 Section 15 of Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871, 1888. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Sue Anderson. Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871, 1888. By Frances Rowe. Section 15, Letters from 1882, Part 2. Camp on Birch Creek, Nepegan Agency, Montana Territory. September, 1882. By this time you must have become accustomed to getting letters from all sorts of out-of-the-way places. Therefore I will not wear you with long explanations. But simply say that Major Stokes and Faye sent for Mrs. Stokes and me to come to camp, thinking to give us a pleasant little outing. We came over with the Paymaster and his escort. Major Carpenter seemed delighted to have us with him, and naturally Mrs. Stokes and I were in a humor to enjoy everything. We brought a nice little luncheon with us for everybody, that is, everyone in the ambulance. The escort of enlisted men were in a wagon back of us, but the officer in charge was with us. The Indians have quieted down, and several of the officers have gone on leave. So with the two companies now here, there are only Major Stokes, who is in command, Faye, Lieutenant Todd, and Dr. Norton. Mrs. Stokes has seen much of camp life, and enjoys it now and then, much as I do. The importance of our husbands as hosts, their many efforts to make us comfortable and entertain us, is amusing, yet very lovely. They give us no rest whatever, but as soon as we return from one little excursion, another is immediately proposed. There is a little spring wagon in camp with two seats, and there are two fine mules to pull it, and with this really comfortable turnout we drive about the country. Major Stokes is military inspector of supplies at this agency, and every peagon knows him, so when we meet Indians, as we do often, there is always a powwow. Three days ago we packed the little wagon with wraps and other things, and Major and Mrs. Stokes, Faye, and I, started for a two days outing at a little lake that is nestled far up on the side of a mountain. It is about ten miles from here. There is only a wagon trail leading to it, and as you go on, up, and up, and see nothing but rocks and trees, it would never occur to you that the steep slope of the mountain could be broken, that a lake of good size could be hidden on its side. You do not get a glimpse of it at once until you drive between the bushes and boulders that border its banks, and then it is all before you in amazing beauty. The reflections are wonderful, the highlights showing with exquisite sharpness against the dark green and purple depths of the clear spring water. The lake is fearfully deep. The Indians insist that in places it is bottomless, and it is teeming with trout, the most delicious mountain trout that can be caught anyplace, and which come up so cold one can easily fancy there is an iceberg somewhere down below. Some of these fish are fourteen or more inches long. It was rather late in the afternoon when we reached the lake, so we hurriedly got ourselves ready for fishing, for we were thinking of a trout dinner. Four enlisted men had followed us with a wagon in which were our tents, bedding, and boxes of provisions, and these men busied themselves at once by putting up the little tents and making preparations for dinner, and we were anxious to get enough fish for their dinner as well as our own. At a little landing we found two rowboats, and getting in these we were soon out on the lake. If one goes to fish lake just for sport, and can be contented with taking in two or three fish during an all-days hard work, flies should be used always. But if one gets up there when the shadows are long, and one's dinner is depending upon the fish caught, one might as well begin at once with grasshoppers, at least that is what I did. I carried a box of fine yellow grasshoppers up with me, and I cast one over before the boat had fairly settled in position. It was seized the instant it had touched the water, and down, down went the trout, its white sides glistening through the clear water. For some reason, still unaccountable, I let it go, and yard after yard of line was reeled out. Perhaps after all it was fascination that kept me from stopping the plunge of the fish that never stopped until the entire line was let out. That brought me to my senses, and I reeled the fish up and got a fine trout. But I also got at the same time an uncontrollable longing for land, to be in a leaky, shaky old boat over a watery, bottomless pit, as the one that trout had been down in was more than I could calmly endure. So, with undisguised disgust, Faye rode me back to the landing, where I caught quite as many fish as any one out in the boats. One of the enlisted men prepared dinner for us, and fried the trout in olive oil the most perfect way of cooking mountain trout in camp. They were delicious, so fresh from the icy water that none of their delicate flavor had been lost, and were crisp and hot. We had cups of steaming coffee, and all sorts of nice things from the boxes we had brought from the post. A flat boulder made a grand table for us, and, of course, each one had his little camp stool to sit upon. Altogether the dinner was a success, the best part of it being, perhaps, the exhilarating mountain air that gave us such fine appetites, and a keen appreciation of everything ludicrous. While we were fishing, our tents had been arranged for us in real soldier fashion. Great bunches of long grass had been piled up on each side underneath the little mattresses, which raised the beds from the ground and made them soft and springy. Those A-tents are very small and low, and it is impossible to stand up in one except in the center under the ridge pole, for the canvas is stretched from the ridge pole to the ground, so the only walls are back and front, where there is an opening. I had never been in one before and was rather appalled at its limitations, and neither had I ever slept on the ground before, but I had gone prepared for a rough outing. Besides, I knew that everything possible had been done to make Mrs. Stokes and me comfortable. The air was chilly up on the mountain, but we had any number of heavy blankets that kept us warm. The night was glorious with brilliant moonlight, and the shadows of the pine trees on the white canvas were black and wonderfully clear-cut, as the wind swayed the branches back and forth. The sounds of the wind were dismal, sowing and moaning as all mountain winds do, and made me think of the bogeyman and other things. I found myself wondering if anything could crawl under the tent at my side. I wondered if snakes could have been brought in with the grass. I imagined that I heard things moving about, but all the time I was watching those exquisite shadows of the pine needles in a dreamy sort of way. Then, all at once, I saw the shadow of one then three things as they ran up the canvas and darted this way and that like crazy things and which could not possibly have grown on a pine tree. And almost at the same instant something pulled my hair. With a scream and scramble I was soon out of that tent, but of course when I moved all those things had moved too and wholly disappeared. So I was called foolish to be afraid in a tent after the weeks and months I had lived in camp. But just then Mrs. Stokes ran from her tent, major Stokes slowly following. And then it came out there had been trouble over there also, and that I was not the only one in disgrace. Mrs. Stokes had seen queer shadows on her canvas, and coming to me said, Will said those things are squirrels. That was too much, and I replied with indignation. They are not squirrels at all. They are too small, and their tails are not bushy. Well, there was a time. We refused absolutely positively to go back to our tents until we knew all about those darting shadows. We saw that those two disagreeable men had an understanding with each other and were much inclined to laugh. It was cold and our wrappers not very warm, but Mrs. Stokes and I finally sat down upon some campstools to await events. Then Faye, who can never resist an opportunity to tease, said to me, You had better take care. Mice might run up that stool. So the cat was out. I have never been afraid of mice, and have always considered it very silly in women to make such a fuss over them. But those field mice were different. They seemed inclined to take the very hair from your head. Of course we could not sit up all night, and after a time had to return to our tents. I wrapped my head up securely so my hair could not be carried off without my knowing something about it. Ever so many times during the night I heard talking and smothered laughter and concluded that the soldiers also were having small visitors with four swift little legs. We had more delicious trout for our breakfast, that time fried with tiny strips of breakfast bacon. The men had been out on the lake very early and had caught several dozen beautiful fish. The dinner the evening before had been much like an ordinary picnic, but the early breakfast up on the side of a mountain with big boulders all around was something to remember. One can never imagine the deliciousness of the air at sunrise up on the rocky mountains. It has to be breathed to be appreciated. Everyone fished during the morning and many fish were caught, every one of which were carefully packed in wet grass and brought to Birch Creek to the unfortunate who had not been on that most delightful trip to Fish Lake. After luncheon we came down from the mountain and drove to the pagan agency. The heavy wagon came directly to camp, of course. There is nothing remarkable to be seen at the agency, just a number of ordinary buildings, a few huts, and Indians standing around the door of a store that resembles a post trader's. Every Indian had on a blanket, although Major Stokes said there were several among them who had been to the Carlisle School. Along the road before we reached the agency, and for some distance after we had left it, we passed a number of little one-room log huts occupied by Indians, often with two squaws and large families of children, and at some of these we saw wretched attempts at gardening. These Indians are provided with plows, spades, and all sorts of implements necessary for the making of proper gardens, and they are given grain and seeds to plant, but seldom are any of these things made use of. An Indian scorns work of any kind, that is only for squaws. The squaws will scratch up a bit of ground with sticks, put a little seed in, and then leave it for the sun and rain to do with it as it sees fit. No more attention will be paid to it, and half the time the seed is not covered. One old chief raised some wheat one year. I presume his squaws did all the work, and he gathered several sackfuls, which was made into flour at the agency mill. The chief was very proud, but when the next quarterly issue came around, his ration of flour was lessened, just the amount his wheat had made, which decided all future farming for him. Why should he achieve trouble himself about learning to farm, and then gain nothing in the end? There is a fine threshing machine at the agency, but the Indians will have nothing whatever to do with it. They cannot understand its workings and call it the devil machine. As we were nearing the Indian village across the creek from us, we came to a most revolting spectacle. Two or three Indians had just killed an ox, and were slashing and cutting off pieces of the almost quivering flesh, in a way that left little pools of blood in places on the side. There were two squaws with them, squattered on the ground by the dead animal, and those hideous, fiendish creatures were scooping