USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 41
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side a like grade and see as far as the vision reaches the bald knobs bobbing up in all directions. On either side lead trails to the stiffest of mountain climbing. But before you extends a level road, somewhat flinty, but with no grades up and down which horses can not trot. and over which a bicycle might not be wheeled with comfort.
The bald knobs are not the least interesting freaks of this Ozark region. When Farmer Wade went to Congress from the Springfield district his col- league, Major Warner, introduced him to a Massachusetts member one day.
"Farmer Wade is a bald knobber," said Major Warner.
The Massachusetts man looked inquiringly a moment, and as his eyes fell on the polished dome of Farmer Wade's thinker, he responded :
"Ah, yes, I see. Bald knobber is very good."
The Massachusetts man builded better than he knew. If there is anything in nature which can be compared to an entirely bald head, the kind that takes on high polish, it is one of these bald knobs of the Ozarks. You may be in the midst of a heavy growth of white oak and pine. There is forest all around. But through a vista you get a glimpse, across the range, of a great round knob, without so much as a scrub oak or a rock upon it. Grass, which glistens in the sunlight, grows all over the knob so luxuriantly as to hide any minute unevenness of the surface. Right in the midst of other hills and ridges clothed in forest stands the bald knob without a sign of foliage, with nothing but its grassy coat- ing. At first sight it is hard to convince one's self that nature is responsible for the knob's baldness.
Ghost Pond.
A landmark on the Old Wilderness road is Ghost pond. A hundred yards to the east of the road is a depression. It is a kind of natural sink. In the center is an acre of dark-colored water. Grass grows down to the edge of the pond. A few stumps project above the surface. Two or three trees have fallen half- way in the water. The forest is all around. People who travel the Old Wilder- ness road and know all about it do not often to stop to water or to camp at Ghost pond.
A band of bushwhackers came up the Old Wilderness road on a foraging expedition during the war. They camped at the pond and went on the next day to Galena, a dozen miles. Here they killed three old men, among the most prominent citizens, Cox, Davis and Baker. They took 150 head of cattle and what plunder they could carry and started back for the Old Wilderness road and Arkansas. The alarm was sounded, and the Stone county home guards rallied at Galena as fast as they could travel over the mountain trails. Capt. Baker, a son of one of the victims of the guerrillas, organized the pursuit. The home guards overtook the bushwhackers on Bailey's creek. They spread. out and climbed along the mountains on both sides of the trail. With their superior knowledge of the country the guards were able to pick off the bushwhackers with little loss to themselves. The bushwhackers at last abandoned the cattle and fled. The home guards seemingly gave up the fight. In reality they followed the bushwhackers and prepared a trap. Finding himself as he supposed be- yond pursuit, the guerrilla chief went into camp at the pond. The home guards
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FORT LEAVENWORTH
RAM WAY
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Diamond Spring
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Hole in Pravfrie
River Lower Spring
SANTA
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MAP OF
SANTA FE#
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THE OLD SANTA FÉ TRAIL Compiled for Col. Henry Inman 1896
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MAP OF THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL
TERRITO
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Gusano Tacalor
OJO DE VERNAL
Colorado Springs
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Plumb Buttes .
Welast C.
Fort Zamhe
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Caches
ARKANSAS
RAILWAY
Choleau's Island
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crawled up on all sides, and at the crack of dawn opened fire. It was a slaughter. Of the 120 men who came up from Arkansas only twenty crossed White river on the return. Nine bodies were taken from the little pond.
The Santa Fe Trail in 1828.
