CROSSING THE PLAINS. 



Gen. John Gibbon, U. S. A. 



Continued from page 305. 



The next sheet in the journal is headed 

 "A STORM." 



" Camp on the Big Blue, 13th June. 



" After dispatching my journal from 

 Seneca we waited long enough to get a 

 good- supply of ice and fasten it on the 

 ambulance, when F. and I changed 

 places with Lieutenant D. and Miss H. 

 (sister to Captain H., 10th infantry, 

 who was going out to visit another 

 brother at Fort Kearney). They took 

 their places in our ambulance and we 

 rode their horses. It was very hot and 

 we did not ride long, but after delight- 

 ing the babies with a short ride, took 

 our places again and continued a very 

 hot and tiresome march of 12 miles to 

 a pretty camp on Clear creek, the first 

 running water we had seen, all the rest 

 being stagnant pools with more or less 

 (generally more) vegetable matter inter- 

 mixed. I fished for some time in a 

 deep pool, but met with no success. 



' The troops are supplied with fresh 

 beef by driving cattle along with the 

 train, several milk cows, with calves, 

 being included, so as to furnish milk, 

 which is a great luxury. Our private 

 cows are driven along with this herd so 

 that we have little trouble with them. 

 We killed the day before yesterday, 

 and enjoyed a very good piece of roast 

 beef, the first since leaving Leaven- 

 worth. 



" During the night it threatened a 

 storm, but we escaped without rain 

 and had little wind, although this morn- 

 ing it had turned quite cool and very 

 heavy clouds were banking up in all 

 directions, which grew darker and 

 heavier as we proceeded on our march. 

 Vivid shafts of lightnimg seemed to 

 divide the clouds almost every instant, 

 but so distant that we heard nothing 

 more than muttering thunder. At last, 

 after we had been several hours on the 

 road, the storm opened on us with great 

 violence. The wind blew a gale, the 

 rain fell in torrents, the lightning flashed 

 and thunder roared around us in every 

 direction in such a way as to make the 

 bravest feel anything but comfortable. 



The others were very uncomfortable. 

 Although the storm struck us on the 

 side, the mules refused to travel, and, 

 turning their backs on the storm, stood 

 perfectly still, shivering with fear and 

 with the cold which was quite severe, 

 the wind being from the north. At 

 first, when the thunder began to rattle 

 around us and the wind to rise, F. 

 showed a good deal of fear, but she 

 soon got used to it and went to work 

 swabbing up the rain which, in spite of 

 a good cover, beat into the ambulance. 



''As I sat in front driving, the possi- 

 bility of keeping dry was out of the 

 question; but thanks to a good soldier 

 overcoat, a good pair of boots, a pair 

 of leggins, and my hunting coat thrown 

 over my knees, I managed to keep 

 fairly comfortable. After a while we 

 got under way again, but had not 

 proceeded far, when the wind suddenly 

 shifted and the storm beat on us with 

 renewed violence from the opposite 

 direction. We, or rather our mules 

 again turned our backs to the wind 

 and anxiously waited to see what all 

 this thunder, lightning, wind and rain 

 was to result in. One flash of lightning 

 was so close that we all thought it was 

 becoming decidedly personal and one 

 of the mules in the train is supposed to 

 have been knocked down by it. One 

 team stampeded, breaking their harness 

 all to pieces, but fortunately without 

 doing further injury. All things must 

 have at least one end, and storms are 

 no exception to the rule. After awhile 

 the thunder ceased, the wind went 

 down, the clouds drifted away, and we 

 resumed our march through black mud 

 and sloppy roads. The sun made 

 several attempts to break through its 

 thick covering, but it was not until we 

 had nearly reached our camping ground 

 that it succeeded, and as we drove up 

 to our various positions, he was shining 

 out as brightly as if he had never been 

 obscured. 



Everything was soon out and spread 

 on the grass to dry, and the day closed 

 as one of the brightest we had had, 

 so that but few felt any disposition to 



