, 1921-08-25

After an absence OF more than half
a century. A J.. Cone. now n resident
OF Indiana. is visiting the country he
traversed in 1853. He noted with al
most awe the wonderful change in
the west
In 1858. when he was . years OF
age. together with his father. a
southern gentleman. who was making
tho trip both for his desire for gold
and TO escape the northern draft. and
his mother. who was the reason for
his fathers southern ~sympathies. and
n brother n sister. Mr.. Cone left
his home at Fort Wayne. Ind. and
headed for the unsettled west.
On leaving home there were seven
wagons in tho party. Twenty-six
moro Joined the party when It reached
the Mississippi. In Missouri the band
grew to 100 wagons. each carrying
an uncle of MIR. Cone He says that
by teams OF mules. The band wendcd
its way to the western coast in search
of gold which was reported by tale
bearers from the Golden West"
Although Mr.. Cone was then n
small boy. he is able to tell of the un-
usual trip in detail. citing humorous
and exciting experiences and can
point out on a map the direct route
taken. although at this date there
may be no road marking h journey
OF the travellers.
The caravan passed through In
diana I6 miles south OF Chicago.
which was then n small village. The
rivers to be crossed were not bridged
and often. entaiied great danger in
ferrying the heavy ships of the des-
ert'' and their passengers.
no-wtn- VkNafVgh I1fnnfa 20 Tnusa
the adventures caught their first
glimpse of the wilds and hazards of
the west.
Ali along the journey the soldiers
OF the United States kept them in
close range ,and warned them of any
danger from the Indians. II warned
that an u~nfrisndly band was near by
the members of the caravan would
stay up all night dancing around n
campfire so as to be alert at any sign
from the i~ntruders. At one time in
this state remains OF wagons of a
whole caravan were found whilc the
members had been massacrcd by a fe-
rocious tribe.
Council Bluffs. Iowa. was the last
town to be seen until Salt Lake was
reached. days later. From Council
Bluffs the trip was made along the
nOTln tlue oL Int idllt IlNtIs illlOAkn
the location OF modern Casper.
At Fort Bridger the band vas
stopped and each member pledged al
legience to the United States. Al
though the band stopped across the
river from Laramie n huge willow
trees shut out much of the view.
tents of the Indians were seen. The
immigrant trail. which is now com
memorated, was followed and at one
place HI ava traversed h coun-
try where now lies the beautiful Tom
ranch. They passed through the
Devils Gate and followed along the
Sweetwater.
Mr.. Cone tells of the grave of one
of the young girls of the troupe who
fell from the precipice at DEVILS Gate.
The grave was dug and a monument
placed at the head with the words:
Here lies the bones of Caroline Todd
Whose soul has lately gone to God
Her redemption came too late
She was redeemed at the Devils
Gate"
Although Mr.. Cone is visiting with
friends in Casper he hopes to be able
to make the trip to Tom SUMS ranch
and that vicinity to AUNT for old land
marks.
The trip was made through this
part OF the country on the north sic
of the Platte, but many marks of in
terest in the geographical features of
the country are recalled by the trav-
cller.
They passed through this country
TO Salt Lake City. Utah. which was
the first inhabited city after Council
Bluffs. From there the journey was
made through Nevada and into the
Nevada county in California.
There the Cone family stopped and
after a fruitless search for the valu-
able ore, the father purchased a
store and then a hotel which he oper-
ated for other gold seekers. The fam
lily remained there for three years.
Still anxious to see more of the
world. they travelled along the west
ern coast TO southern California
and Japanese
They found the northern sympa-
thizers in n great majority in the
small villages which are now the
heavily settled cities of Los Angeles
and San Diego. After visiting the
islands of Santa Barbara they sailed
for Central America where they again
took the mule teams and Travelled
through the country. They found
many other j%ourneycrs following the
same mode of travel. The meat sup
ply was very low and at times they
were forced to eat monkey meat. eni
son and buffalo meat. Vegetables
were an unknown luxury.
After reaching Virgin Bay the party
was forced to wait some time for a
boat. The ship which was TO have
taken them to New York had to re-
turn to hat port with a broke rud-
der. AS a second resort an old Key
ton state war vessel was sent after
them. The ship was poorly balanced
and on the entire trip the men of the
party aided the captain in trimming
ship" which was keeping it balanced
by going to the light end then back
again and SO on. for so days.
The party landed at Charleston. S.
c.. and Travelled through h southern
states which were laid waste after
the war. Mr.. Cone and family spent
much time in Atlanta, Ga, the plat
of which town had been laid out by