Little Egypt Heritage Articles eduda tsunogisdi © Bill Oliver 25 March 2007 Vol 6 Issue: #12 ISBN: Pending O’siyo, Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, “Fabulous Ride” Come – listen, fine folks and you shall hear of the fabulous ride of Robert Emery, On the morning of the ninth of August in ‘sixty-four; Surely, hardly a man nor woman alive can remember that day and year. [Parody on Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”] The morning was bright and clear, the sky as clear and cool as a spring pool. The four horse coach left the station at Atchison [Kansas] with seven men and two women to travel along the Little Blue River. The journey was quite pleasant, ‘without accident or unusual incident’, until about eleven o’clock. Though there had been word that there were hostile Indians about, none were seen. Yet, just as they passed over the hill to the spur that led to what was known as “the narrows”, a band of some thirty Indians was seen. The ‘narrows’ was a place where the water had cut the banks sharply and there was room only for the stream and a track between the high banks. Young Bob Emery ‘wheeled’ the horses in an instant. Any further and he could not have maneuvered such a turn. He now laid the whip to his teams inaugurating an ‘impetuous retreat’. Like the nervous passengers that they were, they stood up. Young Emery shouted to warn them to ‘keep’ their seats should they value their lives. By now there were some fifty Indians giving chase with their ‘terrifying’ yells. Twelve minutes and 3 miles later both pursuers and pursu-ees made the fastest tracks they could. The driver was steady and cool, though others lost theirs, in this memorable chase. The coach ‘bristled’ with arrows ‘like quills upon the fretful porcupine’, whizzing past driver and teams, one arrow coming close enough to cut the rosette off the lead horses head.. Still, young Bob Emery paid no heed more than driving his team. There were two sharp turns in the road which would throw over any coach, especially traveling so fast; however, young Emery brought his teams to a halt and turned with great care. This dismayed the passengers and amazed the pursuers, but cool and calculating driving was the order of the day. Up ahead, George Constable was ‘conducting’ an ox train over the route, saw the stage a mile or so ahead and assessing the situation, corralled his twenty-five wagons. Young Bob Emery drove his nine passengers into this shelter. This is a case where this story was not written down but passed down to posterity by the successive generations of the saved, till finally written down by Frank Root, former driver turned newspaper man. This gentle man [Robert Emery] with the gentle manner was ‘devoid’ of ‘boastful pretense’ and was mild about well-deserved praises and honors. In a year, laid low by fever, a Mrs. Randolph, one of the ladies of that fabulous ride presented Bob Emery with a gold ring, on which was engraved: “E. Umphry, G.C. Randolph, and Hattie P. Randolph, to ROBERT EMERY, In acknowledgement of what we owe to his cool conduct and good driving on Tuesday, August 9, 1864.” “Soon after this he passed away from these scenes of warfare to the silent and peaceful realm of the dead.” The Book this came from, “The Overland State to California”, was written by Frank A Root and edited by William Elsey Connelley. Though it is on line in the Mardos Memorial Library created by Pam Rietsch [URL below], it was given to me by a friend. It is a book that is classic in ‘near-by’ history and I’ve long wanted to hold it in my hands and read from it. One copy on e-Bay went for over seven hundred dollars. My friend who gave it to me says I now really owe her many favors. Indeed .... Historian, author and story-teller extraordinaire, my friend, Dick Taylor, says of this book: “... Indeed that is a very nice book. It describes a pathway through northeast Kansas into Nebraska that is now virtually extinct - certainly for its original purposes. In the 19th century before railroads traversed the Great Plains, that route (followed by the Overland Stage line) was definitely a major channel for human traffic going across the continent. It was traveled by celebrities such as Mark Twain, Jim Bridger, Buffalo Bill, Richard Burton, and Wild Bill Hickok. Francis Parkman, John C. Fremont, the Donner party, and several thousand others also passed through earlier during formative years of the western territories. The area has been familiar since my childhood years there. “I believe Root was a newspaper man and maybe a postmaster, perhaps at Blue Rapids or at Frankfort. Had he not written his memories in this book, a good deal of history would have been lost. Connelly was with the Kansas State Historical Society in later life, but earlier (according to his daughters) he was an Indian agent for the Kickapoos, who affectionately called him "Willie Whitewater." I cannot remember the women's names, but many years ago they lived in my KC neighborhood and gave me a Pony Express map their father once created. “The book tells of Ben Holladay and provides probably the only extant illustration of Guittard Station and explains why the Oketo Cutoff was created. ...” Well, Frank A. Root, was indeed a man of several ‘hats’, including ‘messenger’ on the ‘trail to California’, post-office transportation agent, and newspaperman. William Elsey Connelley, though co-author, disclaimed that title, preferred rather the title ‘editor’, is a noted historian and author. The one book he wrote that I want to obtain is “Wyandot Folk Lore”. Stories by Dick Taylor and others are produced at his web site, the URL listed below. Click into both URLs for a ‘reading experience’. e-la-Di-e-das-Di ha-WI NV-WA-do-hi-ya NV-WA-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- 958 PostScript: "Myths are universal and timeless stories that reflect and shape our lives ..." Alexander McCall Smith, Dream Angus Dick Taylor’s “Old Time Nebraska” Internet web site: http://www.olden-times.com/oldtimenebraska/, Pam Rietsch, “The List Lady”, “The Mardos OnLine Memorial Library”: http://www.memoriallibrary.com/ Archived articles: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=ilmassac