The railroad--the only
one I had ever seen--extended as far as Port Byron, Illinois, just
across the Mississippi. When the discovery of gold in California in
1849 set the whole country wild, this railroad began to bring the
Argonauts, bound for the long overland wagon journey across the Plains.
Naturally father caught the excitement. In 1850 he made a start, but it
was abandoned--why I never knew. But after that he was not content with
Iowa. In 1853 our farm and most of our goods and chattels were
converted into money. And in 1854 we all set out for Kansas, which was
soon to be opened for settlers as a Territory.
Two wagons carried our household goods. A carriage was provided for my
mother and sisters. Father had a trading-wagon built, and stocked it
with red blankets, beads, and other goods with which to tempt the
Indians. My only brother had been killed by a fall from a horse, so I
was second in command, and proud I was of the job.
My uncle Elijah kept a general store at Weston, Missouri, just across
the Kansas line. He was a large exporter of hemp as well as a trader.
Also he was a slave-owner.
Weston was our first objective. Father had determined to take up a
claim in Kansas and to begin a new life in this stirring country. Had
he foreseen the dreadful consequences to himself and to his family of
this decision we might have remained in Iowa, in which case perhaps I
might have grown up an Iowa farmer, though that now seems impossible.
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