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When I Went West, 
 
 FROM THE BAD LANDS 
 TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS MADE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
 TAKEN BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBT. D. MCGONNIGLE. 
 
 // 
 
 PITTSBURG, PA. 
 1901. 
 
F^-^^" 
 
 M3 
 
 'yHIS LITTLE VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY 
 * DEDICATED TO MY FRIEND AND TRAV- 
 ELING COMPANION "BERT" (J. R. TINDLE). 
 
 R. D. McG. 
 
 Wi^r738G 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THIS little story of the trip I took to the West 
 has not been written for the purpose of 
 bringing myself before the attention of the 
 public especially; but while I was on this journey I 
 kept a memorandum of the doings of each day. 
 Sometimes I wrote them sitting on the ground, 
 sometimes while on a wagon, and often while sitting 
 in the saddle. After I came home a friend had 
 access to these data; he suggested the idea of put- 
 ting the matter into such shape as I have done, and 
 this little volume is the result herewith submitted to 
 my friends without any further comment. It may 
 be that my geography and geology, as well as some 
 other points will not bear the scrutiny of scientific 
 investigation, and whoever feels disposed to criticise 
 is at liberty to do so to his heart's desire. 
 
 ROBT. D. MCGONNIGLE. 
 
 PiTTSBURO, Pa., April, 1901. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Author Frontispiece. 
 
 OPPOSITE 
 PAGE 
 
 Custer Trail Ranch 20 
 
 The Bad Lands 28 
 
 Driving up the Herd 36 
 
 John Grogan's Ranch, North Dakota 44 
 
 Sioux Indians, Standing Rock Agency 52 
 
 On the Way to Indian Reservation 60 
 
 Bill Jones 65 
 
 Morning Scene. Camp at " Dairy," Yellowstone 68 
 
 "Old Faithful" in the Yellowstone 76 
 
 John Grogan 79 
 
 Paint Pots in the Yellowstone 84 
 
 Ed. Staley 91 
 
 Grand Canon of the Yellowstone 92 
 
 "Our Outfit" in the Yellowstone 100 
 
 Camp in the Yellowstone 108 
 
 Sergeant Norlin 115 
 
 Ed. Staley's Ranch, Henry's Lake, Idaho 116 
 
 Mrs. Smith, Princess of the Piutes 124 
 
 Pack Train Leaving Staley's Ranch 132 
 
 The Old Trapper 139 
 
 Stage Coach from Lewiston to Grangeville 140 
 
 Adams Camp, Idaho 148 
 
 Ostrich Farm, California 156 
 
 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, California 160 
 
When I Went West. 
 
I. 
 THE START. 
 
 THE West has had a wonderful fascination for 
 me ever since I can remember anything. I 
 do not claim any originality for this notion, 
 because 1 believe in that respect Americans are all 
 alike. All of us, I venture to say, have in their 
 early youth cherished a longing for the country of 
 the Setting Sun, because of the many marvellous 
 suggestions of romance which are conjured up in 
 our brain when we think of the West. There come 
 before us visions of the Red Man on the warpath 
 with tomahawk and scalping knife, dreams of the 
 endless prairie, of the daring cow-boy, of the gold 
 fields, of the ranch life, of buffalo hunting and other 
 pictures of excitement and adventure that are so in- 
 teresting to the American boy. But even if I ever 
 entertained the fond hopes that some day I should 
 be able to see all these things in reality, I never 
 really believed that my expectations would be real- 
 ized. 
 
Whsn I Went West. 
 
 However, some few years ago circumstances arose 
 which brought the idea of a journey to the West 
 again vividly before my mind, and this time the 
 opportunity presented itself in the alluring form of 
 an invitation from friends of mine who own a ranch 
 in North Dakota. As there were no obstacles to 
 prevent my acceptance of this invitation, I made up 
 my mind to go. Moreover, I was greatly encour- 
 aged in my plans by the fact that I was slowly re- 
 covering from a serious illness; and my physician, 
 a practical medical man of the highest standing in 
 his profession, when I told him of my intention, re- 
 marked at once: * 'That's it, exactly. Go out West, 
 sleep on the ground and get back to nature.*' 
 
 That settled it. I immediately completed all my 
 preparations, and in the beautiful month of June I 
 was ready to depart. 
 
 Now I want to say right here that two friends of 
 mine, **Bert" and *'Jack," were going to be my 
 travelling companions, and as they evinced the same 
 anxiety for the trip as I did, it did not take us long 
 before we were on our way to the Custer Trail 
 Ranch, Medora, Billings County, North Dakota, a 
 ranch owned by the Eaton Brothers, who formerly 
 lived in Pittsburg. 
 
 It 
 
The Start. 
 
 With a complete outfit, not extensive but suitable 
 for our purpose, including some guns and ammu- 
 nition, we took our departure. 
 
II. 
 
 FROM PITTSBURG TO ST. PAUL. 
 
 WE went by rail from Pittsburg to Cleveland 
 and stayed there over night. The following 
 morning we took the fine steamer Northland 
 across Lake Erie to Duluth, from where the railway 
 was to convey us to the end of our trip. We found 
 about 125 passengers on board the boat, consisting 
 of tourists, miners, prospectors, merchants bound 
 for the Pacific Coast, a bride and groom, and of 
 course a Catholic priest or two. The accommoda- 
 tions on the boat were all first-class. There was a 
 good, comfortable state room, a splendid table, and 
 excellent service. It had been raining in the morn- 
 ing, and the weather on the lake was delightful. 
 At four o'clock in the afternoon we made our first 
 stop at Detroit, where we, however, only remained 
 long enough to load and unload freight, discharged 
 some passengers and took on others. Then we 
 launched out to Mackinac. We passed now through 
 the St. Clair river with its hundreds of hunting and 
 
 20 
 
Custer Traii, Ranch. 
 
Pittsburg to St. Paul. 
 
 fishing camps. The next day we traversed Lake 
 Huron and came to Mackinac. The charming island 
 could be seen for many miles; and standing out 
 very plainly, high above the water, it looked for 
 all the world like a green cameo carved upon the 
 limpid waters of the lake. The beauty of Mackinac, 
 as I looked at it from the deck of our boat, appealed 
 to me very strongly, and I shall never forget the 
 lovely picture. 
 
 It was two o'clock in the afternoon when we 
 touched at the dock at Mackinac. We were stared 
 at by the usual crowd that is always found there, 
 iucluding the old-fashioned drayman with the old- 
 fashioned dray and the very long **skid" reaching 
 to the ground. The old fort was plainly to be seen 
 from where I stood, showing some signs of decay as 
 the result of its abandonment. The Hotel Grand 
 was visible to the left, and the old Mission House 
 on the right. The aged, deserted church was there, 
 too, indeed, the scene was all so quiet and peaceful 
 one was almost tempted to stop off for an hour or 
 two. 
 
 But soon the steamer's whistle blew and awoke 
 us from our reverie. In another few moments we 
 turned our backs upon the beautiful isle, and our 
 
 21 
 
Whkn I Went West. 
 
 next stop was the *'Soo," or more properly called 
 Sault St. Marie, where we arrived at eight o'clock 
 in the evening. Here at the government lock the 
 steamer was lifted over the rapids, but after that 
 our boat again ''paddled her own canoe.*' The 
 ride to the Soo was interesting and enjoyable; we 
 passed through the Mud Lake, which is dotted with 
 a number of small islands. So close did we steam 
 to some of them that we almost touched the shore. 
 The weather was now getting cold, and our over- 
 coats were quite comfortable. 
 
 The trip from Detroit to the Soo was especially 
 interesting on account of the many vessels we met. 
 There were steamers, sailing ships, tugs and whale- 
 backs, in fact we passed all sorts and conditions of 
 craft. Often it seemed as if a regular procession of 
 them were parading before us. 
 
 The next morning, Friday, found us on Lake 
 Superior, the water of which, we are told, is always 
 ice cold, and anyone falling into it, it is said, is sure 
 of drowning. The air was quite cold, and the smok- 
 ing room and cafe of the steamer were far prefer- 
 able to the deck. At one point we saw three 
 mirages, one very close, but the others appeared 
 miles away. All of them were reflections of ships, 
 
 22 
 
Pittsburg to St. Paui.. 
 
 and they looked so natural it was difficult for us to 
 imagine that they were not real. They gradually 
 faded away as our good steamer plowed on, bound 
 for Duluth. 
 
 I recall here that one of the delicacies served on 
 the ship's table was planked white-fish. Of course, 
 planked shad has always been noted as a great deli- 
 cacy, but a planked white-fish, fresh out of the 
 waters of Lake Superior, I can assure you is about 
 as tasty a morsel as one can get. 
 
 We arrived at Duluth about nine o'clock P. M., 
 two hours behind schedule time and just late enough 
 to miss our railroad connections. 
 
 Duluth seems to be built on the side of a hill, and 
 from the deck of our vessel going into her dock a 
 Pittsburger would imagine he was about to land at 
 the South Side. There was the incline plane, the 
 street cars passing along the foot of the hill, the 
 myriads of lights, electric and gas; indeed, it all 
 looked quite home-like. The dock of Duluth was 
 crowded with all sorts of hacks, with any number of 
 hackmen, all talking at once, just like it used to be 
 at Niagara Falls. After some delay we got off the 
 boat. The hackman we hired started his team at 
 break-neck speed, going up a kind of gangway lead- 
 
 28 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 ing from the dock, and at one point we felt sure our 
 hack would tip over, but by good luck we arrived at 
 the Spalding House safe and sound. 
 
 We had now been on the boat for three days and 
 two nights, and while the steamer's accommodations 
 were satisfactory in every respect, I, for one, was 
 glad the * 'waterway** part of our journey was done. 
 Possibly I am not fond of traveling on the boat, but 
 the fact is, it was monotonous to me, and not at all 
 so enjoyable as I had anticipated. 
 
 We were all up bright and early the next morn- 
 ing and spent some time looking about the town. 
 The atmosphere was delightful, clear, cool, bracing 
 and invigorating, and Duluth can claim one thing, if 
 nothing else — a salubrious climate in July. Just 
 what sort of weather they may have about Christ- 
 mas I did not stop to inquire. 
 
 Duluth is a real Western town. In many places 
 sidewalks are built of boards, and the streets are 
 paved with wooden blocks. The town was full of 
 lumbermen, miners, prospectors, etc., which indi- 
 cated the character of the industries carried on in 
 the vicinity. 
 
 The following morning we took our departure 
 from here for St. Paul, where the railroad cars 
 
 24 
 
Pittsburg to St. Paui.. 
 
 landed us at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 
 same day. This part of our journey was full of in- 
 terest to me. The weather was pleasant and we 
 passed along a chain of many small lakes. Among 
 them was White Bear Lake, which had all the 
 appearance of a popular summer resort. 
 
 In St. Paul we discovered that our train for 
 Medora and the end of our trip would not leave 
 untJl eleven o'clock that night. Hence to while 
 away the time we amused ourselves during the 
 afternoon by riding on the street cars between the 
 twin cities of Minnesota. Soon after our train had 
 pulled out of the station that night, and we had just 
 made ourselves comfortable in the sleeping car, we 
 discovered that three of qur fellow-passengers were 
 also going to the Custer Trail Ranch. When we 
 got acquainted it turned out that they were brothers 
 from Chicago, going to spend their vacation on 
 the ranch. The name of one of these young men 
 was Sloan, and so we immediately ''dubbed*' him 
 "Tod Sloan." He retained this nickname through- 
 out his stay at the ranch, and I have been informed 
 recently that he is yet called *'Tod Sloan." 
 
III. 
 
 COMING TO THE BAD LANDS. 
 
 WE were now coming closer and closer to our 
 journey^s end, and our anxiety to get there 
 grew with each revolution of the wheels of 
 our train. Throughout our trip we had been talk- 
 ing and dreaming so much about our prospective 
 life on the ranch that our longing for its realization 
 became almost feverish. 
 
 However, the ride from St. Paul to Medora pre- 
 sented to us many new and interesting sights, and 
 had it not been for these diversions that last stage 
 on the railroad would have been very tedious in- 
 deed. 
 
 The next day we entered the Red River valley, 
 that great grain-producing section of our North- 
 western country, where, on all sides, came to our 
 view home-like farm houses, good barns and other 
 evidences of abundance and prosperity among the 
 settlers. It was about breakfast time when the 
 
The Bad Lands. 
 
 train made its first Stop of the day at Fargo, North 
 Dakota, and although we did not have an oppor- 
 tunity to take very close observations of the town, 
 the general aspect gave us the impression of a pros- 
 perous, thriving place. 
 
 But we were destined to meet before long with a 
 contrast to this panorama of prosperity. That was 
 at Bismarck, where we crossed the Missouri river. 
 There was a boom in Bismarck a few years ago, as 
 some of you will perhaps remember. Well, this 
 boom was not very stable, and before long it col- 
 lapsed. When I was there the only signs I could 
 detect of its former existence were the ravages it 
 carried on during the process of decomposition. The 
 boom had left the people nothing, so I am told, but 
 mortgages of all sizes; and what I have heard from 
 Bismarck since is, that most of these mortgages are 
 still there waiting to be lifted. 
 
 But in spite of that dreadful visitation of this 
 bursting boom, Bismarck is now doing the Phoenix 
 act — and rising from its ashes. I tell you these 
 Western pioneers are a hardy lot of people, and it 
 takes more than one bursting boom to down them. 
 As I have been among them I have learned to love 
 and respect them, and I sincerely hope that the 
 
When I Wknt Wkst. 
 
 people of Bismarck who are trying to rebuild their 
 town and make it once more a prosperous place, 
 will meet with success. They deserve it, and I 
 trust they will get it. 
 
 On the other side of the Missouri from Bismarck 
 we came to Mandan, another town where a boom 
 had burst. We could see this by the large brick 
 buildings which were standing out on the prairie 
 like mourning monuments of a glorious past. 
 
 At Mandan we caught for the first time glimpses 
 of real cowboys and Indians, who were standing 
 among the crowd that were waiting to see the train 
 steam into the station. There is an Indian store at 
 the depot in Mandan which is full of interesting 
 curiosities, which ar^ for sale, of course, and the 
 train as a rule remains here long enough to give the 
 travelers a chance to spend some of their loose 
 change. 
 
 At Dickinson, another mile post nearer our desti- 
 nation, we were again greeted by the usual crowd 
 of cowboys, Indians and settlers; but in addition we 
 also noticed some half a dozen men all minus one 
 leg, and all were beggars. We tried to find out 
 why it was that Dickinson should have this dis- 
 
The Bad Lands. 
 
The Bad Lands. 
 
 tinction of a corner in one-legged men, but no one 
 seemed to be able to give the desired information. 
 
 Beyond Dickinson the aspect of the country began 
 to show some remarkable changes from what it had 
 been hitherto. It became much rougher and bleak 
 looking, which we knew was a sure indication that 
 we were now approaching the ''Bad Lands." But 
 as the end of our journey was also located in the 
 "Bad Lands,*' we hailed this discovery with delight, 
 because we realized that now our destination could 
 not be much farther off. 
 
 With the character of the country we also noticed 
 a change in the style of the human habitations as 
 we passed them. Instead of meeting with what we 
 should call in the East a farm house, we came across 
 a * 'shack, *' as it is designated in the parlance of the 
 West. 
 
 These "shacks' ' were built of logs, often set up 
 on end like a stockade. Most of them were one 
 story high, they had a mud roof, and they were 
 generally located under the shelter of a hill. 
 • As we came farther into the Bad Lands the 
 scenery of the country aroused us to astonishment. 
 Hither and thither, all around us, the formation pre- 
 sented an irregular succession of hills, or buttes, as 
 
 29 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 they are called out there. These buttes rise up 
 from the ground like ever so many monstrous mole- 
 hills. In some cases they are from two hundred to 
 three hundred feet high, but no two buttes are ex- 
 actly alike. No timber is to be seen; a growth of 
 buffalo or sage grass is the only visible sign of vege- 
 tation. Here and there we also observed a patch of 
 *' scoria'* and great streaks of alkali, which to us 
 looked like rivulets of salt. 
 
 We had, of course, heard of the Bad Lands. We 
 knew that our journey was to lead us into them, 
 but now that we were actually there, the sights we 
 beheld were altogether different from what our im- 
 agination had pictured them. 
 
 It was six o'clock in the evening of July 2nd 
 when our train pulled into Medora station. We 
 were four hours behind schedule time. As I got up 
 from my seat, gathered my loose traveling effects 
 about me, and stepped from the car onto the plat- 
 form of the primitive depot, I felt as if I were just 
 awaking from a long dream. Anxiously as I had 
 been looking forward to this moment, it was very 
 difficult for me to grasp the fact that the consumma- 
 tion of these dreams of mine were about to be real- 
 ized. 
 
The Bad Lands. 
 
 I was still wondering where I was at when Willis 
 Eaton, of the Custer Trail Ranch, and one of our 
 hosts, slapped me on the shoulder and then shook 
 me by the hands in true Western style. 
 
 His hearty welcome soon brought us to our 
 senses. Conveyances were awaiting us and we 
 lost no time tumbling into the wagons to be off for 
 the ranch, which is located about five miles south of 
 Medora station. 
 
 That drive was one of the oddest experiences I 
 have ever had. Not that the going was so very bad, 
 although we did take a terrible chance of our lives 
 when we crossed Sully Creek. But the wonderful 
 formation of the country was what impressed us 
 most. We were now in the Bad Lands, you 
 remember, and as we drove along we found our- 
 selves surrounded on all sides by these buttes, 
 which were dotted over the panorama as far as the 
 eye could reach in all directions. It was hill and 
 hollow all the time, and it seemed a puzzle to me 
 how we should find our way over these things. 
 However, no accidents happened, neither did we 
 get lost. 
 
 On this drive we passed Prairie Dog Villages, the 
 Peilliser Ranch; we saw Square Butte, about forty 
 
miles away to the west. Then we saw Sentinel 
 Butte and Bullion Butte. These are all much higher 
 than the ordinary buttes, and for that reason they 
 are remarkable. 
 
 But everything comes to an end, and so at last 
 did our drive, when we turned down a long, narrow 
 path, which finally landed us at the door of Custer 
 Trail, our destination. 
 
IV. 
 CUSTER TRAIL RANCH. 
 
 |ii LL of you, I have no doubt, have heard and 
 Kl read much about Western hospitality and 
 V-» cordiality; but let me assure you that no 
 matter how eminent and well qualified may have 
 been the source of your information, its reality has 
 never been properly conveyed second or third hand. 
 Hence I shall not attempt to describe to you the 
 feelings that came over me when we were bid wel- 
 come to the Custer Trail Ranch. If we had been 
 children of the house, who were born there and had 
 returned to the home of our boyhood after an ab- 
 sence of many years, the greetings could no.t have 
 been more spontaneous; and the ring in the voices 
 that expressed these greetings could not have been 
 heartier if those people — many of them perfect 
 strangers to us and we to them — had been our 
 brothers. 
 
 No wonder we felt at home as soon as we got 
 there, and when we sat down to table, having our 
 
When I Wknt West. 
 
 supper with the crowd and looking around at all 
 the smiling faces beaming upon us with good fellow- 
 ship, we instinctively felt that 'Mt was good to be 
 there.'' 
 
 Our quarters were assigned to us in a frame 
 building that was part of the ranch ''outfit/' and 
 which, of course, was called a ''shack," like every 
 other building in that country, no difference whether 
 it be a dwelling or a stable. In this "shack" we 
 made our home during our stay on the ranch, and 
 the memories of the pleasant hours we spent to- 
 gether in that primitive structure in the wilderness 
 of North Dakota bring back to my mind some of the 
 most agreeable moments of my life. 
 
