The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-10-02
From the Dallas Herald.
From the Dallas Herald. az
PASSAGE OF NIcCULLOUGH'S EMIGRANT
TRAIN ACROSS THE STAkED PLAIN
INTERVENING DESCRIPTION OF THE
COUNTRY.
FRANKLIN, Texas, July 3, 1923.

lPASSAGE OF McCULLOOGHS EMiSHANi
INTERVENING DESCRIPTION OF TIL
COUNTRY.
Franklin, Texas, July 8, 1923.
l drop you a few lines to give you fan
description of our trip to this place, whic!
is on the Rio Grande, opposite I'll Paso. !
left Dallas on the 18th of April last, Will
McCullough's California train, and arrived
at Isletta, on the Rio Grande, on the 29ti
of June, and this place on the lst inst.
being out 73 days-distance travelled 7Gl
miles. -u...- ......
We all left Dallas in good spirits, bound
for California, with good teams, II wagons
A. yoke of good oxen, q herd of Pecan Bay.
GU, and our own of 1900 head of CATTLE
We travelled slow, but steady. Passet
Camp Colorado, a pleasantly situated fort
and fine town in fine country, with gooG
soil and fine timber; thence to Fort Chad
bourne, on the waters of the Colorado
This is lovely situated fort and town, Oh
high mound, surrounded by many pleas
ant groves, while in the distance is seer
many high hills and beautiful valleys. From
Fort Chadbourne we travelled south to the
Concho river, old Camp Johnson then fol-
| lowed up the Concho to the edge Of the
AucrlCdH DcstTb. lHe 3ucS ol tUt
country from Dallas to the edge Of the Des.
ert is pleasantly diversified with rolling
lands and level valleys, and very rich and
productive soil, and one Of the best stock
growing countries that ever passed
through: streams of pure water, and abund-
ance of grass and timber, plenty for fencing,
fuel, building, Sc.
From the north Of Concho we struck out
to cross the Desert, aiming to strike the
Pecos river at the Horse Head crossing; but
missing the road the first nights travel, we
| had no time to spend in reconnoiterlng.
We pressed on in the direction, guided by
the compass of the river at the point. The
third day out, in the morning, we started
with the famishing herd ahead of the train.
The cattle becoming very exeitable, and
tray cling on very fast walk, we pressed on
as hard as We could. At midnight the herd
| got u fresh breeze, and turned to the north
on an Indian trail, and travelled most furi-
ously, the men fighting them in front to keep
them in place.
| At day break we struck the Belknap road,
fifteen miles from the we'll known sandhills,
where We Succeeded in turning the cattle on
| the road. Here one Of our men, J. Ramsay,
l.
throwing him. His head was partly scalped,
his collar bone broken, and otherwise badly
bruised. Six shots had to be fired before
the enraged animal fell. AS soon as the
herd reached the road they pitched off and
run north into deep drifted sand. Here we
had a desperate struggle to save the herd,
| fighting them back for four long hours,
they pressing US hard, and all Of them fight
Ing mad. q
At last one file Of the most furious steers
led out again, when we set to and succeeded
in hcrding them towards the road, which
they soon struck, and by four O'Clock we
arrived in the sandhiIIs, where we found
many ponds of weak alkali water, and saved
the lives Of the furnishing men and cattle
! The herd had no water for seventy six hours.
and Travelled one hundred and thirty miles.
The herdsmen were without water or nour-
! ishment thirty hours. Their exercise was
very hard, riding and following at the cat
tie, and was calculated to bring thirst soon.
The men suffering extremely for the want Of
water and sleep; many shot down the fam
| ishing bulocks on the road, stuck them.
pulled off their shoes or boots, caught the
! thick, hot blood and drank it freely, and by
SO doing saved their lives. The cattle were
all very much excited, and many of them
would fight, and the men were compelled to
shoot many.
! We went into the sand hills with 1000
head Of cattle or struck the sand with that
number, and left with about | $50, many Of
the missing having died for the want of
water. On arriving the men We're all excl
ted, and hardly knew their comrades.
| Dan Murray, Wheatly, kelton and Collier,
would never have got to water had not some
| of the herdsmen been sent on after water
and returned to them. They stopped by the
! side Of the road. We had no provisions bu,
fresh beef for three days, and became much
reduced, and none Of us We're able for service
| Ours was the first train that had arrived in
the Sand hills this year.
! The oxen Of the train became wild and
unmanagable, so the men unyoked them
thirty miles from the sandhills and started
them on the herd trail bat they became
alarmed for their safety on account of thirst,
fatigue, &C., and returned to camp, the
! oxen following the trail. When they struck
the road they scattered, and only twelve
cot in, the balance being lost; eighty head
/ Of good work oxen were lost. As soon as
possible communication was opened between
/ the head and train, which was kept up day
and night for nine days. The train was
rationed to one pint of water per day. In
the meantime the women and children were
brought into the herd camps. The loss of
our oxen rendered us nearly helpless the
few that were alive had only recovered in
| part from their great fatigue and thirst
! We are under great obligations to the Sher-
/ L.
helping US up the Sand hills. All in from
the Sand hills, we turned in and yoked wild
steers and rugged new teams, and started fo-
Pecos river, distance thirtv-two miles. which
we reached in safety. The Pecos is n mar
row, deep, winding ditch of a stream, from
forty to sixty feet wide, and very muddy, the
water slightly saline.
We travelled up the Pecos sixty miles. and
then struck west for the Guadalupe mount
ans. Got along very well; had some sick
ness no deaths. The Guadalupe Pass is a
difficult and dangerous one to pass through
though we got through safe, and arrived a,
the Rio Grade, at lsetta, on the 2Sth OF
June, in good condition, and made Franklin
by the lst Of July.
The great American Desert is barren
waste. Soil light color and alkaline nature.
producing mostly salt grass and few mez.
quite bushes and cactus. This kind OF
country extends from the Colorado to the
Rio Grande, is $50 miles in width and ex.
tends through the continent, being narrower
in some points. There are but few watering
places on the route from the Pecos to the
Rio Grande. The latter river is wide, deep
and muddy stream, and destitute Of timber
Grass was scarce.
| lsletta, a town settled by the Mexieans
has been settled 235 years and has popula.
ton of about 800 souls. The houses are
adobes. The land they cultivate is no,
fenced, lies in the wide valley. and is irriga.
ted with water that is brought fifteen miles
in large ditch. There is no enterprise
here; they raise plenty to live on and are con.
tented.
Franklin Opposite Ell Paso) is principally
an American town, has quite pleasant sit.
uation under high mountain, and close t,
the high hills of the Rio (rver) pass in thu
mountains. The buildings are adobes-no
much enterprise here. Fort Bliss, two
miles below, is pleasantly situated on 6
beautiful plain, setting out from the river,