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17 - Army Letters from an Officers Wife, 1871-1888 by Frances M. A. Roe · Army Letters from an Officers Wife, 1871-1888

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  Speaker 1: Section seventeen of Army Letters from an Officer's Wife eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy one, eighteen eighty eight. This is the LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Sue Anderson. Army Letters from an Officer's Wife eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy one, eighteen eighty eight by Francis Rowe, Section seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: Letters from eighteen eighty four, Part two. Camp on Yellowstone River,
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  Speaker 1: Yellowstone Park, August eighteen eighty four. Our camp is in
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  Speaker 1: a beautiful pine grove, just above the upper falls and
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  Speaker 1: close to the rapids. From our tent, we can look
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  Speaker 1: out on the foaming river as it rushes from one
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  Speaker 1: big rock to another. Far from the bank, on an
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  Speaker 1: immense boulder that is almost surrounded by water is perched
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  Speaker 1: by tent. Companion. Miss Hayes says the view from there
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  Speaker 1: is grand. But how she can have the nerve to
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  Speaker 1: go over the wet, slippery rocks is a mystery to
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  Speaker 1: all of us, for by one little misstep she would
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  Speaker 1: be swept over the falls and to eternity. Our party
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  Speaker 1: consists of Captain and missus Spencer, their little niece, Miss Hayes,
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  Speaker 1: and myself, oh yes, Lottie, the colored cook, and six
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  Speaker 1: or eight soldiers. We have part of the transportation that
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  Speaker 1: Major General Schofield used for this same trip two weeks ago,
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  Speaker 1: and which we found waiting for us at Mammoth Hot Springs.
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  Speaker 1: We also have two saddle horses. By having tents and
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  Speaker 1: our own transportation, we can remain as long as we
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  Speaker 1: wish at any one place, and can go to many
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  Speaker 1: out of the way spots that the regular tourist does
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  Speaker 1: not even hear of. But I do not intend to
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  Speaker 1: weary you with long descriptions of the park, the wonderful geysers,
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  Speaker 1: or the exquisitely tinted water in many of the springs,
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  Speaker 1: but to tell you of our trip that has been
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  Speaker 1: most enjoyable from the very minute we left Livingstone. We
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  Speaker 1: camped one night by the fire Whole River, where there
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  Speaker 1: is a spring I would like to carry home with me.
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  Speaker 1: The water is very hot, boils up a foot or
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  Speaker 1: so all the year round, and is so buoyant that
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  Speaker 1: in a porcelain tub of ordinary depth, we found it
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  Speaker 1: difficult to do otherwise than float, and its softening effect
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  Speaker 1: upon the skin is delightful. A pipe has been laid
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  Speaker 1: from the spring to the little hotel, where it is
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  Speaker 1: used for all sorts of household purposes. Just fancy having
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  Speaker 1: a stream of water that a furnace somewhere below has
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  Speaker 1: brought to boiling heat running through your house at any
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  Speaker 1: and all times. They told us that during the winter,
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  Speaker 1: when everything is frozen, all kinds of wild animals come
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  Speaker 1: to drink at the overflow of the spring. There are
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  Speaker 1: hundreds of hot springs in the park, I presume, but
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  Speaker 1: that one at Marshall's is remarkable for the purity of
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  Speaker 1: its water. Captain Speer sent to the hotel for fresh meat,
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  Speaker 1: and was amazed when the soldier brought back, instead of meat,
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  Speaker 1: a list from which he was asked to select. At
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  Speaker 1: that little log hotel of ten or twelve rooms, there
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  Speaker 1: were seven kinds of meat. Black tail deer, white tailed deer,
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  Speaker 1: bear grouse, prairie chicken, squirrels, and domestic fowl, the latter
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  Speaker 1: still in possession of their heads. Hunting in the park
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  Speaker 1: is prohibited, and the proprietor of that fine game market
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  Speaker 1: was most careful to explain to the soldier that everything
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  Speaker 1: had been brought from the other side of the mountain.
