KanColl: The KansasHistorical Quarterlies




Pike's Peak Express Companies:
Part II--Solomon and Republican
Route--Concluded

by George A. Root and Russell K.Hickman

November, 1944(Vol. 13 No. 4), pages 211 to 242.
Transcribed by lhn;
digitized with permission of the Kansas State Historical Society.



[Detail from map of the Leavenworth-Denver Express Route, 1859.]

[Detail from map of the Leavenworth-Denver Express Route, 1859.
For full-size view of entire map, please click here.]


     THE early months of operation of the Leavenworthand Pike's Peak Express Company were much complicated by the fluctuations ofmigration to the new gold fields. This was due in part to the widespread exodusof many who were either ignorant of the hardships of mining in a remote andmountainous country or who were unwilling to undergo privation. Many withoutadequate supplies thoughtlessly joined the mad rush and still more who had noknowledge of prospecting and mining. As in all great migrations, there were many"floaters" who speedily moved on when they discovered that chunks of gold werenot scattered promiscuously about the landscape. A stronger cause fordiscouragement, however, which for a time threatened the future of the region asa mineral empire, lay in the fact that the early discoveries of flake gold wereinadequate to sustain the number that had migrated.

     Since winter had largely halted mining andprospecting, the scarcity of gold was not fully realized until the warm weatherof May, 1859. But even before this disappointed pilgrims were heading eastwardover the Platte route, telling the westbound emigrants that "Pike's Peak was ahumbug," "gold would never be found in paying quantities," "provisions andmerchandise were scarce and high," "the country [was] without law of any kind,"etc. [102]

     A stampede of returning emigrants took place,which at times approached panic proportions. Hundreds of wagons were soon on theback track; the roads were strewn with culinary utensils, camp fixtures, andother "impedimenta"; and oxen, teams and wagons were sold for a song. Some evenmade use of the Platte and Missouri rivers as a convenient way to return. [103]An observer on Big Sandy

(211)

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creek, west of the Big Blue river, wrote a graphic account of this event forthe New York Tribune:

     We had already heard a faint murmur of aretrograde movement from the Peak, and no sooner did we arrive on top of thedivide than we beheld the advance guard of the retreating columns. Such astampede of human beings was never before seen. Mule teams, horse, cow and oxteams, hand-carts, men with carpet sacks, riders and runners, with everyimaginable conveyance, loaded with every species of articles, from steam sawmills to blankets, all coming back in a hurry, as if flying from danger; someswearing lustily at Pike's Peak, at themselves, and the rest of mankind. Somewere laughing at their folly, and at us. Some wore faces as long as the Peak theysought. The prairies, as well as the road, seemed alive with the masses. We nodoubt met a thousand men per day, with saw mills, quartz mills, and whole trainsof store goods. Outfits amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars arereturning. And still, in the face of all this, thousands were pushing on as ifnothing had happened. [104]

     This stampede was in great measure limited tothe Platte route and appears to have started in April and May, 1859, even beforethe season had opened in the mountains. The situation was well described by aDenver correspondent of the Leavenworth Herald:

     The first emigration that arrived here was ofthat excitable class who, deceived by the false and exaggerated tales of theMissouri River papers, rushed, totally unprepared-without tools, provisions orany proper outfit-to this place, expecting to pick up gold as they wouldpotatoes. Winter was still upon us, and digging had not commenced. . . .Disappointed in finding what they expected they turned back, and determined thatno others should come. They have, by the most unblushing lies and extraordinarystretch of fiction, contrived to turn back almost all of the emigration by theSouth Platte. By the Arkansas and Republican we are filling up fast enough. . . [105]

     In their bitter disappointment some of the moreunfortunate gave voice to a stinging rebuke of the whole "Pike's Peak humbug,"and directed a storm of abuse against the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak ExpressCompany. The Kansas City (Mo.) Journal of Commerce

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 213

had made repeated exposures of "this grand humbug," 100 and now rang thechanges with growing fervor. The Weekly Journal of Commerce branded asfalse everything the express company claimed to have accomplished. They assertedthat there has never been an attempt to open a route from Leavenworth by theSmoky Hill-that Jones & Russell never sent a coach that way-that theirexploring party has just returned from the Republican-that no daily line has beenestablished at all-that Jones & Russell have not advertised an express lineas in operation, in any paper either in Leavenworth or in America. That theirgold news is "gas," that their receipts of gold dust are "gassier," and thattheir "painted wagon," is "gassiest." In short, that the whole thing is buckram,from beginning to end. . . [107]

     The White Cloud Kansas Chief had longheld a similar belief and in its issue of April 21, 1859, remarked: "The rival`outfitting points' are becoming so jealous of each other, that they arecompelled to expose their own humbuggery." A few weeks later (May 5) it assertedthat they had "heard any amount of unfavorable news. Hundreds, and some saythousands, are getting back home as fast as they can, perfectly satisfied withtheir sight of the `elephant.' " Soon thereafter came the "explosion," but theybelieved that "our skirts are perfectly clear of this swindling affair." [108]The St. Joseph (Mo.) Weekly West could "hardly resist" calling the wholePike's Peak proposition a humbug, although it attempted to present the news ofall kinds in an objective manner. In its issue of May 18, 1859, it gave anadverse statement by George B. Throop, G. W. Price, and Job Sears, but pointedout that none of these men had actually been at the mines. In its issue of June12, however, on the basis of very unfavorable reports from Leavenworth, thispaper conceded that the whole affair was a hoax, and blamed the editors of theborder papers. It asserted "that [to] the credulity of the emigrant, theunmitigated villainy of the shareholders of townsites in the region

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of Cherry Creek, and of letter writers in the mines, is to be attributed allthe disaster which has ensued. . . ." [109] The St. Joseph Gazette for a timesubscribed to the view that the Pike's Peak express company of Jones &Russell was "an arrant humbug," [110] but later spoke in much more hopeful termsof the prospects for gold"we are satisfied that the gold of the South Platteextends over a vast range of country, and that there are many places where it canbe ob tained in paying quantities." [111] In general, however, the border papersdid not blame the Pike's Peak Express Company.

     The initial trips of the Leavenworth and Pike'sPeak express were made with this background of uncertainty regarding the futureof the mines. The company being the chief means of carrying mail to the diggings,the arrival of the express coaches was awaited with the greatest interest by thepublic. On May 12, 1859, two coaches arrived in Denver for the second time, aftera journey of 19 days from Leavenworth. [112] Among the passengers was DanielBlue, who had been given free passage from Station 25, where he had been left bythe first stage coach after a grueling experience on the Smoky Hill route. [113]The most noted passenger on this trip was Henry Villard, a correspondent of theCincinnati (Ohio) Daily Commercial, who wrote a graphic account of thejourney to his paper. [114] Villard found the Cherry creek diggings in a state ofdepression, many miners were without funds and consequently the cry of theauctioneer was a very familiar sound. Many had struck for the mountains, andothers, disgusted, had returned to the "States." The prevailing "depression ofmind," however, was giving way to a more hopeful attitude, he wrote, adding thatthe Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company had shipped during the last weekabout a thousand dollars worth of scale gold. [115] B. D. Williams of the expresscompany returned to Leavenworth on the second return trip from Den-

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 215

ver and brought further details of the more favorable news from the mountains,where many were prospecting. [116]

     The third trip of the express coaches wascompleted the following morning (May 28), after a journey of nine days and a fewhours from Denver, which would have been reduced a full day had it not been forhigh water. This forced them to swim the Wildcat, near Manhattan, and delayedthem a day at Rock creek, [117] where they met the westbound coach with itsillustrious passenger, Horace Greeley, and his journalist companion, Albert D.Richardson. The passengers on the third coach reported a great hegira from thesettlements to the mountains, and the prevalence of a feeling of confidence thatgold would be found in considerable quantities. [118]

     The journey of Horace Greeley and Albert D.Richardson by Pike's Peak express to the gold mines of Colorado has beenchronicled by a number of writers. [119] Richardson left Leavenworth on the stageof May 25, 1859, and wrote an interesting account of the Concord coach which,like the "wonderful one-hoss Shay," was made so that it "don't break down, butonly wears out."

     It is covered with duck or canvas, the driversitting in front, at a slight elevation above the passengers. Bearing no weightupon the roof, it is less topheavy than the old-fashioned stage-coach for mudholes and mountain-sides, where to preserve the center of gravity becomes, withFalstaff's instinct, `a great matter.' Like human travelers on life's highway, itgoes best under a heavy load. Empty, it jolts and pitches like a ship in a ragingsea; filled with passengers and balanced by a proper distribution of baggage inthe `boot' behind, and under the driver's feet before, its motion is easy andelastic. Excelling every other in durability and strength, this hack is used allover our continent and throughout South America.

HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

     Two coaches, each drawn by four mules, leaveLeavenworth daily [120] and make the entire trip together, for protection in caseof danger from Indians. A crowd gathered in front of the Planters' House to seeour equipages start. Amid confused ejaculations of 'Good-by, old boy. `Write assoon as you get there.' `Better have your hair cut, so that the Arapahoes can'tscalp you.' `Tell John to send me an ounce of the dust' 'Be sure and give Smiththat letter from his wife.' 'Do write the facts about the gold,' the whipscracked and the two stages rolled merrily away. [121]

     After he had concluded a brief tour of theprincipal settlements Greeley boarded an express coach bound for the mines.Wherever he went he aroused the interest of the people, even though heencountered, every now and then, one who had been "born and raised in Missouri,"who had never heard of Greeley and the New York Tribune. [122] The tripwas completed without incident of importance, although shortly before arriving atStation 17 the coach was overturned and Greeley suffered injuries which provedmore painful than serious.

