| OCR Text |
Show TO THE NORTH PLATTE. 41 exclaimed : " Good Lord, have mercy upon me, and help me to bear this." The prayer seemed to bring its immedi ate answer, for the little one was quiet at once and appeared reconciled, and afterward exhibited much fortitude. No other boat was to be had, and the larger part of the command had not crossed, and were separated from supplies which were on the western side. Nothing could be got over, and wagons were sent back to Fort Halleck for sub sistence for the men until the ferry could be reestablished. The boat, which had landed on an island two miles be low was, after great exertion by the entire command, re covered and brought back to the ferry, but not until another life, was lost in the attempt the proprietor of a freight train, who was assisting the soldiers in getting the boat front the island to the mainland, was drowned within ten feet of the bank of the stream. He was a wealthy and highly re spected citizen of Nebraska. This ferry is the property of the Overland Mail Company, of which Mr. Ben Holladay was then the principal stock holder. Indeed, he might be said to own the line between the Missouri River and Salt Lake City, so complete was his control of it. I will take this occasion to refer again to this company, as I promised to do in a previous letter. A few years ago Mr. Holladay contracted with the Post- Office Department to run a daily mail from the Missouri river to the Pacific. For doing so, he was to receive from the Government seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year ; and various military posts were established along the route, both for the protection of the mails and the prop erty of the contractor. Wherever there was danger of a coach being attacked by Indians, a military escort accom panied it. The mail is carried in the boots of stage- coaches, which are patronized by passengers at all seasons ; and the coaches also carry express packages, for which freight at the rate of one dollar per pound is charged to Salt Lake City. For a through trip to California, at the time Mr. H. relinquished control of the line, a ticket cost about four hundred and fifty dollars meals extra, at the rate of a |
