The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1878-09-05
i,010 MILES By EAG0E.
from Texas to New Jersey and Back

From Texas 10 New Jersey and Bacl
ItOber. Elder and his wife, who n
side near Brazoris, Texas, a tow
about sixty miles west OF Galveston
decided that they would pey a Wis
; 70 friends residing in NOrristOWI
ia. Years ago, when Elder VS.
young, aEd he and his wife travele
IN wagon from Shreveport, La., I
the place in Texas where they settled
and since then, having no occasion I
move, the use of railroads and Pull
man cars remained unknown I
them, whilst the possibilities OF
prairie schooner" (eanVass-covere,
wagon was bright memory. The
recognized in it all that was necessarl
10 Pleasantly journey 1000 miles from
home and back, and accordingly thev
hitehed up the soIIel team, and oil
the 10Th Of JANUARY last they lef
BrsZOria, and on the 81 OF Angus
they arrived in Philadelphis. Yester
day they started on their long Journey
home, drawn by the same sOrTeI team
and riding in the identical Uprairie
schooner" in which they left the
Lone star State. Their friends had
moved from Norristown, and tht
nain object Of their journey was moi
accomplished. Nevertheless they
hac q good time, and drove to Abse.
CON- and from there rode over to At
lsntie City in the cars, their first
railroad experience, to see the ocean.
They spent day there and drov G
| over to Camden and encamped at the
foot OF ofSpruce street for q few days,
having the wagon repaired and lay
ing In supplies. They were Just 200
days on their trip, averaging ten
miles day on the road. II they
make the same time back the sorreI
team will draw up at BraZOrIa on the
10th OF next March, and the travellers
will hEye been gone Just fourteen
months. 1t Is not many years since
prairie schOoners in fleets spotted the
plains vest OF the Missouri, and in
the far West there is many a family
that jOurneyed across the Rockies and
Sierras to their new home. But the
completion Of the Central Union Pa
eific Railroad thrOttled the prosperity
OF the prairie schooner and as an in
stitutiOn it ceased to exist, although
it Is still used to a limited extent.
Two lines Of railroad stretch from st.
Louis to the Gulf, and steamships
ply between ports on the Texan
coast and New Orleans and New
York, so that Robert Elders method
Of coming North was evidently chOs-
en- not out OF necessity.
My friends at hOme," he relates,
"tried 10 dissuade me from goIn' in q
wagon, but / knOwed what comfort
is, and reekOned on havin' a good
time, not only when we got here, but
on the road, too. Well, we've had it.
You see l am paralyz in my right
side, and can't do much, and the old
woman she knows how TO take care of
bosses, and she bein' right keen to
come, l says to her, says /, well do
it, We fitted up the wagon with q
stove and cOokln' things, got the bed
din, new harness for the hOsses, and
the boys gave US q send off. We left
our two sons and da'ter to run the
place, and on the 10th of January we
started" The old man tells his story
with many a deviation from the nee.
es5sry line o! narrative. So blowing
away the chGff OF his relation, the
story Of the trip may be put in this
condensed fOIm The line OF route
was north 800 miles from Dallas, on
the line of the Texas-Pacific Rail-
road, and thence east to Shreveport,
Louisiana, where they crossed the
Red river on the lst OF March. The
first part OF the journey was made in
easy stages. The first day eleven
miles was accomplished, and during
the entire trip the most ground COW
cred In one day wss seventeen miles.
The start was usually made early In
the morning, and the six midday
hours were spent in the shade where
the horses could forage. When the
shadows grew long they hitched the
sorrels and prairie schooner together
again and logged along. When it was
necessary 10 reach good camping |
ground, where there was water, pas |
ture and fuel, they frequently drove |
the task of one day without stopping,
and with the exception OF the 4ta OF
April, when they rested twenty-fOur |
hours and had their wagon repaired |
at Chattanooga, they shifted around |
1aily. Elder is not exactly clear as |
TO his dates, ard he only remembers |
the day when some of the $40 he |
started with Was expended. Such Oe-
casions he has vivid recollection Of.
From Shreveport the route was
across the northern part OF Louisiana,
over bad roads to VicBsburg, at which |
point the Mississippi river was cross
ed, thence TO Jackson and then north |
10 the State line of Tennessee and |
Mississippi, near COrinth, when they |
entered the valley of the Tennessee |
river and followed its tOrtuous wind |
ings through Huntsville, Ala. ; Chat
tsnOogs, Knoxville, Tenn. Bristol,
Va, striking the POtO- |
mac at Alexandria. They stopped at
q few hours and visited |
the Capitol, and thence through Bal |
timore, Havre de Grace and Will
mingtOn.
ION the way back we think we will |
90 by way OF Baltimore and over the |
Did national turnpike to Wheeling |
and Cincinnati, through st. Louis, |
Little Rock, Ark, to Shreveport, and |
down to the mouth of the BraZOs, |
where / reckon the people will all |
turn out to SEE us, that is, IL we ever |
get thar, and ] don't see why we
We reckon we'll get into |
the Ohio Valley before winter breaks. |
So the roads will be all right. We
will be on the turnpike during the
TALL, but we can keep warm IN the
wagon. Oh I've figured 1t all out |
On this map" Elder displayed q !
wrecked sheet of paper,
cut from an old atlas. It was a map
0f all the States, with the principal !
towns given, and beyond the answers
10 personal inquiries, 1t was the only
guide the sailors and passengers OF
the "pralrie schooner" have had.