noon
The South Platte was a wide , sandy river with numerous channels , and as easily crossed as an alkali flat of equal width , so far as water was concerned . The sun was not an hour high when we crossed , passing within two hundred yards of the business section of the town , which lay under a hill . The valley on the north side of the river , and beyond the railroad , was not over half a mile wide , and as we angled across it , the town seemed as dead as those that slept in the graveyard on the first hill beside the trail . Finding good grass about a mile farther on , we threw the herd off the trail , and leaving orders to graze until noon , the foreman with the first and second guard returned to town . It was only about ten miles over to the North Platte , where water was certain ; and in the hope that we would be permitted to revisit the village during the afternoon , we who were on guard threw riders in the lead of the grazing cattle , in order not to be too far away should permission be granted us . That was a long morning for us of the third and fourth guards , with nothing to do but let the cattle feed , while easy money itched in our pockets . Behind us lay Ogalalla -- and our craft did dearly love to break the monotony of our work by getting into town .