 After enjoying a good night's rest we awoke in 
 the morning, and then we got up to take in the sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 Custer Trail Ranch is located in a small grove of 
 Cottonwood trees, which is about the only kind of 
 timber found in the Bad Lands. The Ranch is situ- 
 ated a mile or so from the Little Missouri River. 
 The place is supplied with water by a system of 
 wells. The water is strongly impregnated with 
 alkali, but nevertheless it is pleasant to the taste, 
 
OusTKR Traii, Ranch. 
 
 and as far as I could learn it is not at all unwhole- 
 some as a beverage. 
 
 The ranch building proper was a two-story 
 structure made of logs. The second story was 
 composed of weather boarding and contained seven 
 rooms. As you entered the front door there was a 
 large apartment observable on the right. This was 
 the general living room, or the ranch headquarters, 
 as it were. In this room was a large book case well 
 stocked with books and other kind of reading mat- 
 ter. The daily papers were spread about on the 
 table. Then there were also some musical instru- 
 ments here. In addition, this room was also used as 
 a writing room, and it was the custom of some of 
 our friends to conduct here in the evening their cor- 
 respondence with the outside world. 
 
 Opposite these headquarters on the other side of 
 the main entrance was the large, airy dining room, 
 where we had many delicious meals and ^'swapped" 
 good and bad stories while the eating was going on. 
 
 The rooms on the second floor were all used as 
 sleeping apartments. 
 
 Besides this main building and the shack my com- 
 panions and I occupied, there was another shack 
 called the *'Dude Pen,*' a third the ^'Medora Flats,'' 
 
Whkn I W^NT West. 
 
 and at last there had been two large tents erected 
 to take care of the ** overflow/' These tents were 
 known by the name of the ''Midway.*' The 
 structures I have named thus far were all used for 
 dwelling purposes, while there were still some other 
 buildings, such as the blacksmith shop, the corrals, 
 the stable, etc., which made up the complete ranch 
 or "outfit.'* 
 
 There were about forty people located at Custer 
 Trail Ranch when I was its guest. Some fifteen of 
 them were school boys from Chicago and Pittsburg, 
 who had come out West to spend their vacation by 
 leading this rough, outdoor life for the amusement 
 and the recreation there was in it. These boys 
 lived in the " Midway," and as far as wildness, 
 hilarity and " cutting up " was concerned, the goings 
 on in the Midway at the Chicago World's Fair were 
 a Sunday school affair in comparison. 
 
 The rest of the population on the ranch were 
 visitors and guests like ourselves, and then the 
 regular members of the household, the servants, 
 stablemen, ranchmen, and last, but not least, the 
 cowboys. 
 
Driving up the Herd. 
 
V. 
 
 LIFE ON THE RANCH. 
 
 VERY often I have been asked, ''What sort of a 
 life did you live on the ranch, and what did 
 you do with yourself all day?" And when- 
 ever this question has been put to me I had to think 
 and study awhile before I was ready to give an an- 
 swer. Now this hesitation on my part was not 
 occasioned because we led a life of idleness and I 
 had nothing to tell. On the contrary, every day 
 was taken up with so many different things that it 
 was difficult for me to recall all the occupations we 
 enjoyed during one particular day. 
 
 The ranch life is on the whole very irregular, and 
 no one is bound down to any routine, like your 
 bath, your breakfast, going to the office, then to 
 lunch, then back to the office, and at last return 
 home for the evening. There seems to be an at- 
 mosphere of freedom and independence that per- 
 vades the country out West which manifests itself 
 also amongst the people who live there. The result 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 is they do things as they please and when they 
 please. Of course that kind of thing would not 
 work in the East, but out there, where everybody is 
 animated by the same spirit, the system acts like a 
 charm. 
 
 Many of you will think that under such conditions 
 not much can be accomplished, but you are wrong. 
 The people on the ranches are all hard working in- 
 dividuals; each one knows what he has to do, and 
 he does not shirk his work, because he is not 
 *' bossed ** all the time. Indeed, a fellow who would 
 try *' soldiering," as we call it here, would soon find 
 the place out West too hot for him, and he would 
 gladly clear out of his own volition. 
 
 At Custer Trail they had about six hundred head 
 of cattle and the same number of horses. The cattle 
 were practically kept on the range and so were part of 
 the horses. Some two or three hundred horses were 
 kept in a place known as the big pasture, and they 
 were driven into the corral every morning, when 
 those that were to be used would be ^^ caught up " 
 with a lariat or rope, and the balance were driven 
 back again into this pasture. Every person on the 
 ranch had two horses assigned to him to be ridden 
 on alternate days. After we had breakfast in the 
 
Life on the Ranch. 
 
 morning we used to go to this corral and watch 
 the horses being caught up. We had to be there on 
 time, because you never knew whether your horse 
 would be caught first or last, and if you happened to 
 be out of sight when yours had been roped, why the 
 animal would be let go again. The chances then 
 were that you had to do without a mount for that 
 day. But supposing you reported on time, like we 
 always did, then we got our horses as they were 
 brought up, and now we had to take charge of them 
 for the rest of the day. Wherever we went the 
 horses went with us. In fact, on the ranch very 
 little walking is done; it is all riding, and the people 
 practically live on horseback. 
 
 The catching of these horses would take about 
 two hours every morning, and of course you can 
 imagine there was quite a lot of excitement con- 
 nected with this proceeding. 
 
 Then there was much going on about the corral 
 and the stables during this time that was all very 
 interesting to us. Sometimes the saddles were mixed 
 up, or the blankets had been mislaid, or some other 
 parts of our outfit had been lost or hidden, all of 
 which diversion caused annoyance to some and 
 amusement to the others. 
 
Wh^n I Wejnt Wejst. 
 
 Then we would watch the men "cinching'* up a 
 broncho, and the trouble and excitement that goes 
 along with that work afforded the onlookers much 
 amusement. At last, however, we were all ready to 
 go off sight-seeing, and all the parties scattered in 
 every direction. These trips were of constantly 
 changing interest; indeed, in their variety of scenery 
 the Bad Lands are very remarkable. 
 
 We used Mexican saddles with a high pomrpel and 
 cantel. The bridle was an ordinary Western curb 
 bit with a single rein. 
 
 The horses are trained to a fox trot or lope, and 
 they are great travelers of marvelous endurance, 
 very sure-footed and under excellent control. They 
 are never shod or curried, and, remarkable as it 
 seemed to me, they knew nothing about being fed 
 with grain. To make a Western ranch horse take 
 to oats is an impossibility, unless you were to teach 
 it first how to eat them. These animals ** rustle " 
 for themselves, as it is called, both in summer and 
 winter. After a long ride, as soon as the saddle is 
 taken off their backs, they will roll on the ground, 
 shake themselves, get up, and then they are ready 
 for another journey. 
 
Life on the Ranch. 
 
 When we did not have any plans for a day's ex- 
 cursion we used to stay around the ranch trying to 
 make ourselves useful. There was always some 
 errand to go on, or a trip to make somewhere, and 
 everyone was ready at any time to turn in and do 
 what he could. 
 
 Thus the day passed before we knew it, and in 
 the evening we would gather at headquarters or in 
 some of the shacks to go over the occurrences of the 
 day or tell stories. 
 
 One thing I vividly remember, and that is that we 
 were always ready to eat; and when it was time to 
 go to bed we went to sleep without requiring to be 
 rocked. 
 
 The clothing we wore was chosen more with an 
 idea for comfort than for appearance. The general 
 costume consisted of a big hat, flannel shirt, over- 
 alls, large boots and gloves. 
 
 The arrival of the mail in the afternoon was 
 always an important event, and often the mail-pouch 
 brought no less than a hundred letters and papers. 
 
 41 
 
VI. 
 THE COWBOY. 
 
 THE second day after our arrival at Custer Trail 
 was the Fourth of July, and a grand program 
 had been prepared for the faithful celebration 
 of America's greatest holiday. But before I give the 
 details of these festivities I shall tell you something 
 about one of the most unique characters of the West, 
 the North American cowboy. 
 
 Eastern people, as a rule, have an erroneous con- 
 ception of the cowboy. The prevailing idea seems 
 to be that he is a wild, reckless, dare-devil. A 
 brawling braggart, an unfeeling rascal, who cares 
 neither for the laws of God nor man. We usually 
 see him pictured on horseback, armed to the teeth, 
 flourishing a revolver and apparently shooting at 
 everything in sight. Most of these impressions do 
 the cowboy an injustice. 
 
 In judging the character of the cowboy you must 
 consider his social environments, his mode of living 
 and his occupation. It is true that his manner is 
 very independent, and that he does not allow anyone 
 
 42 
 
The Cowboy. 
 
 to order him about. But this results from the fact 
 that he is ordinarily surrounded by circumstances 
 where he has to rely entirely upon his own personal 
 resources. Living out on the prairie, away from all 
 civilization, where the polishing influences of cult- 
 ure never reach him, constantly threatened by mani- 
 fold dangers to life and limb, free from the restrain- 
 ing authority of boss and master, is it any wonder 
 that he should acquire instinctively a freedom of 
 action and independence, which would seem strange 
 among people in any other walk of life? 
 
 Now let me tell you what the impressions were 
 which I formed of the cowboys during the time I 
 lived with them and associated with them under 
 various conditions. In my opinion the average cow- 
 boy is one of the finest specimen of American man- 
 hood. 
 
 His outdoor life and constant exposure to the ele- 
 ments have made him physically strong. The many 
 dangers and difficulties he has to encounter in the 
 pursuance of his work have sharpened his wits. 
 They have made him fearless, alert, brave and 
 courageous. 
 
 Speaking of his character I would call him whole- 
 souled, generous, charitable, open-hearted and chiv- 
 
 48 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 alrous, but he is quick to resent an insult, real or 
 imaginary. 
 
 In his manner he is jovial, noisy, dashing, and 
 often boisterous, but not vicious. 
 
 In his habits he is frugal and temperate. He is 
 fond of gambling, but he never cheats. 
 
 Of course cowboys sometimes go on a ** spree,*' 
 as they call it, especially after they have just re- 
 turned from an extended trip, and when they get 
 into a town or settlement on these occasions they 
 usually make a great racket, but this I consider is 
 merely an involuntary outburst of their exuberant 
 spirits, which have been dormant so long, while 
 they were away after the cattle. 
 
 The cowboy is an expert shot with the gun and 
 revolver, but I think that he follows the practice of 
 shooting more as a matter of pastime, and that he 
 does not try to become a skilled marksman, because 
 he has a desire to shoot his fellow-men. On the 
 other hand, he finds the revolver very handy in the 
 prairie for killing snakes and other wild beasts. At 
 last, however, it must not be forgotten that the 
 revolver is the weapon which everybody carries out 
 West for personal safety and to defend himself. 
 
John Grogan's Ranch, North Dakota. 
 
The Cowboy. 
 
 The cowboy is the personification of honesty and 
 hospitality. A sneak or a thief never stays long 
 amongst them, because as soon as he is found out 
 the place is made so hot for him that he is glad to 
 get away alive. Strangers are always made wel- 
 come, and the cowboy will divide with his guest all 
 he possesses, without expecting anything in return. 
 
 Of course they are almost constantly on horse- 
 back. Most of them are smooth-shaven, but some 
 of them have littl^ mustachios. They wear big 
 sombrero hats and large spurs. 
 
 One peculiar characteristic of the cowboys I 
 noticed was that they are inveterate cigaret smok- 
 ers. They roll these things themselves. A paper 
 of tobacco is always carried in their righ^ hip 
 pocket, and the cigaret paper is in the flannel shirt 
 pocket on the left side. It is astonishing to see how 
 quickly they can roll, in the deftest manner, a nice 
 cigaret, while they are riding along at their work. 
 I inquired into the reason for their preference of 
 cigarets to any other form of tobacco, and I found 
 that they could not carry cigars or pipes so con- 
 veniently. 
 
VII. 
 THE FOURTH OF JULY. 
 
 |HE 
 
 HE following posters had been distributed pre- 
 vious to the anniversary of the day of Amer- 
 ican Independence: 
 
 A Grand Celebration will be held on July 4th at Medora, 
 ***** 
 
 Pony Races on vhe Buttes. 
 
 * * * * X- 
 
 Base Bai,!. Game Between the Sentinei. Buttes and 
 THE Medoras. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Foot Races, Cwmbing Greased Poi<e, 
 Potato Race, Etc. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Grand Bai^i, in the Evening at the Hai,i,. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Ai^i, ARE Invited. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Come and Have a Good Day's Sport. 
 
 ***** 
 
 By order of the Committee on Arrangements. 
 
The Fourth of July. 
 
 On the morning of the Fourth every person about 
 the ranch was mounted early, and we all started for 
 Medora. When we got there we could see the cow- 
 boys and ranchmen coming in from all directions, 
 generally riding at the accustomed ** lope." All 
 looked determined to have a good time. 
 
 A profusely decorated grand stand had been 
 erected in the Public Square of the town, and here 
 the notables of the surrounding section, with their 
 ladies, were out in force. Some of the visitors had 
 come from distances of over fifty miles. 
 
 Big Pete, ex-Sheriff of Billings County, was mas- 
 ter of ceremonies, and he acquitted himself of his 
 onerous responsibilities with supreme satisfaction, 
 especially to himself. By the time the races were 
 ready to begin Big Pete made his way at the head 
 of a large procession of onlookers towards the butte, 
 located immediately back of the town. On this 
 butte the races were to be held. The side of the 
 hill facing us rose up almost perpendicular, and in 
 consequence to reach the summit it was necessary 
 to go around it to the other side, where a narrow 
 path led to the top, while a winding trail made it 
 possible for the vehicles to get to the same des- 
 tination. 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 The summit of the butte was as level as a billiard 
 table and stretched out like an immense meadow 
 covered with buffalo grass. This made an ideal 
 race course. 
 
 The races were *' straight away/' and the dis- 
 tances, quarter of a mile, half a mile and one mile, 
 were marked by wooden pegs. 
 
 The weather was very beautiful, not too hot nor 
 yet too cool; the atmosphere was clear and exhilar- 
 ating. We arrived on the top some time before the 
 races started, and this gave us a splendid oppor- 
 tunity of watching the crowd coming towards the 
 butte from the town. We stood on the brink of this 
 steep hill, about two hundred feet high, and the 
 sight of the moving cavalcade of enthusiastic people 
 down below was a very interesting spectacle. Now 
 the cowboys came trooping up dressed in their most 
 attractive style. With them came a number of 
 ladies, also mounted like the cowboys. Then came 
 a long string of vehicles of all kinds, all moving 
 along at a very brisk pace. 
 
 By this time the signal was given that the races 
 were about to start. This threw the ranchmen, the 
 cowboys, yes, even the ponies, into a greater state 
 of excitement than they had been before. Every- 
 
The Fourth of July. 
 
 body except the ponies was now betting on the 
 result of the first race. 
 
 Finally the animals that were to be in the contest 
 lined up. Then down the course they came, their 
 riders yelling as only cowboys can yell, and the 
 crowd shouting to encourage them in their efforts. 
 The riders were "quirting" the ponies at every 
 jump. 
 
 Many of the races had to be run over a second 
 time before a decision was arrived at, and thus the 
 noise and excitement was kept up incessantly until 
 the last race was over. 
 
 When this part of the program had been finished, 
 Big Pete requested the crowd to follow him back into 
 Medora to attend the balance of the entertainment. 
 
 This was done, and when we got back into the 
 town we saw the base ball game, a foot race, a 
 potato race and the climbing of the greased pole. 
 The base ball game was played by a team from 
 Sentinel Butte and the Medora nine. The Sentinels 
 had ridden seventy-five miles to take part in this 
 sport, and after the game was over — they, by the 
 way, being defeated — ^the Sentinels rode back to 
 their homes that night. 
 
When I Wknt Wkst. 
 
 When the outdoor amusements were over the sun 
 was sinking in the West, and most of the holiday- 
 makers were ready for the grand ball. But I did 
 not stay for that, and so I am not able to give you a 
 description thereof. 
 
 We returned to Custer Trail that evening, and 
 the following day we settled down to a regular 
 every-day life on the ranch. Sometimes we would 
 go on long excursions out on the trail to Dutchmans' 
 Barn Butte, to Chimney Butte and other points of 
 interest in the neighborhood. The weather was 
 generally very pleasant, and although the ther- 
 mometer was often a hundred degrees in the shade, 
 the nights were always cool. 
 
VIII. 
 ON THE PRAIRIE 
 
 TT .BOUT the middle of July it was proposed that 
 1^ we make a trip across the prairie to the 
 \^^ Sioux Indian Reservation, located at the 
 Standing Rock Agency, Fort Yates. This is 
 on the Big Missouri river, about two hundred miles in 
 a southeasterly direction from Medora, and seventy- 
 five miles below Bismarck. We were told that at 
 certain periods of the year the Indians receive 
 rations from the government, and it was intimated 
 to us, if we started right then, we could get to Fort 
 Yates about the time of the Indians' arrival for their 
 allowance of meat and provisions. 
 
 The prospect appealed to us very strongly, be- 
 cause, while the distribution of rations to the Red 
 Men was to us a novel spectacle in itself, and for 
 that reason of especial interest, we also promised 
 ourselves much fun and entertainment from the ride 
 across the prairie.- The expedition being arranged 
 for, preparations for the journey immediately be- 
 gan. 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 You must understand that these preparations were 
 of no insignificant consideration, as you will see. 
 There were thirty-five of us in the party, including 
 the boys. It was calculated that it would take about 
 a week to get to Fort Yates, and as we did not 
 expect to pass through any town or settlement, 
 where we might be able to make purchases, or 
 where we could stop for the night, we had to pro- 
 vide ourselves with all the necessaries of life that we 
 might want, including a supply of provisions for all 
 of us, as well as beds. 
 
 When we started, our caravan was composed of 
 the following: Mr. Alden Eaton, one of our hosts, 
 led the *'outfif as the guide, and he was the man 
 in charge. Out of the thirty-five persons in, the 
 party thirty were mounted. We had two wagons, 
 one to carry the beds and the other for the prov- 
 ender. The first was called the bed-wagon, and 
 the second the mess- wagon. We took eighty -five 
 horses or ponies. Each rider had two, one for every 
 other day, and the wagon teams were changed the 
 same way. 
 
 The bed-wagon contained a small tent for the 
 cook and some thirty *' tarps.'* Tarps is an abbre- 
 viation of the word tarpaulins. They measured 
 
'^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 .i 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 Li^^^jjt^ 
 
 ■***■ 
 
 ""f****— igj^ 
 
 
 ^raB 
 
 
 
 iC 
 
 ■MMH 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 '^ w^B 
 
 
 
 ^^^H 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 
 
 
 ^<^^ 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 ^^^■^^H 
 
 MM 
 
 *" \^3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Sioux Indians, Standing Rock Agency. 
 
On the Prairie. 
 
 10x15 feet, and they were used as beds in the follow- 
 ing manner: Two men had one tarp between them 
 which they would spread on the ground. Then two 
 or three blankets would be placed on the top of the 
 tarpaulin in lieu of mattresses and sheets. After 
 that you laid two or three more blankets over this, 
 which formed the covering, and over that came 
 another tarp. 
 
 We had war-bags with us, which contained such 
 change of clothing as we deemed advisable to take 
 along, and these war-bags we used as pillows. 
 
 I ought to say here that our outfit was very com- 
 plete in every detail, and somewhat better than what 
 is generally carried by the men who are inured to 
 Western life and Western country, and, as it were, 
 are to the *' manor born/' 
 
 The mess-wagon carried a stove, all the necessary 
 cooking apparatus, as well as the supply of pro- 
 visions, which I can assure you was no small amount 
 for such a large party. Incidentally I will say that 
 there was not one in the crowd who had anything 
 the matter with his appetite. 
 
