My Dear Mother: -
Well, our experiences of today will never be forgotten. We went way up into the mountain, leaving camp early this morning. At noon we pitched camp, unhitched, and fed our mules, and cooked our hard-tack & bacon for ourselves. All the road was rocky and very dangerous. About 5 times worse than the wagon road from Maniteau, Colo., to "Cave of the Winds" - you remember coming down was where the troubles started.
An ambulance, ahead of me, turned over on it's side and was dragged twenty-five feet, before they could stop the mules. Nobody was hurt, not even the Amb. About 7 fellows set it on its wheels and we proceeded.
Something came loose on my wheel mule's harness and I nearly went over a 25ft. drop. Every one in my amb. jumped, but I stuck and managed to keep the outfit from going over. When we got back our mules, harness, clothes, etc. was all covered with a fine while alkali dust. You know how it is in this country. It was a fine trip, and I think I got some fine pictures.
Got a letter from Leona yesterday & one today.
Will close & turn in as I all tired out.
Love to All
Howard
Feeling great
The above photo is from the El Paso Library Archives entitled "Soldiers and overturned carriage". At first I was amazed to find a photo of something so similar to what I was was searching for, then I realized that it probably happened a lot more frequently than someone in 2017 would realize. Even in the best of conditions, the dirt roads and wooden wheels likely made overturned wagons a frequent occurrence. Throw in mules and 25-foot drops, and I can't even imagine how terrifying it would be to be the driver of one of these ambulances.
On a personal note, I continue to be amazed at how well-traveled the Goods were for their time. From the reference to "Maniteau" (Manitou, CO is near Pikes Peak) to Howard's mentions of his previous visits to El Paso with his mother. In previous genealogy research, I even found Effie had traveled to Cuba. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. To this day, my Gram still lectures me about getting out and traveling while I still can. She and Gramps loved to travel - I couldn't even count the number of vacation photos I went through in her house. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the family tree!
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