California to Texas in 1868

Ruth Shackleford

INTRODUCTION

What with all of the discouragements of their westward journey (see pages 87–150 above) and evident dissatisfaction with California, after a stay in that state of some three years, Ruth and William Frank Shackleford decided in April 1868, to go back to Missouri. They planned to travel the Butterfield Overland Mail Route across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. There seems to have been some thought concerning the possibilities of stopping off in eastern Texas. They had relatives living in the little village of Center Mill, Hood County, Texas, which is what they did. They finally decided to make Missouri their destination and settled in Roscoe, St. Clair County.

The reader should peruse the introduction to the Shacklefords’ westward overland trip (1865) above, pages 87–90, for more information about these remarkable diaries and also about the family.

THE DIARY

WEDNESDAY, April 8 This morning we left San Bernardino for Texas after bidding farewell to many of our friends. We started and had considerable trouble with the wild horses. We came three miles to Matthews Mill and bought 600 pounds of flour at four dollars a hundred. We came on then to the Santa Ana river. It being very deep and running swift we had some trouble crossing with our wild horses. Mr. Kirkland’s horses got tangled up in the harness and he had to jump out in the deep water to straighten them. We came on two or three miles and camped at the foot of a hill, where Mr. Hamilton’s and Mr. Garton’s families were waiting for us. Some of our friends came with us to see us safely in camp the first night. We turned our horses out and got supper.

April 9 Cool and cloudy. We were up early fixing to start. Mr. Curtin and Mr. Airfoot came to camp and stayed all night with us. After breakfast they harnessed up to start and had some fun with the bronco horses. They kicked the harness off as fast as they put it on. We came twenty miles over tolerable good roads, to the San Jacinct [Jacinto] river, an ugly stream, and a bad crossing, with a steep bank coming down to the deep water. The horses being wild and unruly, we were some time crossing. Mr. Kirkland’s team stalled and Frank had to pull out with his mules. We drove up a few yards from the river and camped for the night in a low flat place with weeds and grass knee deep. They turned the horses out and prepared for the night in a low flat place with weeds and grass knee deep. I feel very much discouraged and would rather turn back.

April 10 Still cool and cloudy. Two of Mr. Hamilton’s horses are gone and two of the boys are going back to hunt for them. We came 15 miles over very good roads but there was very little to be seen except mountains and mesquite brush. About ten o’clock it began to rain and we had a very disagreeable time. We are camped tonight at the foot of the big hill near a ranch where there are big rocks piled one on top of another. It was so rainy and bad weather I could not get out of the wagon. Frank had to get supper. They tie the horses and feed them.

April 11 Still cloudy and rainy. It rained very hard last night but we all kept dry in our wagons. We had a big time this morning getting up the big hill. Frank had two wagons to pull up with his mules besides his own. We stopped at a ranch and got some cheese, then came on. The roads were very slippery. We stopped at a little town called Temakely [Temecula]1 and got some brandy, then came on, up hill and down with the roads so slippery the horses could hardly stand up. We crossed the creek three times. Two wagons got stuck and they had to double team. Then the men waded in the water and dug and pried the wagons out. We then came a few miles through a doleful looking country and camped on Oak Flat with plenty of wood, water and grass. Today has been cold and rainy. We came only twenty miles.

Sunday, April 12 We will stay here today. It is still raining and very disagreeable. Our train consists of thirteen men, four women and fifteen children. They are: John S. Hamilton and seven children, one grown daughter and two grown sons and four small children and Charley Coply, a young man he has with him; Abraham K. Kirkland and wife and three small children and Henry Coggans with him to help drive his team; John Barton and wife and two small children, Henry Birdwell and old Mr. Crowden with him; A.B. Gatewood and three children and George Ridgway with them, and our own family and John Smith with us to drive one wagon. We have seven wagons and fifty-six horses in our train. Today we have been baking light bread, boiling hams, cooking beans and stewing fruit and ironing. Mrs. Kirkland and I and Mrs. Hamilton went in an old house and stayed out of the rain. The men have been sitting around talking. None of us spent the Sabbath as we ought. The boys got back from hunting Mr. Hamilton’s horses but did not find them.

April 13 Clear and cold. The boys went back after the horses again. We all started again, came sixteen miles up a canyon with roads very bad, up hill and over rock. We all started again, arid got along very well except Frank, who had his wagon broken. We are camped tonight at Oak Grove, on the banks of a creek on the other side of which are high bluffs covered with cedar trees. They turned the horses loose on the grass.

April 14 We have to stay here today. Frank has an axle to put in Mr. Barton’s wagon. I have been baking light bread and cooking all day. Mrs. Kirkland is doing the same. Jane Hamilton is washing and some of the men have gone hunting. The children are enjoying themselves fine. My babe is sick from being out in the sun and smoke today. Frank got another hand to go with him. George C. Deacon.

April 15 Clear and cool. We came fifteen miles over very rough, muddy roads. Frank’s wagon got stuck and we had to unload and dig it out. We passed several ranches and crossed the creek four times. We are camped tonight at Warner’s Ranch.2 They turned the horses out on the plains. Wood and grass are scarce. After supper an old squaw came in camp begging. Mr. Coggans whipped her away.

April 16 Clear and pleasant. We came two miles to a blacksmith shop and stopped for Frank to get his wagon mended. The blacksmith charged him three dollars and fifty cents for mending it. We all sat around the balance of the day, some cooking, some washing and so on. Wood is scarce. They have to go to the mountains after what they burn. Another man, George Beck, came into the company. He is going with Mr. Barton.

April 17 Clear and warm this morning. Old Mr. Cowden started back. He thoiught he could not stand to cross the plains. We came fifteen miles over good roads, passed one ranch and stopped at eleven o’clock to stay until tomorrow. The men are firing off their guns and fixing them up for the Indians. Frank went out and killed two rabbits. We are camped tonight in San Philippe [Felipe] valley with wood and water scarce but claw brush so thick we can hardly get about. Mrs. Kirkland and Mrs. Barton are washing.

April 18 Clear and warm. We started and came ten miles over rough roads through a valley surrounded by the [Valle-cito] mountains, then over an awful rocky hill and down into the canyon. We all had to walk over the hill. We came four miles through the canyon to the [ ? ] hill. It looks almost impossible to get down with the wagons. The wind is blowing very hard and it makes our little wagons look like they were going over all the time. It took two hours to get down the hill. They had to tie the wagon wheels with ropes, then the men at the wheels to lift them over the big rocks that are in road, if it might be called a road. The only way we could tell the road was that we could see where the wagons had run against the big rock. After we got down the hill we came four or five miles over a tolerable good roads and camped at Vicetah [Vallecito].3 They have a little store and stage stand here but a doleful looking country all around.

April 19 A very warm morning. Some of our horses are gone this morning. We didn’t get a very early start. We came 18 miles through very heavy sand and nothing to be seen but the high brush. We are camped tonight on Carsons [Carrizo] Creek,4 one white man living a ranch here. We are camped on the bank of the creek in a dirty, sandy place with no grass nor wood. We have to tie the horses and buy hay for them.

April 20 We were up before day and got ready to start early across thirty miles of desert. They had some trouble with the broncho horses before they would stop jumping and kicking in the harness. We came eight miles up a sandy wash, then up a big hill out into the sand and it is as much as the horses can do to pull the wagons. We are camped tonight near a ranch at a big pond with wood and grass scarce. We got in camp at six o’clock, all very tired. The Indians are in camp wanting to herd the horses.

April 21 The herders drove up the horses and two of Mr. Kirkland’s horses are gone. They started to hunt them and met the Indians coming with them. We had to give them two dollars and some flour to get them. We came 18 miles over sandy roads through a doleful looking country with nothing to be seen but sand and dust. We are camped tonight at a ranch on dry creek. We got in camp at three o’clock, all very tired, and had to draw water out of a well to water 53 horses. The women are all cooking. Indians are in camp with fish to sell. Mrs. Barton bought some and gave me some for supper. Frank has to go on guard tonight.

April 22 Very warm and windy. Frank and Mr. Gatewood got lost last night at midnight when they started to camp from herding and walked two hours before they found camp. I heard them halloing in the night and thought the Indians were coming. We came fifteen miles through very deep sand. The wind was blowing very hard and we thought we were going to have a sand storm. The sand in the desert is in piles almost as big as a house, caused by the storm. We stopped at one o’clock to get dinner and and feed and then go on across 20 miles of desert but the wind continued to blow so we have to stay all night. We are camped at Alamere [Alamo Mocho] Station,5 put the horses in the corral and buy feed at three dollars for the night. The whole earth has been overflowed by the Colorado river and it is nothing but a sand bed.

April 23 The wind blew very hard all night and this morning is cool and cloudy. They harnessed up to start and one of Frank’s horses kicked the harness off twice before he would start. We came nine miles to an old ranch over tolerable good roads with sand and dust a foot deep and nothing to be seen but sand hills and brush and prickly pear. We stopped at the Seven Wells and watered and fed, then came on seven miles through sand and dust to Cook[e]’s Wells, where we camped for the night. We got in camp at six o’clock, bought hay at five cents a pound for the horses. There is plenty of wood and water. We got our supper and went to bed.