up the warm blood with their hands, and greedily drinking it. Can one imagine anything more horrible? We stopped only a second, but the scene was too repulsive to be forgotten. It makes me shiver even now when I think of the flashing of those big knives, and of how each one of the savages seemed to be reveling in the smell and taste of blood. I feel that they could have slashed and cut into one of us with the same relish. It was much like seeing a murder committed. Major Stokes told us last evening that when he returned from the east a few weeks ago, he discovered that one of a pair of beautiful pistols that had been presented to him had been stolen. That someone had gone upstairs and taken it out of the case that was in a closet corresponding to mine, so that accounts for the footsteps I heard in that house the night the man entered Mrs. Norton's house. But how did the man know just where to get a pistol? The hospital attendant who was suspected that night got his discharge a few days later. He stayed around the garrison so long that finally Colonel Gregory ordered him to leave the reservation, and just before coming from the post we heard that he had shot a man and was in jail. A very good place for him, I think. We expect to return to the post in a few days. I would like to remain longer, but as everybody and everything will go I can't very well. The trout fishing in Birch Creek is very good, and I often go for a little fish, sometimes alone, and sometimes Mrs. Stokes will go with me. I do not go far because of the dreadful Indians that are always wandering about. They have a small village across the creek from us, and every evening we hear their tom-toms as they chant and dance, and when the wind is from that direction we get a smell now and then of their dirty tepees. Major Stokes and Mrs. Stokes also see the noble side of Indians, but that side has always been so covered with blankets and other dirty things I have never found it. End of Letter Fort Shaw, Montana Territory, November 1882 You will be shocked I know when you hear that we are houseless, homeless, that for the second time Faye has been ranked out of quarters. At Camp Supply the turnout was swift, but this time it has been long drawn out and most vexatious. Last month Major Bagley came here from Fort McGinnis and as we had rather expected that he would select our house we made no preparations for winter previous to his coming, but as soon as he reached the post and many times after he assured Faye that nothing could possibly induce him to disturb us and said many more sweet things. Unfortunately for us he was ordered to return to Fort McGinnis to straighten out some of his accounts while quartermaster, and Mrs. Bagley decided to remain as she was until Major Bagley's return. He was away one month and during that time the gardener stored away in our little cellar our vegetables for the winter including quantities of beautiful celery that was packed in boxes. All those things had to be taken down a ladder which made it really very hard work. Having faith in Major Bagley's word the house was cleaned from top to bottom much painting and calcium mining having been done. All the floors were painted in hard oiled and everyone knows what discomfort that always brings about. But at last everything was finished and we were about to settle down to the enjoyment of a tidy, cheerful little home when Major Bagley appeared the second time and within two hours Faye was notified that his quarters had been selected by him. We are at present in two rooms and a shed that happened to be unoccupied and I feel very much as though I was in a second hand shop. Things are piled up to the ceiling in both rooms and the shed is full also. All of the vegetables were brought up from the cellar of course and as the weather has been very cold the celery and other tender things were frozen. General and Mrs. Bork have returned and at once insisted upon our going to their house but as there was nothing definite about the time when we will get our house we said no. We are taking our meals with them however and Heng is there also teaching their new Chinaman but I can assure you that I am more than cross. If Major Bagley had selected the house the first time he came or even if he had said nothing at all about the quarters much discomfort and unpleasantness would have been avoided. They will get our nice clean house and we will get one that will require the same renovating we have just been struggling with. I have made up my mind unalterably to one thing the nice little dinner I had expected to give Major and Mrs. Bagley later on will be for other people friends who have less honey to dispose of. The splendid hunting was interrupted by the move too. Every October in this country we have a snowstorm that lasts usually three or four days then the snow disappears and there is a second fall with clear sunny days until the holidays. This year the weather remained warm and the storm was later than usual but more severe when it did come driving thousands of waterfowl down with a rush from the mountain streams and lakes. There is a slew around a little plateau near the post and for a week or more was teeming with all sorts of ducks until it was frozen over. Sometimes we would see several species quietly feeding together in the most friendly way. Fe and I would drive the horses down in the cutter and I would hold them while he walked on ahead hunting. One day when the snow was falling in big moist flakes that were so thick that the world had been narrowed down to a few yards around us we drove to some tall bushes growing on the bank of the slew. Fe was hunting and about to make some ducks rise when he heard a great whirr over his head and although the snow was so thick he could not see just what was there he quickly raised his gun and fired at something he saw moving up there. To his great amazement and my horror an immense swan dropped down and went crashing through the bushes. It was quite as white as the snow on the ground and coming from the dense cloud of snow above where no warning of its presence had been given, no call sounded. One felt that there was something queer about it all. With its enormous wings spread it looked like an angel coming to the earth. The horses thought so also for as soon as it touched the bushes they bolted and for a few minutes I was doubtful if I could hold them. I was so vexed with them too for I wanted to see that splendid bird. They went around and around the plateau and about all I was able to do at first was to keep them from going to the post. They finally came down to a trot but it was some time before I could coax them to go to the bushes where the swan had fallen. I did not blame them much for when the big bird came down it seemed as if the very heavens were falling. We supplied our friends with duck several days and upon our own dinner table duck was served ten successive days. And it was just as acceptable the last day as the first for almost every time there was a different variety the cinnamon perhaps being the most rare. Last year Hang was very contrary about the packing down of the eggs for winter use. I always put them in salt but he thought they should be put in oats because Mrs. Pierce had packed hers that way. You know he had been Mrs. Pierce's cook two years before he came to me and for a time he made me weary telling how she had things done. Finally I told him he must do as I said that he was my cook now. There was peace for a while and then came the eggs. He would not do one thing to assist me not even take down the eggs and looked at Volmer with scorn when he carried down the boxes in salt. I said nothing knowing what the result would be later on if Hang remained with me. When the cold weather came and no more fresh eggs were brought in it was astonishing to see how many things that stubborn Chinaman could make without any eggs at all. Get them out of the salt he simply would not. Of course that could not continue forever so one day I brought some up and left them on his table without saying a word. He used them and after that there was no trouble and one day in the spring he brought in to show me some beautifully beaten eggs and said, Very good, ollie, same fresh. This fall when the time came to pack eggs I said, Hang perhaps we better pack the eggs and oats this year. He said nah, oats no good. Then came my revenge. I said Mrs. Pierce puts hers in oats. But he became angry and said yes, me no, Missy Pierce no no, salt make him ollie same fresh. And in salt they are and Hang packed every one. I offered to show him how to do it. But he said, me no, you see. It gave him such a fine opportunity to dictate to Volmer. If the striker did not bring the eggs the very moment he thought they should be in, Hang would look him up and say you bling eggs. Just where those boxes of eggs are I do not know. The Chinaman has spirited them off to some place where they will not freeze. He cannot understand all this ranking out of quarters, particularly after he had put the house in perfect order. When I told him to sweep the rooms after everything had been carried out he said, What for? You clean the house enough for him. He no care. And off he went. I am inclined to think the little man was right after all. There have been many changes in the garrison during the past few months and a number of our friends have gone to other posts. Colonel and Mrs. Palmer, Major and Mrs. Pierce, and Doctor and Mrs. Gordon are no longer here. We have lost consequently both of our fine tenors and excellent organist, and our little choir is not good now. Some of us will miss in other ways Colonel Palmer's cultivated voice. During the summer four of us found much pleasure in practicing together the light operas, each one learning the one voice throughout the entire opera. When we get settled, if we ever do, we will be at our old end of the garrison again, and our neighbors on either side will be charming people. There is some consolation in that. Nevertheless I am thinking all the time of the pretty walls and shiny floors we had to give up, and to a very poor housekeeper too. After we get our house it will take weeks to fix it up, and it will be impossible to take the same interest in it that we found in the first. If Faye gets his first lieutenancy in the spring, it is possible that we may have to go to another post, which will mean another move. But I am tired and cross. Anyone would be under such uncomfortable conditions. End of Letter End of Section 15 Part 16 of Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871, 1888 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Sue Anderson Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871, 1888 By Francis Rowe Section 16 Letters from 1883, 1884 Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, March, 1883 The trip over was by far the most enjoyable of any we have taken between Fort Shaw and this post, and we were thankful enough that we could come before the snow began to melt on the mountains. Our experience with the high water two years ago was so dreadful that we do not wish to ever encounter anything of the kind again. The weather was delightful with clear, crisp atmosphere such as can be found only in this magnificent territory. It was such a pleasure to have our own turnout too and to be able to see the mountains and canyons as we came along without having our heads bruised by an old ambulance. Faye had to wait almost twelve years for a first lieutenancy and now when at last he has been promoted it has been the cause of our leaving dear friends and a charming garrison and losing dear yellow hang also. The poor little man wept when he said goodbye to