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  Speaker 1: That was probably true. But nevertheless, just as we were
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  Speaker 1: leaving the woods by Hell's half Acre and were coming
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  Speaker 1: out on a beautiful meadow surrounded by a thick forest,
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  Speaker 1: we saw for one instant a deer standing on the
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  Speaker 1: bank of a little stream at our right, and then
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  Speaker 1: it disappeared in the forest. Captain Spencer was on horseback,
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  Speaker 1: and happening to look to the left, saw a man
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  Speaker 1: skulking to the woods with a rifle in his hand.
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  Speaker 1: The poor deer would undoubtedly have been shot if we
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  Speaker 1: had been a minute or two later. For two nights
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  Speaker 1: our camp was in the pine forest back of Old Faithful,
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  Speaker 1: and that gave us one whole day and afternoon with
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  Speaker 1: the geysers. Our colored cook was simply wild over them,
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  Speaker 1: and would spend hours looking down in the craters of
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  Speaker 1: those that were not playing. Those seemed to fascinate her
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  Speaker 1: above all things there, and at times she looked like
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  Speaker 1: a wild African when she returned to camp from one
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  Speaker 1: of them. Not far from the tents of the enlisted
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  Speaker 1: men was a small hot spring that boiled lazily in
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  Speaker 1: a shallow basin. It occurred to one of the men
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  Speaker 1: that it would make a fine laundry, so he tied
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  Speaker 1: a few articles of clothing securely to a stick and
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  Speaker 1: switched them up and down in the hot sulfur water,
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  Speaker 1: and then hung them up to dry. Another soldier, taking
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  Speaker 1: notice of the success of that washing, decided to do
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  Speaker 1: even better, so so he gathered all the underwear he
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  Speaker 1: had with him, except those he had on, and dropped
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  Speaker 1: them down in the basin. He used the stick, but
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  Speaker 1: only to push them about with and alas did not
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  Speaker 1: fasten them to it, they swirled about for a time,
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  Speaker 1: and then all at once every article disappeared, leaving the
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  Speaker 1: poor man in dumb amazement. He sat on the edge
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  Speaker 1: of the spring until dark, watching and waiting for his
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  Speaker 1: clothes to return to him, but come back they did not.
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  Speaker 1: Some of the men watched with him, but most of
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  Speaker 1: them teased him cruelly. Such a loss on a trip
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  Speaker 1: like this was great. When we got to Obsidian Mountain,
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  Speaker 1: Miss Hayes and I decided that we would like to
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  Speaker 1: go up a little distance and get a few specimens
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  Speaker 1: to carry home with us. Our camp for the night
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  Speaker 1: was supposed to be only one mile further on, and
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  Speaker 1: the enlisted men and two wagons were back of us,
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  Speaker 1: so we thought we could safely stay there by ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: The so called mountain is really only a foothill to
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  Speaker 1: a large mountain, but is most interesting from the fact
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  Speaker 1: that it is covered with pieces of obsidian, mostly smoke color,
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  Speaker 1: and that long ago Indians came there for arrow heads.
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  Speaker 1: A very narrow road has been cut out of the
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  Speaker 1: rocks at the base of the mountain, and about four
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  Speaker 1: feet above a small stream. It has two very sharp turns,
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  Speaker 1: and all around, as far as we could see, it
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  Speaker 1: would be exceedingly dangerous, if not impossible, for large wagons
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  Speaker 1: to pass. Miss Hayes and I went on up, gathering
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  Speaker 1: and rejecting pieces of obsidian that had probably been gathered
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  Speaker 1: and rejected by hundreds of tourists before us, and we
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  Speaker 1: were laughing and having a beautiful time, when for some
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  Speaker 1: reason I looked back and down on the point where
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  Speaker 1: the road almost doubles on itself, I saw an old
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  Speaker 1: wagon with two horses, and standing by the wagon were
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  Speaker 1: two men. They were looking at us, and very soon
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  Speaker 1: one beckoned. I looked all around, thinking that some of
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  Speaker 1: their friends must certainly be near us, but no one
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  Speaker 1: was in sight. By that time. One man was waving
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  Speaker 1: his hat to us, and then they actually called, come
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  Speaker 1: on down here, come down, It's all right. Miss Hayes
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  Speaker 1: is quite deaf, and I was obliged to go around
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  Speaker 1: rocks before I could get near enough to tell her
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  Speaker 1: of the wagon below, and the men not hear me.
