I was pitifully ignorant of the details of moving, and I stood
despairingly gazing into the depths of those boxes, when the
jolly and stout wife of Major von Hermann passed my window. She
glanced in, comprehended the situation, and entered, saying, "You
do not understand how to pack? Let me help you: give me a cushion
to kneel upon--now bring everything that is to be packed, and I
can soon show you how to do it." With her kind assistance the
chests were packed, and I found that we had a great deal of
surplus stuff which had to be put into rough cases, or rolled
into packages and covered with burlap. Jack fumed when he saw it,
and declared we could not take it all, as it exceeded our
allowance of weight. I declared we must take it, or we could not
exist.

With some concessions on both sides we were finally packed up,
and left Fort Russell about the middle of June, with the first
detachment, consisting of head-quarters and band, for San
Francisco, over the Union Pacific Railroad.

For it must be remembered, that in 1874 there were no railroads
in Arizona, and all troops which were sent to that distant
territory either marched over-land through New Mexico, or were
transported by steamer from San Francisco down the coast, and up
the Gulf of California to Fort Yuma, from which point they
marched up the valley of the Gila to the southern posts, or
continued up the Colorado River by steamer, to other points of
disembarkation, whence they marched to the posts in the interior,
or the northern part of the territory.

Much to my delight, we were allowed to remain over in San