Year: 1859

road from LeayenwOrth to Denver had to be
taken some 80 miles north of its due course to
obtain even such passage through the Amer
lean Desert; on direct line from the head of
Solomon's Fork, it must have passed over
some 200 miles Of entire absence of wood and
water.


have seen, during the last three or four
days, several bands of wild Indians-Arapa-
hoes, Cheyennes, Kioways Sioux, &c.-main-
ly the two former. Of these the Arapahoes
have been the most numerous and repusive.
Their children swarmed around us at Station
16-the men being mainly absent on a maraud-
ing expedition against the Pawnees-the wo-
men staying in their lodges. The young ones
are thorough savages, their allowance of cloth
ing averaging six inches square of buffalo skin
to each, but so unequally distributed las is the
case with worldly goods in generaI) that the
majority have far scantier allowance. A
large Cheyenne village is encamped around
Station IL, where we stopped last night and
we have been meeting squads of these and 9TH
er tribes several times a day. The Kioways
are camped some eight miles from this
spot. They all profess to be friendly, though the
Cheyennes have twice stopped and delayed
the express wagons on pretense of claiming
payment for the injury done them in cutting
wood, eating grass, soaring away game, &c.
They would all like to beg, and many of them





to pass through several more encampments,
but expect no trouble from them. The Chey-
enneS are better clad and seem to have more
self-respect than the Arapahoes, but they are
all low in the scale'of intellectual and moral
beng, and must fade away unless they can be
induced to work. More of them hereafter


The unusul dullness of this letter is partly
accounted for by an accident Two evenings
since, just as we were nearing station II,
where we were to stop for the night, my fel-
lOw-passenger and l had iocular discussion
on the gullies into which we were frequent
ly plunged, to our personal discomfort. He
promised that it was a consolation that the
sides OF these gullies could not be worse than
perpendicular to which | replied with the
assertion that they could be and were--for in
stance, where gully, in addition to its per-
pendicular descent had an inclination of As
degrees or so to one side the track. Just then
violent lurch of the wagon to one side, then
to the other, in descending one of these jolts,
enforced my position. Two minutes later, as
we were about to descend the steep bank of
the creek intervale, the mules acting per-
versely, my friend stepped out to take
them by the head, leaving me alone i'll
the wagon. just then, we began to de-
scend the steep pitch, the driver pulling
up with all his might, when the left rein of
the leaders broke, and the team was in mo-
ment sheared out of the road and ran diagon.
ally down the pitch. In second, the wagon
went over, hitting the ground most spiteful
blow. of course went over with it, and
when rose to my feet as soon as possible,
considerably bewldered and disheveled, the
mules had been disengaged by the upset and
were making good time across the prairie,
while the driver, considerably hurt was get
ting out from under the carriage to limp after
them. | had a slight cut on my left check
and worse one below the left knee with a
pretty smart conclusion generally, but not
bone started nor a tendon strained and [ walk
ed away to the station as firmly as ever leay-
ing the superintendent and my fellow -passen-
ger to pick up the pieces and guard the bag
gage from the Indians, who instantly swarmed
about the wreck am sore yet, and little
lame, but three or four days rest-if can ev-
er get twill make all right. This is the
first and only accident that has happened to
the express line, though it has run out some
thirty passage wagons from Leavenworth, and
perhaps half so many from Denver. And
this was the result of casualty for which
neither driver nor company was to blame.


Three days hence hope to be at Denver
(l05 miles distant,) whence our latest advices
are very cheering to the hearts of the legions
OF faint and weary goldseekers we have pass
ed on the way. | trust, for their sakes, that
this news will prove fully true. But you will
have heard by telegraph before this can reach
you. H. G.