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30 • LINCOLN THE UNKNOWNIn <strong>the</strong> winter of 1830 <strong>the</strong> "milk sick" came again, spreadingdeath once more through <strong>the</strong> Buckhorn Valley of Indiana.Filled with fear and discouragement, <strong>the</strong> roving and migratoryTom <strong>Lincoln</strong> disposed of his hogs and corn, sold his stumpinfestedfarm for eighty dollars, made a cumbersome wagon<strong>the</strong> first he had ever owned—loaded his family and furnitureinto it, gave Abe <strong>the</strong> whip, yelled at <strong>the</strong> oxen, and started outfor a valley in Illinois which <strong>the</strong> Indians called <strong>the</strong> Sangamon,"<strong>the</strong> land of plenty to eat."For two weeks <strong>the</strong> oxen crept slowly forward as <strong>the</strong> heavywagon creaked and groaned over <strong>the</strong> hills and through <strong>the</strong> deepforests of Indiana and out across <strong>the</strong> bleak, desolate, uninhabitedprairies of Illinois, carpeted <strong>the</strong>n with wi<strong>the</strong>red yellow grassthat grew six feet tall under <strong>the</strong> summer sun.At Vincennes <strong>Lincoln</strong> saw a printing-press for <strong>the</strong> first time;he was <strong>the</strong>n twenty-one.At Decatur <strong>the</strong> emigrants camped in <strong>the</strong> court-house square;and, twenty-six years later, <strong>Lincoln</strong> pointed out <strong>the</strong> exact spotwhere <strong>the</strong> wagon had stood."I didn't know <strong>the</strong>n that I had sense enough to be a lawyer,"he said.Herndon tellsus:Mr. <strong>Lincoln</strong> once described this journey to me. He said<strong>the</strong> ground had not yet yielded up <strong>the</strong> frosts of winter; thatduring <strong>the</strong> day <strong>the</strong> roads would thaw out on <strong>the</strong> surface andat night freeze over again, thus making travelling, especiallywith oxen, painfully slow and tiresome. There were, ofcourse, no bridges, and <strong>the</strong> party were consequently drivento ford <strong>the</strong> streams, unless by a circuitous route <strong>the</strong>y couldavoid <strong>the</strong>m. In <strong>the</strong> early part of <strong>the</strong> day <strong>the</strong> latter were alsofrozen slightly, and <strong>the</strong> oxen would break through a squareyard of thin ice at every step. Among o<strong>the</strong>r things which<strong>the</strong> party brought with <strong>the</strong>m was a pet dog, which trottedalong after <strong>the</strong> wagon. One day <strong>the</strong> little fellow fell behindand failed to catch up till after <strong>the</strong>y had crossed <strong>the</strong> stream.Missing him <strong>the</strong>y looked back, and <strong>the</strong>re, on <strong>the</strong> oppositebank, he stood, whining and jumping about in great distress.The water was running over <strong>the</strong> broken edges of <strong>the</strong>ice, and <strong>the</strong> poor animal was afraid to cross. It would notpay to turn <strong>the</strong> oxen and wagon back and ford <strong>the</strong> streamagain in order to recover a dog, and so <strong>the</strong> majority, in