 Moving along we formed this column: Mr. Alden 
 Eaton with four or five horsemen rode at the head 
 and showed the way. About half a mile behind 
 
 63 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 them followed the mess-wagon, accompanied by 
 another detail of riders. Then perhaps another half 
 mile back came the bed-wagon, also in charge of a 
 detail of four or five horsemen. At last, possibly a 
 mile in the rear, would be the herd of extra horses 
 for the men and the wagons. This detachment was 
 also in charge of a number of men who were held 
 responsible for them, and see to it that none would 
 go astray. 
 
 In this manner our outfit stretched along over the 
 trail for a distance of two or three miles, and the 
 alkali dust kicked up by each detachment, especi- 
 ally by the horses in the rear, made such tremen- 
 dous clouds so as to choke anybody. I believe it 
 was principally on account of this enormous amount 
 of dust which we raised that the column was 
 arranged in detachments, separated by such long 
 distances. 
 
 Not long after we had started away from Custer 
 Trail Ranch a terrible rainstorm came up very sud- 
 denly, like they do out in that country occur very 
 often. But we had gone too far to turn back, and 
 so we went on through the rain. 
 
 About seven o'clock in the evening we crossed 
 the border of the Bad Lands and entered upon the 
 
 64 
 
On thb Prairie. 
 
 prairie, where we soon after discovered a small 
 spring. Since water is a necessary adjunct to a 
 camping place, and as it is a commodity not to be 
 found everywhere on the prairie, we determined to 
 halt here for the night. 
 
 The going into camp was quite an event for me, 
 and an experience I shall never forget. As one 
 detachment of our outfit after the other came up the 
 horses were unsaddled and then turned loose to 
 herd. A detail of two men were appointed to guard 
 them all night in ''two hour watches.'* 
 
 When the wagons came up Bill Jones, our cook, 
 took his stove and kitchen utensils and began to get 
 supper. What a job this was it will not be difficult 
 to imagine if you take into consideration that we 
 were about as hungry a lot of fellows as ever there 
 were anywhere. Thirty miles of horseback riding 
 is apt to make anybody hungry. Then we must 
 remember our schoolboys, all strong and healthy 
 lads, who could gormandize like veritable Anacondas. 
 
 While the cook was occupied with the pots and 
 pans the rest of us were engaged making our beds. 
 It was the duty of each pair of sleeping partners 
 to get their own "tarps** spread out, and Bert 
 and I were doing *' stunts " as chamber maids in the 
 
 66 
 
When I Went Wesi*. 
 
 most approved fashion. Soon our beds looked very 
 inviting. 
 
 When we had finished that part of our work we 
 went over to the kitchen to get our tin plate, our 
 knife, fork, spoon and a tincup. We were now 
 ready and anxious to eat. Imagine therefore our 
 chagrin when we found that, although Jones was 
 working away for dear life, there was still nothing 
 to be had. We soon found out the trouble, how- 
 ever. The schoolboys, or '*kids,'* as we called 
 them, were so hungry that they made up their 
 minds not to bother about their sleeping accommo- 
 dations until they had satisfied the cravings of their 
 voracious appetites. And now they were sitting 
 around the kitchen on the ground watching the cook. 
 Every time he had cooked a portion he would yell 
 at them, **Flyto it!'* and the boys followed his 
 injunction literally by making one grand *' center 
 rush '* at him whenever he had a plateful ready. 
 
 Still, we all got as much as we wanted, and no 
 one went to bed hungry. The bill of fare consisted 
 of fried bacon, baked biscuits, boiled potatoes, coffee 
 and butter; and although I have sat down to more 
 sumptuous meals than this one, I never enjoyed one 
 so much than on this occasion in the open prairie, 
 
On the Prairie. 
 
 with the green ground as the table and the broad 
 canopy of heaven as the tablecloth. 
 
 To give you some idea of the quantity of food we 
 disposed of I need only cite one item, viz., bacon, 
 thirty pounds. A healthy appetite we had, don't 
 you think so.? 
 
 By nine o'clock we had all crawled under our 
 **tarps," and soon the camp was as quiet and 
 death-like as a graveyard. This silence oppressed 
 me somewhat at first, but I was so tired that I soon 
 got used to it and was asleep with the rest. 
 
IX. 
 FOLLOWING THE TRAIL* 
 
 IF we had been told before we started on our jour- 
 ney over the prairie that we should have to bear 
 hardships, privations and discomforts, we most 
 likely would have shrugged our shoulders disdain- 
 fully and gone just the same. And now that it is all 
 over and I can calmly reflect upon the past in a dis- 
 passionate manner, thinking of all our experiences, 
 the bitter as well as the sweet, I must say that I am 
 glad that I went. But in spite of this I can assure 
 you there were often moments during that trip to 
 Fort Yates when I wished myself anywhere rather 
 than where I was. Horseback riding is exhilarating 
 exercise, and I am passionately fond of it. Travel- 
 ing has always been my delight, because I rejoice in 
 seeing strange lands and scenes, but when it comes 
 to traveling on horseback through the prairie in 
 cloudy billows of akali dust that almost choke you, 
 not a house or a tree within sight, the sun beating 
 down upon you with an intensity of at least one 
 hundred and twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit, a 
 
FOLI^OWING THE TrAII.. 
 
 breeze blowing across your face like the blazing heat 
 from a furnace. When your tongue is parched to 
 the roof of your mouth, and you have no water to 
 drink, nor do you know when you may get some, 
 and all the while the mosquitos are whizzing around 
 your head and driving you nearly frantic if you sit 
 down for a few moments only; under such condi- 
 tions 1 aver traveling is not altogether pleasant. 
 
 After having made this little disgression we will 
 now return to our camp. 
 
 In the morning we were awake about four o'clock. 
 While the cook started the fire to get breakfast we 
 proceeded to wash ourselves from the meagre supply 
 of water. Our " tarps " we rolled up and put them 
 into the bed-wagon. The horses were driven into a 
 rope corral, and those to be used that day were 
 caught up. Everybody saddled and bridled his own 
 horse, and by seven o'clock all were ready to start. 
 In counting our horses we found seven had strayed 
 away in the night, in spite of the care taken by the 
 horse wranglers to keep them together. They had 
 gone to the H. T. Ranch some seventy -five miles 
 away, where the leader of them, called " Hodan,'* 
 had been raised. Here we afterwards found them. 
 
When I Wknt West. 
 
 Our journey now took us over the Black Hills 
 Trail, passing through fine pastures and just outside 
 of the Bad Lands, which were on our right. At 
 noon we arrived at the head of the Cannon Ball 
 river, where our horses were turned out to herd 
 while we had lunch. At two o'clock we caught up 
 our horses again, loaded the mess-wagon and fol- 
 lowed the same trail. The whole country, as far as 
 the eye could reach, was a rolling prairie, wild 
 flowers on all sides, but no other signs of life. 
 About seven o'clock in the evening we came to the 
 White Ranch on Cedar Creek and went into camp 
 for the night. Here we had a good spring of water 
 and an excellent camping ground, but the mosquitos 
 were numerous and busy. To escape the objection- 
 able familiarity of these insects we got into our 
 **tarps'' and covered our heads immediately after 
 supper. We left here at eight o'clock the following 
 morning, but before we got started we had some 
 difficulty harnessing the bronchos. 
 
 We stopped for lunch at Rainy Butte, where we 
 found a spring of very delicious water. The boys 
 had some fun here with a bull snake that was eight 
 feet long. They killed it eventually. These snakes 
 are common on the prairie, and they are not veno- 
 
On the Way to Indian Reservation. 
 
FoivLOWING THE TrAIL. 
 
 mous. The day was extremely hot, and as we 
 understood that we should find no water on the trail 
 until we came to Sherman Ranch, a distance of 
 twenty miles, we supplied ourselves with water in 
 all the kegs and bottles that were available. But 
 the oppressive heat made us very thirsty. The 
 alkali dust burned our faces, and before we had 
 traveled many miles our supply of water was ex- 
 hausted. Then we lost our trail, and in trying to 
 find it again we came across several places which 
 looked as if they contained drinkable water, but 
 upon investigation they turned out to be cow-wal- 
 lows. With the thirst, the heat and the disappoint- 
 ments, most of us felt miserable. But not so the 
 *' kids.'* Some of these cow -wallows were teeming 
 with snakes, and ignoring their physical sufferings, 
 the schoolboys jumped off their ponies and managed 
 to have a wondeiful amount of fun with these rep- 
 tiles. Such is youth. 
 
 Fortunately our misery ended at last. We dis- 
 covered our trail again and reached the Sherman 
 Ranch and our camping place about six o'clock. It 
 had been a hard day, and I heard no complaint of 
 sleeplessness that night. 
 
When I Went Wkst. 
 
 The settlers at the Sherman Ranch were Russians, 
 and as they could not speak English our intercourse 
 with them was of necessity very limited. When 
 we left there the following morning at eight o'clock 
 it was already very hot, with every indication that 
 the blazing intensity of the previous day was to be 
 our lot again. Our progress under these conditions 
 was not very rapid, and when noon came we deter- 
 mined to halt and lunch on the prairie. But who 
 would want to eat in that heat.? Hunger, in fact, did 
 not worry us at all. It was shade we wanted and 
 water. But even while we were suffering the 
 agonies of thirst our spirits never flagged. And 
 that under these trying circumstances our sense 
 of the ludicrous had not altogether left us was 
 proved when one of our party blurted out as well as 
 his parched lips would let him, 'Td give ten dol- 
 lars for a bottle of beer!" All who heard him 
 laughed and said that they'd make it twenty dollars. 
 
 Suddenly, I do not remember how it happened, 
 some one discovered that there was a ranch two 
 miles off. As this announcement inferred the pros- 
 pect of water, we forgot all else in our anxiety to be 
 off. Our efforts were rewarded, because we found 
 good water at this ranch, and taking an extra supply 
 
 •2 
 
FOI.I.OWING THK TrAII.. 
 
 with us we continued our journey until evening, 
 when we camped on Cedar Creek. At Cedar Creek 
 we had a great treat. We indulged in the enjoy- 
 ment of our first bath since leaving Custer Trail 
 Ranch. How we revelled in that luxury you may 
 well imagine. It improved everyone's spirits, and 
 after supper we sat about on the ground for hours 
 listening to the reminiscences of Bill Jones, oyr cook. 
 
X 
 
 A WESTERN CHARACTER. 
 
 SILL JONES bore the distinction from any other 
 individual of that name by being familiarly 
 known as '* Foul-Mouthed'* Bill Jones. And 
 never was nickname more deservedly bestowed than 
 in this particular instance. He swore incessantly; 
 in fact it was impossible for him to make the most 
 ordinary statement without introducing it by an 
 oath or else bringing in one of his choicest epithets 
 at the tail end. 
 
 When I met him he was about sixty years of age, 
 and by his own account he had been living in the 
 West for the last thirty -five years. Where he orig- 
 inally came from no one seemed to know, and upon 
 this point alone Bill Jones religiously held his own 
 council. I have always honored him for his reticence 
 about the place of his youth, because even Paradise 
 would have been polluted if Bill Jones had said he 
 came from there. 
 
 When he reached the West for the first time he 
 got a place as driver with the government surveying 
 
 64 
 
'filVL, JONBS. 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 party, which surveyed the Northern Pacific railroad. 
 Subsequently he became a stage driver, then a guard 
 of the Black Hills stage, then a cowboy, a ranchman 
 and at last a sheriff. 
 
 At this period must have been the zenith of his 
 career, because after that he became a gambler, a 
 miner, a steamboatman, a buffalo hunter and a gen- 
 eral '* rounder.'* He has no regular occupation now, 
 and people merely give him employment from a 
 motive of charity. 
 
 At last accounts I heard of Bill Jones in California. 
 Indeed, as you will see farther on, he went there 
 with our party when we took a trip into the *' Yel- 
 lowstone." 
 
 Stripping his narratives of their oaths and vulgar, 
 often blasphemous appendages, Bill Jones could tell 
 some good stories; and while it may be that he 
 sometimes stretched the truth, or indulged in prevar- 
 ications in order to surround his own deeds with the 
 glamour of the heroic and romantic, his experiences 
 were quite interesting. 
 
 To the student his racontations might be valuable, 
 inasmuch as they would form a good illustration of 
 life and character in the West at a period when vice 
 and lawlessness were rampant in those countries. 
 
A Wkstbrn Character. 
 
 How many men Bill Jones has killed in his days it 
 would be hard to estimate, but from the scraps of 
 history, as told by himself and what I learned from 
 others who had known him for years, his victims 
 must have been many. 
 
 There can be no doubt that he was a terrible des- 
 perado when he was in his prime, as some of the 
 accounts of his experiences would show. 
 
 Medora, the capital of Billings county, was founded 
 by a wealthy Frenchman, the Marquis De Mores, 
 who had married a rich American girl. This mar- 
 quis was fertile in the conception of commercial 
 schemes, and one of his theories was, that instead 
 of having the cattle from the Western ranches 
 brought to abattoirs and slaughterhouses in the 
 East, they should be in the West. It was this idea 
 which brought him to Medora, and he erected an 
 abattoir which was the most complete establishment 
 of its kind. It is standing yet. He also built him- 
 self a palace in Medora to superintend his opera- 
 tions personally. Well, to make a long story short, 
 the project did not work, and the Marquis De Mores 
 quit the West under the ruins of his extravagant 
 venture. 
 
Whkn I Went West. 
 
 But while these operations were going on Medora 
 enjoyed quite a boom and many people were attracted 
 to the place. At this time the town had over three 
 thousand inhabitants, and it was about as '* hot " a 
 ** joint'* as could be found in the West. Gambling, 
 vice and lawlessness of every description were the 
 order of the day, and the respectable element of the 
 population was forced to establish a ** Kangaroo 
 Court'* to protect themselves from the many bad 
 characters of the town. 
 
 In those days of Medora's prime Bill Jones was a 
 very prominent character. 
 
 Once some one placed Bill in charge of a couple 
 of young bears which he succeeded in taming, and 
 after awhile the two animals became so attached to 
 him that he rarely went anywhere without being 
 accompanied by his four-footed charges. When the 
 trains came into Medora station Jones was always to 
 be seen on the platform with his two bears behind 
 him. But the spirit for mischief was in him one day 
 and he went with his bears through the train. The 
 commotion they raised among the passengers was 
 terrible. Children screamed, women fainted and 
 men jumped out of the windows, scared almost to 
 death by the big brutes. But Bill calmly walked out 
 
Morning Scene. Camp at "Dairy," Yei*i,owstone. 
 
A Western Character. 
 
 of the cars with his two bears and returned to town 
 as if nothing had occurred that he had been inter- 
 ested in. However, he had greatly enjoyed the 
 *'fun/* as he called it, and so had the other natives. 
 So after that it became a regular performance for the 
 bears, with Bill Jones at their heads, to go through 
 all the passenger trains that came into Medora. 
 
 This kept on for a long time, until at last some one 
 lodged a complaint with the railroad company, and 
 then the management armed the conductors with 
 revolvers and issued orders to them to shoot anyone 
 who dared to bring live bears into the train at 
 Medora. Of course this spoiled Bill Jones* little 
 frolic for the future. 
 
 There is another story they tell of him which 
 shows what a dare-devil spirit he was when younger, 
 and it also proves that he must have been a dead 
 shot. 
 
 He was in one of the local dives in Medora one 
 day with a lot of other cowboys when a stranger 
 came in who looked the typical tender-foot. The 
 stranger walked up to the bar and asked for a bottle 
 of beer while the crowd sat around watching him. 
 The beer was handed to the guest, and he had put 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 the bottle to his mouth to drink when Bill Jones 
 said to his chums: 
 
 '* Watch me spoil the fellow's beer.** With these 
 words he whipped out his pistol, a report was heard, 
 and the bullet passed clean through the neck of 
 the bottle between the man's hand and his lips. 
 For a moment the stranger was dazed, but he evi- 
 dently was not the tender-foot he looked, because as 
 he turned towards the crowd and observed the re- 
 volver in Jones* hand, he quietly remarked: 
 
 ** Say, my friend, you have spoiled my drink, and 
 ril oblige you to buy me a new one.** 
 
 This nerve and coolness of the man pleased Bill so 
 much that he got up, shook hands with him and told 
 him to go ahead and order all the drinks he wanted, 
 and that he would pay for them. 
 
 But Bill Jones is not that kind of a man any more 
 to-day. He is old, his strength is gone, and the con- 
 ditions have changed in the West considerably since 
 the time when such characters were allowed to 
 flourish and terrorize respectable society. Indeed, 
 it may be said that Bill Jones is one of the last of a 
 dying race of men; a race, the representatives of 
 which were years ago to be found throughout the 
 West, in the mining camps, among the cowboys, in 
 
 70 
 
A Western Character. 
 
 the towns and on the prairie. However, the ever- 
 onward march of civilization and the arm of the law, 
 which is now reaching out farther and surer in this 
 country than ever before, are tolling the death-knell 
 to Bill Jones and his *' ken.'* 
 
 In our outfit Jones was constantly at loggerheads 
 with the schoolboys, whom he detested. In this, 
 however, I must say he was not so much at fault as 
 the *' kids," because they took particular delight in 
 teasing and worrying the old man into exasperation. 
 The practical jokes they played upon him, whenever 
 they had an opportunity, were enough to try the 
 patience of Job, and it was not to be wondered at 
 that he would swear at them on all occasions. 
 
 During our trip to Fort Yates, while we were 
 resting on the prairie at Goose's School House, 
 because the heat was so oppressive that even the 
 horses seemed to be played out, these boys, who 
 seemed to be proof against all the elements, concocted 
 a plan which nearly drove Bill Jones mad. Some 
 of them absented themselves for a few minutes and 
 then suddenly came back with the tale of having dis- 
 covered a spring in a dugout in the rear of the 
 school house. Of course we all knew it was a 
 hoax, but Bill took the bait and went off in quest of 
 
 71 
 
water. He searched and searched in the boiling 
 sun and under the fierce waftings of the hot breeze 
 to find that spring, but in vain. At last he came 
 back, and I can assure you there was ** sulphur " in 
 the air when he got through delivering himself of his 
 wrath upon the " kids.*' 
 
 72 
 
XI. 
 PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE! 
 
 *TTjT EIGHT o'clock the next morning we left our 
 l/Y camp knowing that we had another hot day 
 I 1 before us. At noon we camped again on 
 Cedar Creek. It had been our intention 
 to stop here for lunch only, but the animals as well 
 as ourselves were played out to such an extent that 
 we made up our minds to stay until the next day. 
 There was not an opposing voice to this proposition. 
 
 Our camp was in a nice stretch of meadow land, 
 where we put up our cook tent and spread out our fly 
 to find under its shade some relief from the extreme 
 heat. In the evening we all enjoyed the luxury of 
 another bath. But after supper the mosquitos be- 
 came so bad that we had to hunt the cover of our 
 tarps to escape them. 
 
 In all our travels this far we had not found a single 
 tree to afford us the least shade. Wherever the 
 eye would turn it was all prairie, prairie, prairie. 
 
 The next morning found us much refreshed from 
 our long rest, and this was well, for we antici- 
 
 78 
 
Whkn I Went West. 
 
 pated a long and waterless journey. Our plans 
 were to cover that day twenty-five miles, which 
 would land us for the next camping ground on the 
 Indian Reservation. 
 
 When we departed from the banks of the Cedar 
 Creek we laid in an extra supply of water. But 
 although we hoped that we had taken abundantly it 
 was as usual, very soon all gone, and the moment 
 we knew there was no more to drink our thirst 
 became greater. For the following five hours we 
 had a terrible experience. Our lips were as dry as 
 parchment, and the agonies of thirst increased with 
 every moment. Blessed was the man who chewed 
 tobacco, because he seemed to be able to endure the 
 want of water much better than any of the others. 
 Some of us canvassed the outfit for *' chewing gum," 
 but there was none to be had. There was not even 
 a pebble to be found anywhere which we might have 
 put into our parched mouths to chew upon. 
 
