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In the Early Days Along the Overland Trail in
Nebraska Territory, in 1852.

BY

GILBERT L. COLE,

1905.

COMPILED BY MRS. A. HARDY.

Press of
FRANKLIN HUDSON PUBLISHING COMPANY,
KANSAS CITY, MO.


[Illustration: GILBERT L. COLE.]


COPYRIGHT, 1905,
BY GILBERT L. COLE,
BEATRICE, NEB.




TESTIMONIALS.


A true story plainly told, of immense historical value and fascinating
interest from beginning to end.

DR. GEO. W. CROFTS,
Beatrice, Nebraska.


I have read every word of "In the Early Days," written by Mr. Gilbert L.
Cole, with great interest and profit. The language is well chosen, the
word-pictures are vivid, and the subject-matter is of historic value.
The story is fascinating in the extreme, and I only wished it were
longer. The story should be printed and distributed for the people in
general to read.

July 27, 1905.
C. A. FULMER,
_Superintendent of Public Schools_,
Beatrice, Neb.


At a single sitting, with intense interest, I have read the manuscript
of "In the Early Days." It is a very entertaining narrative of
adventure, a vivid portrayal of conditions and an instructive history of
events as they came into the personal experience and under the
observation of the writer fifty-three years ago. An exceedingly valuable
contribution to the too meager literature of a time so near in years,
but so distant in conditions as to make the truth about it seem
stranger than fiction.

REV. N. A. MARTIN,
_Pastor, Centenary M. E. Church_,
Beatrice, Neb.


NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
LINCOLN, Nebraska, July 28, 1905.

_To whom it may concern_: The manuscript account of the overland trip by
Mr. Gilbert L. Cole of Beatrice, Nebraska, in my opinion is a very
carefully written story of great interest to the whole public, and
particularly to Nebraskans. It reads like a novel, and the succession of
adventures holds the interest of the reader to the end. The records of
trips across the Nebraska Territory as early as this one are very
incomplete, and Mr. Cole has done a real public service in putting into
print so complete a record of these experiences. I predict that it will
find a wide circulation among lovers of travel and of Nebraska history.

Very sincerely,

JAY AMOS BARRETT,
_Curator and Librarian Nebraska
State Historical Society_,

Author of "Nebraska and the Nation";
"Civil Government of Nebraska."


EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
LINCOLN, Nebraska, July 28, 1905.

_To whom it may concern_: It gives me great pleasure to say that the
publication, "In the Early Days," written by Mr. Gilbert L. Cole, of
Beatrice, Nebraska, is a very interesting and profitable work to read.
It bears upon many subjects of great historical value and no doubt will
prove a very interesting book to all who read it and I take pleasure in
recommending the same.

Very respectfully,
JOHN H. MICKEY,
_Governor_.


_To whom it may concern_: It is with pleasure I write a few words of
commendation for the book written by Mr. Gilbert L. Cole, of Beatrice,
Nebraska, entitled "In the Early Days." It is well prepared and full of
interest from beginning to the end. It is of great value to every
Nebraskan.

_July 28, 1905._
D. L. THOMAS,
_Pastor Grace M. E. Church_,
Lincoln, Neb.


An interesting, thrilling and delightful bit of prairie history hitherto
unwritten and unsung, which most opportunely and completely supplies a
missing link in the stories of the great Westland.

MRS. A. HARDY,
_President Beatrice Woman's Club_,
Beatrice, Neb.


BEATRICE, NEB., July 30, 1905.

I have just read "In the Early Days," by Col. G. L. Cole, and I find it
an interesting and instructive narrative, clothed in good diction and
pleasing style. Few of the Argonauts took time or trouble to make note
of the events of their journey and our California gold episode is
remarkably barren of literature, a fact which makes Col. Cole's book
doubly interesting and valuable.

M. T. CUMMINGS




CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.--Setting up Altars of Remembrance,             13

CHAPTER II.--"God Could Not Be Everywhere,
and so He Made Mothers,"                                  23

CHAPTER III.--"But Somewhere the Master
Has a Counterpart of Each,"                               32

CHAPTER IV.--Our Prairies are a Book
Whose Pages Hold Many Stories,                            41

CHAPTER V.--A Worthy Object Reached For
and Missed is a First Step Toward Success,                51

CHAPTER VI.--"'Tis Only a Snowbank's Tears, I Ween,"      58

CHAPTER VII.--We Stepped Over the Ridge
and Courted the Favor of New and Untried Waters,          67

CHAPTER VIII.--We Had No Flag to Unfurl,
but Its Sentiment Was Within Us,                          77

CHAPTER IX.--We Listened to Each Other's
Rehearsals, and Became Mutual Sympathizers
and Encouragers,                                          87

CHAPTER X.--Boots and Saddles Call,                       98

CHAPTER XI.--"But All Comes Right in the End,"           108

CHAPTER XII.--Each Day Makes Its Own
Paragraphs and Punctuation Marks,                        123




INTRODUCTORY.


If one is necessary, the only apology I can offer for presenting this
little volume to the public is that it may serve to record for time to
come some of the adventures of that long and wearisome journey, together
with my impressions of the beautiful plains, mountains and rivers of the
great and then comparatively unknown Territory of Nebraska. They were
presented to me fresh from the hand of Nature, in all their beauty and
glory. And by reference to the daily journal I kept along the trail, the
impressions made upon my mind have remained through these long years,
bright and clear.

THE AUTHOR.




IN THE EARLY DAYS ALONG THE OVERLAND TRAIL IN NEBRASKA TERRITORY,
IN 1852.




CHAPTER I.

SETTING UP ALTARS OF REMEMBRANCE.


It has been said that once upon a time Heaven placed a kiss upon the
lips of Earth and therefrom sprang the fair State of Nebraska.

It was while the prairies were still dimpling under this first kiss that
the events related in this little volume became part and parcel of my
life and experience, as gathered from a trip made across the continent
in the morning glow of a territory now occupying high and honorable
position in the calendar of States and nations.

On the 16th day of March, 1852, a caravan consisting of twenty-four men,
one woman (our captain, W. W. Wadsworth being accompanied by his wife),
forty-four head of horses and mules and eight wagons, gathered itself
together from the little city of Monroe, Michigan, and adjacent country,
and, setting its face toward the western horizon, started for the newly
found gold fields of California, where it expected to unloose from the
storage quarters of Nature sufficient of shining wealth to insure peace
and plenty to twenty-five life-times and their dependencies. As is usual
upon such occasions, this March morning departure from home and friends
was a strange commingling of sadness and gladness, of hope and fear, for
in those days whoever went into the regions beyond the Missouri River
were considered as already lost to the world. It was going into the dark
unknown and untried places of earth whose farewells always surrounded
those who remained at home with an atmosphere of foreboding.

Nothing of importance occurred during our travel through the States,
except the general bad roads, which caused us to make slow progress.
Crossing the Mississippi River at Warsaw, Illinois, we kept along the
northern tier of counties in Missouri, which were heavily timbered and
sparsely settled. Bearing south-west, we arrived at St. Joseph,
Missouri, on the first day of May.

The town was a collection