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Preface
Preface
I have written this story of my army life at the urgent and ceaseless request of my children. For whenever I allude to those early days, and tell to them the tales they have so often heard, they always say: "Now, mother, will you write these stories for us? Please, mother, do; we must never forget them." Then, after an interval, "Mother, have you written those stories of Arizona yet?" until finally, with the aid of some old letters written from those very places (the letters having been preserve
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CHAPTER I. GERMANY AND THE ARMY
CHAPTER I. GERMANY AND THE ARMY
The stalwart men of the Prussian army, the Lancers, the Dragoons, the Hussars, the clank of their sabres on the pavements, their brilliant uniforms, all made an impression upon my romantic mind, and I listened eagerly, in the quiet evenings, to tales of Hanover under King George, to stories of battles lost, and the entry of the Prussians into the old Residenz-stadt; the flight of the King, and the sorrow and chagrin which prevailed. For I was living in the family of General Weste, the former sta
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CHAPTER II. I JOINED THE ARMY
CHAPTER II. I JOINED THE ARMY
I was put in charge of the captain of the North German Lloyd S. S. "Donau," and after a most terrific cyclone in mid-ocean, in which we nearly foundered, I landed in Hoboken, sixteen days from Bremen. My brother, Harry Dunham, met me on the pier, saying, as he took me in his arms, "You do not need to tell me what sort of a trip you have had; it is enough to look at the ship—that tells the story." As the vessel had been about given up for lost, her arrival was somewhat of an agreeable surprise to
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CHAPTER III. ARMY HOUSE-KEEPING
CHAPTER III. ARMY HOUSE-KEEPING
Not knowing before I left home just what was needed for house-keeping in the army, and being able to gather only vague ideas on the subject from Jack, who declared that his quarters were furnished admirably, I had taken out with me but few articles in addition to the silver and linen-chests. I began to have serious doubts on the subject of my menage, after inspecting the bachelor furnishings which had seemed so ample to my husband. But there was so much to be seen in the way of guard mount, cava
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CHAPTER IV. DOWN THE PACIFIC COAST
CHAPTER IV. DOWN THE PACIFIC COAST
Now the "Newbern" was famous for being a good roller, and she lived up to her reputation. For seven days I saw only the inside of our stateroom. At the end of that time we arrived off Cape St. Lucas (the extreme southern point of Lower California), and I went on deck. We anchored and took cattle aboard. I watched the natives tow them off, the cattle swimming behind their small boats, and then saw the poor beasts hoisted up by their horns to the deck of our ship. I thought it most dreadfully crue
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CHAPTER V. THE SLUE
CHAPTER V. THE SLUE
At last, after a voyage of thirteen days, we came to anchor a mile or so off Port Isabel, at the mouth of the Colorado River. A narrow but deep slue runs up into the desert land, on the east side of the river's mouth, and provides a harbor of refuge for the flat-bottomed stern-wheelers which meet the ocean steamers at this point. Hurricanes are prevalent at this season in the Gulf of California, but we had been fortunate in not meeting with any on the voyage. The wind now freshened, however, and
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CHAPTER VI. UP THE RIO COLORADO
CHAPTER VI. UP THE RIO COLORADO
And now began our real journey up the Colorado River, that river unknown to me except in my early geography lessons—that mighty and untamed river, which is to-day unknown except to the explorer, or the few people who have navigated its turbulent waters. Back in memory was the picture of it on the map; here was the reality, then, and here we were, on the steamer "Gila," Captain Mellon, with the barge full of soldiers towing on after us, starting for Fort Mojave, some two hundred miles above. The
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CHAPTER VII. THE MOJAVE DESERT
CHAPTER VII. THE MOJAVE DESERT
Thou white and dried-up sea! so old! So strewn with wealth, so sown with gold! Yes, thou art old and hoary white With time and ruin of all things, And on thy lonesome borders Night Sits brooding o'er with drooping wings.—JOAQUIN MILLER. The country had grown steadily more unfriendly ever since leaving Fort Yuma, and the surroundings of Camp Mojave were dreary enough. But we took time to sort out our belongings, and the officers arranged for transportation across the Territory. Some had bought, i
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CHAPTER VIII. LEARNING HOW TO SOLDIER
CHAPTER VIII. LEARNING HOW TO SOLDIER
"The grasses failed, and then a mass Of dry red cactus ruled the land: The sun rose right above and fell, As falling molten from the skies, And no winged thing was seen to pass." Joaquin Miller. We made fourteen miles the next day, and went into camp at a place called Freeze-wash, near some old silver mines. A bare and lonesome spot, where there was only sand to be seen, and some black, burnt-looking rocks. From under these rocks, crept great tarantulas, not forgetting lizards, snakes, and not f
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CHAPTER IX. ACROSS THE MOGOLLONS
CHAPTER IX. ACROSS THE MOGOLLONS
