July 17,1894
Started at 8:40 a.m. from DeSmet, Dakota Territory
Grain about 8" high
Camped by a spring that could not be pumped
July 18
Worst crops we have seen yet
Grain 3" high, burned brown and dead
Crossed railroad tracks
Dust storm
1O2° in wagon
July 19
Rained in the night
July 20
Left Bridgewater
Came to first piece of oats worth cutting
Lots of groves of trees, nice houses, big corncribs and hogs
Saw some good wheat
Came to Russian settlement adobe houses, barns, chicken houses and piles of peat
100° in wagon
July 21
Problem - Old Pet ran away and had to be chased and caught
Could see bluffs across the James River
Crossed Jim River
Saw first natural grown trees and little scrubs
July 22
Took a bath in the river
Russians hung around all day and they could not talk and understand only a little
Bought milk and great pan of biscuits
Russians took us to their homes and showed us geese and we watched milkmaids milk.
They had splendid barns, corn cribs and windmills and their land was along the river
Each man worked his own land but all of them together own all the stock in common
July 23
Crossed James River and reached the top of the bluffs
Climbed bluffs and could see the river winding down the valley
Bluffs were high and bare
Passed corn fields 8' high
Stopped in Yankton at a windmill to water horses
Man who owned the house told us he paid $5,000 for the house and land.
Reached Yankton and was disappointed because it was a stick in the mud
Drove all over town to find a little feed, went to the mill and the elevator and feed stores and found a couple of sacks
DeSmet had a number of elevators, 2 or 3 mills and 6 feed stores
Crossed the Missouri River during a bad storm at a point where it was one mile wide and very muddy
Camped in the woods and the temperature was 98°
July 24
We followed the river
Banks of the Missouri were crumbing and falling into the river and at one place the road had fallen in
On the river flats we saw 24 hay stacks and mowing machines
Came to the bluffs and saw plums, grapes, black currants and sweet clover grown wild on the bottom land.
Bluffs were the most desolate bare hills 1 had ever seen
Nebraska reminded me of Lydia Locket's pocket, nothing in it, nothing on it.
Met covered wagons going north.
Men said there was nothing in Kansas.
July 25
Spent night among the Nebraska hills
Went through Hartington, a nice town
Passed through Coleridge, not much of a place
More I saw of Nebraska. the less I liked it
Climbed bluffs all day
Met 22 families that were going to start for Missouri in about 6 weeks
One man said he had lived there for 6 years and had not seen a good crop
Camped by a creek and Mr. Cooley caught 11 fish
Temperature 1O9°
July 26
Met a load of emigrants at noon who were going north
They had been to Missouri and were going back to Dakota
They would not live in Missouri if they were given the whole of it
Hardly any of the houses had windows, just holes and lots of the women had never seen a railroad train nor an organ.
Crops were poor since noon, country dry as Dakota
Went through Winside and road was awfully hilly
Crossed Humbug Creek and camped by the first house
July 27
Went through two counties but could not tell when we came to a county line as we could in Dakota, the roads did not have section lines
Crossed Stanton County and saw large pastures and fenced grain fields
Saw an orchard with apples
Hills covered with corn as far as eye could see
Nearly all the people were Germans
They needed rain
Came to Elkhorn Valley and it was pretty level
A team of emigrants was behind us
Arrived at Stanton, a town with large buildings, clean big houses and trees
German signs were on the stores and churches
Corn killed by hot wind
126°
Crossed Elkhorn River on a bridge
Gang of horse traders near the river and we did not camp by them
July 28
Did our washing
Washing had to dry; we did not start to travel until after dinner
We took ridge road, not to go up and down the hills
Follow ridge through acres and acres of corn fields
Camped on the side of the road on the prairie
Oats and wheat were good here but the corn did not look good.
