IN THE TERRITORY OF KANSAS--PRAIRIE SCHOONERS FROM SANTA FÉ TO
INDEPENDENCE, MO.--LIFE _en route_--THE BIG BLUE--CAMP GOVERNMENT--THE
_Blue Rover_.


During our first few days in the Territory of Kansas we passed over
good roads, and through fields of May blossoms musical with the hum of
bees and the songs of birds. Some of the party rode horseback; others
walked in advance of the train; but each father drove his own family
team. We little folk sat in the wagons with our dolls, watching the
huge white-covered "prairie schooners" coming from Santa Fé to
Independence for merchandise. We could hear them from afar, for the
great wagons were drawn by four or five span of travel-worn horses or
mules, and above the hames of each poor beast was an arch hung with
from three to five clear-toned bells, that jingled merrily as their
carriers moved along, guided by a happy-go-lucky driver, usually
singing or whistling a gleeful tune. Both man and beast looked
longingly toward the town, which promised companionship and revelry to
the one, and rest and fodder to the other.

We overtook similar wagons, heavily laden with goods bound for Santa
Fé. Most of the drivers were shrewd; all of them civil. They were of
various nationalities; some comfortably clad, others in tatters, and a
few in picturesque threadbare costumes of Spanish finery. Those hardy
wayfarers gave us much valuable information regarding the route before
us, and the Indian tribes we should encounter. We were now averaging a
distance of about two and a half miles an hour, and encamping nights
where fuel and water could be obtained.