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Pawnee Nation June 1st 1850

Dearest Mother

I eagerly embrace the first opportunity that has been afforded for weeks, to give you an intimation of 
our progress towards our new home, the El Dorado of the Pacific.  I should have written oftener but I 
have been so closely employed every moment since we left St. Joe. that it has been absolutely 
impossible for me to write to any one.  You, dear Mother are entitled to the first lines that I can pen and 
this I have not forgotten[.]   With the exception of a scrawl in pencil which I sent to Fanny from the 
Western bank of the Mo. at St. Jo. & a business letter to Paris I have not written a word to a mortal since 
we crossed the river[.]  Even the daily journal which I have been keeping has been until a day or two 
past, a week in arrears and were it not for the blessing: of a violent storm which compels us to stop and 
affords us a little rest, I should not be able to pen a word.  I am disappointed in only this one point, -- 
leisure to write my friends and rest a little occasionally.  I did think that it would sometimes be the case 
that we could find time to write to all who take any interest in our success, but I was much mistaken.  
You probably find it difficult to conceive such a state of things, but I will try to show you how it is.  There 
are six horses to feed, rub, and harness; -- breakfast to cook, and every second morning our heavy 
waggon to grease.  This occupies four of us till sun an hour high.  Then the order to "roll out" is given 
and we take up the toil-some march.  At St. Jo. we loaded our two extra ponies which we  

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kept to ride, with two hundred pounds of flour each, and of course were obliged thence forward to foot 
it.  It keeps us industriously engaged to keep up with the wagons and we therefore have no time to stop 
and write while the trains pass on. We travel steadily till 12 when we halt, graze our horses an hour, and 
take a lunch.  By the time we are through eating it is time to start[.]  No opportunity for writing here.  
We travel till sun an hour high then select a camping place, gather wood, bring water, bake bread for 
the next day, get supper, unharness, water[,] curry, feed and picket out our horses.  It is then half past 9 
or ten o'clock and nature demands sleep.  Sleep till 4 A.M. when day breaks, and the same round 
commences again.  Thus you see it is quite impossible to snatch a moment's leisure.  Even when our 
guns get out of repair, we hardly have time to put them in order for self defense.  We have travelled 
every day since we left St. Jose. - on the 16th ulto. - not even excepting the two Sabbaths that have 
intervened.  Though it is the wish and intention of a majority of the company, to rest on that day, yet 
circumstances induced them to break over this determination.  The first Sunday we were encamped 
among the Fimahoe and Iowa Indians, who crowded round our camp in such numbers, that though 
professedly friendly we were fearful they might lay hands on our horses during the night, and deemed it 
advisable to leave them.  The next or last Sunday, the crowds of emigrants were so immense that we 
determined to push on and pass as many of them as possible, and thus were obliged to forget for 
another weary period of seven days, the rest and quiet which we so much needed.
  
June 2nd[.]  This is Sunday and I have taken up my 

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pen to finish the letter which I commenced yesterday, not knowing when another opportunity will offer 
itself.  The rain ceased as I finished the last page and we took up the line of march.  Today, for the first 
time since leaving a Christian land we have stopped to rest and recruit our horses.  People in the States 
may think much of the blessings of the Sabbath, but no one can appreciate them so well as the 
California Emigrant.  We are encamped in the Valley of the Platte, about 400 miles from St. Joseph and 
eighty miles west of Fort Childs as it was formerly called and about 600 from Shelby.  The weather has 
been most delightful generally and the roads excellent.  We have had a far more favorable time for 
travelling than the emigrant who crossed last year, and at the rate we have progressed so far, will be in 
Sacramento City in 80 days from leaving St. Joe.  This however we do not expect as we shall reach the 
mountains in about two or three weeks more and then cannot travel so rapidly.  We will be well 
satisfied to reach the Sacramento in 100 days from St. Jo.  We think if no accident happens that we can 
accomplish this very easily.  Our ponies stand the trip admirably, -- all but one of them having been 
constantly improving.  We are not pushing them however, and do not intend to drive them faster than 
their natural gait till we get to the mountains.  They will then be in good order and if we have to make a 
rush, will be all ready to enter into it.

