Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-04-15
A FREIoHTER's LIFE.
Dangers Incurred by Tenderfoot Travellers
In Early Days.

''The life of freighter in the early
days of the West was far from being
the romantic snap it is sometimes de-
scribed," remarked Reuben Wood, q
well-known plains man, as he tilted
back in a soft-bottomed chair at the
Markham yesterday. 81 have been on
the frontier thirty three years and have
passed through about every hardship
that falls to the lot of the pioneer, but
the greatest hardships l ever expert.
enced were encountered while driving
mule teams from the Missouri river to
distributing points along the mount
aims"
Being pressed to speak more fully
upon a subject of which the present
generation knows but little, the pioneer
proceeded:
THE wagons were loaded at Omaha,
Nebraska City, Atchisop, Leavenworth
or Kansas City for a long journey of
several months duration, and embrac-
ing 1,200 to 1000 miles of travel. Some
freighters preferred oxen for the work,
but always preferred the mule on ac-
count of his greater endurance and
water. Why, I've seen six-mule team
revived so much by being turned loose
to roll over in the hot sand that the
mules imagined that they had been
treated to a square meal. My outfit
usually consisted of twenty-five teams
and thirty men armed with Spencer
rifles and revolvers as protection
against the redskins. There were
bad Indians in those days. They
lurked behind rocks and hills,
and were likely to dash down
upon the unsuspecting traveller at any
moment. l never knew an Indian at
tack to be made In the night, but at
daylight, just as the first reflection of
the SUMS rays began to appear, the red
devils were in full bloom, and woe to
the camp that was not thep carefully
guarded.
But Indians were not the only dan
ger which the freighter was called upon
to face. The intense heat of summer
and the fierce sG0r1as of winter beat
upon him, and it required man of
strong constitution to withstand the
strain. Sand storms sweep across the
plains for days In succession, and the
snowstorms in the colder months were
sometimes terrible. AS the freighter's
capital was invested in his outfit, he
kept it moving all the year round, and
no sooner was one trip completed than
another was commenced The big
wagons were covered with white sail
cloth, and each wagon was loaded with
about six thousand pounds of freight
This included provisions of all
kinds, such as -four, sugar, ha-
con, salt and liberal sup
ply of whisky and tobacco, which
were always in strong demand In
the frontier settlements. We travelled
abont twenty-five miles a day, and if
the day was too hot or the Indians I'M
usually pesky, we often made the jour
ney by night. The route from Omaha
to Denver across the prairies and sand
hills covered distance of six hundred
miles, whose western end was a mile
higher than the Missouri river The
round trip usually occupied about sixty
days, and the profits sometimes reached
ten thousand dollars.
THE first time L saw Denver" con-
tinued Dir. Wood, lit was a little col
lection OF log huts, and the nearest set
Element was another log-hut town along
the placers of Clear Creek canyon. Flour
then sold at sixteen cents a pound and
other kinds of provisions in proportion.
We always aimed to strike the best
market, and when we learned that anv
point was well supplied with the neces-
saries Of life we steered in some
other direction, landing in Montana
or even Salt Lake City, which is
1000 miles from the Missouri. Buffalo
were usually In sight, and it was not
necessary to leave the main trail to Sc
cure supply of fresh meat. As time
passed, the great trains of wagons ex-
tended hundreds of miles In almost IN
broken line and dense cloud of dust
could be traced as far as the eve could
reach. / have seen thousands of Nor.
mons on their way to Utah and great
trains of settlers bound for Oregon and
California At night their camp fires
formed an almost unbrolxen chain from
the mountains to the Missouri river.
''Once upon leaving Atchison," con-
tinued he, "a party of tenderfeet with
five wagons asked permission to cross
the plains with u.s." There were eleven
men in the party and ten of them lie
buried under pile Of stones in g ravine
about seven miles from Plum creek.
Wncn we reached the ravine the leader
of the eenderfeet said: Wood, let's
stop and feed here, refused, on the
grounds that the Indians were danger
Gus and the spot was not safe one Tor
a camp. The man replied:
oh, we're not afraid. Why, we've
not seen an Indian on the way out
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