     Descending an abrupt bill, our mules, terrifiedby meeting three savages, broke a line, ran down a precipitous bank, upsettingthe coach which was hurled upon the ground with a tremendous crash, and gallopedaway with the fore-wheels. I sprang out in time to escape being overturned. Froma mass of cushions, carpet-sacks and blankets soon emerged my companion, his headrising above the side of the vehicle like that of an advertising boy from hisframe of pasteboard. Blood was flowing profusely from cuts in his cheek, arm andleg; but his face was serene and benignant as a May morning. He was soon rescuedfrom his cage, and taken to Station Seventeen, a few yards beyond, where the goodwoman dressed his galling wounds. [123]

     At Station 23, nearly 600 miles fromLeavenworth, B. D. Williams of the express company overtook the coach containingGreeley and Richardson and proceeded with them to Denver. [124] The sight of themountains towering in the west gave the travelers new hope, and the

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 217

reappearance of trees in abundance was even more cheering. [125] Early in themorning of June 6 the coach arrived at Denver City, after a journey of elevendays from Leavenworth. Even though a trip by stage was much superior to othermethods of transportation Greeley could not fail to note the humbling influenceof the experience, and remarked:

     A true picture of gold-seekers setting out fromhome, trim and jolly, for Pike's Peak, and of those same gold-seekers, sober asjudges, and slow-moving as their own weary oxen, dropping into Denver, wouldconvey a salutary lesson to many a sanguine soul. Nay, I have in my mind's eye anindividual who rolled out of Leavenworth, barely thirteen days ago, in asatisfactory rig, and a spirit of adequate self-complacency, but who-though hishardships have been nothing to theirs-dropped into Denver this morning in asobered and thoughtful frame of mind, in dust-begrimed and tattered habiliments,with a patch on his cheek, a bandage on his leg, and a limp in his gait,altogether constituting a spectacle most rueful tobehold.[126]

     The next day (June 7) Greeley, Richardson andHenry Villard set forth on an expedition into the mountains to investigate thenew mines. B. D. Williams, superintendent of the express company, placed one ofthe coaches at their disposal and personally accompanied them on the trip. [127]It was clearly to the interest of the express company as well as the press toplace the truth before the people of the country and end if possible theoft-repeated charge of humbug. After visiting the principal mines Greeley,Villard and Richardson issued a combined statement which described the operationson the leading claims, the amounts of gold being produced and future prospects.The manifesto portrayed the region as very promising, but closed with a warningof the grave difficulties involved

218 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

and the possibility that emigrants might come away empty handed and be forcedto endure privation, particularly late in the season. "Greeley's Report" wasgiven the widest publicity throughout the country,"' and was very effective instilling the cry of hoax and placing the future of the region on a firm basis,although for a time there were allegations that even this was humbug. Richardsonasserted that he had "absolute confidence in the permanency, extent and richnessof these diggings," but he warned that a great many would fail in theundertaking. [129] On the second day of the trip Greeley addressed a mass meetingof the miners of Ralston valley, which embraced the rich Gregory diggings. Hespoke hopefully of the mines, advocated the formation of a state government andplaced himself on record in favor of temperance.

     Mr. Williams, the Superintendent of the ExpressCompany, succeeded him in some eloquent and logical remarks, in the course ofwhich he took occasion to refer to the willingness of the Company he representedto facilitate the intercourse of the miners with the States at the lowestpossible rates. He explained the arrangements made by the Company for theshipment of dust, transportation of mails, etc., all of which were received withevident gratification by the audience. . . ,
There is a very cordial feeling here towards your city [Leavenworth], and thewarmest gratitude is felt towards the Express Company.
The emigration can now start on a certain basis. Everything looks well for Kansasand the Great West.
Three cheers for Pike's Peak and Leavenworth[130]

     The dispatches from the mines during the monthof June, 1859, were a barometer of the great change that was taking place. Thecoaches that had taken Greeley and Richardson to the mountains returned too soonto bring the good news of their joint report but did carry the welcome messagethat emigration from the mines had entirely ceased and that business had greatlyrevived. James M. Fox of the express company wrote from Denver on May 30,asking

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 219

vincing to most people. [135] The Leavenworth Daily Times asserted thatall conclusions be suspended until he could get the report of Martin Field andHenry Villard, whom he had sent into the mountains, and said, "I think it is therichest country in the world." [131] The next day he wrote in a much morepositive manner, confirming in full the richness and extent of the discoveries,stating, "You can set down the unparalleled richness of this country as a fixedfact." [132] The express coaches that arrived on June 13 were too early to carrythe "Greeley Report" but did bring over a thousand letters from the mines,addressed to every part of the country. The Leavenworth Daily Times [133]remarked:

     A number of private letters to our citizens havebeen shown to us, and we have yet to see one that gives us a discouraging accountof the mines or those who are there The excitement in our city relative to thematter is as general as intense. Knots and groups of men at every corner are seendiscussing the propriety of "taking a start." "Pike's Peak" is again a householdword, and the gold fever is turning into a regular epidemic.
Thus wags the world. Up and down. Down and up. A few weeks since and everybodydeclared= `I always knew and always said Pike's Peak was a humbug." Now the songgoes-"Just as I predicted and always maintained, Pike's Peak is allgold."[134]

     The express that arrived on the night of June 19brought to Leavenworth conclusive tidings of great riches in the Westernmountains. It carried $2,500 in gold, of which a thousand dollars was consignedto the Leavenworth firm of Smoot & Russell, and the rest to Easterncustomers. The express also brought the "Greeley Report" on the mines and miningoperations in the West, which substantiated the claims of rich discoveries andmade the news convincing to most people. [135] The Leavenworth Daily Timesasserted

220 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

that its position "from first to last, [was] sustained and vindicated." Thosedesiring to emigrate "should start at once, and those who can should take Jones& Russell's Express." [136] Beginning June 21 the Times ran a newadvertisement of improved service by the express company:


JONES, RUSSELL & CO.'S

EXPRESS TO THE GOLD MINES WILL LEAVE EVERY DAY

When coaches are full of passengers. No coach will leave except onTuesdays, unless there are six passengers.
One, two or three coaches will start every day, if there are passengers enough tojustify. Fare $125, including 20 lbs. baggage. Extra baggage will be chargedexpress rates.
JOHN S. JONES, Supt.


FREIGHT FOR THE MINES

     I have on hand a large number of oxenand wagons, and will contract with parties to deliver in Denver City any quantityof freight. Will start a train next week, and at least two or three a week duringthe summer, or as often as freight offers. Apply at my office, under thePlanter's Hotel.
     June 20th, 1859.
JOHN S. JONES [137]


     The coaches that arrived at Leavenworth on June19 would have made the trip in seven days from Denver had they not been delayed aday by an accident which took place near Station 12. The vehicles were moving ata fast pace while thousands of buffalo were swarming on the plains and in theroad. A herd passed directly in front of the mules, which took fright and ran.The driver dropped the reins and jumped for the animals. He caught the harness,but was dragged along like a feather. B. D. Williams, who was in the coach, triedto catch the reins, but when the mules dashed for a precipice he hastily jumpedout. He was caught by the wheels, which passed over his legs and one arm,inflicting painful but not

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 221

serious injuries. In a few moments mules, coach and all rolled over thedeclivity. Marvelous to state, neither animals nor coach were injured, althoughtwo of the mules escaped for a day. [138]

     The trips of late June were affected by plansfor a change-over to the Platte route to the mines. On May 11, 1859, Jones,Russell & Co. purchased the mail contract of John M. Hockaday & Co., whosince 1858 had held a government contract to transport the mail from St. Joseph,Mo., to Salt Lake City. In the transfer were included all the stations, livestockand equipment of the Hockaday firm. Since the contract provided for mail serviceby way of Forts Kearny and Laramie, it was necessary that the route of theLeavenworth and Pike's Peak Express be moved to the Platte if its coaches were totransport the overland mail. The press remained very quiet concerning the change.Since the Pike's Peak firm had been accorded much praise (and some blame) for itspioneering in establishing a new and shorter route, it is possible that thecompany frowned on all publicity in the matter. Late in June the service by wayof the old route was interrupted, and mail and passengers from Denver werebrought to the junction point on the South Platte, where connections were madewith the overland mail to Utah and California. [139] Shortly thereafter theoutbound coaches followed the new route, the first express for Denver by way ofthe Platte leaving Leavenworth July 2, 1859.

INITIAL ROUTE BY THE SOLOMON AND REPUBLICANVALLEYS

     The route of the Leavenworth and Pike's PeakExpress from the Missouri river to the Rockies was an indefinite "right of way,"the exact location of which is difficult or even impossible to establish withcertainty. Since it was laid out before the region west of eastern Kansas hadbeen surveyed the precise station locations are often questionable, particularlythose in extreme western Kansas and Nebraska and present-day eastern Coloradowhich in 1859 constituted a part of Kansas and Nebraska. The following table ofstations and intervening locations is based upon the available sources,particularly the detailed field notes of E. D. Boyd as they appeared

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in Freedom's Champion of Atchison, June 25, 1859; 140 Horace Greeley'sOverland Journey; Albert D. Richardson's Beyond the Mississippi;and Henry Villard's account as published in the Cincinnati DailyCommercial. [141] The mileage figures are largely based upon "Boyd's Notes"and although believed to be fairly reliable should be regarded more as estimatesthan exact computations.

STATION 1.-Basement of the Planter's House, Leavenworth.

STATION 2.-Easton, Leavenworth county, which Greeley described as "a villageof thirty to fifty houses." [142]

STATION 3.-Osawkie, Jefferson county, at the crossing of Grasshopper creek.Greeley described the town in 1859 as in "a state of dilapidation and decay, likea good many Kansas cities which figure largely on the map. [143]

STATION 4.-Silver Lake, Shawnee county, on the Pottawatomie Indianreservation. Richardson points out (p. 160) that this station was kept by ahalf-breed Indian [144] with whom he passed the night after a day's journey of 68miles from Leavenworth.

STATION 5.-St. Mary's Catholic Mission.

Richardson:

Passed St. Mary's Catholic Mission-a pleasant, home-like group oflog-houses, and a little frame church, bearing aloft the cross-among shade andfruit trees, in a picturesque valley. The mission has been in operation twelveyears.

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 223

In the school-room we saw sixty Indian boys at theirlessons. [145]

STATION 6.-Manhattan. At this point Greeley joined Richardson, both bound forthe gold mines. Because of high water their express coach was delayed a day atManhattan.

Richardson:

     Beyond the three houses which composethe town of Pittsburg, we crossed the Big Blue river and reached Manhattan-aflourishing Yankee settlement of two or three hundred people in a smooth andbeautiful valley.
Thus far I had been the solitary passenger. But at Manhattan Horace Greeley aftera tour through the interior to gratify the clamorous settlers with speeches,joined me for the rest of the journey. . . [146]

Villard:

     The high, well timbered bluffs of the Kaw Riverbegan to serve as a background to the scenery as we approachedManhattan. . . . A short distance this side of Fort Riley we came upon the ruinsof Pawnee and Riley cities, consisting of two or three storehouses on both banksof the Kaw, which were considered but a few years ago as the beginning of surelygreat cities. It was here that Gov. Reeder wanted to locate the state capital,for the purpose of subserving the land interest he owned in this vicinity. But inthis, as is well known, he signally failed, and the aforementioned edifices willstand as monuments of a speculation that overleaped itself.
Fort Riley is the best military post I have seen upon my extensive travelsthrough the West. Officers' quarters, sutlers' establishments, stables, etc., allhave an appearance of solidity and cleanliness which differ greatly, andpleasingly to the eye, from the rudely constructed cabins of which the towns wehad passed consisted. [147]

STATION 7.-Junction City. In 1859 the "jumping off" place on the frontierwhere travelers for the West bade good bye to most of the remaining amenities ofcivilization.

