DEATH OF TWIST.
[Illustration: Twist.]
"Old Oregon Trail Monument Expedition, Brady Island, Nebraska, August
9, 1906, Camp No. 120, odometer, 1,536⅝.—Yesterday morning Twist ate
his grain as usual and showed no signs of sickness until we were on the
road two or three miles, when he began to put his tongue out and his
breathing became heavy. But he leaned on the yoke heavier than usual
and seemed determined to pull the whole load. I finally stopped, put
him on the off side, gave him the long end of the yoke, and tied his
head back with the halter strap to the chain; but to no purpose, for he
pulled by the head very heavy. I finally unyoked, gave him a quart of
lard, a gill of vinegar and a handful of sugar, but all to no purpose,
for he soon fell down and in two hours was dead."
Such is the record in my journal telling of the death of this noble
animal, which I think died from eating some poisonous plant.
When we started from Camp No. 1, January 29, Puyallup, Washington,
Twist weighed 1,470 pounds. After we crossed two ranges of mountains,
had wallowed in the snows of the Blue Mountains, followed the tortuous,
rocky canyons of Burnt River, up the deep sand of the Snake, this
ox had gained in weight 137 pounds, and weighed 1,607 pounds. While
laboring under the short end of the yoke that gave him fifty-five per
cent. of the draft and an increased burden he would keep his end of the
yoke a little ahead, no matter how much the mate might be urged to keep
up.
There are striking individualities in animals as well as in men, and
I had liked to have said virtues as well; and why not? If an animal
always does his duty, is faithful to your interest, industrious—why not
recognize it, even if he was "nothing but an ox"?
We are wont to extol the virtues of the dead, and to forget their
shortcomings, but here a plain statement of facts will suffice to
revive the memories of the almost forgotten past of an animal so dear
to the pioneers who struggled across plains and over mountains in the
long ago.
To understand the achievements of this ox it is necessary to state the
burden he carried. The wagon weighed 1,430 pounds, is a wooden axle
and wide track and had an average load of 800 pounds. He had, with an
unbroken four-year old steer—a natural-born shirk—with the short end
of the yoke before mentioned, hauled this wagon 1,776 miles and was in
better working trim when he died than when the trip began. And yet am
I sure that at some points I did not abuse him? What about coming up
out of Little Canyon or rather up the steep, rocky steps of stones like
veritable stairs, when I used the goad, and he pulled a shoe off and
his feet from under him? Was I merciful then, or did I exact more than
I ought? I can see him yet in my mind, while on his knees holding the
wagon from rolling back into the canyon till the wheel could be blocked
and the brakes set. Then, when bade to start the load, he did not
flinch. He was the best ox I ever saw, without exception, and his loss
has nearly broken up the expedition, and it is one case where his like
can not be obtained. He has had a decent burial and a head-board will
mark his grave and recite his achievements in the valuable aid rendered
in this expedition to perpetuate the memory of the Old Oregon Trail and
for which he has given up his life.
What shall I do? Abandon the work? No. But I can not go on with one ox,
and can not remain here. And so a horse team was hired to take us to
the next town, Gothenburg—thirteen miles distant—and the lone ox led
behind the wagon.
GOTHENBURG, NEBRASKA.
"Gothenburg, Nebraska, August 10, 1906. Camp No. 121, odometer
1,549.—The people here resolved to erect a monument, appointed a
committee, and a contribution of some fifteen dollars was secured."
LEXINGTON.
Again hired a horse team to haul the wagon to Lexington. At Lexington I
thought the loss of the ox could be repaired by buying a pair of heavy
cows and breaking them in to work, and so purchased two out of a band
of 200 cattle nearby. "Why, yes, of course they will work," I said,
when a bystander had asked the question. "Why, I have seen whole teams
of cows on the Plains in '52, and they would trip along so merrily one
would be tempted to turn the oxen out and get cows. Yes, we will soon
have a team," I said, "only we can't go very far in a day with a raw
team, especially in this hot weather." But one of the cows wouldn't go
at all; we could not lead or drive her. Put her in the yoke and she
would stand stock still just like a stubborn mule. Hitch the yoke by a
strong rope behind the wagon with a horse team to pull, she would brace
her feet and actually slide along, but wouldn't lift a foot. I never
saw such a brute before, and hope I never will again. I have broken
wild, fighting, kicking steers to the yoke and enjoyed the sport, but
from a sullen, tame cow deliver me.
