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Title
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Sidney, Banner County, Scotts Bluff, July 30-Aug. 9, 1911
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Date
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July 30-Aug. 9, 1911
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Creator
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Frank Shoemaker
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Description
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Sandhills Narratives
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Identifier
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27153
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Transcription
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29 On August 7th we started at 8 o’clock in the morning for Hogback and Wildcat Mountains, having arranged to meet the stage with our baggage at a ranch near the north ridge, four miles east of Wildcat. We stopped at a ranch two miles south of Hogback, and found it the best kept place we had seen, with carefully irrigated garden and better – looking crops than usual in this region. The lady of the house was alone, and she laughingly admitted while she geared up the windmill to give us a drink that when she had seen us coming she had locked the door, but that a nearer view had convinced her that we must be the “unversity people” of whom she had read in the paper. All summer long we were well advertised wherever we went, but the news always came to us second-hand; I do not think a member of the party saw a line of print about our crowd. Doubtless this was a distinct loss to us, for the country write-ups of such freaks very likely would be good reading. And in this connection, for want of a better place, I shall mention the fact that throughout our travels it was gratifying to note the spirit of friendliness which prevails toward the university. The people of the state evidently believe in it and are proud of it, and the courtesy and good will which we met everywhere on account of our connection with the institution are a matter of pleasant memory. – Our kind lady proved to be a sister- in- law of Prof. Seth Meek , the noted ichthyologist, whom Dr. Wolcott and I both know. Also she took us into the springhouse for a drink of cold milk, and brought us each a big piece of angel-food! Although I think there was little about our appearance to suggest either as entirely appropriate, we accepted both without argument. It was necessary to carry my large camera on this trip, to get some pictures in the “mountains,” also my tripod, also a number of alcoholic specimens which could not be trusted without a guardian on the stage, also a canteen and my small camera, my spider- collecting case, and my creel with various implements and instruments and boxes and bottles. The outfit weighed about twenty-five pounds on starting, and the weight increased in geometrical ratio all day. By the time we reached the summit of Hogback I was about as nearly “all in” as on any occasion of conveniently recent memory, and the hot water from my canteen was as sweet as nectar. It is surprising how good any kind of water is when one is really thirsty; in our various trips in bad lands and sandhills and among parboiled buttes this summer I found opportunity to prove this. Dr. Wolcott offered time and again to hlpy me out with my load, as he was traveling light; but it is one of my fool theories that if a fellow can not carry his own stuff he ought to stay at home, or hire a dray, and I tried all summer to live up to this idea. Near Hogback, in the valley, we found a sand dune three or four acres in extent and about 30 feet high. To the west appeared a depression from which
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Rights
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Is Version Of
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E:\great nebraska\shoemaker-letters\sidney-banner_030.jpg