Richardson:

     "We stopped for the night at Junction City,(Station Seven) the frontier post-office and settlement of Kansas.[148]

224 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Villard:

     Junction City, which is a combination of about twodozen frame and log houses, which derives its name from being at the Junction ofthe Kaw [Smoky Hill] and Republican rivers, . . During my stay at Junction City Ipaid a visit to the "Sentinel" office, the most westerly located newspaperestablishment of eastern Kansas. Its office is a most original institution. Itserves the purposes of a printing house, law office,land agency, and tailor shop, and the followers of these different avocationsappear to live, and sometimes to starve together in unbroken harmony.
From Leavenworth to Junction City, which represents Station No. 7, the expressroute is in the very best working order. I came through in 22 riding hours, whichis better time than even the oldest stage lines are able to make, and fared aswell on the way as though I was making a pleasure excursion along a highway ofeastern travel.
After leaving Junction City we at once entered upon the unmodified wilderness ofthe seemingly endless prairies that intervene between the waters of the Missouriand the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. [149]

Villard also wrote a good description of the express route from this pointwestward:

     From Junction City to the last mentioned place[Denver] the route is divided into four divisions of five stations each, so thatDenver City figures as Station No. 27. The distance between the several stationsaverages 25 miles. Care has been taken to locate the stations on creeks, in orderto furnish the necessary supply of wood and water. From 18 to 24 mules, under thecharge of a stationkeeper, his assistant and four drivers, are kept at each ofthem, to furnish relays for the coaches from the East as well as the West. Fromtwo to three stages are made a day by the latter. Passengers obtain three meals aday and plenty of sleep in tents, which will soon give away to log and framehouses.
The road is an excellent one. . . . Water, grass and timber, the indispensablenecessities of the navigators . . . [of the plains] are plentiful throughout withthe exception of the valley of the Republican, the extremely sandy character ofwhich renders it destitute of timber. For the 125 miles that the road follows itscourse, grass and water is, however, ample. . . [150]

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 225

STATION 8.-Located on the west side of Chapman's creek near the presentClay-Dickinson county line.

Richardson:

     Dined at Chapman's creek, in a station of polescovered with sail cloth, but where the host superior to daily drenchings, gave usan admirable meal upon a snowy table-cloth." [151]

Greeley

     Our road bore hence north of west, up the left bankof Chapman's Creek, on which, twenty-three miles from Junction, we halted at"Station 8," at 11 A. M., to change mules and dine. . . . There is of course, nohouse here, but two small tents and a brush arbor furnish accommodations for sixto fifteen persons, as the case may be. A score of mules are picketed about onthe rich grass; there is a rail-pen for the two cows. . . . She [thestation-keeper's wife] gave us an excellent dinner of bacon and greens, goodbread, applesauce and pie, . . . The water was too muddy . . . [to] permit me todrink it. . . [152]

STATION 9.-On Pipe creek, probably northeastof present Minneapolis, Ottawa county.

Richardson:

     Stopped for the night at Station Nine, consistingof two tents. In the evening wrote newspaper letters in the coach by a lantern.At ten o'clock composed ourselves to sleep in the carriage to the music ofhowling wolves and heavy thunder: Days' travel sixty-eight miles [Greeleyestimated it as 58 miles] [153]

Greeley:

     We rose early from our wagon-bed this morning, hadbreakfast at six, and soon bade adieu to Pipe Creek, with its fringe of low elmsand cotton-woods, such as thinly streak all the streams we have passed to-day. .. . We have crossed many streams to-day, all making south for Solomon's Fork,which has throughout been from two to six miles from us on our left. . . . Theroute has been from fifty to two hundred feet above the bed of the Fork, keepingout of all bottoms and marshes, but continually cut bywater.

226 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

courses . . . in one of which . . . we stalled until an extra span of muleswas sent from the other wagon to our aid. [154]

STATION 10.-Near the Solomon river and close to or a littlewest of present Glasco, Cloud county.

Richardson:

     Dined at Station Ten sitting upon billets ofwood, carpet-sacks, and nail-kegs, while the meal was served upon a box. Itconsisted of fresh buffalo meat, which tastes like ordinary beef though ofcoarser fiber, and sometimes with a strong, unpleasant flavor. When cut fromcalves or young cows it is tender and toothsome. Six weeks ago not a track hadbeen made upon this route. Now it resembles a long-used turnpike. We meet manyreturning emigrants, who declare the mines a humbug; but pass hundreds ofundismayed gold-seekers still pressing on." [155]

STATION 11.-Located on Limestone creek, Jewell county, probably a little southofthe present village of Ionia. At this place the "Parallel Road" west fromAtchison joined the express road, at a point 172 miles west of that city, atlatitude 39° 42' north and longitude 98° 12' west. From this point ofintersection, which seems to have been a branch of Limestone creek (termed "Dogcreek" by Boyd), the Parallel road made use of the "right of way" of theLeavenworth and Pike's Peak express. The field notes of E. D. Boyd give a tableof distances from the crossing of the Republican (near Scandia, Republic county),and provide a more exact picture of much of the route of the express company.[156]

Boyd's Notes

     From the crossing [of] the Republican the course isdue west, crossing five branches of Dog [probably Limestone] creek at inter-

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 227

vals of three to six miles until we reach Station No. 11, 31 miles beyond theRepublican, from which point the distances set down hereafter are computed. [157]Station No. 11 is 172 miles west from Atchison and ten miles north. Latitude 39deg. 42 min., Longitude 98 deg. 12 min.

Creek ten ft. wide, runs south; oak and elm32½
Creek ten ft. wide, runs S. Oak and elm35½
Creek ten ft. wide, runs S. scattering burr oak andelm38½
Creek ten ft. W. runs S. E. oak andelm39½
Creek six ft. W. runs S. W. scattering45½
Creek eight ft. W. runs S. timber46½
Creek ten ft. W. runs S. timber48½
Creek ten ft. W. runs S. timber, outcrop of whitelimestone49½
Creek eight ft. W. runs south-east; scattering timber andlimestone50
Creek ten ft. W. runs south-east; scattering timber; chalkcliffs53
Creek 10 ft. W. runs S. scatteringtimber59

Richardson:

     Spent the night at Station Eleven, occupied by twomen who gave us bread and buffalo meat like granite.-Day's travel fifty-sixmiles. [158]

STATION 12.-In Smith county, probably a little south of the forks of Beavercreek, about seven miles southwest of present Smith Center.

Boyd's Notes:

Station No. 12-creek 20 ft. W. runs S. elm, &c; forks into three partsabove63½
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south; scattering elm andcottonwood71
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south-east; abundance of timber,principallyelm 74½
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south-east; elm, high, steep bank oneastside 76½
Small creek runs south; no timber 79
Creek 8 ft. W. runs south; scattering cottonwood andelm81½
Delaware creek, 10 ft. W. runs south-east; cottonwood andelm84

Richardson:

     At Station Twelve where we dined, the carcasses ofseven buffaloes were half submerged in the creek. Yesterday a herd of threethousand crossed the stream, leaping down the steep banks. A few broke theirnecks by the fall; others were trampled to death by those pressing on frombehind. [159]

228 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

STATION 13.-Located close to Kirwin, Phillips county, near the junction ofDeer creek and the Solomon.

Boyd's Notes:

Station No. 13-creek 10 ft. W. runs south-east; scatteringcottonwood86
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south; scattering cottonwood,&c90
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south; cottonwood93½
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south; cottonwood andwillow94½
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south; Cottonwood andelm86½ [96½]
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south-east for many miles;cottonwood98
Creek, pools of standing water; runs N. into last creek;white, yellowand slate color chalk cliffs; yellow ochre100
Lat. 39 deg. 42 min. Long. 99 deg. 25 min[160]103½
A dry creek runs north into creek at 98miles104½
A table mountain with monuments, a conspicuous landmark,half a mile to N. Creek, pools of standing water; scattering cottonwood andwillow112½
Creek 8 ft. W. runs south; cottonwood andelm113½

Richardson:

     After being mired in the same creek [probably abranch of Cedar creek] for two hours, our own vehicle was drawn out by the oxenof friendly emigrants. Spent the night at Station Thirteen. Day's travel,fifty-six miles. [161]

Greeley:

[Dated at Station 13, on "Reisinger's Creek."] I write in the station-tent(having been driven from our wagon by the operation of greasing its wheels, whichwas found to interfere with the steadiness of my hastily-improvised table), withthe buffalo visible on the ridges south and every way but north of us.[162]

STATION 14.-About 12 miles southeast of present Norton and about four milesnorth of the North Fork of the Solomon river.

Boyd's Notes:

Station 1.-last 15 miles rough and rolling, road crooked. No water for 13miles. The soil 1s porous and does not retain it. Timber at intervals, a mileeither side. Limestone119
and water one mile north122
Divide between Solomon and Republ'n125½
Creek runs north-east into Prairie Dog creek; cottonwoodand

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 229

elm; water 1/3 of a mile above road. No water or wood for the last 17 miles127½
Prairie Dog creek, 10 ft. w., runs north-east; cottonwood,elm and ash; very large prairie dog town west of creek128½

Greeley

     As we left Station 14 this morning, and rosefrom the creek-bottom to the high prairie, a great herd of buffalo were seen inand around our road. . . [163]

Richardson did not mention this station, but remarked:

     To-day we have been among prairie-dog towns,passing one more than a mile long.
Some of their settlements are said to be twenty miles in length, containing alarger population than any metropolis on the globe. . . . This evening we suppedon his flesh, and found it very palatable, resembling that of the squirrel."[164]

STATION 15.-On the 100th meridian at approximately the point where it crosses thePrairie Dog, about five miles southwest of present Norton.

Boyd's Notes:

Station 15 on north bank of Prairie Dog creek,runs east then south-east139
Creek 10 ft. W. runs south-east; Prairie Dogcreek close to road, separating at this point140
Spring near road144
Lat. 39 deg. 52 min. Long. 100 deg. 07 min.[165]149
Creek 10 ft. W. runs north into Sappa creek; elm andash159
Creek 10 ft. W. runs east; elm and ash161

Richardson:

     We spent the night at Station Fifteen, kept by anex-Cincinnati lawyer, who with his wife, formerly an actress at the BoweryTheater, is now cooking meals and making beds for stage passengers on the greatdesert three hundred miles beyond civilization.
Our road, following the valley of the Republican river, is here two thousandthree hundred feet above sea-level. . . . Day's travel fifty-six miles.[166]

Greeley:

[Dated Station 15, Prairie Dog creek.] We have made fifty-six miles since westarted about nine this morning, and our present encampment is on a creek runningto the Republican, so that we have bidden a final adieu to Solomon's Fork, andall other affluents of the Smoky Hill branch of the Kansas. We traveled on the"divide" between this and the northern branch of the Kansas for some miles today,and finally came over to the waters of that stream (the Republican), which we areto strike some eighty miles further on. We

230 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

are now just half way from Leavenworth to Denver, and our coach has been aweek making this distance; so that with equal good fortune we may expect to reachthe land of gold in another week. [167]

STATION 16.-Probably northeast of present Oberlin. [168]

Boyd's Notes:

Station 16-Timber 1ú mile to north, on Sappacreek170
Timber one mile to north, on Sappacreek174
Timber and limestone ú mile to north onbranch176
Sappa creek 20 ft. W. runs north-east then east;cottonwood179½
Creek 5 ft. W. runs south into Sappa creek which is closeto road181½

     Dined at Station Sixteen, kept by a Vermont boy whohas roamed over twenty-seven States of the Union. Near it was encamped a party ofArapahoes, with thirty or forty children playing upon the grass. Those under fouror five years were entirely naked. The older boys wore breech-clouts of buffaloskin, and the girls were wrapped in robes or blankets. All were muscular and welldeveloped. [169]

STATION 17.-Probably on Beaver creek, near present Ludell, Rawlins county.170A less probable location is on Driftwood creek, north of Ludell, near the presentKansas Nebraska boundary. (See the map accompanying this installment.)

