"Deals in fact only...continually harassed and had numerous engagements with the Indians." -A Great Collection of Original Source Material Relating to the Early West (1922)

"Charles Young and others provide vivid pictures of their indispensable role in provisioning the army posts and western cities before the advent of the railroad." -The Great Platte River Road (1987)

What dangers still lurked along the trail for one crossing the plains to Denver in 1865?

In 1912, Charles Edward Young (1846-1915) published a vivid account of his dangerous life on the trail in his book "Dangers of the Trail in 1865."

In introducing his book, Young writes:

"We were soon confronted by the toughest individual we had yet seen. I pleasantly bade him good morning but received no immediate recognition, save a wild stare from two horrible, bloodshot eyes. I quickly came to the conclusion that we were up against the real Western article, nor was I mistaken. He didn't keep up waiting long, for he soon roared out an oath and wanted to know where we were from. After telling him as near as I possibly could, under the circumstances, he again became silent. His look and brace of revolvers were not reassuring, to say the least...."

About the author:

Charles Edward Young was born in 1846 and died May 12, 1915. During the Civil War he served as a Colonel in the 132nd Regiment of the Indiana Infantry. After the Civil War he headed for the plains the Great West where he worked as a freighter fighting off raids from hostile tribes whose territory he traveled through.