Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1851-03-05
CONTINUED.

From the Private journal kept by
wM II. CIIAMBEELIN, OF LEwIsBuEG, Pa
CONTINUED.
FRIDAY, Aug l0-lloward and myself
walked down To the Upper Crossing, about
a mile below the junction. The majority
of the emigrans have crossed a,,his point,
while sone have gone down few miles
ro Gen. kearne,'S Crossing. We found
some fi'ern or twen1N men here. bu>ily
engaged IN 'rrr, IN. over their baggage.
and employing indian> IL swim over "i'h
,h,. mu'eS. Trey had ii Wagon body,
~ hich hey had managed 10 maze wa'er-
tight. and answered the purpose t"Iefab'y
we'll. although II is a slender boat IN this
:. torrent OF waters" The Colorado is
here about $50 yards vide. deep enough
To- float a " man o'wa-," and very swift
current. 10 crossing, the boat is carried
all he force they can be put upon her. The
hanks of the river are pretty high, and
covered 10 The edge by thick growth Of
cotton wood and underbrush, SO that il is
impossible TO land on either side, but at the
present place of embark and debarkatIon.
After crossing with a load, they are
obliged TO tow the boat up stream by hand,
with a great deal Of labor, crawling along
the bank over roots, wadins or swimming,
Tor the distance of a mile, 10 make sure OF
the point on this side
There are about fifty Indians standing
about, watching for every opportunity ia
plunder. They have heretofore carried
the packs Of emigrants over upon small
RATS made by lashing together several bun.
dies of reeds /: in this way, they supplied
themselves with clothing blankets, tobacco,
money, Sc. This interference with their
business, has somewhat enraged them, and
they have already given the emIgranls a
great deal of trouble stealing their animals,
and robbing them Of their baggage, prov'-
sion, money, &c. and in some n.tanceS,
attacked and killed several. They are
The most expert swimmers l have seen,and
remarkably strong in the water. They
frequently carry bundle of clothing upon
their heads, 10 keepit dry,) with the
lariarS OF three muies in their hands which
they manage with most surpr'zlng dex'
IerIty IN .his swift stream. Their usua
plan OF stealing. is while crossing the bag
gage on their small RATS, or swimming
over with animals ; when they reach
the middle of the stream. they turn down
and The current in few minutes carrie.
them far beyond the reach Of the loser
when they land, and hide their plumber ir
The thcke,. until the emig grants have lef
the river. Property TO the amount o
thousands of dollars has been taken
from The emIgrants, in this way. IL
endeavornig TO get INTO the bank of tn.
river about a mile below the crossing, in
an almo,, impenelrable thickrt. l. acc'den
tally discovered one of their pens for hid
ing anlmals &c., but II was empty. The
Yumas are fine looking tribe, with well
formed ood,es, and regular and rather
handsome features They have greal
deal of money amongst them, land saw "a
high as $50 in gold coin paid for single
blanket. They wear no clothing 5u, the
hreech cloth except the few articles Of
dress h.v have procured Of travellers, III
uh rh ,he, attire themselves rather aw X.
wardl,. What would one ni our eastern
LADIES' ,aink, 1t walled upon by nnr "i lhe-.
lords OF cr-atl"n," ~uh but shir, and
Goa, 10 cover his nakedness. vet looking
rs G,gnlfied and VAN, as an enlightened
gentleman who has nothing but good
suit OF broadclnlh tn recommend him TO rheI,
notice! A foreign dress has a surprising
effect upon The character OF the Indian, al
once arousing his vanity and sef-estee.n
This strue Of all the tribes have yet seen
Afer seeing" how things we're TO b.
done" at the crossing, and engaging the
''boat," we retured TO camp. About IL
o'clock we packed up, and started down.
The boat was still in use, and we could dc
nothing but cross our mules. We hired
some Indians 10 swim over with them, one