Transcript

Tuesday, July 10 – We started on our journey across the plains about 10 o’clock a.m. and traveled about 2 hours and a half. We stopped and camped then for the night.

Wednesday, July 11 – We traveled again and passed by and through many camps. We camped by a beautiful house and good water and a little wood. We had a fine day and night.

Friday, July 13 – We started and went 9 or 10 miles and camped and went again and passed a train at 7 o’clock. A fine day and night.

Saturday, July 14 – A fine day and night.

Sunday, July 15 – We traveled along and came to a dusty place to camp. We went on again and passed many teams going down east. We saw a grave on the roadside. We passed another grave at evening. Fair.

Monday, July 16 – We saw a grave. We travelled along and camped for dinner and stopped there that evening and night.

Tuesday, July 17 – We travelled along, camped, went again and camped. We had poor water. Fair night.

Wednesday, July 18 – We travelled along and camped by the Platte River South. We had a fair night.

Thursday, July 19 – We went along by the river side and saw many Indians. We had a wet night.

Friday, July 20 – A fine day after the rain. We camped and went along and passed through Kearney City with Post Office and Bakery Co. and camped along further on. We had a dry night.

Saturday, July 21 – We travelled on and had water from the river. We have not had much wood for 4 or 5 days. We had a warm day and night.

Sunday, July 22 – We made a long journey that day and camped. Fine day and night.

Monday, July 23 – We had a fine day but at night a light thunder storm. It lightninged all night but did not rain.

Tuesday, July 24 – We had a little fall of rain that morning. There was a girl hurt very bad by falling off one of the wagons. We had one shower of rain in the night.

Wednesday, July 25 – We went along until we came to a house named Junction House. We stopped there until 4 or 5 o’clock and went a couple of miles again and camped by a couple of houses. We had a dry night.

Thursday, July 26 – We started and went onward, camped by a house on top of a hill. We went on again, we came to a grave on the right hand side. The name on it was H. Voigt (died, shot?) 1865, Sept. 15, age 31 years. We camped by the river again. We had lightning that night but no rain.

Friday, July 27 – A fine morning. We went along 5 or 6 miles and saw another grave named K. Milden, died June 2, 1864, late of Preston, England. We had a little lightning but no rain that night.

Saturday, July 28 – A fine morning.We traveled on and camped for dinner. We had thunder and lightning and rain. We stopped until it had cleared off. Thunder and lightning that night but no rain.

Sunday, July 29 – The grass is wet this morning but it will be a fine day. We started and before we were a mile out of the camp a regiment of soldiers passed by us. We passed so many graves. Lawken K. Stevens, aged 14. E. Hunter, died 3 July, 1865. N.P. Wells, late of Biethan, Missouri, killed by Indians, aged 39 years. Ann Butler, died 24 July 1865, aged 12. John Cook, company C.Y., Iowa Cavalry, accidentlly killed 28 Nov. 1865, aged 22 years, 11 months and 19 days. These were seen at the Old California Crossing and store of M. R. Beauvaise Star Ranch. We saw another grave named J. Louis Audiffre, died 10 June, 1866, aged 24 years. We intended to cross the Platte River but we did not cross (at) that place. We had a fair night.

Monday, July 30 – A fine morning. We traveled all day and in the evening we crossed the Platte River and we all got over except 2 or 3 wagons before dark. Then we had a little rain for about ¾ of an hour and a little wind in the night.

Tuesday, July 31 – A fair morning. We got the other wagons over and then went on 3 or 4 miles and camped for dinner. We remained there that evening. We had a cold night.

Wednesday, August 1 – A fine morning. We started that morning about 8 o’clock. We saw some Indians passing by. We camped about noon for dinner and traveled on again and camped about 6 o’clock for supper. We had a rather cold night.

Thursday, August 2 – A very fine morning. We started about 7 or 8 o’clock. camped for dinner and thought to go to North Platte, but at the end of 9 or 10 miles we unexpectedly found water and camped.There was a grave there named Johanna Brain Shane, died 24 August, 1844 (1864?). We had a fine night.

Friday, August 3 – A fine morning. We started again pretty early and went on a good many miles and camped by a house for dinner and went on again and camped (at) night by a creek running close by the road and had a cold night.

Saturday, August 4 – A dry morning. We travelled on and camped for dinner by the North Platte. We went from there at 2 or 3 o’clock. The first mule train passed here on the 30 July. It was a fair night.

Sunday, August 5 – A fair morning. We travelled on and camped again and by and by passed through some sand hills and a few miles further on (we) came where there were several soldiers, and after the wagons had all passed by but ½ dozen or so, they came forward and tried to claim some of our mules that had the U.S. brand on and took one. Well, we went on after and camped. We had a fair night.