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  Speaker 1: She gave the men and wagon an indifferent glance and
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  Speaker 1: then went on searching for specimens. I was so vexed
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  Speaker 1: I could have shaken her. She will scream over a
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  Speaker 1: worm or spider, and almost faint at the sight of
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  Speaker 1: a snake, but those two men, who are apparently real tramps,
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  Speaker 1: she did not mind. The situation was critical, and for
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  Speaker 1: just one instant I thought hard, if we were to
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  Speaker 1: go over the small mountain, we would probably be lost
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  Speaker 1: and might encounter all sorts of wild beasts. And if
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  Speaker 1: those men were really vicious, they could easily overtake us. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: it would never do to let them suspect that we
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  Speaker 1: were afraid. So I decided to go down, and slowly
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  Speaker 1: down I went, almost dragging Miss Hayes with me. She
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  Speaker 1: did not understand my tactics, and I did not stop
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  Speaker 1: to explain. I went right to the men, taking care
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  Speaker 1: to get between them and the road to camp. I
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  Speaker 1: asked them if they were in trouble of any kind,
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  Speaker 1: and they said no. I could hardly control my voice,
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  Speaker 1: but it seemed important that I should give them to
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  Speaker 1: understand at once who we were, So I said, did
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  Speaker 1: you meet our friends in the army ambulance just down
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  Speaker 1: the road. The two looked at each other, and then
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  Speaker 1: one said yes. I continued with there are two very
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  Speaker 1: large and heavily loaded army wagons and a number of
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  Speaker 1: soldiers coming down the other road that should be here
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  Speaker 1: right now. They smiled again and said something to each other,
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  Speaker 1: but I interrupted with I do not see how those
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  Speaker 1: big wagons and four mules can pass you here, and
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  Speaker 1: it seems to me you had better get out of
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  Speaker 1: their way, for soldiers can be awfully cross if things
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  Speaker 1: are not just to suit them. Well, those two men
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  Speaker 1: got in the old wagon without saying one word and
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  Speaker 1: started on, and we watched them until they had disappeared
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  Speaker 1: from sight around a bend, and then I said to
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  Speaker 1: Miss Hayes, come and lifting my skirts, I started on
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  Speaker 1: the fastest run I ever made in my life, and
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  Speaker 1: I kept it up until I actually staggered. Then I
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  Speaker 1: sat upon a rock back of some bushes, and waited
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  Speaker 1: for Miss Hayes, who appeared after a few minutes. We
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  Speaker 1: rested for a short time, and then went on and on,
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  Speaker 1: and still there was nothing to be seen of the
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  Speaker 1: meadow where the camp was supposed to be. Finally, after
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  Speaker 1: we had walked miles, it seemed to us we saw
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  Speaker 1: an opening far ahead, and the sharp silhouette of a
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  Speaker 1: man under the arch of trees. And when we reached
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  Speaker 1: the end of the wooded road we found Captain Spencer
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  Speaker 1: waiting for us. He at once started off on a
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  Speaker 1: fine inspection day reprimand, but I was tired and cross,
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  Speaker 1: and reminded him that it was he who had told
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  Speaker 1: us that the camp would be only one mile from us,
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  Speaker 1: and if we had not listened to him, we would
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  Speaker 1: not have stopped at all. Then we all laughed, Captain
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  Speaker 1: and missus. Spencer had become worried, and the ambulance was
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  Speaker 1: just starting back for us when fortunately we appeared. Miss
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  Speaker 1: Hayes cannot understand yet why I went down to that wagon.
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  Speaker 1: The child does not fear tramps and desperadoes, simply because
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  Speaker 1: she has never encountered them. Whether my move was wise
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  Speaker 1: or unwise, I knew that down on the road we
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  Speaker 1: could run up among the rocks, we could not. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: I have the satisfaction of knowing that once in my
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  Speaker 1: life I outgeneraled a man two men, And whether they
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  Speaker 1: were friends or foes, I care not. Now. I was
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  Speaker 1: wearing an officer's white cork helmet at the time, and
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  Speaker 1: possibly that helped matters a little. But why did they
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  Speaker 1: call to us? Why beckon for us to come down?
