Transcript

When we landed thare was lots of mormons thare wating to get wagons & teems to Start out. one compney was nerley reddey to Start[.] the captens name was Jacob Gates. I spok to him to goo with him & I went as teemster

we made a start but we was to hevy loded and Brether [Jacob] Gates called a meting next morning and told us we would have to liting up or we never could get thru[.] he told us to thro away all but 25 lbs a head and we had to do it[.] I left a trunk full of close [clothes] on the camp ground and put 25 lbs of the best I had into a sak and we started overland to Councel [Council] bluffs[.] wee was 3 weeks on the road and got thare in time to selebrate the 4^th of July 1853[.] we staide thare one week[.] I hired to a old gentelman to drive his teem[,] 3 yok of cattel[.] he had his o[w]n outfite[.] we started from councel bluffs wich was the frontier or last town and over 1000 miles to Salt Lake acros the grate plains at that time[,] uninhabeted[,] onley wilde indines [Indians] romed thare how [who] would kill us if tha had a good chance[.] but we was well armed & our company consisted of 75 waggons with from 4 to 10 in a wagon, tha wagon I was with had 4 of us[,] tha old Gentelman[,] his Wife & Nees [niece,] a young gurill [girl], how served his aunt as hired help. and my Self, that was all in our wagon

My business was to drive teem and Stand gard at night when called on. 20 miles a day was our averag travel & we cept [kept] Sabeth, layed over to wash clothes at difrent times and to repare wagons[.] all to gether we was on the planes 11 weeks Eleven weeks. it would take to much room in this litel book to tell all pirtqulers [particulars] but Sufise to say I stud [stood] tha trip well & arived in Salt lake City tha last day of Sipt 1853. being 9 months on tha jurney

I would just say that game was plentifull on the planes espushley Bufflo. we seen sum indins tha came into camp & we fead them & tha went thure way & we went on, when I arived in Salt Lak city I was obliged to hunt for work the next day. having no place to goo having no relashons in tha countrey I was no bodeys darling no bodey cared for me--.