Boyd's Notes:

Station 17-on N. bank of Sappa creek187½
Creek 6 ft. W. runs south-east into Sappa creek which is close to road; ash191½
Dry branch; high and very steep banks193
Leave Sappa creek. Road parallel with it for the last 15miles195
Dry creek runs south-east; scattering timber. Water ½mile below197½
Republican about 4 miles north[171]201
Timber on Republican 1 mile tonorth217
Cottonwood and water south of road220½

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 231

South bank of Republican Fork runs east; 200 yards W. and very shoal, sandybottom; banks 3 to 6 ft. high. No timber at this point; no water or timber onroad for the last 26 miles. Lat. 40 deg. 08 min. Long. 101 deg. 27 min. [one milebelow Station 18]221

Richardson:

     Descending an abrupt hill, our mules, terrified bymeeting three savages, broke a line, ran down a precipitous bank, upsetting thecoach. . . . He [Greeley] was soon rescued from his cage, and taken to StationSeventeen, a few yards beyond, where the good woman dressed his galling wounds [172]

Greeley:

     We left this morning Station 17, on a little creekentitled Gouler, [173] at least thirty miles back [from Station 181, and did notsee a tree and but one bunch of low shrubs in a dry water-course throughout ourdreary morning ride, till we came in sight of the Republican, which has alittle-a very little-scrubby cotton-wood nested in and along its bluffs justhere. . . . Of grass there is little, and that little of miserable quality. . . .Soil there is none but an inch or so of intermittent grass-root tangle.
The dearth of water is fearful. Although the whole region is deeply seamed andgullied by water-courses-now dry, but in rainy weather mill streams-no springsburst from their steep sides. We have not passed a drop of living water in allour morning's ride. Even the animals have deserted us.[174]

STATION 18.-Probably just below the forks of the Republicanriver, near present Benkelman, Neb. [175]

     Boyd's letter of May 31, 1859 (Freedom'sChampion, Atchison, June 18, quoted in first installment):

232 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

     From that camp (49 miles from our ferry over theRepublican) our course was nearly due west for 73 miles, at which distance wecrossed the "divide" between Solomon's Fork and Republican Fork; latitude39° 48'; longitude 99° 47' [southeast of present Norton]. Thence ourcourse was North of West till we reached station 18 on the Republican, 221 milesfrom Republican ferry-latitude 40° 8'; longitude 101° 17'. . . .176Thence the road runs in a south-west direction, parallel with the Republican to366 miles, in latitude 39° 8', longitude 103° 27', eight miles east ofstation 24 [a few miles east of present Hugo, Colo.]

Boyd's Notes:

Station 18 on south bank of Republican; scatteringcottonwood222
Branch runs north; timber and water224
Soda over surface of ground228
Latitude 40 deg. 05½ Long. 101 deg. 27 min[177]230
Scattering cottonwood on bank of Republican north of road; soda. Republican 150 yards wide237½
Good water in slough244

dated Denver, May 9, 1859, in Leavenworth Herald, May 28, 1859:

     Leaving the waters of the Solomon, we struckover to those of the Republican, and struck Prairie Dog, Sappa, and Cranmer'screek, near their head, then traveling a long divide of twenty-six miles wereached the main Republican, just above the mouth of Rock Creek, and made StationNo. 18 in a beautiful grove of cotton-woods. . . [178] After leaving No. 18 wekept up on the southern side of the Republican to near its head.

Greeley (dated Station 18, June 2):

     For more than a hundred miles back, the soil hasbeen steadily degenerating, until here, where we strike the Republican, which hasbeen far to the north of us since we left it at Fort Riley, three hundred milesback, we seem to have reached the acme of barrenness and desolation.
I would match this station and its surroundings against any other scene on ourcontinent for desolation. From the high prairie over which we approach it, youoverlook a grand sweep of treeless desert, through . . . which flows theRepublican. . . . [179]

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 233

The same author, dated Station 21:

     Since I wrote the foregoing [quoted above], we havetraveled ninety miles up the south branch of the Republican (which forks justabove Station 18) and have thus pursued a course somewhat south of west. In allthese ninety miles, we have passed just two live streams making in from thesouth-both together running scarcely water enough to turn a grind-stone. In allthese ninety miles, we have not seen wood enough to make a decent pigpen [180]

STATION 19.-On the South Fork of the Republican in Cheyenne county, probably afew miles northeast of present St. Francis. [181]

Boyd's Notes:

Station 19 on south bank of Republican; no timber; Lat. 40 deg. 00 min. Long. 101 deg. 43 min [182]248
Water slightly alkaline in slough249
Lat. 39 deg. 46½ min. Long. 101 deg. 52min.265
Dry branch runs north-west269
Dry branch. runs north-west270

Richardson (entry of June 2)

we continued on by the sandy valley of the Republican, destitute of tree andshrub and barren as Sahara. Spent the night at Station Nineteen. Day's travelsixty-four miles. [183]

Greeley:

     A large Cheyenne village is encamped aroundStation 19, where we stopped last night; and we have been meeting squads of theseand other tribes several times a day. The Kioways are camped some eight milesfrom this spot. They all profess to be friendly, though the Cheyennes have twicestopped and delayed the express-wagons on pretence of claiming payment for theinjury done them in cutting wood, eating grass, scaring away game, etc. Theywould all like to beg, and many of them are deemed not disinclined tosteal. [184]

STATION 20.-On the South Fork of the Republican in Cheyenne county, probablynear the present Colorado line and

234 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

some eight miles northeast of what is now Hale, Colo. Neither Greeley norRichardson mentions this station although the former describes this semi-desertregion in his account of Station 21.

Boyd's Notes:

Station 20 on bank of Republican; no timber271
White sandy limestone274
Branch runs north; good water; a fewcottonwood279
A little timber to right281
Lat. 39 deg. 40 min. Long. 102 deg. 12 min.[185]285
A few small trees to right288
Creek 6 ft. W. plenty of very goodwater289
Republican 1 mile to north290
Republican ½ mile to north293
Republican L/2 mile to north295
Small quantity of timber one mile north on other side of Republican296½
At bank of Republican, 50 yds. wide298

STATION 21.-On the South Fork of the Republican, near present Tuttle, KitCarson county, Colo. (Probably below the Tuttle ranch.)

Boyd's Notes:

Station 21 on bank of Republican. No timber; sandy limestone. Lat. 39 deg. 33½ min. Long. 102 deg. 26 min.[186]300½
NOTE.-(Something has been said about making a cut-off from station 17 to 21. It is thought that water and perhaps timber can be foundat no great distance apart. The branches which we cross, though dry at theRepublican have water in them above.)
Creek 6 ft. W. runs north; good water; Republican ¾ of a mile north. It is nothing,above here, but a wide, dry, sandy bed. Watersprings from the bed at this point and continues below306½
Cross dry sandy bed of Republican, 50 yds. W. runsnorth-east309½
North bank of Republican, dry; hole dug in bed six feetdeep, but no water. Yellow conglomerate bluff to north; has the appearanceof Castle William, Governor's Island, N. Y.316½
Cross Republican. Dry, deep, sandy bed, 100 yards wide;runs east319½
Lat. 39 deg. 23 min. Long. 102 deg. 49 min. Dug 3 feet deep in bed of Republican; no water [187]324

Greeley:

     The bottom of the river is perhaps half a milein average width. Water is obtained from the apology for a river, or bydigging

236 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

in the sand by its side; in default of wood, corrals(cattle-pens) are formed at, the stations by laying up a heavy wall of clayeyearth flanked by sods, and thus excavating a deep ditch on the inner side, exceptat the portal, which is closed at night by running a wagon into it. The tents aresodded at their bases; houses of sods are to be constructed so soon as may be.Such are the shifts of human ingenuity in a country which has probably not a cordof growing wood to each township of land. [188]
Six miles farther up, the stream disappears in the deep, thirsty sands of itswide bed, and is not seen again for twenty-five miles. [189]

Richardson

     At Station Twenty-one where we spent the night, wefirst encountered fresh fish upon our table. Here the enormous cat-fish ofMissouri and Kansas has dwindled to the little horned-pout of New England, lostits strong taste and regained its legitimate flavor. Day's travel fifty-ninemiles.
June 4.-We still follow the Republican which at one point, sinksabruptly into the earth, running under ground for twenty miles and then gushingup again. We saw one thirsty emigrant digging in the dry bed for water. At thedepth of four or five feet he found it. [190]

STATION 22.-About 5ú miles northwest of Seibert, Colo., at thejunction of the express road and a branch of the Smoky Hill trail to Denver (byway of the Platte river). [191]

Boyd's Notes:

Station 22 on south bank of Republican; large spring in bed of river which sinks immediately below329½
Since first striking Republ'n our course has been parallelwith it and our road nearly level. For the last 23 miles there is no wood orwater, but the grass is good. In that distance there are some five miles (notmore in all) of deep sandy road-Smoky Hill route comes in from S. E.-South ForkRepublican comes in from south-west. Conglomerate Bluff to right. N. ForkRepublican¾ mile north. South Fork Republican 1½ milesouth233½ [333½]
Leave road to left and take "cut-off" [192]342
Cross North Fork of Republican; dry, sandy bed 30 yardswide, with occasionally a spring; runs north-east; good grass.For the

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 237

last 13 miles high rolling prairie, little grass and no water; good hard road.
Lat. 39 deg. 15 min. Long. 103 deg. 06 min[193]343
Strike main road; runs parallel with Fork from 343miles346

Richardson:

     After riding twenty-five miles without seeing adrop of water, at Station Twenty-two we crossed the Smoky Hill route which from apoint far south of ours, abruptly turns northward across the Republican to thePlatte. Emigrants who have come by the Smoky Hill tell us they have sufferedintensely, one traveling seventy-five miles without water. Some burned theirwagons, killed their famishing cattle and continued on foot.
     We are still on the desert with its soil white withalkali, its stunted shrubs, withered grass, and brackish waters often poisonousto both cattle and men. Day's travel forty-eight miles.[194]

Greeley:
After describing the subterranean course of the Republican, above Station211-

     At the head of this "sink," the stream disappearsin like manner to that of its emergence. Here is Station 22, and here are aso-called spring, and one or two considerable pools, not visibly connected withthe sinking river, but doubtless sustained by it. And here the thirsty men andteams which have been twentyfive miles without water on the Express Company'sroad, are met by those which have come up the longer and more southerly route bythe Smoky Hill, and which have traveled sixty miles since they last found wateror shade. . . . The Pike's Peakers from the Smoky Hill whom I met here, haddriven their ox-teams through the sixty miles at one stretch, the time requiredbeing two days and the intervening night. From this point westward, the originalSmoky Hill route is abandoned for that we had been traveling, which follows theRepublican some twenty-five miles further.
The bluffs are usually low, and the dry creeks which separate them are often widereaches of heavy sand. . . . There is little grass on the rolling prairie abovethe bluffs. . . . Some of the dry-creek valleys have a little that is green butthin, while the river bottom-often half a mile wide-is sometimes tolerablygrassed, and sometimes sandy and sterile. Of wood, there is none for stretches offorty or fifty miles: the corrals are made of earth, and consist of a trench anda mud or turf wall; one or two stationhouses are to be built of turf if everbuilt at all; and at one station the fuel is brought sixty miles from thepineries further west. [195]

Extract from special correspondence of the St. Louis MissouriRepublican,June 7, 1859:

Denver City, May 20, 1859.

