The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1864-09-15
jEAR TELEGRAPH:

in quest of his prey-my thoughts have
been busy with ''the friends I've left behind
me- d goodIy number Of whom, am proud
to say reside in your beautiful city--and |
seat inyself to redeem the promise made to
YOU, and converse with them at the same
timefgiving you brief sketch of our journey
thus far: 09G ss354f3J ,5lblOAilh F.
On arriving at Omaha, Nebraska June 1st
we found the city crowded with emigration
teams bound for IDAHO, California, and.
Oregon but by far the greater portion en-
route for the first named place. This year
the cry Westward Ho !" to thousan DIS
and thousands means Idaho -. Pitch your
tent on any camping ground between here
and Omaha distance of $50 miles and you
will find evidence of its having been put to
the same purpose, dozens of times before; on
the road side at every step almost are, fresh
trench-like excavations used by the emf
grant for cooking. For the POO miles the
Wondering carcass of the OK, the horse, has
not been an unusual spectacle. They-lie
from drinking the. dreaded alkali streams
faom want of food, from excess OF labor.
And other and sadder sights greet the emf
grants eye as he slowly plods hisfway along
Small hillocks rise by the roadside; a sim
pie pine slab, no costly marble marks the last
long resting place of the weary traveller as
he falls asleep in the wilderness. A great
many see by the date have been OF long
standing, but dozens of those mounds have
been raised within the past few months; one
evidence of the. immense amount OF travel
over this road during the present season.
Some of the inscriptions on these head
boards are extremely touching "He fell by
the road side" reads one, respect his re-
mains, for the sake of his mother who bore
| him :" Not one but would sooner use his
wagon for fuel than rob the grave OF the on
| ly evidences Of the resting place OF its dead,
| for are we not all brethren, and who can tell
who among US will next fall by the way
side" But see, the ravenOus wolves have
made sad inroads i'll to this sephulcre, you
turn away from the sickening sight. 1t is
hard to die, but, @, God {! doubly SO to perish
hundreds ofsmiles away from home and
| friends. @ El
! Taking the ''North Platte route" 30
| miles from Omaha We struck the Platte rlv-
er; stream varying in width from five to
one half mile. Owing to late rise we
| POUNDS its banks filled to OVERLOOKING, it
having a current far exceeding either the
Mississippi or Missouri for swiftness. But
must jump the country from Omaha to
Fort Kearnev a distance of l 81 miles or |
shall never land you in Idaho. The feed for
stock between the two places was good and
roads passable. At kearney you bid fare
well to civilizations; a long stretch OF $50
miles is before you ere you again see hui
man habtation--save and except the lodge
| of thered man, those curious and airy struc-
/ lures of skins and poles. For the last 100
miles between the two forts the roads be-
come more sandy and undulating In place
of the platte Valley" lies strip Of land
from one to ten miles ip width; high butts
rising back Of it and extending as lar as the
eye can reach. These bluffs sometimes ex-
tend to the banks of the river and the roa d
! winding over and around them is one Of
the hardest and most toisome Imaginable
The bluffs are covered with sand and stones;
the only vegetation they sustain consists of
species of ''bunch grass" and Buffalo
grass, both very short, indeed, and the sage
4 plant;- the latter resembling the cultivated
in our gardens and so much used by anti
quated DANES in the stuffing of that most
foolish of birds, the goose. 1t grows from
one to four feet high, the larger trees max
ling quite desirable article of fuel. + s1t !
Iccopy the following from my diary of
recent date which may possibly be of in
terest; 'H
| TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANs--0NE MAN
+ SHOT = 4>fA- r AfSi.
i Thursday, July IA. -Nothing Of note oc-
Cured until we passed Chimney Rock it is
seventy miles east of Laramie, and'is in
deed a wonder. A.high black rock, closely
resembling a chimney rises hundreds OF feet
from tile bosom of bluff which at short
distance appears to be perfectly round, aud
1850 feet high. This rock can plainly be
seen at distance OF go miles, its black
peak proudly pointing heavenwards.
. For long distance back we had been
warned to be on our guard against Indians:
but we paid little heed to the stories Of terri
rble Indian massacres, treating them as idle
rumors-the iInagionings OF timld zones.
Yet an occasional grave with, KILLED
Iby Indians" carved on the head board
would cause the most incredulous of us to
| think for the moment that perhaps after all
the reports were well-fouuded; and indeed
to our sorrow, we found they were stern re-
alities, GGE. G4Eu a-kVD 80 p
| AT. early candIo-light as Mr.C. e. Hans
come of LaCrosse-a gentleman KNOWN there
as a prohiinant business man, was leading
| his mules from the river where he h ad heen
! for The purpose Of watering them, eight noun
ted Indians instantaneously surrounded him
and by whoops and yells tried to stampede
his mules. Hanscome probably held the
lariats attached to them, firmly frustrating
their designs whereupou, at a distance Of
a few 'feetony, they shot him through the
head, the bail scattering his brains in all di-
rections. The camp being half a mile from
the riyer-the increasing darkness render
| ed the participators in this sad drama al
most Invisible. The only intimation .eof-it
we had was the report of the rifle. Chase
was soon given but the red dis had too
much the start to be overtaken. An hour
afterwards six horse Wagons drove intoTour
correl; they had been attacked, one man be-
ing wounded through the face. After seve-
raj shots on both sides the Indians retreated.
A guard of the whole was formed that
night. Long rifles, savage six-shooters
CLEANED in the moonlight from beneath
those forty wagons and they were in the
hands Of men not to be trihed with No |
thing further was seen or heard, however of
the savages until the first peep of day when
about fifty slowly filed round our camp. |
Finding us prepared to give them warm
raca,,+ioy, Fer sna,5inr, a., Io,,,r ss;n u 4