Hutchinson
August 3, 1857
My Dear Elizabeth,
I now once more embrace the opportunity to write you a line,
hoping it may find you & my dear little ones all enjoying the blessing of
health as I am happy to say that I am at present, thanks be to God for it.
I wrote to you & to Edwin & Robert last Wednesday,
which I hope you will receive in due time.
I did not, as I expected last week, get my cellar dug for I was busy
lazing for three days after writing you.
I shall begin this afternoon if it stops raining, for we are having a
little rain for a rarity this morning.
I hope that you have not wanted for anything since I have
been gone & that you will be able to get along, for it is impossible for me
to send you anything from here, for I have only earned seven dollars since I
have been here as yet. However, I am in
hopes that we shall be better off by and by.
Ask Edwin to let you see his letter.
Don’t lose a chanced to sell anything out of the house, for I only want
a few things brought out here, for it costs so much for freight. I wish you could sell the lounge to Mr.
Albright or to someone else for 18 or 20 dollars, or even less if you can’t get
that for it, & the bureaus & bedsteads.
Keep the clock & the stove & tin ware & your carpet too, and
my bookcase, which Edwin can pack in one of Ballard’s old boxes. Save all you can from the sales of the
things, for we shall want it all to pay freight, as I don’t know that I shall
have a single dollar myself. I am living
in a log cabin with the man’s family that is putting up the dam, & am
writing this on my knees & sitting on the bed, so you see we have some
inconveniences to continue with. Never
mind, we shall be over these difficulties after a while for these are, at
times, such things to contend with in a new country.
This place is filling up very fast. For the last week every day there are teams
coming in with large droves of cattle.
Yesterday there came in about 20 families, 7 of which have gone this
morning to take claim out here about 3 miles from town. There came in here last night 19 teams of
half-breeds, or 19 teams loaded with furs from the Red River of the north. They left this morning for Henderson, 40
miles from here, where they had sold all of their furs.
Write me all the news when you get this for I feel very
anxious to hear from you, not having heard a word since I left 3 weeks this
morning, which looks to me more like 3 months than weeks.
Well, cheer up. I
must, for we eventually will do well here after a while. I shall write to Dr. Lane to see if he can’t
recommend someone to come here to take hold with me & Edwin, for we must
have some better means from somewhere for a short time to enable us to start,
& then we shall do well, undoubtedly.
The rain has cleared off so I shall go & dig at my
cellar now like a tiger. Am bound to
have things as comfortable for my Lizzy as things will __ __ of. This must be a very healthy climate, for
where I sleep is next to being out of doors & I have not taken the least
cold as yet. The doctors will have a
poor living here, that is, unless they till the soil.
My love to Robert.
Hope to hear from all ____. Kiss
the children for me.
Faithfully yours,
John
Well, there's one thing.............moving hasn't gotten much easier today than it was back then!
ReplyDelete