Monday, August 6 – A fair morning. We went on from there again, and camped by a shop and a few Indians, and after we camped the captain and two teamsters rode in with the mule that was taken. Well, we had dinner and went on again and camped for the night close by the river. It was fair.

Tuesday, August 7 – A rather dull morning. We started on and saw many Indians. We went on some miles and camped. The sky cleared off in the course of time. Well, we went on and saw some more Indians; we camped. It was a fair night.

Wednesday, August 8 – A fine morning. We started again pretty early and on the road we saw some Indians and soldiers and some more further on. A little further on we crossed a bridge and saw Laramie on our left. We then stopped to be examined. While we were stopped a child [George Edward Bell] of Brother and Sister Belle’s [Edward and Jane Bell] died. We camped a little further on and buried the child by a large tree, by the side of a hill on our left. We went onward and camped by the river. It was a fair night.

Thursday, August 9 – A fine morning. We started and traveled many miles and camped by some ox trains. We started from here about 2 or 3 o’clock and traveled and had water at a creek that night. It was a fair night.

Friday, August 10 – A fine morning. We travelled and the other trains were traveling also and we did not pass them until they camped and we went on again and had water at a creek. There was a mule train here. There was a notice here “To Bridgers Ferry, 15 miles”, “To Virginia City 425 miles”. We all went on again and camped by plenty of wood. We have had aplenty of wood this week and we shall have all the way now. We had a fair night.

Saturday, August 11 – A fair morning.We started very early and went 5 or 6 miles and then had breakfast between 10 or 11 a.m., and between that and night we traveled 20 miles or more. We had a warm day and fair night.

Sunday, August 12 – A fine morning. We crossed a creek and traveled on some distance and camped and had dinner and traveled about 18 miles. We had a fair night.

(There is some missing or no record from August 12 to August 24.)

Saturday, August 25 – A mild dull morning. We started a little after 7 o’clock. We went a long ways and crossed the river to the left and then crossed another and camped for dinner. We went on again and camped for the night by (the) same river. It rained a little at supper. It lasted for nearly half an hour. The rest of the night was pretty fair and mild.

Sunday, August 26 – A fine morning. We traveled on a pretty good ways and camped. It is raining now rather heavy, but it passed in time to have dinner, and in a little while we started on again and crossed Green River, all but a few wagons. We crossed on a ferry boat. We had a fair night.

Monday, August 27 – A fine morning. It rained a little in the night. We traveled on but had to take water with us. We did not get water until night again. There are soldiers here not to be trusted. We had a fair night but rather damp and cold.

Tuesday, August 28 – A fine morning. We traveled on and had water from Green River. Traveled on again and crossed and camped on the left hand side of the river. A fair night.

Wednesday, August 29 – A fair morning. We traveled on, camped, and went on again and camped. We had a little rain today, a fair night.

Thursday, August 30 – A fine morning but chilly. We traveled on and passed a house and some trains. We camped but the water was scarce. We traveled on and saw some miners going the reverse. We camped by a creek and had plenty of water. It began to rain about supper time and continued till midnight and then passed off.

Friday, August 31 – It began to rain about breakfast time. We did not travel that day. We had some potatoes from Salt Lake. We had showers or rain now and then, but we had a fair night.

Saturday, September 1 – A fair morning after the rain. Some of our teams went on but us and some others had to stay behind on account of some of the mules being lost. We had the mules brought in afterwards. We traveled on and crossed many bridges and “toll bridges.” We camped after a little while and the other part of the train camped further on. We traveled and overtook the others and went on together, and camped pretty late and had a rather cold night.

Sunday, September 2 – A fine morning again and terrible dry. Some of the mules got lost again and some of the train went on. We found them again. We traveled on again and saw Cush [Cache] Cave on the right hand as we passed by and met our friends from Salt Lake City. We camped middling late. They came in Hammers’ Great Salt Lake City Local Express. We had a warmer night than last.

Monday, September 3 – A very fine morning. We stopped out, before the train with our friends, Brother Glade and his little girl and my youngest sister. We traveled on and reached the mouth of the canyon and after went through Coalville. We had breakfast at Elizabeth Yates’. We traveled on and camped at Silver Creek. We passed many inhabited places, Kimballs’ Hotel, and went before the train with our friend Brother Glade.

Tuesday, September 4 – A fair morning. We traveled on from Twenty Mile Creek over the summit We camped at the head of Emigration Canyon. We arrived in about 4 o’clock, so thank God for our safe arrival in the Valley of the Mountains.