Having no other way to travel than on
horseback, my knee swelled badly, and when we got to Mr. Davis'
ranch, which was forty miles from Fort Yuma, I had to stop and
rest a few days. This was, however, a very desirable place for an
unmarried man to stop, for Mr. Davis had some young daughters who
were very attractive. I remained there a week, until I got the
swelling reduced in my leg, and Mr. Davis hauled me to the fort in
a wagon, taking at the same time a load of watermelons and
tomatoes, which grew abundantly in that country. When I arrived at
Fort Yuma Gen. Crook told me to take good care of myself, also
saying he was highly pleased with the success of the past season,
and he said: "If I live until spring I am going to see that Black
canyon of yours that Lieut. Jackson has told me so much about."
During this winter we got a weekly mail established from Fort Yuma
to Los Angeles, I had been here over eight months and had not seen
a newspaper since I came, and when this mail line was established
nearly every man subscribed for a paper of some kind, and the fort
for the first time was blessed with plenty of reading matter, and
we were able to gain a little knowledge as to what was going on in
the civilized parts of the United States.
In the fore part of the month of December the officers put the men
to work cleaning and straightening things up in general about the
fort.
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