the
poverty which prevailed throughout the whole rural community of the
State. There had been three consecutive years of drought. The sand was
like powder, so deep that the wheels of the wagons in which we rode
"across country" sank half-way to the hubs; and in the midst of this dry
powder lay withered tangles that had once been grass. Every one had the
forsaken, desperate look worn by the pioneer who has reached the limit
of his endurance, and the great stretches of prairie roads showed
innumerable canvas-covered wagons, drawn by starved horses, and followed
by starved cows, on their way "Back East." Our talks with the despairing
drivers of these wagons are among my most tragic memories. They had lost
everything except what they had with them, and they were going East to
leave "the woman" with her father and try to find work. Usually, with a
look of disgust at his wife, the man would say: "I wanted to leave two
years ago, but the woman kept saying, 'Hold on a little longer.'"

Both Miss Anthony and I gloried in the spirit of these pioneer women,
and lost no opportunity to tell them so; for we realized what our nation
owes to the patience and courage of such as they were. We often asked
them what was the hardest thing to bear in their pioneer life, and we
usually received the same reply:

"To sit in our little adobe or sod houses at night and listen to the
wolves howl over the graves of our babies. For the howl of the wolf is
like the cry of a child from the grave."

Many days, and in all kinds of weather, we rode forty and fifty miles
in uncovered wagons. Many nights we shared a one-room cabin with all
the members of the family. But the greatest hardship we suffered was the
lack of water. There was very little good water in the state, and the
purest water was so brackish that we could hardly drink it. The more we
drank the thirstier we became, and when the water was made into tea it
tasted worse than when it was clear. A bath was the rarest of luxuries.
The only available fuel was buffalo manure, of which the odor permeated
all our food. But despite these handicaps we were happy in our work, for
we had some great meetings and many wonderful experiences.

When we reached the Black Hills we had more of this genuine campaigning.
We traveled over the mountains in wagons, behind teams of horses,
visiting the mining-camps; and often the gullies were so deep that when
our horses got into them it was almost impossible to ge