be salable at high prices. He had with
him his wife, a little daughter, and Jerry Bush, Mrs. Holloway's
brother, a young man of twenty-one years; also two hired men, Joe
Blevens and Bird Lawles. Holloway kept his party some distance behind
us, he having declined to join the consolidation of trains in order to
avoid the inconvenience that the mingling of his stock with ours would
entail, with reference to pasture, and camping facilities.

A mile or two behind Holloway were the trains of Captain Rountree, the
Giles company, Simpson Fennell, Mr. Russell, and others, equipped with
several wagons each, and accompanied by some loose stock.

All these were traveling along, a sort of moving neighborhood;
incidentally getting acquainted with one another, visiting on the road
by day and in the camp at evening time; talking of the journey, of
the country for which we were en route, and our hopes of prosperity
and happiness in the new El Dorado--but most of all, just then, of the
probable danger of attack by savage tribes.

More than ever rumors of impending trouble were flying from train to
train. Some of these were to the effect that white bandits were in
league with Indians in robbing and murdering emigrants. The well-known
treachery of the savages, and the stories we heard of emigrants having
been slaughtered also by whites--the real facts of which we knew
little of--were quite enough to beget fear and suggest the need of
plans for the best possible resistance.

Up to this time there was frequent communication between trains, a
considerable distance ahead and behind. As at home, neighbor would
visit neighbor, and discuss the topics of the day; so, from time to
time we met persons in other trains who gave out information obtained
before leaving home, or from mountaineers, trappers or explorers,
occasionally met while we were yet on the eastern slope of the
Rockies; men who were familiar with Indian dialects and at peace with
the tribes, enabling them to learn much that was of importance to the
emigrants.

Dissemination of news among the people of the various trains near us
was accomplished not only during visits by members of one train to
those of another, but sometimes by other methods. One of these, which
was frequently employed in communicating generally or in signaling
individuals known to be somewhere in the line behind us, was by a
system of "_bone-writing_."

[Illustration: Bone-writing]

There were along the li