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MEMOIRS OF MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER,
ELEANOR HOWARD (THOMAS) BRITTAIN KNOWLTON
November 1834 – August 1908

Winter 1866-67 is lonely for Eleanor. The girls get new dresses for Christmas. The new year (1867) isn’t expected to bring changes. Eleanor intends to ride to Visalia to pick up medicine and supplies for her husband, but the rivers are high and dangerous, but she gets there and back safely with help from others. In the spring, they pack up and head for Stockton and Sacramento. One of the horses dies while crossing the Cow Wash River in high water. Swarming black gnats bite the horses and people. At night, they sit in the dark to avoid attracting the bugs.

Well, we are now at Bacon’s mountain ranch where we will stay during the winter. We don’t expect to have any wild game but quails but we won’t suffer. We can have all the cows to milk we want just for milk, cannot make butter as we are not fixt to. Mr. Bacon said for to kill a small beef if we wanted it at any time. Fill Bacon, the old man’s son, cousin Tom Graves and once in a while Bill Shackelford would be with us. Mr. Brittain was not lonesome. He kept well. But I had no company but my three little girls. There was not a woman near enough to come to see me or I could go to see. If I had not been a lover of nature I would have been very lonesome.

It is now Christmas and Mr. Fillip Bacon has just got home from Visalia and brought the children a nice new dress, one for each of them. We look forward to New Year’s but don’t expect to have any change.

1867
It is now the first of January 1867 and we are really getting tired of our mountain home. The weather has been fine, not much rain, and there had been a garden here. I went to it Christmas and there was green tomatoes and corn there. We all kept well. The men are going to kill a young beef and they have run him, he is mad and fights them and is hot. Mr. Brittain told them to put him in the corner and let it cool. The meat would be no good but Shackelford shot him. They skinned and hung the meat up in a tree all night so in the morning it was not fit to eat. It was spoiled looked green. We never eat any of it. That day there came a drove of Indians and want it and they eat and carried it all away. They eat so much they just laid down and slept most of the day.

Now spring is here and Bacon’s men will not be here so much. The old man Bacon will be here a week or two looking after his cattle which will be quite a change. He is real good company and when he goes home, I think we wo’t stay here. My cousin is in the valley. He has fell in love with Miss Emma Turner and is putting in a crop on her father’s place and will not travel with us this summer, so we will have to get someone else. It has been raining for several days. Mr. Brittain is not so well. Mr. Rankings is here and will kill a small beef for us. As soon as it clears up, if he won’t go to Turners and tell my cousin to go to Visalia and get medicine and a galvanic battery for Mr. Brittain, I would have to go.

Ranking is an old man, very fleshy. The next day was clear and I got ready early. I had a fine riding mare and gentle. I mounted her and bid all good-bye telling the old man to take care of my husband and children and was off for Visalia which was 25 miles. I had no trouble until I came to Bacon’s slough. This was the first water I came to. It looked quite deep. There was a man sitting on his horse meditating whether to go across or not. When I got closer I knew him. His name was Works. He had been at our place and knew me.

I told him where I was going and what for. I asked him to go across with me. He refused to go and said I had better not as it was swimming. He said I could go round it. I asked how many miles it would be. He said three or four. I said I will cross the slough and I did.

I had not went far until I found my mare was swimming. I let my bridle loose on her neck. I had a switch, I put it in my mouth and looked at the end of it and left it to Polly to take me over, which she did safely. I had no more trouble.

I got to Johns Creek. I got to Johns Creek, it was booming then. I not not think it best to try to cross and I was compelled to go over to Mr. Bacon’s as I had clothing there I wanted. Well, I hollered until I was tired, finally they came out with a boat and taken me over. Their house was just on the opposite side from me. I got what things I wanted the next thing was to go over to the Turners to get my cousin Tom Graves to go to Visalia, see the doctor and get what medicine I wanted and the battery.

The Bacons said I had better not try to go as I would have to cross Cow Wash Creek, but I was determed to go as I was afraid if the man who they said could go could not find my cousin and I was obliged to have him go back with me. Well, Bill Shackleford was going with me. I bid Mr and Mrs Bacon good bye.

Phill Bacon who had stayed with me most of the fall and winter went out to help with my horse. While there he said, would you rather I would go than Bill. I said yes, I would feel safer with you. I know you would swim out with me, but your mother and wife won’t let you go. He said, I will go, you have been as a mother to me. He went in and told them we was going. He had not been married but a short time. I was at the wedding, also Mr. Brittain and the children. She was his second wife. His mother and wife came out to see us off.

We waved them good-bye and soon we were at the Cow Wash Creek. There was a family by the name of Pearce lived on the opposite side of the creek, and the old Gentleman told us to go a little further down and we would have better crossing. Several women came out to see us over.

Bacon went over and then come back for me. He told me not to be scared, he could swim without me. In we went, he swam above me so to break the current of the stream. Well, we swam from bank to bank and landed safely. The Pearce family cheered us and said I was a brave woman and wanted to know if my husband was worse or dead. They told us us there was a man drowned the day before at the old crossing.

Now my friend Bacon was going to swim over again. I bid him farewell and seen him safe over. He waved a final good-bye and I went on to Bill Grubbs, and when I got there his brother went over to Turners and got my cousin and he went to Visalia and got the things I wanted.

Next morning we were off early and swam Cow Wash Creek. He had the battery and medicine and I had a satchel of clothes and a quart jar of tomatoes which Mrs. Grubbs had given me for Mr. Brittain. All was landed safely of course we were some wet.

Well, there is no more want but the slough. We will soon get there as we are going as fas as our horses can go without running. We are now at Bacon’s slough. It is quite full but not swimming. Will soon reach home. It is late but will get in before dark. We are in sight of the house.

To my surprise when my cousin said “Here we come!” out came Mr. Brittain, the children and the old man Rankins. They were all out to receive us. They had heard the creeks were all very high.

It is now some time in March. Near the first of the month we will go to the Valley before we have another rain. We wont stop long as we want to get to Stockton and Sacramento and have other places which we want to stop. I have to go to Mr. Grubbs’ to get things I had left there and I want to go to Turners to see them. Cousin Tom Graves will stay with us and help us get to the Valley and he will not go any further, so we will not take but the spring hack and Polly my riding animal.

We are now at Grubb’s Crossing on the Cow Wash River. We’ll ford the river with the two-horse team and wagon with our things and Mr. Brittain and I will drive over. Cousin Tom take the children over the foot logs which are wide and safe. Lick Grubbs will walk the log and swim the loose horses. Tom and the childre are over safe. I have started to drive, am in quite a distance. The water is up to the wagon bed but I got over safe.

Now Grubbs has started to swim the two horses over and has tied a rope around one in some manner so it shut the horses wind off and he was almost dead when we got him out of the water. We did all that could be done but he died. So we had to lose him. He was a fine horse. Now we have the two horses to work in the hack and Polly.

We are now in Visalia, will not stop here as we want to get across the Kings River as soon as we can. We will go in to Merced County and will stop over at Mr. David A Brittain’s a day or two. He is my husband’s cousin and we don’t want to pass by without stopping to see him.

The country I have traveled over is a sterile land. You seldom seen any one, and when you did it would be men herding sheep or cattle. The sheep look like balls of dirt and the cattle were of the long horn stock. They lived on alfalfa. The black gnats were so bad we had to stop when the day began to get hot about noon and take butter and oil the horses faces and ears, and oil the children. They would sting so they were something awful and at night the snap bugs were so numerous you could not have a fire after night. If you happened to get a house to stop at night, they would put the light out and we would have to sit in the dark or go to bed.

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