me in Helena. We had just arrived and were still on the walk in front of the hotel and of course all the small boys in the street gathered around us. I felt very much like weeping too and I'm afraid I will feel even more so when I get in my own home. Hang is going right on to China to visit his mother one year and I presume that his people will consider him a very rich man with the twelve hundred dollars he has saved. He has never cut his hair and has never worn American clothes. Even in the winter when it has been freezing cold he would shuffle along on the snow with his Chinese shoes. I shall miss the pretty silk coats about the house and his swift almost noiseless going around. That Chinaman are not more generally employed I cannot understand for they make such exceptional servants. They are wonderfully economical and can easily do the work of two maids and if once you win their confidence and their affection they are your slaves but they are very suspicious. Once when Bishop Tuttle was with us he wanted a pair of boots blackened and set them in his room where Hang could see them and on the toe of one he put a twenty five cent piece. Hang blackened the boots beautifully and then put the money back precisely where it was in the first place. Then he came to me and expressed his opinion of the dear Bishop. He said, Chinaman no steely. You tell him me no steely. He see me no takey him. And then he insisted upon my going to see for myself that the money was on the boot. I was awfully distressed. The Bishop was to remain with us several days and no one could tell how that Chinaman might treat him for I saw that he was deeply hurt but it was utterly impossible to make him believe otherwise than that the quarter had been put there to test his honesty. I finally concluded to tell the Bishop all about it knowing that his experience with all kinds of human nature had been great in his travels about to his various missions and his kindness and tact with minor ranchmen and cowboy he is now called by them lovingly the cowboy Bishop. He laughed heartily about Hang and said I'll fix that which he must have done to Hang's entire satisfaction for he fairly danced around the Bishop during the remainder of his stay with us. Faye was made post-quarter master and commissary as soon as he reported for duty here and is already hard at work. The post is not large but the office of quarter master is no sinecure an immense amount of transportation has to be kept in readiness for the field for which the quarter master alone is held responsible and this is the base of supplies for outfits for all parties large and small that go to the Yellowstone Park and these are many now that Livingston can be reached from the north or the south by the northern Pacific Railroad. Immense pack trains have to be fitted out for generals, congressmen even the President himself during the coming season. These people bring nothing whatever with them for camp but depend entirely upon the quarter master here to fit them out as luxuriously as possible with tents and commissaries even to experience camp cooks. The railroad has been laid straight through the post and it looks very strange to see the cars running directly back of the company quarters. The long tunnel it is to be called the Boseman tunnel that has been cut through a large mountain is not quite finished and the cars are still run up over the mountain upon a track that was laid only for temporary use. It requires two engines to pull even the passenger trains up and when the divide is reached the pilot is uncoupled and run down ahead sometimes at terrific speed. One day since we came the engineer lost control and the big black thing seemed almost to drop down the grade and the shrieking of the continuous whistle was awful to listen to. It seemed as if it was the wailing of the souls of the two men being rushed on perhaps to their death. The thing came on and went screaming through the post and on through Boseman and how much further we do not know. Some of the enlisted men got a glimpse of the engineer as he passed and say that his face was like chalk. We will not be settled for some time as Fay is to take a set of vacant quarters on the hill until one of the officers goes on leave when we will move to that house as it is nicer and nearer the offices. He could have taken it when we came had he been willing to turn anyone out it seems to me that I am waiting for a house about half the time yet when anyone wants our house it is taken at once. For a few days we are with Lieutenant and Mrs. Fisk they gave us an elegant dinner last evening Miss Burt and her brother came up from Boseman this evening we dine with Major and Mrs. Gillespie of the cavalry he is in command of the post and tomorrow we will dine with Captain and Mrs. Spencer and so it will go on probably until everyone has entertained us in some delightful manner as this is the custom in the army when there are newcomers in the garrison I am so sorry that these courtesies cannot be returned for a long time until we get really settled and then how I shall miss hang how I am to do without him I do not quite see. End of letter Fort Ellis Montana Territory July 1884 this post is in a most dilapidated condition and it also the country about looks as though it had been the scene of a fierce bombardment and bombarded we certainly have been by a terrific hail storm that made us feel for a time that our very lives were in danger the day had been excessively warm with brilliant sunshine until about three o'clock when dark clouds were seen to be coming up over the Bozeman valley and everyone said that perhaps at last we would have the rain that was so much needed I have been in so many frightful storms that came from innocent looking clouds that now I am suspicious of anything of the kind that looks at all threatening consequently I was about the first person to notice the peculiar unbroken gray that had replaced the black of a few minutes before and the first two to hear the ominous roar that sounded like the fall of an immense body of water and which could be distinctly heard fifteen minutes before the storm reached us while I stood at the door listening and watching I saw several people walking about in the garrison each one intent upon his own business and not giving the storm a thought still it seemed to me that it would be just as well to have the house close tight and calling holda we soon had windows and doors closed not one minute too soon either for the storm came across the mountains with hurricane speed and struck us with such force that the thick walled log houses fairly trembled with the wind came the hail at the very beginning changing the hot sultry air into the coldness of icebergs most of the hail stones were the size of a hen's egg and crashed through windows and pounded against the house making a noise that was not only deafening but paralyzing the sounds of breaking glass came from every direction and holda and I rushed from one room to the other not knowing what to do for it was the same scene every place floors covered with broken glass and hail pouring in through the openings the ground upon which the officers quarters filled is a little sloping therefore it had to be cut away back of the kitchen to make the floor level for a large shed where ice chest and such things are kept and there are two or three steps at the door leading from the shed up to the ground outside this gradual rise continues far back to the mountains so by the time the hail and water reached us from above they had become one broad sweeping torrent ever increasing in volume in one of the boards of our shed close to the steps and just above the ground there happened to be a large knot which the pressure of the water soon forced out and the water and hail stones shot through and straight across the shed as if from a fire hose striking the wall of the main building the site was most laughable that is at first it was but we soon saw that the awful rush of water that was coming in through the broken sash and the remarkable hose arrangement back of the kitchen was rapidly flooding us so I ran to the front door and seeing a soldier at one of the barrack windows I waved and waved my hand until he saw me he understood at once and came running over followed by three more men who brought spades and other things in a short time sods had been banked up at every door and then the water ceased to come in by that time the heaviest of the storm was over and the men who were most willing and kind began to shovel out the enormous quantity of hail stones from the shed they found by actual measurement that they were eight inches deep solid hail and over the entire floor much of the water had run into the kitchen and on through to the butler's pantry and was fast making its way to the dining room when it was cut off the scenes around the little house were awful more or less water was in each room and there was not one unbroken pane of glass to be found and that was not all there was not one unbroken pane of glass in the whole post that night Faye telegraphed to St. Paul for glass to replace nine hundred panes that had been broken Faye was at the quarter master's office when the storm came up and while it was still hailing I happened to look across the parade that way and in the door I saw Faye standing he had left the house not long before dressed in a suit of immaculate white linen and it was that suit that enabled me to recognize him to the veil of rain and hail sorry as I was I had to laugh for the picture was so ludicrous Faye in those chilling white clothes broken windows each side of him and the ground covered with inches of hail stones and ice water he ran over soon after the men got here but as he had to come a greater distance his pelting was in proportion many of the stones were so large it was really dangerous to be hit by them when the storm was over the ground was white as it covered with snow and the high board fences that are around the yards back of the officer's quarters looked as though they had been used for targets and peppered with big bullets Mount Bridger is several miles distant yet we can distinctly see from here the furrows that were made down at sides it looks as if deep ravines had been cut straight down from peak to base the gardens are wholly ruined not one thing was left in them the poor little gophers were forced out of their holes by the water to be killed by the hail and hundreds of them are lying around dead I wondered and wondered why Dryas did not come to our assistance but he told us afterward that when the storm first came he went to the stable to fasten the horses up snug and was then afraid to come away first because of the immense hail stones and later because both horses were so terrified by the crashing in of their windows and the awful cannonade of hail on the roof a new cook had come to us just the day before the storm and I fully expected that she would start back to Bozeman that night but she is still here and was most patient over the awful condition of things all over the house she is a pole and a good cook so there is a prospect of some enjoyment in life after the house gets straightened out there was one thing peculiar about that storm Bozeman is only three miles from here yet not one hail stone not one drop of rain did they get there they saw the moving wall of gray and heard the roar and feared that something terrible was happening up here the storm has probably ruined the mushrooms that we have found so delicious lately at one time just out of the post there was a long log stable for cavalry horses which was removed two or three years ago and all around wherever the decayed logs