April 24 Warm and windy. We started early, came ten miles over very bad roads and through a thicket of mesquite trees to a slough, where the Colorado river is backed up. We passed some of the awfulest sand hills. They are piled up higher than a house. It is the most desolate looking country we ever did see. Frank and I came on before the other wagons and when we got there the Indians gathered thick around the wagon. I was a little frightened. They would keep asking if there were any more coming. They proped up the wagon beds four inches with blocks and then started across the slough. We had a very bad hill to come down into the water. We all crossed very well except Mr. Kirkland. His team would not pull in the water. The men had to wade in up to their waists. Frank had to take his mules back to pull the wagon out. The Indians are as thick as can well be. They are watching us cross, some up in trees or anywhere that they can get to see. After we got across we came six miles over good roads and through the prettiest place we have seen in a long time. The willow trees and brush were so thick we could not see through it. We are camped tonight at Pilot Rock [Knob] one mile from the river, with plenty of wood and water but no grass. We put up the horses in the corral and bought hay for them. This evening another young man, William More, came in with us. He is going with Barton.

April 25 Warm and windy. We came up to the ferry but the wind is so high we cannot cross. We are camped at Ferryman’s ranch. They have to take the horses two or three miles from camp to grass. Frank is one of the herders. We are all going to wash after that got dinner. The boys took us out to learn us to shoot. We all fired three or four rounds at a board. Some of us hit it and some did not. Lottie fell off the wagon this evening and cut her leg to the bone in the brake rack. We have plenty good mesquite wood to cook with.

Sunday, April 26 Still very warm. We all crossed the river this morning in a flat boat. They could only take on one wagon and six horses at a time. They charged us forty two dollars for crossing. We all get across by two o’clock. We saw some steamboats while we were at the river. We came six miles through sand [several unreadable words] in a low flat on the river, with Fort Yuma [Arizona]6 on the side and the city on the other. The boat landed while we were there. We stopped in town a few minutes, then came on nine miles up the Hila [Gila] river and camped on its banks with no wood nor grass. We had to tie the horses and feed them on barley.

April 27 Cloudy and windy. We came 26 miles up the Heely [Gila] river with roads very rough and dusty, up hill and down. Sometimes we could hardly get along between the river and hills. One of Mr. Gatewood’s horses got mired in the river and he got some Spaniards to pull it out. We are camped tonight at Mission Camp [Arizona].7 Have plenty of wood, water and grass. They are trying to elect a captain but have considerable contention and no captain.

April 28 Clear and warm. We came sixteen miles over rough, sandy roads up the hill and passed one ranch. We are camped tonight at Antelope Peak in a flat on the Heely. We got in camp at three o’clock and have plenty of wood, water and grass.

April 29 A very warm morning. We came fourteen miles over rough roads to Mohawk Station, where we stopped and got water, then came eleven miles over rocky plain, through miserable looking country with nothing growing on the plain but cactus. We came down a big rocky hill into the bottom and camped for the night with good grass but have to carry wood and water some distance. Mr. Kirkland took Dick Delay, a young man from Arizona who wants to go to Texas, in with him.

April 30 Clear and warm. We came four miles through deep sand to Stanvick station and camped for the night. We have no grass for the horses. They were tied and fed barley.

May 1 Cool and windy. We came fourteen miles over tolerable good roads to [Patrick] Burk’s Station8 but there is no one living there now. We stopped and turned the horses out to grass and got dinner. Dick Delay gathered Mrs. Kirkland some mustard green for dinner. She divided with me, which was quite a treat. After dinner we started and came eighteen miles over very rocky roads. We came up one awful rocky hill onto a rocky plain with nothing growing on it. The wind is blowing the dust so we can hardly see. It is the awfulest looking country we have seen. As far as our eyes can see we can see nothing but the sand and dust blowing. We travelled a few miles and came to the top of the hill where the Oatman family was murdured by the Indians. Frank was on ahead hunting grass. I felt miserable when we got here and did not see him. They had to tie the wagon wheels with ropes to get down the hill over the big rock. After we got down we came out on a low flat and passed the graves of the Oatman family.9 They are laid by the side of the road seven in one grave, the father, mother and five children. We are camped tonight in Oatman Flat, two men living on a ranch here. There is no grass and we have to buy hay at 25¢ a head for 53 horses. The wind is blowing so hard we had an awful time getting supper. We had to hold our plates to keep the wind from blowing them away while we were eating. I think we will get our peck of dirt.

May 2 Clear and calm. We started and had a steep hill to pull up. Then we came out on a rocky plain, the most miserable, desolate looking place, the rocks looking like they have been burned in a fire furnace. We came on over the plain a few miles, then down into a rocky canyon, through it and out on a flat and good roads with thickets of mesquite trees on each side of the road. We came fourteen miles to Canyon Station, stopped and watered, then came about two miles and camped by good grass to stay until Monday. Frank is on guard tonight.

Sunday, May 3 A pleasant morning. We are camped under some nice cottonwood trees. Mr. Delay is very sick. Today some have been cooking, some washing, some fishing and shoeing horses. Frank has been shingling Mrs. Kirkland’s hair.

May 4 We started and came thirteen miles to Suttons ranch, where we stopped and turned the horses out to feed. The kegs were filled with water, we got dinner, then started on the forty five miles of desert. We travelled until eleven o’clock, stopped and watered the horses and took a cup of coffee, then started and travelled until two o’clock, when we stopped, turned the horses out and slept till daylight.

May 5 We got our breakfast and started over the dry alkali plain to Maria Copa [Maricopa] Wells.10 We turned the horses on salt grass until until midnight, then fed them up and bought hay for them. Wood was scarce and the water not good. There is a company of soldiers stationed here. Some of them have their families here with them. It is a miserable place for a white man to live. They have a store or two and some other houses. John Smith went to sleep and let someone steal his revolver out of the holster.

May 6 Clear and cold. We started out with the Indians as thick as they can be. When we pass their wigwams the little naked Indians come swarming out like a swarm of bees. We came twenty five miles and camped at a ranch on the Heely river. Just as we drove in camp Mr. Barton’s horses got scared and started to run but done no damage. They have to carry wood about a mile.

May 7 Cool and clear. We started this morning through the long dreaded Apache country. We came twenty five miles through a doleful looking country with very good roads. We are camped tonight at a ranch on Blue Water.11 They have to draw water out of a well sixty feet deep to water the horses. They have to take the horses a half mile from camp to grass. It takes eight men to guard them. Frank is one of the guards.

May 8 Coyotes raised such a howl just before daybreak. They scared us as we thought they were Indians. A man is buried here who was killed by the Indians a few days ago. We have all been cooking today for the desert. It is now one o’clock and they are watering the horses to start on the forty six miles of desert. We started at two o’clock and travelled until 11, stopped, fed and took a cup of coffee, then started over very sandy roads and travelled until 7 o’clock. We got in camp all warn out and some of the horses were completely broken down. We came through a place where the Indians had killed two men and took a drove of cattle. We saw the horses lying dead on the roadside. The grass and weeds were flattened as if a log had been rolled over the place but we saw no Indians.

May 9 Clear and warm. They put the horses on grass and will rest this morning. We got our breakfast, then the men all slept. Mrs. Kirkland and I have been washing and baking light bread. We have to be at something to keep our eyes open. We are camped at a ranch on a wide open plain eighteen miles from Tuscon [Tucson]. Two men live here and keep the stage stand.

Sunday, May 10 We started and came 18 miles to Tuscon, over hilly, rocky roads. We passed through town and camped about one mile from town at a mill in a thicket of mesquite bushes. We have plenty of good wood and water but poor grass.

May 11 Clear and very warm. We will stay here tonight to wash and clean up. The men have to go to town to get feed for the horses. They stayed in town all day. They bought some lettuce, onions and beef so we had quite a treat for supper. Mr. Delay is still sick.

May 12 Clear and cool. We started and came by a town. We saw the walls of an old Mission house that is 160 years old. We came thirty miles over rough roads to Seneca Creek. We crossed the creek eight times. We are camped on the creek in a bottom with plenty of grass and water, though a very dangerous looking place to camp. Frank is on guard tonight.

May 13 Cool cloudy. We started over the awfulest roads, up hill and down, over pole bridges, across branches and over rocks. We had one hill to come down that they had to tie all the wheels with ropes; then the wagons slide along sideways. We came seven miles and Mr. Barton broke his wagon. We had to stop to get it mended. They put the horses on grass. Mr. Barton took four men and went back five miles to get a stick for an axel. They got back at four o’clock. Frank went to work on it and worked until dark. The guards who were out today said they saw Indian breastworks, made of rock, which they hide behind and shoot at travellers.

May 14 Cool and windy. We were up early. Frank had the wagon fixed by 9 o’clock and we started, came twenty eight miles over tolerable good roads to San Pedro. There is good water but no wood or grass. They turned the horses out and fed them. There is a stage stand here and twelve soldiers stationed here to keep it. They say the Indians make a raid once in a while trying to get the stage horses. The wind is blowing so hard we liked never to have gotten supper.

