Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/265

 REMINISCENCES OF SEVENTY YEARS 257 the wagons to halt and drop their wagon tongues. But it was too late for all to accomplish. Some of the hind teams were all ready on hearing the order. Our four family wagons and Games' two were ahead that day. James Barlow's big team was in the lead, but failed to stop when he said "whoa." So he dropped his lead ox in his tracks with the butt of his whip stock. J. M. Bacon's team was next. In this wagon, Mother Barlow rode, and it had to stop as it was jammed up against James' wagon. That gave mother time to jump out and run to the bank of the river about twenty yards off and jump down the bank, only a few feet high. I had been quick enough to get my team loose from the wagon, but J. L. Barlow and Games' two teams got under considerable headway, but for- tunately one of Games' oxen fell down, and that was more than the balance of the team could pull. This gave my sister, Mrs. Gaines, good time to get out with the baby, about a year old, and get down the bank of the river. She always said that that ox-broken neck saved her life, as she was just fixing to jump, and it might have been her neck instead of the ox's. It was her natural disposition to make the best of everything. The cleanup of this stampede were a few broken wagon tongues, a few smashed-up wagon wheels, one ox with a broken neck, another with a broken leg and two days' layover for repairs. Fortunately, no human being was even crippled. Some were slightly bruised, but at the end of the second day everybody was ready to move. Cattle were well refreshed and getting restless. We found the best plan was to make a drive every day. Cattle stayed togethed better and did not try to wander off. I have no recollection of our company's losing a single head on the way, though a few oxen got sore feet and had to be taken out and driven with the loose cattle for a few days. But that was on account of wagons' being too heavily loaded. We had one old deadbeat whom we called "Noey" and his wagon "Noey's Ark." He had one span of mares and one yoke of cows and both of them gave milk, which was the prin- cipal nourishment he had for half a dozen children, himself