     At the latter point [Station 221 a branch of theSmoky Hill route crosses the Express route, and I found a whole city of canvass,inhabited by weary emigrants who wanted to give them

238 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

and stock a few day's rest, at and aboutthe junction of the two roads. I conversed freely with such as had come via theSmoky Hill route, and they were all unanimous in their denunciations of the same.The Indians had burned off all the early grass, and were themselves congregatedin large numbers along the road and very overbearing and troublesome.
The travelers had an absolute desert of one hundred and fifty miles to cross. ..

[Details of the suffering on this route follow.]

     I found every one of the western stations of theExpress company beset by gangs of half-starved men-mostly of the handcart andwalking gentry-that had consumed their last, days ago, and were now driven toappeal to the feelings of compassion of the employes of the Express company. Andheartily and humanely was this appeal responded to in most cases. Otherwise, theroad would be covered with the bleaching bones of such as had breathed their lastin the merciless wilderness, for want of the means of physical subsistence.[196]

STATION 23.-On the South Fork of the Republican, about 16 miles east and alittle north of present Hugo, Colo.197 Neither Greeley nor Richardson mentionsthis station.

Boyd's Notes:

Station 23 on N. bank of N. [S.l Fork of Republican; springs inbed; limestone and conglomerate crop out of bluff on south side of Fork for thelast 15 miles. Pike's Peak in view, bears south about 70 deg. W. distance about120 miles
Spring in North [S.l Fork of Republican; a mere ravine atthis place352½
Water in same353½
Lat. 39 deg. 00 min. Long. 103 deg. 20 min[198]358
Head of N. [S.l Fork of Republican359½
Top of divide; fine view of Pike's Peak; bears south;70 deg. west; specimens of selenite360
Dry ravine runs south; spring367
Dry ravine runs south; pools of water368½

Villard:

and last, but not least, a full aspect of the veritable snow-browed Pike's Peak,which becomes already visible at station 13 [231-a distance of 100 miles. Itfirst looks like a cloud, but, as one comes nearer, assumes clearer and greaterdimensions, and when arriving on the last ridge before running down into theCherry

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 239

Creek valley, its eastern front is completely revealed to the eye, togetherwith a long chain of peaks, partly covered with snow and partly with pine, andextending in a northward direction as far as Long's Peak. I have seen the Alps ofSwitzerland and Tyrol, the Pyrenees and Appenines, yet their attractions appearto dwindle into nothing when compared with the at once grotesque and sublimebeauty of the mountain scenery upon which my eyes feasted before descending intothe valley above referred to. [199]

STATION 24.-About seven miles northwest of Hugo, Colo., on the Big Sandy (notthe South Fork of the Republican, as claimed by Boyd and B. D. Williams).

Boyd's Notes:

Station 24 on north bank of south Fork of Republican [Big Sandy];runs south-east for some distance; dry sandy bed 80 yds. wide with pools of waterat this point; no timber373½
Cross same fork, runs south then south-east; dry sandy bed100 yards wide; water by digging two feet; willow bushes377
Cross same fork; runs north-east then east; dry sandy bed100 yards wide; large branch comes in from north-west with large pools ofwater; shrub willow 380
Small cottonwood and water at Fork toleft383
Lat. 39 deg. 18 min. Long. 103 deg. 49 min[200]389
Leave south Fork of Republican which runs from south-westtowardssouth-east391
Top of Divide Ferruginous sand stone396

Greeley:

     A ride over a rolling "divide" of some twentymiles, brought us to the "Big Sandy," running south-west to become tributary(when it has anything to contribute) to the Arkansas. Like the Republican, it issometimes a running stream, sometimes a succession of shallow pools, sometimes awaste of deep, scorching sand. A few paltry cotton-woods, a few bunches of lowwillow, may have graced its banks or those of some dry creek running into it, inthe course of the twenty miles or so that we followed up its northern bank.I recollect only that the grass at intervals along its narrow bottoms seemed alittle better than on the upper course of the Republican. One peculiarity of theBig Sandy I had not before observed-that of a thin, alkaline incrustration-mainlyof soda, I believe-covering many acres of the smoother sands in its dry bed. [201]

STATION 25-Located on the west bank of East Bijou creekabout five miles southwest of Godfrey, Elbert county, Colo.

240 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Boyd's Notes:

Creek, dry sandy bed 60 yds. wide; runs north into South Fork of Platte, waterby digging two feet; a few willows and cottonwood -Station 25 on westbank401
Top of hill, sand stone; fine view of Long's Peak as well as Pike's Peak; former bears N. 80 W., latter S. 60 W. [403]Dry branch runs N. pools of good water404
Beaver creek, sandy bottom 12 yds. wide runs north; very good water; a few scattering, small cottonwood and willows407
Small grove of Norway (long leaved or yellow) pine to leftwith spring409
Scattering groves of Norway pine; Lat. 39 deg. 24 min. Long. 104 deg. 10 min. [202] Creek 5 ft. W. runs N. good water, pine411
Top of hill; magnificent view of the whole range of mountains from Long's Peak to Pike's Peak; deep broad valley immediately to west414
Descend 300 feet418½
Bijou creek, 30 yds. W. bluff banks 6 to 10 ft. high, bottom sandy, very shoal, runs east of north; scattering willow and cottonwood; pine one mile east and west.
Top of hill; Ferruginous sand stone, yellow ochre, bright red trap etc., on eastern slope; pine and cedar. No more pine for several miles422
Creek, dry sandy bed 100 yds. W.; water by digging one foot; runs north; bushes; a few cottonwoods one mile north423½
Dry ravine runs N. pools of water425
Creek, sandy bed 15 yards wide; good water runsnorth426
Top of ridge bears north and south427½

Richardson:

     At our dining station, Twenty-five, I met severalold Kansas acquaintances, so dust-covered and sunburnt that for several minutes Idid not know them. . . . Toward evening, Pike's Peak loomed up grandly in thesouthwest, wrapt in its ghostly mantle of snow and streaked by deep-cut gorgesshining in the rays of a blazing sunset

'The seal of God
Upon the close of day.'

     In the northwest Long's Peak was sharply definedagainst a mass of ominous black clouds which rising slowly left behind then ascattered trail, dark and wild as the locks of the storm-god.[203]

Greeley

     At length we crossed its deep, trying sand and leftit behind us [Big Sandy], passing over a high "divide" much cut up by gulliesthrough which the water of the wet seasons tears its way to the Arkansas on thesouth or the Platte on the north, until we struck,

240 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

at five last evening, the first living tributary to the Platte-a little creekcalled Beaver (probably East Bijoul, which I have not seen on any map. It isabout ten miles east of the Bijou, with which it probably unites before reachingthe Platte.
After leaving the valley of Big Sandy, the grass of the uplands becomes better,and is no longer confined to the water-courses.
At Beaver Creek we saw, for the first time in many weary daysfor more than twohundred miles at the least-a clump of low but sturdy cotton-woods, thirty orforty in number. . . . And, six or seven miles further, just as night wasfalling, we came in sight of pines, giving double assurance that the mountainswere at hand. [204]

STATION 26-Probably on Kiowa creek about ten miles north.of present Kiowa, Colo. [205]

Boyd's Notes:

Station 26 on Kioway creek, 10 ft. wide sandy bed, very shoal, good water, runs north; willow bushes; Lat. 39 deg. 29 min. Long. 104 deg. 29 min. [206]
ft. wide; very shoal; sandy bottom, runs north-east; good water; willow bushes430½
Take cut off, leaving road to left433
Dry branch bears N. W. Pools of water; willowbushes433½
Dry branch, sandy bed, runs N. two or three trees and some bushes; pools of water434½
Creek 20 yds. wide, sandy bottom; very shoal, runs north; a few bushes436½
Dry branch runs N. pools of water; a fewbushes439
Dry branch runs N. E.; bushes439½
Creek, dry sandy bed, 10 yds. W. runs N. E.; pools of fine water; scattering cottonwood and pine441
Scattering pine443½
Groves of pine444
Creek, bluff banks 3 to 8 ft. high; sand bed 12 yds. W. runs N. W.; goodwater; scattering pine above; leave pine. Lat. 39 deg. 36 min. Long. 104 deg. 48min [207]446½
Top of hill, Pike's Peak bears S. 10 deg. W.; splendid view of the mountains; a wide valley in the foreground; the lower (black)mountains in the middle, and the high mountains covered with snow in thebackground 449
Pine½ mile tonorth.
Strike old road at Cherry Creek, on road from Santa Fe; creek 10 yds. w.; runs N.W.; sandy banks and bottom; scattering cottonwood;thence parallel with Cherry Creek into Denver City454

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 241

Richardson:

     Supping at Station Twenty-six we made a comfortablebed in the coach, and rolling on at the rate of seven miles an hour, sleptquietly through the night. [209]

STATION 27.-Denver.

Boyd's Notes:

Latitude 39 deg. 49 min.; Longitude 105 deg. 07 min[210] 469

Richardson (entry of June 6, 1859)

     Woke at five, still in motion, and obtained aglorious view of the mountains, their hoary peaks covered with snow and theirbase, thirty miles across the valley into which we were descending, seeming notmore than two miles away. At last we struck the old trail from Santa Fe to SaltLake, rode a mile along the dry bed of Cherry Creek, and at eight this eleventhmorning reached Denver City. . . . During our journey from Leavenworth we havedoubtless passed ten thousandemigrants.

Greeley:

     From the Bijou to Cherry Creek-some forty miles-Ican say little of the country, save that it is high rolling prairie, deeply cutby several streams, which run north-easterly to join the Platte, or one of itstributaries just named. We passed it in the night, hurrying on to reach Denver,and at sunrise this morning stopped to change mules on the bank of CherryCreek.
As to gold, Denver is crazy. She has been low in the valley ofhumiliation, and is suddenly exalted to the summit of glory.[212]

DENVER EXPRESS OFFICE.

     The following Denver Dispatch (dated June4) of the St. Louis Missouri Republican gives an account of the Denveroffice of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company.

