CHAPTER I.
CHILDHOOD.
Early Days in Iowa—A Brother's Death—The Family Move to a New
Country—Incidents on the Road—The Horse Race—Our "Little Gray"
Victorious—A Pleasant Acquaintance—Uncle Elijah Cody—Our New
Home—My Ponies.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY INFLUENCES.
Dress Parade at Fort Leavenworth—The Beautiful Salt Creek Valley—The
Mormon Emigrants—The Wagon Trains—The Cholera—A Lively Scene—My First
Sight of Indians—"Dolly" and "Prince"—A Long-Lost Relative Turns
up—Adventurous Career of Horace Billings—His Splendid
Horsemanship—Catching Wild Horses.
CHAPTER III.
BOY DAYS IN KANSAS.
My Indian Acquaintances—An Indian Barbecue—Beginning of the Kansas
Troubles—An Indiscreet Speech by my Father, who is Stabbed for his
Boldness—Persecutions at the Hands of the Missourians—A Strategic
Escape—A Battle at Hickory Point—A Plan to Kill Father is Defeated by
Myself—He is Elected to the Lecompton Legislature—I Enter the Employ of
William Russell—Herding Cattle—A Plot to Blow Up our House—A Drunken
Missourian on the War-Path.