Martha of California: A Story of the California Trail

  No sooner had she begun her work than fully half the women of thecompany followed her example, and at the side or in the rear of nearlyevery wagon was a churn set out with either the girls or the boysworking the dasher.

  As Eben Jordan said when he offered to spell me at the churn, it lookedas if we people, who had set out from Ashley to find a new home in theland of California, had decided to abandon the idea and turn all ourattention to making butter.

 

  Next morning we were forced to continue the journey before havingbreakfast, for we were nearing the Kansas River, and would arrive thereabout noon if the march was begun as soon as daylight. Even then therewould be hardly more than time before the sun set to get all our trainover, for the stream was so deep that it could not be forded, and wemust send the wagons across in boats.

  A KANSAS FERRY

  Although we were, as one might have supposed, in an uninhabitedcountry, father told me that at this crossing of the Kansas Riverwas a ferry owned by two half-breed Indians, who made a business offreighting heavy wagons across for a fee of one dollar each; but allthe live stock would be forced to swim.

  Now since none of the boats could carry more than one wagon at a time,you may readily understand how many hours would be needed in order toget all our train from one side of the river to the other, even thoughit was no more than two hundred yards from bank to bank. Therefore, asI have said, it was necessary we arrive at the ferry at the earliestpossible moment, lest night overtake us while half the company yetremained on the eastern shore.

 

  The ferryboats were nothing more than square, shallow boxes, which theIndians pushed across by poles, after the cargo of wagons had been puton board.

  Of course the women and the girls had nothing to do with this ferrying,save to remain under the wagon coverings where they would be out of theway. I envied Eben Jordan, who could move about at will, for verily myheart was in my mouth, so to speak, during all the time we were workingour slow way across the stream, fearing lest our boat should sinkbeneath us.

  THE SURPRISE AT SOLDIER CREEK

  Not until nearly six o'clock were all our company on the western sideof the river, and then I supposed that we would immediately make camp;but to my surprise word was given for the train to move on, and wejourneyed three miles more, coming to the bank of Soldier Creek beforedarkness.

  It was at this place that a most pleasant surprise awaited us. ColonelRussell's wife, who had walked ahead while our train was being ferriedacross the river, found quantities and quantities of wild strawberriesnear the camping place. As soon as we women and girls arrived, we setabout gathering the berries, until each family had a good supply ofthe luscious fruit. Milk was not a poor substitute for cream to us whohad been living upon corn bread and salt meat ever since we left thesettlement of Independence.

  During the next two days we traveled steadily onward, slowly, to besure, but yet each step, as Ellen said again and again, was taking usnearer the end of the journey. In time I came to be impatient whenevera halt was called, so eager was I to have done with riding, for howevercomfortable a girl might make herself in one of the wagons, her limbswere certain to become cramped before night.

 

  On the third day after crossing the Kansas River, the leaders of ourcompany decided that a halt was needed in order to give the animals arest. Their hoofs had become dry and cracked from traveling over thematted grass of last year, which covered the prairie even beneath thenew crop, and it was necessary that something be done for them withoutdelay.

  I had been looking forward to a full day's halt, even though impatientwhen we were not moving forward, for Ellen and I had planned to wanderas far from the encampment as we could, searching for flowers and wildpeas, which grew there in great abundance, so we had been told.

  BREAD MAKING

  Mother decided that now had come a time when she must bake a plentifulsupply of bread, for she was determined not to be put to such straitsas we were during the rain storm, when it was next to impossible tobuild a fire in the stove, and, of course, I was glad to do whatever Imight to aid her.

 

  Before father had fairly got the stove out of the wagon and set upwhere it could be most conveniently used, nearly every other woman inthe company had decided to follow mother's example, and then came sucha scene as was presented when each family did its churning.

  In the rear or at the side of nearly every wagon a stove was set up,and one might see everywhere women rolling or kneading dough, girlsrunning about on errands, and boys doing their share by keeping thefires going.

  I must say to Eben Jordan's credit that he was of great assistance tomother and me that day. If he had been a saint upon earth, he couldnot have done more or worked with greater patience than he did, runningfrom stove to stove when the other boys had neglected their duties.

  Mother told him laughingly that many times while we lived in Ashley shehad been vexed because of the boyish pranks he played; but from thistime onward she should remember what he had done in the way of aidingthe cooks, and would overlook almost anything which mischief mightprompt him to do.

  PRAIRIE PEAS

  The baking came to an end, so far as our family was concerned,shortly after noon; then Ellen and I, taking Eben with us as guide andprotector, went out in search of peas and brought home enough to supplyseveral families, who had been neighbors of ours, with a generous mess.

  Save for the fact that these prairie peas look somewhat like those wehave at home, I could find no likeness between the two varieties. Thewild peas have a tough rind, and there are several seeds in the middleof each; but after they have been boiled and allowed to remain invinegar a few hours, they make a fairly pleasing dish.

