Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1903-11-27

mySelI ana was aIralu OF III, LOT
saw it was mans hand. An in
dignation meeting was the result
of this ghastly exhibition, and the
Mexican was compelled to leave
the company.
On this long journey there were
many days Of marching and camp
ing. l have no recollection ol
them. Often, | remember, in the
afternoon we were travelling toward
the setting sun, and that is all ]
can recall of the days or days. ]
cannot remember places in the
order in which we came to them,
but the next that comes to my
mind is Ash Hollow, which ap-
peared to be only a depression in
the usually level plain where were
scattered ash trees. 1t appears to
me now that after we crossed Ash
Hollow prairie stretched away to
the West, and as we travelled along
making wagon road through the
high grass, Git was now early
Summer,) we crossed the Big and
Little Blue rivers. The Little Blue
was small, and the Big Blue not a
large stream. / had heard of the
Blue rivers many days before we
reached them, and expected to find
the water really blue, and my
recollection is that the water was
of blush color. Which we crossed
first, the Big or the Little Blue, l
do not remember.
The next object that seems to
have claimed my boyish attention
and a place on the tablet of memory
is Independence Rock. 1t was just
beyond small stream which seemed
to wind around its base. We
passed quite near it, and though |
can now see the picture Of it on the
page Of memory ! cannot describe
it in way satisfactory to myself.
1t seemed to be oval on top, and in
the highest part quite smooth and
slick. 1t was of a light grey color,
as high as house in the middle,
taperipg down both ways, and as
large as a city block.
A man by the name of Lovejoy
came to us somewhere in this part
of the country, and told us what l
thought was a very funny story.
He was travelling with a party of
trappers, he said, and they had
camped in the neighborhood Of In
dependence Rock. Mr.. Lovejoy
went to explore and examine it,
and while there he was marking
his name on the rock, and just as
he was writing 'ioy" a party of
skulking Indians captured him.
They took him to the camp of his
party and sold him to his friends
for ammunition and tobacco. Mr..
Loveioy was a very clever and
good looking young man. He joined
our party and came through to
Oregon.
1t seems that the next object
that made lasting impression on
my memory, as we travelled West
ward, was Fort Laramie, of the
American Fur Company. re-
member seeing the Fort as we
approached it. 1t looked white,
and that is about all / remember
about it. We were now travelling
through the country of the Platte
rivers, a country of level plains and |
very little timber. We saw many
herds of buffalo, some grazing
quietly on the prairies, and others
marching and believing, and the
great herds making a roaring noise
as they tramped along a half mile
or a mile away.
At times we travelled along the
low banks of the river, and the
water often seemed spread over a
wide surface and shallow. The
pasturage was fresh and abundant,
and l do not remember that we en-
dured great hardships as we
journeyed through this part of the
country. Buffalo and small game
were plentiful, and the men had
great sport hunting. We had an
abundance of buffalo meat and
venison. Sometimes buffalo were
found among our cattle of morn
ings, quietly grazing with them.
I remember crossing the two
pIot,o -;,,ors Ovo oros,;,,c, ,rbo-o