Beyond the Mississippi : from the great river to the great ocean : life and adventure on the prairies, mountains, and Pacific coast

Front matter

.

BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI:

I

CHAPTER I. Pag*

Westward and Westward. American Wines of the West. The Great Muddy River. Scenes along the Missouri. Terrors of Missouri Navigation. A Story of Steamboat Racing. Stopping to ‘Wood Up.’ Oration by a Steamboat Gambler. All Varieties of Passengers. Arrival in Kansas City. Encounter¬ ing an Old Acquaintance. Border Ruffians in Kansas, . . . . 17

Chapter II

A Glance at Wyandotte, Kansas. How Frontier Cities are Begun. A Romantic Indian Legend. A City among the Rocks. On the Rolling Prairies. Travel¬ ers along the Road. A Bit of Y ankee Ingenuity. How Lawrence was Founded.

And how it was Named. A Scene of Surpassing Beauty, . . ... . . 29

Chapter III

A War Reminiscence. Juries and Councils of War. Origin of the Kansas Troubles. Resistance to the Bogus Laws. Two Characteristics of the Struggle.

Free State Convention at Topeka. Lane’s Power as an Orator. His Physical Endurance. His Speech in the Convention. Other Prominent Speakers. Reception of a Bogus Assessor. A Collection on First Principles. History repeating itself ‘ Casting out the Vile Demon,’ . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Chapter IV

First Visit to Leavenworth. A Journey on Foot. A Night with a Kentucky Squatter. The First Landing at Sumner. Atchison, Doniphan and Geary City. A Mania for Speculation. Difference between Fact and Fancy. A Real Estate Reaction. Rivalry of American Cities. An Encroaching Element. Vagaries of the Missouri, . 53

Chapter V

Deadly Affray at the Polls. A Kansas Temple of Justice. A Murder for Money.

A Mob Administering Justice. ‘ The Man with the Rope.’ An Exciting Night Scene. Mormons Escaping to Kansas. The Land Sale at Osawkee. Border Ruffian Courts of Justice/ A Quasi'* Declaration of War. Treason to be Put Down. Fallacy of Human Testimony. Governor Extinguished by Ridicule, . 64

Chapter VI

Wild Fruits of the Prairies.. An- Emigrant Family in Camp. Rain Increasing with Civilization. A Shrewd; Speculator in Lumber. Within Prison Walls.

X

CONTENTS.

Page.

Last Treason Trial in Kansas. Traveling to a Convention. Siege of Hickory- Point. A Declaration by Buchanan. The Ballot or the Rifle. Rupture in the Democratic Party. Pifteen Whisky Punches, . 77

Chapter VII

Night Rides on the Prairies. Seeking Shelter among the Indians. A Night with a Delaware Family. Origin of Indian Appellations. The Delaware Baptist Mission. Another Night’s Lodging. Something about the Shawnees. Pottawatomie Funeral Rites. Origin of some Kansas Names. A Little Le¬ gendary Lore, . 89

Chapter VIII

Governor Denver makes his Debut. And has a Spirited Reception. Wonderful Election Returns. To Yote or not to Yote. A Kansas Search-warrant. His¬ tory of the Minneola Scheme. ‘ Mightier than the Sword.’ General Lane re¬ ceives his Friends. A Speech.Nipped in the Bud. Governors plenty as Black¬ berries, . . . ..... . ... . . . . .,. . . . . 95

Chapter IX

An Imaginary City. ‘ What are your Politics ?’ Freaks of Political Highway¬ men. Not much Room left. An Excitement at Lawrence. Jenkins killed by General Lane. An Adventurous Cat-fish. The Result of a Mis-step. Brave Father and Brave Son. A Most Inhuman Massacre. Le Marais duUygne, ... 109

Chapter X

A Party of Peace-makers. Before a Comfortable Fire. A Night at Osawattomie. Both Sides of the Question. A Simple, Touching Story. The Great Guerrilla Chieftain. One of his Devoted Adherents. ‘ Catching a Tartar ’ Illustrated.

A Moment of Excitement. Uniting to Keep the Peace. An Address by Montgomery, . * . 120

Chapter XI

Feminine Smokers of Tobacco. Fever and Ague Experiences. Perplexing Usages of Words. Mysterious Slang Phrases Interpreted. Pearls and Return¬ ing Gold Seekers. Colonel Gilpin’s Early Predictions. Rattlesnakes as Bed¬ fellows. Mysteries of Pre-empting Lands. Forms of £ Duplicates ’ and Patents.

‘ Oaths are Words.’ Borrowing a Child. An Ingenious Runaway Husband.

