XXIII. 



(^oncfuAior^. 



' CONCLUSION " naturally belonging to a book as 

 much as a " Preface," I hitch one on to A Califor- 

 nia Tramp. It is a little like a rear locomotive 

 on a difficult grade, placed there to help take the train-like 

 chapters through, although in this case the hind engine is 

 ahead ! 



These travels involved a journey of seven thousand miles 

 by steam, thirteen hundred on foot and eight hundred of 

 alternate riding and walking, and a period of something over 

 a year. As far as the accumulation of what moths corrupt 

 and thieves break in and steal are concerned, they were a fail- 

 ure ; but otherwise, in spite of what I passed through, I would 

 not have missed my experience for all I might have gained in 

 the most prosperous venture in the time employed. 



Thirty years ago, with the exception of a few settlements in 

 Eastern Kansas and the Mormons living in Utah, in the country 

 between the Missouri and the gold regions of California, inde- 

 pendent of the Indians, who were either wild and murderous 

 nomads or under the influence of white traders, who brutalized 

 them further with " civilized " ways, there were no inhabitants 

 but the soldiers, traders and hunters, and the outlaws which had 

 been driven thence from the States for their crimes. Many of 

 these last were with the Indians, and were the cause of much 



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