 To add to our disappointments the prairie here 
 was quite deceptive in its undulations. Every ridge 
 we saw on the horizon we believed would bring us 
 again to the brink of Cedar Creek, but like the cable 
 cars in San Francisco, there always seemed to be 
 one more hill before we reached the top. 
 
 74 
 
Prairie, Prailie, Prairie. 
 
 At one o'clock in the day we did at last arrive 
 on the summit, and away off to the right we dis- 
 cerned a few brushes, where we were told Cedar 
 Creek would be. At this announcement a number 
 of us galloped off, and in his anxiety to get to the 
 water one of our party plunged into a bed of quick- 
 sand. Horse and rider were soon almost submerged 
 and we had an awful time getting him out. First 
 we pulled the man out of the saddle, then we took 
 the saddle off the horse, and, putting a rope around 
 the animal, we also got it upon firm ground 
 after much exertion. When we were over this 
 trouble the leaders of our four-in-hand ran away, 
 and it took us some time to recapture them. And 
 all this while the heat was intense and our sufferings 
 from thirst became harder than ever to bear. 
 
 But now we saw away off on our left an old mud 
 shack, and as we were told that the creek was 
 near it, we again made a dash for the promised 
 water. Happily in this instance our information was 
 correct. After riding along as hard as we could we 
 saw a small stream with a few bushes on either side. 
 Arriving at the brink we jumped off our horses, and 
 while the sagacious animals waded into the water we 
 laid ourselves flat on our stomachs, drinking and 
 
 76 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 drinking. The water was somewhat warm, it is 
 true, but it was clear, and, above all, it was water. 
 It was so good 1 can taste it yet. 
 
 In the meantime the balance of our outfit had also 
 come up, and it was not long until all of us were 
 refreshed at this welcome stream. 
 
 At this point Cedar Creek divided North Dakota 
 from the Indian Reservation, and as we decided to 
 camp in the latter territory, the whole outfit crossed 
 to the other side. Then we rested, the cook putting 
 up his tent, erecting his stove and starting to get us 
 something to eat. 
 
 Here we experienced the greatest heat during the 
 entire trip. The thermometer was one hundred and 
 four degrees in the shade. The irons on our stir- 
 rups were so hot that to touch them would almost 
 burn one's hands. There was a hot wave sweeping 
 across the prairie like the heat of a blast furnace, 
 and the dust was filled with alkali, so that our faces 
 were burned as if by fire. In vain we made every 
 possible effort to get relief from the hot rays of the 
 sun. Some sat on the ground and put their heads 
 into the shadow of the ponies. Others tried to find 
 shelter beneath some small bushes which grew near 
 by. As many as could find room crawled underneath 
 
 76 
 
OivD Faithful" in the Yei*w>wstonb, 
 
Prairik, Prairie, Prairib. 
 
 the wagon. But it was all to very little purpose. 
 Suddenly an awful stillness seemed to overcome the 
 whole camp which affected me very strangely. 
 There was no noise or sound of any kind, no ani- 
 mal to be seen or heard. I became alarmed at this 
 sensation, and in spite of my sufferings with the 
 heat I arose from the ground. To break the terrible 
 monotony with the patter of the horse's hoofs, the 
 champing of the bit and the creaking of the saddle, I 
 mounted, but I now felt the heat worse than ever, 
 and before Fong I was forced to get off the horse 
 again. 
 
 What was my amazement, however, when at 
 about three o'clock, two hours after we had arrived 
 here, I observed that the rope corral was being put 
 up, a sure sign that we were breaking camp. 
 
 77 
 
XII. 
 JOHN GRCXJAN'S HOSPITALITY* 
 
 I WAS practically worn out, and when I saw these 
 preparations which meant that we were going 
 on to the next camp, a distance of twenty 
 miles, 1 began to shudder at the prospect, and I 
 wondered how I might escape it. Then I bethought 
 me of the old mud shack, which we had left not long 
 ago, and I determined to go back there and stay 
 until I had somewhat recovered from the terrible 
 heat, that seemed to have made me unfit for the 
 time to continue the journey. One of our party, 
 "Arbie,** to whom I imparted my intention, agreed 
 to go with me, and promising the rest that we would 
 follow them as soon as possible, we waved our 
 hands and turned back. 
 
 In anticipation of the rest and comfort that was 
 awaiting us at the shack, we hurried on at our 
 utmost speed and soon found ourselves at our desti- 
 nation. After we had put up our horses we sat down 
 under a few boards, which did service as the roof of 
 the piazza or porch, and looking up the trail we ob- 
 
 78 
 
John Grogan. 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 served our outfit disappearing over the brow of the 
 distant hill. The owner of the place was apparently 
 not at home, and so we made ourselves comfortable, 
 awaiting his return. 
 
 This shack looked something like the adobe 
 houses in Mexico. It was one story high, had three 
 rooms and some sort of an attached kitchen. The 
 furniture was not very elegant, and the place on the 
 whole was not very inviting, but just now it was as 
 good as a palace. We were wondering how many 
 people lived in this primitive dwelling on the lonely 
 prairie, at least twenty miles from the nearest habi- 
 tation. We were still discussing this point when a 
 man, apparently about thirty-five years of age, 
 came riding up to the house, and presuming that he 
 was the owner, one of us said: 
 
 " We have come to camp with you." 
 
 ** All right,'* he replied, and after having put 
 away his horses he came back to us. 
 
 ** Make yourselves at home,*' he now said in the 
 most pleasant manner, '* while I go and ' rustle ' up 
 some supper." 
 
 Not wishing to disturb him in this occupation, we 
 got up and walked down to the creek, which was a 
 little ways in front of the house. We had been 
 
Grog AN* s Hospitawty. 
 
 away long enough to take a bath, but when we came 
 back the savory smell of the cooking told us that our 
 host had been busy during our absence. Just as 
 we reached the door he met us and told us that 
 supper was waiting. 
 
 To our astonishment we found two more guests 
 inside, an old gentleman and his wife, who were 
 traveling from Grand River to Bismarck, their 
 home. I wondered at the hardihood and energy 
 of this old couple to undertake a journey like that. 
 
 Our repast was a very pleasant one. The vic- 
 tuals of our host were, of course, of ordinary fare, 
 but they tasted exceedingly well. We seemed to be 
 all good talkers and the conversation never flagged. 
 The old gentleman and his wife, we learned, came 
 originally from Crawford County, Pennsylvania, 
 and when we told them that our homes were in 
 Pittsburg we soon began exchanging reminiscences 
 of our grand state. 
 
 After supper my companion and 1 felt so much 
 better, and the evening was so pleasant, that we 
 concluded we would continue our journey imme- 
 diately and catch up to our outfit before they had 
 gone to bed in their camp. When We apprised our 
 host of this determination, he made not the least ob- 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 jection. He brought our horses around, and we also 
 observed that he had one for himself. 
 
 *' You don't mean to say you are going with us?'* 
 we asked in astonishment. 
 
 *'Sure/' he replied. ''It is twenty miles to the 
 camp, and you would never find it by yourselves.'* 
 
 Of course we did not feel inclined to get lost on 
 the prairie, and although we were sorry that we had 
 said we were going to leave him, we cheerfully ac- 
 cepted his proposition. 
 
 In a few more moments we were off. 
 
 Our former host and now our guide proved to be 
 a remarkable talker while in the saddle. From the 
 time we left his shack until he said good-bye to us 
 he was talking without interruption. The distance 
 was, as I said before, twenty miles. We rode hard 
 and it only took us about two hours. During that 
 time he told us the history of his whole life, gave us 
 his family connections, what sort of people they 
 were, and a thousand and other things he spoke 
 about that I can not remember. He never waited 
 for us to answer him; in fact, I do not think that he 
 expected us to do so, and hence the only words 
 either of us said all the way were ** Yes " and 
 ''No/* 
 
 82 
 
GrOGAN'S HOSPITAI.ITY. 
 
 At last, after we had reached the summit of an- 
 other ridge, we saw a light at a distance down the 
 valley. It was the first light seen since we left 
 the shack. Here our guide suddenly halted, and 
 we did the same. 
 
 ** Do you see that light down there?'* he asked us. 
 
 '*Yes." The habit of talking in monosyllables 
 still stuck to us. 
 
 ** Well, that is your camp. Can you find it?** 
 
 **Yes,** again we said. 
 
 **A11 right, then; good-night,** and wheeling 
 about on his horse he was off, back to his home. 
 
 This incident has often come back to me, and 
 every time I think over it I come to the conclusion 
 that this man's treatment of us on that occasion was 
 the most perfect demonstration of disinterested hos- 
 pitality that ever was bestowed upon a man by one 
 of his fellow-creatures. 
 
 Just consider what he did. 
 
 He invited us into his house without asking our 
 names, where we came from, where we were going 
 to. He gave us something to eat, offered to take 
 care of us as long as we chose to stay, and then 
 when we wanted to leave he saddled our horses, 
 then his own, and rode with us over the prairie for 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 a distance of twenty miles, which meant that he had 
 to return by himself another twenty. And when he 
 guided us practically to the very door of our camp 
 he wheeled around as quickly as he could, as if he 
 feared that we might wish to thank him for what he 
 had done. 
 
 That was John Grogan, the Western ranchman, 
 and I take off my hat in memory of him. 
 
 When we rode into camp everybody had gone to 
 bed, and as I observed the big cloud of mosquitos 
 that was settling over the place I was not surprised. 
 I had some difificulty in finding my bed, because in 
 the night tarps are like cats, they all look alike. We 
 got into the right one, however, after a little search- 
 ing, and it was not much later than eleven o'clock 
 when we went to sleep. 
 
 M 
 
Paint Pots in the Yei*i.owston«. 
 
XIII. 
 THE NOBLE RED MAN 0), 
 
 THE next day's travel was very much like the 
 day before, only the sufferings with the 
 heat did not seem to affect us quite so 
 severely. The formation of the country was some- 
 what different now, it being more hilly than on the 
 prairie. In our march we appeared to be climbing 
 one of these elevations after another until at last we 
 reached the plateau, and here we were on the same 
 apparently interminable plain which we had tra- 
 versed during the last three days. 
 
 In spite of our precautions in supplying ourselves 
 with a large quantity of water when we departed 
 from our camp in the morning, it was not long before 
 the kegs and bottles were all empty, and the agonies 
 of thirst began afresh. Towards noon we were told 
 that we should find some water at a place close 
 by, called " Goose's School House " after an Indian 
 chief. We actually reached the school building 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon, but the water 
 was not to be found. You can imagine how this 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 disappointment affected us. Here we were, in the 
 heart of the prairie, our faces blistered with the 
 heat, our mouths parched with thirst, and no pros- 
 pects in sight for any relief. We sent out a scout- 
 ing party after water, and to our intense satisfaction 
 these men returned after awhile from their search, 
 reporting that a spring had been discovered some 
 distance away in a ''draw." After we had refreshed 
 ourselves we felt much better, and as we were now 
 approaching the surroundings of the Standing Rock 
 Agency, it was determined to continue our march 
 and make our next camp as near to the Agency as 
 possible. 
 
 From the Goose School House our road led again 
 down hill, and this made the walking much easier 
 for the horses. Before long we passed several 
 Indian habitations, a welcome sight to us, because it 
 was a sure indication that the end of our journey 
 was at hand. 
 
 About six o'clock in the evening we entered a 
 long winding valley, where we saw a large number 
 of the visiting Indians, who had evidently thrown up 
 their tepees into a temporary kraal during their stay 
 at the Agency. 
 
The Noble Red Man. 
 
 At seven o'clock we went into camp near the 
 Government Corral, five miles from Fort Yates. 
 We were delighted to find some good water here, 
 because we had traveled thirty miles that day, and 
 all of us were more or less exhausted. But our 
 troubles were not all over yet. There were millions 
 of mosquitos around our camp, and although we 
 should have been glad of getting some sleep after we 
 had our supper, these insects were so bad that even 
 our '' tarps *' did not afford us the usual protection. 
 
 During the night a regular hurricane of a wind- 
 storm came up, and although it blew down the 
 cook's tent, we did not mind that, because the 
 wind also drove away the mosquitos. 
 
 Soon after sunrise the following morning our 
 camp was awake. Not much time was spent over 
 breakfast, because most of us were anxious to see 
 the goings on among the Indians. We learned that 
 the government officials were going to distribute one 
 hundred head of cattle among the red men. These 
 cattle were penned up in the corral near our camp, 
 and true enough shortly after the Indian commis- 
 sion was seen to approach the corral. In a few 
 minutes the cattle were brought forth and led to the 
 slaughter-house. Curious to see all the proceedings, 
 
When I Wknt West. 
 
 most of the members in our outfit followed. At the 
 slaughter-house a wonderful sight presented itself. 
 We saw several hundred Indians of both sexes and 
 all ages, as well as dogs and ponies. Their cos- 
 tumes were very conglomerate. Some of the men 
 had crowns of feathers on their heads, and others 
 were dressed in the garments of modern civilization. 
 
 The cattle were driven into the slaughter-house 
 and then killed by Indian police. After this the 
 beef was cut in small strips and distributed among 
 the Indians. I noticed that the squaws had to do 
 the work of carrying the rations to the tepees, while 
 the bucks stood around talking and smoking. 
 
 We spent the whole day among them, taking pho- 
 tographs and purchasing some of their trinkets, of 
 which they seemed to have an inexhaustive supply. 
 
 We also paid a visit to the grave of Sitting Bull, 
 the great chief of the Sioux. 
 
 The garrison at Fort Yates consisted of one troop 
 of cavalry, and while we were there we got some- 
 what acquainted with some of the soldier boys. 
 
 Our party stayed around the fort for several 
 days, seeing whatever there was interesting in the 
 neighborhood, and enjoying ourselves in many other 
 ways. 
 
Thb Noble Red Man. 
 
 At last the question of going home again came up, 
 and as some of us had still a very vivid recollection 
 of the trials and hardships they had to go through 
 on the prairie, they did not display much enthusiasm 
 for a return trip the same way. Pour or five of the 
 other boys and myself concluded to go back by rail, 
 while the rest of our outfit took the Cannon Ball 
 Trail through the prairie, which for the greater part 
 followed the Cannon Ball River. 
 
 The return journey of the party which I joined 
 had to travel by stage to Bismarck, a distance of 
 seventy-five miles, and an exceedingly long trip it 
 seemed to be. When we arrived at Bismarck in the 
 evening it was with a great deal of rejoicing. We 
 stopped at the Great Northern Hotel. It seemed a 
 funny experience to sit down for dinner in the hotel 
 dining room after we had ** grubbed" for a whole 
 week on the prairie, and the prospect of sleeping 
 once more in a proper bed was so alluring that we 
 sought rest very early. 
 
 The next day at eleven o'clock A. M. we departed 
 for Medora on the train, and we reached there at 
 four o'clock in the afternoon. In about two more 
 hours we were back at Custer Trail Ranch, where 
 we were welcomed by all with the characteristic 
 
Whkn I Wknt West. 
 
 hospitality that was so customary among those 
 Western people. 
 
 The party having taken the Cannon Ball route 
 came in several days later than we did, but none 
 the worse for the trip. Indeed, not one of the entire 
 outfit felt any bad effects from our *' jaunt *' to Fort 
 Yates, and we all agreed that the experiences we 
 had were well worth the hardships we suffered. 
 
Ed. StJLiXY. 
 
XIV. 
 INTO YELLOWSTONE PARK. 
 
 NO SOONER had we settled down again among 
 the familiar scenes of the ranch when the 
 roving spirit once more overcame us, and 
 this time we decided to go into Yellowstone 
 Park. 
 
 Mr. Howard Eaton promised to act as our guide 
 this time, and once it was settled that we were to 
 go, it did not take long to complete the preparations. 
 As the Park Reservation does not begin until beyond 
 Gardner, which is upwards of six hundred miles 
 west of Medora, it was decided to go that far by rail. 
 So we sent our horses ahead of us in charge of Bill 
 Jones, our old cook, with injunctions to this worthy 
 that he was to await our coming at Cinnabar Sta- 
 tion. In the meantime we had telegraphed to Ed- 
 ward Staley, a well-known mountain guide from 
 Henry's Lake, Idaho, to make all necessary arrange- 
 ments for the mess-wagon and a cook. 
 
 Our party left Custer Trail Ranch early in August 
 and took the train at Medora a day after we had 
 sent Jones ahead with the horses. 
 
 92 
 
■M^lfa 
 
 Grand Canon of the Yei,i,owstonk. 
 
Yei.i*owstone Park. 
 
 When we arrived at Cinnabar we found every- 
 thing awaiting us and all in ship-shape order. This 
 was very satisfactory and put us in a good 
 humor at the very start. There was Ed. Staley, 
 Jim Lee, the cook, as well as the mess-wagon, and 
 at last our old retainer Bill Jones. I asked the 
 latter how he had been getting along while waiting 
 for us, and he replied in his own inimitable way: 
 
 *' Fine, sir; I was drunk twice and had one fight.** 
 
 A camping trip through the Yellowstone is a 
 pleasure jaunt from beginning to end. In this re- 
 spect it differs considerably from a journey across 
 the prairie. As is well known, the park reservation 
 is under government supervision, and for the most 
 part the going is very good. These trips have 
 become very fashionable of late years, and during 
 the season we were there we constantly met parties 
 the same as ourselves, going from place to place, 
 seeing the sights and camping out in the open air. 
 At most of the attractive sights in the park large 
 tents are erected, where the visitors are enabled to 
 buy something to eat, and as for drinking water, we 
 never had any lack of that during this trip. 
 
 We left Cinnabar in the afternoon. Everybody 
 was in the best of spirits and looking forward with 
 
Whkn I Wknt West. 
 
 the most pleasurable anticipation to the sight of the 
 many marvels and wonders which nature has so 
 lavishly spread out in this region. We rode along 
 without any particular order, except that Mr. Eaton 
 took the lead, the wagon following him, and the rest 
 of us bringing up the rear any way we pleased. 
 
 By a peculiar coincidence we experienced another 
 rainstorm not long after we started. This happened 
 at Gardner, four miles beyond Cinnabar and just at 
 the edge of the Park Reservation. This compelled 
 us to stop here, but as the severity of the storm 
 abated within an hour we continued our journey and 
 went into camp for the night on Gardner river. As 
 a result of the recent storm the river was running up 
 to its banks, and the ground was soaking wet. 
 This dampness, however, did not interfere with us, 
 and we immediately began making preparations for 
 the night. Soon our Chinese cook had a good sup- 
 per ready for us, and 1 observed by the energetic 
 manner in which all of us enjoyed our supper that 
 the rain had not impaired our capacity to eat. 
 
 In laying out our ''tarps'* it was amusing how 
 everybody was hunting for a dry spot to sleep, but 
 as it was pretty wet all over, no one succeeded in 
 getting any the best of his neighbor. 
 
 94 
 
Yellowstone Park. 
 
 The night was beautiful. Millions and millions of 
 stars studded the sky like myriads of twinkling 
 diamonds. We slept well, and the whole camp was 
 ready for breakfast the next morning as soon as the 
 word was given. 
 
 We broke camp at seven o'clock and continued 
 our trip along Gardner river, with high mountains 
 on either side of us. On our left, near the beautiful 
 stream, we passed a very high rock, cone-shaped, 
 and called Eagle's Rock, on the top of which a 
 family of eagles had made their home. When we 
 rode by we noticed a young eaglet peeping over the 
 side and looking down upon us with evident aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 Not long after we came to the dividing line of 
 Montana and Wyoming, and at an altitude of five 
 thousand six hundred feet we saw the sign post 
 which marked the border of these two states. 
 
XV. 
 
 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS AND THE 
 GOLDEN GATE* 
 
 IT WAS a magnificent morning, the air was dry 
 and the weather delightful, and the scenery 
 surrounding us was one kaleidoscopic picture of 
 charm and beauty. Traveling under such conditions 
 as I was then was indeed a rare pleasure, and I 
 enjoyed it to the fullest extent. 
 