It was a fine afternoon in the latter part of September, when our small detachment, with Captain Ogilby in command, marched out of Camp Verde. There were two companies of soldiers, numbering about a hundred men in all, five or six officers, Mrs. Bailey and myself, and a couple of laundresses. I cannot say that we were gay. Mrs. Bailey had said good-bye to her father and mother and sister at Fort Whipple, and although she was an army girl, she did not seem to bear the parting very philosophically
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CHAPTER X. A PERILOUS ADVENTURE
CHAPTER X. A PERILOUS ADVENTURE
One fine afternoon, after a march of twenty-two miles over a rocky road, and finding our provisions low, Mr. Bailey and Jack went out to shoot wild turkeys. As they shouldered their guns and walked away. Captain Ogilby called out to them, "Do not go too far from camp." Jack returned at sundown with a pair of fine turkeys! but Bailey failed to come in. However, as they all knew him to be an experienced woodsman, no one showed much anxiety until darkness had settled over the camp. Then they began
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CHAPTER XI. CAMP APACHE
CHAPTER XI. CAMP APACHE
By the fourth of October we had crossed the range, and began to see something which looked like roads. Our animals were fagged to a state of exhaustion, but the travelling was now much easier and there was good grazing, and after three more long day's marches, we arrived at Camp Apache. We were now at our journey's end, after two months' continuous travelling, and I felt reasonably sure of shelter and a fireside for the winter at least. I knew that my husband's promotion was expected, but the im
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CHAPTER XII. LIFE AMONGST THE APACHES
CHAPTER XII. LIFE AMONGST THE APACHES
Bowen proved to be a fairly good cook, and I ventured to ask people to dinner in our little hall dining-room, a veritable box of a place. One day, feeling particularly ambitious to have my dinner a success, I made a bold attempt at oyster patties. With the confidence of youth and inexperience, I made the pastry, and it was a success; I took a can of Baltimore oysters, and did them up in a fashion that astonished myself, and when, after the soup, each guest was served with a hot oyster patty, one
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CHAPTER XIII. A NEW RECRUIT
CHAPTER XIII. A NEW RECRUIT
In January our little boy arrived, to share our fate and to gladden our hearts. As he was the first child born to an officer's family in Camp Apache, there was the greatest excitement. All the sheep-ranchers and cattlemen for miles around came into the post. The beneficent canteen, with its soldiers' and officers' clubrooms did not exist then. So they all gathered at the sutler's store, to celebrate events with a round of drinks. They wanted to shake hands with and congratulate the new father, a
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CHAPTER XIV. A MEMORABLE JOURNEY
CHAPTER XIV. A MEMORABLE JOURNEY
How broken plunged the steep descent! How barren! Desolate and rent By earthquake shock, the land lay dead, Like some proud king in old-time slain. An ugly skeleton, it gleamed In burning sands. The fiery rain Of fierce volcanoes here had sown Its ashes. Burnt and black and seamed With thunder-strokes and strewn With cinders. Yea, so overthrown, That wilder men than we had said, On seeing this, with gathered breath, "We come on the confines of death!"—JOAQUIN MILLER. Six good cavalrymen galloped
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CHAPTER XV. FORDING THE LITTLE COLORADO
CHAPTER XV. FORDING THE LITTLE COLORADO
At a bend in the road the Mexican guide galloped up near the ambulance, and pointing off to the westward with a graceful gesture, said: "Colorado Chiquito! Colorado Chiquito!" And, sure enough, there in the afternoon sun lay the narrow winding river, its surface as smooth as glass, and its banks as if covered with snow. We drove straight for the ford, known as Sunset Crossing. The guide was sure he knew the place. But the river was high, and I could not see how anybody could cross it without a b
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CHAPTER XVI. STONEMAN'S LAKE
CHAPTER XVI. STONEMAN'S LAKE
The road began now to ascend, and after twenty miles' travelling we reached a place called Updyke's Tanks. It was a nice place, with plenty of wood and grass. The next day we camped at Jay Coxe's Tanks. It was a hard day's march, and I was tired out when we arrived there. The ambulance was simply jerked over those miles of fearful rocks; one could not say driven or dragged over, for we were pitched from rock to rock the entire distance. Stoneman's Lake Road was famous, as I afterwards heard. Per
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CHAPTER XVII. THE COLORADO DESERT
CHAPTER XVII. THE COLORADO DESERT
Some serpents slid from out the grass That grew in tufts by shattered stone, Then hid below some broken mass Of ruins older than the East, That Time had eaten, as a bone Is eaten by some savage beast. Great dull-eyed rattlesnakes—they lay All loathsome, yellow-skinned, and slept Coiled tight as pine knots in the sun, With flat heads through the centre run; Then struck out sharp, then rattling crept Flat-bellied down the dusty way. —JOAQUIN MILLER. At the end of a week, we started forth for Ehren
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CHAPTER XVIII. EHRENBERG ON THE COLORADO
CHAPTER XVIII. EHRENBERG ON THE COLORADO
Under the burning mid-day sun of Arizona, on May 16th, our six good mules, with the long whip cracking about their ears, and the ambulance rattling merrily along, brought us into the village of Ehrenberg. There was one street, so called, which ran along on the river bank, and then a few cross streets straggling back into the desert, with here and there a low adobe casa. The Government house stood not far from the river, and as we drove up to the entrance the same blank white walls stared at me.
