During the winter they camped on the banks of the Mississippi, and with the coming of spring they began their journey up a broad river which emptied into it and which we know now as the Missouri. As the men followed the course of the river they moved farther and farther into the west. All summer long they slept under the stars, but as the cold winter set in and deep snows fell, they made rough cabins in which to live, and went no farther on their journey for several months. They killed bison and other game which furnished them with food, but they could not keep the biting cold out of their huts, and they suffered with the cold. Fierce Indian tribes were around them on all sides, friends were far away, but they had no thought of turning back. So, with the second spring, they pushed on.
When they reached the source of the Missouri there were high mountains before them, much higher than the Appalachian, and with their summits crowned with snow. After a long, hard journey they reached the other side, and launched their canoes on a small stream which grew ever broader till it entered a large river. This was the Columbia, along which they traveled till the Pacific Ocean lay spread before their eyes. They had journeyed more than four thousands miles since they left the banks of the Mississippi and were the first white men to cross the United States. They had visited the homes of Indians who had never seen a white person before or even known there were such beings. They had crossed broad plains where thousands of bison fed on the rich grass. They had discovered broad rivers shaded by lofty forests and crossed mountains containing mines of gold and silver, which before long would be opened up to give their rich stores to the people of the United States. They still had before them the long and dangerous journey home, which they reached two years and four months after they had left it.
There was great rejoicing among the people when the news spread of the safe return of the travelers and of the wonders they had to tell. From that time many boys and girls looked forward to moving into the great, far-western country with their parents.
On a Wheat Farm.
Many of the children of the prairies live on farms where wheat is raised. As the sun shines down on the broad fields, the tiny grains sprout and grow with astonishing quickness. Then, when the heavy dews fall at night and the earth cools, they get new strength for the next day, so that the farmers gather abundant crops.
As the summer days pass by and the wheat ripens, the children in the big farm house get ready for an exciting time. Their mother makes dozens of pies and loaves of bread and cake. A cow and perhaps a hog or two, are killed and cut up, for an extra number of “hired hands” begin to arrive. The farmer himself is unusually busy. Big machines and engines are brought out from the barns to be cleaned and oiled, for the wheat is about to be harvested.
How They Harvest Wheat on the Prairies.