A Clever Stratagem Spoiled. Fertility of the Hemp Region. Republican ver¬ sus Black Republican, . . . . 131

Chapter XII

A Bit of Legislative Fun. Cost of Kissing a Chamber-maid. Easy Divorce in New States. Prisoners brought to .Lawrence. An Unfortunate Hamilton. A Hard Country for Governors. Kidnapping of John Doy. His Rescue by John

CONTENTS.

xi

Page,

Brown. Kansas Tapped by the Railway. The Luxuries of Modem Travel.

A Little Trip to Kansas, . . . 14T

Chapter XIII

Great Stampede for the Mines. The Sufferings along the Route. ‘Concord Wagon ’ or Stage Coach. St. Mary’s Catholic Mission. Horace Greeley Taking a Tour. A Limited Stock of Groceries. A Model Letter of Introduction. A Specimen of Editorial Penmanship. Among the Antelopes and Buffaloes. A Jovial Prairie Micawber. Facts about the Buffalo. A Narrow Escape from Death, . . . 157

Chapter XIV

Horace Greeley’s Wide-spread Fame. Half a Million of Buffaloes. The Curious Little Prairie-dog. Health and Strength of the Savage^ Overturn of the Coach.

A Night in a Cheyenne Village. Republican River under Ground. First View of Pike’s Peak. Inspiring Presence of the Mountains. Denver City in its Infancy, . . . . . 169

Chapter XV

Starting for the Gregory Diggings. Our Weary and Winding Way. In the Heart of the Mountains. First Reliable Report of the Mines. First Mass Meeting at Pike’s Peak. Freaks of our Eccentric Mules. Our Most Extraordinary Land¬ lord. ‘ Our Best Society ’ in Denver. A Finished Specimen of a Gambler. An Unfailing Supply of Victims. The Turns of Fortune’s Wheel. Almost one of Cooper’s Heroes. A Visit from the Arapahoe Chief. A Conversation with Lit¬ tle Raven, . . . 179

Chapter XVI

Little Raven as a Devotee. Indian Signals — Peace or Hostility. Expressive Features and Gestures. Ho, for the Mountains again! Death from the Moun¬ tain Fires. Evening Scenes among the Miners. The Gregory Diggings on Sunday. Intellectual, Argumentative Miners. Predictions of Gold and Agri¬ culture. A Shrewd California Emigrant. Beauty of our Indian Corn, ....... 193

Chapter XVII

The Great Missouri Iron Mountains. Quarrying out the Iron Ore. Twenty-seven Hundred, Fahrenheit. Warsaw’s Last Champions— and Soap. Lynching in Springfield Missouri. Effect of the War upon Missouri. Conversations with the Settlers. The Great Neosho Lead Region. Subterranean Mining Scenes. Mode of Reducing Lead Ore. Villages in Southwestern Missouri,. . . . 204

Chapter XVIII

Life at Fort Smith Arkansas. Cotton Picking in Louisiana. The Tale of an Inkstand. Experiences in a Sick Chamber. Entering the Indian Territory. Among the Cherokees and Choctaws. Curious Hereditary Complexions.

Xll

CONTENTS.

Pag*.

Novel Boarding School Freaks. Crinoline among Indian Women. The Chickasaws lose their laws, . 215

Chapter XIX

News of Broderick’s Death. Frequency of Homicides in Texas. The Quaint Mexican Cart. Stopped by the Colorado Biver. The Fierce, Unt,amed Comanches. Signal Code among the Savages. A Plucky Little Texan Woman.

On the Great Staked Plain. A Girl Stolen by Comanclies. A Fatal Fondness for Pictures, . 225

Chapter XX

Preaching Easier than Practice. The Colonel retires Disabled. First Line across the Continent. ‘Out West’ on its Travels. Peon Labor in New Mexico. A Iventuckian in Court. Street Pictures in Mexican Towns. A Native Meg Merrilies. An Aristocratic Castilian Gathering. Sunday Worship in the Ca¬ thedral, . 235

Chapter XXI

From El Paso to Santa Fe. Adventures with the Apaches. Consumption of Red Peppers. Passing through Albuquerque. Arrival in Santa Fe. Highest Town in the Union. An Experience at Gambling. Curiosities and Horrid Trophies. Families of White Indians. Fascination of Border Life, . 245

Chapter XXII

A Stray Printer and Journalist. A Ride with Kit Carson. His Hair-breadth ’Scapes. Hospitality of the Mexican. The Victim of a Biographer. All about Mexican Donkeys. The Rebellion of 1841. Curious Religious Customs of Na¬ tives. Mexican Peonage versus Slavery. Among the Pueblo Indians. Their Superstitions and Traditions. Strange Old Aztec Ruins. Geological Changes in the Country, . 256

Chapter XXIII

From Taos to Denver, Colorado. A Polyglot Landlord. Before the Sutler’s Fire. Out-door Mountain Lodgings. Meeting a Plucky Pedestrian. An Unpleasant Sleeping Companion. A Herd of Spotted Antelopes. Offerings to an Invisible Deity. Another Old Friend. Climate and Pulmonary Complaints. A Report of John Brown. End of Summer Journeyings, . . . , 269

Chapter XXIV

A Night with a Squatter. Killed in the Darkness. Reminiscences of Old John Brown. Yankees, Missourians and ‘Cricks.’ A Letter from John Brown.