Development of the Santa Fe Trail commerce came early in the history of Missouri. The Intelligencer, which had been removed a short time previous from Franklin to Fayette, said in the issue of May 2, 1828:
"The town of Franklin, as also our own village, presents to the eye of the beholder, a busy, bustling and commercial scene, in buying, selling and packing goods, practicing mules, etc., etc., all preparatory to the starting of the great spring caravan to Santa Fe. A great number of our fellow citizens are getting ready to start, and will be off in the course of a week on a trading expedition. We have not the means of knowing how many persons will start in the first company, but think it probable the number will exceed 150, principally from this and the adjoining counties. They generally purchase their outfits from the merchants here at from 20 to 30 per cent advance on the Philadelphia prices, and calculate to make from 40 to 100 per cent upon their purchases. They will generally return in the fall. We suppose the amount that will be taken from this part of the country this spring will not, perhaps, fall short of $100,000 at the invoice prices. We wish them a safe and profitable trip, a speedy return to their families and homes in health, and may they long live to enjoy the profits of their long and fatiguing journey of nearly 1,000 miles through prairies inhabited only by savages and wild beasts."
Magnitude of Trail Transportation.
The Missouri firm of Majors, Russell and Waddell took a contract from the government to convey across the plains as much as 16,000,000 pounds of sup- plies at a time. This required an investment of $2,500,000. The supplies were taken up the Missouri river and landed at the outfitting points. Such a con- tract as that indicated called for four thousand wagons, fifty thousand oxen and one thousand mules. This will give some idea of the magnitude which the trail business reached.
The system which these Missourians developed in the business of freighting across the plains was interesting. Before any one was accepted he was required to sign this contract : "While I am in the employ of Majors, Russell and Wad- dell, I agree not to use profane language, not to get drunk, not to gamble, not to treat animals cruelly, not to do anything else that is incompatible with the conduct of a gentleman, and I agree, if I violate any of the above conditions, to accept my discharge without collecting any pay for my services."
The Bullwhacker's Task.
Perhaps the hardest part of the pledge was that relating to profane lan- guage. The duties of the teamster required him to yoke, to herd, to unyoke and to drive twelve oxen from thirteen to fifteen miles a day, drawing a wagon loaded with three tons of freight. The teamster was known in the language of the train as a "bullwhacker." At night the wagons were placed end to end, forming an oval, and within this wagon-bounded corral were driven the oxen before the starting hour. As nearly as practicable the train was made to con- sist of thirty wagons. Early in the morning the thirty "bullwhackers" took
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thirty yokes upon their shoulders and lined up around the corral. Then came the command from the wagon master, "Yoke up." The "bullwhackers" plunged into the herd of cattle, each selected a steer for a place on one side of the tongue of his wagon. Whether the steer was wild or tame the "bullwhacker" must slip the bow around the neck and put the yoke in place. Then he began a search among the three hundred or four hundred kicking, bellowing, hooking steers for a nigh or an off ox to complete the tongue yoke. Having secured his wheelers the "bullwhacker" drove them out through the gap of the corral and fastened the ring of the tongue to the yoke. The beginning was thus made. With another yoke on his shoulder the "bullwhacker" entered the corral and picked the "off leader" and the "near leader." He drove this pair to a wheel of his wagon on the inside of the corral and made them fast. Then with a third yoke he went in search of the pair of "swing cattle" who were to follow im- mediately behind the leaders. Then a fourth pair was yoked and the fifth pair. The leaders and the four yokes following attached to the chain were driven through the gap and placed in front of the wheel pair. In this way the "bull- whacker" completed his motive power for the day. If the train was about starting on the long trail and the cattle were wild it might require two hours to yoke up. After the cattle were broken and the "bullwhackers" had become ex- pert the twelve oxen could be yoked up in fifteen minutes.
It was necessary to exercise no little care in making the selections, especially for the wheel pair and the leaders. The wagon master was in command with all of the authority of the captain on a ship. He kept close watch on the teams until they were made up and marked. If a "bullwhacker" was careless he might select the oxen most easily handled. Such animals were slow and lazy. They were known as "dead-heads." If a team was made up of "dead-heads" it would fall behind. The wagon master made it his business to see that the wild and the lazy oxen were so distributed as to give uniform speed to the several teams. If he found that one team had too many slow and lazy oxen he required the "bull- whacker" at the next yoke-up to trade with some one whose pairs were wild and lively. After some days out when a wagon master had distributed the oxen so as to stop lagging and to obtain from all about the same rate of speed he ordered the "bullwhacker" to mark each of his steers. After this the "bullwhacker" in yoking up obtained the same team from day to day.
