Morse Coffin Reminisces

Some days before reaching Fort Laramie some of our boys encountered several men near the river who were nearly naked, claiming to belong to a train on south side of river, and said they had been in swimming and had crossed over in fun and could not get back or were afraid to stem the strong current. They asked for grub and clothing. Our boys did not propose to depart with any clothes.

On arriving at the fort we learned that a few days before several of Uncle Sam's boys had deserted or had cut loose the ferry boat in use there and had gone down the river with it. This likely accounted for the men in scant raiment, not daring to continue wearing the blue.

A day or so below the fort we met quite a large war party of Cheyenne Indians, who were well armed for Indians and were very saucy and obstreperous. One of them placed his spear against the breast of one of our men - an old German from Wisconsin or Iowa - and gave vent to a long groan as though he would run him through. Likely it was meant only as a bit of fun but the old man was very angry and later said if he had had his revolver would have shot the Indian. That would have been both a rash and unjust act, also utterly foolhardy, and would have resulted in trouble and probably death to us all. But the other members of the old man's mess said it would have been just like him to have shot the Indian.

In this war party I saw the first and I think the only real corpulent Indian I ever saw, and that was the very same one who placed his spear at the breast of the old German. When we were a hundred or so miles below here we had fallen in with a large party of Cheyennes who had been further down nearthe Loop Fork country, where the Pawnee reservation is located, and had a bottle with them as these were old time enemies and the Cheyennes were defeated and their chief killed. We learned this late crowd we met were on the way down to retaliate on said Pawnees. The Pawnees are rather an inferior looking tribe of the Lo family compared with Sioux or Cheyennes, but have the reputation of being very able fighters.

On July 4th, as stated in my letters of a year or so ago, we arrived at the location of a big camp some three or four miles below the Fort, and several of us got up in time to see the drill and guard mount for the day and the soldiers were dressed up in "spick and span" style and wearing white gloves. From the soldiers seen at Kearney and Laramie it was plainly inferred that our regular army was made up almost entirely of foreigners, mostly German and Irish.

At this big camp our party divided and some went on to California or Oregon. Here Mr. Horace Annis (later a well known, prominent and highly respected citizen of Boulder for some years) was running an outdoor blacksmith shop and doing a lively business at shoeing horses and oxen and setting wagon tires, charcoal being burned from the abundance of thick cottonwood bark all around the camp among the big trees. Our Mr. Low being a good blacksmith by helping Mr. Annis obtained the privilege of using his shop and tools to set tires on our wagon while Mr. Annis ate his dinner and rested.

Because we expected to follow Capt. Moon's train up the Chugwater, we left the Platte and Laramie rivers without filling our water kegs and jugs or even taking a partial drink of the life-presvering fluid. After a few hours travel on the dusty road and seeing no water we realized we had taken the wrong road, but were to set in our way to retrace the miles we had come, especially as this was a good, well traveled road. Long before camping time we all suffered from thirst and many of us tramped off the road to right and left looking anxiously for water. Then we missed the ever friendly Platte, along whose welcome valley we had toiled for some hundreds of miles, for there we always knew we could find a plenty and it was always good and wholesome, even if a little warm. Near sundown we came to a fine little creek and were delighted.

The country on our route from Laramie to the Cache-la-Poudre especially was a paradise, for antelope and droves of them were on every side. But as I recall it not one was killed by any of our crowd, though some shooting was done. Several of our boys had Sharps Carbines, and though they were strong shooters and carried heavy lead, were coarsely sighted and very poor shooting was done with them. Then another thing; we all evidently overestimated the distance of the game, running to the other extreme since coming on the plains, while at first under-guessing distance. As for myself I killed my first antelope next day after making settlement on my ranch, and only a good gunshot distance from my present house, though in the meantime had killed several deer.

One day we bated at noon at a small shallow lake and several of us killed a mess of ducks, which were cooking at evening as we camped on Crow Creek where there was plenty of wood. But when nicely cooked we could not eat them on account of the strong mud taste, so gave them all to some Cheyenne Los who came to camp. They ate them with a fine relish, but some of our boys expressed their disgust at those who gave to Mr. Lo what we ourselves would not eat. Guess they outgrew all such squeamishness in course of years. I am sure I felt no lashings of conscience at the time for my part in it.

At crossing of Thompson Creek rather a funny incident transpired. Where we crossed, following the single wagon track, the water was deep enough to come into our wagons, so we cut blocks from the cottonwood trees and placed on the bolsters under the wagon boxes, thus raising them six to eight inches. This we did to all the wagons and when we lifted ours, all hands being mustered for the purpose, we were all surprised at the weight of our load and they did not suppose they were so heavily loaded. Then all lifted, tugged and grunted again. When all were safely over and we again lifted the loads to remove the blocks, we discovered our reach bent way upward six to eight inches owing to the fact that the extra ox-yoke we carried was lashed tightly to cross bars of wagon and under the reach. This accounted for our very heavy load. This closes my Pilgrim story, but a chapter or so of Pioneer experiences may come later.