90 WESTERN INCIDENTS.

were grouped these uncouth savages, many of them
almost in their normal state, except for the profuse dis-
play of feathers and trinkets which bedecked their per-
sons ; low and brutal in their habits, and mentally elevated
but slightly, if at all, above the level of the beasts that
inhabit this vast and beautiful country with them.

But the laws of civilization are such that it must press
forward; and it is in vain that these poor ignorant
creatures attempt to stay its progress by resisting inch
by inch, and foot by foot, its onward march over these
lovely plains, where but a few years since, they were
“monarchs of all they surveyed.”

The locomotive must go onward until it reaches the
Rocky Mountains, the Laramie Plains, the great Salt
Lake, the Sierra Nevada, and the Pacific Ocean. Lateral
roads must also be built, extending in all directions from
the main line, as veins from an artery, and penetrating
the hunting-grounds of these worse than useless Indian
tribes, until they are either driven from the face of the
earth ; or forced to look for safety in the adoption of that
very civilization and humanity, which they now so
savagely ignore and despise.

THE TRAIN AGAIN STARTS WESTWARD.

When this most interesting exhibition of savage life
and. customs was ended, the excursion train started again
on its westward course, passing successively the embryo
towns of Silver Creek, Lone Tree, Grand Island, Wood
River, Kearny, Elm Creek, Plum Creek, and Willow
Island. Soon after which, and at about eight p. m., it
arrived at the termination of the second day’s journey, a

distance of two hundred and seventy-nine miles west of
Omaha.