The Problem of "Deadheads."
A story was current in Missouri during the freighting days about an Irish- man who entered the employ of Majors, Russell and Waddell. This man was green, a recent arrival in the country. In yoking up he took the twelve oxen that were easiest to handle. As the result he found himself in the possession of twelve "deadheads," and as the result delayed the movement of the train. The wagon master went into the corral one morning and yoked up the team for the Irishman, making different selections. He told the Irishman to keep the team the next day and thereafter just as he had yoked it. The Irishman wanted to know how in the world he was going to be able to do that when oxen all looked alike to him. "Put a mark on each of them," ordered the wagon master. At the next stop there was serious trouble in the Irishman's team. The wagon
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master ran to the scene to see what was the matter. The Irishman replied that he was putting a mark on each of the beasts as he had been told to do. The wagon master replied that that was all right, but how did he mean to mark them. "I am going to punch the left eye out of every one of them," said the Irishman, "then I will know that I will have no more trouble yoking the devils. I can slip up on the blind side and have them yoked before they know I am there."
Customs of the Trail.
A day's travel was divided usually into two drives of from six to seven or eight miles each. The train started early in the morning. The drives were made to reach the most favorable camping places where grass and water were plenty. The first drive was started as soon as it was light enough to see. Some- what before noon the wagons were corraled and the cattle were given the feed. In hot weather the yoke-up for the afternoon drive was not ordered until three or four o'clock. The drive on such days was continued until nine or ten o'clock. When the cattle were unyoked they were turned over to the night herder who kept watch over them as they moved about seeking the best grass. One man could take care of three hundred or four hundred head of oxen at night because it was only necessary to keep track of the leader. In the herd of a train there developed very soon after the start on the trail one animal which all the others recognized as a leader. Wherever the leader went the rest of the herd followed. The night herder having located the leader, got off his mule, drove a pin in the ground, attached a long rope that allowed the mule some range, rolled himself in his blanket and went to sleep. This was the night herder's course when the grass was plentiful. After they had grazed about three hours the oxen would obtain in that time sufficient feed and would remain quiet, lying down until near morning. When grass was scarce the leader would wander about the plains. all the herd following him, a longer time, thus requiring the night herder to follow and keep awake. With the first appearance of gray in the east the night herder rounded up the oxen and started back for the corral. He might have a mile to drive or possibly five times that distance. When he was within hearing of the corral he shouted, "Roll out ! Roll out ! Roll out!" This was the signal for the "bullwhackers" to prepare breakfast and be ready to yoke up. The meal on the trail consisted of potatoes, fat meat, flapjacks and black coffee with such game as was brought in by the hunters.
"Yoke up!" was the first order that came from the master of the caravan as soon as breakfast was over. Then the yoking and chaining went on. "All's set" was the answer as each teamster completed that work and he who could respond first was the best man. "Fall in!" was the next order and the long line of wagons was formed. "Stretch out !" commanded the wagon master. The yokes creaked, the wheels rattled and the train moved at oxen pace.
Walter B. Waddell, a resident of Lexington, grandson of a member of the historic firm of Alexander, Majors and Waddell, said that often a single train would require 300 mules. To each wagon were allotted twelve mules or six yoke of oxen. Drivers were paid from $25 to $50 a month and were supplied with rations. The time of a trip from Lexington, which was one of the principal
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starting points, to Santa Fe was between eighty and ninety days. Ordinary freight consisted of beef, bacon, corn, dried fruits, beans and peas, all carefully packed and under cover. The rate was ten cents a pound. Each wagon was ex- pected to earn from $500 to $600 a trip. Missouri's great mule industry had its early encouragement in the Santa Fe and overland traffic.
John D. Turley's Recollections.
