The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1900-04-27

pie had ret out for this I'll Dorado,
and long wagon trains were TO be seen
every day moving across the plains.
Mr.. Peppard was anxious to 60, but
there was one great difficulty in the
way-he didn't have the money to
buy horses and wagon. So he sat down
and thought it all over, and then as
result he gave ont that he was go
ing to build a wagon with a sail,
which he thought would make the
trip in about as good time as any
prairie schooner that was floating
around over the wild and woolly west.
When he first began to build the
wagon, the wise men of the town all
laughed at him for wasting his time
on such craft, just as other wise
men of Noahs time scoffcd at the
good patriarch. Mr.. Peppard's adj
visers declared that if he attempted
to navigate such a craft he would GER
tainly be killed, and the people in gen.
eral looked the wagon over, shook
their heads and called it "Peppard's
folly"
But Mr.. Peppard kept on saving
wood and turning it into wheels and
running gear and boards. At last it
was finished. 1t was made of rough
lumber and shaped like skiff. 1t
was eight feet long from PROV to
stern and three feet across at amid
ship and two feet deep. The bed was
placed on running gear with axles
six feet apart, the wheels all the same
size and about as large as the front
wheels of buggy. A ten-foot mast
was fastened to the front axle and
came up through the bottom of the
wagon box, and to this two sails were
rugged, the larger eleven by eight feet
the other seven by five. They were
both to be worked by rope through
a pulley at the top of the mast.
III the wind was high, the smaller
was to be used, and if it was low the
larger was to be employed. The wag-
on had brake and a rudder for steer
ing. The hounds, instead of having
a tongue attached, came up over the
top of the bed and were welded to-
gether. A bar was fastened here and
extended backward three feet. There
was seat placed at the end of the
bar for the captain, and he steered
by pushing the bar to the right or
the left The craft rigged out weighed
$50 pounds, carried crew of four
men, a cargo Of 500 pounds, the camp
ing outfit and provisions serving as
ballast.
Before Mr.. Peppard started on his
overland voyage he made a trial one
mile south of Oskaloosa, on the pres
ent site of the Jefferson county fair
grounds. There is a level stretch Of
several miles, and good, stiff breeze
was on. When it struck the large
sail, the craft stuck its nose down
to the ground and came near capsiz
ing. He slackened sail and set out again
with a large sheet reefed and the
smaller full against the wind, and
away it whizzed 1t went so fast, in
fact, that the boxing in the wheels
heated. Then, when it went over a
little knoll, it leaped about 80 feet
into the air and came down with a
crash.
His vessel was a wreck, but Mr.. Pep
pard. was not discouraged. He made
new spindles, repaired the damage,
and in few days he and three COM
panions were ready to start. Profit
ing by his first experience, Mr.. Pep !
pard chose a day to start when the
wind was blowing only about ten
knots an hour The first day they /
went 50 miles. The route lay north
west. through Kansas and across tho |
southwestern part Of Nebraska, until |
they struck the South Platte river, !,
and from there they went toward Dem
YER
"Our best time was two miles in
four minutes" sad Mr.. Peppard in
describing the incidents Of the jour
ney. I'VE could not run faster than
that rate, as the boxing would have
heated. One day we went so miles
in three hours and IN doing so passed
625 teams"