May 15 Still very windy. We have to stay here until eleven o’clock so we can make a certain drive on the thirty five miles of desert. They put the horses on the mountains and herded them until 11 and then came in to start. We filled our kegs with water and started thru deep sand. We came through one dangerous looking canyon with just room enough for the wagons to pass through high mountains on each side. We had to look straight up to see the tops of them. We came out of the canyon onto a plain, came 20 miles and camped with no wood, water but plenty of grass. The wind is blowing so hard we can hardly stand up.

May 16 We were up before daybreak, took a cup of coffee and started. We came fifteen miles to the Sulphur Springs, stopped, turned the horses on grass and got dinner. We had no wood to cook with and there was so much alkali on the ground it looked like snow. After dinner we filled our kegs and started through the wide open plain, came within a few miles of the Apache Pass12 and camped for the night with no wood nor water but plenty of grass. Frank is on guard tonight. We can see the Indian fires all around.

Sunday, May 17 Clear and warm. We were up before daybreak, got breakfast and started thru the Apache Pass, over awful roads, up hill and down. We had to tie the wagon wheels with ropes, and then in some places the men had to stand on the wheels to keep them from turning over. Every man who could leave the wagon had to take his turn and go on guard through the pass. We passed the place where there had been sixty persons killed by the Indians and saw their graves. We got through by eleven o’clock and were camped at the foot of the pass between the mountains, near a station where there is a company of soldiers. The Indians are very bad. They ran a herd of stock off from here a few days ago. There is plenty of grass and wood here but water is scarce. The soldiers are thick in camp. Gatewood sold four horses to them. We have not spent the Sabbath as we ought.

May 18 Clear and warm. We have to stay here half the day for Mr. Barton to get his wagon fixed. He got it fixed by 12 o’clock, then we filled our kegs with water and came 18 miles over tolerable good roads, to Sansimore13 and camped for the night on the wide open plain with no wood nor water and poor grass. Two of the boys went to hunt water and came running back to camp and reported the I ndians close by. We could see their camp fire and we didn’t know but what we would be attacked before day.

May 19 We had quite a fright last night. The guards shot at a wolf that came in camp. We thought the Indians were coming. Every man was out in a minute with his gun ready for a fight. It liked to scare Mrs. Barton to death. She began to scream and jump and throw the children in the wagon out of the way. We started, came 17 miles through Doubtful Canyon,14 with tolerable good roads, and through a doleful looking place with high mountains on each side. We stopped at Stine’s Peak to feed the horses and get our dinner. The wind is blowing so hard we liked never to get dinner. We fried bread for dinner and had about as much sand as flour. There is water and grass but no wood. There is an old deserted ranch here. The herders saw the Indians over the mountains. It is a good place for the Indians to hide. We started at four o’clock, came fourteen miles over good roads and camped on the open plain with plenty of grass but no water or wood. We had to dig a hole in the ground and cook with weeds. The wind is blowing very hard. Frank is on guard tonight.

May 20 The wind blew very hard all night and is still blowing, so we can hardly stand up. We came fifteen miles to Burney’s Station and stopped to let the horses graze. We have to water out of the nasty, muddy pond. We rested two hours, then filled our kegs with the muddy water and came on twelve miles and camped out on the plain for the night with plenty of grass and no wood or water. We have to cook with weeds and the wind is blowing very hard.

May 21 Still very windy. We came about ten miles over rough roads to the Soldiers’ Farewell,15 stopped and watered the horses, then came 18 miles over good roads to Cow Springs,16 where we camped for the night, with grass and water but no wood. We have to cook with weeds and grass. There are deserted ranches at all these places.

May 22 Cool and cloudy. It looks very much like rain. We started and it began to thunder and rain. It rained very hard for a few minutes to the Rio members [Mimbres]17 and camped with plenty of grass and water and wood enough to cook with. There is a settlement here with mostly Spaniards in it. They say the Indians are very bad and they have to herd their stock all the time.

May 23 Cool and cloudy. It rained and the wind blew all night. We moved up onto better grass this morning and will stay until Monday. We have all been washing today. Three of the men went out hunting last night but got no game. Frank is on guard tonight and will be half of the night.

Sunday, May 24 Clear and warm. Three of Mr. Gatewood’s horses were stolen last night by the Indians. They cut the ropes, took off the hobbles and run them off. He and four other men have gone to hunt them. We all feel much disheartened. We can’t tell how long we will have to stay in this awful place.18 A man came running into camp from town and told us the Indians were coming. We started after the horses, women and all, and soon got them all tied up close to the wagons. Then every man got out around them with guns but saw no Indians. We have been baking light bread today. I have baked six big loaves. Mrs. Kirkland four. Dick Delay is still sick.

May 25 Clear and cool. Mr. Gatewood got back last night but didn’t get his horses. They saw where the Indians had taken them into a canyon where it was not safe for five or six men to go. We started and came through town to get some corn for the horses. They have a very nice looking stone hotel and a few doby [adobe] houses. There is nothing very interesting here. Nine of the Spaniards started and say they want to go to Texas with us. We came eighteen miles over tolerable good roads, except five or six miles where they were very hilly and rocky. We are camped tonight at Fort Cummings19 with plenty of water but wood and grass are scarce. We had to buy grass at two cents per pound for the horses. A company of Negro Soldiers are stationed here.20 They have a nice fort and the nicest looking buildings we have seen since we left Tuscon. We had a hard time getting supper. The wind was blowing hard and we had to cook with weeds. We made a fire by some big rocks and managed to cook a little.

May 26 Clear and windy. We have to stay here until twelve o’clock to get ready to start on the sixty miles of desert. The herders got into our bacon and beans last night and helped themselves to what we had cooked. We started at twelve o’clock and travelled until sundown, stopped, took a cup of coffee and then travelled until one o’clock. We then stopped and tied the horses until daylight, then came on over good roads, except in a canyon which we had to come through. We had a very bad hill to come down, over rock. I thought the wagons would be broken all to smash, but we got through safely.

May 27 We started at daybreak, came about twelve miles and stopped for breakfast and let the horses eat. We are out in the open plain with no wood, no water and very little grass. I broke Frank’s favorite jug getting water out of it after breakfast. We came on over tolerable good roads, except three or four miles in very deep sand, to Mercatch [?], where we will cross the river. We are now standing at the Rio Gande waiting to cross. We all bought some eggs at 20¢ a dozen. We got across by sundown and had to pay 50¢ for crossing. One of Mr. Barton’s horses fell off the boat and they pulled her out with ropes. We came one mile down the river thru deep sand and camped with plenty of wood and water but poor grass.

May 28 Clear and warm. We will stay here today to wash and fix the wagons. Some of the boys are going hunting. Frank and Mr. Kirkland went uptown to see if they could get a shop to set three wagon tires. After we got through washing and fixing the things in the wagons, Mrs. Kirkland and I baked light bread, cooked some bacon and eggs, stewed some apples and grapes. There are thirteen Spanish plows running here all day. They have oxen and a long pole with an iron spike on the end of it to stick the oxen to make them go. Their plows are a forked pole with a piece of iron on the edge. They just scratch up the ground a little.

May 29 We started and came two miles through sand to a little Spanish town. Frank bought some peas at one dollar a gallon. We then came on ten miles over very sandy roads to Los Crucius [Las Cruces], and passed some pretty wheat fields. Los Crucius is a considerable sized town. They have a nice Catholic church and other nice buildings for this country. We stopped in town awhile. They bought horse feed at four cents a pound. Frank met a man who gave him some cooked pears. We came on five miles from town and camped with plenty of wood and water but grass scarce. We came through Fort Filmore [Fillmore].21

May 30 There were five more men who came into the company with us this morning: Mr. Shirley, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Meeks and two Belcher brothers. We came fifteen miles to Cottonwood Bend [Texas] and camped to stay until morning on the banks of the Rio Grande out in the hot sun. We got in camp at one o’clock, with wood and grass scarce. We are waiting for Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Barton who stayed back in town.

Sunday, May 31 Cool and cloudy. We had a very bad accident in camp this morning. Only four or five of us were up. I was at the back of the wagon mixing bread for breakfast and Dick Delay was getting up. He had his shotgun within a few steps of where I was, by his side. He accidentally stepped on the lock and the gun went off, knocking me down and shooting Mr. Ridgway in the chest. He seems badly hurt. They put him in our little wagon and took him to Franklin22 to a doctor. We started and came fifteen miles over very rough rocky roads. We are camped on the banks of the river under a big cottonwood tree, with plenty of wood but no grass. I have been sick all day from the shock I got this morning. I am not able to get supper. Frank is on guard tonight.

June 1 Clear and cool. The stage passed last night and scared the horses. They all started to run with their hobbles on. We thought the Indians were after them. We came fifteen miles over very hilly, rocky roads to Franklin and got to town about two o’clock. We found Mr. Ridgway able to travel. The doctor did not take the shot out of his chest. We passed through town and camped. It is a very nice looking place with the nicest looking doby buildings I ever saw. There is no grass for the horses. We have to tie them and buy hay at a cent and a half per pound.

