CHAPTER II.

EARLY INFLUENCES.

Dress Parade at Fort Leavenworth--The Beautiful Salt Creek Valley--The Mormon Emigrants--The Wagon Trains--The Cholera--A Lively Scene--My First Sight of Indians--"Dolly" and "Prince"--A Long-Lost Relative Turns up--Adventurous Career of Horace Billings--His Splendid Horsemanship--Catching Wild Horses.