"We feel no fear of Indians; our cattle graze quietly around our
encampment unmolested. Two or three men will go hunting twenty
miles from camp; and last night two of our men lay out in the
wilderness rather than ride their horses after a hard chase.

"Indeed, if I do not experience something far worse than I have
yet done, I shall say the trouble is all in getting started. Our
wagons have not needed much repair, and I can not yet tell in
what respects they could be improved. Certain it is, they can not
be too strong. Our preparations for the journey might have been
in some respects bettered.

"Bread has been the principal article of food in our camp. We
laid in one hundred and fifty pounds of flour and seventy-five
pounds of meat for each individual, and I fear bread will be
scarce. Meat is abundant. Rice and beans are good articles on the
road; cornmeal too, is acceptable. Linsey dresses are the most
suitable for children. Indeed, if I had one, it would be
acceptable. There is so cool a breeze at all times on the Plains
that the sun does not feel so hot as one would suppose.

"We are now four hundred and fifty miles from Independence. Our
route at first was rough, and through a timbered country, which
appeared to be fertile. After striking the prairie, we found a
firstrate road, and the only difficulty we have had, has been in
crossing the creeks. In that, however, there has been no danger.

"I never could have believed we could have traveled so far with
so little difficulty. The prairie between the Blue and the Platte
Rivers is beautiful beyond description. Never have I seen so