had been mushrooms have sprung up when it rains is the time to get the freshest and many a time Mrs. Fisk and I have put on long storm coats and gone out in the rain for them each bringing in a large basket heaping full of the most delicate buttons the quantity is no exaggeration whatever and to be very exact I would say that we invariably left about as many as we gathered usually we found the buttons masked together under the soft dirt and when we came to an umbrella shaped mound with little cracks on top we would carefully lift the dirt with a stick and uncover big clusters of buttons of all sizes we always broke the large buttons off with the greatest care and settled the spawn back in the loose dirt for a future harvest we often found large mushrooms above ground and these were delicious baked with cream sauce they would be about the size of an ordinary saucer but tender and full of rich flavor and the buttons would vary in size from a 25 cent piece to a silver dollar each one of a beautiful shell pink underneath they were so very superior to mushrooms we had eaten before but the deliciousness all their own we are wondering if the storm passed over the Yellowstone Park where just now are many tents and considerable transportation the party consists of the general of the army the department commander members of their staffs and two justices of the Supreme Court from the park they are to go across country to Fort Missoula and as there is only a narrow trail over the mountains they will have to depend entirely upon packed mules these were sent up from Fort Custer for Faye to fit out for the entire trip I went down to the corral to see them start out and it was a sight well worth going to see it was wonderful and laughable too to see what one mule could carry upon his back and two sides the packed saddles are queer looking things that are strapped carefully and firmly to the mules and then the tents, sacks, boxes even stoves are roped to the saddle one poor mule was carrying a cooking stove there were forty packed mules and one bell horse and ten packers four of course it requires an expert packer to put the things on the saddle so they are perfectly balanced and will not injure the animals back the bell horse leads and wherever it goes the mules will follow at present Faye is busy with preparations for two more parties of exceedingly distinguished personnel one of these will arrive in a day or two and is called the Indian Commission and consists of Senator Dawes and fourteen congressmen the other party for whom an elaborate camp outfit is being put in readiness consists of the President of the United States the Lieutenant General of the Army the Governor of Montana and others of lesser magnitude a troop of cavalry will escort the President through the park now that the park can be reached by railroad all of the generals, congressmen and judges are seized with a desire to inspect it in other words it gives them a fine excuse for an outing at Uncle Sam's expense end of letter end of section sixteen section seventeen of army letters from an officer's wife eighteen seventy one eighteen eighty eight this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sue Anderson Army letters from an officer's wife eighteen seventy one eighteen eighty eight by Francis Rowe section seventeen letters from eighteen eighty four part two camp on Yellowstone River Yellowstone Park August eighteen eighty four our camp is in a beautiful pine grove just above the upper falls and close to the rapids from our tent we can look out on the foaming river as it rushes from one big rock to another far from the bank on an immense boulder that is almost surrounded by water by a tent companion Miss Hayes she says the view from there is grand but how she can have the nerve to go over the wet slippery rocks is a mystery to all of us for by one little misstep she would be swept over the falls and to eternity our party consists of Captain and Mrs. Spencer their little niece Miss Hayes and myself oh yes Lottie the colored cook and six or eight soldiers we have part of the transportation that Major General Schofield used for this same trip two weeks ago and which we found waiting for us at Mammoth Hot Springs we also have two saddle horses by having tents and our own transportation we can remain as long as we wish at any one place and can go to many out-of-the-way spots that the regular tourists does not even hear of but I do not intend to worry you with long descriptions of the park the wonderful geysers or the exquisitely tinted water in many of the springs but to tell you of our trip that has been most enjoyable from the very minute we left Livingston we camped one night by the fire hole river where there is a spring I would like to carry home with me the water is very hot boils up a foot or so all the year round and is so buoyant that in a porcelain tub of ordinary depth we found it difficult to do otherwise than float the softening effect upon the skin is delightful a pipe has been laid from the spring to the little hotel where it is used for all sorts of household purposes just fancy having a stream of water that a furnace somewhere below has brought to boiling heat running through your house at any and all times they told us that during the winter when everything is frozen all kinds of wild animals come to drink at the overflow of the spring there are hundreds of hot springs that we assume but that one at Marshall's is remarkable for the purity of its water Captain Spencer sent to the hotel for fresh meat and was amazed when the soldier brought back instead of meat a list from which he was asked to select at that little log hotel of 10 or 12 rooms there were seven kinds of meat black tailed deer white tailed deer bear, grouse, prairie chicken squirrels and domestic fowl that are still in possession of their heads hunting in the park is prohibited and the proprietor of that fine game market was most careful to explain to the soldier that everything had been brought from the other side of the mountain that was probably true but nevertheless just as we were leaving the woods by hell's half acre and were coming out on a beautiful meadow surrounded by a thick forest we saw for one instant a deer standing on the bank of a little stream and then it disappeared in the forest Captain Spencer was on horseback and happening to look to the left saw a man skulking to the woods with a rifle in his hand the poor deer would undoubtedly have been shot if we had been a minute or two later for two nights our camp was in the pine forest back of Old Faithful and that gave us one whole day and afternoon with the geysers our colored cook was simply wild over them and would spend hours looking down in the craters of those that were not playing those seemed to fascinate her above all things there and at times she looked like a wild African when she returned to camp from one of them not far from the tents of the enlisted men was a small hot spring that boiled lazily in a shallow basin it occurred to one of the men that it would make a fine laundry so he tied a few articles of clothing securely to a stick and switched them up and down in the hot sulfur water and then hung them up to dry another soldier taking notice of the success of that washing decided to do even better so he gathered all the underwear he had with him except those he had on and dropped them down in the basin he used the stick but only to push them about with and alas did not fasten them to it they swirled about for a time and then all at once every article disappeared leaving the poor man in dumb amazement he sat on the edge of the spring until dark watching and waiting for his clothes to return to him but come back they did not some of the men watched with him but most of them teased him cruelly such a loss on a trip like this was great when we got to Obsidian Mountain Miss Hayes and I decided that we would like to go up a little distance and get a few specimens to carry home with us our camp for the night was supposed to be only one mile further on and the enlisted men and two wagons were back of us so we thought we could safely stay there by ourselves the so-called mountain is really only a foothill to a large mountain but is most interesting from the fact that it is covered with pieces of Obsidian mostly smoke color and that long ago Indians came there for arrowheads a very narrow road has been cut out of the rocks at the base of the mountain and about four feet above a small stream it has two very sharp turns and all around as far as we could see it would be exceedingly dangerous if not impossible for large wagons to pass Miss Hayes and I went on up gathering and rejecting pieces of Obsidian that had probably been gathered and rejected by hundreds of tourists before us and we were laughing and having a beautiful time and then for some reason I looked back and down on the point where the road almost doubles on itself I saw an old wagon with two horses and standing by the wagon were two men they were looking at us and very soon one beckoned I looked all around thinking that some of their friends must certainly be near us but no one was in sight by that time one man was waving his hat to us and then they actually called come on down here come down it's all right Miss Hayes is quite deaf and I was obliged to go around rocks before I could get near enough to tell her of the wagon below and the men not hear me she gave the men and wagon an indifferent glance and then went on searching for specimens I was so vexed I could have shaken her she will scream over a worm or spider and almost faint at the sight of a snake but those two men who are apparently real tramps she did not mind the situation was critical and for just one instant I thought hard if we were to go over the small mountain we would probably be lost and might encounter all sorts of wild beasts and if those men were really vicious they could easily overtake us besides it would never do to let them suspect that we were afraid so I decided to go down and slowly down I went almost dragging Miss Hayes with me she did not understand my tactics and I did not stop to explain I went right to the men taking care to get between them and the road to camp I asked them if they were in trouble of any kind and they said no I could hardly control my voice but it seemed important that I should give them to understand at once who we were so I said did you meet our friends in the army ambulance just down the road the two looked at each other and then one said yes I continued with there are two very large and heavily loaded army wagons and a number of soldiers coming down the other road that should be here right now they smiled again and said something to each other I do not see how those big wagons and four mules can pass you here and it seems to me you had better get out of their way for soldiers can be awfully cross if things are not just to suit them well those two men got in the old wagon without saying one word and started on and we watched them until they had disappeared from sight around a bend and then I said to Miss Hayes the fastest run I ever made in my life and I kept it up until I actually staggered then I sat upon a rock back of some bushes and waited for Miss Hayes who appeared after a few minutes we rested for a short time and then went on and on and still there was nothing to be seen of the meadow where the camp was supposed to be finally after we had walked miles it seemed to us we saw an opening far ahead of a man under the arch of trees and when we reached the end of the wooded road we found Captain Spencer waiting for us he at once started off on a fine inspection day reprimand but I