The drivers knew something was coming for the wagon boss warned the boys to fill up canteens, coffee pot and vinegar kegs with water. They were going a shorter route home. So, on Friday about sunrise they started on in the Horn Alley or Sand Desert of Texas. They drove the oxen without feed or water the entire trip through the desert, not even stopping at night to rest and arrived at the Arkansas river about sunrise on Sunday morning. For five miles before they reached the river the teams seemed to be exhausted with the sand bed road and within two miles of the river the old Texas steers with their heads up sniffed and smelled the water and the wagon boss and his assistant had to ride in front of the train to keep them from stampeeding. The river was very low and water only at places in the willows, and Indians were running horse races in the river bed. When the cattle drank all the water they could find, more was obtained by digging holes in the sand, and it would soon fill up with water. Crossing the river they began to mow down the prairie grass half boot-leg high and rested until Monday noon, when they continued their journey, unmolested home.
(Estimated date)