I said to myself then, that we need have no fear the savages would tryto make trouble for us, because when they saw so many people, the poor,ignorant things would believe everybody on the banks of the Mississippiwas heading for California, and it would be a very brave Indian whodared be other than polite to such a large company.
Even though you had never before heard of Pike County, it would havebeen most interesting to see the people of Ashley on the morning weset off. As Ellen Morgan, a particular friend of mine who was going toCalifornia also, said to me just before we drove away, "It is much asif all the folks in the world had come to see us leave town."
The streets were actually thronged, as I have heard it said the streetsof a large city oftentimes are, and what with the shouts of the men,the screams of the children, and the lowing of the cattle, it was quiteas much as I could do to make myself heard when I tried to tell Ellenthat at the last minute mother had given permission for her to ride inour wagon.
Of course the noise in the street could not have been as great as Ifancied, for Ellen had no trouble in hearing me, as was shown when shecame running back to our wagon with her Sunday frock and other valuablethings neatly done up in a corn sack.
Then it seemed to me that no improvement could be made upon our mannerof traveling, for we two girls were to be together all the while, andeven when the weather was stormy, it would seem really cozy under ourdouble thickness of osnaburg cloth.
It surprised me very much because mother acted as if it saddened her toset off on what could not fail to be a delightful journey. I saw tearsin her eyes when she came out of our old home for the last time, andwondered if she was sorry because she was leaving the house where wehad lived so long, or whether she believed we would never find anothersuch delightful town as Ashley.
Of course I felt just a little tearful when those people who were toremain at home gathered around the wagon to say "good-by"; but therewere so many of our neighbors in the company we would not have a chanceto be lonely, and I was certain that all the friends we were leavingbehind would soon join us, having come to realize, as had father, thatCalifornia was the only proper place in which to live.
EBEN JORDAN
If I could have had everything arranged exactly to please me, I wouldhave insisted that Eben Jordan be left in Ashley. He is a boy about sixmonths older than I, who always seems to take the greatest delight inteasing us girls. I had no doubt but that he would be very disagreeableat times, and felt, on that first day, as if there could be no cloud onthe California skies if Eben had remained in Pike County.
It is no more than fair for me to say, however, that, much as Idisliked the boy, Eben Jordan was one who ever kept his ears open tothe conversation of his elders and was more than willing to repeat toEllen and me whatever he learned.
Even before our company had left Ashley, he told us the journey was tobe begun by first going to Independence, a town on the Missouri Riverwhere the Santa Fe traders and those who would journey by the Oregontrail made ready for the long march.
Up to this time I had had no idea of how we were to get to California,save we drove directly across the prairies and over the mountains,always in a westerly direction.
But I must have understood that we could not strike off across thecountry in any direction we fancied, because we must follow some trailin order to find a plentiful supply of grass for the cattle and mulesand sheep, as well as water for ourselves.
Eben said that the leaders of the company, among whom was my father,had talked not a little regarding the country through which we shouldpass. Thus he learned that we would journey over what is known as theOregon trail as far as Fort Bridger, after which, striking off to thesouthward somewhat, we would go along the shores of the Great SaltLake, past Ogden's Hole, to the land of the Bannock Indians. Then thecourse was to be as nearly westward as the foothills would permit.
"It will be a rare time for us all," Eben said gleefully, after havingtold us girls that we would journey nearly two thousand miles beforecoming to that land for which we sought. "There will be game untila fellow can't rest, and after we are once well on the way, we shallcome upon Indian tribe after Indian tribe, when you girls will be onlytoo glad to shelter yourselves under my wing, for there is no knowingwhat the savages may take it into their heads to do, providing theopportunity offers."
Ellen was not a little displeased because Eben seemingly believed wewould be glad of his protection, and I really felt uneasy in mind whenthe lad left us to go to his father's wagon, saying:--
"It isn't well for you girls to be so high and mighty, because beforethis journey has come to an end you may be glad that I am willing tolend a hand."
Ellen laughed at the idea that the time would ever come when wemight accept a favor from Eben Jordan. She seemed so certain nothingdisagreeable could happen to us while our company was so large, thatI soon put away all forebodings and gave strict attention to what wasbefore us.
ON THE ROAD
It had taken our fathers considerable time to get the people and thecattle in proper marching order; but once this was done, they gave theword for the procession to move forward, and the people at Ashley whomwe were leaving behind cheered us wildly as we went slowly out from thetown.
It seemed much like taking part in some wondrous celebration, to beriding thus amid those who were cheering and, I dare say, envying us.
Mother was content to sit inside the wagon, where father had placed ashort-legged chair for her convenience, but Ellen and I remained on thefront seat where we could see all that was going on, and until we werewell clear of the town it did seem to me that I was a very importantperson.
It was late in the forenoon before we started, therefore no halt was tobe made for dinner, but this gave me little uneasiness, for mother hadan ample supply of cooked provisions on hand.