One of John Brown’s Followers. An Extinguishing Retort. Along the Emi¬ grant Road. Humors of Plains Travel. Our Pioneers and Self-government.

An Illustration of Lynch Law. Gordon’s Capture, Trial and Death. Wonder¬ ful Tenacity of Life, . 281

CONTENTS.

Xlll

CHAPTER XXV. Pag®

A Summer Day in Denver. Best House in the Neighborhood. A Breakfast Party of Rovers. Newspapers, Churches, Hotels, Stores. Mint, Express-office and Coach. Curious Characters from Everywhere. A Stroll down Blake Street An Editor and a Count. A Grand Mountain Panorama, . 294

Chapter XXVI

Little Raven Loses a Treasure. A Dentist Practices Strategy. A Hard Country for Editors. A Night at Apollo Theater. Visit to Gregory Diggings. Pun¬ ishing a Precocious Youth. In the Great South Park. A Memorable Summer Excursion. The Interesting Monument Region. Music in Underground Chambers, . . . 303

Chapter XXVII

Starting up the Mountains. Scenes of Picturesque Beauty. Nature’s Terrible Convulsions. Dismal and Dreary Situation. Clouds Breaking once more. Fears of Fever and Delirium. All Vegetation lbft behind. On the Crest at last. An Indescribably Grand View. Four Territories — Four Great Rivers. Provisions Alarmingly Scarce. Effects of the Five-days’ Trip. Good Treatment for Invalids. The Trans-continental Pony Express, . . . 313

Chapter XXVIII

Starting Westward again. Indian Murders and Depredations. Tornado near Fort Kearney. Press Dispatches on the Wing. One Dollar for a Newspaper. Grasshoppers Miraculously Destroyed. Ranch Eggs versus States Eggs. Les¬ son of Mountain Scenery. Gregory Diggings at Six Years Old. A Curious Claim Controversy. Growth and Resources of Colorado, . 327

Chapter XXIX

Virginia Dale — Lover’s Leap. Smelling the Battle afar off. Indians a Little too Near. Wagon Three Inches too Wide. Chruch Butte and Fort Bridger. An Old Trapper’s Story. Three Mormon Wives — all Sisters. First View of Salt Lake Valley. Speeches and Responses — Hot Springs. Scenery of Wonderful Beauty. Eight Days among the Mormons. Miracles of the Telegraph. Frank Discussion with Brigham Young, . 338

Chapter XXX

The City of the Future. All the Jews are Gentiles. Personal Description of Brigham. An Hour in Brigham’s School Thirty Wives and Sixty Children. Great Salt Lake and the Dead Sea. Sunday Service of the Mormons. Brig¬ ham’s Great Theater. Dwellers among the Mountain-tops. Sagacity of the Mormon Leaders. Practical Workings of Polygamy. One Wife too many. Assassinations in Salt Lake City. Early Trials of the Pioneers. How the

Problem will be Solved, . 351 xiv

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXI. Pag*

From Salt Lake City Westward. Eight Miles in Thirty Minutes. Irrigating the Sandy Deserts. Hardships and Perils of Explorers. Features of Austin Ne¬ vada. First Yiew of Sierra Nevadas. A City set upon a Hill. Excitements in Mining Stocks. Richest Silver Mine ever Found. Curious Inventions of Mi¬ ners. Four Hundred Feet under Ground. Ores Sent Abroad for Reduction.