 Presently we arrived at Fort Yellowstone. 
 
 This fort is the military headquarters of the park, 
 and a troop of cavalry is stationed there. It is one 
 of the inflexible rules of the park regulations which 
 requires all visitors to register their names at head- 
 quarters. If you carry firearms you are requested 
 to surrender them, or else the officer in charge seals 
 them, and as there are a number of military posts 
 distributed throughout the park', it is necessary that 
 you report at each one of these posts to show that 
 the seal is still intact. 
 
 Fort Yellowstone is located near the Mammoth 
 Hot Springs, and the famous hotel by that name is 
 not far off. We stayed in this neighborhood for 
 some time. We saw the old extinct geyser, called 
 
 »6 
 
Mammoth Hot Springs. 
 
 Liberty Cap, and then wandered through the hotel, 
 making some purchases at the store. 
 
 The Hot Spring of course was a very interesting 
 sight to us. The water came rushing out hot and 
 steaming, smelling very strongly of sulphur. It 
 is not at all palatable, and almost too hot for 
 bathing purposes, but it struck me as remarkable 
 that the government has not established a bath- 
 house here, because it would undoubtedly form a 
 great attraction for almost every tourist. 
 
 Leaving this delightful region of the Mammoth 
 Hot Springs we passed Mount Evarts and Bunson 
 Peak, which are 8,600 feet high, and the fact that 
 they were all covered with snow looked very sin- 
 gular to us in the middle of August. We now fol- 
 lowed a winding road for several miles and then we 
 found ourselves just within sight of the '* Golden 
 Gate." 
 
 The Golden Gate is a mountain gap composed 
 of a formation of rock, which is of a pinkish color, 
 and winding in and out among the crags and crevices 
 are various mosses, vines, ferns and cypresses. 
 The whole covers the pink of the rocks in such 
 a manner that looking at it from a distance actually 
 makes it appear like a golden gate. The gap is 
 
 91 
 
Whkn I Went West. 
 
 so narrow and steep that the government has 
 built a causeway through it for the accommodation 
 of the tourists. On one side the rock rises up per- 
 pendicularly to a height of fifty feet, while its dimen- 
 sions at the base are probably twenty feet square. 
 
 Going through the gate we found ourselves in an 
 immense open country, rolling like a great meadow 
 land. By this time evening was drawing near, and 
 when we arrived at the '* Dairy *' we decided to 
 camp there for the night. 
 
 From our camping place standing out against the 
 sky we observed the snow-covered summit of 
 Electric Peak, 12,000 feet high. It was probably a 
 distance of twenty-five miles to this peak, but the 
 atmosphere was so clear that to us it seemed like a 
 short walk only. 
 
 At the Dairy we found a trout stream, and as we 
 had several disciples of Izaak Walton among our 
 party, they immediately proposed to go a-fishing. 
 Rod, line and bait were soon produced, but whether 
 it was that the trout would not bite or our fishermen 
 were not experts, at all events they did not catch 
 many fish. However, to do them justice, I must say 
 that we all got a taste for supper. 
 
 Thus the first day of our trip in the Yellowstone 
 
The G01.DBN Gate. 
 
 terminated, and I have never experienced a more 
 delightful time than I did then. Our entire tour 
 was replete with marvelous sights and interesting 
 experiences of all descriptions. 
 
 We were awake the next morning before sunrise, 
 and we had our breakfast almost immediately, 
 so eager were we to be off again. It did not take 
 us long to catch up our horses. The air was cool 
 and bracing and it seemed to fill one with an anxiety 
 to be up and about. In the meantime the sun had 
 come out, and as we now looked once more at the 
 snow-capped Electric Peak we thought it the most 
 wonderful sight we had ever beheld. 
 
 During the morning we continued our route 
 through the rolling country which we had entered at 
 the Golden Gate. We passed Swan Lake, Beaver 
 Lake and Twin Lakes. Then we came to the mar- 
 velous ** Obsidian Cliff,*' a cliff of natural glass, 
 which stands up perpendicularly before you, shining 
 and sparkling in the sunlight like a crystal structure. 
 
 At the natural spring of Apollonaris water we 
 stopped for a considerable time, and all of us took 
 several draughts of this wonderful liquid. It was 
 now nearly noon, and we continued our way until 
 we arrived at the Norris Geyser Basin, where we 
 took lunch. 
 
XVI. 
 THE CHEERFUL ''LARRY.'' 
 
 WHEN we came near the Norris Geyser Basin, 
 and some of us noticed the large tent, as 
 well as innumerable tables standing be- 
 neath it awaiting the coming guests, it was suggested 
 that for the nonce we desert the culinary productions 
 of our Chinese cook. 
 
 Most of the party had already heard of the fame 
 of ''Larry,'* one of the attaches of the Norris Gey- 
 ser Basin Lunch Counter, who, by his volubility of 
 praise upon the viands and delicacies which are pro- 
 vided here at so much per head, has gained quite a 
 reputation among the tourists who frequent the Yel- 
 lowstone Park. None of us, however, had ever 
 been present at one of his performances, and we 
 promised ourselves some amusement. In this we 
 were not disappointed. 
 
 We were just comfortably sitting down, anxiously 
 looking forward to the lunch which we had already 
 ordered, when another party of guests arrived. 
 While they were dismounting and others alighting 
 
 100 
 

 "Our Outfit" in thk Yei^lowstone. 
 
Chherfui. Larry. 
 
 from the stages that had brought them, we were 
 suddenly startled by the following: 
 
 '*Here comes a fine looking lady and gentleman. 
 Bring them a fine bowl of soup, with plenty of roast 
 beef and potatoes and lots of bread and butter.*' 
 
 The man's loud, shrill voice, his way of speaking, 
 his gestures that accompanied all he said, and then 
 the drollness of his manner, were enough to throw 
 even the densest misanthrope into merriment. We 
 laughed till our tears flowed, while Larry continued: 
 
 ** This is the place where you must work your 
 jaws as well as your tongues!" But our laughter 
 must have attracted his notice, for he now turned 
 around towards our table and shouted: 
 
 '* Sure, now, you are getting all you want. Don't 
 be in a hurry. Bring on some pie; we have apple, 
 peach, mince and custard. Don't go away hungry. 
 We have more in the kitchen." 
 
 In this way he kept on during the entire time we 
 were there, greeting the newcomers and encouraging 
 those who were already the guests of the restaurant. 
 Our party enjoyed Larry's performance very much, 
 and as the meal he had supplied us was also of an 
 excellent quality, we got up in a very good humor. 
 
 When we were leaving, Larry came after us and 
 
 101 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 shook hands with every one in the party, wishing 
 us all a pleasant journey. 
 
 The Norris Geyser Basin, we found, was located 
 immediately behind the tent where we had our 
 lunch. It seemed to me that what is now called a 
 basin was at one time an immense meadow, probably 
 a mile or two in length. To-day it is alive with 
 hundreds of spouting geysers, some of them shoot- 
 ing voluminous streams of water to a height of fifty 
 feet. While you looked across into that wilderness 
 of geysers you would always find from ten to twenty 
 in operation. The bottom of the basin is covered 
 with a white crystaline formation, which glistens in 
 the rays of the sun like diamonds. We lingered 
 here for quite a while enjoying the wondrous spec- 
 tacle, and then we walked over to the right on the 
 side of the road to gaze upon *'01d Growler,'* which 
 constantly spouts up clouds of steam accompanied 
 by a roar not unlike the noise that is made by a 
 boiler when one of its plates is broken. 
 
 In the meantime our party got ready for the con- 
 tinuation of our trip, which presented to us new and 
 wonderful sights at every step we took. Our route 
 lay through Elk Park and towards evening we 
 reached Gibbon river. 
 
 102 
 
ChBKRFUL lyARRY. 
 
 Here we decided to camp for the night, and this 
 was very welcome news to our fishermen, who 
 immediately got out their rod and tackle. Most of 
 them had good luck, for they secured quite a nice 
 mess of fish. 
 
 To amuse ourselves a few of us had gone on a 
 tour of exploration before supper, when, to every- 
 body's delight, we discovered an old shed which had 
 been erected over a hot spring. The interior, we 
 observed, had been crudely arranged as a bath- 
 house. Such an invitation for a hot bath was an 
 opportunity we did not want to let escape, and for 
 the first time in our lives we took a bath in a natural 
 spring of hot water. 
 
 One of the most interesting sights of that whole 
 day was, however, yet in store for us. This was 
 the sunset. The sun seemed to be resting upon the 
 horizon like an immense ball of fire, from which 
 appeared to be emanating great shafts of light of 
 various colors and shades. We all stood and looked 
 spellbound with wonderment and admiration. I 
 thought then, and I think so yet, that while I have 
 seen many wonders made by the hand of man's in- 
 genuity, the achievements of the Creator are incom- 
 parably superior and more wonderful. 
 
XVII. 
 THE PAINT POTS* 
 
 OUR departure was considerably delayed the 
 following morning by the falling of a heavy 
 rain. Indeed, the rain made it impossible 
 for us to have our breakfast '*al fresco," as had 
 been the custom with us. Instead we had to crawl 
 into the cook*s tent, where, on account of the 
 crowded condition, we had breakfast under some 
 difficulties; but the latter were amply compensated 
 for by the amusing pranks and larks the boys were 
 able to indulge in. 
 
 About nine o'clock the rain ceased. Then our 
 belongings were packed with the utmost expedition, 
 and by ten o'clock, after our horses had been caught 
 up, we were in marching order. Our route lay 
 through the Gibbon river valley, and soon we passed 
 the Gibbon Falls, which are two hundred feet high. 
 At this point we found the road along the river very 
 narrow and we had to go in single file in passing 
 tourists coming from the opposite direction. Later 
 on we reached the spring of natural soda water. Of 
 course we all had a taste of this beverage, and some 
 of us remarked, if we had the necessary acquisitions 
 to brew a ''Don't Care," a ''Vanilla," or some 
 
 104 
 
Paint Pots. 
 
 other favorite drug-store concoction, we might im- 
 agine ourselves at home. 
 
 Our destination for that day was to be the vicinity 
 of the Fountain Hotel, and our way led us presently 
 to the Fire Hole river, where we arrived at noon. 
 We rested here for a short time in the reflections of 
 this beautiful stream, which is clear as crystal and 
 cold as ice. It was a charmingly picturesque spot. 
 On each side of us the high mountains of that 
 peculiar pink color which prevail throughout the 
 park rose up like giant walls, covered with a wealth 
 of flowers, ferns and mosses, that made the scene 
 wildly enchanting. 
 
 In maintaining our direction towards the Fountain 
 Hotel we continued along the Fire Hole river until 
 five o'clock in the afternoon, when we entered the 
 Lower Geyser Basin, some two miles from the hotel 
 and within sight of the soldier post. At the latter 
 we all registered. We had been induced to make 
 our camp here on account of the attractive surround- 
 ings, which consisted of a large, magnificent meadow, 
 on which was spread out, as far as the eye could 
 reach, a richly colored floral carpet. Here we laid 
 out our ** tarps," and although we did not sleep that 
 night on the proverbial ** bed of roses," we certainly 
 
 106 
 
When I Wknt West. 
 
 rested on a bed of flowers, which was in so far an 
 advantage that there were no thorns in it. 
 
 Near the soldiers' camp was a natural hot water 
 spring, and Uncle Sam's boys, with an eye to 
 *' creature comforts," had erected a bath-house ad- 
 jacent to this spring, where we again had an oppor- 
 tunity to enjoy the luxury of a bath. The water of 
 this spring was so hot, however, that we had to add 
 some cold before we were able to get into it. 
 
 We were so much in love with the location of our 
 camp, and in view of the fact that in the neighbor- 
 hood were so many wonderful sights worth visiting, 
 we decided to remain here for several days, mak- 
 ing short excursions into the surrounding district. 
 
 The next morning when we woke up we were 
 greeted by a wonderfully clear sky, and all indica- 
 tions promised a very pleasant day. We started at 
 about ten o'clock for a ramble on horseback, leaving 
 the camp in charge of the cook. 
 
 Nearly all of this day we spent examining and 
 gazing at the many wonderful geysers with spouting 
 springs which were to be found here in all directions. 
 
 But one of the most Interesting spectacles we saw 
 was that peculiar, natural phenomenon called the 
 Paint Pots. They covered a space of possibly one 
 
 106 
 
Paint Pots. 
 
 hundred and fifty square feet. These paint pots are 
 formed of a mass very much like what we know as 
 potter's clay, but it has a tinge of pink through it. 
 In some places the clay is hot and steaming, throw- 
 ing up large bubbles like soap bubbles, which, how- 
 ever, are of the consistency of white paint. These 
 bubbles burst with a loud **pop." The whole sur- 
 face of the paint pot area shakes and quivers, as if 
 the entire mass were composed of gelatine. A very 
 strong odor of sulphur pervades the surrounding at- 
 mosphere, and the amount of heat which is also 
 thrown out by these paint pots makes it quite warm 
 around here. 
 
 Towards evening we went to the Fountain Hotel 
 for supper, and afterwards we had an opportunity of 
 seeing the Yellowstone Park bears, of whom every- 
 one has heard, coming back to the hotel for their 
 supper. In the meantime the sun had set, for which 
 we were very sorry, because we would very much 
 have liked to take some snapshots of these bears 
 with our cameras. 
 
 This had been a busy day for us, and although we 
 had not been away from the camp for any consider- 
 able distance, we had nevertheless covered a great 
 deal of territory and we had seen some wonderful 
 sights. 
 
 1«7 
 
XVIII. 
 ^'OLD FAITHFUL.** 
 
 WHEN we awoke the next morning we found 
 frost all about our camp, but by nine o'clock 
 it had disappeared, and we had every, prom- 
 ise for another glorious day. 
 
 Our program for that day was an expedition into 
 the *' Upper Geyser Basin,*' where we hoped to go 
 into camp that night. Thus we were not going to 
 cover a greater distance than five miles, but we 
 knew there would be enough to interest us along the 
 road to make the time pass quickly. The traveling 
 was not very good here, either, on account of the 
 dusty condition of the road, as well as the hot Aug- 
 ust sun. 
 
 All along our route we passed one geyser after 
 another, some of more importance than others. 
 There was the *'Castle'' and the *'Giant," neither 
 of which we found in operation. 
 
 But when we got to *'01d Faithfur* we were just 
 in time to see it spout. This geyser, as is well 
 known, goes into operation every hour, and it is in 
 this respect as reliable as a Waterbury watch. Old 
 Faithful is one of the grandest sights in the whole 
 of Yellowstone Park, and it is safe to say that no 
 
 108 
 
Camp in the Yei.i,owstone. 
 
Oi.D Faithful. 
 
 tourist ever went through the reservation without 
 paying a visit to this famous geyser. 
 
 This geyser, perhaps the most celebrated of them 
 all, has a crater, which is formed like an immense 
 chimney, some twenty feet high, and having a diam- 
 eter of probably fifteen feet. When it is not in 
 operation one may go close enough to look into this 
 crater, and there you can see the hot water boiling 
 and swirling at the bottom. 
 
 The operation of Old Faithful is at its height every 
 hour, when the boiling, seething mass of water is 
 forced up into the air for a distance of one hundred 
 feet. This lasts perhaps for several minutes, and 
 then it begins slowly to recede. Gradually the 
 column of water becomes smaller until it eventually 
 disappears altogether within the brink of the crater. 
 But lower and lower it sinks even then, and when 
 it reaches the very bottom its operation seems to 
 have ceased. This might be called its suspended 
 agitation, which goes on for the duration of a very 
 few minutes, after which it begins slowly to rise 
 again until its operation once more culminates in the 
 column of water one hundred feet high. So it goes 
 all the time, day and night, as promptly and regu- 
 larly as if its operation were controlled by some 
 invisible force or some marvelously mysterious 
 
 109 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 machinery. Our entire party stood and wondered at 
 the peculiar spectacle, and so fascinating was it that 
 some of us had difficulty to tear themselves away. 
 
 We had lunch at the neighboring counter of the 
 restaurant, and then continued our observation of 
 the countless wonders which lavish nature seems to 
 have thrown about here in a truly prodigal fashion. 
 
 The whole valley appears to be dotted with a net- 
 work of geysers and springs of all sizes, and the 
 whole basin is covered with a formation somewhat 
 similar to salt, the residuum from the spouting 
 craters. Hundreds of tourists are to be seen here 
 during the season all day long, and judging by the 
 multitude around you, it is not difficult to imagine 
 one's self at a circus or a country fair. 
 
 The following morning our camp was again covered 
 with frost, which, however, soon disappeared before 
 the rays of the rising sun, and then we went forth 
 once more among the regions of the ** Upper Geyser 
 Basin.*' 
 
 During this day we visited the *'Lone Star Gey- 
 ser," ''Keplar Falls" and the '^Black Sand Basin," 
 greatly enjoying all the wonderful sights that were 
 to be seen, but as they do not differ from what 
 I have already described, I shall not weary you with 
 any repetition. 
 
 110 
 
XIX. 
 AT YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 
 
 THE next morning we broke camp very early, 
 knowing that we had a long distance ahead 
 of us before we should take another rest. 
 
 On our route we passed several of the geysers we 
 had seen the day before, and we also had another 
 glimpse of Old Faithful, which was spouting at its 
 very height, and some of us remarked that the 
 geyser was putting on these particular airs as a 
 token of farewell by which we might always re- 
 member it. 
 
 We now traveled along Spring Creek, and we 
 came into one of the most beautiful canons I have 
 ever seen, the ground as well as the mountainous 
 walls being bedecked with a great profusion of wild 
 flowers, mosses and ferns. The water of the creek 
 was cool and clear, and tumbled and slashed along 
 between its banks in the most riotous fashion. 
 
 Soon our journey led us through a long, winding, 
 narrow road, and all the time we were going up hill 
 until about noon, when we reached the * 'Continental 
 Divide," which is marked by a sign post, one side 
 pointing to the Atlantic and the other to the Pacific 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 Ocean. At one side of the post is a small pond, the 
 surface of which is covered with water lilies and 
 other water plants; and so nicely balanced is this 
 small body of water that a fairly strong breeze 
 either from the West or the East will cause it to flow 
 in whichever direction the wind blows. The Con- 
 tinental Divide is located at an altitude of 8,240 feet, 
 and some of us, especially your humble servant, 
 were affected by the lightness of the atmosphere. 
 
 Continuing on our way we rode down hill, and 
 the air was so clear that at a turning in the road we 
 were able to look over an immense range of country; 
 indeed, some of us pointed out the *'The Tetons,'* a 
 range of the Rocky Mountains, about seventy-five 
 miles in the distance and rising to a height of 12,000 
 feet. The panorama which spread out before us 
 at this point was very impressive. Besides The 
 Tetons, covered with ice and snow and glistening in 
 the sun like sparkling diamonds, we also caught a 
 glimpse of the **Shoshone Lakes,*' which are situ- 
 ated in the Yellowstone Park, but they are not 
 accessible. 
 
 Yellowstone Lake was reached at about five 
 o'clock in the evening, and as the place here looked 
 rather inviting, we decided to go into camp for the 
 
 112 
 
Ykli^owstonb Lakk. 
 
 night. Not very far from where we stopped we dis- 
 covered two springs that formed an interesting 
 phenomenon. One of the springs threw out water 
 just warm enough to make it convenient for us 
 to do our dish washing, while the water in the 
 other spring was so hot that eggs could be boiled 
 in it within ten minutes. This, with the beautiful, 
 clear, soft water of the lake, made a peculiar com- 
 bination. 
 
 Yellowstone Lake is about fifteen miles long and 
 is surrounded by a mountainous country. 
 
 Looking across from our camp we saw Mt. Sheri- 
 dan, which is said to be an extinct volcano. 
 