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CHAPTER XIX. SUMMER AT EHRENBERG
CHAPTER XIX. SUMMER AT EHRENBERG
The week we spent going up the Colorado in June was not as uncomfortable as the time spent on the river in August of the previous year. Everything is relative, I discovered, and I was happy in going back to stay with the First Lieutenant of C Company, and share his fortunes awhile longer. Patrocina recovered, as soon as she found we were to return to Ehrenberg. I wondered how anybody could be so homesick for such a God-forsaken place. I asked her if she had ever seen a tree, or green grass (for
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CHAPTER XX. MY DELIVERER
CHAPTER XX. MY DELIVERER
One day, in the early autumn, as the "Gila" touched at Ehrenberg, on her way down river, Captain Mellon called Jack on to the boat, and, pointing to a young woman, who was about to go ashore, said: "Now, there's a girl I think will do for your wife. She imagines she has bronchial troubles, and some doctor has ordered her to Tucson. She comes from up North somewhere. Her money has given out, and she thinks I am going to leave her here. Of course, you know I would not do that; I can take her on do
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CHAPTER XXI. WINTER IN EHRENBERG
CHAPTER XXI. WINTER IN EHRENBERG
We asked my sister, Mrs. Penniman, to come out and spend the winter with us, and to bring her son, who was in most delicate health. It was said that the climate of Ehrenberg would have a magical effect upon all diseases of the lungs or throat. So, to save her boy, my sister made the long and arduous trip out from New England, arriving in Ehrenberg in October. What a joy to see her, and to initiate her into the ways of our life in Arizona! Everything was new, everything was a wonder to her and to
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CHAPTER XXII. RETURN TO THE STATES
CHAPTER XXII. RETURN TO THE STATES
I dream of the east wind's tonic, Of the breakers' stormy roar, And the peace of the inner harbor With the long low Shimmo shore. * * * * I long for the buoy-bell's tolling When the north wind brings from afar The smooth, green, shining billows, To be churned into foam on the bar. Oh! for the sea-gulls' screaming As they swoop so bold and free! Oh! for the fragrant commons, And the glorious open sea!— For the restful great contentment, For the joy that is never known Till past the jetty and Bran
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CHAPTER XXIII. BACK TO ARIZONA
CHAPTER XXIII. BACK TO ARIZONA
The last nails were driven in the precious boxes, and I started overland in November with my little son, now nearly two years old. "Overland" in those days meant nine days from New York to San Francisco. Arriving in Chicago, I found it impossible to secure a section on the Pullman car so was obliged to content myself with a lower berth. I did not allow myself to be disappointed. On entering the section, I saw an enormous pair of queer cow hide shoes, the very queerest shoes I had ever seen, lyin
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CHAPTER XXIV. UP THE VALLEY OF THE GILA
CHAPTER XXIV. UP THE VALLEY OF THE GILA
The December sun was shining brightly down, as only the Arizona sun can shine at high noon in winter, when we crossed the Colorado on the primitive ferryboat drawn by ropes, clambered up into the great thorough-brace wagon (or ambulance) with its dusty white canvas covers all rolled up at the sides, said good-bye to our kind hosts of Fort Yuma, and started, rattling along the sandy main street of Yuma City, for old Camp MacDowell. Our big blue army wagon, which had been provided for my boxes and
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CHAPTER XXV. OLD CAMP MACDOWELL
CHAPTER XXV. OLD CAMP MACDOWELL
We were expected, evidently, for as we drove along the road in front of the officers' quarters they all came out to meet us, and we received a great welcome. Captain Corliss of C company welcomed us to the post and to his company, and said he hoped I should like MacDowell better than I did Ehrenberg. Now Ehrenberg seemed years agone, and I could laugh at the mention of it. Supper was awaiting us at Captain Corliss's, and Mrs. Kendall, wife of Lieutenant Kendall, Sixth Cavalry, had, in Jack's abs
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CHAPTER XXVI. A SUDDEN ORDER
CHAPTER XXVI. A SUDDEN ORDER
In June, 1878, Jack was ordered to report to the commanding officer at Fort Lowell (near the ancient city of Tucson), to act as Quartermaster and Commissary at that post. This was a sudden and totally unexpected order. It was indeed hard, and it seemed to me cruel. For our regiment had been four years in the Territory, and we were reasonably sure of being ordered out before long. Tucson lay far to the south of us, and was even hotter than this place. But there was nothing to be done; we packed u
