water up to their arm-pits, all were safely over before camping the second night. The drive along the Platte bottom was more difficult because of the sloughs. These were bridged with grass and weeds which grew so luxuriantly along their sides. Each driver had a scythe, and with them the wild growth was soon cut in sufficient quantities to fill the great oozy beds over which we must pass. It was always my privilege to take the first ride over the new bridge, and consequently I passed safely to the other side. But very often the piers of the structure would give way under the last schooner and it would sink into the deep mud from which it must be rescued by the united efforts of the line of oxen giving "a long pull, a strong pull and a pull all together," while the men pried at the wheels of the sinking vessel. All this trouble might have been saved by the further use of

the scythe.

Very little of special interest occurred during our eight days trip, though it was by no means dull. A camping place was always sought where wood and water could be secured, and if possible, where the oxen could be turned loose to graze, without the fear that they would take the homeward trail. The islands on the Platte afforded such security, and, the river being low, the men could easily ford it to drive back their teams in the morning.

It is said that "a thing of beauty is a joy forever," and so it may be, even while it proves a vexation, as did a rare and beautiful flower one of the young men threw into my lap one day. It was a large aquatic plant of a delicate orange color, and of a heavy though not disagreeable fragrance. Having no botany which described the flora of that region, that flower with many others, long remained with me as a nameless waif, which was really vexing. For years I sought by describing this flower to others to learn its name; but it was never recognized, and it was the only specimen I ever saw in Nebraska, At last on visiting a little lake in Mills county, Iowa, in 1854 or 1855, I found its bosom covered with the beauty I had so long cherished in my memory as "the nameless one." I learned it was the Yellow Nelumbo. Some years after this I saw a statement in the New York Independent, that there are only three states where this plant is found, North Carolina, New Jersey and New York. I immediately wrote to the Independent, claiming for Iowa and Nebraska the same honor.

While writing of flowers, I will add that I found as I have intimated, the flora of the Loup (Loo), near which were the Pawnee villages, very rare. There were vetches and spurges in great variety. Of the the latter the Flowering Spurge was most prominent, and on visiting the garden at Mt. Vernon in after years, I found it was esteemed so highly as to be cultivated there. The rose, violet and crowfoot families were most fully represented. There I first saw Penstemon (Great Beard Tongue); and only there a mammoth dock, bearing flowers as large as the cultivated hydrangea, of an orange hue varying from a light to a very deep color. There was also a trailing hirsute vine with a compound leaf and a long peduncle to which was attached a mass of magenta colored flowers in the form of a very compact tassel. To what family this belongs, I have yet to learn. There were also the gentian and orchid, though the latter family was not very fully represented. The sand along the banks of the Loup (Loo) was full of wild potatoes and turkey peas upon which the Indians often feasted. If cultivated, why should they not become useful to us of nicer taste? The corn known among all the Indians as Pawnee corn, was a great rarity to us, and its luxuriant growth a great marvel, ears 16 and 18 inches long being not uncommon. The fauna near an Indian village would be difficult of approach, and not very numerous. Buffalo were seldom seen there during our stay, and then but few in number. Elk were in the country, and, at one time, while the Indians were out on their hunt, a large herd of fifty or more passed down the river on the opposite side from our dwellings. Deer there were also, but seldom near us; and when antelope grazed in our sight we were sure a war party of Sioux were not far away, as this timid animal so graceful in form and movement fled before the Indian's scented trail. Wolves, especially the prairie wolves, were numerous and never far away. Of the black wolf, one was killed by our company that had been attracted to our yard by a calf tied near the house. It measured five feet from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail. A pair of white wolves were seen trotting along during the day, and were so large as to be mistaken for two yearling calves that had been for some time lost in the bluffs. Another one was in the habit one season of serenading us on moonlight nights, coming so near as to be distinctly seen by us, and making bold to enter the cattle yards and carry off a young calf

which was rescued by the men. But the beautiful white invader escaped and was too cunning to fall into the many traps set for him. That these different families of wolves mixed their blood was proven to us by our seeing at one time a gang of a hundred or more feeding near the village in the winter during the absence of the Indians. It was the season that the ague caused the death of so many Indians, and that, with the death of Spotted Horse and young Mathers, which is mentioned in another place, filled the Indians with such fear, that they buried their dead very near the surface in their haste to put them out of their sight. This attracted the wolves, and caused them to collect in such numbers. I noticed no purely white

wolves among them. There were black and spotted ones, probably a mixture between the prairie and the black wolf, as they were much larger than the former. I do not know that the gray wolf was found there. Beaver, otter, and mink abounded, and their furs were a valuable source of traffic for the Pawnees. The pole cat often made his presence known by perfuming the air with what an English visitor among the Delawares termed his "agreeable aromatic." Jack rabbit with his long ears and bounding gait, and bunny with his white sail, ventured at intervals to come out from their hiding places; but woe be to them if an Indian was near, for nothing in the form of fresh meat was permitted to escape_him.