We have fallen in with a couple of waggons from Ohio, and one from Illinois, with a complement of 
fourteen men, which swells our force to twenty.  We have no regular organ- 

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ization but get along very well without any.  Though we are in the heart of the Pawnee Nation we fear 
no danger, as they never attack a train which is cautious and watchful.  We have four guards out every 
night, -- two standing together, half the time.  By this arrangement, each man has to stand but about 3 
or 4 hours every fifth night, and after a little practice, it is no great hardship.  In my opinion, if we have 
had any specimen as yet of California life, the hardships and difficulties of this trip have been greatly 
magnified.  Unless a man is taken sick he can enjoy himself on the plains very well.  For my part, were I 
to choose between taking this journey, and loafing about a country town in Missouri, waiting for 
business, I should instantly choose the former.  My health has been and still is excellent.  I am very 
fleshy and steadily growing more so; and expect by the time I arrive in California if I continue to fatten, 
to weigh something less than 200 lbs.

The next time I go to California, if my life is spared I shall try to go in such a manner as will leave me far 
more leisure than I now have.  If I did not have a team to attend to; I could fully examine the country 
through which we are passing, and have time to make a copious memorandum of the countless matters 
of interest that are connected with it.  I could make a map of the route that would be valuable to future 
emigrants and I think, a source of profit to myself.  I could enjoy much with a well trained horse, in the 
very exciting sport of the buffalo chase, and have a fine opportunity of learning by actual observation, 
the peculiarities of the interesting branch of the human family, that roam over these interminable 
plains.  But unless I meet with unusual good fortune in the mines, it is not probable I shall cross this part 
of [the] world again, immediately.

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I wish I had time and skill to give you a clear idea of the country around us, and to relate some of the 
incidents of our journey.  They would probably be interesting to you, but time is very scarce and I cannot 
do it at present.  I am trying to keep a daily journal however, and at some future day, can send you 
extracts from it, if they are worth sending.
  
I believe I mentioned that we are in the valley of the Platte.  The best description of the valley that I can 
give is that it is a groove or furrow about one hundred feet in depth and 8 or 10 miles in width cut in a 
direction a little South of East through the plains.  In nearly the center of this furrow, lies the river 
occupying about one fourth of the width of the valley.  But though apparently, immensely large, being 
spread out over a greater surface than that of the Missouri, it is but a few feet in depth and will probably 
forever remain utterly useless as a navigable stream.  Its banks are composed of sand and light loam and 
easily wash away; so that it will probably grow wider and more shallow each succeeding season.  The 
only trees that the valley produces on the South side of the river are a few cottonwoods and willows, 
scattered along the immediate bank of the river.  They serve us very well for fuel, but can never be 
valuable for any other purpose.  The low irregular line of sandy hills, that stretch along our left, 
constituting the boundary of the valley, are bleak, desolate and barren, -- entirely void of shrubs of any 
kind, & producing but a little, scanty grass.  The water of the Platte, is precisely similar to that of the 
Missouri, --boiling and surging as it sweeps along, and holding in solution large quantities

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of sand and mud which render it unfit for drinking until clarified.  We can get it comparatively pure 
however, by sinking a well, from 18 to 24 inches in depth, at almost any point in the valley; as it readily 
oozes through the sand, and settles at our feet.  We have not yet been obliged to dig any our-selves, as 
the valley is full of these little wells and we always find one at night where we camp.  We reached the 
Buffalo region a week ago; but wishing to husband the strength of our horses for the hardships which 
they may have to endure among the mountains, we have not yet joined any of the hunters in the pursuit 
of them.  Last Monday morning just as we were sitting around the board that constitutes our table, a 
herd of 25 came over the hill about half a mile back of our camp, apparently, coming almost directly 
towards us.  Dropping the coffeepot, I took my rifle, and stepping into the dry bed of a gully which 
wound along towards them, concealed me from their view.  I was rapidly approaching them, and would 
soon have been near enough to have obtained a fine shot at the animals, had not a couple of "green 
ones" from Ohio, excited out of their senses, by the sight of the game, dashed across the plain in full 
view of them, thinking to outrun them on foot.  They were soon observed however and I had the 
extreme mortification of seeing the noble creatures take to flight, just as I had pronounced one of them 
my own.  In two minutes half a dozen horsemen were careening along the plain in hot pursuit, but the 
buffalo were so far in advance that they did not succeed in capturing any.  

