What I Saw in California (1849) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 32 cvtching Up. CHAPTER III. Leave Indian Creek? Catching up?A corral?Droves of mules from New Mexico?Santa F6 traders returning?Dismal accounts of the journey?Leave the Santa F6 trail?Wild onions?Difficult crossings?Pot- awattomie Indian?Ex-governor Bogge and other emigrants come up?Reasons assigned for emigration?Solitude of the prairies?More Indian) ?First news of war with Mexico?Signs of dissolution of the party?An adventure almost?Extreme heat?Sufferings of cattle?Division?Kansas River?A luxury in the wilderness?New-comers?Rumors of war confirmed. Mat 12.?All the wagons and teams were this morning inspected by a committee appointed for that purpose. It appeared from their report that the number of wagons belonging to the company was 03; of men 119; of women 59; of children, male and female, 110; pounds of breadstuff's 58,484; of bacon 38,080; of powder 1,065; of lead 2,557; number of guns, mostly rifles, 144; pistols 94. The number of cattle was not reported, but I estimate it at 700, including the loose stock, and 150 horses. The scene of catching up, as the yoking and attaching of the oxen to the wagons is called in emigrant phraseology, is, one of great bustle and confusion. The crack of the ox-goad, the whoa-haws in a loud voice, the leaping and running about of the oxen to avoid the yoke, and the bellowing of the loose stock, altogether create a most Babel-like and exciting confusion. The wagons commenced moving at nine o'clock, and at ten the camp was entirely deserted. In consequence of there being no order of march to-day, the train of wagons was strung out two or three miles in length. The views of this long procession, occasionally sinking into the depressions of the prairie, and then rising therefrom and winding along the curves of A CORR...