Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-03-18
CHAPTER XIV.
Oregon.


The spell and the light of each path we
If woman be there, there is happiness
too. Moore.
Twenty miles a day, week in and
week out, we edged westward up the
Platte, in heat and dust part of the
time, often plagued at night by clouds
of mosquitoes. Our men endured the
penalties of the journey without COM
ment' 1 do not recall that I ever
heard even the weakest woman COM
plain. Thus at last we reached the
South pass of the Rockies, not yet
half done our journey. and entered
upon that portion of the trail west of
the Rockies, which had still two noun
tain ranges to cross, and which was
even more apt to be infested by the
hostile Indians. Even when we
reached the ragged trading post, Fort
Hall, we had still more than 600 miles
to go.
By this time our forces had wasted
as though under assault of arms. Far
back on the trail, many had been
forced to leave priced belongings, rel
les, heirlooms, implements, machinery,
all conveniences. The finest of ma
hogany blistered in the sun, aban-
doned and unheeded. Our trail might
have been followed by discarded i'm
plements of agriculture, and by
whitened bones as well. Our footsore
teams, gaunt and weakened, began to
faint and fall. Horses and oxen died
in the harness or under the yoke, and
were perforce abandoned where they
fell. Each pound of superhuous weight
was cast away as our motive power
thus lessened. Wagons were aban-
doned, goods were packed on horses,
oxen and COWS.
We put COWS into the yoke now, and
used women instead of men on the
drivers seats, and boys who started
riding finished afoot.
Gaunt and brown and savage, hun
cry and grim, ragged, hatless, shoe
less, our cavalcade closed up and came
on, and so at last came through Ere
autumn had yellowed all the foliage
back east in gentler chimes, we crossed
the shoulders of the Blue mountains
and came into the valley of the Walla
Walla; and so passed thence down the
Columbia to the valley of the Will
lamette, 800 miles yet farther. where
there were then some slight centerS
of our civilization which had gone for
ward the year before
Here were some few Americans. At
Champoeg, at the little American mis-
sions, at Oregon City, and other scat
tered points. we met them, we hailed
and were hailed by them
Messengers spread abroad the news
of the arrival of our wagon train
Messengers, too, came down from the
Hudson bay posts to scan our equip
ment and estimate our numbers There
was no word obtainable from these of
any Canadian column of occupation to
the northward which had crossed at
the head OF the Peace river or the
Saskatchewan, or which lay ready at
the head waters of the Fraser or the
Columbia to come down to the lower
settlements for the purpose of bring
ing to an issue, or making more diff
cult, this question of the joint occu-
pancy of Oregon As q matter of fact,
ultimately we won that transcon-
tinental race so decidedly that there
never was admitted to have been a
second.
So we took Oregon by the only law
of right Our broken and weakened
cavaIcade asked renewal from the soil
itself We ruff1ed no drum. fiuttered
no flag, to take possession of the land
But the canvas covers of our wagons
gave way to permanent roofs Where
we had known hundred camp-dres.