Transcript

Tuesday, June 1 [1858] We finished our preparations and our 4 wagons began their trip. We met up with some who had left before us on our second day out so there were 12 wagons in all.

Wednesday, June 2 There was heavy rain last night so travel went slowly. We camped at Elkhorn. 14 miles today.

Thursday, June 3 We drove along the Platte River, past an Indian town and another town. An Indian came and ate dinner with us. 20 miles.

Friday, June 4 Along the Platte River and across a stream that was clear full of water. 25 miles.

Saturday, June 5 Across two bodies of water, so we had a lot of work. We camped outside of Columbus Town. 18 miles.

Sunday, June 6 We met a group coming from Zion. They gave us information and said things should go fairly well. They said some were being moved out of Zion. There were 6 brethren and a Major Ken, who had been sent to Utah from Washington to investigate conditions there. He seemed to be a liberal man. We camped and the members held an evening meeting in the field. 17 miles.

Monday, June 7 Had a lot of work crossing the Platte River. But, luckily, everything went well. We finished and rested.

Tuesday, June 8 We continued on our journey. The Company was organized. Eldridge [Horace S. Eldredge] was made Captain and Joseph Y[o]ung his aide, and Haight is Chaplain. There are 37 men, 13 wagons, 29 horses, and 17 mules—46 in all went from the river and up the bank to the left. 20 miles today.

Wednesday, June 9 We crossed a lot of water, but it went well. 26 miles.

Thursday, June 10 We saw a lot of animals today. Everything went well. 26 miles.

Friday, June 11 We got to the Waad [Wood] River about 10:00 A.M. The bridge was gone, so we made a new one. We ate lunch and went over by 3:00 P.M. 28 miles.

Saturday, June 12 31 miles.

Sunday, June 13 We had beautiful weather and a smooth day traveling. 44 miles.

Monday, June 14 Very dry weather. 25 miles.

Tuesday, June 15 We met several Indians and gave them some bread. We saw a large company on the other side of the river. They had many animals and looked ready to assemble. 28 miles.

Wednesday, June 16 We met two Indian tribes. 30 miles.

Thursday, June 17 We saw a train traveling toward the States on the other side of the river. 30 miles.

Friday, June 18 We saw a large and a small company heading toward the States. We also passed a large Indian camp. They had many horses and colts. 35 miles.

Saturday, June 19 We saw two large trains heading toward the States. 35 miles.

Sunday, June 20 20 miles.

Monday, June 21 We passed the wagons traveling back to the states. 32 miles.

Tuesday, June 22 We passed Fort Laramie this afternoon and got into a very hilly region. 35 miles.

Wednesday, June 23 26 miles.

Thursday, June 24 30 miles.

Friday, June 25 28 miles.

Saturday, June 26 In the morning we passed Deer Creek. There was a settlement of Mountain Men on the other side of the river. They came over and we traded them buffalo hides for provisions. 26 miles.

Sunday, June 27 In the morning we came to another settlement of mountain men and traded for some more provisions. There were also a few Indians. There was a bridge over the Platte River and the North and South trails joined. Two wagons left the company. In the afternoon we passed another settlement. In the night the two wagons camped along side of us. 24 miles.

Monday, June 28 We left the Platte River and found the trail quite sandy. We met two wagons coming from Salt Lake. 32 miles.

Tuesday, June 29 In the morning we drove past a settlement that looked very peaceful. We came to the Devil’s Peak, where there was a settlement. We passed about 20 wagons which were trying to get provisions. There was a large cliff along the right side of the wagon. 34 miles.

Wednesday, June 30 In the morning we passed a small company which had a great number of livestock. But I don’t know where they were going. 34 miles.

Thursday, July 1 Very rocky and hilly area. Loud thunder and rain in the evening. But it let up in the night. 28 miles.

Friday, July 2 Good weather. We had lunch near Sweet Water. I had been very sick with fever and have laid in the wagon for about 14 days. But I am beginning to get my strength back and feel better. Thunder and rain in the afternoon. We drove until 1:00 A.M. and then camped alongside a little creek. 34 miles.

Saturday, July 3 Very sandy trail. We had lunch at Little Sandy, where there was good graas [grass]. We veered to the left and finally camped at Big Sandy, having crossed them both. The grass for the horses here was terrible. 24 miles.

Sunday, July 4 We drove on this morning. At lunchtime we encountered a wagon train of apostates. There were about 16 wagons. We crossed the water. Later in the day we met another 2 wagons and several men who were laden with provisions. In the late afternoon we came to Green River. There were many tents and people there. We crossed the river on a ferry—it cost $6.00 for 4 people. The traveling went very well today. 24 miles.

Monday, July 5 Early in the morning a messenger from the army came by with some information about the soldiers going into Salt Lake. Later in the day, when we came to Hensfork [Ham’s Fork] River, there were about 10 soldiers who stood watach at a bridge. They didn’t say anything to us except that we should be on careful guard for Mormons. They said Johnson had gone into Salt Lake and that we should go straight to him and get 300 to 400 men to protect us from the Mormons. They thought we were going on to Karlefornien [California]. We met another messenger later in the morning. We crossed the Hensfork River twice today. 40 miles.

Tuesday, July 6 Around noon we drove past Fort Bridger and a little farther on we met another messenger from Salt Lake. He told us that peace had been arranged and that everything was in good order. Later we passed some men and a wagon. 36 miles.

Wednesday, July 7 We met and passed several wagons. We’ve gone about half-way through the mountains. We drove as quickly as possible because of overhanging banks. 35 miles.

Thursday, July 8 We met several brethren and others. We drove around through much water. There were steep cliffs, expecially on one side, but the brethren had built guardrails there. 33 miles.

Friday, July 9 We had very steep cliffs to contend with, but we drove all the way into Salt Lake City because there was no grass for our animals. We arrived about midnight and spent our first night camped in the street. 30 miles.