Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1901-01-31
AN OVERLAND TRIP "
" TO CALIFORNIA.


The next morning after | re-
turned with the OK we resumed our
journey and during the day there
was a train of horse teams passed
us. This was the best equipped
outfit we had seen. They had fan
cy. painted, heavy spring wagons
with four fine horses to each wag-
on. In this train were fourteen
families, and among them were
number of girls about grown, and
as they passed us they made fun
of our old oxen. OF this fine
train | will tell you more later on,
We travelled on over the same
road that | had Travelled the night
before. We were now in the range
of Big Horn mountains, not far
south from where General Custer
and his soldiers were massacred
many years since the time of which
| write. We were not molestcd i'll
the least, tho the boys didn't hunt
far off the road. as was our custom
to do. We confined ourselves to
shooting Jack rabbits near the
road. After crossing this range
of mountains the next place of in-
tcrest was Goose Creek, with its
clear, sparkling water, where we
could see fine mountain trout ten
or fifteen feet below the surface.
Here we rested our teams for Il
day and enjoyed ourselves catch
ing aud eating the finest game fish
that swim.
The next place of note was
Snake River, where we saw about
fifteen hundred Crow Indians NOV
ing south. They were very peace
able and came into our camp and
traded us vcnison for crackers. 1t
was novel sight to see their mode
of travelling They take their
lodge poles, which are of willow or
some light wood, and are fifteen or
twenty feet long. These poles are
tied to their ponies like pair of
shafts and the larger end drags on
the ground, and behind their pom
les they pack their plumber on the
poles. Then the caravan would
start out in single file. The old
bucks would walk ahead of the
freight train, next came the squaws
mounted on ponies with kind of
basket on each side of the pony,
in which they would carry their
pappooses, or babies, and the
larger children and the hundreds
of dogs would bring up the rear.
AS the MormOns were not very
friendly towards the emigrants we
left Salt Lake to the south and
went over what was called Sub
lett S Cut, off which was a very
rough country, as in many places
the locking of all four of the wag-
on wheels would not keep it from
running onto the oxen. In one
place we cut the tops of trees and
tied them behind the wagons and
let them drag in order to get down
the hill.
We were now not far south of
Fort Hall III what is now Idaho.
As there were no troublesome In
dians we would get the teams out
on the road or trail and then some
of the boys would 90 up into the
mountains hunting for big game
and sometimes would wander far
from the road. One time we got
after flock of mountain sheep
and followed them II long way but
could not get within range of them
when they suddenly disappeared
and on coming up to where they
were last seen we found il to be
the edge of preclpicc, or bluff
twenty or thirty feet down to the
rocks below. There was no way
in which they could have escaped,
and we left, wondering if they
flew. But old trappers told us af-
forwards that they never went II
round to get over a bluff, but
would jump and land on their
heads.
In many places along here the
scenery was grand, but we, being
tired of travel, found everything
become monOtonous. Soon after
this we We're on the head waters
of the Humboldt River, which is a
fine stream at Its head, but slug
gish and filthy farther down. Here
we saw what was called the twin