The Red Cloud chief., 1885-05-29

into the f6spre. which they could not
control. and aeughel as they j%ourneyed.
instead Of cryinE; sang scraps Of from
tier songs. inste:5A of %recounting to each
other the story Of d<ir suferings.
Aud the women: Nhy. bless you.
dear reader. women ieasped long ago.
some centuries back. ItiAak it was. TO
sufler and be still. Not 0Ae woman
cried out at the hardships she ~ com.
PEELED to undergo during that txtole
journey. ~
cHAPTRB VI y
BKGIHxlX0 A VIEW BONL
Arriving At their destination each
head of . family selected his claim and
at once began the work Of erecting =
shelter.
John Parsons snd Bill Richie selected
claims rear to. though not adjoining.
each other, for the country here is
more broken than ON the Suscol Ranch,
much Of Il being unfit for farming OF
even Tor fruit growing; and very few
quarter sections can be found lying
wholly in q valley. :
Generally. il the squatter conld get .
claim. one-half Of which was in the val
ley. he was well contented TO take the
remainder upon the broken lands lying
upon the bluffs.
Such = claim was that which John
aud Martha Parsons, assisted BY Eras-
tus. selected.
1.-The boy has been faithful" said
John to his wife. Il don't know what
rou upN ~, o:.l. ,vcrld k.-r>~ Ia
for him. cr0ssih' the plains. an ! mean
to do the square thing by him il ever We
do get ahead q bit. Besides. the grit
which he showed back at the other
place ought to entitle him TO hev his
adyice axed. il only for good manner
sake; specially II 1t IL anything in
which he ID interested"
And thereafter nothing Of importance
to the family was ever fully decided
upon until Erastus had 9 given m
opportunity to express an opinion Of It's
wisdom or feasibility.
The valley in which most of our m.
gr ms had sought homes was scarcely
more than . quarter Of q mile wide: the
stream which watered Il keeping nearer
to the bluffs upon the right aide the
greater part OF the way. but occasion.
ally curving outward, near to or mast
the center Of this level strip, Of ground
between the hills.
Where the stream made o. Of IL.
curves. leaving between IT. chau>land
the bluff . handsome picoe Of groend OF
perhaps twenty-five acres, whichEvas
slightly higher taan the rest Of the hi.
ley, and 90 NOT likely 70 bc oycrfow1i
BY the wstcr during the winter freshex
and nea to the blulE, which sloped back
| gradually for some distance. did John
Parsons begin the erection Of his humble
Material for building VA scarce and
high. Lumber could have been OBJ
tanned had the settlers possessed the
means Of paving for it; but, lackiHg
this. they were obliged to do the best
they could with material furnished BY
nature upon or nees the spot Some
! dug into the sides II the hills. thus 60
! cur ng the walls for three sides of thei:
edwelhngs. the root and front being Of
such b;t OF lumber as they had brought
with them Of could purchase; in some
Instances the rude front being Of lum.
Ter which had once compooed dry.
FOODS boxes and in which the clothing
furniture Of the owners had been
rfs@Gbt from the States
PARSONS and Erassus. in prefer.
cuN q this style III half dug-oub de.
to build Of logs baA HSe6sf
~enkA 70 20 several
MR. 16Ffher INTO the hills and snak.
down the bodies of small spruce trees.
This took much time and hard work.
but willing hands made light Of il. and
three weeks from the day OF arrival the
family moved into their new house.
There was but one room. and that not
large; and the floor was the earth.
smoothed and beaten down. There
were two doors, with ; window upon
either side: the latter taken from the
cottage in the Suscol Ranch and
brought through in the wagon with the
bedding carefully packed sbout. them.
The furniture consisted Of some rough
shelvc. in corner sufficient to hold
q few pieces OF crockery in daily use. .
table. several chairs and two beds.
which. with the stOve. so tiled the sin
gle apartment that there was no room
for another bed. even il they had ro-
sessed it; and for the time Erastus slept
in the covered va.on, for which there
WAS little present use. and LATER on upon
\ bunk ON the dirty soor os tae shanty.
II WAS very far IRON being as CON-
Portable As the cottage back ON the Sus-
col Ranch. and a for elegance or effort
a, '.rc>pectabiIi;y" it made non. what
ever; WAS. ia fact. rs much below the
log hou>e 'bacS in the States which
the fatally haa LEFT rs the SuscoI cottage
IA been above il in that regard. am
this thought kent coming to John Par.
sons. AM ca,;saag b m ,winges Of PAL.
all the time they were at work on IL
but c Il ry db.nieilel beneath his
own ROOT. poor though he was. with his
family about him. and with the cheerful.
voce 81 his wife eve biddiag him take
eouragc. DE- Scoa ceased TO dwell upon
his disSp ointment. or a. lesst TO make
naeafiou of l..
The .rst thing 10 be done alter tl,t
shaafy Was Up and the fam;ly safel,
Sheltered MAS the securing Of provende,
ior the teams; for while domestic snA |
mais VIII hse al wluie- on Hha. thcs |
Al PICK. and in ordinary seasons come |
through IN good condition: vet they
can not do this il rcau red to work. and
our friends had sod to break for next
Ssson 5 crop. So they set about gath |
eung the wild grasses which with
wonaertui iu~xrr:anec during the rainy
montas. r yellow and brown vher
tne dry season comes on. curing IS per.
tecuy where they grow a by The nm