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

Genteel Gentile, page 072

rocks of the Rocky Mouniams I wore a drab cold ndmg dress, & an nnmenie brown Leghorn flat, ample protectmn agamst sun Cram; &ah bathos' a pm of gold spectacles very much out af keepmg w,th the scene & my fancy A great river on one side of me, raarmg & foamq--a large pde of pointed rocks an my right, standing out from an elevation which rocks are named "Govr Cummina & his Generals-named because they all itIck fast m the m&tam & annot stir" and two Indians ndmg by my side wthout blankets or buffalo robes Alfred in an ambulance a few rods before us, smokmg a p'pe, & talkmg to some other Indrans, w,th grunts & s,gns By and Bye, we came to where we must cross the Weber The cmnrn~~s~~ners were on the farther s,dc-had crossed I,, the marng & the river had risen rqxdly smce then-but our bag- gage & provision wagons had not come up, &we determ,ned to camp on th,s bank, & wa,t for the wagons So we waeed- but tents & prawsmns came noi 50 I got mto my ambulance, &sang to my gutar td I was tmd, &then watched the I&- ans wading and swmming over the nver~some horses laden wth elk mai-swnnmmg over v&h them An Indmn squaw was nursmg her child an the bank-the only pretty lndmn baby I have seen-the only one which & The baby was in a great bark shoe, fastened down tightly--only the face vmble It cannoi move head, neck, arms, body or Imbs-& so they are kept m thxs durance all day, slung at the mother's back, face outwards-m an, wmd & ram It would puzzle some of us to smle in such a seuatmn-but thrs chdd man aged it' Alfred meanwhde sat at a sage bush f,re, g, talked with Stowell, the Mormon, & roasted two potatoes I fortu- 72