Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1859-06-10

NAV be are too busy coring up the gold gain time
write But their place is well supplied by gentleman
formerly of this Borough, who writes the annexed rae
and we doubt not truthful Old friend here
who kindly Furnished it for the benefit OF tie reader
of the STAE CHRONICLE. l-EDIToRs.
PL,rry RIVER NEBRASKA, :, ro,,el
Tor ilke's Peak, May H. 1889. !
DElR SIR: Beside line camp fire and Ian
tern, my loaf of bread for tomorrow being
baked, and the other men on the watch having
started on the round in the dark 10 keep the
Pawnees from the horses, | merely say for the
present, seated on the ground, with provision
box for desk, how d'you do away back there
in Slowmoliondom (pardon that- Brickhouse-
dom mean-wlth your comforts and your
kindred and your bridges and your churches
and your civilization and fresh beef steaks
every morning without even Cooking 1t your
SELF But perhaps ii would have been better
for The ten thousands of fast people" oi the
Western States ii they had Staid al home too.
instead of starting for Pixies Peak gold re-
gions, as and your old pupil II. in company
with three others of oGr party, have done. The
hundreds, always within sight of each other,
now on the Plains see sight that the Cali
fornia trains that passed and still pass over
never saw. They meet hundreds of wagons
and long lines OF men coming back and pro-
nouncins II humbug.
April lllh, we left Sterling. Illinois. With
out an incident except wadlng sloushs and
..rivers," and now and then chase alter
prairie wolf and halt al the Holland Dutch
town of Pela (Pella with Holland Dutch
accent with its Amsterdam built houses and
cords of wooden shoes and 5000 inhabitants
and 5000 more Hoanders seuling around IT.
We spent a month in crossing Iowa, where
after purchasing our outfit, we lelt for 'ihe
mines" before any more returning pilgrims
should meet us. At Omaha, Just opposite
sthe Bluffs" the newly appointed Governor,
Sam Black of Penn'a, gave me a letter to Gen.
Lane for general use. Ii is beautiful spot
Omaha. From the dome of the Capitol, you
can see Florence above, "The Bulls OF some
5000 inhabitants opposite, and then there
were thousands in wagons and tents camped
all around for miles. While camping in
ravine there, instead Of frightening even the
most tmid, no one could have helped laugh
ing at midnight at the howling songs of the
Pawnees camped in ravines around and above
US. There was a requiem mournfulness
about it, but the 800 tented emigrants all
laughed. The filthy habits OF these BRAVES"
and "Hiawathas" they had not read of, had
dimished their respect for the Pawnee abor-
iginees at least
May llih, we left Omaha. The first day
out, hand carts and wagons by dozens met
the long lines of wagons going west, and at
every meeting inquiries were made. Each
day, the number returning increased, but the
unshaven crowds now pass each other, every
half mile, mostly without word. Ol the 4o
men that had camped and nooned and watch
ed horses with us for several days aud nights,
but men with two wagons remain. The
rest have returned. Three of our party of
five don't care whether they go on or back
One of the three talks obviously. H. and
walk him and talk going through into him.
The other two, like familiars of the Inquisi-
tion, walk him aud still We trudge on our 20
or 25 miles day over the vast plain. The
Pawnees sometimes stand in groups and look
on as if they didn't know what TO make of it;
and the sun-burnt throng going east looks
slyly at the wind tanned crowd going west,
as if they felt sold and had lost their tin, and
we would soon feel more SO. Yesterday,af after
hours of silence, a tall fellow, eastward bound,
with his head through Mexican blanke,,and
a sword cane with the cane lost, stepped from
the ranks and made Shakespearean sally, If
T., ,t, pa, ard hnnnd tr1
"Un! ye brave, and win laurels yet unwon on
the highest top of Pixies Peak" &c. &c. A
laugh and hurfa went over the Plain and over
the Platte, and every Indian in the village on
The opposite bluff stood up, but the eastward
bound and the westward bound moved on,and
whether the Indians sat down again or not,
We didn't turn around 10 see.
The onward bound are generally not so
greedy fer gold as the homeward bound, though
many cf the former are returning from ncces-
sity. The pospccts OF gold at Pixies Peak
aad Cherry Creek are poor at present. What
they may be month So from this, may
be able to inform you al Aurara, X. T. In
the meantime, write 10 me there, and If any
citizens Of your county are ANXIOUS 10 90 TO
Pixies Peak. tell them to wait aud the truth
viii soon be ont. One BasSet, Post Master at
Auraria, has been shot for forging letters that
induced men to sacrifice property. Other
letter writers are threatened. One Curtis (son
OF Nebraska Senator) now on his way 10 the
Peak for the second time, with two wagon
loads OF provisions, threw himself down under
our wagon where we nooned two days ago.
hihireds are hunting him to kill him. We
'-.1 a.i Of II, Jlt he knows i. and don't Gaze.