Joseph Trego wrote from Sugar Mound, Kansas Territory, to his wife, Alice, at their family's home in Illinois. Trego described how, since the shelter being built around the mill equipment was not yet complete, the wind and rain interfered with their ability to work. Though the work was hard, he favored the milling business over other means toward income. Trego responded to a newspaper article from the Rock Island Advertiser that his wife had sent him, deeming their coverage of the Kansas troubles "sensational." He expected that Fort Scott would soon be destroyed by free state militiamen, as "Bourbon County Bandits" (proslavery supporters) had been harassing extensively free state supporters in the area. Despite all this disorder, the development prospects of Mound City, in Linn County, appeared favorable.