Government did indeed vote a subsidy in land, and issued bonds to the company at the rate of $16,000.00 per mile across the plains and $45,000.00 per mile across the mountains; and now, instead of one road, as then anticipated, we have three transcontinental lines, all built within the memory of the writer, who had the unique experi- ence of being the only woman passenger on the first passenger train that went over the newly-laid track, nearly one hundred miles west from Omaha.
And so, upon leaving Fort Leavenworth, we em- barked for the untried future, whatever that might prove to be, and any calculations, based upon former experiences, were of no avail whatever. Our initiation, however, was not long delayed. Even before we reached the terminus of the new track, to exchange our means of conveyance, a wrecked con- struction train impeded further progress and we were forced to halt, high, and very dry, for one entire day, "waiting for things to come to pass," and, "more than twenty miles from a lemon." I felt, perhaps not unworthily, the experience and attitude of ' * patience on a monument, "sol endured the ordeal, while patient hands extricated us from our dilemma.
One can imagine the physical discomfort to a lone woman stranded on the broad open plain, minus the present every-day conveniences of tank and toilet, so indispensable to comfort in travel. The monotony of our first ambulance ride, after leaving the railroad, was absolutely barren of inter- est, and in view of our later experience with the
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MY ARMY LIFE
Platte River, of which we had no previous warning, I have never understood exactly how we actually crossed it in company with several emigrant wagons, wholly oblivious of its hidden mysteries and mani- fold dangers, unless the very change from the other modes of travel made the ambulance ride a consoling hint that we were actually on the way to our des- tined goal.
We passed through, or rather by, old Fort Kearney, once a famous frontier post, which had been left in the charge of an Ordnance Sergeant soon after the Eighteenth Infantry had left its barracks early in the summer for their western expedition to Montana, which we were about to join, and began to realize that "thus far" we were still within the limits of civilized occupation, but practically on its very frontier. Little "Dobey Town," dignified by the ambitious sobriquet of Kearney City, only three miles west from the fort and long known as an Overland Stage Station, was left behind without regret, and with eager anticipa- tions we hastened toward Fort McPherson, the first army post along the great stretch of land that sepa- rated us from our journey's end.
CHAPTER III.
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL—THE FIRST WOMAN PASSENGER
ON THE U. P. RAILROAD WARNINGS OF
PENDING INDIAN WAR.
"THUS far" had chiefly embraced river travel, with very little railroad experience, and the import of these laconic words is more or less familiar to the soldier enlisted for war, but what imagination can adequately convey their meaning to a young woman just celebrating her first marriage anniver- sary and starting on her first sentimental and sen- sational journey across the trackless plains, with her husband, to join his command, more than a thousand miles distant, and through the heart of a hostile Indian country with a mail party made up of an escort of six men, with two ambulances and one wagon for baggage !
With this small personal outfit, gradually aug- mented from ranches along the roadway, we began our real journey across the Plains to "Absaraka," now called Wyoming, the old "Home of the Crows."*
Some ranchmen were sufficiently hospitable to give us a night's lodging, but at other times the ambulance proved to us a bed indeed. With straw pillows and army blankets as accessories to the necessary outfit we had to make ourselves comfort-
_________________________
* The ancestral abode of the Crow Indian tribe.
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MY ARMY LIFE
able. Our camp was invariably along the river side and possessed its novel but uninteresting features. The air was salubrious and conducive to sleep after each day 's march, but the fear of rattlesnakes caused disturbance in sleep, as well as vigilance by the camp-fire.
The purchase of supplies at ranches for variety of menu consisted of canned goods and bread and greatly simplified the preparation of meals, for- tunately for me, in the absence of knowledge in the culinary art. Our fuel consisted of whatever we could find of a combustible nature, and at times we utilized buffalo chips as well as dried sage-brush of the last year's growth.
At one of the ranches where we were accorded entertainment for a night or more, near the point where the stage struck off on the overland route to Denver, we found several travellers quite diverse in character, dress, and manners.
An Indian, "Wild Bill" by name, first elicited my attention as the first Indian I had seen, and he was in full Indian trappings. His appearance was alarming, as his very dress suggested the war-path, although for the time being a friendly specimen. Whether as prophet or seer, or merely conscious of the present impression he was making, he did make certain statements as to the movements of Indians which indicated that in his opinion all the north- western tribes were going on the war-path immedi- ately. All this was subsequently verified, and indeed even then far to the north and west Red Cloud had inaugurated his fatal campaign. Fortunately for
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OUTWARD BOUND
my peace of mind the facts were not then known to us. This name, "Wild Bill," I suppose had some significance in Indian usage, as they, like the ancient Hebrews, gave names to indicate some particular characteristic or change of circumstances. It may have been adopted from the celebrated American "Wild Bill" of earlier days, as he was a man of such courage and daring that others of his own race adopted it, and as one has observed, "it was the palmy days of our Wild Bills." The original of the name seemed to have been a gentleman with long hair and long mustache, with the usual character- istics of the plainsmen. Our visitor, to me a hero, could not imitate the original in every particular, as Indians have neither beards nor mustaches. His dress was probably donned for the time being through vanity or for effect, and it certainly im- pressed me with foreboding no less than his talk. In reality he was a scout then and afterwards, and it was a mere ruse when he left his pony and rode off with the stage driver in friendly chat. My infor- mation was received from another traveller, a little boy of fourteen years of age, whose name was Charles Sylvester, belonging to Quincy, Illinois. He had been stolen by the Indians when but seven years of age and spent his early years among his captors. One day he was out hunting with a party of Indian boys and accidentally killed a comrade. He dared not return to the village so he escaped on his pony to the white people. After a time, becoming discon- tented with his own people and civilization in gen- eral, he returned to his adopted friends on the North
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MY ARMY LIFE
Platte and became an interpreter. It was at this time that I met him and he divulged, or interpreted, what he understood from Wild Bill.
He appeared to have an eye upon business as well, and offered his services to me in the capacity of a servant for $40.00 per month, and "no bacon to eat," as he expressed it. He seemed attracted to me, for some unknown cause, and dogged my foot- steps, perhaps hoping that I might relent and make a contract; barring that, he eventually followed the business of interpreter and became in time an Indian trader with enlarged possibilities, as I after- wards learned from one who knew him well.
The
