56 EARLY DAY STORIES. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The Cholera Death of Hosea Ballou The Story of Mrs. 

 Knapp and Her Baby. 



It might be inferred by the reader from perusing the 

 preceding articles, that about all the travel over the Oregon 

 and California trail in the year 1852, and previous years, 

 was by ox teams. To quite an extent this was true. At 

 the time of which I am writing, all the trains that I saw 

 on the route were made up of ordinary farm wagons drawn 

 by ox teams, excepting that there were in almost every 

 train a few light wagons, generally with springs, that were 

 drawn by horses, and carrying the women and children and 

 sometimes the bedding. These light wagons and horse 

 teams were scarce, however, as most of the emigrants had 

 but one wagon, which carried the provisions and bedding 

 of the owner, as well as a few common, indispensible tools, 

 and in which also rode the wife and children, provided the 

 owner had a family. However in the early part of the 

 season many trains had passed over the road, made up of 

 men almost entirely, with horse or mule teams lightly equip- 

 ped, and able to travel rapidly, and all bound for the gold 

 mines of California. These were all ahead of us, and we 

 saw none of them. They could make the overland trip with 

 good luck in ninety days from the Missouri river, while it 

 took the slow-moving ox trains a full five months. These 

 horse and mule outfits were in much more danger from the 

 Indians than were the trains drawn by oxen, because the 

 Indians wanted the horses and mules and would steal them 

 at any time if there was a chance, but they had no use what- 

 ever for the oxen. The feeling of danger from Indians 

 therefore to our train, soon ceased to trouble us, except that 

 there were some timid ones who were alwavs afraid. As 



