Back to my home place.
It was no easy matter when I was a boy in Iowa seventy years ago to get to California. There were only three ways to get here. One was to take a steamer in New York and go by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Another was to cross the plains as a passenger on the Overland Stages. The third was to come in an emigrant train. That is the way, in the summer of 1865, that I arrived in California. Story of the Crow Emigrant Train of 1865 - Section 1
Our family lived six miles north of Alba, the county seat of Monroe County, Iowa. Father was anxious to leave Iowa and get into a better climate. Two neighboring families were also anxious to emigrate. All three of the families got together and talked matters over. The result of it all was that all three families decided to set out together and go to California.
It cost a lot of money those days to get fitted up in first class shape to cross the plains. Some of father's mule teams cost him as much as seven hundred dollars a span. It was just at the close of the Civil War and everything was high. He bought three brand new wagons for the trip. Two of them were for four horse teams. The third wagon was a lighter one and we called it the family wagon. It had only two horses and was the wagon mother and us children rode in. None of our wagons was loaded so heavy that a two horse team couldn't pull it, but father wanted to be on the safe side and he put four horses on them. He knew there would be lots of bad places to cross going through the mountains. He took along about twenty head of horses and mules so that he could change off teams. All the harness also was brand new for he didn't want anything wearing out and giving way on the journey.
The two heavy wagons were loaded up with our provisions and supplies. Father took along enough provisions to last for four months. We had at least fifteen hundred pounds of flour alone. Bacon and hams and lard were brought along in large quantities as were also dried apples, peaches and pears. Father even had the family doctor fix up a box of medicines, such as quinine, etc., that we might need on the trip. Everything that we had any idea we might require during the next four months was put on board.
Father sold his farm for twelve thousand dollars. When we were all ready to start father still had three thousand dollars in cash which he took on the journey. He thought he had bought everything we would need and that he would have no more expense until we reached California. We started the first day of April, 1865, and when we got located at Petaluma, California, the last part of August- four months later- he had just twenty-five dollars in cash left.
I was born in 1855 and was named Francis Marion Watkins. My mother was a great admirer of the famous Revolutionary hero, General Francis Marion and named me after him. When we started for California I was nearly ten years old. My sister Emma was eight. I had five older brothers. Two of them were married and had their families with them. One had two children-a girl about four and my nephew, Charles Watkins, aged two. This was the Charlie Watkins who used to be city marshal here in Los Banos. Another pioneer of Los Banos was also with us. She was Miss Lizzie Carmen who later became Mrs. C. M. Wiley. My other three brothers were Frank who was thirteen, Henry who was twenty and George, twenty-two.
One of the families traveling with us was named Brannon. They had three children- one boy and two girls. The older girl was about fifteen. The other family was named Bordeau. Their children were older. There were three girls and two boys if I remember right. The older girls were already grown up.
Father wanted to have two drivers for each of our five wagons. He knew that when we got out in the Indian country we would have to take turns standing guard at night and he wanted to make it as easy as possible for the drivers. There were two young men in our neighborhood who wanted to come to California. Father told them that if they were willing to do their share of the work just for their grub they could come along. They were tickled to death to get the chance. One was an Irish boy named Mike Folen. The other was an American by the name of John Burns. Lots of people crossing the plains had young men traveling with them and helping do the work.
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