The Covered Wagon | Page 7

Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas fretted on the leash.
All along the crooked river front, on both sides from Independence to
the river landing at Westport, the great spring caravan lay encamped, or
housed in town. Now, on the last days of the rendezvous, a sort of
hysteria seized the multitude. The sound of rifle fire was like that of a
battle--every man was sighting-in his rifle. Singing and shouting went
on everywhere. Someone fresh from the Mexican War had brought a
drum, another a bugle. Without instructions, these began to sound their
summons and continued all day long, at such times as the performers
could spare from drink.
The Indians of the friendly tribes--Otos, Kaws, Osages--come in to
trade, looked on in wonder at the revelings of the whites. The
straggling street of each of the near-by river towns was full of massed
wagons. The treble line of white tops, end to end, lay like a vast serpent,
curving, ahead to the West. Rivalry for the head of the column began.
The sounds of the bugle set a thousand uncoördinated wheels
spasmodically in motion. Organization, system were as yet unknown in
this rude and dominant democracy. Need was therefore for this final

meeting in the interest of law, order and authority. Already some
wagons had broken camp and moved on out into the main traveled road,
which lay plain enough on westward, among the groves and glades of
the valley of the Kaw. Each man wanted to be first to Oregon, no man
wished to take the dust of his neighbor's wagon.
Wingate brought up all these matters at the train meeting of some three
score men which assembled under the trees of his own encampment at
eleven of the last morning. Most of the men he knew. Banion
unobtrusively took a seat well to the rear of those who squatted on their
heels or lolled full length on the grass.
After the fashion of the immemorial American town meeting, the
beginning of all our government, Wingate called the meeting to order
and stated its purposes. He then set forth his own ideas of the best
manner for handling the trail work.
His plan, as he explained, was one long earlier perfected in the convoys
of the old Santa Fé Trail. The wagons were to travel in close order.
Four parallel columns, separated by not too great spaces, were to be
maintained as much as possible, more especially toward nightfall. Of
these, the outer two were to draw in together when camp was made, the
other two to angle out, wagon lapping wagon, front and rear, thus
making an oblong corral of the wagons, into which, through a gap, the
work oxen were to be driven every night after they had fed. The tents
and fires were to be outside of the corral unless in case of an Indian
alarm, when the corral would represent a fortress.
The transport animals were to be hobbled each night. A guard, posted
entirely around the corral and camp, was to be put out each night. Each
man and each boy above fourteen was to be subject to guard duty under
the ancient common law of the Plains, and from this duty no man might
hope excuse unless actually too ill to walk; nor could any man offer to
procure any substitute for himself. The watches were to be set as eight,
each to stand guard one-fourth part of alternate nights, so that each man
would get every other night undisturbed.
There were to be lieutenants, one for each of the four parallel divisions

of the train; also eight sergeants of the guard, each of whom was to
select and handle the men of the watch under him. No wagon might
change its own place in the train after the start, dust or no dust.
When Wingate ended his exposition and looked around for approval it
was obvious that many of these regulations met with disfavor at the
start. The democracy of the train was one in which each man wanted
his own way. Leaning head to head, speaking low, men grumbled at all
this fuss and feathers and Army stuff. Some of these were friends and
backers in the late election. Nettled by their silence, or by their
murmured comments, Wingate arose again.
"Well, you have heard my plan, men," said he. "The Santa Fé men
worked it up, and used it for years, as you all know. They always got
through. If there's anyone here knows a better way, and one that's got
more experience back of it, I'd like to have him get up and say so."
Silence for a time greeted this also. The Northern men, Wingate's
partisans, looked uncomfortably one to the other. It was young
Woodhull, of the