 We left this camp the next morning to journey 
 around the lake, when we discovered that three of 
 our horses had strayed away, so we had to dispatch 
 a detail of men on the hunt for them. 
 
 Our road along the lake took us through dense 
 woods, in which we saw several deer and elk, 
 while on the lake we observed innumerable ducks, 
 swans and geese. In the evening we arrived near 
 the Lake Hotel, and here we determined to stop for 
 several days, because we promised ourselves much 
 fun and entertainment with fishing and excursions 
 into the neighborhood of the lake region. 
 
 118 
 
XX. 
 
 A REAL HERO* 
 
 IN LOOKING back over our trip through the 
 Yellowstone, where we saw so many wonder- 
 ful sights and where I had so many pleasant 
 experiences, the memories that seem to linger with 
 me longer than all others are those of the hours we 
 spent of an evening around the camp fire. In very 
 truth let me assure you, my dear friends, there is 
 nothing more delightful to me than living in a camp 
 with a party of jovial and congenial companions; 
 and if any one of you should ever contemplate a 
 trip through the Western countries, join some outfit 
 like ours and make the journey that way. True 
 enough, you will have to undergo some hardships, 
 suffer inconveniences, but the advantages of that 
 mode of traveling are so manifold there really is no 
 comparison. 
 
 Danger? Why, there is none worth speaking of. 
 The Indian is docile, and the wild element, which at 
 one time terrorized the traveler through the West, 
 scarcely exists any longer. 
 
 Well, as I was saying, the evening around the 
 camp fire was a pleasure we all looked forward to 
 day by day, and it was a great disappointment to us 
 when it rained and we had to crawl beneath our 
 
 114 
 

 Skrgbant N0R14N. 
 
WhBN I WSNT W«ST. 
 
 **tarps'* without indulging in a review of our day's 
 experiences and listen to the stories which were 
 usually contributed by some to the amusement of 
 the others. 
 
 One of the most delightful evenings around the 
 camp fire we had on that night at Yellowstone Lake. 
 On this occasion we had some visitors from among 
 the soldiers who were stationed at the post nearby. 
 We had also some musical instruments amongst us, 
 and the evening passed away very pleasantly with 
 smoking, singing, talking over the events of the day 
 and listening to the musical entertainment provided 
 for us. 
 
 Among these soldiers was Sergeant Edward Norlin, 
 who was in charge of the post. This man Norlin 
 impressed me very much, because he looked to me 
 the real soldier; one who said very little, but who 
 had it written upon his very face that when it came 
 to action he would be right at home. 
 
 How true this first impression was which I had 
 formed of Ed. Norlin I had occasion to find out the 
 next day. 
 
 I happened to be a visitor at the post, when 1 
 noticed a photograph hanging upon the wall, repre- 
 senting a number of soldiers, and underiieath I read 
 this inscription: **The Carlin Relief Expedition.'* 
 
 116 
 
Ed. Staley's Ranch, Hknry's Lake, Idaho. 
 
Real Hero. 
 
 Turning towards one of the soldiers standing beside 
 me, I asked him what the photograph meant. Said 
 he: **I don't know much about it, but Ed." — mean- 
 ing Sergeant Norlin — 'Vas one of the party; ask 
 him.'' 
 
 For some reason the picture had interested me, 
 and I hunted up the sergeant to give me its history. 
 But Norlin merely shrugged his shoulders and re- 
 plied: ''Oh, that was nothing.*' 
 
 This very hesitation on his part, however made 
 me more curious than ever, and by dint of a little 
 persuasion he said at last: ''Well, it was this way.*' 
 And then he told me the following story, which 1 
 shall try to narrate in his own simple manner: 
 
 "About four or five years ago when I was sta- 
 tioned up North, a hunting party under the leader- 
 ship of a man named Carlin passed our post. This 
 party was bound for the Bitter Root Region at the 
 extreme headwaters of the Clearwater river in 
 Idaho. It was already late in the season when they 
 came, and they had not left us many weeks when 
 winter set in with all the fury of such a winter as 
 can be experienced only in that part of this country. 
 
 "Of course, we men at the post soon began to 
 talk about the long stay they were making, and 
 after awhile we hoped and looked for them every 
 
 U7 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 day to return. But we hoped in vain, and then we 
 knew that unless they were rescued pretty quickly 
 every one of these men — and there were six of 
 them — must perish. 
 
 ''Still no sign of them, and then it was that our 
 lieutenant suggested that some one ought to go to 
 their relief. But who should go? It was as much 
 as anybody's life was worth to brave the elements 
 of that region in the middle of winter; in fact, there 
 was not one who did not know that it almost meant 
 certain death. 
 
 ** However, when the lieutenant asked for volun- 
 teers, seven of us jumped to our feet, and we all 
 said that we were ready to follow him wherever he 
 would ask us to go. 
 
 '* 'Now mind me,' said the lieutenant, 'whoever 
 goes on this journey must be ready and willing to do 
 everything I ask him without asking any questions 
 and without any murmur. Upon absolute discipline 
 alone will depend our success.* 
 
 "Of course we all knew that as well as he could 
 tell us, and so we merely bowed our heads and 
 smiled. Well, the next day we got ready, bundled 
 our 'chuck' together, took our guns, horses and am- 
 munition and then departed. 
 
 "We had calculated that the hunters would come 
 
 U8 
 
Rbai. Hero. 
 
 back by the Clearwater river, and towards that 
 stream we directed our course. We got that far 
 with our horses, although, owing to the lateness of 
 the season, not without much difficulty and trouble. 
 But when we got to the Clearwater we could take 
 our horses no further; in fact, the dangerous part of 
 the trip was only just about to begin. Our com- 
 mander, who realized this, then said to us: 'Now, 
 men, is your time to speak, if anyone wants to go 
 back. You know what is ahead of you.' But none 
 of us faltered, and we all went on. 
 
 **With considerable difficulty, literally groping our 
 path over snow and ice in the bitter cold, we at last 
 reached the edge of the river. But naturally we 
 could not travel along the banks of the stream, be- 
 cause to attempt it was impossible. So we con- 
 structed a raft, upon which we put our effects, and 
 then jumping into the ice cold river, we pulled up 
 stream. Oh, but how cold that water was! Ice 
 and snow all around us and the thermometer always 
 below zero. But we got there. Sometimes in the 
 evening when we rested, after having pulled the 
 raft all day, our clothes would be like one mass of 
 ice, and it took quite a while to dry them even after 
 they were thawed out. Well, 1 do not remember 
 how many days we were going up the river, anyhow 
 
 U9 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 we met the Carlin party coming down. The con- 
 dition they were in I cannot describe. Their clothes, 
 what few they had left, hung around them in rags. 
 They had been feeding on a dog for the last two 
 days; indeed, they were almost at death's door. 
 Their cook they had been obliged to abandon thirty- 
 five miles higher up the river, and his corpse, frozen 
 stiff, was found next spring. It was the happiest 
 moment of my life when we found them, and we 
 came up just in time to save them.*' 
 
 Here Norlin stopped and he did not seem to care 
 going on with his story. So I said: ''Well, and 
 what did you do then, Ed..?*' 
 
 '*Oh, we brought them out,'* and that was all I 
 could get him to say. But I learned afterwards that 
 everyone of these brave volunteers who went on 
 that expedition was on the ''convalescent list*' for 
 months after. The brave lieutenant had to resign 
 from the service, because after those hardships his 
 physical condition incapacitated him forever from the 
 life of a soldier. 
 
 And these men did all that without any thought 
 for compensation or hope for any reward; simply 
 because they believed it was their duty. 
 
 After all, this world cannot be such a bad place 
 when we consider that such men as the members of 
 The Carlin Relief Expedition lived in it. 
 
XXI. 
 
 THE GRAND CANON AND FALLS OF 
 THE YELLOWSTONE. 
 
 THE time we spent around Yellowstone Lake 
 was full of intefesting sightseeing incidents, 
 and we were all sorry when we went away. 
 But there was still so much in store for us in this 
 wonderful region in the way of fresh marvels that it 
 would never have done to spend too long in one 
 place, and hence we had to wish good-bye to Yellow- 
 stone Lake, as well as the genial soldier boys at the 
 **Post,*' who had done so much to make our stay 
 pleasant for us. 
 
 At the lake the weather was quite cold in the 
 mornings and evenings, and when we got up we 
 usually had to brush the frost- off our tarps before 
 we put them away. 
 
 From the Yellowstone Lake we continued our 
 journey along the left bank of the Yellowstone river, 
 which is the outlet of the lake. Its water is very 
 clear, and until it reaches the '*Upper Falls*' it is 
 composed of a regular succession of cascades, falls 
 and riffles, over which the water rushes, rumbles 
 and tumbles with a great noise. Presently we 
 turned away from the course of the river to go 
 
 121 
 
Whkn I WSNT West. 
 
 through **Hayden Valley," and at three o'clock in 
 the afternoon, having reached the Upper Falls, we 
 went into camp some distance above. Here we had 
 a slight fall of snow in the evening. In the month 
 of August this was a remarkable experience, we 
 thought. 
 
 I almost forgot to mention that on our road to the 
 Upper Falls we passed the **Mud Geyser,'* which is 
 a very interesting spectacle. This geyser forms an 
 immense hole in the side of a hill, the diameter at 
 the opening measuring probably sixty feet. It runs 
 back into the hill in an oblique direction and in the 
 shape of a funnel, the bottom having a diameter of 
 not more than twenty-five feet. The entire funnel 
 is constantly filled with steam, which smells very 
 strongly of sulphur. The discharge of the Mud 
 Geyser, as you will have guessed perhaps, is very 
 muddy, dirty water, and it comes out in a large 
 stream, like three or four Pittsburg fire plugs turned 
 into one. While I was wondering at the amount of 
 mud that came out of the side of this hill, I looked 
 around to see how it was carried away, but I failed 
 to discover even a sign of a channel for this purpose. 
 Expressing my surprise at this extraordinary phe- 
 nomenon to one of our guides, he said that it was 
 carried off by a subterranean outlet. 
 
 122 
 
Grand Canon. 
 
 We had now been in the Park about ten days, and 
 we had seen some of the most marvelous sights that 
 have been produced by nature in this world, and 
 when we were told now that what we had seen so 
 far was no comparison with the wonderful sight of 
 to-morrow, we shook our heads somewhat incredu- 
 lously, thinking that our guides were merely exag- 
 gerating as a matter of business. What they told 
 us we would see was the Grand Canon and Falls 
 of the Yellowstone, which is said to be the climax, 
 the **piece de resistance'* of everything that is inter- 
 esting and worth seeing in that whole region. 
 
 This announcement naturally threw us all into 
 some excitement, and in the evening around the 
 camp fire we asked some of them who had already 
 been there to give us some description of the place. 
 But they all declined to do this. 
 
 '*You will have to see the Grand Falls and Canon 
 yourself to appreciate and realize its grandeur and 
 its beauty," they said; and we had to be satisfied. 
 It had been arranged to leave camp at four o'clock 
 in the morning, and of course we were astir long 
 before that time. 
 
 We rode along in a column two abreast, and in 
 the many varieties of our traveling costumes we 
 presented quite a picturesque calvacade. On our 
 
 123 
 
Whbn I Went West. 
 
 way we heard the noise from the waters of the 
 Upper Falls, but we could not see them. So we 
 dismounted and climbed down a narrow path, which 
 ended at a board walk, and this led us on to a very 
 large rock, where we had a very fine view of the 
 falls. Retracing our steps to the road, we remounted 
 and then continued on our journey. Our route 
 wound around and around along the left bank of the 
 river, and in some places it ran quite close to the 
 edge of the precipice, which leads down to the 
 water's bed. There is a narrow path leading down 
 to the brink, but we concluded to take the route 
 passing ''Inspiration Point.'* 
 
 When we arrived there we instinctively halted, 
 and as we looked around a panorama opened up be- 
 fore our eyes that left us literally speechless with 
 admiration. 
 
 ''Inspiration Point," on which we stood, forms a 
 plateau 1,400 feet above the Yellowstone river, and 
 from there the traveler has one of the best views of 
 the canon. You can see up and down the river for 
 miles. 
 
 I should very much like to give you a description 
 of the marvelous view that is here spread out before 
 the observer, but such a feat is far beyond me. It 
 would require the pen of Robert Louis Stevenson or 
 
 124 
 
Princess of the Piutes. 
 
FAIJ.S OF YKI.I.OWSTONB. 
 
 the descriptive genius of Rider Haggard to do justice 
 to the grandeur of the Great Falls Canon. 
 
 I trust, therefore, that you will take the will for 
 the deed if I give you a feint sketch of the matchless 
 scene which was then before me. 
 
 If you were to look upon this panorama spread 
 upon a canvas you would see in the far distance the 
 Great Falls, over which the crystal waters of the 
 Yellowstone rush like a silvery stream down into a 
 a chasm 365 feet deep. And as that stream strikes 
 the bottom the waters rebound in monstrous clouds 
 of mist and spray, reflecting the rays of the morning 
 sun in myriads of rainbows. But soon the waters 
 flow on, and now the river takes the form of a silver 
 thread, which winds itself in graceful curves through 
 the walls of the canon. 
 
 Like most of the stone formation of the Yellow- 
 stone Park, the walls of the canon are composed of 
 a soft, chalky substance, containing a certain amount 
 of iron, which lends to the rocks the color of a mel- 
 low, golden hue. Between these yellow walls you 
 see the flowing river. 
 
 But to relieve this golden glare with a tint of 
 green the sides of the canon present a thick growth 
 of cypress trees, while over and around the tops of 
 many pillars and pinnacles, which seem to have 
 
 126 
 
When I Went We;st. 
 
 grown out of the mother rock, you see scores of 
 eagles gracefully flying about. 
 
 Towards the top of the cannon its walls appear to 
 be hewn out of rough, cyclopean rocks, but further 
 down the stone has crumbled, and in many places it 
 rolls to the water's edge soft and smooth, like the 
 ocean's sandy beach. 
 
 As we stood there on that August morning and 
 contemplated the magnificent spectacle before us, 
 we were struck with awe and wonderment at the 
 majesty of nature's handiwork. 
 
 The immensity of this picture, the marvelous 
 coloring, the roar of the falls and the rushing of the 
 river filled us with rapture, and not a word was 
 spoken above a whisper. 
 
 That sight left a deep impression with all of us, 
 and for days it formed the chief theme of our camp 
 fire conversation. 
 
 How long we stayed on Inspiration Point I do not 
 now remember, but I recall very distinctly the fact 
 that when we left there on our way to the Canon 
 Hotel we caught ourselves several times involun- 
 tarily looking back to catch once more one last 
 glimpse of that wonderful place. 
 
 126 
 
XXII. 
 TO HENRY'S LAKE. 
 
 OUR mail had been sent to us addressed to the 
 Canon Hotel, and this was our purpose for 
 going there. When we arrived in the ro- 
 tunda of this popular resort we were greatly sur- 
 prised to find so many visitors there and among them 
 several acquaintances. 
 
 As we had arranged to leave this region the next 
 day, it had been decided to have some kind of re- 
 ception that evening at the camp for the purpose of 
 giving some of our friends a farewell entertainment. 
 
 In the early part of the evening it rained and this 
 forced us to hold the affair in the cook's tent, and in 
 spite of the cramped quarters for such a large crowd 
 we managed to have a delightful time. Our soldier 
 friend, Ed. Norlin, made one of the party, and when 
 later in the night even he became somewhat affected 
 by the general enthusiasm of our guests, he began 
 te tell us stories of his experience as a soldier in the 
 West, which all of us greatly enjoyed. 
 
 The following morning we broke camp. Our pl^n 
 now was for the party to return home to Custer 
 Trail Ranch, except "Bert,** *'Jack*' and myself 
 
 127 
 
Whkn I Wbnt West. 
 
 and two or three others, who had made up our 
 minds to go for a week or so up to Henry's Lake* 
 on a hunting expedition. Well, after breakfast, 
 while the wagons were being packed, some one 
 proposed that we all go and have one more glimpse 
 at the Great Falls Canon, and to give you an 
 idea of the wonderful impression that grand sight 
 had made upon us it is only necessary to say we all 
 fell in with this suggestion with the utmost enthusi- 
 asm. 
 
 It was arranged that the wagons be sent on the 
 route and that we would catch up with them later 
 on. Then we started off, but we did not take the 
 same road this time, and so we landed at the top of 
 the falls, where we sat down, reveling in the mag- 
 nificent view of the canon. Leaving this gorgeous 
 scene for the last time, we followed our outfit, which 
 we overtook at the Norris Geyser Basin. It was 
 noon and we had our lunch, after which we had a 
 photograph taken of the entire party. 
 
 It was also at this place that Bert, Jack and my- 
 self and the others said good-bye to the rest, and 
 while they went to the right, we turned to the Left 
 towards Henry's Lake, Idaho. 
 
 Our immediate destination was the ranch of Ed- 
 ward Staley, who had acted as our guide through the 
 
Henry's Lake. 
 
 Yellowstone. We were accompanied by Billy Fer- 
 guson, a Piute Indian, who was to act as our 
 horse wrangler, cook and general utility man on 
 our sixty mile ride to the West. We were well 
 mounted, while Ferguson acted as the driver of our 
 wagon. 
 
 Towards six o'clock that evening we arrived at 
 the Gibbon river, and we decided to go into camp 
 for the night. 
 
 At nine the next morning we continued our jour- 
 ney along the Riverside Road, stopping for a short 
 while at the soldiers* post, where Sergeant Morgan 
 entertained us with the customary military hos- 
 pitality. 
 
 About noon we arrived at Dwelley's Log House, 
 which is the only public house in this section of the 
 country and quite a landmark. Dwelley, the pro- 
 prietor, is a characteristic old hunter of former days, 
 and the interior of his house is decorated with the 
 trophies of his hunts. 
 
 Leaving Dwelley's at two o'clock, after a good 
 dinner, a rest and a cigar, our road now lay through 
 an immense forest. I observed here that the trees 
 were **blazed" very high, usually ten feet from the 
 ground, and when 1 inquired of Billy Ferguson for 
 the reason of this he remarked that in the winter 
 
 129 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 the snow is very deep in that region, and unless the 
 * 'blazes'* were made a fairly good distance from the 
 ground the snow would cover them. 
 
 We traveled through this wood the greater part of 
 the afternoon, arriving at the eastern shore of 
 Henry's Lake about four o'clock. The lake is five 
 miles long, and as Staley's ranch is located on the 
 extreme western shore, we determined to push on 
 to the ranch as fast as we could. We enjoyed a 
 very fine view along the lake of The Tetons, which 
 we could see in the far-off horizon and looking like 
 enormous white pillars against the sky. 
 
 We reached our destination some time before sup- 
 per, and Mrs. Smith, who is the foster mother of Ed. 
 Staley, made us very welcome. Our horses were 
 put away, while we had a **Shack" placed at our dis- 
 posal, and in less than half an hour we had made 
 ourselves at home. 
 
 When I said just now that we were welcomed by 
 Mrs. Smith you never dreamed that a lady with such 
 a name could be an Indian Princess, but such is the 
 case. Mrs. Smith is a full-blooded Piute Indian, 
 who many years ago married a white man with that 
 common cognomen. As the two had no children of 
 their own, they adopted Ed. Staley, and the latter 
 owns the ranch. Mrs. Smith became the princess of 
 
 ISO 
 
Henry's LtAke. 
 
 her tribe some time ago upon the death of her 
 cousin, Winnemucka, and she was properly elected 
 to that exalted office by the members of her tribe. 
 
 Withal Mrs. Smith is a very good cook and house- 
 keeper, and I have the liveliest remembrance of the 
 kind and hospitable manner in which she took care 
 of us. 
 
 The ranch we found located in a very fine coun- 
 try. It consisted of a substantial log house, several 
 shacks, barns, as well as good stabling. 
 
