. They did everything possible to repay him for his kindness to me.
Ever afterwards, when he was at or near Leavenworth, Wild Bill came out
to our house to see the family, whether I was at home or not, and he
always received a most cordial reception. His mother and sisters lived in
Illinois, and he used to call our house his home, as he did not have one
of his own.

I had been home only about a month, after returning from Fort Bridger,
when I again started out with another train, going this time as
assistant wagon-master under Buck Bomer. We went safely through to Fort
Laramie, which was our destination, and from there we were ordered to
take a load of supplies to a new post called Fort Wallach, which was
being established at Cheyenne Pass. We made this trip and got back to
Fort Laramie about November 1st. I then quit the employ of Russell,
Majors & Waddell, and joined a party of trappers who were sent out by
the post trader, Mr. Ward, to trap on the streams of the Chugwater and
Laramie for beaver, otter, and other fur animals, and also to poison
wolves for their pelts. We were out two months, but as the expedition
did not prove very profitable, and was rather dangerous on account of
the Indians, we abandoned the enterprise and came into Fort Laramie in
the latter part of December.

Being anxious to return to the Missouri river, I joined with two others,
named Scott and Charley, who were also desirous of going East on a visit,
bought three ponies and a pack-mule, and we started out together. We made
rapid progress on our journey, and nothing worthy of note happened until
one afternoon, along the banks of the Little Blue River, we spied a band
of Indians hunting on the opposite side of the stream, three miles away.
We did not escape their notice, and they gave us a lively chase for two
hours, but they could find no good crossing, and as evening came on we
finally got away from them.

We traveled until late in the night; when upon discovering a low, deep
ravine which we thought would make a comfortable and safe camping-place,
we stopped for a rest. In searching for a good place to make our beds, I
found a hole, and I called to my companions that I had found a fine place
for a nest. One of the party was to stand guard while the others slept.
Scott took the first watch, while Charley and I made a bed in the hole.

While clearing out the place we felt something rough, but as it was dark
we could not make out what it was.