go to the creek and plunge in with all
your clothes and play for an hour in the water, then dry yourself, go
back to camp, and keep mum!" This was the year of the cholera. It
started somewhere down south, and many people died from it in the city
of St. Louis, and it followed the railway through Kansas to the end of
the track. Many soldiers died also at Fort Harker, which was farther
out West on the plains.

At last we started on our perilous journey, an imposing caravan of one
hundred and eighty wagons, each drawn by five yoke of oxen. Our force
numbered upward of two hundred and fifty men, the owners, teamsters,
train masters or mayordomos and the herders of the different outfits;
all were Mexicans except myself.

Several days were spent in crossing the little stream formed by the
confluence of two creeks. The water was quite deep and had to be
crossed by means of a ferryboat. Here I met with my first adventure,
which nearly cost me my life. My wagon was loaded with supplies and
provisions and with several pieces of oak timber, intended for use in
our train. When I drove down the steep bank on to the ferryboat, the
timbers, which were not well secured, slid forward and pushed me off my
seat, so that I fell right under the mules just as they stepped on the
ferry. The frightened mules trampled and kicked fearfully. I lay still,
thinking that if I moved they would step on me, as their hoofs missed
my head by inches only. I thought of my mother and how sorry she would
be if she could see me now, but I was thinking, ever thinking and lay
very still. Then my guardian angel, in the person of a Mexican, crawled
under the wagon from the rear end and pulled me by my heels, back to
safety under the wagon. When I came out from under I threw my hat in
the air and gave a whoop and cheer, at which the Mexicans were greatly
enthused. They yelled excitedly and our mayordomo exclaimed: "Caramba,
mira que diablito!" (Egad, see the little devil!)

We traveled in two parallel lines, about fifty feet apart and kept the
spare cattle and remounts of horses, as also the small provision teams
between the lines. A cavalcade of train owners and mayordomos was
constantly scouting in all directions, but they never ventured out of
sight of the traveling teams. We started daily at sunrise and traveled
till noon or until we made the distance to our next watering place.
Then we camped and turned our live stock out to rest and crop the
prairie grass.