was tired and cross and reminded him that it was he who had told us that the camp would be only one mile from us and if we had not listened to him we would not have stopped at all then we all laughed and the suspense had become worried and the ambulance was just starting back for us when fortunately we appeared Miss Hayes cannot understand yet why I went down to that wagon the child does not fear tramps and desperados simply because she has never encountered them whether my move was wise or unwise I knew that down on the road we could run up among the rocks we could not besides I have the satisfaction of a man two men and whether they were friends or foes I care not now I was wearing an officer's white cork helmet at the time and possibly that helped matters a little but why did they call to us why beckon for us to come down it was my birthday too that evening Mrs. Spencer made some delicious punch and brought out the last of the huge fruit cake and all the time she had a piece hidden away for my birthday as a great surprise we have had one very stormy day it began to rain soon after we broke camp in the morning not hard but a cold penetrating drizzle captain and Mrs. Spencer were riding that day and continued to ride until luncheon and by that time they were wet to the skin and shaking from the cold we were nearing the falls and the air more chilling every minute we had expected to reach the Yellowstone River that day but it was so wet and disagreeable that captain Spencer decided to go into camp at a little spring we came to in the early afternoon and which was about four miles from here the tents were pitched just above the base of a hill you would call it a mountain in the east and in a small grove of trees the ground was thickly carpeted with dead leaves that were active from the ambulance when Mrs. Hayes and I went to our tent however to arrange it we found that underneath that thick covering of leaves a sheet of water was running down the side of the hill and with every step our feet sank down almost ankle deep in the wet leaves and water each has a little iron cot and the two had been set up and the bedding put upon them by the soldiers and they looked so inviting we decided to rest a while and get warm also but much to our disgust we found that our mattresses were wet and all of our blankets more or less wet too it was impossible to dry one thing in the awful dampness so we folded the blankets with the dry part on top as well as we could and then crawled in we hated to get up for dinner but as we were guests we felt that we must do so but for that meal our dinner was prepared that night and Miss Hayes and I envied the enlisted men when we got sniffs of their boiling coffee only a soldier could have found dry wood and a place for making coffee that night when it is at all wet Faye always has our tents ditched that is the sod turned up on the canvas all around the bottom so just before dark I asked Captain Spencer if the men could not do that to our tent and it was done without delay it made a great difference in our comfort for at once the incoming of the water was stopped we all retired early that night and notwithstanding our hunger and the wet below and above us our sleep was sound in the morning we found several inches of snow on the ground and the whole country was white the snow was so moist and clinging that the small branches of trees were bent down with its weight and the effect of the pure white greens was enchanting overall was the glorious sunshine that made the whole grand scene glisten and sparkle like fairyland and that day was the 26th of August it was wretchedly cold and our heaviest wraps seen thin and light Lottie gave us a nice hot breakfast and after that things looked much more cheerful by noon most of the snow had disappeared and after an early luncheon we went on to these dry piney woods that claim an elevation of 9000 feet the rarefied air affects people so differently some breathe laboriously and have great difficulty in walking at all while to others it is most exhilarating and gives them strength to walk great distances fortunately our whole party is of the latter class yesterday morning early we all started for a tramp down the canyon I do not mean that we were in the canyon by the river for that would have been impossible but that we went along the path that runs close to the edge of the high cliff we carried our luncheon with us so there was no necessity for haste and every now and then we sat upon the thick carpet of pine needles to rest and also to study the marvellous coloring of the cliffs across the river the walls of the canyon are very high and very steep in many places perpendicular and their strata of brilliant colors are a marvel to everyone it was a day to be remembered and no one seemed to mind being a little tired when we returned late in the afternoon the proprietor of the little log hotel that is only a short distance up the river told captain Spencer that we had gone down 6 good miles giving us a tramp all together of 12 miles it seems incredible not one of us could walk half that distance in less rarefied air just below the big falls and of course very near our camp is a nature study that we find most interesting an unusually tall pine tree has grown up from between the boulders at the edge of the river the tree is now dead and its long branches have fallen off but a few outspreading short ones are still left and right in the center of these a pair of eagles have built a huge nest and in that nest right now are two deer eaglets the tree is some distance from the top of the cliff but it is also lower otherwise we would not have such a fine view of the nest and the big babies they look a little larger than mallard ducks and are well feathered they fill the nest to overflowing and seem to realize that if they move about much one would soon go overboard and the birds immense in size can be seen soaring above the nest at almost any time but not once have we seen them come to the nest although we have watched with much patience for them to do so the great wisdom shown by those birds in the selection of a home is wonderful it would be utterly impossible for man or beast to reach it another nature study that we have seen in the park to me was most wonderful was a large beaver village of course most people in the northwest have seen beaver villages of various sizes but that one was different and should be called a city there were elevated roads laid off in squares that run with great precision from one little house to the other there are dozens and dozens of houses perhaps a hundred in the marshy lake and the amount of intelligence and cunning the little animals have shown in the construction of their houses and elevated roads is worth studying they are certainly fine engineers we take the road home from here but go a much more direct route which will be by ambulance all the way to Fort Ellis instead of going by the cars from mammoth hot springs I am awfully glad of this as it will make the trip one day longer and take us over a road that is new to us and it is the direct route from Ellis to the park to Rocky Canyon end of letter end of section 17 section 18 of army letters from an officer's wife 1871 1888 this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sue Anderson army letters from an officer's wife 1871 1888 by Francis Rowe section 18 letters from 1884 1885 Fort Ellis Montana Territory November 1884 only a few days more and then we will be off for the East it is over seven years since we started from Corrine on that long March North I dreamed at that time that I would remain right in this territory until a splendid railroad would be built to us from another direction to take us out of it nearly everything is packed we expect to return here in the spring but in the army one never knows what destiny may have waiting for them at the war department besides I would not be satisfied to go so far away and leave things scattered about that kind have been disposed of not because we wanted to sell them but because Faye was unwilling to leave the horses with irresponsible persons during a long winter in this climate when the most thoughtful care is absolutely necessary to keep animals from suffering Lieutenant Gallagher of the cavalry bought them and we are passing through our second experience of seeing others drive around horses we have petted and taught to know us apart from all others and the horse broke my heart the other day he was standing in front of Lieutenant Gallagher's quarters that are near ours when I happened to go out on the walk not knowing the horses were there he gave a loud joyous whinny and started to come to me pulling Pete and the wagon with him I ran back to the house for I could not go to him he had been my own horse petted and fed lumps of sugar every day with my own hands and I always drove him as his speed was so much greater than Pete's my almost gownless condition has been a cause of great worry to me but Polk has promised to fix up my wardrobe with a rush and after the necessary time for that in Cincinnati I will hurry on to Columbus barracks for my promised visit to Dr. and Mrs. Gordon then on home Faye will go to Cincinnati with me and from there to the United States Naval home of which his father is Governor at present I will have to go there too before so very long we attended a pretty Cotillion in Bozeman last evening and remained overnight at the hotel Faye led and was assisted by Mr. Ladd of Bozeman it was quite a large and elaborate affair and there were present the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker nevertheless everything was conducted with the greatest propriety there are five or six very fine families in the small place people of culture and refinement from the east and their influence in the building up of the town has been wonderful the first year we were at Fort Ellis one could see every now and then a number usually four numerals painted in bright red on the sidewalk everyone knew that to be the work of the vigilantes and was a message to some gambler chief to get himself out of town or stand the shotgun or rope jury the first time I saw those red figures I knew what they were for it seemed as if they had been made in blood and stepped over them I could not I went out in the road around them we have seen none of those things during the past two years and for the sake of those who have worked so hard for law and order the motto element has passed on end of letter Fort Shaw, Montana Territory May 1885 it is nice to be once more at this dear old post particularly under such very pleasant circumstances the winter east was enjoyable and refreshing from first to last but citizens and army people have so little in common and this one feels after being no matter how near and dear the relationship may be why one half of them do not know the uniform and could not distinguish an officer of the army from a policeman I love army life here in the west and I love all the things that it brings to me the grand mountains the plains and the fine hunting the buffalo are no longer seen everyone has been killed off and back of square butte the valley hundreds of skeletons are bleaching even now the valley is about two miles from the post we are with the commanding officer and his wife and Hulda is here also she was in Helena during the winter and came from there with us I am so glad to have her she is so competent and will be such a comfort a little later on when there will be much entertaining for us to do we stopped at Fort Ellis at all things in readiness to be shipped here this time by the cars instead of by wagon through mud and water we were guests of Captain