June 2 A very warm morning. Frank has to get the tongue put in his little wagon this morning. They charged him fifty cents for the iron. We started and came 24 miles over very rough, bad roads. We came through three Spanish settlements and are camped in one tonight with no wood or grass but plenty of muddy water. Our horses are all getting sick. One of Frank’s is too sick to work. Henry Coggens has the chills.

June 3 Warm and windy. We came fifteen miles through deep sand and over rocks, passed through one little Spanish settlement, stopped and bought some onions at 25$ a dozen. Mr. Hamilton bought some apricots. We are camped on the banks of the Rio Grande with plenty of wood but no grass. We had quite a wind storm about sundown with an appearance of rain but it all blew over.

June 4 We started and came fifteen miles through deep sand most of the way and then rock. We are camped tonight in a nice cottonwood bottom on the Rio Grande, which is very comfortable and refreshing to the weary travellers, after travelling all day in the hot sun and sand. There is plenty of wood but no grass except salt grass and that is not good for the horses. We have several sick horses in our train now.

June 5 Clear and warm. The mosquitoes lost no time last night. They came in swarms and kept us fighting all night. We came 24 miles through deep sand to Pierpont’s ranch, where we are camped for the night with plenty of wood and water but no grass, except that which they buy at a cent and a half per lb. One of Frank’s mules is sick. Frank is on guard tonight.

June 6 Very warm. We have to stay here a few hours so they can send across the river to buy corn for the horses. One or two families are living here in this awful looking place. I can’t tell how anyone can content themselves to stay here. We have all been washing. Mr. Gatewood and Mr. Beck went across in a ferry boat to get horse feed and had to pay three dollars a hundred for it. We started at eleven o’clock and came fifteen miles through awful sand and the sun was very hot. It makes our horses look very bad. We are camped tonight by a slough with plenty of wood and water but scarcely any grass.

Sunday, June 7 We came eight miles through sand and alkali dust to Fort Quitman23 and saw the Negro soldiers marching around with their white gloves on and their faces as black as ink. We passed through the fort and saw two negroes astraddle of a high pole because they had been drunk. We came a mile and a half below the fort and camped on a slough that is backed up from the Rio Grande river. The locusts keep up such a fuss they almost deafen us. We have plenty of wood and water but very little grass. We had quite a wind and rain storm this evening.

June 8 Cool and windy. We will stay here today to set wagon tires. We have three very sick men in our train and many of our horses are sick. Frank is on guard tonight.

June 9 We had a very hard storm last night with rain, hail, and wind. It blew very hard for about half an hour, then it seemed as if a water spout had bursted and the whole bottom was covered with water in a few minutes. We all had to gather up our things in a hurry and expected to be washed away but the water was only about two inches deep where our wagons stood. We have to stay here today on account of the mud. Frank and Mr. Barton went up to the fort to get corn for the horses and had to pay five cents a pound for it. We have all been drying our beds, cooking, patching and so on. Our sick are no better and the locusts still keep up their songs.

June 10 Clear and warm. We started and came six miles through a miserable looking country to where we will leave the river. We stopped and stayed until three o’clock, then filled our kegs with water for the horses and started on the thirty miles of desert, with some of our horses so sick they can hardly walk. We came eight miles through a rocky canyon, roads very bad, and as luck would have it we found water and had to stop on account of our sick horses. We are camped in the canyon with tolerable good grass.

June 11 Clear and warm. One of Mr. Gatewood’s horses died last night, one of Frank’s mules and one of Mr. Hamilton’s horses are down and can’t stand up and several more of the horses are very sick. We will stay here today and see if they get better. We are all very much disheartened.

June 12 Warm and windy. Mr. Hamilton’s horse is dead. Our poor mule is still lying suffering. We have to leave her. We started and came four miles through the canyon and over rocky roads. After we got out of the canyon we came six miles over tolerable good roads. We all stopped to rest the horses but Mr. Gatewood drove on. We turned the horses on grass and rested two hours, then started. One of Mr. Kirkland’s horses died. Just as we started we met a train of Texans going to California. They say we are going the wrong way. One of the men promised Frank that he would shoot his mule that he left in the canyon. We came ten miles over good roads, found water and camped for the night in a valley between the mountains with plenty of wood, water and grass. Mr. Gatewood was here waiting for us. It is thundering and lightning with the appearance of a storm. Frank is on guard tonight.

June 13 We came fifteen miles to Eagle Springs and camped in a canyon between the high Rocky mountains. A company of Negro soldiers is stationed here. Water is scarce and what we have is nasty, muddy water, hardly fit to drink. We have tolerable good grass but have to take the horses over the mountains to get it. There is no wood. We have three men in our train who some say have the smallpox, which has caused great excitement. Orders were sent on ahead not to let us stop at any of the stations.

Sunday, June 14 Cool and cloudy. We will stay here until two o’clock to cook for the sixty miles of desert. We all baked light bread, stewed fruit and boiled some bacon and beans, then filled our kegs with the nasty, muddy water and started. We had a shower of rain just as we started which revived us very much. We came eight miles and found water enough to water the horses, then travelled till sundown, when we stopped, turned the horses on grass and got supper. We rested two hours, then travelled until eleven o’clock over rough roads, then stopped, turned the horses on grass and went to bed.

June 15 We started early and came ten miles, then got breakfast and rested two or three hours. We then started and travelled until sundown through the sand and dust. We passed one lone grave on the desert. Our horses almost gave out when we got to water. Frank’s mule was almost crazy for water. They could hardly hold her to get the harness off. We have plenty of water and grass but no wood. We have to cook with weeds.

June 16 A very warm day. We have stayed here all day to rest the sick horses. Another of Mr. Gatewood’s died to day. We have all been washing a little and trying to cook but we have a hard time out in the hot sun cooking with weeds. We have to stand over the fire to put on weeds all the time to keep it from going out. I have a sick headache from being out in the hot sun and smoke all day. This is Frank’s night to go on guard but I was so sick he did not go.

June 17 Cool and pleasant. Our horses were stampeded last night and ran to the mountains before they got them stopped. They thought they were gone but they soon got them back. We do not know what scared them. We started and came seven miles to Dead Man’s Hole, to get water. They didn’t want us to stop because we have smallpox in our train but we stopped and stayed two or three hours, got dinner and filled our water kegs. The Negroes are building them a stone house at the foot of the mountains. There is no timber growing here, Nothing but mescal catclaw brush and rock in abundance. We came eight miles over good roads and camped out on the plain with no wood, water nor grass. They tied the horses and fed them. The wind is blowing very hard and it is thundering and lightning with the appearance of a storm. I still have a headache very bad. Frank has the cooking to do.

June 18 Very windy. It rained some last night. We came ten miles to the Barrel Springs and are camped here between the mountains. There are more Negroes here and they seem to enjoy themselves. Grass, water and wood are scarce. There is a large train of Texans here, going to California. Our sick men are not much better.

June 19 Cool and clear. Although we had a very hard rain last night we started at eight o’clock and came twelve miles over good roads, through a nice oak grove to a spring in the mountains, where we found enough water for us all to drink but none for the horses. We stopped and ate dinner, resting two or three hours, then came ten miles over good roads to Fort David [Davis], a tolerable nice looking place. Soldiers, white men and Negroes, are stationed here. They are putting up some very nice looking houses and have three or four stores. Frank bought some coffee at 50¢ per lb., sugar at 40¢, flour at 10¢. We drove thru town and camped, tied the horses and fed them.

June 20. Clear and warm. We will stay here until evening for the train to buy horse feed. They bought six hanigars of corn at four dollers a hanigar [hanaper]. Frank bought 25^ worth of soap and two pounds of soda at 40^ a pound. He met with a friend who gave him three or four pounds of coffee and nine or ten lbs. of bacon. Mrs. Kirkland, Mrs. Hamilton and I went up to the store and got some calico to make a bonnet. We had the doctor come to camp and see the men with smallpox. He says it is not a smallpox. He vaccinated all the children except ours. We moved up two miles and camped to stay until Monday. There is a train of Texans camped here going to California. There is plenty of grass, wood and water. Frank is on guard tonight. They have to take the horses to the mountains to get grass.

Sunday, June 21 Cool and pleasant. They bought a beef this morning, killed it and we had quite a treat. The Texas ladies came up to camp. They try to discourage us all they can by abusing the country. We have been cooking all day. Frank bought some salt from a Texan at 3¢ a pound.

June 22 Cool and windy. We started. Frank has a broncho that is doing his best in kicking and jumping and rolling over the wagon tongue. We came through a very hilly, rocky canyon with rocks hundreds of feet high, perfectly round and straight. We all had to get out and walk. We came about ten miles and it began to thunder and rain, blow and hail. We stopped and unhitched the horses from the wagons. We thought we were going to have a hail storm but it only lasted a few minutes. We then came five miles and camped for the night in the canyon close to a creek but there was no water in it; plenty of grass and wood. Frank took his little wagon and they all put a water keg in it and went up the creek to a hole of water and hauled enough for the train to cook with. Another train of Texans passed us bound for California.

