Two weeks ago we left Thomas Flint, his brother, his cousin and their\u00a0herders a few mi les west of Fort Laramie, where a . friendly Indian made them\u00a0uneerstand that there were bad Indians not far away. The very next day the\u00a0party encountered those bad Indians. Let us have the story in the words of\u00a0FI int’s diary: !fAn old, one-eyed, mean looking Indian, with a boy about 15.,\u00a0came up on horseback and took positions each side of me. The man was armed\u00a0with a flint-lock, old English musket, and the boy with bow and arrows. The\u00a0boy began to draw up his arrowed bow menacingly. was more afraid of the\u00a0arrow than of the musket, but the boy meekly dropped the bow down by his side\u00a0when I made no motion to draw my pistol. When our wagons arrived; I told the\u00a0drivers to go to a level place a short distance away and wait for the arrival\u00a0of the sheep. Soon a half dozen other Indians bounced out of the bush and began\u00a0to pillage the wagons. The teamsters were scared out of their wits, but\u00a0Mrs. Johnson H {the wi fe of a gui de they had taken on at Fort Laramie> !!went\u00a0after them with a hatchet. ran to the wagons, scolding the terrified team~\u00a0sters and ordering the Indians by signs to put everything back in the wagons.<\/p>\n
They were sulky, and one of them, taking an oxbow by the ends, made a motion to\u00a0strike me with it, whereupon I brought my pistol to bear upon him. He dropped\u00a0the bow and they al I scurried to the opposite side of the horses. Then I was\u00a0master of the situation.<\/p>\n
‘~e waited unti lour men arrived with the sheep. After we got our train\u00a0in close order, we told the boys to start ahead. As they moved, the old, oneeyed\u00a0Indian shouted that they would not let us go unti I we let them have the\u00a0black cow and the sheep that had bel Is on, and he told the boy to go ahead and\u00a0stop us. We told the boy to stay back. The boy started to obey us, but the old\u00a0Indian declared he would stop the train unti I the Indians got what they wanted.<\/p>\n
We leveled our rifles at him and told him to get back. He halted but,\u00a0as we were moving on, he got down on one knee and leveled his gun at us. This\u00a0so frightened two of our men that they ran for shelter, much to the delight of\u00a0the Indians.<\/p>\n
f~J ust then we got a report that the black CCM <\/em>was mi ss i ng. Suppos i ng the\u00a0Indians had got her, we made a rush for them, whereupon they fled into the bush.\u00a0Then it was our turn to laugh, for the cow was only a little way off calmly\u00a0browsing-.- tt And with that anti-cl imax Thomas FI int ended his record of the episode.<\/p>\n After the party crossed the Platte, they encountered a band of starvinq\u00a0Mormons, who had been robbed of al I their provisions by marauding Indians.\u00a0Flint’s party gave them enough provisions to get them to Salt Lake.\u00a0On August 6 they had their first sight of the snowy peaks of the Rockies,\u00a0and on the same day they met the Salt Lake four-horse mai J stage bound east.<\/p>\n Can sheep swim? Apparently the ferryman at Green River thought they\u00a0couldn’t. He wanted an exhorbitant price for getting the party across. saying\u00a0he knew theV would have to paV his price because sheep can’t swim. The party\u00a0did a little reconnoitering, found a place down stream where the river could be\u00a0forded if they raised the wagon beds a bit, and where the current would swing\u00a0them easi Iy to the other side. So, savs FI i nt, :’Taki ng advantage of the current,\u00a0the sheep fol lowed the wagons and swam across easi lV, about two hundred\u00a0feet from bank to bank.”<\/p>\n August 28 was a jubi lant day_ They met a pack train from their home town\u00a0of Volcano, California, and heard for the first time in many weeks about relatives\u00a0and friends in that mining community.<\/p>\n On September 7 the bread they had cast upon the waters was returned after\u00a0many days. Let us see in Flint’s own words what happened because they had be-\u00a0friended that hungry Mormon band in the foothi lis of the Rockies: !’Crossed the\u00a0last ridge before entering the Val ley of Great Salt Lake and descended into a\u00a0canyon through which we traveled seven mi les and emerged from Emigrant Canvon:<\/p>\n as it is ca I led, upon a high tab Ie I and fi ve mi les from Sa It Lake C i tv. Ne found\u00a0deserted cab ins a I I a long the tra ii, the sett’lers havi ng been ordered into\u00a0the ci ty’ by Bri gham Young on account of hosti Ie I ndi ans.<\/p>\n “As we were driving along, two men on horseback met us, and one asked)’ ?Are\u00a0you saints or sinners?’ I replied it depended how one interpreted the question~\u00a0whereupon he asked testi IV, ‘Are you fvbrmons or not?’ ‘Not’ was the reply. TheV\u00a0then asked what train ours was, and I told them, whereupon they wheeled about\u00a0and rode toward the city. In a short time two more men came out and greeted us:<\/p>\n 1\\1e know who you are’, they sa i d. ‘You are the ones who ass isted some of our\u00a0people on the plains after they had been robbed bV Indians. You may turn to the\u00a0left, go down the hi I I to the church gardens, and camp there unti I you hear from\u00a0us again, but keep your stock off the plowed land.’<\/p>\n “So we camped near a garden patch and he I ped ourse I ves to whatever vegetables\u00a0we liked, which were a great treat. Our horses were taken to a feed yard\u00a0in the citV. Word was sent us that, if we would come to a cert?in house: we\u00a0would be repaid in kind for what we had furnished their people whom we had bef\u00a0r i en de d on the p I a i ns \u2022<\/p>\n Did you know that there were Maine people among Brigham Young’s Mormons?\u00a0Listen to this from Flint’s diary: “Saw Brigham Young on the street but did\u00a0not call upon him. Paid our respects to the wives of Francis Pomeroy from\u00a0Ma i ne. n I’m sure you noted the pi ura I noun — wi ves!<\/p>\n Flint’s party spent a week in the Mormon country, buying cattle, both oxen\u00a0and cows, to take along to California with their big flock of sheep. In Provo,\u00a0Utah they bought flour and beef to see them through to California. They were\u00a0ready to start when they found the wagons needed some blacksmith work. It was\u00a0Sunday, and they didn’t want to be held up another day, but how would they get\u00a0such a rei igious man as a Mormon blacksmith to work on the Sabbath? To his surprise<\/p>\n FlinT learned of Brigham Young’s famous order that made possible the stabi\u00a0lity of The Salt Lake settlement, for Young had oroclaimed that the Sabbath\u00a0must not be observed as a day of rest unti I The fortifications were finished\u00a0and the harvesting done. So Flint got the work done on his wagons in spite of\u00a0its being Sunday.<\/p>\n On October 25 Flint wrote that they had crossed the southern rim of the\u00a0Great Sa It basi n and had at I ast passed out of Mormon terri tory. He sa i d: !;As\u00a0for our individual selves, we cannot complain of treatment received in Brigham\u00a0Young’s earthly kingdom, for we have been kindly treated by church officials\u00a0and members, which we attri~bUTed to return for the relief we gave their wagon\u00a0train on the Platte. In Mormon territory we were not robbed nor molested to an\u00a0amount more than a set of horseshoes. \\”iith OTher trains, hONever .\u2022 the treatment\u00a0was harassing, especial Iv if they came from III inois or Missouri. The Mormons\u00a0imposed fines for every real or fancied infraction of their local regulati\u00a0ons, and They enforced payment at the point of ri f les.”<\/p>\n On December 2 the party crossed what is now the line between Nevada and\u00a0Cal ifornia and started across the Mojave Desert. The oxen suffered more than\u00a0the sheep for lack of water and feed. The party moved as best it could across\u00a0the arid wastes from watering place to tiny watering place, some so distant from\u00a0each other as to make it almost impossible to keep the herd going. But at last\u00a0they were across the desert and insight of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where\u00a0five years before So lyman Heath of Watervi I Ie had found the most dangerous traveling\u00a0of the whole journey from Kansas to California.<\/p>\n They crossed the Sierras through Cajon Pass, finding surprisingly little\u00a0snow and much eas i er trave Ii n9 than Heath had encountered further north.<\/p>\n On the very I ast day of the year F lint wrOTe in his diary: “We are out of\u00a0the desert and of the high Sierras. Very good feed this side of the pass. Today\u00a0closes the year 1853 and it is a full year from the time we left San Francisco\u00a0on the steamship Northerner. In that time we have traveled 5,344 mi les by\u00a0steamer, 2,144 by rai I road, 2,131 mi les on horseback and on foot — a total of\u00a0nearly 11,000 mi les. We spent a month in Ma ine and 38 days collecting stock in \u00a0I I I i no is. ”<\/p>\n Unlike Solyman Heath, who had been headed for the vicinity of Sacramento~\u00a0Flint’s party was bound for Southern Cal ifornia. Thev went into a vi Ilage of\u00a0a few houses for groceries. That tiny vi Ilage is now the city of San Bernardino.