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CHAPTER XXVII. THE EIGHTH FOOT LEAVES ARIZONA
CHAPTER XXVII. THE EIGHTH FOOT LEAVES ARIZONA
And now after the eight days of most distressing heat, and the fatigue of all sorts and varieties of travelling, the nights spent in a stage-coach or at a desert inn, or in the road agent's buckboard, holding always my little son close to my side, came six days more of journeying down the valley of the Gila. We took supper in Phoenix, at a place known as "Devine's." I was hearing a good deal about Phoenix; for even then, its gardens, its orchards and its climate were becoming famous, but the sea
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CHAPTER XXVIII. CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
CHAPTER XXVIII. CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
A portion of our regiment was ordered to Oregon, to join General Howard, who was conducting the Bannock Campaign, so I remained that summer in San Francisco, to await my husband's return. I could not break away from my Arizona habits. I wore only white dresses, partly because I had no others which were in fashion, partly because I had become imbued with a profound indifference to dress. "They'll think you're a Mexican," said my New England aunt (who regarded all foreigners with contempt). "Let t
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CHAPTER XXIX. CHANGING STATION
CHAPTER XXIX. CHANGING STATION
It was the custom to change the stations of the different companies of a regiment about every two years. So the autumn of '82 found us on the way to Fort Halleck, a post in Nevada, but differing vastly from the desolate MacDermit station. Fort Halleck was only thirteen miles south of the Overland Railroad, and lay near a spur of the Humboldt range. There were miles of sage-brush between the railroad and the post, but the mountains which rose abruptly five thousand feet on the far side, made a ma
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CHAPTER XXX. FORT NIOBRARA
CHAPTER XXX. FORT NIOBRARA
The journey itself, however, was not to be dreaded, although it was so undesired. It was entirely by rail across New Mexico and Kansas, to St. Joseph, then up the Missouri River and then across the state to the westward. Finally, after four or five days, we reached the small frontier town of Valentine, in the very northwest corner of the bleak and desolate state of Nebraska. The post of Niobrara was four miles away, on the Niobrara (swift water) River. Some officers of the Ninth Cavalry met us a
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CHAPTER XXXI. SANTA FE
CHAPTER XXXI. SANTA FE
I made haste to present Captain Summerhayes with the shoulder-straps of his new rank, when he joined me in New York. The orders for Santa Fe reached us in mid-summer at Nantucket. I knew about as much of Santa Fe as the average American knows, and that was nothing; but I did know that the Staff appointment solved the problem of education for us (for Staff officers are usually stationed in cities), and I knew that our frontier life was over. I welcomed the change, for our children were getting ol
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CHAPTER XXXII. TEXAS
CHAPTER XXXII. TEXAS
Whenever I think of San Antonio and Fort Sam Houston, the perfume of the wood violet which blossomed in mid-winter along the borders of our lawn, and the delicate odor of the Cape jessamine, seem to be wafted about me. Fort Sam Houston is the Headquarters of the Department of Texas, and all the Staff officers live there, in comfortable stone houses, with broad lawns shaded by chinaberry trees. Then at the top of the hill is a great quadrangle, with a clock tower and all the department offices. O
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CHAPTER XXXIII. DAVID'S ISLAND
CHAPTER XXXIII. DAVID'S ISLAND
At Davids' Island the four happiest years of my army life glided swiftly away. There was a small steam tug which made regular and frequent trips over to New Rochelle and we enjoyed our intercourse with the artists and players who lived there. Zogbaum, whose well known pictures of sailors and warships and soldiers had reached us even in the far West, and whose charming family added so much to our pleasure. Julian Hawthorne with his daughter Hildegarde, now so well known as a literary critic; Henr
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
When, a few years ago, I determined to write my recollections of life in the army, I was wholly unfamiliar with the methods of publishers, and the firm to whom I applied to bring out my book, did not urge upon me the advisability of having it electrotyped, firstly, because, as they said afterwards, I myself had such a very modest opinion of my book, and, secondly because they thought a book of so decidedly personal a character would not reach a sale of more than a few hundred copies at the farth
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