Part 1 (1/2)

A Mountain Boyhood

by Joe Mills

CHAPTER ONE

GOING WEST

Father and mother settled on the Kansas prairie in the early fifties

At that tihbors were twenty es supplied the vast unsettled region A few supplies were freighted by wagon However, little was needed froame Myriads of prairie chickens were almost as tame as domestic fowls Deer stared in wide-eyed amazement at the early settlers

Bands of buffalo snorted in surprise as the first dark lines of sod were broken up Droves of wild turkey skirted the fringes of ti in wonder at the first log cabins of the pioneers

In :

June, 1854

Drove through from Iowa to Kansas by ox team Located four days' drive south of Portsmouth Not much timber here

Later Kansas City

October, 1854

Just returned froht, a day's drive away Took the chickens and cow along and stayed several days

Father told ot ”settled up” He laughed heartily when he said this It is quite true nevertheless; as soon as a region becaain into the unknown They loved the frontier--it held adventure, hazard always, mystery, ofttimes, romance, life Theyarm of the law did not penetrate their wilderness fastnesses Their experience--so numerous books cannot hold thee that old rush of '59 It called them once more into the farther wilderness, the vaster unknown

When news of the finding of gold in the Rockies caions of adventurers trailed ard The few roads that led across the rolling prairies to the Rockies were soon deep-cut Wagons trains strung out across the treeless land like huge, creeping serpentslazily in the sun Joyfully the adventurers went--happy, courageous

They were the vanguards of civilization, pushi+ng ever to the West

To old rushes were over; the buffalo bands had passed for the last ti events were still fresh in thehours were spent in talking over and co Long's Peak, the eastern sentinel of the Rockies--of Estes Park, teeht then that I had been born too late--that all the big things in the world were past history I feared then that even the Rockies would lose their wildness before I could explore theht and sound of the farm where I was born, a number of Civil War skir time of the early sixties was perhaps the worst place in all the world to live Raiding parties plundered on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri line My mother watched the battle of Mine Creek fro by, and prayed fervently as the tide of battle swayed back and forth My father was fighting in that battle These frontier conflicts were still the favorite topics of conversation at neighborhood gatherings when I was a little boy I listened breathlessly to theination

Of all the tales recounted around our fire, I loved that of the gold rush of '59 best--my father and mother had participated in it--and I'm sure that story moved me ons, in the beginning of the journey, forether for mutual protection As they neared the Rockies, they scattered, each party following its individual route Late in the sue, Colorado, hed less than one hundred pounds, alone drove the pony team back across the plains to eastern Kansas Many weeks were spent en route Soons; then resu southward, literally covered the prairie--at times, so dense were their ranks, o by

One experience of this trying trip, often related byadht beneath some cottonwoods beside a wide, shallow stream,” father would say, ”and I was unable to on Your ot supper Shortly after dark, and before supper was ready, a dozen Indians filed sole the fire

They said nothing, but followed your mother's every movement atchful eyes If your mother tasted the brew in the brass kettle, every Indian eye followed her hand, and every Indian licked his lips eagerly The brass kettle was about the only cooking utensil we possessed, and your ht the kettle held a savory stew of buffalo meat When the steas done, youra few seconds--while her back was turned--the kettle vanished Froon I saw an Indian reach out stealthily and slip it beneath his blanket The nexteyes And there, hundreds of miles from a settlement, with no help at hand, she defied a dozen Indians In spite of the fact that she weighed just ninety-two pounds, she swept around the circle slapping the surprised braves, pulling their hair and de soave his blanket a jerk