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           CROSSING THE PLAINS

              DAYS OF '57


  A NARRATIVE OF EARLY EMIGRANT TRAVEL
          TO CALIFORNIA BY THE
             OX-TEAM METHOD

                  BY

          WM. AUDLEY MAXWELL



         COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
          WM AUDLEY MAXWELL



       SUNSET PUBLISHING HOUSE
         SAN FRANCISCO MCMXV



[Illustration: "They started flight" (See page 119.)]




CONTENTS



                                                                  PAGE

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS                                             VI

  FOREWORD                                                         VII

  CHAPTER I. Forsaking the Old, in Quest of the New. First
           Camp. Fording the Platte                                  1

  CHAPTER II. Laramie Fashions and Sioux Etiquette. A Trophy.
           Chimney Rock. A Solitary Emigrant. Jests and Jingles     13

  CHAPTER III. Lost in the Black Hills. Devil's Gate. Why a
           Mountain Sheep Did Not Wink. Green River Ferry           31

  CHAPTER IV. Disquieting Rumors of Redmen. Consolidation for
           Safety. The Poisonous Humboldt                           49

  CHAPTER V. The Holloway Massacre                                  62

  CHAPTER VI. Origin of "Piker." Before the Era of Canned Good
           and Kodaks. Morning Routine. Typical