The morning call., 1892-02-21
ACROSS THE PLAINS
In EARLY DAYS.
4 Pioneers "Reminiscences Of Events Of
the Long Ago.
From Missouri to California - Magnitude Of
the Emigration-Vast Herds Of BufTaloes.
Adventures by the Way.
NUMBER ONE.
Written for TIE SUNDAY CALI.


Long may il be before tile exploits, the
adventures and tie hardships of the pio-
neers who tracked their way or made peril
Gus voyages to California in the golden days
Of 1880 form a dull narrative Tor resi-
dents on The Pacific Coast. a number Of
railways now cross the continent, and the
journey is easy and, as a matter of fact
COMMONPLACE Fast steamers and the
- Panama Railroad have also robbed the
isthmus rOute of It's terrOrs and diminished
the risk Of lis fevers. In a word, Cali
foruia has become accessible to the
world, and the settler, the business
traveller and the tourist come to it
with as much facility as they could
hope 10 enjoy in reaching any other part Of
the United States But in those far-Ctf days
which happily can be recalled with feel
ings Of pride by many citizens still IN our
midst or in tile East-the country Itself was
practically little known, and the inter
vening country west OF the Missouri
was wild. The explorer had trayeTsed
the ground, but as Yet the explorers
notes and roughly traced maps were not
common property to the thousands who
faced the difficulties of the march across the
plains 1t was a journey that required
courage, and the fact that qualities OF self
reliance and endurance were needed was
- instrumental in drawing forth tie strong
and hardy for the enterprise. The better
Tor protection and assistance most of the
emigr8uts came IN companies, well
equipped and pT0visiOned, some Of them
Numbering hundreds Of men, prepared
fer any emergency and others compare
lively small in numbers. Terrible as were
the sUIfellugs If many on this journey, and
deploTa0e As was the loss Of life, yet the
harislips that had 10 be endured when
once IN the /. Dorado must have been Vet
more appalling 10 thousands who IN dire
straits found themselves starving hCuSelesS
and destitute Of money and even clothing,
except such cover as q blanket could provide.
There were times when many must have
wished heartily that they had never left
their comfortable homes IN the East, and
had preferred moderate gains 10 tie ylClSsI-
tudes of speculation ana hazard VIII % they
were now experiencing. Those who were
iu distress we're compelled 10 stay and those
Who pTOspered preferred 20 STAY. The gen
eral movement was forward IN the van
gushing Of difficulties. and ere long the
haTijEOOd and the Trs0UrCeful energy or the
pioneers tTiumphed over obstacles, and on
ward this State and the whole coast has
kept 10 progress, The struggles Of the past
have become a matter OF memory and reni-
Hisceuce, and ID the sunshine Of tC-aay's
prosperity it Is Wel-uiEL uncomfortable that
in so short time so much saOuld have hap
Pened
Meeting one Of the venerable Brother
hood Of Pioneers the other day the writer
obtained from him narrative OF his eNpe-
T!suees. The story has DO doubt various
points Of resem blance TO the experience Of
others but yet is well worth telling.
THE GOLD FEVER AND CHOLERA.
T started frrn - -nis for California
harar mn friend in tie .n-in7 If 1910
mo who'll oruutr1- was c7nyuI,ed with CIV
element consequent upon tie announce
ment Of tie discovery II gold ana In every
cross fra mains That U.ss The ,l4r..ars-
lie wear m which cholera RACED I'm The
T-nftai states An I'M tra Missouri If
was varv prevalent and the n0rtsIi+v
49, frs.f.-f-,r ~ .rri- list "a ..-aa-
menv I,aCria end tEe loom v@s
eli fla moo 1arrassfr- 1,a.s,.sl ~ "a 4f.aasa
ennearad eIIur rhe lime a crest fra &C.
currsd peDrI- frrk41 Inf1 II rrf, 10 fin
ont -r tie overland forrnpv 10 CaI.f.rni-.
- 49, -Is7 ~ IN f-a Nffssl-.rf "a
T -'r st.rt48 los ne MINIS
nv teams L. VAS only after most other
r,eonla rad har1lr tile journey that decided
70 q. I had at FIRST no Intention Of pro-
ceedIug 10 tie Pacfe Coast. but events
happeTpd 10 change my mind, and I
decided TO seek what fortune there
was in store lot me. Well, we started at
the end NJ Nav and very soon had 10 run
tie gauntlet Of the cholera visitation. We
took steamer from St. Louis, and went up
the Missouri The cholera was heard Of
eli tha wav. Our first experfence Of il was
at jefferson CITY. Mo A steamer had a
few DAYS previously gone up the river with
a load Of emiCrants. and when we passed
Jefferson Civ this steamer was fastened I'D
below tie landing and lime had been scat
tered over IT, The cholera broke out on
ttiS boat with such fearful vIruleuce
that the passengers fad ashore. and
more than half Of them died. and tie greater
mart rf tbeIr merchandise and equIumpnt
far mel .11rnev was never called Tor. The
cov..f IN nae O. b.. ~ +Iosa ,tho fiaf paoDIa
ashore would not give shelter to the passeu-
gers, and they were In terrible plight.
From this point all tile way up We con-
stautly heard OF people dying Of cnoleIa,
and those Who were well were fright
ened beyond description. " G at length
reached ~. Joseph, which was one Of the
places that emlgTants began the overland
journey from. The rivers were IN very
ll-n state, ana We thought We could
get better across at this point than
elsewhere. 1t was now the end Of
May, and tie steamer which mad been con-
veyiug passengers 20 the western shore had
been drawn OF. We found good deal II
difficulty 10 picking up team, but we did
succeed in getting eight yoke Of cattle and
IA other respects we fitted out for the
march. We could not get wagon horses OF
mules without paying more for them than 1
could afford, but l obtained one horse, The
river was crossed on fat-D0at with the
utmost difficulty, because the water was
b Oh and the wind blew with great force
After going down stream more than a mile
we reached the western shore and landed
safely. There being neither settlements
nor buildings or any kind alter crossing the
river Ne set up tent and camped out
Next day we commenced the march and had
10 60 through belt OF timber elght or ten
miles deep. We succeeded In getting
through thS Delt IN spite OF Huu ana pools
OF water 8nc reached the hlgAeI ground
where tie bluffs come down.
AN EMIGEANT's CAMP.
On the high ground We found 1000 or 5000
peorle ia camp ready TO start across the
Mains Thev we're ruakfoo grand bnIida,,