f understood by word or
sign. Many could pronounce the one word "hogmeat," and would show what
they had to exchange for the coveted luxury. Others also begged for
"tobac," and sugar, and generally got a little.

A surprising number of trappers and traders, returning to the United
States with their stocks of peltry, camped near us from time to time.
They were glad to exchange information, and kept us posted in regard to
the condition of the migrants, and the number of wagons on the road in
advance. These rough-looking fellows courteously offered to carry the
company's mail to the nearest post-office. Mr. Bryant and my mother
availed themselves of the kindness, and sent letters to the respective
journals of which they were correspondents.

Another means of keeping in touch with travelling parties in advance
was the accounts that were frequently found written on the bleaching
skulls of animals, or on trunks of trees from which the bark had been
stripped, or yet again, on pieces of paper stuck in the clefts of
sticks driven into the ground close to the trail. Thus each company
left greetings and words of cheer to those who were following. Lost
cattle were also advertised by that means, and many strays or
convalescents were found and driven forward to their owners.

Early June afforded rarest sport to lovers of the chase, and our
company was kept bountifully supplied with choicest cuts of antelope,
deer, and elk meat, also juicy buffalo steak. By the middle of the
month, however, our surroundings were less favorable. We entered a
region of oppressive heat. Clouds of dust enveloped the train. Wood
became scarce, and water had to be stored in casks and carried between
supply points. We passed many dead oxen, also a number of poor cripples
that had been abandoned by their unfeeling owners. Our people, heeding
these warnings, gave our cattle extra care, and lost but few.

Through the kindness of the Hon. Allen Francis, U.S. Consul at
Victoria, British Columbia, for a long term of years, and in his
earlier career editor of _The Springfield Journal_, I have in my
possession two letters written by my mother for this paper. They give a
glimpse of the party _en route_. The interval of time which elapsed
between the date of writing and that of publication indicates how much
faster our trapper letter-carriers must have travelled on horseback
than we had by ox train.

The following was published on the twenty-third of July: