--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Grant, Carter E. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 32 number: 10 published: 1929-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Carter E. Grant, “On the Trail Ahead of the “Mormons”,” *Improvement Era* 32, no. 10 (August 1929): 840–849." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera32010unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera32010unse start_page: 840 end_page: 849 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1929-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera32010unse publication_year: 1929 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1929, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # On the Trail Ahead of the “Mormons” On the Trail Ahead of the "Mormons" By Carter E. Grant [Note: This is the second article of a series of frontier stories, the first appearing in the July number.] The wail of the Red Chiefs against the Whites: "The Great Spirit made all peoples, white and red, And pitched one big blue tepee over head That men might live as brothers side by side. Behold! Is not our country very wide, With room enough for all! And there were some Who answered scornfully: 'Not so they come; Their medicine is strong, their hearts are bad; A little part of what our fathers had. They give us now; tomorrow come and take!' — Neihardt, "Song of the Indian Wars." When the wounded Jedediah S. Smith reached Fort Henry, after being carried more than a hundred miles over long and difficult trails from his sick bed on the Powder river, the north wind gave promise of cold weather. Already the Henry-Ashley trappers, over a hundred in number, stepped lively, endeavoring to keep pace with the hurrying season. While some of the men anxiously labored at the fort, others were following the streams on the fall beaver hunt. Here in the wilderness, southeast from what is now the Yellowstone Park, gathered also the friendly Crow nation, bring- ing chief, buck, squaw, dark-eyed maidens and children, all anxious for the white man's presents, coming also to do some trading on their own ac- count in horses, dried berries and pelts. We are given a glimpse of the hunter's winter pastime in Neihardt's Splendid Wayfaring. "The new year of 1824 arrived in the midst of tremendous blizzards, and for weeks the trappers had nothing to do but to eat, sleep, sing, clog to a voyageur's fiddling, and swap yarns. The latter occupation offered the best avenue of escape from tedium; for man is so constituted that he is never really happy except when creative; and yarn- ing, as these men understood it, was, at its best, certainly more than a memory exercise! The craving for sensation during these shut-in days and nights, together with the keen spirit of rivalry that grew up among the story tellers, often spurred them on to splendid mendacities." And the mystical wonders far to the southwest among the Rockies, of the strange cities and peoples, lakes and rivers yet unseen, these men narrated in fabulous tales, declaring, as a source of their information, that it had been told them by a captive from a strange In- dian tribe or some foreign trader they had chanced to meet. And thus were the men's appetites whetted, waiting only for the winter to break; believing themselves spe- cially chosen to penetrate the vast unknown, for truly no person knew its contents. The old maps showed all the rivers, sighted by vessels off the Pacific coast, as running eastward many hundred miles to the mountains immediately west of where they now wintered. Two years later, 1825, when General Ashley fell upon the headwaters of the Weber river, he records in his journal that this day he Aug.. 1929 ON THE TRAIL 841 found a river running more directly to the Pacific than the Green river, and had he not promised to meet his men at the summer rendezvous on the Green he would have built a boat and descended to the Pacific. He knew nothing then of the Great Salt Lake, into which his little river emptied. So these men at Fort Henry, especially Smith and Fitzpatrick, wait- ed anxiously. At the first signs of spring, showing themselves along the sunny side of wind-swept hills and ridges, activities at the fort began. Jed Smith and Fitzpatrick, with twenty men and many pack animals, moving through the snow up the Big Horn, were the first to face the returning sun. Ever they moved with their faces toward the Sweetwater and the pass of which the Crows had informed them. The canyons at the upper reaches of the Big Horn proved rough and extremely difficult. Then, too, the snow grew deeper, the feed less and the animals weaker. Following a council, Jed again volunteered to superintend the tedious job of dropping behind with six of the men and a group of the most jaded horses, working rather slowly towards the Sweetwater, and the much coveted white space, leading into the heart of the unknown, and then meeting Fitzpatrick after the ani- mals could travel. A Grotesque World As the foremost explorers moved onward, they soon found themselves in a "confusion of hills and cliffs of red sandstone, some peaked and angu- lar, some round, some broken into crags and precipices, and piled up in fantastic masses but naked and sterile." (Irving in his Captain Bonneville) . Emerging from this "grotesque world" and traveling as rapidly as possible through a broken sagebrush country where the banks of the creeks were often crusted white with alkaline de- posits, they, like the "Mormon" pio- neers, twenty-three years later, came at last, with animals starved and fagged, to a clear sparkling stream flowing eastward to the Platte. It was the Sweetwater.* According to W, A. Ferris, the pure stream now before the trappers was originally known by its French name, "Eau Sucree, or sugar water," so named because a pack-mule, laden with sugar, had been lost in the river. From the narrative we read: "Set- ting up the valley of the Sweetwater, we traveled all day over a natural road, no portion of which would have offered any serious obstacle to loaded wagons. (This was the exact trail used by the Pioneers.) Sometimes the valley spread to the width of three or four miles, sometimes it narrowed to a few rods, but always the way was fairly easy; and the rise of the land toward the divide was scarcely per- ceptible, save that the air grew colder and the snow deeper as we proceeded. That night the air was like frosty steel and the stars like broken glass." The great prairies of bison pastures, lying between the Missouri and the Rockies, stretched far off to the east- ward; the trappers now were at the very threshold of the mighty moun- tain vastness. Neihardt in dramatic style puts it, "Breaking camp in the white of dawn, they pushed on again: and more and more as they went, their horses floundered in the crusted snow. The Sweetwater dwindled to a little creek, voiceless in the grip of winter that lingered there, and the noon was like a mid-winter noon. They toiled on over a high-rolling prairie, the ponies frost-muzzled and frosty- flanked, the men's beards whitened with their breath. By and by the Sweetwater had disappeared. For ♦Referring to the hardships over these bad-lands met by the Pioneers, see the authpr's story, "Robbed by the Wolves," Relief Society Magazine, July, 1928. 842 IMPROVEMENT ERA Aug.. 1929 sometime the band toiled on silently, save for the blowing of the horses and the crunching of the crusted snow. Then someone cried: 'Look! Look!' "Long vista of a vast undulating plain had opened out ahead, and here and there in the distance lofty buttes fsome flat-topped like islands deserted by the sea, some carved by the wind and rain into towers and domes) seemed staring around them at the immense scope and loneliness of the surrounding world. It was the prom- ised land of the Siskadee Agi (Sage- hen river) , and already they were on the western slope of the divide. The shout that arose from the band died without an echo in that vastness, and the sympathetic neighing of the horses was a feeble sound. Now as they floundered on they noted that the air grew somewhat warmer, despite the waning of the afternoon. Signs of noon-day melting began to appear. Shortly before sundown, they came upon a living spring, where they went into camp and spent a cheerless night, for there was no wood in the vicinity but the windswept spaces about the spring furnished some scant grazing for the horses, which was the matter of chief importance." On the Oregon Trail Little wonder the bosoms of Fitz- patrick, Provot, James Bridger and the rest of the party swelled with pride! "They had become the first white men of all the thousands upon thousands that should pass that way when the Oregon and California Trail should become like a great river of home-seek- ing humanity." (See Splendid Way- faring, Neihardt, p. 145, and his notes.) Dr. Hurbert E. Bolton, rec- ognized as one of America's foremost western history scholars, head of the history department of the University of California, quotes Neihardt, stating that Fitzpatrick, and not Provot or Jim Bridger, was the discoverer of South Pass.* It was up the Sweetwater and to- ward this same divide and the snow- filled mountains, that the "Mormon" handcart companies, thirty-two years later were plodding, when their first calamities overtook them. For days a terrible Rocky Mountain blizzard roared through the country, covering the unsheltered men, women, and chil- dren with eighteen inches of snow, and, with the weather at zero, more than two hundred emigrants found shallow graves in the snow, while scores of others with frozen limbs suf- fered untold agonies, and many an amputation of fingers, hands or feet became necessary. Space will not allow a complete narration of Fitzpatrick's varied ex- periences on the "Siskadee Agi," or his unique system of securing exceptional catches of beaver; of the thieving red men and the white man's complete loss of horses; of fourteen trappers' attack on the Indians and the prize secured besides their own horses; we can only add, that, to a Westerner, it forms a gripping chapter of frontier life. (See Splendid Wayfaring, Nei- hardt.) Jed's horses, after these many days of rest, were now packed and on the trail up the Sweetwater; soon a cloud of dust many miles ahead announced to the anxious trappers the approach of friends or foes, and in this case it proved a friend indeed. Fitzpatrick was returning across the divide with one of the most phenomenal catches of beaver ever recorded in the annals of the West. Being so early in the year, too, the furs were of the choicest sort, showing richer colors and finer *In a book recently copyrighted by the California Historical Society. 1928. by James Clyman, American frontiersman. 1792-1881. it is claimed that Jedediah S. Smith, himself, led the explorers through South Pass, thereby becoming its discoverer and should have the credit. Aug., 1929 ON THE TRAIL 843 textures than those caught later or during the fall round-up. As Smith rode among the pack animals, exam- ing the pelts, he visioned stacks of "Greenbacks," for were they not half his? Surely "stocks had shot up!" The next morning while breaking camp, Jed heading west and Fitz- patrick east, William L. Sublett with his large train of men and horses came into camp. One look at the furs, and Sublett was on his way toward the white gap in the distant moun- tains. Then followed a race into the new field of action, Smith being dis- patched with Provot, Bridger and most of the men, while Fitzpatrick and five of his crew made "bull boats" on the Sweetwater, loaded their riches and were soon on their way across the wide prairie toward St. Louis. But as spring sunshine breaks quickly into "March weather," so it was here; for at the point where the Sweetwater de- scends swiftly into the Platte, the boats were upset, sending all the valu- ables, as well as the men, headlong into the turbulent stream. Fortune favored them, however, for the many rocks made possible the recovery of most of their wealth. Not knowing the current of the Platte nor being willing to take further chances of complete loss, the furs were dried and cached, and with several of his men Fitzpatrick pushed off in a boat, and, about two weeks later, landed at St. Louis. These trappers became "the first white men to navigate the Platte from its headwarters on the Conti- nental Divide." When Fitzpatrick with General William Ashley and twenty-five men and fifty head of horses returned in the fall and winter of 1824-25, the very first train of supplies went west- ward over what became the famed "Oregon Trail." For a good part of the way, it was over this same route, twenty-thr.ee years later, that Pres- ident Young led his first band of scouts, in the spring of 1847. By forced marches, Jed and his men with their fresh animals had little dif- ficulty in reaching the Green river sev- eral days ahead of Sublett, having Provot and Bridger as guides, the rich- est fields were well under supervision when the later group arrived, moving farther down to a less fruitful terri tory. Hardly a year had elapsed since Jed lay wounded and helpless on the headwaters of the Powder; then fate and death with open jaws yawned to receive him; now health and pros- perity stacked to the bulging brim were his, yet with all his successes, the Holy Bible was still his choicest companion ! With the coming of hot weather, bringing the mother beaver and her little ones, the trapping season came to a close. Each group of men cached his pack of furs and other "non-essen- tials" and waited for the "rendezvous," at which time the trappers and traders from far and wide gathered at the "Wilderness Market," each on guard against the cunning of his competitors in driving bargains in pelts, trapping outfits and food supplies. Two years later the rendezvous was switched to northern Utah. Here the caches were made in a wonderful feed-ground on the Bear river, now known as "Cache Valley." A "cache" is made in the following manner: A dry place in the heart of a thicket is chosen and a pit about six feet in diameter is sunk to about eight feet in depth, then a drift to one side is made and a chamber formed large enough to accommodate all the "impedimenta" of the party. Many armfuls of sticks and dry grass line the compartment, and, after the cache is deposited, more limbs and grass fill up the opening; the hole is then filled and the sod replaced, any soil left oyer is carefully carried away, making detection almost impossible. Having thus, for the time being, disposed of their "impedimenta." the trappers, in small groups, trailed into distant valleys on exploring excursions. It 844 IMPROVEMENT ERA Aug.. 1V29 was thus that the trails of the Great these "trail-breakers" the East learned Basin were opened and the roadways of the West, and came seeking its rich- found for the oncoming pioneer. From ness. Civilization's Debt to the Fur Traders Of this Rocky Mountain Fur Com- pany, Chittenden concludes: "The cause of geographical knowledge owes a great deal to this company. The whole country around the source of the Platte, Green river, Yellowstone, and Snake rivers and in the region around Great Salt Lake was opened up by them. These adventurers gave names to the Sweetwater river, Inde- pendence Rock, Jackson Hole, and the tributaries of the Green river and Great Salt Lake. They discovered the lake and also South Pass. They were the first to descend Green river by boat, and likewise the first, after Colter, to enter the Yellowstone won- derland. They were the first to travel from Great Salt Lake southwesterly to Southern California, the first to cross the Sierras and deserts of Utah and Nevada between California and the Great Salt Lake, and the first, as far as it is known, to travel by land up the Pacific coast from San Francisco to the Columbia. They were indefatigable explorers and considering the fact that most of them made no records of what they did, the impress which they have made upon the geography of the West is surprisingly great." With his furs securely hidden, and knowing that Fitzpatrick could not return for a full year, Smith with six chosen companions set out northward on an exploring and trapping trip of a year's duration, traveling, all told, over fifteen hundred miles. He fol- lowed down the Portneuf to the Snake, passed the present site of Poca- tello, thence northward to the Salmon river, a branch of the Columbia, and finally turned back at the Flat Head Lake, within two-days' journey of Canada, but at that time there was no Canadian line as far west as the Rockies, it being established twenty- one years later. Jed moved southward over a new field, cutting east of Boise and west of American Falls, crossed the Snake and followed up Raft river and over the mountains to Promontory on the northwest corner of the Great Salt Lake. Thinking he had struck an arm of the Pacific Ocean, he turned east- ward, crossed Bear river in the neigh- borhood of Garland, thence east to "Cache Valley," where he met his old friend Sublett, and together with their packs of furs reached Green river rendezvous in time to welcome Fitz- patrick and the noted frontiersman, General William Ashley, who the fall before had induced Provot to run for Governor of Missouri but he had been defeated. (Bridger and Provot had both seen Great Salt Lake a few months ahead of Smith.) It might be stated here also that in 1831, six years after the rendezvous of 1825, that Joseph Smith established the Colesville branch at Independence, Missouri, and that he with the lead- ing brethren of the Church dedicated the Land of Zion, as well as a place for the "Temple and New Jerusalem." At that time, Jedediah S. Smith with his two brothers spent the winter of 1830-31 at Independence, and as Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery and other missionaries were at this western village during this same winter, it's more than probable that they discussed religion and frontier life together. We shall discuss these matters, however, in our next article. It is rather fitting that these unique correlations be con- sidered, for Brigham Young was soon to be on Smith's overland trail to the mountains. To the appointed rendezvous on the Green river in 1825, more than two hundred "wild men of the wilder- ness" swarmed. Even a large group Aug., 1929 ON THE TRAIL 845 of the Hudson Bay deserters, British trappers from the Columbia river, having been invited by Jed while on his trip northward, came trying their luck at barter with the "Yankees," in place of selling at Fort Vancouver, near the present site of Portland, Ore- gon. Jed owed his life and fortune three years later to this British fort spoken of in our next story. Beckwourth informs us: "Many of the trappers brought along their squaws and half-breed Indian children, altogether making quite a little town." It is not known whether the twenty- year-old "Jim Bridger" had an Indian girl then or not, but twenty years later when the pioneers passed Fort Bridger, it is stated that he had mar- ried at least three women from the "dusky tribes" and had a number of children. The "lively frontier market" opened. Individually or in groups, all parties endeavored to make valuable bargains, vigorously striving to lay in a year's stock of flour, sugar, coffee, tobacco, blankets and ammunition, and, at least, a few "rich days of whisky, which seemed a necessary article for that region." With the opening of the "little brown jug," the days of jubilee began, but terminated dully and gloomily when the flow of "fire water" ceased. Among these frontiersmen were trappers who had not tasted coffee, sugar, liquor, and, in extreme cases, flour or bread for months, subsisting entirely upon the game of the wild country which they explored; and now the luxuries were purchased at enormous prices, especially during the days of drinking, when men paid dear- ly for their needs. Beckwourth says, "Many a trapper not only swallowed in a day of ease what he had earned in a year of constant danger and hard- ship, but when the rendezvous broke up found himself indebted to his em- ployer for the next year's outfit. Story telling, gambling, drinking, feasting, horse-racing, wrestling, boxing (often of the gorilla style) and target shoot- ing were the order of the day, all of which were indulged in with a heart- iness that would astonish more civil- ized societies," and during brawls at the gambling tents more than one man was put to sleep "with his boots on" and found an unmarked grave on the hillside. This sort of thing, however, existed only among the "free trap- pers" of the baser type, "who prided themselves on their hardihood and courage; even on their recklessness and profligacy, each claiming to own the best horses; to have had the wildest of adventures; to have had the most narrow escapes; to have killed the most bears and Indians; to be the greatest favorite with the Indian belles; the greatest consumer of alcohol, and to have the most money to spend," and with his hand on his pistol, stood ready to defend his argument with disputers. Exemplary Characters Among Frontiersmen General Ashley, Smith, Fitzpatrick, Bridger, Sublett, Jackson, and many others of the better type of trappers, lodged by themselves; and while the common group gambled, they spent quiet evenings conjointly or severally, laying future plans, writing in their journals, or reading some book brought across the plains. At these times, Jed never failed to find rest and encouragement from his Bible. He was held by the men to be the "best educated frontiersman among them." Besides his notes and journals, the Bible was his only book. We are in- formed he favored the New Testa- ment, reading often from James, "Submit yourself therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts. Is any among 846 IMPROVEMENT ERA Aug.. 1929 you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing Psalms." Smith has often been pictured preaching to the Indians, and he, like the first missionaries, Marcus Whit- man and his companion, H.H.Spauld- ing, who came with their wives ten years later (1836), being the first white women to trail through South Pass, never neglected an opportunity to read the Bible to his companions or the Redmen with whom he so often camped. That someone aroused a splendid curiosity among the Indians for the Bible is certain, for on March 1, 1833 (three years after the Church was organized) the Christian Ad- vocate of America told of a visit to St. Louis of four Nez Perce Indians who had come from west of the Rocky Mountains in search of the white man's book from heaven. They claimed that the white men who had penetrated their country had declared their religious ceremonies were wrong and had said that the white men away toward the rising sun had a book which would tell them the proper way. "The tribe was so exercised by these descriptions that a council was called and four chiefs selected to go to St. Louis and procure this book." Two of the councilmen took sick in the city of the White men and died, the other two being terribly disappointed with what they saw and heard, re- turned sorrowfully back to their tribesmen. It was from the result of this visit that Whitman and Spauld- ing were sent as missionaries to the Columbia river. Jed was, however, the very first person to carry the Bible to the Rocky Mountains; in fact, he was the man who carried it through the South Pass, following its dis- covery by Fitzpatrick in 1824. A Fortune in Furs At the close of the rendezvous of 1825, it was decided among the lead- ers, that General Ashley and Smith should make the long trip back to the States with their tremendous packs of furs, worth, as some authors have claimed, a fortune of $200,000. With all this wealth loaded on pack animals the caravan headed for South Pass. That it was a risky undertaking, all admitted, but what else could be done? Upon reaching the Sweetwater, the little company of men decided on the safer route, via Big Horn, Yellow- stone, and the Missouri. Although it was twice as far around, it seemed the surest, and possibly the quickest way home. That the northern route was not without its dangers, we shall soon learn. On the Big Horn, immediately west from Jed's "grizzly bear camp," Ashley's trappers got their first battle. A fierce band of Blackfeet, full broth- ers to the cruel Chippewa, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, were just return- ing toward the Big Horn, having been in a deadly encounter with the Crows, and seeing the white trappers in the distance stealthily trailed them for several days, waiting for an oppor- tunity for plunder. At last becoming impatient at the white man's per- sistent vigilance, they suddenly burst like a thunder cloud upon the outer guard. "They made their appear- ance at the break of day, yelling in the most hideous manner," writes Ashley, "and using every means in their power to alarm our horses, which they so effectually did that the horses, although closely hobbled, broke by the guards and ran off. A part of the Indians being mounted, they succeeded in getting all the horses but two." Then the warriors, decked in paint and feathers, made a determined rush upon the trappers, determined to cap- ture the fur packs; but so firmly en- trenched were the men, and so deadly their aim, that the "yelling wolves" broke from their shelter, fleeing swift- Aug., 1929 ON THE TRAIL 847 ly down the trail, following the stolen horses. Under cover of night, the fearless Jed, imoccasin-footed, and silent as death slipped out into the mountain vastness. By daybreak, Henry's men were awakened near the spot Smith had believed them to be from reports he had received while on the Sweet- water. By dusk that night, Jed, with plenty of horses and men, rode into camp. Two days later, seeing no signs of further trouble, Ashley and his group moved forward, hoping in a few days to reach a favorable loca- tion where bull boats could be made and the men and furs transferred to the swift current of the river. During the two days following the first en- counter, writes Beckwourth, another attack was made. This time the trap- pers fired into the darkness where figures were seen lurking. Two In- dians were killed and the others re- treated. "One of them," says the jour- nalist, "wore a fine pair of buckskin leggings, which I took from him and put on myself." Then with his sharp knife he secured the scalp, tying the long black hair into his rawhide girdle. A week later, we are told, a whole band of Indians came swooping down upon the little company, Beckwourth writes: "The alarm was given, and, on looking out, we saw an immense body of them, well mounted, charg- ing directly down