 Henry's Lake is situated in the northeastern part 
 of Idaho, in Lake county. It is a great resort for 
 ducks, geese and swans, and it is alive with fish, 
 such as salmon and rainbow trout. Right back of 
 the ranch the mountains rise up to an immense 
 height, and in these mountains are found any 
 amount of bear, elk, deer and mountain sheep, as 
 well as mountain and blue grouse. Indeed, the 
 place is one of the most ideal hunting grounds even 
 the most ardent son of Nimrod could wish for. 
 
 You can readily imagine that we managed to h^ve 
 a very delightful time here. Boating, hunting and 
 fishing, however, were our chief amusements; but 
 I must tell you of the way we went * 'gigging" fish 
 at night. 
 
 iti 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 * 'Gigging" fish means catching fish with a gig, 
 which is an instrument something like a pitch-fork. 
 Well, we would go out of an evening in a boat, a 
 large iron cradle filled with pine being fastened in 
 the bow of the boat. This wood was set afire, and 
 then the boat was poled slowly over the water. As 
 the light of the burning pines would throw a big 
 glare over the lake we would watch for the fish with 
 gig in hand, and every time we would see one lying 
 on the water down went our gig, and the fish was 
 gigged, or perhaps — and this happened quite often — 
 we missed it altogether, and that was so much the 
 better for the fish. This was a great pastime, and 
 we enjoyed it very much. 
 
 182 
 
Our Outfit Leaving Stai^ky's Ranch with Pack Train. 
 
XXIII. 
 SHEEP HUNTING* 
 
 THE various outdoor amusements we were able 
 to indulge in at Henry's Lake made the days 
 pass very agreeably, and we never found 
 ourselves at a loss of having something to do^ But 
 in the meantime Ed. Staley, who had accompanied 
 the rest of the Custer Trail Ranch party as far as 
 Cinnabar, returned home, and it was now 'proposed 
 to make a hunting trip into the Sheep Mountains. 
 This mountain range in Idaho rises to an elevation of 
 over 10,000 feet, is a great resort for many wild 
 beasts, such as bear, elk, deer and grouse, as well 
 as mountain sheep. The scenery is very pictur-^ 
 esque and romantic. The pleasures of the trip were 
 described to us in such attractive colors that we did 
 not hesitate for a moment to accept this opportunity. 
 
 We expected to be away about ten days, and 
 hence it was necessary to take a train of pack horses 
 with us to carry our beds and provisions. Wagons, 
 of course, could not be used on such a journey, be- 
 cause with them we could not climb the mountains. 
 
 It was early in the morning when we left the 
 ranch and started for the mountains. Our outfit 
 consisted of five pack horses, each carrying three 
 
 Its 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 hundred pounds of freight. Ed. Staley rode ahead 
 and we brought up the rear. Our road brought us 
 once more to the Continental Divide at a point, 
 where on one side were the waters of Henry's Lake, 
 the Snake river and the Columbia river flowed west- 
 ward towards the Pacific Ocean, while on the East 
 we saw the Madison river wind its way into the 
 Missouri until it eventually reached the Atlantic 
 Ocean. 
 
 We rode along all day up to six o'clock in the 
 evening, when we camped on Beaver Creek, which 
 is a beautiful, clear mountain stream. We had 
 already reached an altitude of 7, 500 feet and it was 
 getting cold. Just as we arrived at our camping 
 place we noticed two coyotes, one of which we 
 killed. The creek contained a number of graylings, 
 and it did not take us long to catch a nice mess of 
 these delicious fish. 
 
 The real ascent of the mountains did not begin 
 until the next day, when we left our camp at noon. 
 We had not seen a house nor any other sign of 
 human habitation since the morning of the previous 
 day, and the further we climbed up this mountain 
 the further we left the world and civilization behind 
 us. But if you want to hunt mountain sheep you 
 must go where the sheep are, and so we trotted 
 
 134 
 
Sheep Hunting. 
 
 bravely, hopefully and joyfully along. Our route 
 followed a mountain trail along the banks of the 
 Beaver Creek, the waters of which rippled down 
 its mountain bed some 200 feet below us. The 
 trail was very narrow, and we had to travel single 
 file. To anyone who is not accustomed to that 
 mode of riding it looked very dangerous, because if 
 your horse or pony made one misstep the chances 
 were very much in favor of your rolling down the 
 declivity, which meant almost certain death. But 
 no accident happened to any of us, and we arrived 
 in the evening at the extreme headwaters of the 
 Beaver Creek, where we went into camp. 
 
 During our ride that day we had climbed 2,000 
 feet, and all of us felt the effects of the change in 
 the atmosphere. We had passed above the timber 
 line and through an immense snow drift, and although 
 this was the month of August, we were in a regular 
 wintry landscape. Large banks of snow and ice 
 surrounded us, and the wind whistled sharp and cut- 
 ting over our camp. Soon, however, we had a big, 
 roaring fire going, our horses were unpacked and 
 then supper was under way, all of which quickly 
 transported us into a very comfortable, happy mood. 
 
 At nine the next morning we were all ready for 
 the continuation of our march. The peak of the 
 
 116 
 
Whkn I Wknt WnsT. 
 
 mountain, which we had to ascend to get to the 
 place where the sheep were to be found, loomed 
 straight above us. It meant a climb of a half mile 
 direct up. Presently the road became so narrow and 
 steep that we had to get off our horses. But at last 
 we doubled the summit and then we descended into 
 a wide valley. On the right of us we observed an 
 immense mountain peak 11,500 feet high and all 
 covered with snow. At the time we saw it a terrific 
 snow storm was raging about the crown of the peak, 
 and we were glad that we were not in it. The 
 valley which we entered presented a beautiful piece 
 of natural scenery at our feet. It was covered with 
 a number of small lakes, the waters of which were 
 as clear as crystal and smooth as a mirror, reflecting 
 the surrounding landscape as in a looking glass. We 
 had to traverse this valley to get to the place where 
 the sheep were supposed to be. We camped here 
 while the hunters went after the quarry, and much 
 to my surprise they returned about five o'clock with 
 a very beautiful buck. The next day another region 
 of this country was hunted over, but the sheep must 
 have known we were coming, because wherever we 
 went the sheep seemed to have disappeared. By 
 this time the high altitude had made me very un- 
 comfortable. My head ached and throbbed con- 
 
 136 
 
Sheep Hunting. 
 
 stantly, so that sleep for me was out of the question, 
 and when the boys announced that evening that they 
 had had enough of sheep hunting and were ready 
 to return home the next morning, I was glad to hear 
 it. 
 
 About noon the following day we had our pack 
 train shaped up and now began our journey down the 
 mountain. To give you an idea of the speed we 
 displayed on our return trip I need only tell you that 
 we covered sixty miles that day, going into camp 
 at seven o'clock that evening on the south bank of 
 the Madison river. We were all very tired and 
 hungry, as during the entire march we had only 
 stopped long enough to water our horses when they 
 needed it. 
 
 We had left the winter scenes of the mountains 
 long behind us, and our camp was quite comfortable. 
 I remember distinctly that the fried bacon that even- 
 ing had a relish and a taste delicious beyond com- 
 pare. 
 
 We liked this camping place, so we stayed all the 
 next day, enjoying ourselves hunting and fishing. 
 
 I discovered the cabin of a trapper near our camp, 
 and I paid him a visit. This trapper was just get- 
 ting ready establishing himself for the winter. His 
 shack was very comfortable. It had a good stove 
 
 lt7 
 
When I Wknt West. 
 
 and an excellent bunk. His stock of provisions was 
 also quite ample, so he said. He was now getting 
 his traps in shape for the ''varmints," as he called 
 them. 
 
 I have often since wondered how this man could 
 find any attraction in a life such as he leads. Here 
 he lived in a perfect wilderness, fifteen miles away 
 from his nearest neighbor. Soon he expected to be 
 snowed in by a depth of probably fifteen feet. And 
 yet the old man seemed to be very happy and con- 
 tented. He had a violin which he played, but the 
 tunes that he knew seemed to be all of a doleful, 
 plaintive melody, and they always filled me with 
 a touch of sadness. 
 
 The next day we left for Henry's Lake, and when 
 we got into our beds once more at the shack that 
 night we slept better than we had done for a long 
 time. 
 
 There was a game park near the ranch called 
 Rocks Game Park, which I visited and where I saw 
 a large number of buffalo, elk, deer and mountain 
 sheep. These animals had been captured at differ- 
 ent times in the immediate neighborhood. The herd 
 of buffalo is said to be one of the few in this country. 
 
 188 
 
XXIV. 
 TRAVELING ALL ALONE. 
 
 IT WAS now two months since Bert, Jack and I 
 had left home, and during that period we had 
 been together nearly all the time, on the train, 
 in the shack, on the prairie, in the Yellowstone and 
 at last up on the Sheep Mountains. The result was 
 that we had formed an attachment for each other 
 which can only be appreciated by those who have 
 had a similar experience to ours. 
 
 However, we were now going to separate, owing 
 to the fact that I had to leave them and go on a 
 journey to the Pacific Coast. I am merely stating 
 the truth, therefore, when I say that I looked for- 
 ward to this journey without any extra amount of 
 enthusiasm. And that my premonitions were borne 
 out by the subsequent facts I learned before very 
 long. 
 
 Traveling in itself is supposed to be by many 
 people a great enjoyment, but traveling alone after 
 you have been journeying several thousand miles in 
 the companionship of a congenial party is very dis- 
 appointing. You do not take the same interest in 
 
 140 
 
Stage Coach From Lewiston to Grangevii.i,e. 
 
Traveling All Alone. 
 
 the sights, and whatever you see appeals to you 
 quite differently and things appear to you in a much 
 different light. 
 
 With these feelings on my mind you will readily 
 understand that when I said ''Good-bye'* to them 
 this ceremony was more to me than the mere dis- 
 charge of a formal custom. 
 
 The stage was waiting for me on the morning of 
 the first of September in front of the ranch, and 
 waving my last farewell, I was off. 
 
 The stage took me to Monida, a little town on the 
 dividing line of Idaho and Montana, where I arrived 
 in the evening, immediately getting into the train on 
 my way to Butte, Montana. 
 
 Butte, as everybody knows, is a great mining 
 centre, and I found a very hustling city. After the 
 train pulled into the station the next morning and 1 
 had got off I made a bee line for the Hotel Butte. 
 Here I got shaved, took a bath, put on a white shirt; 
 in fact, I adopted once more the costume of modern 
 civilization, and when I looked in the glass I scarcely 
 knew myself. 
 
 Butte has many fine stores, an abundance of wide 
 open gambling saloons, and withal a very prosper- 
 ous appearance. 
 
 141 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 There are a great many smelters in the town, 
 and the fumes thereof make it difficult for any vege- 
 tation to thrive here, and hence 1 saw neither flowers 
 nor trees anywhere. 
 
 The following morning I left Butte for Spokane, 
 Washington. On the train I met some friends bound 
 for the same destination, and this made the ride very 
 enjoyable. At Hope Station we had to turn our 
 watches back one hour on account of the fact that 
 from that place West everything goes by Pacific 
 time. 
 
 It was late at night when I arrived at Spokane, 
 and tired as I was I hurried off to bed. But the fol- 
 lowing morning I had an opportunity of taking a 
 look at the city, and I was very much impressed 
 with the many fme business buildings as well as 
 handsome residences 1 observed. Everybody in 
 Spokane, at least so it seemed to me, made his liv- 
 ing by mining, because it was the only subject dis- 
 cussed while I was there. The papers contained no 
 information except stories about mining, and the 
 advertisements they contained were about mining 
 stocks and bonds from one cent per share up to any 
 amount. Wherever I went I heard them talking 
 about shafts, drifts, assays, planes, smelters, quartz, 
 etc., and in the hotel there was on exhibition a check 
 
 142 
 
TRAVEI.ING All Alone. 
 
 for one million dollars, which had been given in pay- 
 ment for a mine in this section. 
 
 From Spokane I was bound for Florence, Idaho, 
 and on this journey I traveled through the wonderful 
 Palouse Valley as far as Lewiston. The Palouse 
 Valley is justly celebrated as a great wheat growing 
 country, and as it was just about harvest time when 
 1 passed through there, I had an excellent oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the immense fields where hundreds 
 of men and horses were occupied with all manner of 
 steam harvesting appliances. I was told that the 
 crop that season would average forty bushels to the 
 acre. 
 
 At Lewiston I stopped over night at the Raymond 
 Hotel, and upon inquiry I found that to get to Flor- 
 ence 1 should have to go to Grangeville, seventy-five 
 miles by stage, and from there in a private convey- 
 ance for fifty miles to Florence. 
 
 Lewiston is situated at the junction of the Snake 
 and the Clear Water rivers. There had been a new 
 mining camp opened up at Buffalo Hump, a short 
 distance from Lewiston, and the excitement in the 
 old town was great on this account. The place did 
 not have sufficient hotels and lodging houses to 
 accommodate all the strangers, and throughout the 
 
 itf 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 streets tents were put up, where miners, prospectors, 
 movers and campers were domiciled. 
 
 It was four o'clock in the morning when the stage 
 arrived to take me to Grangeville. The weather 
 was cold and I put on my rubber coat, a sweater, as 
 well as a pair of leggings. The candles were still 
 burning in the old-fashioned stage lamps when we 
 started on this journey, and the day did not dawn 
 until some time after we had left the town. 
 
 *'A11 set!'* yelled the driver, then he cracked his 
 whip and the six horses in front of the lumbering 
 stage coach were off. 
 
 For twenty miles the road seemed to go all the 
 way uphill, and our horses never went faster than a 
 walk. At last, when we got on the other side of the 
 hill, the mud from the recent rains made the progress 
 equally difficult. I had several fellow-sufferers in 
 the stage with me, and I feel sure none of us will 
 forget that ride while we live. 
 
 Our route lay over the battle ground of 1877 be- 
 tween the Nez Perce Indians under Chief Joseph 
 and the United States troops under General Howard. 
 Near the little town of Cottonwood we saw the grave 
 of Captain Foster, who, with eleven of his men, was 
 killed here at the beginning of the revolt of the 
 Indians. We also passed through the Camas Prairie, 
 
TravkIvING Ai,i, Alone. 
 
 which is said to have been the old hunting ground of 
 the Nez Perce Indians. 
 
 When we got to Grangeville at six o'clock we 
 were hungry, tired and completely fagged out. 
 
 The proprietor of the hotel was one of the old- 
 fashioned fellows who looked after the wants and 
 comforts of his guests personally. 
 
 The hotel was being improved with new plate 
 glass windows, which I discovered were of Pittsburg 
 manufacture. 
 
 Another innovation was an acetyline gas appa- 
 ratus, the product of which* shed its mellow light all 
 over the lower floor of the hotel, but per contrast I 
 went to bed lighting my way with an old-fashioned 
 tallow candle-stick, and I wondered at the odd co- 
 incidence that I should have had to come to a place 
 like Grangeville, in the far West, seventy -five miles 
 from the railroad, and find there one of the oldest as 
 well as the most modern forms of illumination. 
 
 itf 
 
XXV. 
 THE OLD FLORENCE CAMP* 
 
 I WAS obliged to stay in Grangeville longer than 
 1 had any intention, because the roads were in 
 such bad shape that the stage decided not to 
 take its regular daily trip. This forced me to hunt 
 up a private conveyance, and it was noon when I at 
 last got away on my fifty mile journey. The day 
 was very pleasant and the air bracing. Getting out 
 of Grangeville we struck a long, winding road through 
 Mount Idaho that seemed to be endless and everlast- 
 ingly uphill. Nevertheless we managed to reach 
 the summit at last. The going was exceedingly bad; 
 in many places our horses sank into the mud up 
 to their knees, and it would have been cruel to make 
 them go faster than a walk. 
 
 The landlord at the hotel in Grangeville had said 
 that we would find the road better after we got out 
 of the woods, and as we never did get out of them 
 he was probably right. 
 
 At one place we passed a man who was putting 
 timber down to make a kind of corduroy road, and 
 
The Old Fi^orence Camp. 
 
 when I complained to him about the terrible con- 
 dition of the road, he remarked: 
 
 "You will find them better now; I've been 
 a-workin' on 'em.*' 
 
 But his partiality for the truth was not of much 
 account, because the roads became even worse as we 
 went further. 
 
 When leaving Grangeville I was told that I could 
 not reach Florence in one day and 1 found I would 
 have to stay at Adams Camp over night, about 
 twenty -five miles on the way. I soon discovered 
 that my driver had never been over the road before 
 and was as much of a stranger to it as I was. 
 For a larger part of the way our road lay through 
 an immense forest, just wide enough for one vehicle, 
 so that in passing a conveyance coming in the op- 
 posite direction we would have to look for a "turn 
 out'* place, which was provided for every mile 
 or so on one or the other side of the road. We 
 passed one or two houses, but no other signs of 
 civilization were to be seen. The sun was quite 
 warm, but where the road was heavily timbered it 
 was cold and I had to wear my sweater and gum 
 coat pretty much all day. 
 
 We met a few persons of whom we inquired the 
 way, and when we would ask: **How far to Adams 
 
 147 
 
Whkn I Wknt West. 
 
 Camp?** at first the answer was about twelve miles; 
 then it was about fifteen miles, and so on until it 
 appeared that the further we traveled the longer the 
 distance seemed to be to reach our stopping place for 
 the night. We finally reached what seemed to be 
 the crown or top of the mountain, and away off to 
 our left some forty miles could be seen the "Hump," 
 a great mountain in the shape of the well-known 
 hump of the buffalo; hence its name. 
 
 At this point there was a new mining camp just 
 opened, which I believe had then a population of 
 3,000 or 4,000. All the supplies for this camp had 
 to be hauled by wagon from Lewiston to Adams 
 Camp, a distance of one hundred miles, where they 
 were unloaded and then placed on the backs of 
 horses and taken into camp some twenty miles 
 further. The road from Adams Camp to the Hump 
 was an old trail and vehicles could not travel it at 
 all, so that everything for this little community of 
 3,000 or 4,000 persons had to be packed on the 
 backs of horses. We met quite a number of these 
 pack trains going and coming, and also met a num- 
 ber of ''freighters*' of large wagons, hauled by four 
 and six horses, whose business it is to carry sup- 
 plies from Lewiston to Grangeville and to Adams 
 
 148 
 
Adams Camp, Idaho. 
 
The O1.D Fu)RENCS Camp. 
 
 Camp, traveling as far as they can each day and 
 going into camp wherever night overtakes them. 
 
 Sometimes the Hump seemed to be quite near to 
 us, and then again a turn in the road would change 
 the whole appearance of it. Thus we went on for a 
 greater part of the afternoon, and I was really be- 
 ginning to wonder if we ever would get to Adams 
 Camp at all. It was gradually getting dusk and 
 we soon found ourselves in a dense wood, where it 
 was pitch dark and we could not see the road at all. 
 My driver gave his horses their head and let them 
 find the way as best they could. 
 
 We were going down a terrible hill, trusting en- 
 tirely to the horses, when we heard a clatter of 
 hoofs behind us. We stopped our team and were 
 passed by two men on horseback, one of whom 
 turned out to be a mining engineer on his way 
 to the Hump, and who was going to stop at 
 Adams Camp for the night. With him was an 
 Englishman, who was out there looking after some 
 property. We greeted them with the same ques- 
 tion, "How far to Adams Camp?" and to our satis- 
 faction we were told: **Just a mile; when you get 
 around the turn you can see the light.'* 
 
 We hurried on as best we could, and sure enough 
 there was a 'Might in the window.*' Way down 
 
 148 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 the valley, at the foot of this terrible hill, the 
 light of Adams Camp could be seen; not very much 
 of a light, but it was enough to let us know we were 
 within reach of our stopping place for the night. No 
 light was ever more welcome to me than this was, 
 for I was cold, tired, hungry and sleepy, and for the 
 last two hours had felt that there was a good pros- 
 pect of having to sleep out in the woods all night, 
 without having made any provision for this sort of ex- 
 perience. Was it any wonder that I was glad to 
 know that there was some shelter in sight? 
 
