life of usefulness and of hap- 
 piness, and to pass the remainder of my days in lov- 
 ing association with my fellow-men, and be beloved by 
 them. 
 
 THE END.