 

  When we began the march once more, I hoped to see the cattle movingmore spiritedly than before the halt; but in this I was mistaken. Itseemed to me that they limped painfully, and worse than ever; that Iwas not mistaken was proved, to my satisfaction at least, when I heardfather and another man saying to each other that before many days weshould be forced to kill two or three whose feet were in the worstcondition.

  However, the days went on and our cattle continued to work fairlywell, although I noticed that when we came to rough places, such as thecrossing of a stream, where it was necessary to climb a high bank onthe opposite side, the drivers were forced to double up the teams moreoften than before, because the poor creatures could not haul so heavya load as when we first started out.

  EBEN AS A HUNTER

  Within a week from the time of leaving Soldier Creek, Eben Jordanwas indeed puffed up with pride. He came into camp late one afternoondragging behind him an antelope which he had shot within two miles ofwhere we halted an hour previous. This proof that he had shown himselfa skillful hunter, caused the boy literally to swell with joy as hestrutted around the body of the beautiful animal while our people werelooking at it.

 

  It seemed too bad to kill such an innocent creature as that antelope,and yet I forgot all the cruelty of it when Eben brought to ourwagon enough steaks to provide all of us with a slice of fresh meat.Afterward it seemed to me much as if we had been cannibals when we soeagerly devoured the handsome animal.

  From that day on, whenever we made camp before dark, Eben went outwith his rifle, and more than once he brought in a deer of some kind,dividing the meat generously and fairly among us all.

  A HERD OF BUFFALOES

  Then came the time when we had our first glimpse of buffaloes, andnever shall I forget the scene. We had been traveling in the bottomlands where we found multitudes of paths deeply cut into the ground,which some of our people said had been made by buffaloes; but we girlsnever so much as dreamed we might be near the beasts, until one morningfather called me hurriedly to look out of the wagon.

  Then I screamed, for we were literally surrounded by thousands uponthousands of those fierce-looking, yet stupid, beasts, who gave no moreheed to our encampment than if they had been a
ccustomed to such thingsall their lives.

  They circled around within a quarter of a mile of where our cattlewere feeding, and father said afterward that unless our men had beenexceedingly watchful and active, the oxen and cows would have beenstampeded beyond a doubt.

  EXCITEMENT IN THE CAMP

  Our animals were in a high state of excitement, striving to getthrough the lines of men who guarded them, and of course there was nopossibility of our breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,so father said, there was not a driver in the company who could handlehalf a dozen yoke of oxen while the buffaloes were so near.

 

  Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea of animals as didEllen and I. You may be certain Eben Jordan was among the first to goout dangerously near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all themen of the company, save those who were guiding our live stock.

  I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their heels when arifle was discharged; but much to my surprise they paid little or noattention at first to the reports of the firearms.

  I dare not venture to say how many of the animals were killed; butcertainly it seemed to me, when about noon the entire herd rushed off,the rumbling of their hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder,that there were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plainwithin a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up to form a corral.

  A FEAST OF BUFFALO MEAT

  There was so much game for us to bring in, that during the remainderof the day every man and boy that could be spared was kept busy at workskinning the dead buffaloes or cutting up the flesh.

  What a feast we had that evening! We had buffalo tongues baked in theovens, or in front of small fires which had been built here and there.Then there were what father called hump ribs, steaks, and meat of everykind that could be taken from a buffalo. Each member of the company waseager to learn how every eatable portion of the animal tasted, and,therefore, cooked two or three times as much as could be used at onemeal.

  Our people had no more than time to skin and cut up the carcassesbefore dark; on the following morning word was passed around that eachfamily must dry, or smoke-cure, as much of the flesh as possible withinthe next four and twenty hours.

 

  Straightway every man, woman, and child set about either slicing themeat as thin as it could be cut with sharp knives, or putting togetherracks made of sticks, on which the strips of flesh were to be hung andexposed to the rays of the sun, as well as to the smoke of the firesthat were to be built directly beneath them.

  CURING THE MEAT

  It was disagreeable work, and yet we were all, even to the smallestgirl, content to do our part, knowing that we were thus laying up foodfor the future when it might not be possible to procure game, and whenall the stores we had brought with us from Pike County had been eaten.

  The arms of the men who acted as carvers were stained with blood to theelbows, while the hands and even the faces of the women and childrenwho carried the sliced meat to hang it on the framework of sticks, werecolored in the same way.

  In addition to curing the meat in the sun and smoking it, some of themen made what is called pemmican, a most disagreeable looking mixtureof flesh and fat which I afterward came to eat greedily, when we hadnothing else with which to satisfy our hunger.

  Pemmican is made by first drying the very thinnest of thin slices ofmeat in the sun, until they are so hard that it is possible to rub orpound them to a powder.

  A bag is then formed of the buffalo skin, and into it is packedpowdered meat sufficient to fill it considerably more than half full,after which tallow is melted and poured into the bag until it can holdno more. Then the entire mass is allowed to cool and harden. It is thenfit for eating, so father said; but mother, when the time came thatwe were glad to have our portion of the stuff, always boiled it so itmight be served hot.

