After all were through eating supper, Jim Bridger asked how many
men they had in their train, but no one was able to tell. When he
asked who their captain was a man replied that they did not know
they had to have a captain. Jim with an oath said: "What in the
name of God do you think those soldiers over there would do
without a captain, or at least an officer of some kind?"
Then he told them they had better form in line and see how many
men they had, and elect five men to transact business with us.
They formed in line and counted and there were one hundred and
forty men in the train, and not one of them had ever been on the
plains before, and, of course, not one of them had ever seen a
hostile Indian.
They then proceeded to elect the five men to transact the business
with us, after which Jim turned to me and said: "Now make your
proposition." I suggested that as he was the oldest, he should go
ahead and make the bargain, whereupon he said: "All right.
Gentlemen, I will make you an offer; if you see fit to accept it
all right, and if not there is no harm done. We will scout for you
for six dollars per day from here to the foot of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, and you board us and herd our horses with yours. We
must have charge of the entire train, and we want at least two or
three days in which to organize and drill before leaving this
camp, and after the lapse of five days if this community is not
satisfied with our work, we will quit, and not charge you a cent
for what we shall have done at that time, and if our work is
satisfactory we will expect our money every Saturday night, for it
is the money we are after and not the glory.
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