Pure air of independence

By "The Cowboy" Jim Gray
THE WAY WEST

I don’t always know where a story will take me.

An example can be shown from my search for mountain man A. L. Johnson. I often use The Beginning of the West by Louise Barry as a springboard, leading to further research. In a July 18, 1849, reference, Barry notes that “expressman” A. L. Johnson and an unnamed Indian companion had arrived at Fort Leavenworth with about 350 pounds of letter mail. Coming from Fort Laramie, Johnson and his companion had been delayed 10 days due to high water. Normally, the trip would not have taken much more than two weeks.

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