  It is not appetizing to me, and because I have seen the mixtureprepared I can eat it only when I am very hungry.

  A WASH DAY

  Two full days were spent in curing the meat and making pemmican, andeven then we did not continue the journey immediately, for the workhad brought our clothing to such a condition that a day for washingwas absolutely necessary. Therefore we remained for another twenty-fourhours.

 

  We were encamped near a small stream where could be had plenty of waterfor the animals, and on either side of this tiny creek, shortly aftersunrise, could be seen many fires, kettles, and washtubs.

  What a tired girl I was when I stretched myself out on mother's featherbed in the wagon that night! It seemed to me that I had no more thanclosed my eyes before I was asleep, and not until father was bustlingaround inside the wagon next morning trying to build a fire in thecookstove, did I awake.

  Then the patter, patter of rain on the wagon covering told that we wereto be treated to another downpour of water, and eager though I was toreach California, I hoped most fervently we would remain in camp yetlonger.

  UNCOMFORTABLE TRAVELING

  It was really difficult for me to open my eyes, so heavily did slumberweigh upon them, when I asked father if he had any idea of settingoff in such a storm, at the same time reminding him how our beasts hadstruggled through the mud during the last rain.

  He laughingly told me that we would continue on the trail, regardlessof the weather; that a rain storm was not to be compared in the wayof discomfort with snow. He said that unless we came to our journey'send before the season of frost set in, we might never arrive, butwould be in danger of perishing, as others had who, striving to reachCalifornia, had been overtaken by winter among the mountains.

  "So long as the cattle are in condition to push on, just so long shallwe continue to march, regardless of whether the rain falls or the sunshines," he said, speaking very solemnly, and mother's face grew graveas if she was already beginning to understand the better what might bebefore us.

  "There will be all too many days when we must remain in camp; but now,after such a long rest, it would be little less than wicked to remainidle here simply because it might be more to our comfort."

 

  There is little need for me to explain how disagreeable it is to get upin the morning and attempt to keep a fire going with wet fuel.

  Everything was damp and uncomfortable to the touch, and all thesurroundings looked much as Ellen and I felt when we helped motherprepare breakfast.

  After that very unsatisfactory meal had been eaten, for we had nothingsave some half-fried bacon with cold corn bread, not being able tomake coffee because the fire would persist in going out, the trainwas started. Ellen and I, crouching in the rear end of the wagon wherethe rain could not drive in upon us, sat close to the stove, which nowseemed warmer than when we were trying to cook breakfast, and talked ofthe future.

  Of course I cannot set down all we said, for much of it was foolish;but some of the conversation I have remembered clearly even to thisday.

  ELLEN'S ADVICE REGARDING THE STORY

  Ellen, when I had told her it was my intent to write the story of ourcoming from Pike County, said that it would not be proper for me towrite anything about what we saw or did while on the Oregon trail. Wewere bound for California, and would not be upon the direct road tothat country until we had left Fort Bridger.

  It was her idea that I should begin the story with the time when weturned from the trail leading to Oregon, and set our faces directlytoward California; but, as has been seen, I nearly forgot her advice,and even now it seems impossible to do exactly as she proposed.

  I intend, however, in order to please her, to set down only suchmatters as seem to me of the greatest importance, and thereby hurryover a certain portion of the march, beginning in earnest with the timewhen we finally came to Fort Bridger.

  INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES

  Now you must bear in mind, although I may not speak of them again, thatwe were constantly meeting with Indians. Hardly a day passed that wedid not come upon a village, meet a party of hun
ters, or receive visitsfrom groups of two, three, or four who came to beg.

 

  Strange though it may seem, we became accustomed to the savages as onedoes to seeing a dog or a cat around the house, and gave little or noattention to them save when they made themselves disagreeable.

  One other thing I will speak about now. Mosquitoes and tiny flies,which seemed as fierce as tigers, were with us all the time by day aswell as by night.

  When we first left Independence, it was difficult for me to sleep atnight because of these insects, and during the day I spent the greaterportion of my time striving to keep them off my hands or face. As thejourney progressed it seemed as if they became less poisonous; but Isuppose my body had become accustomed to the wounds, and I gave littleheed to them except when the weather was exceedingly warm.

 

  Until we came among the foothills, which is to say, after we left FortBridger, we found game in abundance. What had been sport to Eben becamenow a real labor, and he sought for fresh meat only when urged to do soby his father or some of us girls.

  There were days when our men brought in no game because they wereunable to come across any; but we were in a country abounding withdeer, elks, buffaloes, and even bears, and so did not suffer for food.

  PRAIRIE DOGS

  Even though I say nothing more regarding the remainder of our journeyover the Oregon trail, I must speak of the little prairie dogs which wecame upon from time to time.