Joseph Trego wrote from his log cabin near Sugar Mound, Kansas Territory, to his wife, Alice, in Illinois. Trego described the beauty of the fall foliage and his plans to build a new home for his family, whom he greatly missed. He worried that he had heard from Alice only once in seven weeks, while he had written every week. Trego showed that he was well connected to current events in the Territory and the county, as he and his friends took several newspapers, including two from Lawrence.