<\/p>\n On January 3, in the San Bernardino mountains, they lost several cattle in a\u00a0terrific blizzard and nearly lost their own lives. On January 7 they reached\u00a0the San Gabriel Mission, and shortty, afterward they were in Los Angeles. Although\u00a0they soon made their way north to the home ranch near Monterey, they\u00a0could not forget the lush fields and pastures around Los Angeles, and the next\u00a0year Flint, Bixby and Company bought the great Rancho San Justo, that made them\u00a0among the wea I th i es tranche rs inCa I i forn i a .<\/p>\n And that, my friends, is the story of how three men from Maine took a big\u00a0flock of sheep from ‘II i noi s to Ca Ii forni a, and how one of those men was Dr.\u00a0Thomas FI int who, on a grim September night in 1847, had helped Dr. Valorus\u00a0Coolidge carry the murdered body of Ed Mathews down the cellar stairs of a busi\u00a0ness block <\/em>on Watervi I Ie’s Ma i n Street.<\/p>\n J suppose that anyone whose interest in old time Maine is known to be as\u00a0keen as mine is the recipient of many favors. Although this is the eighth year\u00a0of this program, listeners keep sending me interesting items. One such to\u00a0reach me recently was a little folder containing the verses about the Wiscasset\u00a0and Quebec Ra i I road — verses wh i ch I quote in !!Kennebec Yesterdays’!. J n homeIy,\u00a0simple verse of ballad form they trace the course of a narrON gauge train\u00a0from Wiscasset to Albion. They begin, nOn steamer wharf, by the calm smooth\u00a0bay, we jump on board of our new rai Iway!!, and they end with, “The waving corn\u00a0o’er Albion hi lis, the lowing herd by the cooling ri lis, the leafy trees and\u00a0the thorny th i st Ie, a II hear the sound of Crosby’s wh i st Ie”.<\/p>\n Two pages of the little folder are fi lied with the verses; on each of the\u00a0other two pages is an advertisement. One is by J. H. Estes; who was real estate\u00a0agent for land on China Lake. His ad, which must have appeared about 1900,\u00a0perhaps a bit earl ier, says: “China Lake is destined to become one of the\u00a0principal inland watering places in Maine. Choice locations for summer hotels\u00a0around China Lake, and also other real estate in China, for sale by J. H. Estes,\u00a0Agent, China, Maine.”<\/p>\n The other ad calls attention to a book, or perhaps it was a booklet, and\u00a0find this mention of it especially interesting because I am very fond of the\u00a0historical bui Iding that the advertised booklet was about. The ad says: “Old\u00a0A Ina Meeti nghouse, by Rufus Ki ng Sewa I I. Four i I I ustrat ions. Pri ce 25 cents.<\/p>\n Every person far and near who is at all interested in the history and architectural\u00a0features or this ancient meeting house should at once possess themselves\u00a0of this interesting book. The price is 25 cents by mai I. As the edition is\u00a0limited, an early purchase is advisable. Address orders, enclosing price. to\u00a0Char I es E. Emerson, vii <\/em>scas set, Ma i ne \u2022 f!<\/p>\n Now Kennebec Va Iley and S heepscot Va I ley peop Ie have a commendab Ie hab it\u00a0of saving things. Perhaps someone hearing this program tonight may know where\u00a0I can locate a copy of EO I d A I na r~eeti ng house !I by Ruf us King Sewa I I . I ve ry\u00a0much want to see that book.<\/p>\n Some fifty years ago the re was pub I i shed !lA Souven i r Gu i de to Boston and\u00a0Environsrt. Rather interesting are two ads on the back of the front cover. One\u00a0of these is the ad of Joseph Gahm, who was New England agent for what he cal led\u00a0Joseph Schlitz’s Famous Mi Iwaukee Beer. Gahm apparently let no opportunity pass\u00a0to sol icit the temperance as well as the alcohol ic trade, for beneath his ,.,<,;<\/p>\n Sch I i tz ad appears th is: “Gahm f s Ma I t Extract. A food, a ton i c.~ an i n vi gorator.\u00a0It bui Ids up and strengthens the system of the weak and debi litated. It\u00a0aids the recovery to health of the sick and convalescent, and is especially\u00a0recommended to persons suffering from indigestion and dyspepsia. It possesses\u00a0al I the invigorating and tonic properties dormant in malt in the most pleasing\u00a0and palatable form.”<\/p>\n It i:s as if Joseph Gahm, German bottler of Boston, were saying to the directory’s\u00a0readers fifty years ago, “Take your beer or take your ma I t extract.<\/p>\n I’ve got both.” And with that we must say good night for old times’ sake.<\/p>\n Year: 1956<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #286, broadcast on January 1, 1956<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[790,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7583"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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