Transcript

From Florence they went to Council Bluffs to rest and to wait for the company to get ready to start across the plains to Utah. During the three weeks' stay, there was a great deal of sickness among the people of Council Bluffs. Many caught the mountain fever and were put in a wagon with another sick child. Soon our mother became very ill and had to go into the wagon. The rest of the family, father Jim, and Ellen[,] John, Lizzie and Christina lived in a tent.

When the oxen were ready to travel, they started the trip westward across the plains. Three families were assigned to one wagon. This made it necessary for all who could to walk. At that time I was five years old and the youngest child in the family. I walked as far as I could each day; then I was taken into the wagon. My sister, Mary, nor mother could walk because they had not recovered from their sickness. Father, Jim, John, Ellen and Elizabeth walked. Father, John and Jim walked all of the way from Council Bluffs to Salt Lake City.

A thrilling experience is always vivid in my mind. One day as we were traveling along, we stopped to rest. Captain Haight's ear caught an unusual sound. He told us to listen. Coming from the west towards us, we could hear a rumbling sound. A buffalo stampede, he explained. He commanded the men to form a circle with the wagons close together. The oxen were put in the center with the men to guard and control them. The women and children were told to huddle on the opposite side of the encampment. Then he rode out on his horse toward the on-rushing rumble. The buffalo were bellowing as they ran, adding to the terror of the situation. The captain shot dead the leader of the herd. The obstruction of his huge body and the sound of the gun caused the herd to divide, part of them going to the right and the rest going at an angle to the left. By the time they reached the encampment, the two herds were far enough apart not to endanger the company. However, the oxen in the enclosure were frightened and the men had to work hard to divert their attention from the passing buffalo. One of the oxen caught the spirit of the stampeding herd and went wild. He was shot by one of the guards. This calmed the much frightened teams. All fully appreciated the bravery of Captain Haite [Haight], and often told of it to each other. Every day the captain went out scouting and returned with fresh meat, buffalo or elk, for the camp.

Indians were encountered many times, but they did not make an attack. Whenever they came near the camp, the captain was kind and gave them some sort of fight to prove his friendship.

When the company arrived in Salt Lake City, a friend, Charles Livingstone, helped find a house for the family to live in.