st for my opinion, I told him I
thought the scheme a big one, he invited me to come in as a partner. He
suggested that after the town was laid out and opened to the public we
establish a store and saloon.

I thought it would be a grand thing to become half owner of a town, and
at once accepted the proposition. We hired a railroad engineer to
survey the town site and stake it into lots. Also we ordered a big
stock of the goods usually kept in a general merchandise store on the
frontier. This done, we gave the town the ancient and historical name
of Rome. As a starter we donated lots to anyone who would build on
them, reserving for ourselves the corner lots and others which were
best located. These reserved lots we valued at two hundred and fifty
dollars each.

When the town was laid out I wrote my wife that I was worth $250,000,
and told her I wanted her to get ready to come to Ellsworth by rail.
She was then visiting her parents at St. Louis, with our baby daughter
whom we had named Arta.

I was at Ellsworth to meet her when she arrived, bringing the baby.
Besides three or four wagons, in which the supplies for the new general
store and furniture for the little house I had built were loaded, I had
a carriage for her and the baby. The new town of Rome was a hundred
miles west. I knew that it would be a dangerous trip, as the Indians
had long been troublesome along the railroad, and I realized the danger
more fully because of the presence of my wife and little daughter.

A number of immigrants bound for the new town accompanied us.

The first night out I formed the men into a company, one squad to stand
watch while the others slept. All the early part of the evening I went
the rounds of the camp, much to my wife's annoyance.

"Why are you away so much?" she kept asking. "It is lonesome here, and
I need you."

Rather than let her know of my uneasiness about the Indians, I told her
I was trying to sell lots to the men while they were en route. As the
night wore on and everything seemed quiet I prepared to get a little
rest. I did not take my clothes off, and, much to my wife's surprise,
slept with my rifle and revolvers close by me. I had just dropped off
to sleep when I heard shots, and knew they could mean nothing but
Indians.

The attacking party was small and we were fully prepared. When they
discovered this they fired a few shots and galloped away.

The second night was almost a repetition of the first. Afte