Transcript

We moved out some six miles from the river and took up a section of Land that is to say the Brethern who were in charge of the Emigration for that year. And we the Emigrants commenced to build houses and fence and plow the land. We staid here until the second day of July when we was organized in to a Company with Richard Ballentyne [Ballantyne] as Captan. William Glover as Captan of the gard. while we was camped here Coholry [cholera] broke out in the camp but through the blessing of the Lord there was not many died, there was Eleven persons to each wagon to travel across the plains and there being nine of our own Family there was only two persons traveling in our wagon[.] The Cattle and wagons belonging to the P.E. Emigration Company and the Emigrants paying so much for there use[.] Therefore, there was in our wagon my Father & Mother with there Family consisting of my self and wife. I being the only one married at the time. My Brothers James[,] William & Robert with my sisters Mary Ann & Janet[.] there was also a young woman by the name of Jane Pilkingtin [Pilkington] and a motherles girl by the name of Eliza Pinder[.] Our traveling from the Missoura River was not then as it is now with the exception of the wagon tracts that former companys had made it[.] was a tractless deseret[.] we saw the first herd of Bufflo the second day after we started and if i mind right killed one the second third day. We would average about 15 miles per day and we saw herds of Bufflo and deer almost everyday and when we got up on the Platt[e] River the whole country seemed alive with them. We killed what we wanted for use but never wantonley distroyed any. Our Journey across the plains and through the mountains was very labouris and wearying. And I have many times thought there was no comparson between us and ancient Isreal for with them the Lord preserved there shoes and clothes, but with us when we arrived in the Valley of Salt Lake the most of our clothes were wore done [down] and our shoes wore of[f] our feet.

We arrived in the Valley on the 25^th of september 1855 almost wore out men and women of us but full of hope and full of the spirit of our holy religion. In coming across the plains we had two of the sisters shot and both died. The one was shot through the carelessness of a young man in handling a gun around camp while a band of Indians was around. (her name was [Ann] Palmer.) the other was shot through her husband bringing in a gun he had been hunting with and throughing [throwing] it down on the bed in the wagon and when she went to make the bed, she pulled the gun out by the Barrles [barrels] and it went of[f] and the shot lodged in her shoulder. those were the only serious accidents we had.