June 23 Clear and cool. Last night the water came down the creek a booming, bringing the rocks and brush before it. A water spout bursted in the mountains. It made a big lumbering when it came and we have plenty of water this morning and it is as cold as ice. We came ten miles over rough roads to Gorrila [Barilla] Station. Negroes are stationed here. They wanted to keep us from passing. They said we had smallpox. We passed on by them, drove up to a big pond and turned the horses out and got dinner. There is another big train of Texans going to the land of gold, they think. We filled our water kegs with water and came five miles and camped for the night out on the plain, with plenty of grass and wood.

June 24 Clear and windy. We came about five miles over rocky roads and found water in Gorilla [Barilla] Creek. We stopped, turned the horses out and will rest awhile. Here is another train of Texans with a big drove of cattle on the way to California. We stayed two or three hours to eat dinner, then started and came about ten miles and made a dry camp on the plain, with tolerable good grass but no wood. We had to cook with weeds and the wind was blowing so hard we could hardly stand up. It blew our fire away as fast as we could build it. Our wagons rock and shake like they would go over. Frank is on guard tonight. He is complaining very much.

June 25 Frank had a chill last night at midnight as he came off guard and is still very sick. We started before sunup and came five or six miles, stopped and got breakfast at a dirty, muddy pond that hundreds of cattle have ran through the last few days but it is all we have to cook with or drink. After breakfast we came on over good roads to the Leon Holes. We got here at one o’clock. This is a dry alkali place with no wood and very poor grass. The water is so salty we cannot have good coffee or tea. There is a stage stand here with three or four white men and some Negroes living here. Frank is still very sick. We got dinner and filled our kegs with the salt water. They say those waterholes have no bottom. We came four or five miles and camped for the night. Grass and wood are scarce. The wind is blowing our dresses around the thorny brush and tearing them to pieces.

Friday, June 26 Clear and warm. Frank is better. We came nine miles over good roads to Fort Stogdon [Stockton]. There we had to stand in the hot sun two hours. They said we could not go through town because we have smallpox in the train but the boys have all got about well at last. We started, came through town and stopped one mile from town. They have a considerable sized town and fort. We got dinner over. Some want to go across the desert and some the southern route. They talked about it until evening and all concluded to go the southern route, which is 150 miles farther, so we all started and nearly to town then backed out. Frank, Mr. Kirkland and Mr. Gatewood will try the desert. Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Barton will go the other road. So we parted here. Frank alnd Mr. Kirkland and Mr. Gatewood took the little wagon and went into the fort to get corn and water barrels for the desert. They got four barrels from two to four dollers apiece. They got corn at 80 a pound. We have fifteen men with us and Mr. Hamilton has eight. Henry Coggens went with him. We filled our kegs with water for the horses and came five miles, when we camped out on the plain with plenty good grass but no wood. We have to cook with little sage brush. The wind is very high. It is almost impossible to cook at all.

June 27 Clear and warm. We came eleven miles to Antelope Springs and stopped to get dinner and water is so salty we can hardly cook with it. Mrs. Kirkland and I tried to boil some beans but could not boil them soft. Our coffee was so salty we could scarcely drink it. The grass is so dried up with alkali that it cracks under our feet as we walk. The whole country is covered with mesquite brush and muscat. After dinner we started, came ten miles over good roads and camped for the night out on the plains in a very pretty place for this country with good grass but no wood or water. Dick Delay is very sick again.

Sunday, June 28 Very pleasant this morning. We came 12 miles over very good roads through the mesquite brush to the Horse Head Crossing on the Pecus [Pecos] river, a nasty, dirty, muddy, ugly stream. Everything within two or three miles around is burned up with alkali and the dead cattle lay thick on the banks of the river. We dip up the water and put it in the barrels for the dirt to settle to the bottom, then use the water for cooking and drinking. They have to take the horses two miles from camp to get grass. Frank is one of the herders. Dick Delay is still sick. Mrs. Kirkland is complaining very much. The boys killed a beef this evening for us to cook for the desert. There are about 2,000 head of cattle on the other side of the river, just off the desert.

June 29 Warm and windy. The mosquitoes lost no time last night in keeping me company. The boys around camp had to sit up all night with blankets wrapped over their heads and keep smoking to keep them from eating their eyes out. The guards had to smoke their pipes and even then were almost eaten up by them. The horses are covered with knots where they have been bitten. Today we will cross the river. Mrs. Kirkland is very sick, though she and I have to cook all day in the hot sun for the desert. There is not the least bit of shade to put our horses under the little children are crying because the sun burns them and they can’t get out of it. The men are crossing the wagons then tie ropes long enough to reach across, then tie one end to the wagon tongue. Then the men swim and pull the wagons over. They tied four water barrels together, put the decking plank on them and took most of our loads over on them. Some would pull and some swim after and hold them. There are a company of negro soldiers stationed here. Mrs. Kirkland, I and children crossed in a skiff boat there. The negroes brought the boat down where we were crossing and helped us to get the balance of our load over. They got everything across by four o’clock. The men are all very tired and half sick. They have been swimming the river backward and forward all day long. We are camped on the banks of the river between the river and a big alkali pond with just enough room for our wagons to stand between them. The herders have to swim back across the river to herd the horses.

June 30 Warm and very unpleasant where we are. Mrs. Kirkland is very sick. We reloaded our wagons and filled our water barrels with nasty, dirty water. We can see the dead cattle floating down while we are dipping up the water and see them lying on the banks all over. This is all we will have to drink for 87 miles. There is a man in camp now telling us there are three thousand dead cattle in a canyon we have to go through this evening. This is not very pleasant news to the worn out travellers and half of them sick. Mrs. Kirkland and I prepared our camp fire to kill the smell. The herders drove in the horses and swam them across the river and we all started on the long desert at one o’clock. We came 15 miles through a doleful looking country with alkali dust three or four inches deep. Every now and then we would pass a pile of dead cattle seven or eight in a pile and it being a very warm evening it was not a very pleasant trip I tell you. We came through the long dreaded canyon but did not have half as much use for our camphor as we expected to. There were about 300 dead cattle from the river up instead of3,000. The canyon is three miles through and very rocky. We stopped at 8 o’clock and ate supper and rested the horses two hours. We then started and traveled until two o’clock, then turned the horses out and slept until daylight.

July 1 Warm and windy. We started at daylight, travelled until 8 o’clock, stopped and got breakfast. We then travelled until one o’clock through a lonesome looking country with nothing but the wide spreading plain to look at. We stopped and got dinner and fed the horses and rested until three o’clock. We started again, met a drove of cattle going on past a place where there has been a ranch. Then we travelled until sundown over good roads, stopped and fed the horses and came on until one o’clock. We stopped and fed at Chiny Pond24 but there was no water. We are now out of water for the horses or to drink ourselves.

July 2 We got to the Cancho [Concho] river this morning, just as the sun was rising. We are all very tired and worn out from lack of sleep. I have not slept more than three hours since we started on the desert. While we were watering our horses there were four Texas boys camped close by. We heard them singing like I ndians and that they were, so we drove up to a stone wall and prepared for fighting them but soon found our mistake, which made us feel much better than if we had gone to fighting the redskins just after getting off the long and tiresome desert. We drove in to camp, turned the horses on grass and got breakfast and rested while the Texas boys brought some beef up to swap for bread. They had not any bread for four days. When we gave them the bread they whooped and yelled “Hurrah for Texas.” After breakfast we came four or five miles and stopped on the banks of the river in a thicket of mesquite brush. Another train of Texans was here with a drove of cattle on their way to California. Frank sold his water barrel to them to hold water on the desert. We stayed there until 4 o’clock, then came up one and a half miles to a picket station and camped for the night. Have to take the horses across the river to grass. Frank is one of the guards. There is a company of white soldiers stationed here, the first we have seen since we left except the officers of the negroes. Frank bought some flour and bacon here.

July 3 Cool and cloudy, having the appearance of rain. We travelled till 12 o’clock and camped on the Concho river to stay until morning. Plenty of wood, water and grass, with pecan trees on the river. There is no other timber except mesquite. The boys have all gone fishing.

July 4 Raining and very disagreeable. We like never to get our breakfast. The rain would put out the fire as fast as we could kindle it. We had a nice mess of fried fish. We came six miles through a hilly country having no timber but mesquite. It began to rain so hard that we had to stop at the foot of a big hill, turn the horses out and make up a big fire. The boys have all gone fishing for their Fourth of July sport. Mr. Ridgeway was sitting on the bank fishing when he looked up and there was a panther just fixing to jump on him. They shot at it but did not kill him. We started on at 2 again and came five or six miles and camped for the night in a thicket of mesquite brush.

Sunday, July 5 Still raining and the roads are very muddy. We came twelve miles through the open plain and happened upon some wild cattle. We stopped and killed a nice fat cow, took what we wanted and left the balance lying on the road side. Camping at 2 o’clock, we stayed until morning and cooked up some of our beef. Grass and water were scarce, the water having to be carried some distance. Mrs. Kirkland is washing and I have been cooking as hard as I could ever since we stopped. Frank is on guard tonight.