No doubt had an ornithologist been there of sufficient daring to search the groves in the silent ravines, he would have found many species of birds. That the Indians found them was proven by their possessing skins of birds of various bright colors, with which they decked themselves and their horses for war, though probably many of these were obtained from southern Indians. The lark was almost the only song bird we heard—a variety that came in flocks, smaller than the meadow lark, and not solitary in pairs like those of the east. Prairie chickens abounded in the winter and magpies came around our dwellings to pick up the bones, saucily sitting on our window sills to note perhaps the occupation of the housekeeper.

That the mastodon had roamed over that region ages before, we had proof in a large tooth weighing seven pounds, that was washed down by a rise of the Loup (Loo) river, and also by reports from the Pawnees of the skeleton of a large animal which they saw on the banks of the Republican Fork. This was also seen by Messrs. Dun

bar and Allis, during their travels with the Indians. The tradition of the Pawnees was, that these were the bones of a mighty man who in former ages had his home in that region; that he was so tall and large and strong, he could kill buffalo with ease, and taking a cow under each arm and a bull on his back, could walk off as though he carried nothing. But though so mighty, he lacked reverence, and one day when God spoke in the thunder, this man mocked him and the earth immediately opened and swallowed him. The Pawnees were a very reverent people, having no expression like an oath in their language, the white man taught them to take the name of God in vain.

We camped Saturday night on land now owned by Col. Stevens, a little west of the present city of Columbus, and there rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. With the wide prairie as our cathedral, the overhanging azure our arch, the musical waters of the swift-running Loup (Loo) for our organ, and the birds for our choir, we worshipped, were refreshed and uplifted. Early Monday morning we were ready for home going, camped on the Looking Glass at noon and cooled our kettle of mush in its crystal waters. At that time it well deserved the name the Pawnees had given it, "Keats-oo-ka-tow-a-rick," (water that reflects your shadow.) But since from its source to its mouth, herds of cattle have trod its bed, and waters from deeply ploughed fields have drained into it, it no longer merits that title, and dwellers on its banks to-day wonder what peculiarity won it the name of Looking Glass. This is the first stream of any size in the Loup (Loo) valley, as you go westward from its mouth. The next, Beaver Creek, as then called, was known also as Burr Creek from the innumerable burrs growing along its banks, the Pawnees applying either name as they chose, for they were not only annoyed by the burrs, but caught many beaver in and near the stream.

The next stream west of the Beaver, is Plum Creek, on which was the Mission station, and between which and Council Creek stood the village which had just been burned by the Sioux. Plum Creek was so called from the abundance of plum bushes on its banks. The first season the missionaries spent there, they feasted on their fruit. The plums were of large size, great variety and delicious flavor, but the praire fires destroyed the trees that fall, and few were found there afterward. Plum Creek was well wooded; large oaks which shaded its

steep banks produced acorns very pleasant to the taste. It was fed by springs coming to the surface at the foot of the bluffs; and had our little company been possessed of the implements, they would have been tempted to turn aside from their legitimate work to search for coal and oil in the surrounding bluffs, so sure were they that the waters of Plum Creek indicated their near presence. That stream, which then supplied water in abundance for the families on its banks and their stock, has to-day very little in its bed.

The next, Council Creek, where Maj. Dougherty held his famous council, has increased rather than diminished in size during these years. But by some mishap, the two streams have changed names, which, without regard to the annoyance of early settlers, is unfortunate for historical exactness. Charming Willow, too, whose beauties were sung by the earlier poets who dwelt on its banks, now answers to the name of Cedar, though there are two or three other Cedars in the near distance. In the arbors formed by the drooping willows on its banks, we could bathe hidden from the eyes of the passer by. The cedars grew on the high bluff over-hanging the stream, hence both names were given by the Pawnees, but to the earlier whites, it was always known as Willow.

On arrival at our new home, we began to look about us to learn what was to be done. The Pawnees were so demoralized by the burning of their villages and the killing of so many of their leading and most reliable men, that little could be done for them that season. And yet those who contemplated doing for them in the future must be preparing. Mr. Platt and I therefore set ourselves to aid the whites who had been before us on the ground, to carry out their plans, while we made the acquaintance of the villagers when they returned from their hunt, and learned their language. One of the most notable events of that autumn was the privilege our little community had of entertaining Fremont on his return from his mountain trip; though little did we know what germs of greatness, that would bring him great renown, lay hidden behind the rough garb, the uncut hair and the untrimmed beard of our stranger guest.

The next spring seeing little prospect of accomplishing the immediate object of our errand to the Pawnees, we proposed when the agent, Maj. Miller, came on his yearly visit, to return with him to the states. But the Pawnees needed to have much done for