Death Valley in '49 by William Lewis Manly
page 39 of 478 (08%)
page 39 of 478 (08%)
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They were starting for the Michigan shore some eight or ten miles away.
This was the first birch bark canoe I had ever seen and was a great curiosity in my eyes. We crossed Lake Huron during the night, and through its outlet, so shallow that the wheels stirred up the mud from the bottom; then through Lake St. Clair and landed safety at Detroit next day. Here we took the cars on the Michigan Central Railroad, and on our way westward stopped at the very place where we had worked, helping to build the road, a year or more before. After getting off the train a walk of two and one half miles brought me to my father's house, where I had a right royal welcome, and the questions they asked me about the wild country I had traveled over, how it looked, and how I got along--were numbered by the thousand. I remained at home until fall, getting some work to do by which I saved some money, but in August was attacked with bilious fever, which held me down for several weeks, but nursed by a tender and loving mother with untiring care, I recovered, quite slowly, but surely. I felt that I had been close to death, and that this country was not to be compared to Wisconsin with its clear and bubbling springs of health-giving water. Feeling thus, I determined to go back there again. CHAPTER VI. With the idea of returning to Wisconsin I made plans for my movements. I |
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