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  Speaker 1: It was my birthday too. That evening, Missus Spencer made
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  Speaker 1: some delicious punch and brought out the last of the
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  Speaker 1: huge fruit cake she made for the trip. We had
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  Speaker 1: bemoaned the fact of its having all been eaten, and
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  Speaker 1: all the time she had a piece hidden away for
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  Speaker 1: my birthday as a great surprise. We have had one
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  Speaker 1: very stormy day. It began to rain soon after we
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  Speaker 1: broke camp in the morning, not hard, but a cold,
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  Speaker 1: penetrating drizzle. Captain and Missus Spencer were riding that day
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  Speaker 1: and continued to ride until luncheon, and by that time
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  Speaker 1: they were wet to the skin and shaking from the cold.
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  Speaker 1: We were nearing the falls, the elevation was becoming greater
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  Speaker 1: and the air more chilling, every minute. We had expected
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  Speaker 1: to reach the Yellowstone River that day, but it was
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  Speaker 1: so wet and disagreeable that Captain Spencer decided to go
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  Speaker 1: into camp at a little spring we came to in
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  Speaker 1: the early afternoon, and which was about four miles from here.
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  Speaker 1: The tents were pitched just above the base of a
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  Speaker 1: hill you would call it a mountain in the east,
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  Speaker 1: and in a small grove of trees. The ground was
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  Speaker 1: thickly carpeted with dead leaves, and everything looked most attractive
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  Speaker 1: from the ambulance. When Miss haz and I went to
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  Speaker 1: our tent, however, to arrange it, we found that underneath
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  Speaker 1: that thick covering of leaves, a sheet of water was
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  Speaker 1: running down the side of the hill, and with every
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  Speaker 1: step our feet sank down almost ankle deep in the
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  Speaker 1: wet leaves and water. Each has a little iron cot,
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  Speaker 1: and the two had been set up and the bedding
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  Speaker 1: put up upon them by the soldiers, and they looked
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  Speaker 1: so inviting. We decided to rest awhile and get warm also,
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  Speaker 1: But much to our disgust, we found that our mattresses
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  Speaker 1: were wet, and all of our blankets more or less
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  Speaker 1: wet too. It was impossible to dry one thing in
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  Speaker 1: the awful dampness. So we folded the blankets with a
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  Speaker 1: dry part on top as well as we could, and
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  Speaker 1: then crawled in. We hated to get up for dinner,
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  Speaker 1: but as we were guests, we felt that we must
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  Speaker 1: do so. But for that meal we waited in vain.
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  Speaker 1: Not one morsel of dinner was prepared that night, and
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  Speaker 1: Miss Hayes and I envied the enlisted men when we
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  Speaker 1: got sniffs of their boiling coffee. Only a soldier could
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  Speaker 1: have found dry wood and a place for making coffee.
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  Speaker 1: That night, when it is at all wet, Faye always
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  Speaker 1: has our tents ditched, that is, the sod turned up
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  Speaker 1: on the canvas all around the bottom. So just before
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  Speaker 1: dark I asked Captain Spencer if the men could not
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  Speaker 1: do that to our tent, and it was done without delay.
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  Speaker 1: It made a great difference in our comfort, for at
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  Speaker 1: once the incoming of the water was stopped. We all
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  Speaker 1: retired early that night, and notwithstanding our hunger and the
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  Speaker 1: wet below and above us, our sleep was sound. In
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  Speaker 1: the morning, we found several inches of snow on the ground,
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  Speaker 1: and the whole country was white. The snow was so
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  Speaker 1: moist and clinging that the small branches of trees were
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  Speaker 1: bent down with its weight, and the effect of the
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  Speaker 1: pure white on the brilliant greens was enchanting. Overall was
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  Speaker 1: the glorious sunshine that made the whole grand scene glisten
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  Speaker 1: and sparkle like fairyland. And that day was the twenty
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  Speaker 1: sixth of August. It was wretchedly cold, and our heaviest
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  Speaker 1: wraps thin and light. Lottie gave us a nice hot breakfast,
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  Speaker 1: and after that things looked much more cheerful. By noon,
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  Speaker 1: most of the snow had disappeared, and after an early
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  Speaker 1: luncheon we came on to these dry piny woods that
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  Speaker 1: claim an elevation of nine thousand feet. The rarefied air
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  Speaker 1: affects people so differently. Some breathe laboriously and have great
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  Speaker 1: difficulty in walking at all, while to others it is
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  Speaker 1: most exhilarating and gives them strength to walk great distances. Fortunately,
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  Speaker 1: our whole party is of the latter class. Yesterday morning,
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  Speaker 1: early we all started for a tramp down the canyon.
