Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1850-11-20
From the North American
Great Suffering on the Plains.

.''' ~ f''' f'' -" C"p y V''''' '"' -
S .fus~'-F1our SO per Pua.l-thc Chot
r era On PaHe Ricer.
STOCKTON, Cal, Sept. 30, 1852.
have just ccnve,sed with gentleman
from New York, who, with three Of hi.
brothers, arrived here yesterday, after q
four months journey across the country.
Ile states tho about &c, 900 persons are on
The road now. The four Lrnlhers started
with lwo SIX mule teams, plenty Of provi-
>ions. clohing, money, &C.. and arrived
al Stockton v ith the loss Of almost every
hing.
fle states iha, on both branches Of the
Platte the Cholera prevailed to horriLle
extent. hundreds DING daily. The waters
of the Pla,e are lick and muddy, and he
attributes the escape of hi- parry from sick
ness TO their precautions in boiIing tho wa
ter or coffee before drinking. The graves
Of emsran's, he says, were thick al every
Camping place near the Platte. In cross
ing tbs Great Basin this side Of the Great
Sili Lake. their suiI1rings were indescrib-
abe.
The sand vas knee deep,,he sun bsoiliug
hot not tree was TO be seen ; there was
no water. and their provisions were all
aone. Fortunately, after passing over
about 100 miles Of This hde"us desert, they
had come across a man who had gone 30
miles further, found good spring aud re-
turned with two barrels Of water. The va.
ter he. first sold for 81 per gallon, then 81
per quart. then $40 per pint. and as the
emisran.s came along, each almost choked
TO death and completely exhausted, his pri-
ces raised, and no sum he could name
within the power Of poor emigrant was re-
fused to be paid. When the water was near.
" all sore,a man came along ~ho fer three
vhole days and nights had drank but
half a pin, oi fluid. He was almost dead,
ard begged for some wa'er. The answer
was, Il have no, enough 10 las, my sef and
animals back to the Spring. $50, Slo0,
$500, s1co. was Oft r. d in succession for
one Iit,le cup full Of wafer, and tie dealer
refused Il. The wreIched emis rant threw
down $500, al he had IN The world, and
by main force grasred the cup and
Guenched his thirst.
This statement seems incredible bu,
nv inf prmanl is man OF intelligence and
probity, and his word can not be doubled.
Soon after leaving the wafer trader, the
party came across company who had q !
ltl'e flour, which they would no, par, with |
until the offer Of $40 per pound tempted
them 10 sell. One bbl. Of flour was sold
for eight hundred dJllars, and glad enough
was The purchaser to &c: it. Upon srriv-
Ing at Carson's river, ,hey Gund proyis-
ons plenty, bu, very high. Flour was
50 so per lb. A single meal Of two small
pies, coffee, and some pilot bread, cos,
hem Sll per nun. Provisions, ii was
would soon be much lower on ,
:arson's river, as A., informant met i'm.
nense trains Of provisions en- the way from ,
his valley. Wills. crossing the Sierra i
Nevada mountains, the party was envel. {
'ped in q snow storm, and at the las. pass I
he snow fell six or seven inches in on, b
''sht. This pass is not over $50 fee, in h
width, and is on the side Of Il steep decllv. O
ty. Above the road the rock towers al d
most perpendcularly, $50 H., whilst below I
is almost equally abrupt. At the bottom n
vas seen innumerable carcases Of mules, i
,at,e, ond wild animals. My informan,
'ays it is the almost universal opinion at
-arsOn's river that not one third If the
emigration can cross the Sierra Nevada |
before the winter sets in and
renders the road impossible. fle thinks
hey can winter very well in Ca.son's val.
ley. His party expected to meet with,
and thought they were provided for, every
hardship. He says he has Travelled ex,en-
sively through Europe, but no scenery
there equals in sublmily and beauty many
Of the views on the land route across
this continent. Nevertheless. he declares
he would give all he Possessed in the world
or all he hope, TO possess. if he could only
Danish from.hs memory tie many horrors
lie felt and witnessed on his terrible iouI-
ney. .-....
Yours, truly. G P. W.
Astounding Freak Of Mature.