Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-01-18
Engineering in the Northwcst.-.No. 3.
IN, Raudity of Wotk-Ronfae IN Camp--Ihe
style Of LiuHg- orr Amwemen's-1he Ma"
Day-in al the Forts.

MONTPELIER, Dec. 2s, 1870
R,ripirt or woRK-TnE ROUTINE
The country we were in favored swift work
We were new in the field We made q distance
Of 80 miles the first week. about as much as the
length Of the Wells River railroad But the diff
ference in the country makes prodigious diler.
encc in speed And our work was prclhnin-
airy; it was feeling of the country it was pro-
spccting for line. We set our stakes every 200
feet and at every 2OO0 feet drove a bench stake
which gave the distance run. and the elevation of
that stake above the level Of the sea- We saw
no equal distance Of 50 level and smooth country
after the FIRST week Before that was finished we
had got fairly out of the Red River valley and
mounted the cotedu or ridge between the Red River
and the Devils Lake. The country became gem
/ tly rolling and gradually rising 50 that it was
easy to work in.
THE STYLE on LIVING.
Cur style of living was simple. We carried
camp equipogc and mtions with u.s. We had
seven Red River carts and one two-hor-c wagon
for transportation. A, the country we tmycr,cd
was dry, lour-mule teams would have been hr
better We were eighteen men in the party,
some more men having been engaged 60, George
town. This force was divided into two corps
one the engineer corps the other the train corps
The first did the engineer work 100 the field, thc
other moved the camp and did an the work per-
tanning to it. In the camp corps were d cook and
assistant cook Every man was his own cham
bermaid and made up his he'd just us softly as he
could The ground was our spring mattra,-, up-
On that we spread our blankets, piIowing our
heads upon our trunks, which consisted Of Min
nc1polis grain sacks stuffed with our clothes.
The engineer corps went into the field ia soon u-
we ate our breakfast which We took between six
and seven O'Clock The clmp corps moved the
camp nearly every day when we were 40 work
The engineer corp. did no ,ulll amount of walk
ing, for the camps could seldom Dee plaal upon
the line, and usually we had 70 walk 90 camp
from the line. We were divided into two me--c-
We had our nristocratc and plcb8n circles
Some ate from table, tine rest did NOT very much
Some sat on camp st1ols-lor we had four or five.
some sat on the ground ou d box of -acrtus, or
key, or yalise, ir be could find one Tn.
% cattle had long table, but it was weak in
its knees and would " lop over after it was set.
to the great disgust OF the cook Every man
took the best care Of himself that he could. Camp
life on the plains if very selfish, lit j., ike hogs
IN pen, the strong get the greatest share Of the
desirable things The golden rule does not
rule in it,.
We were usually good eaters,--a prairie appe-
lite is yoracious. Our bill of fare was not var1u.
If it was select We had pork and ham. fresh
meat when some one shot duck, OF chicken. OF
goose, or antelope. At the forts wc got very good
! fresh beef We had wheat bread all the time .-
no other kind at any time We bud rice. and at
| Fort I0tten got some homiuy Sardinc. were cs-
tcemed great luxury in the start, but they
] spoiled and few could he brought 90 try SUR
dine. We had tea and coffee the last fair. the
inst miserable Invariably we had dried apple,
butter, canned tomatoes, peaches, pickles, and
'inegar. The outfit was the rod-tapc enc lt
was obviously not the best in some respects. Pork
three times day is an ablminlton. particularly
N warm weather. Any man with small knowl-
edge Of hygiene and detc,ics would make DIFF
erent, more nutritious, and withtl a hcaltaicr
Dill Of fare than we had for less cost We had
enough and ate it heartily Bot looking to The
best condition Of the men, letter bin might have
'een made for us, aud for the company Il is
acnseless to follow ID formulas
| ouE uusnnNr'
We did not lavish much time on any Kind of
cmusements, from very lack of it, and of them.
too. Duck shooting was generally possible and
few made much Of that. Shooting was Gne.-
but dressing the game was quite another thing
Wild geese and chickens were frequent and
furnished good sport tor the hunter From Red
River to lake Wnnwaken there was NJ f,hinr.
tut Mt Fort Iotten the finest pclerel wsr, taken
t'om the lake. They slrpi,4 any ever saw in
the East, except those Of Caumuqua Like in
New York. They arc shorter, thicker and of
very fine flavor They eat pork with ayidity
r Once in the while the camp was agi,a.el by TO-
orts Of antelope. We saw considerable herd. of
them sometimes while at work, bat we could not
sop for their chase. 4 few We're shot: more e,-
clped when they came within range They are
dHcult to get. They run with amazing speed.
and you must hit them in a vital place to stop
rem, but their flesh is delicate beyond al des-
cription.
Rarely we had a rainy day We ssta store
on them, for % rest after several DAYS continual
, ramping is welcome On such days the mapping
and profling was done up-while those who did
cot have to work pursued the abstruse and vet not
worrying mysteries of euchre, California LOO,
itch-pokor, and other friendly innocent games
rot practiced by the Heather Chinee Some
Of our party eyinced the most decided taste for
royel reading. David Coppcrfeld and Nicholas
Nickebly and other good fellows became our
constant companions We slept with them, ate
with them and worked with them am sure
e that their genial fellowship went ian to relieve
the tedum Of camp longings, where newspapers
were like angels visits, in respect to frequency
at least
When we laid in camp long enough, we
usually built rousing camp fire in the evening
j and about that we gathered for talk and singing
y There were several in the party who, without
d pretensions as singsts, would give volume, if not
rayishing melody to a chorus. Their repertoire
oil songs was not very large, nor were the selec-
d tons Of the most refined character. The range
. Of our taste was pretty wide Sentimental and
o comic songs rollickng choruses, and snatehes Of
II operate airs were mixed up in caprcious conru-
n sion, as the different members Of the camp circle
suggested his preference.
Our first Sunday and Monday evenings in
;, Dakota, early in September, were passed in camp
Il on branch Of the Goose River We had been
G three or four weeks from home, the most Of US
n without a word from there One hyorte song
s vas then sung Write me letter from home 80
In that, am sure all Joined, if not audibly yet
sincerely and earnestly, for letter from home on
" tie prairie was most cordially welcomed 1t was
l. here that we witnessed the illustration Of the
poetical tribute to the potency and charm Of mu-
o SIC Az we sat about the camp fire, which shone
: brightly, and sung the guides, both half breeds,
drew up beside us and smoked their kllikinlnk
and listened. They seemed to be well enough
pleased with the sentimental songs, but these
were not so much to their taste as the rousng
o college choruses. The last they could not with
stand they fell in and beat time with their hands
. stirred by an impulse they could not resist, and
with true civilized oncomiums, rapturously APP
" ! nloude1 nntfe RflI a.,