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  Speaker 1: I do not mean that we were in the canyon
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  Speaker 1: by the river, for that would have been impossible, but
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  Speaker 1: that we went along the path that runs close to
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  Speaker 1: the edge of the high cliff. We carried our luncheon
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  Speaker 1: with us, so there was no necessity for haste, and
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  Speaker 1: every now and then we sat upon the thick carpet
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  Speaker 1: of pine needles to rest and also to study the
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  Speaker 1: marvelous coloring of the cliffs across the river. The walls
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  Speaker 1: of the canyon are very high and very steep in
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  Speaker 1: many places. Perpendiyar and their strata of brilliant colors are
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  Speaker 1: a marvel to everyone. It was a day to be remembered,
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  Speaker 1: and no one seemed to mind being a little tired.
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  Speaker 1: When we returned late in the afternoon, the proprietor of
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  Speaker 1: the little log hotel that is only a short distance
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  Speaker 1: up the river told Captain Spencer that we had gone
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  Speaker 1: down six good miles, giving us a tramp altogether of
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  Speaker 1: twelve miles. It seems incredible, for not one of us
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  Speaker 1: could walk half that distance in less rarefied air. Just
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: below the big falls, and of course, very near our camp,
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  Speaker 1: is a nature's study that we find most interesting. An
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  Speaker 1: unusually tall pine tree has grown up from between the
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  Speaker 1: bowlders at the edge of the river. The tree is
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  Speaker 1: now dead, and its long branches have fallen off, but
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: a few outspreading short ones are still left. And right
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  Speaker 1: in the center of these a pair of eagles have
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  Speaker 1: built a huge nest, and in that nest right now
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  Speaker 1: are two dear eaglets. The tree is some distance from
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  Speaker 1: the top of the cliff, but it is also lower,
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  Speaker 1: Otherwise we would not have such a fine view of
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  Speaker 1: the nest and the big babies. They look a little
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  Speaker 1: larger than mallard ducts and are well feathered. They fill
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  Speaker 1: the nest to overflowing, and seem to realize that if
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  Speaker 1: they move about much, one would soon go overboard. The
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  Speaker 1: two old birds, immense in size, can be seen soaring
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  Speaker 1: above the nest at almost any time, but not once
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  Speaker 1: have we seen them come to the nest, although we
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  Speaker 1: have watched with much patience for them to do so.
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  Speaker 1: The great wisdom shown by those birds in the selection
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  Speaker 1: of a home is wonderful. It would be utterly impossible
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  Speaker 1: for man or beast to reach it. Another nature's study
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  Speaker 1: that we have seen in the park, and which to
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  Speaker 1: me was most wonderful, was a large beaver village. Of course,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: most people in the Northwest have seen beaver villages of
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  Speaker 1: various sizes, but that one was different and should be
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  Speaker 1: called a city. There were elevated roads laid off in
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  Speaker 1: squares that run with great precision from one little house
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  Speaker 1: to the other. There are dozens and dozens of houses,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps a hundred in the Marshy Lake, and the amount
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  Speaker 1: of intelligence and cunning the little animals have shown in
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  Speaker 1: the construction of their houses and elevated roads is worth studying.
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  Speaker 1: They are certainly fine engineers. We take the road home
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  Speaker 1: from here, but go a much more direct route, which
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  Speaker 1: will be by ambulance all the way to Fort Ellis
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  Speaker 1: instead of going by the cars from Mammoth Hot Springs.
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  Speaker 1: I am awfully glad of this, as it will make
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  Speaker 1: the trip one day longer and take us over a
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: road that is new to us, although it is the
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  Speaker 1: direct route from Ellis to the park through Rocky Canyon.
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  Speaker 1: End of letter, end of section seventeen eight