Your kind letter of last May was sent to us from St. Louis. Like you see, we really went to the far west. May 18th, we went on bord of a steamer named Batchlor and left St. Louis. We drove up the Missouri River until we reached Fort Pierre [South Dakota]. That are nearly 1400 miles from St. Louis to Fort Pierre. It took three weeks until we reached Fort Pierre for we had to go against the current. But we had a wonderful and interesting view on both sides of the river. Hundreds of cities and small settlement are situated along the river banks and a lot of farms are in-between.
There aren't so much cities West of Omaha. Omaha is 800 miles from St. Louis. 100 miles away from Omaha we saw the first Indians. There was an Indian Agency and our ship dropped anchor. In a flash, the ship was occupied by Indians - that really was a surprise. The women on bord were most of all surprised. There are a lot of Indian Agencies along the Missouri River. The Indians of these Agencies are supported by the United States Government. There are a lot of soldiers at these Agencies, too. Finally, we reached Fort Pierre on June, 10th but we still had to travel another 300 miles using the "Post" [the Pony Express?]. We reached the place where Wilhelm [his brother] lives on June 19th. First, I didn't recognize Wilhelm for he looks quite old. It's no wonder for that happens to someone who is travelling throught the world like Wilhelm. This Western Frontieres have to endure a lot of hardships.
Wilhelm was very kind to us and took us to his home. We lived together for 6 weeks. Then he moved to the other place that he owns for he started two farms. He gave the other farm to us for he wasn't able to hold both farms. We are living 6 miles apart. There's big military station three miles from us since last summer with more than 1000 soldiers. Wilhelm made a good speculation for his farm is at the northern side and I'm on the southern side of this station.
I went to the main city of this land of gold named Deadwood together with Wilhelm after I rested a few days. That was a treat for the eyes! It wasn't like being in a city that's just three years old, no, it was just as being in an old big city. One store next to the other on the main street. I saw stores just like in St. Louis. This city is situated in a valley. Afterwards, we went to the so called quartz mills. The gold is inside of a hard stone. This mills make powder out of the stones. The mills are just like your "Boke Mühle" [special kind of mill] just that the stamps are made of iron. They wash the dirt and the gold stays on the iron plates. They're washing gold from the brokes and streams, too. The gold stone here is better than in California. The Californien Company has bought the best places. She paid 400.000 Dollar for the last mine. 8 miles from us, you can find silver ore. But there's no capital for it. The silver mines are mostly owned by poor people for it cost a lot of money to melt the silver.
I bought 400 acre of land. I had to pay ¼ Dollar for an acre and I have to pay a Dollar for each acre every year for the next three years. I think, I made a good speculation if I'm able to keep the land. I hoped for the best last fall for a city was place on my ground. But then they moved the city 1 1/2 mile closer to the military station. The main road will pass by my house. The light waggons are passing my house already. I live at the foot of the mountains and when the carters come down the mountains they have the first station here at my place.
I live 10 miles from the main city Deadwood. The way to Deadwood goes through the mountains. I won't farming. I think, I will breed cattle for the land is to dry. I'll maybe visit you if I'm able to sell [whatever] for a good price. The climate is comparable to the German climate. The summers aren't as hot as in St. Louis. My wife is feeling much better here. She was even better in Colorado. Last summer, we had a big surprise. My wife heard some horses outside our house. She got up and opened the door and she had a fright for she saw more than 100 indians. They stopped for 10 minutes and then left. They didn't harm us at all. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to travel to Quincy [Illinois] for we already were here when I received your letter. I will visit Kehlenbrink if I travel to St. Louis next spring. Aunt Temme, Luise Schagerköter, died last October, too. We got a letter from Bissendorf that the Schwir father [?] is very ill.
Greetings from Wilhelm and his wife and from my beloved Luise.
Give my regards to all relatives and to all friends of mine. Greetings from me, your brother