"Won't you take her back and give me another?" I asked. "Yes, I will
give you that red cow (one I had rejected as unfit), but not one of the
others." "Then, what is this cow worth to you?" Back came the response,
"Thirty dollars," and so I dropped ten dollars (having paid him forty),
lost the better part of a day, experienced a good deal of vexation.
"Oh, if I could only have Twist back again."
The fact gradually dawned upon me that the loss of that fine ox was
almost irreparable. I could not get track of an ox anywhere, nor of
even a steer large enough to mate the Dave ox. Besides, Dave always
was a fool. I could scarcely teach him anything. He did learn to haw,
by the word when on the off side, but wouldn't mind the word a bit if
on the near side. Then he would hold his head way up while in the yoke
as if he disdained to work, and poke his tongue out at the least bit
of warm weather or serious work. Then he didn't have the stamina of
Twist. Although given the long end of the yoke, so that Twist would
pull fifty-five per cent. of the load, Dave would always lag behind.
Here was a case where the individuality of the ox was as marked as ever
between man and man. Twist would watch my every motion and mind by the
wave of the hand, but Dave never minded anything except to shirk hard
work, while Twist always seemed to love his work and would go freely
all day. And so it was brought home to me more forcibly than ever that
in the loss of the Twist ox I had almost lost the whole team.
Now if this had occurred in 1852 the loss could have been easily
remedied, where there were so many "broke" cattle, and where there
were always several yoke to the wagon. So when I drove out with a
hired horse team that day with the Dave ox tagging on behind and
sometimes pulling on his halter, and an unbroken cow, it may easily
be guessed the pride of anticipated success went out, and a feeling
akin to despair seized upon me. Here I had two yokes, one a heavy ox
yoke and the other a light cow's yoke, but the cow, I thought, could
not be worked alongside the ox in the ox yoke, nor the ox with the cow
in the cow yoke, and so there I was without a team but with a double
encumbrance.
Yes, the ox has passed—has had his day—for in all this State I have
been unable to find even one yoke. So I trudged along, sometimes behind
the led cattle, wondering in my mind whether or no I had been foolish
to undertake this expedition to perpetuate the memory of the Old Oregon
Trail. Had I not been rebuffed by a number of business men who pushed
the subject aside with, "I have no time to look into it"? Hadn't I been
compelled to pass several towns where even three persons could not
be found to act on the committee? And then there was the experience
of the constant suspicion and watch to see if some graft could not
be discovered—some lurking speculation. All this could be borne in
patience, but when coupled with it came the virtual loss of the team,
is it strange that my spirits went down below a normal condition?
But then came the compensatory thought as to what had been
accomplished; how three States had responded cordially and a fourth
as well, considering the sparse population. How could I account for
the difference in the reception? It was the press. In the first place
the newspapers took up the work in advance of my coming, while in
the latter case the notices and commendation followed my presence
in a town. And so I queried in my mind as we trudged along—after
all, I am sowing the seed that will bring the harvest later. Then my
mind would run back along the line of over 1,500 miles, where stand
nineteen sentinels, mostly granite, to proclaim for the centuries
to come that the hand of communities had been at work and planted
these shafts that the memory of the dead pioneers might live; where
a dozen boulders, including the great Independence Rock, also bear
this testimony, and where a hundred wooden posts mark the Trail, when
stone was unobtainable. I recalled the cordial reception in so many
places; the outpouring of contributions from 5,000 school children; the
liberal hand of the people that built these monuments; the more than
20,000 people attending the dedication ceremonies. And while I trudged
along and thought of the encouragement that I had received, I forgot
all about the loss of Twist, the recalcitrant cow, the dilemma that
confronted me, only to awaken from my reverie in a more cheerful mood.
"Do the best you can," I said almost in an audible tone, "and be not
cast down," and my spirits rose almost to the point of exultation.