Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1901-01-31
" feet. and found no bottom.

without a good wagon and outfit
being left by the roadside. The
valley along this river is first on
one side and then on the other,
and where the river runs close to
the mountain we were compelled
to cross over to the other side.
We would often have to cross sever.
al times day, but it was not deep
and we were soon over. We often
had to herd the oxen upon the
mountain side, and one dark night
when we were out with the herd u
band of Blackfoot Indians came up
to the herd from the top of the
mountain and ran in among the
cattle, yelling like devils, and the
800 cattle, wild with fright, came
dashing down the mountain side
like an avalanche and another boy
and | came near being trampled to
death by them. When the cattle
came to the river they turned down
it and ran into n narrow gorge
and stopped. The Indians came
on until within range of our guns,
but owing to the darkness we
could only fire at random, yet we
gave them II parting shot anyway,
hoping that we might send some
of them to the happy hunting
grounds They were friendly i'll
the day time, but would try to
steal our stock at night. Another
boy and !, soon after this, went
off the road hunting and found
four poles set in the ground and
OH the top IA scaffold on which was
a good Indian. He was dead. He
was put up there where the crows
could eat his carcass and then fly
away to the happy hunting grounds
of his fathers.
The people who go to California
now, riding in palace ears, can
have time to look ut and enjoy the
scenery rs they pass along, and
they have little idea what the pi-
oncers had to 60 thru The water
was so bad that we had to let it
settle over night, then strain it
and make tea of it. We travelled
down this filthy stream about 200
miles when we came to the end of
it, or what is called the sink,
where the water sinks into the
sand, on the edge of the great
desert, which is seventy miles a
cross. Just above the sink are
mountain meadows, II beautiful
valley several miles wide, with as
fine and luxuriant growth Of grass
as grows anywhere. Off to the
southeast of the meadows is a
range of red Hooking hills, barren
of any kind of vegetation. To-
ward the northeast are low noun
tains covered with scrub pines and
sage brush, and to the west are
higher mountains which make 4
picturesque background to the
meadows. This is the place where
Indians and Mormons foully muir
dcrcd Il whole train of cmigrants
two years after we were here, and
it is known in history as the
Mountain Meadows Massacre.
This was place where all the
cmigrants stopped and rested their
jaded teams before starting across
the desert, and, as many animals
had died or given out, it was nee
csSary to ro-tit by doubling teams,
and i'll such cases many good wag-
ons were left. Some would take
two wheels and rig up a cart, and
others would saw out the wagon
Spokcs and make pack saddles
any way to get across the desert.
For miles around you could see
abandoned wagons, OX-yokcS, har-
ness, saddles and all kinds of camp
equipage, such as cook stoves,
chairs, feathcrbeds aud provisions,
and in fact everything that coult
be spared. Now, as everything i,
ready, we will soon start over tn,
seventy miles of burning sand,
(To RE CONTINUED
New Tax Plan.