Page 12 - Keays Diary with forward 1866 and Cover

9
Last night we feared losing something, as there were soldiers

stationed or camped near, as we heard their bugle call.

We have found plenty of hay and grain to feed the horses at

all the Stage stations; the last before we came here, they charged us

$30.00 per ton for hay. At this place (Little Blue) there is a man keeps

hay for $10.00; he has a cloth tent for coolness, and an underground room

with an underground room with a log chimney for winter; they say he lives

very snugly, but I should think it must be rather lonely. Our folks call

him a hermit. I hope we shall not be delayed another day, for it is human

nature to onward, right onward.

Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have just returned from a long ramble,

with some new varieties of flowers, if we had someone here to analyze them

it would be a gratification.

Thursday May 8 – We had another real hard rain last night, and

this morn it was cold and gloomy enough, but we had stayed here till we
were anxious to change and we decided to start on, as the road, we found,

led still up the Little Blue, and we could camp at any time, if the roads

were too bad.

We started real early and came at a slow rate, 20 miles and

camped still on the Blue.

The Big Blue is a beautiful stream its whole length, we think

it is named from a blue clay, which seems to line it all the way.

There are no fish to speak of in it, we have had two messes

but they were very small.

The birds sing very sweetly morning and evening, over our heads.

We are now where the roads leave the banks of the stream for 11

miles, all day we have been on the bluffs; the country on this stream is