52 CAPTAIN MARCEY, U. S. M. 



on the road, and only nine miles from Fort Kearney, 

 on Wood River, very good wildfowl shooting, and 

 buffalo adjacent to the fort itself. I was further advised 

 to buy waggons, harness, and saddlery at St Louis, and 

 send all my baggage with the waggons by steamboat to 

 Omaha, steamers plying every day between that place 

 and St Louis. After much consideration on several 

 points offered to my notice, I resolved to start for St 

 Louis direct by rail, and to take for myself, my servant, 

 and my dogs, tickets through, a power being given to 

 the takers of such tickets to break the journey at any 

 place on the rail they pleased, and to consume as much 

 time on the road as might be convenient. It seemed to 

 me necessary to the comfort and condition of my dogs 

 that they should have time for rest, exercise, and food, 

 without being shut up in such accommodation as the 

 train afforded for from four to five days. On 

 making further inquiries, however, I found that I could 

 only take tickets for myself and my servant, dogs not 

 being considered by the sagacious heads of the railway 

 companies as animals of freight for which any accommo 

 dation should be given ; and that if I took my dogs it 

 could only be by making a private bargain, and on such 

 terms as the Boh-hoys or baggage-masters might please 

 extortionately to demand. In one or two instances only 

 (and I must think accidentally) I found these servants 

 civil ; all the rest were as bad specimens of the genus 

 Boh-hoy as the back slums of the larger cities could 

 afford^ and bent on every species of extortion and theft. 



On finding myself placed in this dilemma, I went 

 immediately to Mr Hoey, one of the managers of 

 Adams' Express Company, and applied for his assistance, 

 He very kindly and with the greatest good-will gave me 