     For the first two weeks after the opening of theexpress office in this place, it occupied a log cabin of a rather primevaldescription. A few days ago, however, the headquarters were removed, to a morecivilized abode, consisting of frame, and affording a plentiful supply of light,of which the former windowless haunt had been entirelydestitute.

242 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

     The express company carries, as you areundoubtedly already aware, the United States mail, and their mail department is abranch of their business, of great importance, extent and profit. It is under thesuperintendency of Mr. Martin Field, formerly of the St. Louis, and lately of theLeavenworth City post office. Although but recently arrived, he has alreadysucceeded in systematizing the discharge of his onerous duties, and his officenow presents that perfect mechanism that alone is apt to secure satisfaction tothe public in mail matters. The post office is, of course, a place of generalrendezvous, crowds of emigrants and immigrants, diggers, traders, mountaineers,etc., can always be seen in and about it, retelling their hopes anddisappointments. . . [214]

(Part III-The Platte Route-To Be Published in an EarlyIssue)

Notes

102. J. E. Bromley, route agent from Kearny to Laramie on the Platte river stageline of J. M. Hockaday and company, wrote to his employers as follows (April 28,in St. Joseph, Mo., Weekly West, May 8, 1859): "We are in a very tightplace here [Cotton Wood Springs, Louisa Station]. On the road from the crossingdown, we have five stations that are crammed full of wagons from morning tillnight. . Pike's Peak has turned out to be a humbug, and the road is lined withstarving men; and God knows we have got to give them something to eat as long aswe have it. . . . If you could do something to keep the poor deluded devils fromstarving, you would be doing a kindness to humanity."
103. White Cloud Kansas Chief, May 20, 1859, which remarked that "skiffsloaded with Pike's Peakers, who have had their eye teeth cut, may be seen goingdown the river [Missouri] at almost any hour of the day."
104. Dispatch dated May 14, in the New York Daily Tribune, May 31, 1859. This movement appears to have been an outstanding example of mob hysteria, whichmight afford interesting data on the working of the mass mind." It seems to havebeen motivated by a wild, unreasoning desire to escape the evils thatthreatened-a feeling which was greatly intensified by flight. Like the mob thataccompanies a lynching, the individuals seem to have abandoned all pretense ofconsidering the subject in an objective, reasonable manner.
105. Denver City correspondence, dated May 9, of the Leavenworth WeeklyHerald, May 28, 1859. A letter of D. D. Cook, dated Auraria, May 11, 1859, inthe same issue of this paper, remarked: "I was quite amused at a little incidentthe other day. A large four-horse wagon drove down to Cherry creek, where teamscross from Denver City to Auraria. On its arrival at the Creek one of the partylumped from the wagon and waded in the Creek, rolled up his sleeves, and pulled ahandful of sand. After washing the sand and examining it, and not finding thecolor just as he expected, he turned immediately around and started forthe States. Since their departure we have heard from them on more than oneoccasion. They report the two cities-Denver and Auraria-at war; thathouseburning, horse stealing, murder and plunder is the order of the day; thatthere is no gold in the country, and that it is a humbug. The consequence is thattheir lies have turned an immense number back on the Platte route."106. The issue of April 13, reviewed the whole "humbug," and concluded that therewas "no such route, and no such facilities for taking emigrants to the mines."There was such a company, but they "have no stock on their route, and as yet havemade no arrangements at all to transport passengers or anything else," havingmerely "sent out a company to explore the route over which they propose to runthis great express! !"
107. Issue of May 21, 1859. The obvious unfairness of these assertions isapparent. The Kansas City paper wrongly assigns the Smoky Hill route to theexpress company, a mistake more or less common, but typical of this publication,which could see no good in Leavenworth. The whole subject should be viewed withdue regard to the intense rivalry between towns which characterised theperiod.
108. The Kansas Chief of May 20, 1859, which gives an extended review ofthe whole "swindle," with their repeated condemnation. They blamed the Pike'sPeak publicity campaign, and apparently did not condemn the express company, asdid the Kansas City Journal of Commerce. The issue of June 2 described a trial onthe plains of a "peaker" who was alleged to have circulated a false report ofgold at the mines. As late as June 30 this paper was decrying the reports of goldand believed that when things "exploded" at Denver those interested at that pointsent men into the mountains to bring back reports of great discoveries.
109. In a more or less modified form the suspicion of fraud persisted, probablyencouraged by the fact that many failed at the mines, or at least failed todiscover paying deposits.
110. Leavenworth Weekly Herald, April 30, 1859, which charged that theGazette was alarmed for fear the emigrants would leave St Joseph.
111. St. Joseph Gazette, clipped in the Atchison Freedom'sChampion, May 21, 1859.
112. Rocky Mountain News, May 14, in Leavenworth Weekly Herald,June 4, 1859.
113. See his signed statement, dated Denver City, May 12, 1859, in Henry Villard,"To the Pike's Peak Country in 1859 and Cannibalism on the Smoky Hill Route," inThe Colorado Magazine, Denver, v. VIII, No. 6 (November, 1931), pp. 232,233. Blue was the sole survivor of a party of four, who were forced to resort tohuman flesh as a means of subsistence. A friendly Indian took him to an expressstation, and he rested at Station 25 until able to complete the journey toDenver.
114. Ibid., pp. 225-236; also a reprint by the same author, entitledThe Past and Present of the Pikes Peak Gold Regions (Princeton, 1932).
115. Villard, "To the Pike's Peak Country in 1859 and Canniblism on the Smokey Hill Route," loc cit., p. 234.
116. Leavenworth Weekly Herald, May 28, 1859 (the coaches left Denver May13). Williams prophesied much more favorable news in ten days. He reportedmeeting about 800 persons bound for the mines, and none returning by the expressroad, although about 4,000 had left by way of the Platte.
117. Leavenworth Daily Times, May 30. 1859. The third coach carried J.Heywood, T. A. J. Withrow, W. W. Thompson, Capt. Fickland [Benj. F. Ficklinl, andJ. H. McEwen, four of whom bore gold dust. The trip was said to have beenpleasant, although at a lay-over station the stage drivers refused to accede toCaptain Fickland's request for night driving until after much persuasion.
118. Leavenworth Weekly Herald, June 4, 1859. Both Greeley in hisOverland Journey (p. 71) and Richardson in his Beyond theMississippi (Hartford, 1875, p. 160), describe the wait at Rock creek, wherea number of express coaches and wagons were congregated, until the high waterssubsided. The Leavenworth Daily Times believed the mines "comparativelyunprofitable," and in its issue of June 4 printed a letter of C. Davisson, aspecial newspaper correspondent, who had returned on the last stage with newsthat Denver City and Auraria were about half empty. "Of the gold 1 need saylittle, further than it is now the general belief that failure has been the lotof most if not all, so far, that have sought it. That some have made fair wageson some leads, for a little time, is true; but their success was of shortduration; and it is certainly true that it has been a losing business as ageneral thing.
119. The trip is described in Greeley's Overland Journey, pp. 71-114, witha further chapter on the "Kansas Gold-Diggings" (pp. 115-127); Albert D.Richardson, Beyond the Mississippi, 159-192; and Martha B. Caldwell, "WhenHorace Greeley Visited Kansas in 1859," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v.XI, pp. 115-150.
120. Although it was first announced that a coach would leave daily, in actualpractice the business of the company was far less than would have been requiredfor so frequent service. A departure of one or several coaches at the same timewas more nearly a weekly event. The presence of several vehicles travelingtogether across the plains also made for added safety. At about the time thatmore favorable news began to come from the mines, the Leavenworth DailyTimes announced (June 9, 1859) that thereafter Jones & Russell would runaweekly express to the diggings, starting every Tuesday. A few weeks later thecompany announced that an express would leave daily when coaches are full ofpassengers," but none would leave, except on Tuesdays, unless there were sixpassengers. "One, Two or Three Coaches Will start Every Day if there arepassengers enough to justify."-Daily Times, June 21, et seq.
121. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 159.
122. Ibid., p. 170.
123. Ibid., p. 173. As usual they slept that night in the coach, althoughthe next morning they awoke so stiff and sore that he could not move a musclewithout suffering." However, they continued their journey as usual, up the "sandyvalley of the Republican, destitute of tree and shrub and barren asSahara.."-Ibid., p. 175. Greeley's lameness remained with him for severaldays, even after the completion of the trip at Denver, but he attached no blameto the express company for this accident.
124. Leavenworth Weekly Herald, June 25, 1859-a detailed article on thegold region.
125. Greeley, Overland Journey, pp. 111, 112. "And it was a pleasure tosee, last evening, the many parties of way-worn gold-seekers encamped beside ourway, after their long journey through a woodless region, surrounding great,ruddy, leaping fires of the dead pitch-wood, and eolacing themselves for theirlong privation by the amplest allowance of blaze and warmth.
Be the day ever so warm in the sun's softened glare, the night that follows issure to be chill and piercing, driving the musketoes and buffalo-gnats to theirhiding-places directly after sunset."
126. Ibid., p. 114. Concerning Denver, Richardson termed it "a mostforlorn and desolatelooking metropolis." He further asserted that there were only"five women in the whole gold region. . . The men who gathered about our coach onits arrival were attired in slouched hats, tattered woolen shirts, buckskinpantaloons and moccasins; and had knives and revolvers suspended from theirbelts." Greeley and Richardson lodged at the Denver House, whose occupantsdemanded a speech. "On one side the tipplers at the bar silently sipped theirgrog, on the other the gamblers respectfully suspended the shuffling of cards andthe counting of money from their huge piles of coin, while Mr. Greeley standingbetween them, made a strong anti-drinking and anti-gambling address, which wasreceived with perfect good humor. Beyond the Mississippi, pp. 177,178.
127. Special correspondence of the Leavenworth Daily Times of June 21(Henry Villard), dated Denver, June 10, 1859. Martin Field, in charge of theDenver mail office of the express company, also accompanied the party.-Letter ofFrederick Kershaw, dated Denver City, June 10, in Hannibal, Mo., Messenger, June26, 1859, copied in Hafen, Le Roy R., Colorado Gold Rush, SouthwestHistorical Series, v, X, p. 372. The trip is described by Richardson in hisBeyond the Mississippi, pp. 179-203; also by Greeley in his OverlandJourney, pp. 115-127, and 145-148, and by Villard in his The Past andPresent of the Pike's Peak Gold Regions, pp. 40-62.
128. It is published entire in the Colorado Gold Rush Regions, pp,376-382. The borde papers as a rule copied the manifesto, even though in somecases it ran counter to their beliefs.
Some questioned its authenticity, in particular doubting the signature ofGreeley, whose name carried great weight the country over. Such charges seem tohave been the last refuge of those "sold" on the humbug charge, like the KansasCity Journal of Commerce. The report did not appear in the LeavenworthDaily Times until the issue of June 21, when it was made a part of "OurGold Budget."
129. Beyond the Mississippi, pp. 201 Villard estimated the output of goldas "at least $3,500 per day" (letter cited above).
