Rock Bluff, February 9, 1865

              "...We had a good trip until we got to St. Joseph and from there to Nebraska City a pretty hard one. We left Steubenville at twelve o'clock on Monday and went from there up to Rochester there got a through ticket to Chicago...and left there at twelve that night we got to St. Joseph about ten o'clock Thursday morning ... we then hired a wagon to come to Nebraska City there was nine of us six Dutch four men two women and a baby they stopped at a little town down the river apiece below Nebraska City. It rained the night before we left St. Joe and the first day it was awful muddy we had two mules and two horses and nearly stuck. The first night after we left it froze up hard and then we had the roughest ride ever I had...then we hired a buggy to come up to Rock Bluff...the Indians have been very bad on the plains this winter they burnt Jewelsburg not long ago and have killed a great many. I saw a man that had three arrows shot into him. But the trouble may be all settled before Spring..."

Bitter Creek Aug. 24^th, 1865

               "...We are still about two hundred and twenty-five miles from Salt Lake City and in the roughest country I ever saw. There is no grass in these parts and no water fit to use. We have had very hard traveling for some time the sand and dust is half way to the hub in some places. We have had tolerable fair wether [sic] on the trip it was right cold at night coming through the mountains and very hot in day time. We saw plenty of snow the beginning of August coming through Bridgers pass. We had hard work to keep warm at night but with two Buffalo robes, two blanket and three overcoats we got along. We had a gay old time with the Indians coming up pole creek the first we saw of them we had just crossed a creek and the two rear wagons had stuck in a mud hole when they came yelling and whooping down over the bluff. We being taken by surprise had to leave the two wagons. They took the covers off, and took clothes and blankets, belonging to three of the boys also their pistols which were in the wagons and about one hundred and twenty dollars ... besides some other provisions. But we corralled the rest of the wagons and drove them away. I had my pleasure of trying my gun on them... We traveled on then for a few days without seeing anymore but when we got pretty near to the station at Little Laramie we saw it was on fire and the red devils were prancing around there at a great rate. We corralled and went down we found two wagons deserted, some of the cattle killed, and an old lady of about seventy years of age lying on the road with an arrow shot into her , her throat cut from ear to ear, her scalp taken and a spear hole in her side, up the road a piece there was another woman scalped her throat cut her arms and legs cut off and her body cut open, they also burnt three wagons there and killed several men , cutting them all to pieces. I saw one man who was out hunting at the time of the attack he had a Henry rifle...he was attacked by nineteen Indians he shot five ponies, killed three Indians and wounded three others and got safe back to camp..."

Scarce letters written on the trail describing some of the vicissitudes of western emigration.