converted into money. And in 1854 we all set out for Kansas, which was
soon to be opened for settlers as a Territory.

Two wagons carried our household goods. A carriage was provided for my
mother and sisters. Father had a trading-wagon built, and stocked it
with red blankets, beads, and other goods with which to tempt the
Indians. My only brother had been killed by a fall from a horse, so I
was second in command, and proud I was of the job.

My uncle Elijah kept a general store at Weston, Missouri, just across
the Kansas line. He was a large exporter of hemp as well as a trader.
Also he was a slave-owner.

Weston was our first objective. Father had determined to take up a
claim in Kansas and to begin a new life in this stirring country. Had
he foreseen the dreadful consequences to himself and to his family of
this decision we might have remained in Iowa, in which case perhaps I
might have grown up an Iowa farmer, though that now seems impossible.

Thirty days of a journey that was a constant delight to me brought us
to Weston, where we left the freight-wagons and mother and my sisters
in the care of my uncle.

To my great joy father took me with him on his first trip into
Kansas--where he was to pick out his claim and incidentally to trade
with the Indians from our wagon. I shall never forget the thrill that
ran through me when father, pointing to the block-house at Fort
Leavenworth, said:

"Son, you now see a real military fort for the first time in your