6 September 1871

We started for Omaha at 10am on Wednesday passing thro’ rich cornfields and immense farms all the way until evening, when we came to the Mississippi river over which is constructed a large bridge of timber. The train was checked in speed as we crossed, for indeed it is a frail structure, and the timbers creak in a most serious way groaning with the weight of the train. We found it very hot, the thermometer standing at 87° in the shade.