Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1909-08-19
FROM JUDGE KENDALL.
In Letter to the Message Tells
of His Trip to the West.
Yirdi. Nevada. Anp. 9. 10

According to promise made my
friends ] now write to them thru
the Message in brief-the Incl
dents while travelling and of the
visit to my old boyhOod friend
whom | crossed the plains with in
1852.
We, w. II. Morris and wife and
their two baby girls, Miss Alberta
Kennen and Miss Mary Eller, left
Mexico at 5:20 on Wednesday,
Aug. 4th. l was (in fact) not
able to start. having been sick for
some time, but having everything
ready, my desire to go sent me
along. We had, after the first
night, a very pleasant trip and a
very jolly crowd, and as soon as
we found out we had an armed
escort we had no fear of being
held up. 1t leaked out in some
way that Miss Alberta had a gun.
We were in Denver about two
hours and it was the hottest place
ever saw Here Miss Eller
was met by her brother and she
left us. After leaving Denver on
the 9TH, at about I p. m. it began
to rain and we had a cool and
pleasant night When we got up
the next morning we were'mOving
along at about 80 miles an hour
thru the sand hills in Wyoming.
For hours we could see nothing t.
break the monotony of sand hills
and prairie dog towns. After
leaving Ogdon we soon came to
the north end of Salt Lake
which is filled in or bridged over
for a distance of some % miles.
After passing over the water we
travelled as much farther over the
dried up land of the lake, having
hundreds of tons of salt lying in
sheets all over the ground. From
what | could see it would seem
that in time this great inland lake
would go dry. We struck the old
Emigrant Trail several times. but
| could not recognize any place.
althO we passed over hundreds of
miles that was just the same as it
was 81 years ago, with nothing for
man or beast, except very short
grass. When we reached Nevada
we were glad to see the change.
We saw some low mountains with
some cedars or pine trees, and the
little valleys with the wheat ready
to cut and the alfalfa fields. Com
pared to Wyoming it looked like
a little paradise.
On Saturday morning about 10
Il. M. | reached Virdie, where |
was met by my old boyhood
friend. Jno. w. Hill, whom l
crossed the plains with in 1852.
not having seen him since. Many
incidents of our long trip of five
months were related, and we both
forgot the long time that had
passed and for the time were boys
again. 1t was only two miles out
to the Hill Ranch where | for the
first time met his wife and daugh-
ter, Miss Dora, very intelligent
and entertaining young lady, and
his son, Grover, who, like Bro.
Morris and myself, is a great
sport and fine, manly young
fellow.
/ While | write at Mr.. Hills
beautiful home | can see the fine
: wheat fields ready for the binder.
and the rich grass spreading out
over the valley, which is sur
rounded by high mountains, the
sides of which are covered wit&
young pines, and the fragrance
5 of pine leaves fill the air, with
{ the temperature at so at midday
and 90 in the morning and even
ing, and the clear stream of water
2 that runs through his door yard,
| its source being the snow capped
: mountain which can see from
' where | am writing. The fine