July 6 A warm and cloudy morning. We travelled about twelve miles and stopped for dinner, crossing the river just once. As we finished dinner it began to rain and rained for a few minutes as hard as I ever saw it rain in my life. After the rain was over the frogs began to croak so that we thought it was a big drove of sheep up the river. We started, came four or five miles to a stage station and thought we were going to have a hail storm so we camped for the night near the river. The boys all went fishing and caught all the fish they wanted. There was plenty of wood, water and grass.

July 7 Clear and windy. We started, crossed the river and came several miles over muddy roads to Fort Concho,25 a very pretty place. Seven or eight hundred soldiers are stationed here. They would not let us stop in town, so we drove on through and stopped for Frank and Mr. Kirkland to go back and get provisions. They got some coffee and bacon, but could not get any bread stuffs. Coffee and bacon were forty cents a pound. We then came out three miles fom the fort and stopped for dinner. They let the horses eat grass two or three hours, then started and took the wrong road and travelled twelve miles over a beautiful plain to a corral on the river, built for the purpoose of catching wild horses, we supposed. Next we drove out close to the river and camped, with plenty of water and grass, wood being not so good. We have plenty of fried fish but bread is scarce and what little we have must be saved for the children.

July 8 Clear and warm. We started out, travelled on through the plain till 8 o’clock and came across some nice fat cattle. We stopped and killed a beef, took what we wanted and left the rest. Those were cattle that had been lost from droves as they are going through. We travelled on and happened to see a train of Texans going to California with a drove of cattle, so we got on the right road again. One of the men gave Frank a bushel of meal, which we were very glad to get. Continuing on for the three miles we stopped for dinner and fed the horses. We rested till 2 o’clock, then came ten miles over good roads and camped out on the plain at a pond of water, with plenty of wood and grass and plenty of fried fish for supper. Frank is on guard tonight. I washed until 10 o’clock.

July 9 Clear and cool. We travelled till 12 o’clock over very rough roads and stopped for dinner on the banks of the river. The boys are all fishing. Mr. Meeks gave me four nice catfish, the smallest one is over a foot long. Travelling on till 4 o’clock we crossed the Concho river for the last time, filled our water kegs with water and drove about five miles and camped for the night out on a beautifal plain with plenty of good grass and wood. Frank is on guard in the place of one of the other boys, who is sick.

July 10 Clear and pleasant. Five of our Texas boys left us this morning for home. They think we are out of Indian danger and they want to get home. We came on two miles to the Colorado river in Texas.26 We had two very steep hills to pull up. Frank’s broncho pony started up hill jumping and kicking and stopped the wagon when they were about half way up. Then they had some trouble getting up. I thought they would kill the pony before they got up. We then came three miles to Spring creek. There are some cattle drovers living here. We then came six miles to Elm creek, stopped and watered the horses, and then took the wrong road for three miles. We then took out across the plain to find the road, which we travelled about two miles and came to the road, where we stopped and got dinner. After dinner we continued three or four miles up Panther creek, stopped and watered the horses and filled our kegs. Driving farther on six or seven miles we camped for the night out on the plain. Grass and wood are scarce.

July 11 We came seven miles to Home creek, where several families are living. It is a lonely looking place to live in. We stopped to buy some meal or flour, but they had none. They give some of the boys all the corn bread they had baked. That is all the kind of bread they have now. We came on three miles and stopped for dinner under some shade trees, which seem very pleasant to us who have not had the pleasure of sitting under one fora longtime. Mrs. Kirkland is sick, so we rested till 2 o’clock, then came twelve miles through some beautiful country, with pretty, fat cattle all over the plains. We are camped on the plain by a branch but very little water is in it, and what is is green as grass. Plenty of wood and grass. Frank is on guard tonight.

Sunday, July 12 Clear and warm. We have to make our breakfast this morning of beef and coffee, which is very poor living. Mrs. Kirkland is better. We came twelve miles over very rough roads. We crossed the creek and camped under a big tree. There is a field of corn here just in roasting ears. We got what we wanted, eating them in place of bread. We got dinner over, then they concluded to stay till morning. Frank bought some corn meal at one dollar and twenty-five cents a bushel. We have what buttermilk we can drink. Two more of our Texas boys left us this morning to go home. There are a good many living here raising cattle for their living. They turned the horses out without herders.

July 13 We started, passed five or six houses and stopped at all for milk. We got our kegs filled with buttermilk and bought butter at a bit a pound. Coming on eight miles, we stopped for dinner in a pretty oak grove, rested two hours, then came ten miles more and camped for the night on the plains. Just as we drove into camp it began to rain and rained very hard for about half an hour. There is good wood and grass at this place. They turned the horses out with herders. Mrs. Kirkland and I did not get out of the wagon to get supper. The men have made up a big fire and are all standing around it nearly crazy because they are out of tobacco. Some of them have chewed sticks till their teeth are sore.

July 14 Cool and cloudy. We came ten miles to a little settlement called Commanche [Comanche], where there are a few houses and two stores. We stopped and bought some things at the store. Tobacco was the first thing some of the men bought, coffee next. We came out one mile from town and camped on Squaw creek to stay till morning. Two more of our boys stopped here. They are going back with a drove of cattle. We have only four men. It is rather lonesome in camp now. We had a very hard thunder shower this morning.

July 15 We have stayed here today to rest the horses and to wash. Mrs. Kirkland and I have been washing all day. Frank and Mr. Kirkland went up town and got some corn. The people want them to stop here very bad, they think they have not seen enough of Texas yet. Had another hard rain this evening. Frank traded his broncho pony off for a horse that was no better.

July 16 Warm and cloudy. We came ten miles to the Leon river over very rough, sandy roads and stopping for dinner and to rest the horses after dinner. We came on, crossed the river, had a very steep hill on both sides. We all got over very well, then came five miles over rough roads and camped at Mr. Stone’s for the night. Had a hard shower of rain just as we got into camp, which made everything very disagreeable. Mrs. Kirkland’s little boy is very sick.

July 17 A warm morning. We travelled untill noon through a timbered country which was very sandy and very hard on the horses. We stopped for dinner and to rest the horses, in a place where there was plenty of grass. The horses were then turned out without herders and we had no trouble with them. After resting two hours, we continued on ten or twelve miles through deep sand and camped on a little creek.

July 18 Clear and warm. We came upon a little town two miles farther on called Stephensville, where the houses looked like those built when Texas was first settled. Everything looks like it was going to destruction. We stopped in town a few minutes and Frank bought some sugar at twenty-five cents a pound. Coming on through the town, we stopped at a little creek called Bosco and watered the horses, then came ten miles over very bad roads to the Indian water holes and stopped for dinner and to rest the horses. Just as we drove up the horses to start again, it began to rain and rained for about an hour as hard as it could come down. We then started out, coming five or six miles over very slippery roads. We had to cross the creek five or six times and banks were so steep and slippery that the horses could scarcely stand up. We all had to get out and walk over them. Our camp is at a Mr. Roberts, where we got some good buttermilk and roasting ears for supper. It is still cloudy and looks like rain.

July 19 This is a very warm and sultry morning. We waited until 9 o’clock before we started for the roads to dry some, then after we had started we had to cross the south fork of the Leon river. Which had very steep banks on both sides. We came on about three miles and crossed the same river again. There are several families living here where we got some buttermilk to drink. Then we continued on about ten miles over very bad roads. With the roads and sand and the extreme heat of the day, it made going very difficult for the horses. We had a hard thunder shower about 2 o’clock so we drove out under some oak trees until it was over, then came five or six miles and camped in a pretty oak grove near a settlement.

July 20 Still very warm and unpleasant. We came ten miles over tolerable good roads through some pretty country. Stopped at a place, we bought butter at a bit a pound. We stopped in a little town called Stockton and got dinner and rested the horses until 4 o’clock. We started, crossed the Brazos river, where the water is clear but salt to drink, and came on six miles through prairie to Center Mill27 and camped for the night. Frank and Mr. Kirkland are very much dissatisfied with this part of Texas. It is hilly, broken country timbered with scrub oak.

July 21 We have stayed here to look around and see what they can do. There is a protracted meeting going on here. Frank went last night and said they had a good meeting. We could hear them shout a half a mile. This has been a very warm day and I have been doing some washing. Frank has gone to the meeting tonight.

July 22 Still warm. Mrs. Kirkland went to church today and saw a great many strange faces. We heard a good sermon, and saw one of the preacher’s wives converted to God and heard them shout until they were perfectly exhausted. Mr. Kirkland met his brother today, whom he has not seen for a long time. Mr. Kirkland and Mrs. Kirkland have gone to church tonight.

July 23 Frank rented a house today at six dollars a month to stay in while the horses rested up. Mr. Kirkland moved into a schoolhouse close by. Frank can get all the work he wants to do. They have no vegetables nor wheat this season on account of the grasshoppers. They live on corn bread and beef.

July 24 Still very warm and unpleasant. Frank is fixing to repair an old buggy and I have been to the preaching again today. They are having a good Baptist meeting.

July 25 Nothing new today. Frank is working on an old wagon and I have been patching some. We are not satisfied with Texas yet. Where we are stopping there is a mill, one store and three dwelling houses. Here the men seem to have no energy to do anything save drive cattle.

