I'm going to backtrack a bit and tell another experience I found of Robert Sweeten's. After getting well-settled in Utah, Robert had to make a trip back to eastern Canada to settle some of his father's affairs. At that time (about 1865) the train only came as far as St. Joseph, MO so Robert went on the mail stagecoach from Salt Lake. There were several delays along the way, including being pinned down by Indians shooting at the coach. Here are some specifics he wrote about that trip: "All I can remember of Denver at that time is that it had one street with a bend in it. It took us 10 days from there to get to St. Joseph, Missouri. There are 3 things I can distinctly remember about St. Jo (sic). One is the railroad station which was made from logs with grass growing all around it. I was looking around the station when someone shouted, 'Here comes the train!' I rushed out and stood by the tracks and got my first glimpse of a train. I was intently watching it come toward me when all of a sudden the air was rent by its loud whistle. It took me so by surprise that I jumped straight in the air and screamed, 'A bear!' at the top of my voice, and went inside the station thoroughly ashamed of myself.
It was in St. Jo that I ate my first orange. I had made friends with a fellow traveler and he gave me an orange to see what I would do with it. I had never eaten one before, so supposing it was to be eaten like an apple, I bit into it and was not very well pleased with the flavor of it, but I soon reached the inside and realized the skin was not to be eaten."