476 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



in the Rocky Mountains by the Union Pacific Rail- 

 way. Here we halted for the night, had supper, and 

 slept under our blankets in the open air. 



After a light breakfast the following morning, 

 November first, we continued our journey along the 

 line of the Union Pacific. Still favored with fine 

 weather and our mustangs being in excellent condition, 

 good progress was noted in the march westward. I 

 had now become quite well acquainted with ray new- 

 made friends, and, as our ponies shook the dust of 

 many miles from their feet, we talked of the strange 

 region through which we were passing, and of the routes 

 which led to objective points beyond the mountains. 

 During these conversations I learned that Gordon was 

 born in A^ermont, and lived in that State until the 

 close of the Civil War, when he emigrated to Nebraska, 

 and later to Wyoming, where for several years he led 

 a wandering life among the hunters and cow-boys of 

 the Far West. My other companion told me that he 

 began life in New Mexico, and at the age of twenty- 

 one drifted into Colorado, from which Territory he mi- 

 grated to Cheyenne, in 1867. Both men were robust, 

 strong of limb, and thoroughly accustomed to the 

 habits and practices of the mixed population of the 

 Plains. 



As the reader may have observed, I have under- 

 taken from the outset in this chapter to give some 

 idea of the life and habits of my fellow-travelers, for, 

 as will be discovered on another page, they were des- 

 tined to share with me the most trying ordeal of my 

 journey from Ocean to Ocean. 



On reaching a point about a mile east of Skull Rocks, 

 on the Laramie Plains, we were surprised to find our- 