Antelopes and elk are frequently seen and sometimes killed, but none of us have as yet had that good 
fortune.  Yesterday I had a part in a chase after a prairie wolf that came in sight about 3/4 of a mile from 
the road.  I was mounted on a Spanish pony at the time and the temptation was too strong to resist.  By 
a few minutes galloping, I placed myself beyond him, and turning suddenly with a shout, drove him 
towards the trains.  Several horsemen were waiting to join in the chase as he approached but he 
outwitted them, and broke through the

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semi-circle which they had formed.  Then came the "tug of war", and the interesting part of the chase.  
Though thrown by my position far in the rear, my little pony showed himself worthy to stand by the side 
of the nobler steeds and in a few minutes, had outstripped all his comrads.  My rifle had been out of 
order for several days, and I was armed at the time with a heavy musket, which I could not use on 
horseback to any advantage.  In dismounting, the wolf gained so much on me, that it was a long and 
hopeless shot, but I did not like to ride back to the trains without getting a shot at the animal, so I 
leveled and fired.  The only effect was to make him redouble his speed towards the sand hills, and I 
turned back to the wagons perfectly satisfied with wolf hunting.

There have been a few cases of disease resembling cholera, among the emigrants, and two or three 
deaths.  If therefore  you hear that that awful disease is sweeping off the emigrants by thousands, you 
will know how the story originated and how much credit to give it.  Rumors of terrible encounters with 
the I[ndians], you will probably hear, and you will dispose of th[ese in] the same manner.  Though we 
have been in the [Paw]nee na[tion] for more than a week, we have neither seen [nor] heard an Indian.  
They flee with the utmost terror from anything that resembles a dragoon's coat and sword belt.

My companions are as usual in good health & fine spirits[.]  Mr. Bryant's good qualities as a Californian 
as in other respects become constantly apparent, and I consider myself exceedingly fortunate to have 
him for a mess mate[.]  He is quick, firm, decisive, energetic, industrious, possessed of an excellent 
judgment & much common sense.  His education and training have fitted him also for a very pleasant 
and agreeable associate.  Mr. Gore reminds me of Homer every day of my life, and is also an excellent 
companion.  Though our time is completely occupied, we sometimes have a little music to relieve the 
tedium of the way.  Bryant's flute harmonises with my accordion, and we can at any time drive dull care 
far away.  Not for a moment have I felt regret at undertaking the trip.  When this will reach you I know 
not.  I shall probably have to carry it 250 or 300 miles further to Fort Laramie, before I have an 
opportunity of sending it back.  I wished very much to write from Ft. Kearney but had not time.  Give my 
love to all and believe me to be as ever

Your most affectionate son Elisha

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P.S. We are nearly at the head of the ox teams, though many started from St. Jo. a week or ten days in 
advance of us.  Stanton Buckner's Co. is about five days in advance.  One of our waggons was detained 
an hour or two the other Day by one of the horses which belonged to it refusing to work.  During that 
time the Palmyra ox train, containing 10 or 12 waggons passed by us and I had an opportunity of seeing 
some old familiar faces.  I was also introduced to Mr. Fore, -- the gentleman that Mr. Anderson fitted 
out this season.  He was in good health, and his team in fine order.  I only saw him a few moments, but 
was much pleased with his appearance.  Hope I will find him in California.  The whole train appeared to 
be prospering finely.  Yesterday morning Saw the Methodist preacher Searman from Tully.  He was there 
at Rens. protracted meeting.  He was waiting by the side of the road for a couple to come up to be 
married, -- Scott Sinclair of Tully, and a young lady from Clark Co. Mo.  Would have liked to attend the 
wedding, but could not wait.  It was in the midst of the wide valley of the Platte - no timber nor water 
nor habitation in sight.  E.C.W.
            
[Addressed to:] Col. Elias Winchell, Post Master
                            West Springfield
                            Shelby County
                            Missouri

[Postmarked:] KANE Iowa AUG 17