The Turleys of Saline county, two generations of them, followed the trail trade from 1825 down to the Civil war. Judge John D. Turley, eighty-five years old. at his home near Arrow Rock, gave Walter Williams, then president of the Old Trails Association, this account of his experiences :
"We fought Indians across the entire continent and carried on a most profitable trade in merchandise with the Mexicans. We bought whisky from the distilleries in Missouri at 16 to 40 cents a gallon and sold it in Taos at $3 a gallon. It was terrible stuff, too. We diluted it with water, making two gallons out of every gallon, but even then it was terrible. The ox teams had six yoke of oxen and the ordinary load for a wagon was 7,200 pounds. A load of 3,000 pounds is a good wagon load now. We took our merchandise to Taos or Santa Fe, opened a regular store and would sell our entire stock in two or three months. The remnants of our last stock my father traded for Mexican sheep at $I a head, took the sheep to California and sold them at $10 a head. I sold sassafras root at $4.50 a pound in Taos. We traveled about twenty-five miles a day. The last trip took forty-nine days. We met on that trip Rose, said to be the handsomest Indian woman in the West. My father made his first trip in 1825 and the Turleys stayed on the trail until nearly the open- ing of the Civil war. Various tricks were played on the Mexicans. There was a tariff on every load of goods brought into Mexican territory. The tariff was so much a wagonload. If the wagon was empty it was admitted duty free. Some traders would load the goods just outside the Mexican territory into half the wagons and drive in with half the caravan made up of empty wagons, thus paying but half the duty. The fandango-a kind of public dance-was the chief form of social entertainment. The Spanish girls at the fandangoes were sometimes treated to ice cream and whisky. It is a devilish combination."
The Fast Stage Line.
The Missouri Commonwealth was published at Independence in the palmy days of the Santa Fe Trail. A copy of it issued in July, 1840, and preserved in · the office of the editor of the Examiner, gave this account of the starting of the fast overland mail line following the gold discoveries in California :
"We briefly alluded some days since, to the Santa Fe line of mail stages, which left this city on its first monthly journey on the Ist instant. The stages are got up in elegant style and are arranged to convey eight passengers. The bodies are beautifully painted and made water-tight with a view of using them as boats in ferrying streams. The team con- sists of six mules to each coach. The mail is guarded by eight men, armed as follows : Fach man has at his side, fastened in the stage, one of Colt's long revolving rifles; in a holster below, one of Colt's long revolvers, and in his, belt a small Colt's revolver, besides a hunting knife; so that these men are ready in case of attack, to discharge 136 shots with- out having to reload. This is equal to a small army, armed as in the ancient times, and from the looks of this escort, ready as they are either for offensive or defensive warfare with the savages, we have no fears for the safety of the mails. The accommodating con- tractors have established a sort of base of refitting at Council Grove, a distance of 150 miles from the city, and have sent a blacksmith and a number of men to cut and cure hay, with a quantity of animals, grain and provisions, and we understand they intend to make a sort of traveling station there and commence a farm."
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Tragedies of the Trail.
Missourians met tragedies on the trail. One of the earliest and most thrill- ing was in 1828, not long after the United States commissioners had negotiated with the Indians at Council Grove the opening of the trail. A large wagon train made the trip from Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe and disposed of the goods carried at good profits. The Missourians had come as far as the Arkansas river to a place near what is now Lamar, Colorado, when they found the Co- manches camped across the trail. The Indians pretended to be friendly. They invited the party to stop in their camp, offering food and care of the stock. The Missourians pushed through. The Comanches followed and attacked. For an hour there was a running fight. Then the Comanches retired. Of what fol- lowed Walter Williams, in his journey over the trail in 1911, obtained this ac- count from Joseph H. Vernon of Larned, Kansas, who heard the story from old trailsmen in the early days :
"When night came on the Indians resumed their attacks, endeavoring to stampede the horses so that they could chase them off and then capture them. Their attempts were almost successful several times during the night and they were only kept from accomplish- ing their purpose by tying the bell mare to one of the wagons and jingling the bell every time the Indians charged. The next day the Comanches renewed the attack as vigorously as ever. Forming in a circle, they galloped round and round the ill-fated caravan, shouting their demoniacal warwhoops in a most fiendish manner. So fierce were the harassing tactics which they used that the little line of prairie schooners succeeded in advancing only five miles during the day. This annoyance was kept up night and day for a week until the travelers were almost exhausted from loss of sleep.
