Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 1.djvu/386

356 I quote FROM his account of their experiences in getting across the river: "Went up to the ferry. Mr. H—'s and Mr. S—'s wagons went over safe. Then Mr. S—'s family wagon and five yoke of cattle and all of Mr. S—'s family except two boys went on the ferry boat, and when they were about one-half way across the boat began to sink. They tried to drive the cattle off, but could not in time to save the boat from sinking. My family are still on the east side and I—S— with his teams. We witnessed the scene and could do nothing. Mrs. S— and the baby and next youngest were all under water, but the men of the boat got into the river and took them out, and the rest of the family got upon the wagon cover and saved themselves from drowning. A Mr. r— jumped overboard and thought he could swim to shore, but was drowned. He was one of Mr.—S 's hired hands. By the assistance of one of the other boats the rest were saved, but we thought from where we were that it was impossible that they could all be saved. Well, I paid a man fifteen cents for taking my wife and little children across in a skiff. They have no skiff at the ferry, but they have three good ferryboats that they work by hand. But the people here are as near heathens as they can be, and they go for shaving the emigrants, and then they spend it for whiskey and get drunk and roll in it. But we are all over on the west shore of the Missouri and in Indian terriority."

For those congregated hosts, encamped each early spring at different points along the banks of the Missouri, and intent as soon as grass had grown to be sufficient for their stock to sally forth on a two thousand mile passage to the Valley of the Willamette, the natural features of the continent pointed out just one general route to travel. This road, so clearly marked out by the configuration of the country for all using their mode of conveyance, lay up the Valley of the Platte; its tributary, the Sweet-