ck; when two
horses were used, the second horse was fastened ahead of the
first by straps fastened on to the thills of the cart. Oxen were
yoked as follows: A square stick of timber of sufficient length
was taken and hollowed out at the ends to fit on the neck of the
ox, close up to the horns, and this was fastened by rawhide
straps to the horns.

The people were of necessity self-sustaining, for they were
forced to depend upon their own resources for everything they
used. Clothing was made of home manufactured cloth or the skins
of wild animals. Imported articles were procured at heavy cost,
and but few found their way to our settlements. Steamboats and
railroads were then unthought of, by us at least, and the
navigation of the Mississippi was carried on in small boats that
could be drawn up along the river bank by means of oars, spikes,
poles, and hooks. The articles most in demand were axes, hoes,
cotton cards, hatchels for cleaning flax, hemp and cotton,
spinning wheels, knives, and ammunition, guns, and bar shears for
plows. In exchange for such goods the people traded beef, hides,
furs, tallow, beeswax, and honey. Money was not needed or used by
anyone - everything was trade and barter.

The people were generous and brave. Their pleasures and pastimes
were those usual in frontier settlements. They were hardy, and
well versed in woodcraft. They aided each other, and were all in
all a noble class of people, possessing many virtues and few
faults. The girls were educated by their mothers to work, and had
to work. It was then a disgrace for a young woman not to know how
to take the raw material - the flax and cotton - and, unaided,
manufacture her own clothing. It is a lamentable fact that such
is no longer the case.

CHAPTER II - LEE BEGINS A CAREER

I formed a liking for Emily Conner. Emily was an orphan, and
lived about four years at my aunt Charlotte's after her mother
died, and until her father married again. She had a consoling
word for me at all times when I was in trouble. From being
friends, we became lovers and were engaged to be married, when my
circumstances would permit. That winter I went to a school for
three months.

Early in the spring the Indian war known as the Black Hawk war
broke out, and volunteers were called for. I enrolled myself at
the first call, in the company of Capt. Jacob Feaman, of
Kaskaskia. The company was ordered to rendezvous at Fort
Armstrong, Rock Island, where the t