Sunday, July 26 Very warm and unpleasant. Frank and some of the children have gone to church. The meetings will close tonight. I never heard how many joined the church. Jake Kirkland and wife came up today to see Mrs. Kirkland.

July 27 Clear and warm. Frank is busy at work on an old wagon wheel and I have been washing and ironing.

July 28 Still very warm and dry. Nothing new has happened today. Frank is still working on the wagon. Mrs. Kirkland came down and stayed all day with me. We have been sewing.

July 29 It is still too warm to be comfortable. Frank is working away on the wagon wheels. I have been stitching shirt bosoms for Mrs. Leadbetter, finishing four for which I got twenty-five cents apiece. This evening I went down to see Mrs. Burns.

July 30 Mrs. Kirkland and Mrs. Gatewood have gone to the sulphur springs28 on a visit to see Mr. Kirkland’s brother. Have been sewing for Mrs. Burns and Frank finished the wagon he was working on today.

July 31 Today is my birthday. I washed this morning and iron this evening. Frank is working on a buggy. The old mill is lumbering away. They only grind on Friday and Saturday.

August 1 Still very warm and unpleasant. Mrs. Kirkland and Mrs. Gatewood got back this morning some better pleased with Texas. I have been making sacks and handkerchiefs for the merchant here at ten cents apiece. The Methodists have preaching today and tonight at the arbor. Frank has gone tonight, leaving me and children at home.

Sunday, August 2 Frank and some of the children have gone to meeting. The little ones and I did not go. After dinner we went up to see Mrs. Kirkland and stayed while Miss Oxer came home with them from the springs. We had a nice rain this evening.

August 3 Some cooler after the rain. Nothing new today. We have all been sitting around not doing much.

August 4 Warm as ever. Frank is working on an old buggy and I have been sewing for Mrs. Burns and Mrs. Ranking. Mrs. Gatewood took Miss Oxer home.

August 5 Frank finished the buggy he was mending and Mr. Kirkland has been setting their wagon tires. I have been washing and packing up to start tomorrow. We had another shower of rain this evening, which livens everything up very much.

August 6 Mr. Gatewood got back from the springs today in the notion to marry, so they all been sitting around camp. Frank wrote a letter. There is preaching today in the arbor. We have concluded to stay two weeks longer, and we had to move our in camp since Mr. Ranking wanted the house we are in. We are camped under some oak trees close to the schoolhouse where Mr. Kirkland is camped. It rained very hard just after we got into camp.

August 7 Warm and windy. Frank has another buggy to repair. I have been making Mr. Gatewood a fine shirt, which is not very nice work out in the wind and dust

August 8 Nothing of importance happened today. Frank is working on the buggy and I have been washing and ironing and sewing some.

Sunday, August 9 We can hear the sermon without going. Also there is singing in the schoolhouse this evening, where Mr. Kirkland is camped.

August 10 Today is Frank’s birthday. There is nothing new and it is still very dry and warm.

August 11 Frank is working on an old buggy. I went to the creek and done my washing this morning. This evening I have been sewing for Mrs. Burns.

August 12 The weather is still very warm and disagreeable. Frank is working a little. They have to go twice every day and get up the horses and feed them corn. Mrs. Kirkland and I have been ironing and fixing to go to the Masonic dinner tomorrow.

August 13 Very warm. We all went nine miles to the Masonic dinner and saw a great many people but did not enjoy ourselves at all. I had a sick headache and did not get any of the dinner or hear any of the speaking. They had plenty of baked beef, goat meat, corn bread and coffee for dinner. We stayed there until 3 o’clock then went nine miles up to the sulphur springs to see Mr. Gatewood get married.29 He was married to Miss Oxer, after which we had a very nice supper but I could not enjoy it.

August 14 Still very warm. We all came to Jake Kirkland’s and took dinner, then came seven miles to where we are camped. There are a great many persons at the springs for their health. I think the water is awfully bad to drink.

August 15 Very warm. Frank is at work and I have been sewing all day for Mrs. Leadbetter. Mr. Gatewood brought his wife up this evening. She does not like the idea of going to Missouri. I have sat and sewed and listened to a good sermon.

Sunday, August 16 Preaching again today. Frank went over but I stayed in camp and heard most of the sermon. Mr. Gatewood took our little wagon and went down to get his wife’s plunder.

August 17 Very warm. Mrs. Kirkland and I went down to the creek and done our washing. This evening I have been sewing for Mrs. Burns.

August 18 Raining and very disagreeable for those who have to camp out of doors.

August 19 Still raining and the roads are very muddy. We all stayed in the schoolhouse during the daytime and sleep in our wagons at night.

August 20 It is still raining. Frank finished the buggy he was repairing. Today he will get two cows and calves for it. He sold two of his water kegs for two dollars apiece and got sixty pounds of beef today at three cents a pound.

August 21 Still cloudy. Frank and Mr. Kirkland have been fixing to start. I have been tucking some skirts for Mrs. Burns.

Sunday, August 22 Clear and very warm. I thought I would faint cooking out in the hot sun. Jake Kirkland and wife came up from the sulphur springs to see her sister, Mrs. Gatewood. She went home with them to stay all night.

August 24 Very warm. The men are getting up their cows. Frank has two cows and calves, Mr. Kirkland one, and Mr. Gatewood four. Mrs. Kirkland is washing. Frank has bought eight bushels of meal since we have been camped here, at seventy-five cents a bushel.

August 25 Clear and warm We were up early and got up the horses to start. One of Frank’s cows got away and he had to hunt her, not finding her until about 9 o’clock. Then we all had some fresh beef brought to us so we have to fix that up. Then we got dinner and afterwards left Center Mill on Long creek, Hood county, Texas, where we have been camped for five weeks. We came ten miles through prairie most of the way. We had very little trouble with the cows. Now we are camped on Mustang creek, close to a farm, where we put the cows and calves in a pen. We turned the horses out on the prairie. We have as many peaches as we can eat.

August 26 It is very clear and warm. We started by crossing Mustang creek and came four or five miles, then crossed Deer creek. From that place we took the wrong road and travelled some out of our way. We met three men who told us the way, so we went out on the prairie to hit the right road and proceeded on five or six miles. At Sycamore creek we are camped for the night. It is in Tarrin county, Texas, at the edge of the cross timber. I have the sick headache very bad.

August 27 Very warm. I still have a headache. We came on ten miles through the cross timber and over very rough, sandy roads. We are camped tonight at Mansfield’s Mills. One of Frank’s calves got lost in the bush and he had to go back after it. There are some very pretty farms here in the prairie and a big stream mill that grinds all the time.

August 28 We started out and passed two or three pretty farms where the people on them look like they make a poor living. We then came out through a hilly broken country where we passed a few farms. We got as many peaches as we could eat. We came up one very steep rocky hill through a little town called Cedar Hill. There is one store and a few dwelling houses, which are all going to rack. Continuing on three or four miles we came to a creek called Ten Mile, in Dallas county. We got water out of a nice spring. The calves were put in a pen and the cows and horses were turned out on the prairie.

August 29 Clear and warm. We came thirteen miles through the prairie and passed a few farms. Everybody is drying peaches. We get all we can eat. Tonight we are camped in Trinity River bottom. The timber is very thick here. The calves are tied up and the horses and cows are turned loose. The timber is so thick we can see but a few yards from camp but the mosquitoes can very easily find us and they almost eat the children up.

Sunday, August 30 Very warm. We will stay here today. Two of the horses are gone and Frank and Mr. Kirkland have gone to hunt for them. We have all been sitting around, not enjoying ourselves at all. Frank and Mr. Kirkland got back with the horses this evening about 3 o’clock.

August 31 Warm and raining. We crossed the river this morning and got over very well, since the water was only up to the wagon beds. They are building a steamboat to run on the river next winter. We came on through Dallas, a tolerable sized town with some very nice buildings. There are four churches here and schools but everything seems to be going down. We came two miles this side of the town and at Cedar Grove on Turtle creek. Frank and Mr. Kirkland went back to town to get provisions, bringing twenty pounds of bacon at a bit a pound. Frank got a letter from Mr. Hamilton. They have stopped in Hays county, Texas.

September 1 It is still raining and very disagreeable. Frank and Mr. Kirkland have gone to get corn to feed the horses while we are travelling. I have been writing a letter to Mr. Hamilton for Frank. Gatewood sent his two boys back after a cow we left over the river and the soldiers took them up in town and made them pick up chips all day, and then took Wallace’s coat away from him.

September 2 Still cool and cloudy. Frank and Mr. Kirkland are going on to Missouri and Gatewood will stay in Texas. Frank let him have his little wagon at one hundred dollars. We have two cows and calves that they got for working while we were in Hood county, Texas. Mr. Kirkland took one but we had to leave the others behind because we have no one to drive them. Mr. Kirkland has a young man with him. We came ten miles over prairie and stopped at a big well for dinner. A very hard shower of rain fell just before we stopped. After dinner we started and had another hard rain. Five miles farther we reached Spring creek, where the banks were so steep and slippery we could not cross, but had to camp in the road. We sure had a muddy time. The mud and clay would stick to our feet so that we could hardly get about. There is another family camped here where the women pulled off their shoes and stockings and waded the mud barefooted. We put our horses on the prairie, got supper over and go to bed.