 We arrived at the camp about half-past eight. 
 Mr. Pew, the proprietor, made us welcome. The 
 mining engineer, who had gone before us, proved 
 himself a good friend in ordering supper for us, 
 and about the time we arrived this meal was an- 
 nounced. 
 
 We found at the camp some twenty-five or thirty 
 miners, prospectors, etc., all of whom were going to 
 or coming from the Hump. 
 
 Adams Camp was not much of a place and did not 
 look very inviting to a weary traveler, but there 
 was not another human habitation within fifteen 
 miles, hence I had to make the best of the worst and 
 be satisfied. The place consisted of two log houses. 
 
 160 
 
The Old Florence Camp. 
 
 one of which was occupied by the proprietor and his 
 family and the other was for the lodgers. 
 
 I was agreeably surprised when the supper was 
 brought before me, because it really was much bet- 
 ter than I expected, but I have since come to the 
 conclusion that I should probably have expressed a 
 different opinion if 1 had not been made so very 
 hungry by that awful drive. 
 
 The guests at this place were composed of men 
 from almost every walk of life. Two of these, the 
 mining engineer, who seemed to be very bright and 
 intelligent, and the Englishman, I had already met. 
 We sat around the office after supper smoking our 
 pipes and listening to all kinds of mining stories. 
 This lasted until ten o'clock, when our landlord 
 came in, and without asking *'by your leave,'* he 
 walked right into the middle of our sociable circle. 
 
 "Here, you," he addressed one of the guests, 
 "you sleep with him," pointing to another; and so 
 he went around the crowd until we were all disposed 
 of to his satisfaction. 
 
 I thought at the time that this was a very extraor- 
 dinary proceeding and it struck me as very ludicrous, 
 but no one seemed to think it out of the ordinary, so 
 it must have been the custom of Adams Camp. I 
 will therefore say no more about it. 
 
 151 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 I was exceedingly tired and as soon as I got to bed 
 went to sleep. According to the account of the 
 Englishman, however, there must have been quite a 
 racket going on in our room during the night, be- 
 cause he complained long and loudly at breakfast 
 the next morning of a man who had snored as if a 
 whole drove of pigs had been driven through the 
 place. 
 
 I got another sample of the abruptness of our 
 landlord when he came to wake us. He just strode 
 into the room with a lighted lantern, shook it over 
 our beds and then said, **Get up!** after which 
 expression he turned away without any further ado. 
 
 At six o'clock I jumped into my rig once more to 
 complete the last stage of my trip to Florence, where 
 1 arrived about noon. In the sixties this was a very 
 flourishing place, and many millions of gold were 
 taken out of the ground here. Even now there 
 are miners hard at work at the old camp, and when 
 I passed through they seemed to be still getting 
 some gold. 
 
 But Florence is now practically abandoned. It 
 has one store, a few saloons and a hotel. At the 
 latter I stopped for the night, and I found it a 
 typical miners' home. 
 
 ttS 
 
The OivD Florence Camp. 
 
 I had some business to attend to here, which I 
 transacted in the afternoon, and early the following 
 morning I had my team headed once more for 
 Grangeville. The weather had changed over night 
 for the better. The sun was shining, the roads 
 were somewhat dried up, and our going was there- 
 fore correspondingly easier. We passed Adams 
 Camp at noon and stopped for dinner, arriving in 
 Grangeville early in the afternoon. 
 
 We had found a considerable amount of traffic on 
 the road, consisting of freighters and pack trains, all 
 bound for the mines at Buffalo Hump. Some of 
 these pack trains counted thirty and forty head of 
 horses, and quite a few were in charge of Nez Perce 
 Indians. This reminds me that we also met several 
 parties of Indians, men, women and children, all on 
 horseback, going in every direction. 
 
 In Grangeville I stopped over night and the follow- 
 ing morning climbed once more into the stage coach 
 to make my return to Lewiston and then to Spokane, 
 where I was delighted to find some letters and papers 
 from home. On this trip I had two stage compan- 
 ions who were typical prospectors. They had come 
 in from the "Hump** and were on their way to 
 Seattle. 
 
 lU 
 
When I Wknt West. 
 
 This little side trip to Florence had been a very 
 rough journey, but on the whole it was an altogether 
 new experience to me, and I did not think the time 
 and trouble wasted. I had often heard of the 
 romance connected with stage coach traveling, but 
 now that I had ridden in an old-fashioned stage my- 
 self for 300 miles, I found there was little romance 
 in it. 
 
 154 
 
XXVI. 
 SEATTLE AND TACOMA 
 
 t^ROM Spokane I went to Seattle by the Great 
 \( Northern Railroad, a ride which lasted all the 
 ^ next day. But I found some acquaintances 
 on the train, and as we also passed through some 
 very interesting sections of the country, the time 
 slipped by very agreeably. 
 
 For some distance the formation reminded me of 
 the "Palisades" on a small scale. Then we struck 
 a section of desert, where an insignificant growth of 
 sage brush and alkali were the prominent features. 
 
 But going down the Wenatchee Valley the country 
 was more interesting. The soil and the general ap- 
 pearance of the land are very much like Southern 
 California, and a very extensive system of irrigation 
 is being introduced. The Japanese trade winds, so 
 called, predominate in this valley, which produce a 
 mild, pleasant climate, not unlike the climate of 
 Southern California. 
 
 As we passed through the Tum Water Canon we 
 saw a beautiful stream rushing, rippling and tum- 
 bling along, and this river, with the immense forest 
 trees on either side, presented a fine piece of scenery. 
 
 155 
 
When I Went Wkst. 
 
 Soon we arrived at the foot of the Cascade Mount- 
 ains and from here our train began to climb higher 
 and higher until we reached what is known as the 
 eastern end of the Switchback Railroad, which takes 
 you clean over the mountains. 
 
 This switchback railroad consists of a system of 
 switches or zigzags, of which there are three on the 
 eastern and five on the western side of the mountain. 
 The greatest elevation is 4,000 feet, and these 
 switchbacks lift the train 650 feet to the summit, 
 and then the western switchbacks let it down on the 
 other side. On the eastern side we were surrounded 
 by a regular winter scene. It was snowing and 
 sleeting, but when we arrived on the opposite side 
 we were landed in a heavy fog and mist. 
 
 The railroad is now constructing a tunnel through 
 the Cascade Mountain, and the Switchback Railroad 
 I mentioned will soon be a thing of the past. 
 
 The temperature was now much milder, although 
 we were still surrounded by this heavy mist, which 
 is said to prevail in that part of the country on 
 account of the mild Chinoock winds. 
 
 1 got into Seattle at eight o'clock in the evening 
 and had no difficulty in finding a comfortable hotel. 
 
 Seattle impressed me as a very prosperous city, 
 no doubt the result of the Klondike excitement, 
 
 166 
 
Ostrich Farm, Cawfornia. 
 
SEATTI.E AND TaCOMA. 
 
 which was then at its height. The place is laid out 
 somewhat like San Francisco, with triangles at the 
 corner of the main street. The railroad station is 
 located at the water front, and it is built on a wharf 
 constructed of piles, which extend over the water. 
 The city has some fine stores and buildings, and the 
 people move about as if they were all very busy. 
 Dealing in mine supplies seems to be the chief trade. 
 While I was there the steamer Humboldt sailed for 
 the Klondike crowded from bow to stern with freight 
 and passengers, and the scene on the wharf just 
 before sailing time was very interesting. The Klon- 
 dike was the sole topic of conversation. 
 
 "Are you going in again?'* "When did you come 
 out.?" "Did you sell your claims.?" and "How did 
 you get along in there?" were the questions one 
 heard on all sides. 
 
 I did not like the weather of Seattle. It was not 
 exactly raining, but there was a drizzle falling con- 
 stantly, which compelled one to keep an umbrella 
 up all the time. The elevator boy in the hotel 
 shared this feeling with me. He told me they never 
 had any snow in Seattle in the winter, nothing but 
 rain, rain. 
 
 When 1 left Seattle I took a small steamer called 
 the "Flyer," which carried me to Tacoma, thirty 
 
 Iff? 
 
Whkn I WsNT West. 
 
 miles away, in about an hour. I enjoyed this ride 
 on the Grand Puget Sound very much. 
 
 The situation of the city of Tacoma is very beau- 
 tiful, it being located on a bluff, and when I landed 
 there I found myself at the foot of a long winding 
 road, something similar to the Cleveland landing. 
 
 One of the very first sights I saw was a very 
 large mountain in the distance, seventy miles away; 
 which I was told is Mount Tacoma. In Seattle they 
 call this same peak Mount Rainer, which is a dis- 
 tinction without a difference. 
 
 Tacoma had a boom some twenty years ago, but 
 nothing but a memory has remained. This memory 
 is visible in the shape of beautiful buildings erected 
 out of Pompeiian brick, which would be an ornament 
 to New York or Chicago. The City Hall is built of 
 the same material, and it is large enough for a city 
 three times the size of Tacoma. The very fine 
 Grand Opera House is abandoned, and numerous 
 stores and office buildings are idle. The city has 
 also a very attractive park; indeed, Tacoma is alto- 
 gether a delightful city, but, to use a vulgarism, 
 *'there is nothing doing." 
 
 I met some nice people while I was there and they 
 helped me to pass the greater part of a day very 
 pleasantly. 
 
 158 
 
XXVII. 
 CALIFORNIA* 
 
 REAVING Tacoma by a night train, I arrived the 
 I the following morning in Portland, Ore. 
 
 1^ ^^ Portland is one of the most beautiful 
 cities I have ever seen. It is a remarkably 
 clean place, full of fine business houses, stores and 
 residences. Every home seemed to be surrounded 
 by a complete flower garden. Roses and sweet 
 peas were in bloom everywhere, and strawberries 
 could be had in abundance. The climate seems to 
 be delightful, and as the weather was magnificent 
 while I was there, you can readily understand why 
 my impressions of Portland are so pleasant. Being 
 then the month of September, the many flowers and 
 blossoms were quite a revelation to me, and one of 
 my first thoughts was that this ought to be called 
 the "Flowery City.'* 
 
 I stopped at the Portland, and if there is a finer 
 hotel anywhere on the coast I have not seen it. 
 
 I noticed a number of boats on the Willamette 
 river, which floats by here, that were a sort of cross 
 
 109 
 
When I Went Wkst. 
 
 between the side-wheeler and our well-known stern 
 wheel boats of the Monongahela and Ohio. 
 
 One remarkable thing I observed in Portland, and 
 that was that the chimney sweeps are great adver- 
 tisers. It was not an unusual sight to see men going 
 along the streets with large cards on their hats, call- 
 ing the attention of the passerby to the fact that John 
 Smith or Jim Brown are the best chimney sweeps in 
 all Portland. 
 
 I took a ride up the hill overlooking the city, from 
 where I enjoyed a beautiful view. Away off to the 
 right I saw Mt. St. Helena, Mt. Adams and Mt. 
 Hood. I had fallen in love with this city and I was 
 sorry when I had to take my departure. 
 
 On my way to San Francisco I stopped over for 
 one day at the famous Shasta Springs. The scenery 
 along the railroad from Portland is quite varied. In 
 some places it is dreary like the desert, but in some 
 parts of the Siskiyu Valley we passed immense 
 fruit ranches. I was riding in the observation car 
 for the most part of the afternoon, and as our iron 
 horse puffed and snorted its way over the winding 
 track I had almost constantly a view of grand *'01d 
 Mount Shasta,*' which is 15,000 feet high and snow- 
 capped. 
 
 160 
 
Magnoua Avenue, Riverside, Caufornia. 
 
Cawfornia. 
 
 At Shasta Springs I spent a very restful day; in- 
 deed, I felt that I was greatly in need of a little rest 
 after my constant traveling of the last ten days under 
 all conditions of weather and discomforts. I in- 
 dulged in the celebrated Shasta Spring water, I took 
 a number of photographs of the surroundings and 
 lounged around generally until the evening, when I 
 took the train for the city of the Golden Gate. 
 
 1 had been in San Francisco before, and in return- 
 ing I simply renewed old acquaintances by going to 
 the Cliff House, doing Chinatown and taking in all 
 the other well-known sights of the metropolis of 
 California. The most interesting feature of the city 
 at this time was the garrison of the soldier boys at 
 the '* Presidio.'* When I was out there I saw some 
 12,000 soldiers in camp. Many of them had just 
 returned from Manila, others were about to go 
 there, and many more were volunteers who anxious- 
 ly looked forward to the day when they would re- 
 ceive orders to go home again. 
 
 Los Angeles, the City of Angels, which was my 
 next stopping place, I found as clean and inviting as 
 ever. There was quite an excitement going on 
 when I arrived on account of the new oil fields which 
 had been recently discovered, and the town was 
 crowded with prospectors and oil operators. 
 
 161 
 
Whkn I Went West. 
 
 One characteristic individual of Los Angeles that 
 has always attracted my attention is the **Hot 
 Tamale*' man, of whom you see many with their 
 wagons along the streets in the evening, yelling 
 **Hot Tamale!*' at the top of their voices. I once 
 tried to eat one, but never again. 
 
 There are so many attractive sights about Los 
 Angeles that it is always difficult to know where to 
 begin first. You must go to Santa Monica, one of 
 the most beautiful seaside resorts on the Pacific 
 Ocean, and you must go to the *' National' ' soldiers' 
 home. You must visit the ''Old Mission," erected 
 by the old mission fathers, you should go to Catalina 
 Island, and you must go to Old Spanish town, 
 which consists of a lot of adobe houses that were 
 built years and years ago and are now in a state of 
 dilapidation. 
 
 From Los Angeles I went to Pasadena to pay a 
 visit to the ostrich farm, which is, I believe, one 
 of the few in America. There were about seventy 
 or eighty ostriches there at that time, all kept in 
 separate corrals. Some I saw as big as a pigeon; 
 they were a day old, and others I saw as large as a 
 full-grown turkey, and I was told they were six 
 weeks old. The ostriches are kept for their plumes, 
 and they are plucked from two to three times a year. 
 
 162 
 
California. 
 
 I next went to St. Gabriel Mission, which is per- 
 haps one of the most celebrated landmarks in Cali- 
 fornia. The building has now been standing for 
 about 130 years, and it is still in a very excellent 
 state of preservation. It is a very fine representa- 
 tion of old Spanish architecture and its lines are 
 simply beautiful. It measures one hundred and fifty 
 by sixty feet. The entrance is on one side, where 
 there is also a stairway which leads up to the choir 
 loft. In the interior are yet found a number of old 
 Spanish paintings that were brought by the mission 
 fathers from the land of their birth. The seats and 
 benches are very quaint. The building is still used 
 for religious services, and the congregation numbers 
 from seven to eight hundred members. 
 
 In Pasadena I observed them use oil for a purpose 
 I had never heard of. They sprinkled the streets 
 with it, and apparently the effect was the same upon 
 the dust which it has upon troubled waters. I was 
 told that it was quite economical. 
 
 Going back to Los Angeles that evening, I started 
 on another little trip the next day for the San Ber- 
 nardino Valley. 
 
 I stopped at Redlands, a town replete with mag- 
 nificent homes, surrounded by beautiful grounds, 
 tropical plants, flowers and fruits. The drives about 
 
 168 
 
Whkn I Wkst. 
 
 there were very beautiful, and you might go for 
 hours imagining yourself in some tropical country. 
 
 At Riverside I took a drive on Magnolia Avenue, 
 which I consider one of the most glorious treats this 
 continent affords. The avenue, as is well known, is 
 200 feet wide and about 17 miles long. On each 
 side grow a row of palm trees, while right through 
 the middle and parallel with the outer rows stands a 
 line of magnificent pepper trees. Adding to this you 
 get everywhere a sight of the most beautiful orange 
 and lemon groves. 
 
 Another drive I took to Arlington Heights and the 
 Anchorage, and I gathered a delicious assortment of 
 oranges, lemons, grape fruit, figs, English walnuts 
 and almonds. 
 
 The next morning I returned to Los Angeles. 
 
 164 
 
XXVIII. 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 IT WAS now getting near the time when I had to 
 begin thinking about turning my face home 
 once more, and it was with a feeling of con- 
 siderable regret that I began to gather my effects 
 together to start on the journey East. 
 
 It seemed to me that I should like to stay in Cali- 
 fornia forever, because, although this was not the 
 first time that I had visited the glorious sights of this 
 earthly paradise, everything appeared to me as 
 attractive as ever. But the inexorable call of duty 
 willed it otherwise, and one Wednesday morning 
 found me on the railroad platform at Los Angeles 
 ready to take the ride which would eventually land 
 me again in the Smoky City. 
 
 The journey was not tedious, because I was for- 
 tunate in finding some congenial fellow-passengers 
 on the train, merchants going East, an engineer who 
 was going to Michigan, a traveling man from Indian- 
 apolis and a broker from Chicago. 
 
 I had chosen the Santa Fe route, and after travel- 
 ing about one hundred miles out of Los Angeles we 
 
 166 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 came in sight of the desert land. The next day, 
 Thursday, we were in a section of the country 
 which reminded me very much of the Bad Lands, 
 because it had a peculiar, rough formation. We saw 
 very few ranch houses in all this day's travel. The 
 train did not stop often, stations being few and far 
 between, and the day was warm and dusty. We 
 crossed the continental divide at an altitude of 7,284 
 feet, and at one place there was a flock of Indians 
 waiting on the platform. They were Navagos 
 wanting to sell us trinkets and pottery ware. They 
 were a very dirty lot, and I wondered more than 
 ever how it happened that ever anyone had spoken 
 of the **Noble Red Man.'* 
 
 On Friday morning after we had passed New 
 Mexico an accident happened to our engine, and this 
 delayed us until eleven o'clock before we got to 
 Raton, where we should have had breakfast four 
 hours ago. While the Santa Fe route is very excel- 
 lent, the fact that they have no dining cars on their 
 trains is a great objection, because travelers are sub- 
 jected to delays for various causes, which greatly 
 interfere with their appetites and occasion much in- 
 convenience. 
 
 We traveled through Colorado on Friday morning, 
 coming into Kansas in the afternoon to get our sup- 
 
 166 
 
Homeward Bound. 
 
 per eventually at Dodge City, the old cowboy town. 
 In Kansas City we landed on Saturday morning, and 
 I was glad to notice that from now on our train car- 
 ried a dining car. 
 
 Without any further incidents worthy of note we 
 came to Chicago Saturday evening, and at 5:30 
 o'clock on the following day, Sunday evening, 1 
 returned home. 
 
 And this ends my story. 
 
 1 had now been away from home three months, 
 had traveled about ten thousand miles and had 
 passed through about twenty states and territories. 
 1 traveled by boat, by train, by stage coach and on 
 horseback. I had ridden probably one thousand 
 miles on the back of my pony. I slept in my tarp 
 out in the open air for six weeks, had suffered ex- 
 treme heat, as well as severe cold, had lived among 
 the Indians, with cowboys, ranchmen, soldiers, In- 
 dian fighters, stage drivers and what not; in fact, in 
 the language of Walter Besant, I had met **all sorts 
 and conditions of men." I had not been seriously 
 ill at all, and the trip was one of great pleasure and 
 satisfaction. I had enjoyed the air of absolute un- 
 conventionalism, and I had revelled in the fascina- 
 tions of free Western life. 
 
 187 
 
When I Went West. 
 
 To those who have followed me in my travels 
 through this little book I simply would say: Instead 
 of taking a trip to Europe, go out to the Bad Lands, 
 go through the Yellowstone, go to the coast, and if 
 you are in any way susceptible to the grandeur, the 
 incomparable beauty and the matchless fascinations 
 of your own country, perchance you will come back 
 a better, bigger and broader American than you 
 ever were. 
 
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