od Could Not Be Everywhere,
and so He Made Mothers," 23

CHAPTER III.--"But Somewhere the Master
Has a Counterpart of Each," 32

CHAPTER IV.--Our Prairies are a Book
Whose Pages Hold Many Stories, 41

CHAPTER V.--A Worthy Object Reached For
and Missed is a First Step Toward Success, 51

CHAPTER VI.--"'Tis Only a Snowbank's Tears, I Ween," 58

CHAPTER VII.--We Stepped Over the Ridge
and Courted the Favor of New and Untried Waters, 67

CHAPTER VIII.--We Had No Flag to Unfurl,
but Its Sentiment Was Within Us, 77

CHAPTER IX.--We Listened to Each Other's
Rehearsals, and Became Mutual Sympathizers
and Encouragers, 87

CHAPTER X.--Boots and Saddles Call, 98

CHAPTER XI.--"But All Comes Right in the End," 108

CHAPTER XII.--Each Day Makes Its Own
Paragraphs and Punctuation Marks, 123

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