The Republican journal., 1916-09-28

! Shop WlndOW and was taken by the pas
sersby to be ''stuffed" cat, prepared
for show purposes. A critic came along
and declared the cats pose unnatural
and impossible, but just then the cat
got up and stretched itself! With all
its faults and eccentricities, its bucking
and kicking, there is much to be said
in favor of the mule In point of
endurance it will outlast the horse; it
will 60 for long time without food or
| water; is surefooted, carrying its rider
safely over dangerous places; and "rid-
ing mule" has all other four-foo ami
mails discounted. So much for the mule.
A further depression here may save ex-
| Texas was infested with hostile and saw
age Indians. There was no safety from
them outside of the settlements. But
they had wholesome fear of Uncle
Sans troops and half dozen blue-coats
were considered ample protection for the
paymasters expeditions into the heart of
| the Indian country; and proved so in our
case, for we never saw an Indian during
our journeyings of year or more-luck-
| lily for US, for they never show them
selves unless intending an attack. But
there was no time when we were not I'M
der observation by these savages, and
straggler from camp would have fallen
,nti tp thaI IN no
found later minus his scalp. On the
Plains the Indians, at this time, were all
| peaceful and we saw many of them,
mostly the Sioux, who frequently visited
our camp. But only nine years later
Dec. 81, 1867-the massacre at Fort Phil
Kearney, one Of the places on our route,
to be mentioned farther on, occurred.
The garrison was attacked by over 5000
Indians, 1857 of whom were killed before
they had wiped out force of about one
| fourth their number. Still later was the
Custer massacre, yet fresh in the public
memory, with many minor engagements
and outrages by the warning Redmen.
| should describe the Plains as the
valley of the Platte river, with table
lands on each side of generally uniform
height, but broken by such landmarks as
Chimney Rock, Courthouse Rock, SCOTS
Bluffs and O'Fallans Bluffs. The val
ley was comparatively level and treeless,
but along the table lands there was tim
Der of some Sort The Platte river was
more than mile wide in some places,
but very shallow. For fuel our main
dependence was upon buffalo chips,
known in the early settlement of west
ern Kansas as "prairie pine" These
were the droppings of the buffalo, which
had dried in the sun and in color resem-
bled a hornets nest They made good
fire.
Extracts from my letter of May 18th
follow:
"Our third night in camp was marked
by violent thunder storm and wind
that threatened to blow down our tent,
and we got up and dressed to be ready
for such catastrophe; but luckily it
held fast and we escaped wetting. The
infantry and artillery officers are obliged
to march all day as we'll as the men and
stand it better than most of the pri-
Yates. We received orders one night
for the Dragons to leave US and push
on, but they have not been able to get
ahead of US, much to the satisfaction of
the footmen. who are trying to lead
them to Fort Kearney The country is
like cultivated field, covered with
beautiful green grass, the road winding
through it like purple ribbon. l do
not see that the people along the way
have planted anything, or have any cat
tie. A great many little shanties are
seen, built by squatters to secure the
land. their inmates generally suffering
from chills and fever.
II am writing on box placed on the
step of the ambulance. All around me
as far as can see are tents and wagons,
and mules that fill the air with their
braying. Many of the teamsters are
very expert with the lasso, throwing it
some distance exactly over a mules
head and around his neck. Stray mules
are caught in that way. At several of
our camping grounds we have had an
abundance OF wild onions, which the men
gathered in great quantities. They are
about the size of an ounce bullet and
very sweet and good. A plant which
grows by the road side makes an excel
lent salad or is cooked as greens" II
co not remember its name. lambs
quarter.)