130. Special correspondence of the Leavenworth Daily Times of June 21,dated Denver City, June 10, 1859. Richardson gives a very graphic picture of thisgathering of some fifteen hundred people (Beyond the Mississippi, p, 183),which he termed "the first mass meeting ever held m the Rocky Mountains." Adetailed account of this same event was published in the Leavenworth WeeklyHerald, June 25, 1859: "He [Greeley] was followed by Mr. Williams who spokeof the high character, objects and designs of Jones & Russell's Express Coman of its ability to fulfill all engagements, and appealed to the people to knowwhether they would sustain a company, that had remained faithful through evil andgood reports, whilst all others had abandoned the field. He was answered by auniversal shout, 'We will! We will!'"
131. Leavenworth Daily Times, June 10, 1859. A copy of the RockyMountain News seemed to substantiate reports of the discovery. Two coachesarrived on the previous day, after a trip of eleven days, with four passengersand $229 in dust. Barring the above letter of an "insider," however, the news wasstill of a discouraging nature-provisions were not to be had, money was a thing"unknown," and emigrants were arriving and departing in about equal numbers allof which prompted more "humbug" comments in the border papers. 132. Letter dated May 31, 1859, in Colorado Gold Rush, pp. 364-366. Fourdays later he wrote to Jones & Russell that he was forwarding by express asumof gold amounting to over $400, and added as his "firm belief that in two weeks Iwill be able to ship you as purchasers on consignments from five to ten thousanddollars [of gold]," and described the mines as "surprisingly rich."-LeavenworthWeekly Herald, June 18.
133. Issue of June 14, 1859-an article entitled "Pike's Peak Redivius."
134. In another column the Times pointed out that an express was about toleave for Denver, which would take "a number of passengers and an immense amountof mail matter. The reaction has already commenced. The tide is again turningtowards the mines, and in a few weeks we may expect an emigration even largerthan . . . early this year." Despite all this, the Kansas City Journal ofCommerce was still continuing its tirades against Leavenworth, which it nowasserted lay "helpless and deserted," the victim of a "false system" which madeit a parasite upon its neighbors. The Leavenworth Times replied (June 16): The dirty little paper, in the dirty little town aforesaid, is ever aping thefrog in the fable. The frog insisted on swelling to ox-ish dimensions, andburst.
135. Ibid., June 21. The White Cloud Kansas Chief of June 30 stillbelieved the golden bubble would finally burst, and rejected the numerousdispatches of the arrival of gold at Leavenworth as largely "bunk." It believedthe Greeley report written at the request of B. D. Williams in order to boost thebusiness of the express company.
136. Issue of June 21. This paper had published "thousands" of an extra editionof June 20, which sold in an "unparalleled" manner.
137. June 8, 1859, the first supply train sent out by Jones A Russell arrived inDenver, loaded principally with groceries. Twenty-five wagons, each drawn by sixsplendid mules that appeared as sleek as when they left Leavenworth, made up thetrain. "It is a real God-send in view of the general scarcity of almost allarticles of trade in this place. "--Special correspondence of the LeavenworthTimes, dated Denver City, June 8, copied in the New York DailyTribune, June 20. A letter dated Denver, June 14, asserted that these goodswere sold mainly at wholesale (chiefly to retailers of Denver, Auraria, andelsewhere). Owing to these large shipments, prices at Denver went downconsiderably-sugar was then only 25¢, coffee 35¢, and flour 15¢per pound-much cheaper than the exorbitant prices previously in effect. DailyTimes, July 4.
138. Ibid., June 21, 1859. At Station 26 they met fifteen of Jones doRussell's express wagons, loaded with corn and provisions for Denver, and atStation 16 Downing's train of 27 wagons, also loaded with provisions for the sameplace.
139. Ibid., June 24, 1859. The transfer of contract and related matters istreated in some detail in 36 Cong., 1 Sess., Senate Reports, v. 2 (Serial1040), No. 259, which concerns the relief of John M. Hockaday and WilliamLiggitt. The change of route to the Platte will be discussed in more detail inthe next and final installment of this article.
140. "The Great Central Route to the Gold Mines of Western Kansas-Notes ofTravel," which are referred to in this article as "Boyd's Notes." This originalnarrative is here republished in part, with further comments by Greeley,Richardson, and Villard. The reader is also referred to the documents includedunder the heading, "Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Route," which accompany"Boyd's Notes" in the publication Overland Routes to the Goldfields, 1859,particularly the annotated diary of Richardson; also the article by Dr. MargaretLong in The Colorado Magazine entitled "The Route of the Leavenworth andPike's Peak Express," v. XII, pp. 186-194, and the more recent book by the sameauthor, entitled The Smoky Hill Trail (Denver, 1943). see, also, the chartaccompanying this installment
141. Reprinted in The Colorado Magazine, v. VIII, pp. 225-236, andentitled: "To the to Pike's Peak Country in 1859 and Cannibalism on the SmokyHill Route." (Hereafter referred as "Pike's Peak Country.")
142. Overland Journey, p. 50. Richardson points out in his Beyond theMississippi (p. 160): "Beyond Easton and Hickory Point we passed hundreds offreight and emigrant wagons stalled in the mud. William H. Russell the chieffreighter of the plains, owns many of them. Last year he employed twenty-fivethousand oxen and two thousand wagons, chiefly in transporting supplies for ourarmy in Utah. He stipulates that any one of his teamsters who whips cattleunmercifully or utters an oath, shall forfeit his wages. Of course the precautionproves ineffective, for there is a logical connection between mud-holes andprofanity." This oath is commonly attributed to Alexander Majors of the firm ofRussell, Majors & Waddell.
143. Overland Journey, p. 51; also Martha B. Caldwell, "When HoraceGreeley Visited Kansas in 1859," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. IX, p.127.
144. This station was at the log store of Sloan & Beaubien, which also servedas the residence of Madore R. Beaubien, pioneer settler of this community. Theson of Jean Baptiste Beaubien, famous French-Indian trader and business man ofDetroit and Chicago, Madore came to Kansas in 1847 and settled on thePottawatomie reserve, passing most of his later life at Silver Lake. He was aleading member of the Pottawatomie tribe, until it was naturalized, and also hada prominent career as a business man.-Unpublished manuscript of Mrs. Emma C.Reicherter, a resident of Silver Lake. For an account of the elder Beaubien andson, who were among the founders of Chicago, see A. T. Andreas, History ofChicago (3 vols., Chicago, 1884), v. I, pp. 84-86.
145. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 160. Because of the swollen state of Rockcreek, Richardson was forced to remain an afternoon and night at Louisville, "acity of three houses. Its hotel affords the inevitable fat pork, hot biscuits andmuddy coffee. The landlady is a halfbreed; and her two daughters with oval faces,olive complexions and bright black eyes the only pretty Indian girls I have everseen."
146. Ibid., p. 161.
147. "Pike's Peak Country," p. 226. Richardson agreed with Villard in thisconclusion, terming Fort Riley "one of our most beautiful military posts," andadded: All the buildings are two stories high, of light limestone resemblingmarble."-Beyond the Mississippi. p. 161. Greeley also praised itslocation, but lamented the two millions of Uncle Sam's money" that had been usedin its improvement. The barracks are comfortable, the hospital large and wellplaced, the officers' quarters spacious and elegant, and the stables mostextensive and admirable."-Overland Journey, p. 72.
148. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 161.
149. "Pikes Peak Country," pp. 226, 227. While at this place Villard "fell inwith some officers from the Fort" who were "celebrating" Easter, and proceeded to"enjoy" the "very last spree for some time to come." Greeley remarked that"Junction has a store, two hotels, and some thirty or forty dwellings, one ofwhich is distinguished for its age, having been erected so long ago as 1858." Thefollowing morning: "A mile or two of progress carried us beyond any road but thattraced only this spring for the Pike's Peak expresses; for ten miles onward, nohouse, no field. no sign of human agency. . . . '-Overland Journey, pp.73, 74.
150. "Pike's Peak Country," pp, 227, 228. In reality the region along the upperRepublican approached a desert area, but of course Villard traversed it early inthe season when water and grass were probably at their best. His detailed accountfollows: "The express route keeps along the divide of the Republican andSolomon's Fork of Kansas River, crossing the heads of the tributaries of thelatter named fork for some distance, then bearing a little northward, crossing,the heads of Prairie Dog, Sappa and Cranmer creeks, tributaries of theRepublican, and striking that river between the 101 and 102 degrees of westernlongitude, it follows the south side of the Republican to a point near itssource; thence striking due west it crosses the heads of Beaver, Bijou and Kiowacreeks, tributaries of the Platte, passing through a beautiful pine Country forsixty miles, and striking Cherry Creek and the Santa Fe Trail twenty miles belowlabovel the former's mouth, and running alongside of it to Denver City, itswestern terminus."-Ibid., p. 227.
151. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 163. "Timber disappearing; only stragglingfringes remain along the creek. . . Began journeying now among the buffalo grass.Met thirty Cheyenne Indians on a begging and stealing expedition, who asked forwhisky and tobacco.
152. Overland Journey, p. 75; also Martha B. Caldwell, "When HoraceGreeley Visited Kansas in 1859," cited above, pp. 132, 133. Some distance belowthis they "passed the last settler on our road to Pike's Peak," who was locatedin a valley of "gloriously rich prairie," and already cultivating seventy-fiveacres of land, with splendid results.
Among the "equipment" furnished the keepers of the several "home" or "eating"stations on the line was one or more milk cows. The Leavenworth Times, May 8,1859, pointed out that eighty such animals had been started west early thatmonth, and added: "We are told that some of these stations are beautifullylocated in spots of choice fertility. Truly, in the ease of the Express route,cultivation and improvement follows closely upon the footsteps of thepioneer."
153. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 163.
154. Overland Journey, pp. 80, 81. Greeley was impressed by the greatherds of buffalo he saw in this vicinity, along the Solomon river. Richardsondescribed the large numbers of antelope, which he regarded as the exact oppositeof the buffalo. "The antelope gallops airily over the hills, with an elasticitysurpassing the fleetest race-horse. Miles away, when his earth-colored body isquite indistinguishable, one sees his white tail fluttering in the breeze like ashred of linen-a perpetual flag of truce to human enemies. Here he ventures nearus, but on the older roads, rifles and shot-guns have made him shy and difficultto approach. From a close view his liquid eyes suggest infinite pathos and morethan human tenderness."-Beyond the Mississippi, pp. 163, 165.
155. Ibid., pp. 165, 166. "Hundreds of deep buffalo trails cross our road;and through the whole afternoon the prairies for miles and miles away, quiteblack with the huge animals, look like bushes covered with ripe whortleberries,or like wood-land afar off." The next day Richardson gave a still more detailedaccount of these animals (pp. 166-168). He later asserted he had seen fortythousand buffalo from one vantage point and estimated that he had observed atotal of a half million on the trip. Greeley thought he had seen a million in oneday.-Overland Journey, p. 87.
156. This and succeeding quotations from "Boyd's Notes" is from the Freedom'sChampion of Atchison, June 25, 1859, cited above. A brief account of theParallel road was included in the first installment of this article (Footnote 55gives a brief resume of the route from Atchison to Station 11), while Boyd'snarrative, as found in Overland Routes to the Goldfields, 1859 (loc.cit., pp. 285-297) gives further details upon the eastern section. (See themap accompanying this installment.)
