The order of march was as follows: Cattle and loose animals in advance in the morning, coming up in rear at night; fur company and Captain Stewart’s teams in advance; mission party in rear till we reached Fort Laramie. All went smoothly and in order. At the Pawnee village the fur company was short of meat or bacon. Arrangements were made to slaughter one of the mission cows, and replace it at Laramie. Two days from Pawnee village the hunters brought into camp some bull buffalo meat; next day cow buffalo meat in abundance. Not far from Scott’s Bluff, passed some hunters on their way down Platte River in boats; arrive at Fort Laramie, just above the mouth of that river; cross the Platte in two dug-outs, lashed together with sticks and poles, so as to carry the goods and carts all over to the fort. At that establishment the company and Captain Stewart leave all their wagons and carts except one, deeming it impracticable to proceed further with them.
On account of the ladies, Dr. Whitman insisted on taking one of the mission wagons along. The fur company concluded to try the experiment with him, and took one of their carts along. Overhaul all the baggage, select out all, that, with the knowledge any one had of the future wants of the mission party, could be dispensed with; put the balance up in packages of one hundred pounds each; for the top packs, fifty pounds; for mules, two hundred and fifty pounds; for horses, in proportion to strength. About the first of June, 1836, the caravan started from Laramie. All the goods on pack animals, wagon and cart light, Gray in charge of mission pack-train, with two men and one boy, two pack animals each; Spalding of cows, loose animals, and ladies, with the two Indian boys to assist in driving; Dr. Whitman in charge of the wagon train, consisting of the fur company’s cart and mission wagon; but one man in the cart and one in the wagon. On we go; the first day from Laramie had some difficulty in getting through a cotton-wood bottom on the river, on account of fallen timber in the trail. Whitman came into the camp puffing and blowing, in good spirits, all right side up, with only one turn over with the wagon and two with the cart. The fur company being interested in exploring a wagon route to Green River, next day gave the Doctor two additional men to assist in exploring and locating the road, and getting the wagon and cart over difficult places. Second day all right; train moves on; hunters in advance; cattle usually traveling slower than the train, were started in the morning in advance of the train, which usually passed them about one hour before reaching camp at night; at noon they usually all stop together. At the crossing of Platte below Red Buttes, in the Black Hills, kill buffalo, took hides, made willow frames for boats, sewed the hides together to cover the frames, used tallow for pitch, dried the skin boats over a fire, the rain having poured down all the time we were getting ready to cross. However, as fortune always favors the brave, as the saying is, it did us this time, for in the morning, when our boats were ready, it cleared up, the sun came out bright and clear, so that we had a fine time getting all things over. Next day on we moved, over the hills, through the valleys, around and among the salt pits to a willow grove to camp.
With the company was a gentleman from St. Louis, a Major Pilcher. He usually rode a fine white mule, and was dressed in the top of hunting or mountain style, such as a fine buckskin coat trimmed with red cloth and porcupine quills, fine red shirt, nice buckskin pants, and moccasins tinged and nicely trimmed; he was, in fact, very much of a gentleman in all his conversation and deportment. The major was also considerable of a gallant (as I believe most titled gentlemen are). He was proceeding around one of those clay salt pits, and explaining to the ladies their nature and danger, when suddenly mule, major and all dropped out of sight, except the mule’s ears and the fringe on the major’s coat. Instantly several men were on hand with ropes, and assisted the major and mule out of the pit. Such a sight! you may imagine what you please, I will not attempt to describe it. However, no particular harm was done the major, only the thorough saturation of his fine suit of buckskin, and mule, with that indescribably adhesive mud. He took it all in good part, and joined in the jokes on the occasion. No other remarkable incident occurred till we arrived at Rock Independence. On the south end of that rock nearly all the prominent persons of the party placed their names, and date of being there.
Later wagon trains and travelers have complained, and justly, of sage brush and the difficulties of this route. Whitman and his four men opened it as far as they could with a light wagon and a cart. To him must be given the credit of the first practical experiment, though Ashtley, Bonneville, and Bridger had taken wagons into the Rocky Mountains and left them, and pronounced the experiment a failure, and a wagon road impracticable. Whitman’s perseverance demonstrated a great fact – the practicability of a wagon road over the Rocky Mountains. You that have rolled over those vast plains and slept in your Concord coaches or Pullman palace cars, have never once imagined the toil and labor of that old off-hand pioneer, as he mounted his horse in the morning and rode all day in the cold and heat of the mountains and plains, to prove that a wagon road was practicable to the waters of the Columbia River. Even Fremont, seven years after, claims to be the discoverer of the passes through which Whitman took his cart and wagon, and kept up with the pack-train from day to day.
From Rock Independence the health of Mrs. Spalding seemed gradually to decline. She was placed in the wagon as much as would relieve her, and changed from wagon to saddle as she could bear, to the American rendezvous on Green River.
From Rock Independence information was sent forward into the mountains of the arrival of the caravan, and about the time and place they expected to reach the rendezvous. This information reached not only the American trapper and hunter in the mountains, but the Snake, Bannock, Nez Percé, and Flathead tribes, and the traders of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Two days before we arrived at our rendezvous, some two hours before we reached camp, the whole caravan was alarmed by the arrival of some ten Indians and four or five white men, whose dress and appearance could scarcely be distinguished from that of the Indians. As they came in sight over the hills, they all gave a yell, such as hunters and Indians only can give; whiz, whiz, came their balls over our heads, and on they came, in less time than it will take you to read this account. The alarm was but for a moment; our guide had seen a white cloth on one of their guns, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, they are friends,” and sure enough, in a moment here they were. It was difficult to tell which was the most crazy, the horse or the rider; such hopping, hooting, running, jumping, yelling, jumping sage brush, whirling around, for they could not stop to reload their guns, but all of us as they came on gave them a salute from ours, as they passed to the rear of our line and back again, hardly stopping to give the hand to any one. On to camp we went.
At night, who should we find but old Takkensuitas and Ish-hol-hol-hoats-hoats (Lawyer), with a letter from Mr. Parker, which informed the party that he had arrived safely at Wallawalla, and that the Indians had been kind to him, and from what he had seen and could learn of them, they were well disposed toward all white men. Mr. Parker, as his journal of that trip and observations will show, was a man of intelligence, and a close observer of men and things.
He soon learned, on arriving at Wallawalla, that there was a bitter anti-American feeling in the country, and that, notwithstanding he had arrived in it uninvited, and without the aid of the Honorable Hudson’s Bay Company, he was in it, nevertheless, as the guest of the Nez Percé Indians. They had found him in the Rocky Mountains; they brought him to Wallawalla; they had received him, treated him kindly, and proved to him that they were not only friendly, but anxious to have the American influence and civilization come among them. Rev. Jason Lee and party were in the country. Abundance of unasked advice was given to him by Hudson’s Bay Company’s men; his caution prevailed; he was to let Dr. Whitman, or the mission party that might be sent across the mountains, hear from him by the Indians. Feeling certain that any advice or information he might attempt to communicate to his missionary friends would in all probability be made use of to their detriment, and perhaps destroy the mission itself, he did not deem it prudent to write or to give any advice. Should any party come