That part of his farm that was improved was rented for five years, and
he had no money to improve the rest. The renter proved an indifferent
farmer, and the rent scarcely sufficed to pay the taxes and winter the
cattle. So father entered the only paying business, that of
freighting, as he relates in Chap XXXI. Perhaps some may think from
reading that chapter that he only took one trip, but he crossed the
plains five times. He first went in the spring of 1862, in Bro.
Butcher's train, taking George, who was only ten years old, along to
drive one of his teams, because he could not afford to hire a driver.
It was a hard, monotonous life, driving all day and camping at night
through all weather; but the hardest part of it was that men and boys
all had to take their turn standing guard over their cattle at night.
After Bro. Butcher was taken sick on that first trip, father acted as
his boss, and on all his later trips he went as wagon-boss of some
large train owned by Atchison freighters, also taking along two teams
of his own.
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