MORMON SETTLEMENTS IN MISSOURI VALLEY. 289 The first years of their occupancy were marked by great privations, gradually changing to comfort and prosperity. After the colony had been maintained seven years, the Paw- nees arrived to take possession of their new reservation on the same ground. The settlers held their claim three years, but being in constant danger from the continually conflicting Sioux and Pawnees, abandoned further effort in 1863, and dispersed, some to Salt Lake, and others to Iowa, and some to Platte County. Quite a settlement or relay station was made at Wood River, in Buffalo County, in 1858, by Joseph E. Johnson. Johnson published a paper, "The Huntsman's Echo," for two years, and grew "The largest and finest flower garden " then west of the Mississippi. The settlement was broken up in 1863, by the removal of Johnson and his companions to Salt Lake Valley.