Five Hundred Millions per Annum, . 366

Chapter XXXII

Carson City and Carson Yalley. Earliest Officers of Nevada. Lake Tahoe, on Sierra Nevadas. Seven Thousand Feet above Sea-level. A Legend of Stage Driving. Thrilling Ride down the Sierras. Reaching the Locomotive again. Sacramento— Arrival in San Francisco. A Startling Catalogue of Events. Delightful Days in Placerville. The Rare Charm of California. Chinamen on the Pacific Coast. Among the Hydraulic Miners. The Wonderful Power of Water, . . . 379

Chapter XXXIII

Warm Climate of Pacific Coast. Scene of a California Story. The Widow of John Brown. Spelling ‘ Yreka Bakery ’ Backward. Reminiscences of General Grant. Noteworthy Points on the Road. Plentifulness of Babies. Portland Street and River Scenes. Excursion up the Columbia. Lincoln Grant and Sheridan. Curious Dalles of the Columbia. A Bit of Oratorical Fun. Northern Pacific Railroad wanted. A Couple of ‘Little Stories,’ . 393

Chapter XXXIV

A Frontier Supreme Court. Oregon Pioneers Govern Themselves. Terrible Re¬ venge on the Savages. The Rich Resources of Oregon. A Little more Oregon Cider. Forests of Washington Territory. A Strange Forest Yillage. The America of the Future. Beautiful Scenery of Puget Sound. Under the British Flag. Features of Yancouver Island. American Rhetoric among the Britons.

Fate of the Brother Jonathan, . . . 407

Chapter XXXV

Discovery of Yosemite Yalley. Yiew from Inspiration Point. Riding down the Zigzags. Hutchings and his Household. Trees and Walls of the Yalley. Yosemite Fall — Highest in the World. ElCapitan; Mount King; Mount Col¬ fax. Bridal Yail; Yernal; Mirror Lake. The Wonderful Round Rainbow. Grandest Scenery on the Globe. Eight Thousand Feet above Sea-level. Yisiting the Mariposa Big Trees. Forty Feet in Diameter. A Forest Ingomar and Parthenia. Grizzly Giant — Thirty-four Feet in Diameter. A Grand National Summer Resort, . . . 420

CONTENTS.

XV

CHAPTER XXXVI. Page

Invited to Celestial Hospitalities. Sitting down to the Banquet. More than Three Hundred Dishes. Extracts from the Bill-of-fare. ‘ Wives won’t Come.’

Mr. Colfax and his Journey. * My Friends Homeward Bound. California Poli¬ tics as a Study. Features of California Society. American Wit and Humor.

A String of California Stories, . 436

Chapter XXXVII

The Raw Winds of San Francisco. A Climate Stimulating like Wine. Fires and Earthquakes Unavailing. Prejudice against the Chinese.- Mission Mills; Church; Yosemite Views. California Quartz-mining and Farming. Grain, Vegetables and Fruit Trees. Mammoth Productions of California. Oranges, Vineyards and Wines. An Immense Private Enterprise. The San Francisco Newspapers. A Bit of Historical Record. Half an Hour in the Mint. The Great Pacific Railway, . . . . . 447

Chapter Xxxviii

Excursion on the Pacific Railroad. Twelve Thousand Chinese Laborers. Horri¬ ble Fate of the Donner Party. Engulfed! by a Snow-slide. Establishing the Railway Route. Empty Travelers Fearless of Robbers. Fellow Passengers on the Desert. Once more in Salt Lake City. A ‘ Destroying Angel ’ on Journal¬ ists. The Salt Lake Poetess. A Few of her Early Stanzas. Pah Ranagat Sil¬ ver Region. Colorado River and Big Canyon. The Novelties of Arizona,. . . . 461

Chapter XXXIX

From Salt Lake to Montana. On Waters of the Pacific. Hanged upon his own Gallows. Virginia Montana, and Alder Gulch. Scenes during the Flush Times. An Hour in the Hurdy-gurdy. Standing Astride the Missouri. A Visit to Helena. Curious Painting of Fort Union. Pitched from a Stage Coach. Costly Newspaper Publishing. Quaint Indian Translations. Vigi¬ lantes Administering Justice. Quartz on the Brain. A Great Future for Montana, . 475

Chapter XL

Lewis and Clark’s Great Expedition. Explorers given up as Dead. Build them a Monument 1 ‘Help yourself to the Mustard.’ Unerring Instinct of Beavers. Every Man’s House his Castle. A most Wonderful Mirage. Visiting Great Shoshonee Fall. Enormous Portals of Lava. Fascination of the Deep Gulf.

A Bloodless Idaho War. Unattractive State of Society. The Chinook Jargon. Scenes in a Great Quartz Mill, . 490

Chapter XLI

A Visit to Owyhee. Ruby City-— War Eagle Mountain. Grinding Quartz versus Stamping. ‘Italian Summers and Syrian Winters.’ Into the Oro Fino Mine.

XVI

CONTENTS.

Page.

The Poorman War. Capital Squandered. Agricultural Capacity of Idaho. Robberies of Mail Coach. The Blue Mountains. Meacham’s. Down the Columbia, Lewis and Clark’s Old Camping-ground. Our Quartz Regions. . . 504