The Cairo bulletin., 1905-01-31
FROM COLORADO MOUNTAINS
TO GULF OF MEXICO IN A SKlFF
Two Young Men Make Perious Trip of Three Thousand Miles
on Water Passing Cairo-Fonght Snakes and Ventured
Where Boats Have Not Been Since Days
of Indians.

/ us flooded TO the extent OF a mile OF
TWO, but the river bed was still just
underneath our keel and it was like
making way on a pond full of mud
| bars.
When We reached Nebraska our
troubles were, if anything, greater
| The Platte was so shallow that the
three of us We're barefooted in the
water the better part of the time. We
encountered low bridges, dams, and
| frequently .barbed wire fences, but
worst of all the people were most in,
hospitable, and for days We could
neither buy nor beg bread A boat
is curiosity in Nebraska, in fact, a
greater freak than the Wild Man
from Borneo or the two-headed girl
would prove. A boat had not at.
tempted the river since the days
when the Indian canoe foated on ii,
and none of the present generation
had seen one. People in droves would
come down to- the shore and stare
open-mouthed at us, and some of the
questions asked us by the farmers
were extraordinary, to say the least.
Even the semi-wild horses on the
ranges seemed to have their wonder
aroused at our presence, and one day
! a herd of fiery-looking. steeds walked
along the river, parallel to us. for
several hours, never taking their
eyes off us. They would have follow
ed lis further we have no doubt, had
not the barbed wire fence at the end
of the range halted them
"At one place in Nebraska the bow
Of our boat grazed a mud bank and
disturbed as ugly a looking
Nest of Water Snakes
as one could find. The snakes were
great, long, squirming things, as
thick. some of them, as my wrist, and
several of the reptiles reared out of
the water and swan toward the boat,
intending to attack us. We beat them
off with our oars, and We're careful
in the future about wading in the wa
ter. We passed many beaver villages
and We're surprised at the cleverness-
the little beasts show in constructing
their mudhouses, Before we left the
Platte river we had done SO much
wading that our feet were sore and
festered We were so crippled up
chat for days we could not wear
shoes. AT two points the river bed
was dry. and we had to hire a wagon
70 carry our boat several miles. We
entered the Missouri river about fif-
teen miles below Omaha. and, al
though we had plenty of water, we
were in constant danger from the big
whirlpools and eddies. We had sew.
eral narrow escapes from being suck
ed In by the giant eddies.
I'VE entered the Mississippi just
above St. Louis, and arrived at the
Worlds fair city in the middle of
July. There Barnum left us and re-
turned by rail. We remained in st.
Louis until the latter part of October,
when we again started out in our lit
tie boat, having Mr. Scott with us.
All the way down the river, and we
went SLOWLY, because we were AFRAID
to trust the current, we had freezing
weather, but we were treated well
and made the trip without special ad-
venture, arriving in New Orleans to
day"
Mr. Osborn said that his opinion of
the south had greatly changed since
this section. THE average
northener," he remarked, gets a BIZ
ased and wrong opinion of this part
Of the country from things be reads.
| had my biased opinion. but since
my journey down the river and my
close scrutiny of things in general
have changed my opinion, and am
now of the mind that the south I'M
derstands best her own problems and
is best qualified to handle them
The Messrs. Osborn have no plans
for the immediate future; they may
continue their way to the gulf. or go
direct home; they have not decided.
AT present the three yoyagers are
living near their boat