goldfields

From John Bidwell’s Journal:

Tuesday, 8th. There were 8 or 10 buffalo killed today; but not one-tenth of the meat was used; the rest was left to waste upon the prairie. In the afternoon we passed the confluence of the N. & S. forks of the Platte river & encamped, having come about 18 miles; many hundreds of buffaloes were seen at this place.

The scenery of the country on the Platte is rather dull and monotonous, but there are some objects which must ever attract the attention of the observant traveler; I mean the immense quantity of buffalo bones, which are everywhere strewed with great profusion, so that the valley, throughout its whole length and breadth, is nothing but one complete slaughter yard, where the noble animals used to graze, ruminate and multiply in uncounted thousands–but they are fast diminishing. If they continue to decrease in the same ratio that they have for the past 15 or 20 years, they will ere long become totally extinct. It has been but a few years since they left the frontiers of Missouri, and are now fast retreating towards the Rocky Mountains.

The Indians are anxious to preserve them, and it is said of them that they never kill as long as they have any meat remaining, but behold with indignation the shameful and outrageous prodigality of the whites, who slaughter thousands merely for their robes and leave the meat, which is far more delicious than that of tame cattle, to waste or be eaten by wolves and vultures.

When you think that the massive slaughter of the American bison had only just begun, and that the great Gold Rush migration, and the building of the railroad, was yet to come, you realize how prescient John Bidwell was when he foretold the extermination of the buffalo. Those mighty herds would be brought to the edge of extinction before the slaughter ended and the rescue began.

Saturday, 5th. Started early to get clear of our red visitors. Descried a large herd of buffalo on the opposite side of the river–saw several boats descending the river, laden with fur, robes, etc. They belonged to the American Fur Company–one of our Company, E. Stone, returned with them.

The latter part of the day was very inclement, high winds, dark clouds rushed in wild confusion around and above us. Soon with amazement we saw a lofty waterspout, towering like a huge column to support the arch of the sky; and while we were moving with all haste, lest it should pass over us and dash our wagons to pieces, it moved off with the swiftness of the wind and was soon lost among the clouds. Rain & hail succeeded, the largest hailstones I ever saw. Several were found, an hour after the sun came out bright & warm, larger than a turkey egg.

Another one of the emigrants, James John, described this same storm:

There came up a storm in the afternoon. The wind blew very hard and on the opposite side of the river a tremendous hurricane. We saw trees flying on the air and water blown our of the river a high apparently as the clouds. After the storm abated we traveled about one mile and found hail stones as big as goose eggs.

Tornadoes, hailstorms, and wild weather are nothing new to the Great Plains, but this was the first time these Americans had seen weather quite so spectacular.

From John Bidwell’s Journal:

June. Tuesday, 1st. This morning we hastened to leave our miserable encampment and proceeded directly north, we reached Big Platte river about 12 o’clock. The heat was uncommonly oppressive.  I here discovered the ground was in many places hoary with Glauber Salts, or at least I was unable to distinguish them by taste. This afternoon we had a soaking shower, which was succeeded by a heavy hailstorm.

Glauber Salts are sodium sulfate, an inorganic chemical which today is used in the manufacture of detergents and in paper pulping. In Bidwell’s day it was used as a laxative.

About the hailstorm, the Rev. Williams wrote: “At 2 o’clock commenced a most tremendous bad storm, with wind, which blew down most of the tents, accompanied with rain and lightning and thunder almost all night. I slept but little, the ground being all covered with water. That night dreadful oaths were heard all over the camp ground. O the wickedness of the wicked!” Poor Rev. Williams found it very trying to travel “in the midst of an ignorant and hard-hearted people.”

Bidwell continues his journal entry:

Wonderful! This evening a new family was created! Isaac Kelsey was married to Miss Williams, daughter of R. Williams. The marriage ceremony was performed by the Rev. Pr. Williams, so we now have five families, if we include a widow and child.

Miss Winifred Williams was the daughter of Richard Williams and his wife, whose name is not recorded. Isaac Kelsey, who was also known as Zedidiah, was one of the four Kelsey brothers on the trip. He and Samuel went to Oregon, and Benjamin and Andrew went to California. Isaac was born in 1818, making him one year older than John Bidwell, and 22 or 23 years old when he married on the trail. Very little else is known about the young couple and their further adventures.

From John Bidwell’s Journal:

Monday, 31st. This morning about 10 o’clock we met six wagons with 18 men, with fur and robes on their way from Ft. Larimie [sic] to St. Louis. Ft. Larimie is situated on Larimie’s fork near its junction with the N. fork of Platte, and is about 800 miles from Independence. [So their guide, Thomas Fitzpatrick, must have told Bidwell.] The wagons were drawn by oxen and mules–the former looked as though they received a thousand lashes every day of their existence! The rusty mountaineers looked as though they never had seen razor, water, soap, or brush. It was very warm, and we travelled till dark before we were able to reach water, and then it was not fit to drink, and then we could not procure any wood, grass scarce.

This illustration by Frederic Remington shows two mountaineers as Bidwell saw them, without “razor, water, soap, or brush.”