and Mrs. Spencer and enjoyed the visit so much Dr. and Mrs. Lawton gave an informal dinner for us and that was charming too but the grand event of the stopover was the champagne supper that Captain Martin gave in our honor that is in honor of the new adjutant he is the very oldest bachelor and one of the oldest officers in the regiment a very jolly Irishman the supper was old fashioned with many good things to eat and the champagne frappe was perfect I do believe that the generous hearted man had prepared at least two bottles for each one of us every member of the small garrison was there and each officer proposed something pleasant for Faye and often I was included there was not the least harm done to anyone however and not a touch of headache the next day as usual we are waiting for quarters to avoid turning someone out but for a few days this does not matter much as our household goods are not here except the rugs and things we sent out from Philadelphia Faye entered upon his new duties at guard mounting this morning and the guard was fully breathed until the whole thing was over and the guard was on its way to the guard house it was so silly I knew to be afraid that Faye might make a mistake for he has mounted the guard hundreds of times while post adjutant but here it was different I knew that from almost every window that looked out on the parade ground eyes friendly and eyes envious were appearing to see how the new regimental adjutant conducted himself and I knew that there was one pair of eyes green from envy and piquet and that the least faux pas by Faye would be sneered at and made much of by their owner but Faye made no mistake of course I knew all the time that it was quite impossible for him to do so as he is one of the very best tacticians in the regiment still it is the unexpected that so often happens the band and the magnificent drum major watching their new commander with critical eyes were quite enough in themselves to disconcert any man I never told you what happened to that band once upon a time it was before we came to the regiment and when headquarters were at Fort Dodge, Kansas Colonel Mills at that time a captain was in command down to the river every winter a detail of men from each company to cut ice for their use during the coming year Colonel Mills ordered the detail down as usual and also ordered the band down it seems that Colonel Fitz James who had been Colonel of the regiment for some time had babied the band's men one and all until they had quite forgotten the fact of their being enlisted men so over to Colonel Mills the sergeant with a protest against cutting ice saying that they were musicians and could not be expected to do such work that it would chap their lips and ruin their delicate touch on the instruments Colonel Mills listened patiently and then said but you like ice during the summer don't you the sergeant said yes sir but they could not do such hard work as the cutting of ice thinking he had gained his point smilingly said yes sir but there must have been an awful weakness in his knees when Colonel Mills said very well since you are musicians and cannot cut ice you will go to the river and play for the other men while they cut it for you the weather was freezing cold and the plane of brass instruments in the open air over two feet of solid ice it was soon decided that it would be better to cut ice after all and in a body the band went down with the other men to the river without further complaint or protest it is a splendid band and has always been regarded as one of the very best in the army but there are a few things that need changing which Faye will attend to as quickly as possible and at the same time bring criticism down upon his own head he is still in the post and eyes green are here and of letter Fort Shaw Montana Territory August 1885 my ride this morning was grand my new horse is beginning to see that I am really a friend and is much less nervous it is still necessary however for Miller our striker to make blinders with his hands back of Rolo's eyes so he will not see me jump to the saddle otherwise I might not get there I mount in the yard back of the house where no one can see me the gate is open first and that the horse always stands facing for the instant he feels my weight upon his back there is a little flinch then a dash down the yard a jump over the Asakia then out through the gate to the plane beyond where he quiets down a bit of viciousness about this as the horse is gentle and most affectionate at all times but he has been terribly frightened by a saddle and it is distressing to see him tremble and his very flesh quiver when one is put upon his back no matter how gently he had been ridden only three or four times when we bought him and probably by a Bronco breaker who slung on his back a heavy Mexican saddle cinched it tight without mercy then mounted with a slam over of a leather-trousered leg let the almost crazy horse go like the wind and if he slackened his speed spurs or quart perhaps both drove him on again I know only too well how the so-called breaking is done for I have seen it many times and the whole performance is cruel and disgraceful there are wicked horses but there are more wicked men and many a fine spirited animal is ruined made an outlaw that no man can ride just by the fiendish way in which they are first ridden but the more crazy the poor beast is made the more fun and glory for the breaker Rolo is a light sorrel and a natural pacer he cannot trot one step and for that reason I did not want him I had better try him so he was sent up the fact of his being an unbroken colt they seemed to consider a matter of no consequence but I soon found that it was of much consequence to me in as much as I was obliged to acquire a more precise balance in the saddle because of his coltish ways and at the same time make myself also the horse perfectly acquainted with the delicate give and take of bit and bridle the slightest tightening or slackening at the wrong time will make him break when Rolo goes his very fastest which is about two fifty I never use a stirrup and never think of a thing but his mouth there is so little motion to his body I could almost fancy that he had no legs at all that we are being rushed through the air by some unseen force it is fine Faye has reorganized the band and the instrumentation is entirely new it was sent to him by Souza director of the marine band who has been most kind and interested the new instruments are here so are the two new sets of uniform one for full dress the other for concerts and general wear both have white trimmings to correspond with the regiment and the basins that made the band look as if it had been borrowed from the artillery all this has been the source of much comment along the officers quarters and in the barracks across the parade ground and has caused several skirmishes between Faye and the band it was about talked out however when I came in for my share of criticism the post commander and Faye came over from the office one morning and said it was their wish that I should take entire charge of the music for services in church that I could have an orchestra of soft toned instruments and enlisted men to sing but that all was to be under my guidance I must select the music be present at all practicings and give my advice in any way needed at first I thought it's simply a very unpleasant joke but when it finally dawned upon me that those two men were really in earnest positive they must be crazy and that I told them the whole proposition seems so preposterous so ridiculous so everything I shall always believe that Bishop Brewer suggested church music by the soldiers Faye is adjutant and in command of the band so I was really the proper person to take charge of the church musicians if anybody did but the undertaking was simply appalling but the commanding officer insisted and Faye insisted and both gave many reasons for doing so the enemy was too strong and I was forced to give in the principal reason being however that I did not want someone else to take charge in a short time the little choir was organized and some of the very best musicians in the band were selected for the orchestra we have two violins first and second one clarinet, violin, cello oboe and bassoon the latter instrument giving the deep organ tones there have been three services and at one Sergeant Graves played an exquisite solo on the violin there is a green hill far away from the oratorio of St. Paul at another Matijasek played Gunos Ave Maria on the oboe and last Sunday he gave us on the clarinet every valley shall be exalted the choir proper consists of three sergeants and one corporal and our tenor is his magnificence the drum major services held in a long large hall at the rear end of which is a smaller room that can be made a part of the hall by folding back large doors we were just inside this small room and the doors were open wide on a long bench sat the four singers to each side of a very unhappy woman and back of the bench in a half circle were the six musicians those musicians depended entirely upon me to indicate to them when to play and the vocalists when to sing therefore certain signals had been arranged though that there would be no mistake or confusion there I sat on a hot summer morning almost surrounded by expert musicians of my every movement and then those men were soldiers accustomed to military precision and the fear of making a mistake and leading them wrong was agonizing at the further end of the hall the Reverend Mr. Clark was standing reading along in an easy self-assured way that was positively irritating and again there was the congregation each one on the alert ready to criticize probably condemn the one heard of innovation every man woman and child was at church that morning too many from curiosity I expect and every time we sang one half of them turned around and stared at us during the reading of the service I could not change my position turn my head or brush the flies that got upon my face without those six hands back of me pouncing down for their instruments it was impossible to sing the chance as the string instruments could not hold the tones so anthems were used instead mostly the lards and they were very beautiful not one mistake has ever been made by anyone but Sergeant Moore has vexed me much he is our soprano and has a clear high tenor voice and often sings solos in public but for some unexplained reason he would not sing a note in church unless I sang with him so I had to hum along for the man's ear alone why he has been so frightened I do not know unless it was the unusual condition of things which have been quite enough to scare anyone well I live through the three services and suppose I can live through more the men are not compelled to do this church work although not one would think of refusing there is much rehearsing to be done and Sergeant Graves has to transpose the hymns and write out the notes for each instrument and this requires much work to show my appreciation of their obedience to my slightest request a large cake and dozens of eggs have been sent to them after each service it is funny how nice things to eat often make it easy for a man to do things that otherwise would be impossible End of Letter End of Section 18 Section 19 of Army Letters from an Officer's Wife 1871-1888 this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sue Anderson Army Letters from an Officer's Wife 1871-1888 by Francis Rowe Section 19 Letters from 1886-1887 Fort Shaw, Montana Territory July 1886 my trip to Helena was made alone after all the evening before I started Mrs. Todd told me that she could not go frankly admitting