June 3rd

June 3 – On June 3, 1836 Narcissa wrote to her sister, Harriet and brother, Edward. It was a Friday evening and they had just made camp near the bluffs over against the Platte River. She describes the countryside as rolling sand bluffs, mostly barren unlike what they had been seeing the last few weeks. For cooking fuel they have been using dried buffalo dung as they had left them timber. They were brought their first buffalo meat by one of the hunters. Her husband, Marcus cooks the buffalo meat.
At this time there are 10 people in their party; five missionaries, three Indian boys and two young men employed to assist in packing animals. She continues to tell her siblings that the have 14 horses, 6 mules, 15 head of cattle and that they milk 4 cows. They are traveling with the Fur Company. It is like a large moving village with nearly 400 animals, with ours, mostly mules, and 70 men. The Fur Company have seven wagons drawn by six mules each, heavily loaded, and one cart drawn by two mules, which carries a lame man, one of the proprietors of the Company.

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