There were wild strawberry plants and rattlesnakes
Sunday, July 29
Cooked breakfast, bathed and laid around
Temperature 96°
July 30
Went through Leigh, a lively little town
Crops the same but the roads were not so hilly
Camped on the bank of Shell Creek in the woods
July 31
It rained hard and the creek had raised 8"
Reached Schuyler
Had to get a set of tires
I met a women from Canada and her husband was from the West Indies. They were going back to the West Indies in a few weeks
Crossed the Platte on a bridge, half of a mile long
Camped a half of mile from the Platte in a grove of willows
August 1
Rained at night
Road was level until noon but hilly at the afternoon
Camped by Oak Creek
August 2
Started late because of a lame horse
Camped early, only a little way from Oak Creek
August 3
Good road into Lincoln, a beautiful large city
County Court House, Capitol and penitentiary are grand buildings
Saw two prisoners in striped clothes
Saw carload of barrels that I supposed was made by prisoners
Eight emigrant wagons trailed our three through the city
Motor street-cars were in Lincoln
Crossed 11 creeks or one creek 11 times
Passed Salt Lake north west of Lincoln
Camped one mile from the penitentiary
Temperatures 74°
August 4
We followed the telegraph wires to Beatrice
Crossed Little Salt Creek and Big Salt Creek
Orchards are common
Camped on edge of town
Creek dry, no grass but lots of sand bars
Sunday, August 5
Saw five emigrant wagons
Lost the thermometer
August 6
Reached Beatrice which was not as large as Lincoln
Splendid roads all day
Crossed Blue River again
August 7
Crossed Kansas line
Crossed Deer Creek
Came to Marysville, the county seat of Marshall County
Had a watermill, capacity 300 barrels a day
Many nice houses
Beyond Marysville, we saw an acre of sweet potatoes
August 8
Crossed Little Elm Creek and Big Elm Creek and drove through beautiful woods
Crossed Blue River again on a bridge
Camped near Spring Side
August 9
Land is hilly and stony
Camped in the edge of Westmoorland
August 10
Drove through the driest county since Dakota
Went through Louisville
Camped on the banks of the Vermille River
Sunday, August 12
Saw five emigrant wagons pass going to Missouri
or Arkansas and one to Indian Territory
August 13
Drove through St. Mary's, a pleasant but strange town, southern and Catholic
Drove to the top of a little bluff that overlooked the Kansas River and saw cornfields stretching as far as the eye could see
Passed through Rossville, a small place with a train depot
Bought watermelons for 5 cents
Passed through Kingsley Station. 80 miles west of Kansas City
Went through Silver Lake and the lake was 4 miles long and a half mile wide with trees all around it
Camped at schoolhouse yard
August 14
Dust is 3 to 5 inches deep on the road and we are smothered in dust
Ate dinner about a mile from Topeka and drove on through the city
Great many colored people in and around it
North Topeka had electric street cars and South Topeka had motor cars
Street had asphaltum pavement and was soft and quiet
Went out of our way to see the Capitol
Crossed Kansas River on an iron bridge
Camped by the side of a church
August 15
Went through Richland
Camped by a schoolhouse and was the best farming country we had ever seen
August 16
Wheat crop bountiful and corn crop pretty good
Saw a coal bank where men mine and sell coal
Passed through North and South Ottawa
Saw Sante Fe Railroad hospital in the north edge of North Ottawa
South Ottawa had college building and many colored people
Camped on bank of Rock Creek
August 17
Passed large field of castor beans
In Lane had our horses shod
Camped by a schoolhouse and pump and washed things to dry overnight
August 18
Passed through Goodrich and Paker
People say they never have much rain here as other get farther north
Camped by Big Sugar Creek
Sunday, August 19
Went to the creek and found mussels and clam shells
August 20
Roads are stony and crops poor
Passed through Wall Street, nothing but a country store
Came to Mound City and bought bread and an 8 cent pie and 2 cents worth of tomatoes
Saw emigrant wagons pass, two going to Missouri and one coming back
Water scare all day and tasted bad
Camped beside the road on the prairie
August 21
Rained most of the night and road was muddy
Passed through Prescott and met a family of emigrants who did not like southwest Missouri
Fort Scott crowded with emigrants
Land is good for raising crops but they could not sell the crops for the cost of raising them
Coal lying around on top of the ground
Received 3 letters at Fort Scott
Camped on the side of the road
August 22
Crops looked good
Lots of wood and coal
At 2:24 p.m. crossed the line into Missouri
Cornfields heat the Kansas cornfields
Met 7 emigrant wagons leaving Missouri
Camped by a house in the woods
August 23
Came to Pedro a town near railroad tracks and across the tracks was Liberal
Man told us the finest counties in the world are around Mansfield
Passed through Lamar with 2,860 inhabitants
Camped among oak trees
August 24
Passed through Canova in the morning and Golden City by noon
Passed through Lockwood and camped by swift-running creek
August 25
Rained again in the night
Much timber and wild crabapples, plums and thorn apples
South Greenfield met two land agents that wanted us to stay there
In the Ozarks at last and passed along the foothills
Stopped at Everton to get the horses shod and camped by a creek
Sunday, August 26
Day for writing, sleeping and reading
August 27
Forded Little Sock River and came to Ash Grove and it is noted for its lime kiln
Camped 12 miles from Springfield
August 28
Good road from Ash Grove all the way to Springfield in the Ozark plateau
Country looks much like prairie country
Arrived in Springfield and it has four business blocks around a town square
Bought shoes for Rose and myself and calico dress for me
Town has 21,850 inhabitants and is grand
Crossed Pierson's Creek and met 10 emigrant wagons leaving Missouri
Camped on the edge of Henderson
August 29
Road goes up and down hills and is rutted
Came to a fruit farm
Drove through Seymour
Passed several springs
Fences are split logs and along the corner wild fruit grows
Camped by a spring 10 1/2 miles from Mansfield
August 30, 1894
Passed Memphis fruit farms on both sides of the road
Some covered wagons are behind us
11:30 a.m. we came into Mansfield in a long line of 10 emigrant wagons
Railroad runs on one side of the square and two stagecoach lines go from the deport
Everything is here we wanted but one thing: a Congregational church
There are Methodist and Presbyterian churches, a good school, two general stores, two drug stores, bank, a Boston Racket store, a livery stable, a blacksmith shop and nice big houses with big yards
Information taken from On The Way Home, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, with a setting by Rose Wilder Lane, Publisher: Harper Trophy
Return to the On The Way Home lesson.
