42 The King of the Thundering Herd 



Their Indiana home had been located in 

 an out-of-the-way portion of one of the 

 most sparsely settled counties of the Hoosier 

 State, so Bennie had seen very little of the 

 outside world. 



To him the towns and cities that they 

 passed through were all like wonderland. 

 He had never even seen a train until this 

 trip. 



Illinois was not then a lacework of rail- 

 roads as it is now, and many of the farmers 

 still drew their wheat fifteen or twenty 

 miles to the nearest depot. Corn had not 

 then entirely supplanted wheat, so that the 

 state was not one waving corn-field as it is 

 to-day. 



But it was the plan of Mr. Anderson to 

 avoid the larger towns and cities, and to 

 keep to the country, where there was more 

 hospitality and kindness for emigrants like 

 themselves. 



The crossing of the great Mississippi 



