Told by the Pioneers - Washington Secretary of State

Told by the Pioneers
other. "There goes one right behind me," I said. "We'll get out of
here," said Brother Thomas, and we did-on the double quick.
The trail up the Platte Riyer, along the level bench land, was quite
interesting. The bold bluffs to our right were a great attraction to us
boys and we would climb up steep bluffs that we found more difficult
to get down than to get up. I remember one instance Brother Tom
went to the train and got Brother William to come and help me down
off of a steep ledge. I haye always been careful since to examine a
possible retreat.
'We began to see herds of buffalo coming down to the river to drink.
The buffalo chips were quite an important feature of the landscape.
The chips were so plentiful and dry we would use them to build the
camp fires for cooking and they made good hot fires and did not need
aI1Y chopping up.
The Platte Ri,-er 'was a broad, shallow stream, full of sand bars and
quick sands. The emigrant trains that started from St. Joseph, Missouri,
traveled up the south side. As we neared Fort Laramie, these
trains from the south side would come across and join ours on the
north side. ];'ort Laramie was four miles away on the south side of
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the Laramie Fork. 'We camped right in the midst of a large camp of
Sioux and Cheyennes. They would pat themselves on the chest and
say, "Me good Indian" and gave us to nnderstand that they were not
like the Pawnees. They seemed to be altogether different and had an
abundance of buffalo and antelope meat to live on.
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Their big tanned buffalo skin tents or wigwams were stretched upon
poles, fastened together at the top. I went around peeking in at
the openings of the teepees and saw whole strings of buffalo meat
hanging up, drying in the smoke of a fire built in the middle of the
tent. A large, motherly-looking squaw, with great wide tanned leather
skirts that spread away out, took me by the hand and was going to
show me around. She looked so friendly I was marching right along
when Mother chanced to see me from where she was busy over a fire
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getting supper. Sre came up hurriedly and grabbed me from the opposite
side of the big skirts. Afterward I heard her telling Father
that"A big squaw was leading Johnnie off".
These were the finest looking lot of Indians I ever saw, standing UIJ
tall and straight and manly looking; full of life and anxious to make
trades, and Father bought two Indian ponies for Brother Tom and
me. While on the road we put in part of our time riding the ponies
and driving the loose stock, cows and extra oxen and an occasional
lame animal.
At this camp }Ir. 'Williams, one of our teamsters, brought a cousin
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