Our neighbors at Ashley had spoken again and again of the hardshipswhich we would encounter before arriving at the shores of the PacificOcean, and I said to Ellen, when we were two or three miles from thetown, that I could not understand how any one could believe such ajourney might be either wearisome or dangerous.
EBEN'S PREDICTIONS
Surely we were as comfortable as two girls could be, with a coveringover our heads in case it rained, and enough food to satisfy ourdesires.
Therefore what difference did it make, as I said to Ellen, whether wewere five months or six on the march? Eben Jordan, who had come backfrom his father's wagon along the line of procession as if to see thateverything was right, overhearing my words, replied with a laugh, whichsounded to me very disagreeable:--
"You may well say, Martha Early, that this portion of the journey iseasy. We are now traveling on a beaten road, with nothing to preventour going forward at the best pace of the oxen. Wait until we havereally started, after having come to Independence, and leave thehighway to take to the trail. You will find the wagon tumbling andpitching over the rocks, or floundering across fords, where watch mustbe kept sharply against the Indians, and every man needs to have hiseyes open lest he be attacked by wild beasts. Then you shall say tome whether it makes no difference to you if this journey requires fivemonths or six."
I refused to listen to the lad, who seemed to find the greatestpleasure in making other people uncomfortable in mind, and I turnedtoward Ellen, as if speaking to her very earnestly in whispers, therebycausing Eben to believe I had not heard what he said, whereupon he wentoff laughing.
WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT CALIFORNIA
We had heard people talking about the wonderful fortunes to be foundin California, until it seemed as if we might become rich simply bydigging in the ground a bit; but, as you shall hear, before our journeyhad come to an end we understood that however much valuable metal theremight be in the earth, it was not to be gathered like pebbles.
We met on our way hundreds of people who had gone into California withgreat expectations and w
ere coming back poorer than when they set out;but on the first day we were ignorant of all this, and quite convincedthat it was a simple matter to become wealthy by a very little labor.
Before night came there was to me less pleasure than during thefirst hour or two. The wagon jolted over the roads roughly, makingit necessary to hold firmly to the seat, lest I be thrown off, and itbecame wearisome to sit so long in one position.
Mother, who stretched herself out upon a bed in the bottom of the wagonwhen she was tired of sitting upright, did not weary so soon of thiskind of traveling; but nevertheless she was quite as well pleased asEllen and I, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, word was giventhat we should halt and make camp.
THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT
We were yet in a fairly thickly settled portion of the country; butthe leaders of our company determined to make the encampment exactly asif we were on the prairie or among the mountains, where there might bedanger from wild beasts or wilder savages, and you may well fancy thatEllen and I were on our feet as soon as the wagon came to a stop, forwe had heard so much of this camp making that both of us were eager tosee how it was done.
All the wagons were drawn up in a large circle so that the tongue ofone came close to the tailboard of another, and just inside this ringof vehicles were set up small tents, which many of the company were touse at night because their families were so large that every one couldnot be given room in the wagons.
Inside this row of tents were picketed the horses, or, at least, theywere to be picketed as soon as night should come; but when we firsthalted they were fastened out upon the plain where they might eat thegrass, while the oxen, cows, and sheep were turned loose with half adozen of the men and boys watching lest they should stray.
Because the people were not accustomed to thus making an encampment,no little time was spent in getting everything into what the leaders ofthe company believed to be proper order, and then our mothers set aboutcooking supper.
In our wagon the stove was pushed back upon the shelf made expresslyfor it, short lengths of pipe were run through the osnaburg cloth andtied by wire to the topmost part of the rear wagon bow, so they mightbe held straight, and then mother set about her work much as if she hadbeen at home.
It was most pleasant camping in the open air, and before we had beenhalted an hour the place was quite homelike.
At nearly every wagon one or more women were making ready for supper;a short distance away the men and the boys were herding the cattle, andnear by, inside or out of the inclosure, were scores and scores of idleones, who, their work being done, were now enjoying a time of rest.
There was much talking and shouting, but above all one could hear thatsong of the true Pikers:--
"My name it is Joe Bowers, And I've got a brother Ike. I came from old Missouri, Yes, all the way from Pike."
NIGHT IN CAMP
How Ellen and I enjoyed the supper on this first night of the journey!Mother made sour-milk biscuit; the stove worked to perfection, as ifdelighted because it was being carried to California; and what withcold meat and steaming hot tea it seemed as if I had never tastedanything better than that meal.
Although we had enjoyed ourselves hugely, especially during the firstpart of the day's march, both Ellen and I were tired, and when mothersaid we might make up our bed on the bottom of the wagon, we were notonly willing, but eager to do so, for after the hearty supper it seemedas if sleep had become a necessity.
Once we had crossed over into Dreamland, our eyes were not opened againuntil the sun was near to rising; then the shouts of the men and thelowing of the cattle caused us to spring up suddenly, almost fancyingthat the camp had been attacked by savages, even though we were not yetout of Pike County.
