Joseph Trego wrote from his cabin near Sugar Mound, Kansas Territory, to his wife, Alice, in Rock Island, Illinois. Trego briefly updated her on the status of the mill enterprise before expressing more personal sentiments. He felt it had been a mistake not to bring her to the Territory, as he could not devote all of his energy to the tasks at hand for missing her. Trego also discussed the length of time it took her letters to reach him via the postal service.