The company had left the Kansas River and traveled up the Little Blue, and at this date were situated just beyond the source of the Little Blue and not yet at the Platte River, which they would follow until they reached Ft. Laramie.

The “rusty mountaineers” that Bidwell’s group met were working for one of the fur-trading companies that flourished in the western territories during the first half of the 19th century. St. Louis was the marketplace and supply point for the fur traders and mountain men, and from that point the buffalo robes and beaver pelts were shipped to the East Coast and Europe.

On May 27, 1864 John Bidwell arrived in New York City. He had traveled via the Isthmus of Panama from San Francisco to New York; the trip took a little over 3 weeks. He kept a journal with very brief entries.

He went East as a delegate of the California Republican Party. The national party at this time was called the National Union Party and was an amalgam of the majority of the Republicans plus Northern Democrats who favored the war. The convention, which was held in Baltimore, quickly nominated Abraham Lincoln for a second term. They also replaced Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin with War Democrat Andrew Johnson. Although Bidwell does not mention it in his journal, he was part of the delegation that went to the White House to announce the nomination to President Lincoln.

Besides attending the convention, Bidwell was also eager to go to the front and meet his hero, General Ulysses S. Grant. He was lucky enough to sleep in Grant’s tent and see the general at work “up close and personal.”

Sun. May 29.
Went to hear Henry Ward Beecher – In evening went to hear Dr. Chapin.
[Edwin Hubbell Chapin, Universalist Church]
Mon. May 30.
Left New York for & arrd at Washington D.C. –
May 31 – June 5.
[No entries]
Mon. June 6.
Went to Baltimore –
Tues. June 7.
Convention met –
Wed. June 8.
Convention closed its labors nominating Abraham Lincoln for President
and Andrew Johnson for Vice President, and adjourned.
Thurs. June 9.
Went to Washington – Saw Secy of War
Fri. June 10.
Remained at Washington – obtained passes to go to the front –
Sat. June 11.
Left for the front 10 a.m. on mail boat Lizzie Baker.
Sun. June 12.
Arrd at the White House 9 1/2 a.m.- At 10 1/2 a.m. set out for Gen. Grant’s
and arrived 2 1/2 P.M. –
Mon. June 13.
Left 7 a.m. Gen. Grant’s headquarters, for the White House.

General Grant as Bidwell would have seen him.

this is what John Bidwell’s wagon and oxen would have looked like.

From John Bidwell’s Journal:

Thursday, 27th: Started late, being detained at repairing the wagons. The day was warm, but the evening mild and pleasant. Encamped in a commodious valley, well-watered by a beautiful little stream which glided smoothly through the scattering grove, come about 15 miles.

Sounds like a typical camping trip: a little delay with the vehicles, but altogether a pleasant day and a lovely camping spot.

Friday, 28th: Started about sunrise, travelled about 5 miles and stopped to take breakfast. The heat was oppressive and we were compelled to go 20 miles farther before we came to either wood or water. The stream on which we camped is a fork of the Kanzas and is well known to all the mountaineers, by the name of the Big Blue; an antelope was killed.

They are in the northeast corner of Kansas, traveling toward Nebraska. It still sounds like a typical camping trip: the weather is hot and they have to go farther than they expected to find good accommodations.

Bidwell’s Journal:

Sunday, May 23rd: All the oxen were gone this morning excepting nine. There was considerable complaint among the company, some saying at this slow rate of traveling we would have to winter among the Black Hills, and eat our mules etc. We, however, made a start about 9 in the morning, proceeded about nine miles and stopped to wait for Chiles’ wagon which overtook us about 5 P.M.; 14 Pawnees were seen by the wagon, well armed with spears etc. It was supposed they were on an expedition against the Kanzas.

Joseph Chiles was a member of the Western Emigration Society, but a little behind the others in getting started, and had to do some catching up. Once he and the men with him got with the main party, they were probably able to make better time, although the trip was slow going. Fifteen to twenty miles a day was the best they could do. They wouldn’t have to winter in the Black Hills, but the mules were another matter (and meal).

Friday, 21st. Our oxen left us last night, and it was 9 o’clock before we were all ready to start, passed a considerable stream called Vermillion, a branch of the Kanzas. On its banks were finer timber than we had heretofore seen, hickory, walnut, &c. &c. The country was prairie, hilly and strong; we passed in the forenoon a Kanzas village, entirely deserted on account of the Pawnees, [we] encamped by a scattering grove, having come about 15 miles.

On the 19th the emigrants had met some well-armed Kansas (Kaw or Kanza) Indians. who were expecting an attack by the Pawnees, in retaliation for an attack by the Kansas on a Pawnee village a short time before. The Kaw and the Pawnee were traditional enemies whose hostility had been intensified by pressure from the westward movement of American settlers.

The fear of meeting hostile Indians was one of the chief concerns of the members of the Bidwell-Bartleson party. Under the guidance of Thomas Fitzpatrick, who was well-acquainted with the Plains Indian tribes, they were able to avoid coming between rival native bands.