September 3 We started at 9 o’clock, coming up over the hill very well, then came on eight miles over pretty prairie, thickly settled. We stopped on rock for dinner and afterwards passed through a little town called Plano. Then covering seven miles over very rough roads we came upon a toll bridge over a little creek, where we were charged thirty-five cents a wagon. We stopped and got water, then came out on the prairie one mile and camped for the night in Collins [Collin] county. Frank and Mrs. Kirkland bought some molasses at fifty cents a gallon.

September 4 Clear and warm. We started and passed through McKinny, the county seat of Collins, which appears to be a very busy place and containing some very pretty buildings. Frank bought one bushel of meal at fifty cents, two pounds of butter at ten cents a pound. We came on through the prairie, passing some beautiful farms and nice houses and stopped at a peach orchard where we got some peaches to eat. After ten more miles we stopped for dinner and then continued six miles on, passing through a little town called Weston. There is one store and post office and a few other buildings. We crossed the river where the Cambelites were baptizing some persons. We are camped out on the prairie between two farms.

September 5 It is clear and warm today. Some pretty farms were passed in the prairie, then we came upon the little town called Farmington. A very few houses, one store, one church, and two or three horse mills were found here. We crossed the creek two or three times and there is very little water in it. Tonight we are camped at house under a big oak tree by a nice spring in Grayson county. We stopped at 2 o’clock. Mrs. Kirkland and I washed some.

Sunday, September 6 Still warm. We will stay here today to rest the horses. We have been sitting all day, very lonesome and tired. Frank wrote a letter to brother John.

September 7 We started on again and came four miles through prairie land to Sherman, which is quite a nice little town, the county seat of Grayson county. There seems to be a great deal of business going on here and Frank bought two yards of calico at seventeen cents a yard. We left the town after remaining an hour and came on four miles over tolerable good roads to a mill. Here Mr. Kirkland bought corn at fifty cents a bushel. We then came one mile over very rough, hilly roads to a little creek with very steep banks.

The End

1They now joined the Butterfield Overland Mail route. The “little town called Temakely” was Temecula rancho, which was the site of the Butterfield station there in Rivers ide County. They passed over the site of the present-day town of Temecu la. Erwin G. Gudde, California Place Names (Berkeley, 1969), p. 334. Roscoe P. and Margaret B. Conk ling, The Butterfield Overland Mail, 1857–1869, vol. II (Glendale, Calif., 1947), pp. 244–45. Gudde says that the meaning of the word, Temecula, is unknown.

2This was the establishment of Jonathan Trum bull Warner, called by the Mexicans Juan Jose Warner, who had come overland to California with Ewing Young’s trappers in 1831. The ran chhouse is now an historic landmark. In the 1850s the road from Wa rner’s Ranch to Yuma was declared a public highway. Warner sold the ranch and moved to Los Angeles in 1855. Joseph J. Hill, The History of Warner’s Ranch and Its Environs (Los Angeles, 1927); Kenneth L. Holmes, Ewing Young, Master Trapper (Portland, Or., 1967), pp. 61–93; Lorrin L. Morrison, Warner, the Man and the Ranch (Los Angeles, 1962).

3Vallecito was near present Palm Springs. The word means “Little Valley.” The Conklingsdescribe is as “a veritable oasis in the desert to travelers over this route,” op. cil., pp. 229–34.

4Carrizo Creek Station was an ideal stopping point for the stages. The little creek wassome three feet wide. It was very clear and palatable. Conkling, op. at., p. 227.

5This was probably A lamo Mocho (Stump of the Cottonwood) Station, on the bank of the A lamo River. Conkling, op. at pp. 221–23.

6Fort Yuma was on the north bank of the Gila River. The town of Yuma grew up on the opposite side of the stream. Edwin Corle, The Gila, River of the Southwest (New York, 1951), passim.

7Yuma County, Arizona, was on the south bank of the Yuma, some 4½ miles northwest of Wellton. Conkling, op. cit., p. 190.

8Named for Patrick Burk, the first station keeper. Conkling, op. tit., p. 181.

9This is named for the attack on the Oatman family in 1851 by Apache or Havasupai Indians. The family’s father, Royse, and mother, Mary Ann, were killed as were children, Lucy, age 17; Royse, Jr., 10 or 12; Charity Ann, 4; and Roland, 18 months. Lorenzo D., 16, was left for dead, but he recovered. Two girls, Olive Ann, age 14, and Mary Ann, 7, were taken captive by the Indians and later traded to the Mohave Indians. Mary Ann died a year later; but Olive Ann lived. She was rescued some five years later by a white man, Henry Grinnel, and a Yuma Indian, named Francisco. A minister, The Rev. Royal B. Stratton, got to know Olive Ann and Lorenzo, and wrote their story in a book, The Captivity of the Oatman Girls, which gained national attention. A succinct treatment of this subject is in Dan L. Thrapp’s Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography, vol. Ill (G len da le, Ca lif., 1988), p. 1071.

10Maricop a Indians, a Yuman tribe. Col. Philip St. George Cooke of the Mormon Battalion was supposed to have dug the wells in December 1846. Conkling, op. cit., p. 169.

11Pinal Co., one of several change and water stations established by Butter field in1858–59. Conkling, op. cit., p. 165. They have left the Gila River.

12A narrow passageway between Dos Cabezas and Chiricahua mountains. Often used by travelers in that part of Arizona. A post office had been established there on Dec. 11, 1866, with Geo rge Hand as postmaster. Will C. Barnes, Arizona Place Names (Tucson, 1988), p. 23.

13San Simon, Cochise Co. According to Will C. Barnes, op. cit., pp. 386–87, San. Simon boasts that it is the only town in Arizon a that owns and operates a public bath house. An artesian well furnishes water and keys to the bath house are distribu ted to all citizens.

14Or Stein’s Pass, a very hazardous part of the journey, Conkling, op. cit., pp. 128–29.

15Between Soldier’s Farewell and Cow Springs they passed over the continental div ideat an elevation of 4,900 feet. Soldier’s Farewell is also called Soldier’s Grave. Conkling, op cit., p. 124; and Barnes, op. cit. p. 414.

16Ojo de la Vaca.

17Grant Co., N.M. Conkling describes the station thus: “There were great groves of cottonwoods here and also ab eautiful variety of willow from which the river derives its name. Although the Mimbres belongs to the peculiar class of the southwest desert streams, that flow and sink into their beds to reappear and flow again at some distant point, there was a permanent flow of good sweet water in the river at this point… Old inhabitants in the valley recall that grass in some sections stood waist high.” op. cit., pp. 119–20.

18It is hard to believe that she is writing about the same locality as she describes onMay 22, above.

19Luna Co., ar Cooke’s Spring, 6 miles northwest of Florida, N.M. This fort was designed by General George B. McClellan for protection of travelers on the Butter field Overland Mail in 1863. It was permanently abandoned in 1891, T.M. Pearce, New Mexico Place Names (Albuquerque, 1965), p. 58.

20On July 28, 1866, Congress approved the formation of two regiments of infantry and two of cavalry composed of “colored men” to serve on the frontier for the purpose of building roads, serving as escorts, and figh ting the Indians. These were the “buffalo soldiers.” They were so-called by the Indians because the texture of their hair reminded them of the hair of the great animals. John M. Carroll, The Black Military Experience in the American West (New York, 197 1), passim.

21Named for President Millard Fillmore. It had been established in 1551 by Colonel E.V. Sumner for the protection of travelers. Pearce, op. cit., p. 58.

22Franklin was one of theear lier names of El Pasodel Norte (North Pass), the Spanish name given by 16th century conquistad ores. It had grown out of several early settlements. The name Franklin was given for Franklin Coons, who was named postmaster in 1852. Fred Ta rpley, 1001 Texas Place Names (Austin, 1980), pp. 76–77.

23An other lady traveler wrote in her reminiscences in 189J, telling of her visit to Fort Quitman in 1869, “When we sighted the Rio Grande, five miles below Fort Quitman, a sense of relief took the place of my recent uneasiness and fear; and when we drove into the forlorn and tumble down adobe built fort, I wanted to greet everybody as friend and brother. The troops stationed here were co lored…” Carroll, op. fit., p. 106. Carroll’s reference is to Lydia Spencer Lane, I Marrieda Soldier (Philadelphia, 1893), p. 186.

24Wild China Ponds. This was a good watering place along the way. It was named for the china berry trees which flourished here. Conkling, op. cit., vol. I, p. 371.

25Present San Angelo.

26Here the Shacklefords, the Kirklands, and the Gatewoods left the rest of the party and the Butterfield route. They would join the Butterfield Trail at Sherman, Grayson Co., on September 7.

27Here decisions would be made about whether to settle in Texas or to go on to Missouri where they had lived before their 1865 journey west to California. The Shacklefords and the Kirk lands decided to go on to Missouri, where they settled in Roscoe, St. Clair Co.

28Not to he confused with the city of Sulphur Springs, much farther east.

29At well B. Gatewood was the widower of Ruth Shackleford’s deceased sister who had died on the trail west. We do not learn the full name of “Miss Oxer.”