Page 27 - Cornelius Hedges Story

For This And Succeeding Generations Gardiner 14

letters for Iowa. As they crossed the Wyoming plains, more and more
small trains banded together for added protection and by June 5, he
noted: “more teams came in today; our train is over 100 wagons
now.”

Notwithstanding their drunken guide, a Frenchman named
Rouleau; they averaged 20 to 25 miles on most days. They reached
the Wind River, known as the Big Horn River north of the Wind
River canyon, on June 11 and crossed it on Sunday, June 12. The
wagons were ferried, but they “swam” the horses and mules.

That evening on the other side, Hedges for the first time since
leaving Council Bluffs noted:

“Preaching in the evening” and he added “good sermon.”
Moving northward into the Big Horn Basin, they camped on the
“Greybull” River on June 15. The route they were following was a
new cut-off which Jim Bridger was in the process of blazing. And
on the 17th, their train learned from two of Bridger’s men that the
Bridger train was but 12 miles ahead. A portion of his journal entry
for June 23, read:
“Went up mountain and saw Yellowstone and junction of
Clarkes fork with it water cool and good, good grass.”
On the 25th, the Journal contains two points of special interest;
first, they overtook Jacob’s train, and second, his true love for
books and knowledge was shown by the fact that he was reading
“Richardson’s Monitor of Freemasonry” out there on the trail.
Near the end of the trip, their wagon broke down. They reached
the Yellowstone River on July 2, and on July 3, he sadly recorded:
“Up before 3 and began the melancholy work of cleaning our
wagon preparatory to leaving it. I repacked everything to suit a
man who was willing to carry our things and double team. Old
wagon soon disappeared - It almost brought tears and made one
feel more like being homesick than anything else. Nothing can
be got without much trouble.”