Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); West (U.S.) -- Social life and customs
There being no officer of the law and no clergyman in all that broad
wilderness who was authorized to perform the marriage rites, Huldah
without further ado and in the presence of the witnesses there gathered
at midnight on the bank of Big Sandy River consented then and there to
become Mrs. Pratt. On the following day the train reached Green River,
where Mrs. Pratt bade adieu to her father and mother and proceeded with
her husband on a honeymoon trip toward California, with many months of
travel still before her, along a route where possibly not even a hut
would be seen after passing the new Mormon settlement near Great Salt
Lake, at which point it was hoped that supplies would be obtained.
Although other emigrants who continued with the Scofield train failed to
reach the Eldorado of the West, Pratt and his wife, Huldah, with their
family, made the trip with safety and became a part of the remarkable
civilization that characterized the early California settlements.
We also had camped at Big Sandy, a stream varying in volume, but now
about three feet in depth and easily forded. A dozen Confederate
soldiers, then loyally in the service of the United States Government,
were temporarily stationed there, to afford a nominal protection to the
few trains then passing that way. In the evening, Ben, who was fresh
from his army life, led the veterans to recitals of many of their recent
experiences on southern battle-fields. One more day of travel brought us
to Green River. The country traversed is a barren clay land,
inhospitable, and apparently sterile, presenting hardly a blade of grass
to relieve the monotony of the scenery. The young people who had saddle
horses, caring little then for scenery, rode leisurely in advance of the
train and planned somewhat for the future.
A rough looking old frontiersman had established a ferry at Green River,
which, in conjunction with trapping wolves, and selling whiskey and
other necessaries, enabled him to earn a livelihood. His tattered
garments and the exterior of his hut and its surroundings left us with
the impression that he was not enjoying great prosperity. His charges
for ferrying seemed to be somewhat excessive, but the stream being very
swift and the water at points being ten feet in depth, we concluded
negotiations for the portage and camped on the further shore of the
river.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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