Transcript

I had a good time on the plains and enjoyed the trip very much; drove two yoke of oxen, got the firewood to cook with, did guard duty and had two narrow escapes of breaking my neck. I went out one morning to bring the horses to camp, for you must know, Crouch had three teams—two ox teams and one horse team. I caught the gray horse, put the rope around his nose for I had no bridle, got on his back and away he went as hard as he could run over hollows, sagebrush and greasewood, and I, holding to his mane for dear life expecting to fall any moment and go head over heels. My head was standing on end like the quills of a porcupine. Away he went on until he got to camp and then stopped suddenly, and off I rolled on the ground, thanking my lucky stars that he did not keep on running, for I thought if he did he might have carried me such a distance that I should certainly been lost. This scrape was not warning enough, however, for some time afterward I attempted the same thing, and the horse had not forgotten the other ride he gave me, so he gave me another shaking up, and I tell you this time he did it in grand style, so much so I never tried it again.

It was a good time I had on the plains, what with crossing rivers and small streams of water and seeing the wild herds of buffalo and antelope, and Indians on the warpath. It was quite a romantic journey. One day Will[iam] Gibson and I went out to hunt. We had not gone far before we saw an antelope. Of course we were greenhorns at hunting; I had the gun, thinking I was the best marksman, so I said, "Will, get down on all fours so I can have your back for a rest." He did so, and as I just got ready to fire, away the animal ran, leaving us in the lurch and we had to come back to camp without any game, and tell the folks how near we came to bringing fresh meat back with us. It was a gay pleasure to sit by the campfire at evening having a good, sociable time singing songs of Zion, giving recitations, telling long yarns, and sometimes joining in the fantastic dance which made the trip both lively and amusing.

After three months of this sort of life I arrived in S.L.C., the city I had heard of so much, read of, and longed so often to see; and I must say, it more than met my fondest expectations. The beautiful valley surrounded by these grand old majestic mountains, capped with snow, and elevated thousands of feet above the level of the sea, was something wonderful to behold.