Kate Mulhall A romance of the Oregon Trail
had traveled in foreign lands as well as extensively in his own; he
was in the prime of life and in good health, a thorough mechanic with
experience in repairing automobiles. Returning to the old homestead
after a long absence, he noticed his father's whitened locks, and saw
that his steps were no longer firm. His mother had changed
comparatively little, though now approaching three score years and
ten.
After passing some weeks at home, consulting with his aunt Sarah and
observing the health of his father and mother, he believed they would
be benefited by a trip away from the homestead over the old Trail to
the grave of his grandmother. "It would be nice to make that trip
next summer, father," Adam said one day while they were strolling
over the farm. "You would not need to turn your hand over to do a
thing; sister Sarah says she could drive one of the automobiles, if
we didn't go too far in a day."
Adam then counselled with his father, mother and Aunt Sarah, and near
the end of the talk the mother said, "I'm ready to go; and now what
do you say, father?"
"I'll think it over tonight," Pelton responded. Aunt Sarah spoke up,
"I'm ready to go, Adam is also, and sister--here's three to one;
let's make it unanimous."
For once Pelton wavered; he wanted to go, but questioned in his own
mind whether he was physically able to stand the trip. "Well, I'll
go, unless {203} Dr. Marshall advises against it," he replied, which,
they all knew the doctor would not; and so the momentous decision
that the trip would be made in the spring, when the maple trees were
in full leaf, was reached.
Next morning at the breakfast table everyone was cheerful, and they
began planning the outfit to convey them, discussing what they would
take along, when they would start and about how long it would take.
Adam said it would require two automobiles at least, and perhaps
three would be better. "What would you want three automobiles for?"
his sister Sarah asked in a rather derisive tone.
"The third one to carry the camp outfit," Adam suggested and added,
"we have three elderly people to care for, you know." "Why not build
a wagon-box on the running-gears of an automobile like the one that
went over to mark the Trail?" Sarah responded in real earnest. She
had been reading about the elderly man's trip in a wagon-box on an
automobile, where he had a cook-stove, ate his frugal meals, and had
room for all his outfit, including a bed; and thought it a jolly good
idea.
"Well, you may laugh if you please," she said to Adam, who at first
was not favorable to the idea, "but there's more in it than you at
first imagine. He had springs to the seat, which could be removed
when he wanted to make the bed, and slept nice and dry away from the
lizards, ticks and fleas we hear about." Sarah had read the story
how at one place the fleas {204} had attacked Mrs. Whitman[1] in such
numbers as to blacken her dress and fairly crazed the good lady.
Nevertheless Adam could not refrain from a hearty laugh at the odd
expression, "wagon-box on the running gear of an automobile," to the
annoyance of his sister, who well knew of the word "chassis" as
applied to motor cars. But an old-time wagon-box as an automobile
top appealed to her imagination, and she carried the simile further
in her mind to the wagon instead of the automobile. After a few more
sallies of wit, only part in earnest, mother Pelton spoke half
reprovingly, "There now, children, don't you think you have carried
this far enough?"
Though Kate, as we first knew her, now Mrs. Pelton a matron of mature
age, spoke of them this way in pleasantry, in her heart she felt and
thought of them as her children, and not as a mature man and woman.
Many a mother carries that feeling to the end of her life; God bless
their memories!
Adam and Sarah had much in common, though each held opinions which
they would stoutly defend when occasion seemed to require it. They
often roamed the fields together, and penetrated the forests in
search of flowers, ferns or shrubs, or to study bird and small animal
life. Sarah had a creditable collection, particularly of flowers and
ferns, while Adam mounted his birds and small animals with his own
hands; both collections, jointly cared for and {205} equally prized
by each, were in one room of the residence.
Sarah was a pronounced "woman's rights" advocate, and a staunch
admirer of Susan B. Anthony, while Adam did not hesitate to call her
a crank, and thought a woman's place in the household instead of the
political arena. On various subjects they usually agreed to
disagree; but when it came to the temperance question or religious
opinions, they were of one mind.
Immediately after breakfast, Adam saddled his horse and rode off
without telling anyone where he was going. Notwithstanding his
jocular attitude toward Sarah's wagon-box idea, he had been impressed
with it and went direct to the automobile shop in the city determined
to investigate. "Yes, it's perfectly feasible," they all said when
he explained what was wanted. One mechanic spoke up, "I saw that old
man's outfit with his stovepipe running through the wagon cover just
as if he was in a house."
Without consulting anyone at home, he ordered the chassis and other
fixtures for two automobiles without the tops, in due time justifying
his precipitate action by the explanation that neither Aunt Sarah nor
his father, or both together, should bear all of the expense of the
trip, as each had expressed a willingness to do. Adam said nothing
that evening as to where he had been or what he had done, but at
breakfast the next morning began teasing {206} Sarah about her
wagon-box on the running gear of an automobile, to prepare the way
for the laugh that was on him; and then came out with the whole story
to the great merriment of all. He could enjoy a joke on himself as
well as on another, and joined heartily in the laugh that followed.
