The Genteel Gentile, Letters of Elizabeth Cumming, 1857 - 1858

Genteel Gentile, page 003

:St. Louis was the gateway to the West. From this river city numerous parties departed to explore and settle the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, the Northwest, and the California Slope. when President James Buchanan called him to Washington, On Missouri River, 25th Aug. 1857 About a fortnight since, I returned from Boston, where I had been to arrange certain matters & things, to which I have for years been accustomed to attend-also, to bid good bye, preparatory to going to Utah-which journey, though a long one, will not, in all probability, involve a longer absence from my friends than usual. Since my return to St. Louis' I have been too busy to write with any comfort. I have limited myself exclusively to letters home-Every moment has been full. I had to make preparations for housekeeping in Utah, as well as peculiar ones for a peculiar journey; & very little time to do it in. Since Alfred returned from Washington, he has been much engaged in closing up his Indian business2-besides making some preparations for our journey-very uncertain ones, however, as the time of our leaving, & the attendant