Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-12-31
Trip to the Indian IefrItory.

y ~ ROSSING tho plains is
quite different thing
now, from what it was
~ N n thirty years ago, when
EN\ there were few COM
INN forts and no Injuries.
~ MIN In 1869, received q
TS2giiaGt telegram from my hus-
NzA band, then stationed at
sASA\lNt55AAEE-a Fort Sill, in the Indian
~ DBL .'IN,J Territory, to join him
Nh ll'N'SSI- as speedily as possible,
--HsSIS S6sN with orr infant daugh-
fer; he had been ordered to Fort Harker
for supplies and had sufficient number
Of soldiers with him, TO make our journey
of $50 miles, across the country, a safe
one.
i was not unprapared for the summons,
though wished it might have been de-
layed till the weather was somewhat
cooler. Government, however, does not
consider the comfort of the wives and
children OF its officers, strange as that
may seem. The journey to Fort Harker,
in the intense heat of August, brought
discomforts that only those can realize
who have travelled with children too
young to be interested in changing faces
and scenery, and too old 10 spend most OF
the time In sleeping.
No one can know the misery | suffered
from the frequent cries of the little one
misery intensified by the visible annoy
ance of my fellow passengers. After one
prolonged outburst, fatherly looking
gentleman occupying the seat behind me,
bent forward to ask, is there not some
thing sticking into the child l re-.
member to this day, how the blood.rushed
to my face and the feeling with which |
replied, No, but l wish there were. I"
What relief ii would have been TO re-
move some offending cause
We met with frequefst delays, and while
rejoicing that no accident had bafallen us
personally, 1t required no small amount
Of grace, to bear with equanimity, the
long hours of waiting, in a close car,
with the sun beating down in its August
fury. while swarms OF mosquitoes fed
upon our quivering Aesh. We did not
realize that our cQmplexions had been
gradually assuming 8 ooprery tint. till
we reached Saint Joseph, where we were
delayed twenty four hours, as, owing to
our various nlehAps, We were unable to
make connection with the proper trains.
Z pitcher Of water was wholly Inadequate
to our needs. and ~ rei0>cel that there
was no water famine In Ne city, and we
could have ali that sh0 patienc maids.
who smilinRly understood the situation.
were willing 70 bring ri pals. to..our
room. ss
Toward nightfall, 80 hot evening, ~
reached our destfnafion, hoping and
trusting that. the remainder Of tho jour
ney would e. IN truth, not only safe but
comfortable.
Here had my first taste OF army life,
only to find that 4 tenting at night on
any campground," was not what the
poet imagined il to be.
Our tent may have looked luxurious to
a soldiers eye. since folding bed and o
chair completed Its furniture, but to a
New England woman, used to- the COM
forts of civilized life, the prospect was
somewhat dreary. That lone chair sefved
occasionally as seat, but It also did duty
as wAshstAnd, bureau and; closet. The
bath became luxury, which only the
baby INDUCED in.
We breakfasted carly, since ourselves
and our belongings were ditto be slowed
away safely, the former in an ambulance,
the latter in army wagons, before we
could break camp. Fortnnately the
weather held fair, and there was spice
of novelty In having ot1 1neals in this
primitive fashion, like Atraham and
Sarah, at the door of our tasiE We we .e
still near the sources Of supplies, and the
fruit we had brought with Us, made our
first meal palatable.
Once on our way, decided that the
mule was q much abused animal, not
swift, but sure footed, a~luality which |
learned to appreciate most fully.
There were no bridges on our route,
and never failed to hold my breath,
when we plunged madly down some
rocky bank, into the water up to the
hubs of the wheels, and then up the steep
incline opposite.
| How tired grew OF the treeless plain,
stretching out mile after mile before my
eyes. At first, l was interested in the
homes of the prairie dogs, which accord
ing to tradition, the dog shares with a
rattlesnake and an owl; how true the
statement may be, / know not, but IN
owl was often seen perched on the open.
ing of the mound. Different species OF
cacti abounded, though this was not their
season OF towering. Great patches oil
purple verbena, IA flower that exeites nc
responsive chord in my soul, relieved the
wide spreading greenness
We travelled about twenty five miles q
day aud were glad enough whea WI
reached our camping ground, the piaes
of which must be decided by the prescuc,
OF two requisites, wood and water.
/ Dinner mot always in courses) wa.
served out of doors, often in the lee 81
the wagons, with the mules grazing abou