If I had the time, it would please me to describe the journey from ourhome in Ashley to a town known as Independence, on the Missouri River,where the Oregon trail begins; but since, as father said again andagain, we did not really start until we had struck the Oregon trail,it is best that I leave out all that happened while we were coming fromPike County to the Missouri River.
THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE
We traveled slowly, because the cows were not easily herded, and, asEben Jordan said, none of our people were accustomed to such kind ofmarching.
We did, however, finally arrive at the real starting point after eightdays, during which time Ellen and I came to understand that, howeverpleasant it was to sit in the wagon and look out upon the countrythrough which we passed, it might grow wearisome.
Ellen and I had fancied we would see something very new and wonderfulat Independence, and yet, while everything was strange and there wasmuch to attract one's attention, it was not so very different fromother settlements through which we had passed.
There was, however, a constant bustle and confusion such as one couldnot see elsewhere. Enormous wagons, which Eben Jordan said belongedto the traders who went over the Santa Fe trail, were coming intotown or going out, each drawn by eight or ten mules and accompanied bySpaniards or Negroes, until one could but wonder where so many peoplewere going.
There were trains, much like our own, belonging to settlers who weregoing into Oregon, or, like ourselves, into California. Those werehalted just outside the town, until the entire settlement was literallysurrounded, while among them all, near the wagons of the traders aswell as those of the emigrants, lounged Indians, nothing like thepeople I had imagined the savages to be.
KANSAS INDIANS
As Ellen said, if that was the kind of Indian we should meet withduring the journey, then we need have little or no fear, for thesavages we saw at Independence were nothing more nor less than beggars,who would greedily pick up and devour anything eatable that was thrownat them. Eben Jordan made himself ridiculous by marching around armedwith a rifle, and a huge knife thrust in his belt, as if expecting eachinstant to be called upon to defend his life.
We were tired of the settlement, even before we had fairly arrived, andafter Ellen and I walked through the town, wondering not a little atseeing a number of the houses and stores built entirely of brick, wewere content to return to our own encampment, which was about half amile out on the prairie.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE FOR TROUBLE
Up to this time mother and I had but little trouble in preparing themeals whenever we came to a halt; but I heard some of the men say thatwithin a few days after we were once on the trail, all this would bechanged. There would be many times when we might not find sufficientfuel to keep a fire in the stove, when we would feel the pangs ofthirst because of not being able to get enough water, and when, thestock of provisions which we had brought with us having been consumed,we would know what it was to be hungry.
When I repeated to mother what I had heard, she nodded her headsadly, replying that she had thought of all these things when fatherfirst determined to seek a new home in the California country, andshe doubted not that we would come to know much suffering, before wearrived at our journey's end.
As may be supposed, I was not in a cheerful mood when Ellen and I wentto bed that night. During the half hour or more while we lay therewakeful, we spoke of all the possibilities of the future, and almostregretted that our parents had decided to leave Pike County, forsurely they could find nowhere on the face of this earth a place moreagreeable in which to live.
A STORMY DAY
When another morning came, it surely seemed as if all my fears wereabout to be realized, for the day dawned dark and forbidding, the raincame down in torrents, while the wind sighed and moaned as it drovefloods of water from one end of the wagon to the other, wetting uscompletely even before we were awake.
I could not believe father would set off on the journey at such a timeas this, and was wondering how we should be able to cook breakfast,when he called to mother that she make ready the morning meal, for inhalf an hour the train would be in
motion.
No one had been sufficiently thoughtful to store beneath the wagon asupply of dry fuel, and the consequence was that we had nothing withwhich to build a fire, save a few armfuls of water-soaked wood whichfather and Eben Jordan succeeded in gathering, for where so manyemigrants were encamped, fuel of any kind was indeed scarce.
I almost forgave Eben for having appeared so ridiculous when hestrutted around fully armed, as I saw him striving to gather wood forus when he might have remained under the cover of his father's wagon;indeed, before many days passed both Ellen and I saw that there wasmuch good in the boy's heart, even though he was too often disposed tomake matters disagreeable for us girls.
A LACK OF FUEL
Mother and I made our first attempt at cooking while the stove wasbeneath the wagon cover and the pipe thrust out through the hole in therear.
If we had had plenty of dry wood, I have no doubt but that the workcould have been done with some degree of comfort; but as it was, wewere put to our wits' ends, even to get sufficient heat to boil thewater, and when word was given for the company to start, we had notreally begun to cook the breakfast.
Of course it would have been dangerous for us to attempt to keep a fireburning while the wagon was moving. Therefore we would have been forcedto set off without breakfast, had not Ellen's mother kindly sent ussome corn bread which she had baked the night before, and this, withfresh milk, made up our meal.
Martha of California: A Story of the California Trail Page 2