157. This statement is very confusing but it is clear that. the table of mileageswas computed with the crossing of the Republican as the place of beginning andnot Station 11. The longitude reading for this station appears to be too fareast.
158. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 166. At about this point both Greeley andRichardson describe the large number of disillusioned "Peakers," who werereturning with humbug stories.
159. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 169.
160. Located southwest of present Phillipsburg.
161. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 170.
162. Overland Journey, p. 89. This entire letter of Greeley's was devotedto the buffalo that "darkened the earth around us." He noted that "a party of ourdrivers, who went back seven miles on mules last evening, to help get our rearwagon out of a gully in which it had mired and stuck fast . . . , report thatthey found the road absolutely dangerous from the crowds of buffalo feeding oneither side, and running across it. Greeley stated that the divisionsuperintendent, Mr. Fuller, had a narrow escape from the buffalo a few daysbefore, when they knocked down his mule, and very nearly trampled its rider todeath.
163. Ibid., p. 92.
164. Beyond the Mississippi, pp. 170, 171.
166. A trifle east of Norratur, near the present Norton-Decatur county line.166. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 171.
167. Overland Journey, p. 91. That night they met the eastbound coaches, aweek out from Denver. These coaches had been delayed a day by the begging andstealing propensities of the Arapahoe Indians who were at war with the Pawneesand were encamped along the express company route.
168. Boyd's assertion that there was "timber 1½ miles to north, on Sappacreek," would place this station northeast of Oberlin, although his mileagefigures do not check as closely as to be desired.
169. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 172. Pages 172-175 contain comments uponthe Indians of western Kansas. Greeley did not mention Station 16.
170. Boyd's table of mileages, along with his astronomical observation nearpresent Norcatur, and Greeley's estimate of mileage east from the forks of theRepublican near Benkelman, Neb., are the basis for this location. Boyd's repeatedreference to Sappa creek over a distance of some thirty-five miles cannot beentirely correct. His later allusions to this stream probably should read Beavercreek, which is much closer to the Republican. The Sappa creek of pioneer daysmay have included Beaver creek of today, of which the latter is tributary.
171. In this locality the Republican is far more distant from the north fork ofthe Sappa than ten miles. Even Beaver creek is a good deal farther from thisriver than Boyd's estimate for Sappa creek would place it.
172. Beyond the Mississippi, P. 173. Richardson's description of theaccident to Greeley has already been quoted in his account of the trip to themines. (See p. 216.)
173. This comment of Greeley throws some doubt upon the proper location ofStation 17. The authors are unable to identify "Gouler Creek," but if Boyd'sdescription could be disregarded they would be tempted to locate this stationupon Driftwood creek, which more nearly fits the description of Greeley.
174. Overland Journey, pp. 98, 99. Christian L. Long of Selinsgrove, Pa.,made the trip to the Pike's Peak region in 1859 and kept a diary of his trip. Heleft Leavenworth over the military road and passed through Easton, Winchester,Osawkie, Indianola, Silver Lake, Cross Creek, Eldon, Louisville, Pittsburg,Manhattan, Ogden and Junction City. He spoke of taking the "cut off" at Station17.-MS. diary, Manuscripts division, Kansas State Historical Society. Boyd laterrefers to a cut-off between Stations 17 and 21.
175. In the article entitled "Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Route," whichcontains the travel diary of Albert D. Richardson, with added notes andinterpretations, the editor of Overland Routes to the Gold Fields, 1859(Le Roy R. Hafen) has given data contributed by E. S. Sutton, of Benkelman, Neb.Mr. Sutton states that the field notes of the survey of the fortieth parallel(the Kansas-Nebraska boundary), made in August, 1859, definitely locate the pointwhere the express road left Nebraska, on the South Fork of the Republican. Theyquote the precise point where the road entered that state, about ten miles westof present Cornell, Neb. On the basis of these notes, the Nebraska surveys of1869 and 1872 and a further study of the terrain, Messrs. Sutton and ArthurCarmody locate Station 18 about four miles west of Stratton, Neb. After a studyof the descriptions of Boyd, Greeley and Williams, the authors of this articlefavor the Benkelman location, with the express road entering Nebraskaconsiderably farther west. It must be conceded, however, that it is difficult tomake the details of mileage and astronomical reading agree in this locality. Itis even possible that the point of entrance was near Cornell, Neb., the expressroad making a curve toward the Republican, with Station 18 still located near theforks of that river. On their map of the express route the authors have chartedan alternate road farther east as another possibility.
176. The reader will note that Boyd's longitude reading for a mile below thispoint is 101° 27', which is very close to present Benkelman, Neb. However,his longitude reading for a point nine miles farther southwest is exactly thesame, indicating at least two errors by him in this locality. It seems probablethat Boyd first struck the Republican in the vicinity of Benkelman, aftertraveling in a northwesterly direction from ' Sappa" (probably Beaver) creek.
177. It is very clear that there must be an error either here or at Station 18,although the turn of the Republican to the south apparently lessens itsimportance.
178. Rock creek empties into Arickaree Fork about nine miles west of Benkelman,Neb. This location of Station 18 so far west does not agree with the chiefaccounts. It is possible that Williams made the error of placing Rock creekbefore, instead of after Station 18. In another account Williams stated that hestruck the Republican "near the mouth of Rock creek," which was true, in ageneral way. It is certain that the main route of the express company crossednorthwestern Kansas very close to the southern bank of the Republican.
179. Overland Journey, pp. 98, 100.
180 Ibid., p. 103.
181. Sutton and Carmody place this station about twelve miles northeast of St.Francis, where they have found the remains of an earth enclosure that resemblesthe station ruins. Overland Routes to the Gold Fields, 1859, p. 258. Ifthe Benkelman location is adopted for Station 18, however, the next stoppingpoint probably would be much closer to St. Francis, perhaps a few milesnortheast.
182. This reading is located on the Arickaree Fork of the Republican,which might lead one to believe that for a brief time this station was located inthis locality and was later moved to the South Fork, when Williams straightenedthe route. The chief accounts agree that the express road went down the SouthFork of the Republican, which makes it unreasonable to assume that a diversion upthe Arickaree could have been a permanent arrangement Copies of the originalplats of the federal township surveys are on file in the office of the Auditor ofState, Statehouse, Topeka. These plats show the Jones & Russell Expressroad," (or simply "express road,") closely following the south bank of the SouthFork from Nebraska to the Colorado line.
183. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 175. Richardson also mentions Indianvillages in this locality.
184. Overland Journey, pp. 104, 105.
185. Located in southeastern Yuma county, northwest of the present town of Hale,Colo. The latitude mentioned above seems to be slightly too far north.
186. The chief basis for locating Station 21 at the above point. Dr. Long pointsout that there is water in the Republican at this place, below the junction withSpring creek, but none above for about twenty miles, until in the vicinity ofStation 22 (loc. cit., p. 189).
187. About six miles southwest of Carey, Kit Carson county, Colo.
188. Overland Journey, p. 103.
189. Ibid., p. 107.
190. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 175. Villard also mentions "the suddensinking of the Republican between 21 and 22 into a dry bed of sand, under whichit continues its course subterranecusly to its sources."-"Pike's Peak Country,"p. 229.
191. The authors have charted this route, which passed through Station 22 in anorthwesterly direction, on the basis of the following accounts. It seemsprobable that this trail to Denver by a round-about detour to the Platte was theroad in chief use in early 1859.
192. Evidently Boyd attempted to save time by deviating from or "shortening" theexpress road. Such minor changes appear to have been of frequent occurrence. Dr.Margaret Long points out in her article on the express road that Boyd's "NorthFork" was really the South Fork of the Republican, and his `South Fork is nowcalled the Big Sandy (loc. cit., p. 190).
193. South of Saugus, Colo., near the Lincoln-Kit Carson county line.
194. Beyond the Mississippi, pp. 175, 176.
195. Overland Journey, pp. 107-109.
196. Overland Routes to the Gold Fields, 1859, loc. cit., pp. 272,273.
197. Dr. Long places this station on the Ketchem and Pugsley (K. P.) ranch(loc. cit., pp. 190, 191). This conforms with Boyd's astronomical reading,but not so well with his mileage figures. It seems possible that this stationcould have been some nine miles farther north, on the north branch of the SouthFork, which might explain Boyd's reference to the "North Fork" of theRepublican.
198. The latitude quoted in this reading is clearly too far south. In her articleon the express route Dr. Long identifies many of the streams mentioned byBoyd.
199. "Pike's Peak Country," p. 229. Richardson's entry for June 5 seems to be adescription of the same distant view of Pike's Peak as obtained from Station23:
"     At daylight Pike's Peak more than a hundred milesaway, appeared dim and hazy on the horizon and we began to feel the inspiringbreath of the mountains. Most emigrants were encamping out of respect for theSabbath, and the sore feet of their cattle, which they carefullybandaged."-Beyond the Mississippi, p. 176.
200. Located near Riverbend, Colo., where the Big Sandy makes an abrupt turn tothe southwest.
201. Overland Journey, pp. 109, 110.
202. Near the west fork of Bijou creek in northern Elbert county, Colo.
203. Beyond the Mississippi, Pp. 176, 177.
204. Overland Journey, pp. 110, 111.
205. See the comments of Dr. Long, loc. cit., p. 193.
208. About ten miles north of Kiowa, Colo.
207. Southeast of Denver near the present Arapahoe-Douglas (Colo.) countyline.
208. Villard calls attention to the "beautiful pine groves from 24 up to27."-"Pike's Peak Country," p. 229.
209. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 177.
210. The longitude reading for Denver is incorrect, being too far west.
211. Beyond the Mississippi, p. 177.
212. Overland Journey, pp. 112, 114. Both Greeley and Richardson lodged atthe Denver House, which the latter described as "a long low one-story edifice,one hundred and thirty feet by thirty-six, with log walls and windows and roof ofwhite sheeting. In its spacious saloon, the whole width of the building, theearth was well sprinkled to keep down dust. The room was always crowded withswarthy men armed and in rough costumes. The bar sold enormous quantities ofcigars and liquors. At half a dozen tables the gamblers were always busy, day andevening. One in woolen shirt and jockey cap drove a thriving business atthree-card monte, which netted him about one hundred dollars per day. . . .
-Richardson quotes the gambler's "spiel," Beyond the Mississippi, p.187.
213. Issue of June 15, 1859, quoted in Colorado Gold Rush, loc.cit., pp. 369, 370.
214. In particular see the Reminiscences of General William Lorimer,previously cited, p. 172 et seq. The mail business of the Pike's Peak Expresscompanies will be treated in more detail in the final installment of thisarticle.

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