"Finally one day about noon the Indians drew off and retreated as if giving up the con- flict. The little party congratulated themselves at having outwinded their opponents and decided to stop, cook a square meal and let the horses graze a while. Hardly had they turned the animals out when, with a hideous whoop, the marauding rascals came over the top of a nearby hill and, charging the herd, stampeded them before the luckless travelers could offer any resistance. One of the party, in an endeavor to save some of the stolen stock, was wounded sixteen times, but succeeded in making his way back to camp. The fight continued intermittently for some time, but when the good marksmanship of the whites began to tell on the ranks of the painted demons they withdrew to wait for the coming of darkness to finish their work. The little band of white men was then indeed in a most desperate situation. Their wagons, it is true, formed a good fortification, but there was no way of telling how long the Indians would keep up the siege, knowing as they did that it would be only a matter of time until the whites would die of thirst. To remain with the caravan meant certain death if the Indians persisted in their attacks. The only possible escape was to get away under cover of darkness. This they decided to do, if possible. Leaving in the camp the goods and much of the silver, for which they had sold merchandise in Santa Fe, they took $10,000 and started. Their escape was undiscovered. They traveled for two days and nights with nothing to eat but a few prickly pears and then stopped to . rest, camping near the present site of Las Animas, Colorado. Most of the party were in a very weak condition after their exhausting experience and it was evident that they could not stand the weight of any heavy burdens, so they determined to 'cache' the silver, keeping only a small sum for each man. Proceeding to a small island in the Arkansas river, they buried their treasure between two large cottonwood trees and, after carefully obliterating all evidence of the secret hiding place, they continued their journey toward the settlements. After several days of forced marching they reached Pawnee Rock, near where Larned now is, where they had hopes of falling in with some caravan and obtain- ing relief.
"Their condition was indeed deplorable. At Cow creek it was decided that the strong- est members of the party, leaving the others, should push on in advance, reach Inde-
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pendence as soon as possible, and send a relief party out in quest of the weaker members of the party, who in the meantime would struggle on as best they could. The sufferings of those who pushed on were terrible indeed. Knowing the lives of the weaker ones whom they had left behind depended on their haste, they moved with all possible energy. It was getting late in the fall, and they had no blankets to protect them from the chill wind. Some of them were barefooted, and their feet, bruised and bleeding, left blood- stains at every step on the trail. The continual exertion of their forced march and the lack of wholesome food weakened their condition to such an extent that they became almost wholly deaf. not being able to hear a gun fired at a distance of only a few feet. Finally, after existing for eleven days upon one turkey, one coon and some wild grapes, they reached a settlement about fifteen miles from Independence. Half-naked, footsore and in an almost complete state of collapse, they were taken to Independence. With the quick sympathy of the frontiersman, a rescuing party was formed and sent out to rescue the other members of the expedition. They were found scattered along the trail, looking more like skeletons than human beings. After spending some months in Independence they decided to retrace their steps to find their buried treasure. Learning that the United States government intended sending a military escort as far as the Mexican boundary "line with a caravan in the spring, they decided not only to go after the money which they had cached on the Arkansas river, but also to fit up another wagon train and go on to Santa Fe. The caravan left Fort Leavenworth during the early part of May and arrived at the Mexican border without experiencing any serious difficulty. The Americans soon found their hidden treasure. Late in the fall the entire party arrived safely at the Mis- souri river, and, dividing their treasure, departed for their homes. This was the first military escort ever sent across the plains on the trail with a caravan. It was under the command of Maj. Bennett Riley, for whom Fort Riley, Kansas, was named."
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Amateur Surgery on the Trail.
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