Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-06-13
depart, ana we now were well equipped
n fyo vnl E,1f u, l,ifl,ar9

4 depart, ana we now were well equipped
| to travel. But whittier?
1T seems to me, said !. that our
! safest plan is to keep away from the
4 Platte. where the Indians are more apt
1 to be. Ii we keep west until we reach
the mountains we certainly will be
above Laramie, and then II we follow
south along the mountains we must
strike the Platte again and SO lind Lar
i annie, If we do not meet any one be-
fore that time 1t may ibe seen how
vague was my geography in regard to
a region then little known to any
my father will have out the whole
army looking for US" said Ellen Meri-
wether. "We may be found any day"
! But for many day we were not
found. We Travelled westward day
after day. she upon the horse. | walk
j ing with the dog. We had rude
4 travois, which we forced our horse to
draw. and our little belongings we car
ried in leathern bag slung between
two lodge poles. The dog we did not
yet load, although the rubbed hair on
his shoulders showed that he was used
4 to harness.
4 At times on these high rolling plains
we saw the buffalo. and when our
dried meat ran low ! paused for food,
not daring to risk waste of our scanty
ammunition at such hard game as an
telope. Once lay at a path near a
water hole in the pocket of half
dried stream and killed two buffalo
cows. Here was abundant work for
more than two days cutting. drying,
scraping. feasting. Life began to run
keen in our veins in spite of all.
heard her sing that day. saw her smile.
Now our worldly goods were increas-'
4 Ing, so | cut down two lodge poles and
made little travels for the dog. We
had hides enough now for small tent,
needing only sufficient poles.
"Soon," said she to me, 1--WE will be
at Laramie"
"Pray Cod said TO myself, that
we never may see Laramiev | have
said that I would set down the truth.
And this is the truth. | was becoming
a savage. l truly wanted nothing bet
ter. think this might happen to
many man, at least of that day.
We forded several streams, one a
large one, which | now think must
have been the North Platte, but no
river ran as we fancied the Platte
must run. So we kept on until we
came one day to spot whence we saw
something low and unmoying and pur-
pie far off in the northwest. This we
studied and so at length saw that it
was the mountains. At last our jour
neying would change at least, perhaps
terminate ere long. A few more days
would bring us within touch of this
distant range. which. as l suppose
now, might possibly have been a spur
of what then were still called the
Black Hills, name which applied to
several ranges far to the west and
south of the mountains now SO called,
or perhaps these were peaks of the
mountains later called the Laramie
range.
Then came thing hard for US to
bear. Our horse, hobbled, as usual, for
the night and, moreover, picketed on a
long rope | had made from buffalo
hides, managed some time in the night
to break his hobbies and in some way
to pull loose the picket pin. When
we saw that he was gone we looked
at each other blankly.
''What shall we dos" she asked me
in horror For the first time saw
her sit down in despair. I'VE are
lost! What shall we do?v she walled.
/ trailed the missing horse for many
miles. but could only tell he was go
ing steadily, lined out for some dis
tant point / dared not pursue him
farther and leave her behind. An
hour after noon | returned and sullen-
~ threw myself on the ground beside
her at our little bivouac. could not
bear to think of her being reduced to
foot travel over all these cruel miles.
Yet indeed it now must come to that.
1--WE have the dog said / at length.
eve can carry robe and little
meat and walk slowly. l can carry a
hundred pound pack If need be, and
the dog can take twenty-five"
"And can carry something" she
said, rising with her old courage. 1T
is my part" made her pack Of
ten pounds. and, soon seeing that it
was too heavy. / took it from her and
threw it on my own.
"At least I shall carry the belt" she
said. And SO she took my belt, with
its flask and bullet pouch. the latter
now all too scantily filed.
Thus, sore at heart and somewhat
weary, we struggled on through that
afternoon and sank down beside lit
tie water hole. And that night when
reached to her for my belt that we
might again make our fire she went
pale and cried aloud that she had lost
it and that now indeed we must die!
i / could hardly comfort her by tell
ing her that on the morrow would
49, u