that she was afraid to go over the lonesome places on the road in order for a protector it was important that I should see a dentist and Mrs. Avril was depending upon me to bring her friend down from Helena who was expected from the east so I decided to go alone the quartermaster gave me the privilege of choosing my driver and I asked for a civilian a rather old man who was disliked by everyone because of his surly disagreeable manner just why I chose him I cannot tell except that he is a good driver I felt that he could be trusted the morning we started Faye said to him driver you must take good care of Mrs. Ray for she asked for you to drive on this trip which must have had its effect that and the nice lunch I had prepared for him for he was kind and thoughtful at all times it takes two days to go to Helena from here a ride of 45 miles one day and 40 the second and on each long drive there are stretches of miles and miles over mountains and through canyons where one is far from a ranch or human being and one naturally thinks of robbers and other unpleasant things at such places I rode on top with the driver where I could at least see what was going on around us just before we crossed the bird-tail divide we came to a wonderful site a site worth seeing the driver said and more to gratify him than because I wanted to and enormous corral had been put up temporarily and in it were thousands of sheep so closely packed that those in the center were constantly jumping over the others trying to find a cooler place in the winter when the weather is very cold sheep will always jump from the outer circle of the band to the center where it is warm they always huddled together in cold weather and herders are frequently compelled to remain right with them working hard every minute separating them so they will not smother one of the men, owner of the sheep I presume met us and said he would show me where to go so I could see everything that was being done which proved to be directly back of a man who was shearing sheep they told me that he was the fastest and most expert shearer in the whole territory anyone could see that he was an expert for three men were kept busy waiting upon him at one corner of the corral was a small funnel shaped drive the outer opening of which was just large enough to squeeze a sheep through and in the drive stood a man sheep in hand ever ready to rush it straight to the hands of the shearer the instant he was ready for it the shearer who was quite a young man sat upon a box close to the drive and when he received a sheep it was always the same way the man had his knees and he commenced and finished the shearing of each animal exactly the same way every clip of the large shears counting to the best advantage they told me that he gained much time by the unvarying precision that left no ragged strips to be trimmed off the docileity of those wild sheep was astonishing almost while the last clip was being made the sheep was seized by a second assistant standing at the shears left who at once threw the poor thing down on his side where he quickly painted the brand of that particular ranch after which it was given its freedom it was most laughable to see the change in the sheep most of them looking lean and lanky whereas in less than one short minute before their sides had been broad and woolly a third man to wait upon the shearer was kept busy at his right carefully gathering the wool and stuffing it in huge sacks every effort was made to keep it clean and every tiny bit was saved about four o'clock we reached Rock Creek where we remained overnight at a little inn the house is built of logs and the architecture is about as queer as its owner Mrs. Gates wife of the proprietor can be and usually is very cross and disagreeable and I rather dreaded stopping there alone but she met me pleasantly that is she did not snap my head off so I gathered courage to ask for a room that would be near someone as I was timid at night that settled my standing in her opinion and with a hmm she led the way across a hall and through a larger room where there were several beds and opening a door on the further side that led to still another room she told me I could have that adding that I needn't be scared to death as the boys will sleep right there I asked her how old the boys were and she snapped how old why they men's folks and out of the room she went upon looking around I saw that my one door opened into the next room and that as soon as the boys occupied it I would be virtually a prisoner to be sure the windows were not far from the ground and I could easily jump out but to jump in again would require longer arms and legs than I possessed I felt I would much prefer to encounter robbers, mountain lions any gentle creatures of that kind to asking Mrs. Gates for another room when I went out to supper that night I was given a seat at one end of a long table where were sitting nine men including my own civilian driver who fortunately was near the end furthest from me no one paid the slightest attention to me each man attending to his own hungry self and trying to outdo the others in talking finally they commenced telling marvelous tales about horses that they had ridden and subdued and I said to myself that I had been told all about sheep that day and there it was about horses and I wondered how far I would have to go to hear all sorts of things about cattle but anything about a horse is always of interest to me and those men were particularly entertaining as it was evident that most of them were professional trainers there was sitting at the further end of the table a rather young looking man who had been less talkative than the others but who after a while said something about a horse at the fort the mentioning of the post was startling and I listened to hear what further he had to say and he continued yes you fellas can say what you damn please about your broncos but that little horse can corral any damn piece of horse flesh you can show up he rides him and I guess I'd put her up with the horse the boys over there say that she broke the horse herself and I say you fellas ought to see her make him go and he likes it too by the time the man stopped talking my excitement was great for I was positive that he had been speaking of rollo although no mention had been made of the horse's color or gate so I asked what gate the horse had he and two or three of the other men said pity in their eyes actual pity that plainly said poor thing what can you know about gates but he answered civilly well lady he is what you call a square pacer and having done his duty he turned again to his friends as though they only could understand him and said no cow's swing about that horse he is a light sorrel and has the very handsomest being you ever did see I guess the lady curls it but don't know for sure the situation was most unusual and in some ways most embarrassing also those nine men were rough and unkept but they were splendid horsemen that I knew intuitively and to have one of their numbers select my very own horse above all others to speak of with unstinted praise was something to be proud of but to have my own self placently disposed of with the horse put up in fact was quite another thing but not the slightest disrespect had been intended and to leave the table without making myself known was not to be thought of I wanted the pleasure too of telling those men that I knew the gate of a pacer very well that not in the least did I deserve their pity my face was burning I said the horse you were speaking of I know very well he is mine and I ride him and I thank you very much for the nice things you have just said about him well there was a sudden change of scene at that table a dropping of knives and forks and various other things and I became conscious of eyes thousands of eyes and had opened his eyes wide and almost gasped gee whizlam then utterly collapsed he sat back in his chair gazing at me in a helpless bewildered way that was disconcerting so I told him a number of things about Rolo how Faye had taken him to Helena during race week and Lafferty a professional jockey of Boseman had tested his speed the men knew Lafferty of course there was a queer coincidence connected with him and Rolo the horse that he was driving at the races was a pacer named Rolo while my horse also a pacer was named Rolo all talk about horses ceased at once and the men said very little to each other during the remainder of the time we were at the table it was almost pathetic and an attention I very much appreciated the vehicles, cold meat and in fact everything else on that rough table were quietly pushed to me one after the other without one word being said that was their way of showing their approval of me it was unpolished but truly sincere I was not at all afraid that night for I suspected that the horseman at the supper table were the boys referred to by Mrs. Gates but it was impossible to sleep even between the two rooms must have been very thin for the noises that came through were awful it seemed as though dozens of men were snoring at the same time and that some of them were dangerously croopy for they choked and gulped and every now and then one would have a nightmare and groan and yell until someone would tell him to shut up or perhaps say something funny about him to the others no matter how many times I would make sure about it a statement that I cannot toothfully make about myself on the same subject it was not necessary for me to leave my room through the window the next morning although my breakfast was early the house seemed deserted and I had the long table all to myself at six o'clock we started on our ride to Helena I sat with the driver going through the long prickly pear canyon and had a fine opportunity to see the trees still long the sun was on many of the higher boulders that made them sparkle and show brilliantly in their highlights and shadows the trees and bushes looked unusually fresh and green we hear that a railroad will soon be built through that canyon but we hope not it would be positively wicked to ruin anything so grand we reached Helena before luncheon and I soon found Miss Duncan who was expecting me on the second day so she and I visited all the shops and then drove out to Sulphur spring the way everybody and everything have grown and spread out since the northern pacific railroad has been running cars through Helena is most amazing it was so recently a mining town just last chance Gulch where Chinaman were digging up the streets for gold almost undermining the few little buildings and Chinaman also were raising delicious celery where now stand very handsome houses now main street has many pretentious shops and pretty residences have been put up almost to the base of Mount Helena the ride back was uneventful greatly to Miss Duncan's disappointment it is her first visit to the west and she wants to see cowboys and all sorts of things I should have said wanted to see for I think that already her interest in brass buttons is so great that cowboys will never be thought of again there were two at Rock Creek but they were uninteresting did not wear chaps pistols or even big spurs at the bird tail not one sheep was to be seen everyone had been sheared and the big band driven back to its range Miss Duncan is a pretty girl and unaffected and will have a delightful visit at this western army post where young girls from the east do not come every day and then we have several charming young bachelor's end of letter Fort Shaw, Montana Territory December 1887 the excitement is about over our guests have returned to their homes and now we are settling down to our everyday garrison