dge mail. It is almost time for the tents
to be struck, and I must be getting ready for the march.

CAMP SUPPLY, INDIAN TERRITORY, May, 1872.

THIS place is quite as dreadful as it has been represented to us. There
are more troops here than at Fort Lyon, and of course the post is very
much larger. There are two troops of colored cavalry, one of white
cavalry, and three companies of infantry. The infantry companies that
have been stationed here, and which our three companies have come to
relieve, will start in the morning for their new station, and will use
the transportation that brought us down. Consequently, it was necessary
to unload all the things from our wagons early this morning, so they
could be turned over to the outgoing troops. I am a little curious to
know if there is a second lieutenant who will be so unfortunate as to be
allowed only one half of a wagon in which to carry his household goods.

Their going will leave vacant a number of officers' quarters, therefore
there will be no selection of quarters by our officers until to-morrow.
Faye is next to the junior, so there will be very little left to select
from by the time his turn comes. The quarters are really nothing more
than huts built of vertical logs plastered in between with mud, and the
roofs are of poles and mud! Many of the rooms have only sand floors. We
dined last evening with Captain and Mrs. Vincent, of the cavalry,
and were amazed to find that such wretched buildings could be made so
attractive inside. But of course they have one of the very best houses
on the line, and as company commander, Captain Vincent can have done
about what he wants. And then, again, they are but recently married, and
all their furnishings are new and handsome. There is one advantage
in being with colored troops--one can always have good servants. Mrs.
Vincent has an excellent colored soldier cook, and her butler was
thoroughly trained as such before he enlisted. It did look so funny,
however, to see such a black man in a blue Uniform.

The march down from Fort Dodge was most uncomfortable the first two
days. It poured and poured rain, and then poured more rain, until
finally everybody and everything was soaked through. I felt so sorry for
the men who had to march in the sticky mud. Their shoes filled fast with
water, and they were compelled constantly to stop, take them off,
and pour out the water. It cleared at last and the sun shone warm and
bright, and then the