The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-08-02

invited to cabinet meeting and will
bring up your matter for action. You
wait here till come back
In less than an hour Grant came back
and said in his brief way. I have fixed
it, Then he ordered Capt. Bowers, his
secretary, to draw up an order on the
qnartermaster-general for steamship,
coaled and manned, having sufficient
accommodations for the transportation of
500 women from New York to Seattle,
to be in my charge. waited there till
the order was drawn up and signed, and
then started for New England.
MY real work now began. trav-
elled through Massachusetts to make
my mission known and recruit my ship
load Of 500 girls.
after two months 1 was assured Of
my cargo, and we went to Washington
. to get the promised transportation. 1
took Grants order TO the quarter-maS-
ter-general. Here / encountered a set
back. Meigs was very busy settling up
war business, and was involved in the
pending quarrel between the president
and secretary of war. He scrutinized
my requisition and refused to honor it.
Il then went to Secretary Stanton.
accompanied by Senator Williams of
oregon. The great war secretary was
in a belligerant humor. His quarters
were crowded, and, as we entered. he
was storming at a fearful rate about
swindling contractor who was there
with dead-hOrse claim. He ordered
the fellow from his office and Immediate
ly took up our matter. He favored the
scheme, but decided that ne could not
overrule the quarter-master. He pro-
posed however, to aid me by having
one of the war steamers appraised and
condemned for sale, that il might be
purchased for a reasonable sum. The
steamer Continental was selected, and
valuation Of $4,000 placed upon her
This price was considered a snap and
many were eager to make the purchase
among them Ben Holiday, who, at that
time, controlled the steamship lines to
the Pacific coast
. Let me purchase the steamer said
Ben to me, and l will give your 500
woman free passage to the coast
This was finally agreed upon and the
contract signed. On the strength of this
contract l Issued tickets of transporta-
tlOn 10 my passengers and arranged for
them to arrive in New York in the latter
part of October, 1865.
The newspapers were at this time
full of the enterprise. 1t was a surprise
TO me, however, when three of the lead
ing city papers came out one morning
denouncing the whole business. These
articles were based upon stories which
came from San Francisco. They SLAM
dered the characters of the settlers of
Puget sound, claimed that the women
were to be entrapped for immoral pur-
to excite people against the expedition
The effect Of these influential utterances
may be imagined. The next morning
received forty or fifty letters from
women who had agreed to join my party
withdrawing from it. In dismay l went
TO Holiday to plead for more time 1t
was evident he had inspired the antag-
onistic articles. In fact, he refused to
take my party at all unless the full
number of 500 took passage. He pointed
10, h
had been drawn by his attorney
Il went to William Cullen Bryant of
the New York Evening Post and showed
him my letters and credentials and ex-
planned the situation. Mr.. Bryant nobly
came to my rescue, printed those letters
in his paper. and added his own earnest
commentator of my plans. This was a
good lift. One day about this time also
old Peter Cooper quietly strolled into my
office. The old gentleman looked around
and said:
My young friend, want to see you
| succeed, and 1 have come to tell you so.
If l can help you, you may command
me-
He added many other expressions of
friendly interest and, before the steam
| er left, sent me fine collection Of books
to be added to the ships library for our
long voyage. Finally 500 Of the girls
were gathered in New York ready to
make the trip. The Continental was
coaled and manned, and in waiting, yet
Holiday refused to take my party ex-
cept at the rate af 500 each This
| amount 1 guaranteed and paid.
ION the morning of Jan. T. 1866, the
| girls embarked, and. amid the cheers of
| "a large crowd assembled on the wharf
the steamer started on its long journey.
The voyage lasted nearly six months.
and was marked by no misfortunes or
| exciting incidents. Except the crew of
| thirty or forty, there were only two men
| passengers. The girls took to the life
agreeably as a vacation time, and occu-
| pied the hours by sewing, writing, read
ing, singing, etc. We had Sunday ser
| vices, in which 1 read Beecher's sermons,
| and the girls sang the hymns. There
was a good library on the ship, which
was in constant use. Dances were fire.
quent, and various games served to vary
the monotony of those long days upon
| the ocean. No sickness occurred except
| seasickness.
AT last the supreme moment arrived
when we were to reach San Francisco.
| On the 23d of May, 1866, we steamed
| through the Golden Gate. Our arrival
| had been expected for several days. Ex-
| element was at fever heat. II was one
| of those times when San Francisco gets
a move on herself. As we sailed up
| along the wharves a black, surging mass
| crowded every avenue of approach for
| three or four miles. Even at that dis
| lance we could hear the mighty cheers
| that swept across the water. We came
to anchorage, but the anchor had not
| touched the bottom before the sea was
| alive with hundreds of boats pushing
| out to US. The air was lively with songs,
shouts and merry Interchange of talk.
| There was quite rivalry among the
| boats to get alongside for a glimpse of
my precious cargo. None, however, were
| allowed to get aboard. One man at
| tempted TO make it by climbing up the
| ships side on a rope, but 1 stood by the
| railing and knocked him off into the
water. This action, noted by thousands
| of spectators, was greeted with cheers
| After a brief struggle the fellow was res
| cued, but the incident was made the
subject of a sketch by Jump, a well
| known artist of that day. The scene, as
| depicted by mis- pencil. was displayed at
| the Lick house the next day, attracting
| immense crowds.
when / went ashore that night things
| were looking pretty dark for me. Holli-
| day had refused to take the women any
| further. All my available means were
| exhausted, and / had nothing left but
youth and grit to carry on the expedi-
| ton. 1 wandered around awhile, think
| ing over the situation, and finally went
| to a hotel on Jackson-st. and said to the
| proprietor, Mr.. Wygant: L have 300
| women on my hands, with nothing for
| them to eat and no place for them to
sleep, and L have no money to pay for
| it. What shall 1 do?
Bring them right up to my house,
| said Mr. Wygant, without a moments
hesitation, and 1 will take care of them.