life the wedding was very beautiful and as perfect in every detail as adoring father and mother and loving friends could make it it was so strictly a military wedding too at a frontier post where everything is of necessity army blue the bride, the child of the regiment her father and officer in the regiment many years and the groom a recent graduate from West Point a lieutenant in the regiment we see all sorts of so-called military weddings in the east a very magnificent church affairs others at private houses and informal but there are ever lacking the real army surroundings that made so perfect the little wedding of Wednesday evening the hall was beautifully draped with the greatest number of flags of all sizes each one a regulation however and the altar and chancel rail were thickly covered with ropes and sprays of fragrant western cedars and many flowers and from either side of the raridos hung from their staffs the beautifully embroidered silken colors of the regiment at the rear end of the hall stood two companies of enlisted men one on each side of the aisle in shining full dress uniforms helmets in hand the bride's father is captain of one of those companies and the groom a lieutenant in the other as one entered the hall after passing numerous orderlies each one in full dress uniform of course and walked up between the two companies every man standing like a statue one became impressed by the rare beauty and military completeness of the whole scene the bride is petite and very young and looked almost a child as she and her father slowly passed us her gown of heavy ivory satin trailing far back of her the orchestra played several numbers previous to the ceremony the Mendelssohn march for processional and lo and grim for recessional but the really exquisite music was during the ceremony when there came to us softly as if floating from afar over gold lace and perfumed silks and satins the enchanting strains of Moskowski's serenade Faye remained with the orchestra all the time to see that the music was changed at just the right instant at the stake the pretty reception was in the quarters of Major and Mrs. Stokes and there also was the delicious supper served some of the presents were elegant a case containing 60 handsome small pieces of silver was given by the officers of the regiment a superb silver picture by the men of Major Stokes company and an exquisite silver after dinner coffee set by the company in which the groom is a lieutenant from Fort Assiniboine to assist us ushers and there were at the post four girls from Helada an army post is always an attractive place to girls but it was apparent from the first that these girls came for an extra fine time I think they found it they were all at our cotillion Monday evening and kept things moving fast it was refreshing to have a new element and little variety in partners we have danced with each other it has become more or less like a machine they led dancing with Mrs. Stokes for whom the German was given the figures were very pretty some of them knew and the supper was good to serve refreshments of any kind at the hall means much work for everything has to be prepared at the house even coffee must be sent over hot and every piece of china and silver needed must be sent over also Mrs. Hughes came from Helena on Saturday with me until yesterday you know something of the awful times I have had with servants since Hullo went away first came the lady tourist who did us the honour to consent to our paying her expenses from St. Paul and who informed me upon her arrival that she was not obliged to work out no indeed that her own home was much nicer than our house that she had come up to see the country and so forth particularly as she could not prepare the simplest meal and so invited her to return to her elegant home then came the two women the mother to Mrs. Todd the daughter to me who were insulted because they were expected to occupy servants rooms and could not eat with the family so Mrs. Todd and I gave them cordial invitations to depart then came my Russian treasure who could not be taught that a breakfast or dinner an hour late mattered to a regimental agiton and wondered why guard bounding could not be held back while she prepared an early breakfast for Faye after a struggle of two months she was passed on a tall angular woman with dull red hair drawn up tight and twisted in a knot as hard as her head was my next trial she was the wife of a gambler who was here one day I told her to do something that she objected to and with her hands clinched tight she came up close as if to strike me I stood still of course and quietly said you mustn't strike me she looked like a fury and screamed I will if I want to she was inches taller than I but I said if you do I will have you locked in the guard house she became very white you can't do that I ain't a soldier I told her no if you were a soldier you would soon be taught to behave yourself and I continued you are in an army post however and if you do me violence I will certainly call the guard before I turned to go from the room I looked up at her and said now I expect you to do what I have told you to do I fully expected a strike but she controlled herself I went out of the house hoping she would do the same and never return but she was there still and we had to tell her to go after all I must confess though that the work she had objected to doing she did nicely while I was out Miller told me that she had three pistols and two large watches in her satchel when she went away then came a real treasure Scotch Ellen had been very satisfactory every way to be sure she has had awful headaches and often it has been necessary for someone to do her work she and the sergeant's wife prepared the supper for the German and everything was sent to the hall in a most satisfactory way much to my delight nothing wrong was noticed the next morning either until she carried chocolate to Mrs. Hughes when I saw with mortification that she looked untidy in her part of the house I said nothing about it our breakfast hour is twelve o'clock and about eleven Mrs. Hughes and I went out for a little walk in a short time Faye joined us and just before twelve I came in to see if everything was in its proper place on the table as I went down the hall I saw a sight in the dining room that sent shivers down my back on the table were one or two doilies and one or two of various other things and at one side stood the scotch treasure with a plate in one hand upon which were a few butter balls and in the other she held a butter pick the doors leading through Pantry into the kitchen were open and all along the floor I could see here and there a little golden ball that had evidently rolled off the plate I could also see the range that looked black and cold and without one spark there was a fire going to the side of the table opposite Ellen I said Ellen what is the matter with you and looking at me with dull heavy eyes she said and what is the matter with you then I saw that she was drunk horribly drunk and told her so but she could only say I'm drunk am I I ran outside for Faye but he and Mrs. Hughes had walked to the further end until all that distance before I could overtake them and tell of my woes I wanted the woman out of the house as quickly as possible so that Miller, who is a very good cook and I could prepare some sort of breakfast Faye went to the house with his longest strides and told the woman to go at once and I saw no more of her Mrs. Hughes was most lovely about the whole affair said that not long ago she had tried a different cook that was comforting but did not go far toward providing a breakfast for us Miller proved to be a genuine treasure however and the sergeant's wife who is ever a friend indeed came to our assistant so soon we scarcely missed the scotch creature still it was most exasperating to have such an unnecessary upheaval just at the very time we had a guest in the house a deity, fastidious little woman too and wanted things to move along smoothly I wonder of what nationality the next trial will be if one gets a good maid out here the chances are that she will soon marry a soldier or quarrel with one as was the case with Hulda for some unaccountable reason a Chinese laundry at Sun River has been the cause of all the Chinaman leaving the post now I must tell of something funny that happened to me before Mrs. Hughes arrived I went out for a little ride and about two miles up the river I left the road to follow a narrow trail that leads to a bluff called Crown Butte I had to go through a large field of wild rose bushes then across an alkali bed and then through more bushes I had passed the first bushes and was more than half way across the alkali Rollo's feet sinking down in the sticky mud at every step when they appeared from the bushes in front of me and right in the path two immense grey wolves if they had studied to surprise me in the worst place possible they could not have succeeded better Rollo saw them of course and stopped instantly giving deep sighs preparing to snort I knew to give myself courage I talked to the horse running him around so as not to excite him or let the timber wolves see that I was running from them but the horse I could not deceive for as soon as his back was toward them head and tail went up and there was snort after snort he could not run as we were still in the alkali lick I looked back and saw that the big grey beasts were slowly moving toward us and I recognized the fact that we chose to cross it once free of the awful stickiness I knew that we would be out of danger as the swiftest wolf could never overtake the horse but it seemed as if it were miles across that white mud but at last we got up on solid ground and were starting off at Rollo's best pace when from out of the bushes in front of us there came a third wolf the horse stopped so suddenly I wonder I was not pitched over his head but I did not think of that at the time the poor horse was terribly frightened and I could feel him tremble which made me all the more afraid the situation was not pleasant and without stopping to think I said, Rollo we must run him down now do your best and taking a firm hold of the bridle and bracing myself in the saddle I struck the horse hard with my whip and gave an awful scream I never use a whip on him so the sting on his side and yell in his ears frightened him more than the wolf had and he started on again with a rush but the wolf stood still so did my heart for the beast looked savage when it seemed as though we were actually upon him I struck the horse again and gave scream after scream as fast as my lungs would allow me the big gray thing must have thought something evil was coming for he sprang back and then jumped over in the bushes and did not show himself again Rollo came home at an awful pace but I looked back once and saw standing in the road near the bushes five timber wolves evidently watching us just where the other two I will never know of course we have ridden and driven up that road many many times and I have often ridden through those rose bushes but have never seen wolves or coyotes down in the lowland on the other side of the post we frequently see a coyote that will greet us with the most unearthly howls and will sometimes follow carriages howling all the time but everyone looks upon him as a pet those big gray timber wolves are quite another animal fierce and savage someone asked me why I screamed but I could not tell why perhaps it was to urge the horse perhaps to frighten the wolf perhaps to relieve the strain on my nerves possibly it was just because I was frightened and could not help it end of letter end of section 19