70 A CALIFORNIA TRAMP. 



frame and adobes, or sun dried bricks, and to travelers 

 who had been journeying long without seeing civilized 

 habitations, they made a fine appearance. The station was 

 formerly a trading post under charge of the American 

 Fur Company, when it was sometimes known by the title 

 of Fort John. The place was lively from the numerous sol- 

 diers stationed there, the workmen and teamsters employed 

 and the Indians encamped in the vicinit}^, drawn 

 thither for the purpose of trading with the whites. Russel & 

 Co. had a store and smith shop here for the convenience of 

 their trains passing through and stopping at this post. The 

 " store " of this great firm was built of mud and roofed with 

 sods, and stocked with a lot of goods which would be in the 

 States worth not over two hundred dollars, but which was here 

 worth five times as much. We all renewed our " outfits " 

 here, as the supplies we procured at Leavenworth were w^ell 

 nigh exhausted. 



\¥e had great difficulty in finding grass for our animals, but 

 finally found some on the opposite side of the Platte, two miles 

 below the Fort, where we drove the herd. We were compelled 

 to ford both rivers on our way, each flowing over a rocky bed 

 with a rapid current. There is a bridge over the Laramie be- 

 low the Fort, but it is now in a dilapidated condition, and the 

 dingy little toll-house at one end is now tenantless. The lum- 

 ber used in the construction of this bridge was obtained from 

 the Black Hills, some forty miles distant. Emigrant and 

 freight trains now cross at the ford, opposite the post. 



Before leaving the Fort two of our party received their dis- 

 charges, and one deserted for parts unknown. We procured 

 two others at the post, and then started on the long journey 

 which lay ahead of us ; the most of the party in bad spirits, 

 for we had for some time previous to our arrival at Laramie 

 been induced to believe that our stopping place would be there. 

 For my own part, I was willing to proceed in spite of the hard- 



