Camping on the snow will not be pleasant, and we regret very much that
the storm came just at this time. Charlie is busy cooking all sorts of
things for the trip, so he will not have much to do on the little camp
stove. He is a treasure, but says that he wishes we could stay here;
that he does not want to return to Fort Shaw. This puzzles me very
much, as there are so many Chinamen at Shaw and not one here. The
doctor will not go back with us, as he has received orders to remain
at this post during the winter.
FORT SHAW, MONTANA TERRITORY,
November, 1880.
THE past few days have been busy ones. The house has received much
needed attention and camp things have been looked over and put away,
ready for the next move. The trip back was a disappointment to me and
not at all pleasant. The wagons were very lightly loaded, so the men
rode in them all the way, and we came about forty miles each day, the
mules keeping up a steady slow trot. Of course I could not ride those
distances at that gait, therefore I was compelled to come in the old,
jerky ambulance.
The snow was still deep when we left Maginnis, and at the first camp
snow had to be swept from the ground where our tent was pitched.