upon our camp. Every man seized his rifle, prepared for the living tornado. The general gave orders for no man to fire until he did. By this time the Indians were within half pistol shot. Greenwood (one of our party) pronounced them Crows and called out several times not to shoot. We, however, kept our eye upon our general; he pulled the trigger, but happily his gun missed fire, and our camp was immediately filled with their warriors. Most fort- unate it was for us that the general's gun missed fire, for they numbered more than a thousand, and not a man of us would have escaped to see the Yellowstone. "Greenwood, who knew the Crows, acted as our interpreter between our general and the Indian chief, whose name was Absaroka Betetsa, Sparrow- Hawk Chief. After numerous in- quiries about our success in bunting, the chief asked where we were from. 'Green river,' was the reply. 'You kill two Blackfeet?' " 'Yes.' 'Where are their scalps? My peo- ple want to dance.' (A thing glee- fully indulged in when an enemy has fallen.) 'Don't show them!' cried Green- wood to us. "Turning to the Indians, 'We didn't take their scalps.' 'Ugh! That's strange.' "During this colloquy, I had buried my scalp in the sand and concealed my leggings, knowing now that they had belonged to a Crow. The chief gave orders for his warriors to move on, and many of them kept with us on our road to their camp, which was but a short distance off. Soon after reaching there, an Indian woman is- sued from a lodge and approached the chief. She was covered with blood and crying. In the most piteous tones, she addressed the chief: 'These are the men that killed my son, and will you not avenge his death?' She was al- most naked, and, according to their custom when a near relative is slain, had inflicted wounds all over her body in token of her deep mourning. The chief turned to the general: 'The two men who were killed in your camp were not Blackfeet, but my own warriors; they were good horse thieves and brave men. One of them was a son of this woman, and she is crying for his loss. Give her something,' he demanded, 'to make her cease her cries, for it angers me to see her grief.' "The general cheerfully made her a present of what things he had at hand, to the value of about $50. 'Now,' 848 IMPROVEMENT ERA Aug.. 1929 said the chief to the woman, 'go to your lodge and cease your crying.' She went away, seemingly satisfied. "Happening to look among their numerous horses, we recognized some that had been stolen from us the fall before. The general said to the chief: 'I believe I see some of my horses among yours.' 'Yes, we stole them from you.' 'What did you steal my horses for?' ' 'I was tired with walking. I had been to fight the Blackfeet, and, com- ing back, would have called at your camp. You would have given me to- bacco, but that would not carry me. When we stole them they were very poor; now they are fat. We have plenty of horses. You can take all that belongs to you.' The chief then gave orders for them to deliver up all the horses taken from our camp, which was promptly complied with." In the next article we shall carry Jed "to the end of the trail," meeting death at the hands of the Comanches. The Wasatch Range as viewed from the lake at Liberty Park Liberty Park on a Summer's Day Leave, for a day, the burning city street And come, with me, unto a cool retreat — Where verdant lawns and shadowed spaces lure, And bright-faced flowers, whispering zephyrs, stir. Remember, once again, when fancy smiled, Watch happy children play — and be a child; Or lay outstretched upon the velvet grass, And scan the sky where snowy cloud drifts pass. Aug., 1929 LIBERTY PARK ON A SUMMER'S DAY 849 For here is gathered all that pleasure seeks, The lake, the trees, the towering mountain peaks; The quaint menagerie of birds and beast, A thousand wonders upon which to feast. Framed as a picture that no art could paint, Across the mirrored waters, bold yet faint. The snow-clad Wasatch looms, as though to keep, Like some good shepherd, watch upon his sheep. The shaded avenues of stately pines, Where often lovers wander, idly winds To cozy nooks, where fountains softly play And robin red-breast sings his evening lay. The band, at times, gives forth a pleasing sound, And yet again where prancing steeds go round. And I have known some moments of delight, With simple toys that fascinate the sight. To feed the ducks, to watch the monkeys swing, To glide upon the lake, to laugh and sing — In truth here is a fund of rarest joy For all who care to be once more, a boy. So come with me and leave dull care behind, Renew the spirit and enrich the mind; Within the arms of nature rest or play, And be at peace — this glorious summer's day! Salt Lake City, Utah HENRY F. KlRKHAM An Hour of my Own It is late — I'm alone in my bed-room tonight, All is still, not a sound stirs the air, Save the chirp of a bat as he whirls in his flight. Or a cricket's lone song on the stair. Now's the time for reflection, an hour of thought. For the cares of the day are now fled; 'Tis a time when the mind without worry is fraught; 'Tis a time at which prayers may be said. 'Tis a time to repent of the sins of the day, And thank God for the soul he has blessed; 'Tis a time to be humble, to earnestly pray E'er you tuck yourself snugly to rest. Provo, Utah CLARENCE EVAN CHRISTENSEN