Preparations for the great journey progressed during the winter,
three months before they could cross the first mountain barrier
without encountering snow. Time seemed to pass slowly, for all were
eager to start. Maps were sought, guide-books searched and all
obtainable literature on or about the Oregon Trail read, re-read and
studied. With the lapse of years the old track had become famous and
revered by millions as a battlefield, which indeed it was; a traveler
who had passed over it wrote a description and brief history of it as
follows:
Worn deep and wide by the migration of three hundred thousand people,
lined by the graves of twenty thousand dead, witness of romance and
tragedy, the Oregon Trail is unique in history, and will always be
sacred to the memories of the pioneers. Reaching the summit of the
Rockies upon an evenly distributed grade of eight feet to the mile,
following the watercourse of the River Platte and tributaries to
within two miles of the summit of the South Pass, through the Rocky
Mountain barrier, descending to the tide-waters of the Pacific
through the valleys of the Snake and Columbia, the route of the
Oregon Trail points the way for a great National Highway from the
Missouri River to Puget Sound--a roadway of greatest commercial
importance, a highway of military preparedness, a route for a lasting
memorial to the pioneers, thus combining utility and sentiment.
[1] A fragment of history from the life of Marcus Whitman.
{207}
CHAPTER VIII
THE START FOR THE ROCKIES; RE-DISCOVERY OF THE OLD TRAIL;
RECOLLECTIONS OF BURNT RIVER; ALL SIGNS OF BEN'S GRAVE OBLITERATED; A
GRANITE MONUMENT ERECTED NEAR THE LONE PINE AND WAGON TIRE AT THE
GRAVE OF CATHERINE MULHALL; CLOSING SCENES.
At last the eventful day for the start arrived amid auspicious
circumstances. The maple leaves were full size, pastures green and
the grains were coming up with promises of a bounteous yield. Silver
tips of new growth ornamented the evergreen trees. Many of the
hardier varieties of rose were in bloom, some for more than a month;
the crocus peeped out in March, followed by numerous other early
flowers. Birds had nested, and the mates were busily occupied in
securing food for the ones that kept the little eggs warm, and for
themselves.
The barn on the Pelton homestead reflected the sunlight from its new
coat of paint, but the residence needed no further attention, as a
heavy film of sand had been blown in with each previous application.
The garden fence was given a fresh cover of whitewash, and everything
was looking in the best of condition. Catherine, now a widow with a
large family, arrived to care for the residence and garden {208}
during the absence of the household; and the tenant for the year had
moved into the old dwelling, the first one built, near-by.
At the hour set for the start, all the travelers were in their places
when Adam said that Sarah, whose arms were resting on the steering
wheel of the automobile she was to drive, should take the lead.
Sarah replied, "No"--that Adam ought to have the honor. The
neighbors who had gathered into a group along the roadside to see
them off wondered what they could be waiting for.
Finally mother Pelton asked, "Will you leave it to me?" Both almost
in one breath exclaimed "Yes." "Go ahead with father, Sarah," was
Kate's quick answer; and the start was made amidst a flutter of
handkerchiefs in the assemblage of neighbors, the tooting of horns on
both automobiles and waving of small American flags.
Adam had displayed real genius in providing a convenient outfit. The
automobile with large wagon-size top and high canvas cover was turned
into a living room, with electric lights and a small heater for the
electric iron or to boil water for tea even while they traveled.
Sarah never tired praising Adam for the very convenient arrangement,
and he in turn gave full credit to her for suggesting the wagon-box
that made it possible.
Pelton soon began to recognize the route traveled on his first trip
to Puget Sound, and also when he visited Linda Hardy and returned
home with little {209} Sarah and Bess. Where Sarah had pitched
headlong off the pony's back into the mud, there was now a thriving
village with brick buildings, a fine Court House, two modest but neat
appearing churches and a commodious hotel. They passed through five
such villages on long stretches of road paved like the main highways
of the eastern States.
On the bank of a large river he found an enterprising city with
thousands of busy inhabitants, where at the time of his earlier
visits there was only a scattered village with temporary shanties,
and stumps obstructing the streets. Now there were brick blocks
several stories high in the central business district, and fine
residences in the outlying sections.
No member of the party had ever seen the rift through which this
stream flows between the mountains, and all were astonished at the
wonderful scenery on both sides of it. There were numerous
waterfalls, one with a perpendicular drop of nearly a thousand feet,
and patches of snow on a background of green, making a vista of
surpassing beauty.
A few days later they came upon the track followed by the Mulhall
outfit half a century before; and Kate quickly recognized the
locality as they approached a second range of mountains. Where only
roving bands of Indians were seen as they journeyed slowly toward the
west on the first trip, vast fields of grain were now growing; and
instead of a few tepees, the dwellings of civilized people dotted
{210} the landscape. A flourishing village with substantial and
well-kept surroundings evidenced the thrift and comfortable
environment of the inhabitants.
The party had just passed through what seemed a desert land,