In the Early Days along the Overland Trail in Nebraska Territory, in 1852 Part 1

In the Early Days along the Overland Trail in Nebraska Territory, in 1852.

by Gilbert L. Cole.

TESTIMONIALS.

A true story plainly told, of immense historical value and fascinating interest from beginning to end.

DR. GEO. W. CROFTS, Beatrice, Nebraska.

I have read every word of "In the Early Days," written by Mr. Gilbert L.

Cole, with great interest and profit. The language is well chosen, the word-pictures are vivid, and the subject-matter is of historic value.

The story is fascinating in the extreme, and I only wished it were longer. The story should be printed and distributed for the people in general to read.

July 27, 1905.

C. A. FULMER, _Superintendent of Public Schools_, Beatrice, Neb.

At a single sitting, with intense interest, I have read the ma.n.u.script of "In the Early Days." It is a very entertaining narrative of adventure, a vivid portrayal of conditions and an instructive history of events as they came into the personal experience and under the observation of the writer fifty-three years ago. An exceedingly valuable contribution to the too meager literature of a time so near in years, but so distant in conditions as to make the truth about it seem stranger than fiction.

REV. N. A. MARTIN, _Pastor, Centenary M. E. Church_, Beatrice, Neb.

NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

LINCOLN, Nebraska, July 28, 1905.

_To whom it may concern_: The ma.n.u.script account of the overland trip by Mr. Gilbert L. Cole of Beatrice, Nebraska, in my opinion is a very carefully written story of great interest to the whole public, and particularly to Nebraskans. It reads like a novel, and the succession of adventures holds the interest of the reader to the end. The records of trips across the Nebraska Territory as early as this one are very incomplete, and Mr. Cole has done a real public service in putting into print so complete a record of these experiences. I predict that it will find a wide circulation among lovers of travel and of Nebraska history.

Very sincerely,

JAY AMOS BARRETT, _Curator and Librarian Nebraska State Historical Society_,

Author of "Nebraska and the Nation"; "Civil Government of Nebraska."

EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, LINCOLN, Nebraska, July 28, 1905.

_To whom it may concern_: It gives me great pleasure to say that the publication, "In the Early Days," written by Mr. Gilbert L. Cole, of Beatrice, Nebraska, is a very interesting and profitable work to read.

It bears upon many subjects of great historical value and no doubt will prove a very interesting book to all who read it and I take pleasure in recommending the same.

Very respectfully, JOHN H. MICKEY, _Governor_.

_To whom it may concern_: It is with pleasure I write a few words of commendation for the book written by Mr. Gilbert L. Cole, of Beatrice, Nebraska, ent.i.tled "In the Early Days." It is well prepared and full of interest from beginning to the end. It is of great value to every Nebraskan.

_July 28, 1905._ D. L. THOMAS, _Pastor Grace M. E. Church_, Lincoln, Neb.

An interesting, thrilling and delightful bit of prairie history hitherto unwritten and unsung, which most opportunely and completely supplies a missing link in the stories of the great Westland.

MRS. A. HARDY, _President Beatrice Woman's Club_, Beatrice, Neb.

BEATRICE, NEB., July 30, 1905.

I have just read "In the Early Days," by Col. G. L. Cole, and I find it an interesting and instructive narrative, clothed in good diction and pleasing style. Few of the Argonauts took time or trouble to make note of the events of their journey and our California gold episode is remarkably barren of literature, a fact which makes Col. Cole's book doubly interesting and valuable.

M. T. c.u.mMINGS

INTRODUCTORY.

If one is necessary, the only apology I can offer for presenting this little volume to the public is that it may serve to record for time to come some of the adventures of that long and wearisome journey, together with my impressions of the beautiful plains, mountains and rivers of the great and then comparatively unknown Territory of Nebraska. They were presented to me fresh from the hand of Nature, in all their beauty and glory. And by reference to the daily journal I kept along the trail, the impressions made upon my mind have remained through these long years, bright and clear.

THE AUTHOR.

IN THE EARLY DAYS ALONG THE OVERLAND TRAIL IN NEBRASKA TERRITORY, IN 1852.

CHAPTER I.

SETTING UP ALTARS OF REMEMBRANCE.

It has been said that once upon a time Heaven placed a kiss upon the lips of Earth and therefrom sprang the fair State of Nebraska.

It was while the prairies were still dimpling under this first kiss that the events related in this little volume became part and parcel of my life and experience, as gathered from a trip made across the continent in the morning glow of a territory now occupying high and honorable position in the calendar of States and nations.

On the 16th day of March, 1852, a caravan consisting of twenty-four men, one woman (our captain, W. W. Wadsworth being accompanied by his wife), forty-four head of horses and mules and eight wagons, gathered itself together from the little city of Monroe, Michigan, and adjacent country, and, setting its face toward the western horizon, started for the newly found gold fields of California, where it expected to unloose from the storage quarters of Nature sufficient of s.h.i.+ning wealth to insure peace and plenty to twenty-five life-times and their dependencies. As is usual upon such occasions, this March morning departure from home and friends was a strange commingling of sadness and gladness, of hope and fear, for in those days whoever went into the regions beyond the Missouri River were considered as already lost to the world. It was going into the dark unknown and untried places of earth whose farewells always surrounded those who remained at home with an atmosphere of foreboding.

Nothing of importance occurred during our travel through the States, except the general bad roads, which caused us to make slow progress.

Crossing the Mississippi River at Warsaw, Illinois, we kept along the northern tier of counties in Missouri, which were heavily timbered and spa.r.s.ely settled. Bearing south-west, we arrived at St. Joseph, Missouri, on the first day of May.

The town was a collection of one-story, cheap, wooden buildings, located along the river and Black Snake Hollow.

The inhabitants appeared to be chiefly French and half-breed Indians.

The princ.i.p.al business was selling outfits to immigrants and trading horses, mules and cattle. There was one steam ferry-boat, which had several days crossing registered ahead.

The level land below the town was the camping-place of our colony. After two or three days at this point, we drove up to the town of Savannah, where we laid in new supplies and pa.s.sed on to the Missouri River, where we crossed by hand-ferry at Savannah Landing, now called Amazonia. Here we pressed for the first time the soil of the then unsettled plains of the great West. Working our way through the heavily timbered bottom, we camped under the bluffs, wet and weary.