Transcript

Mr. Meeks has a small company of his own and was on his way to California. His company and mine organized ourselves into one company for protection against the Indians across the plains.

I took charge of the company and we then took up our line of march and averaged about fifteen miles per day. We made early starts in the morning and camped early at night as a general rule and by so doing our teams kept up in better condition, and the men and women of the company would get rested for an early start the next morning. Once a week, we would lay over one day when we came to plenty of feed, wood and water, to rest and clean up. We always had a couple of men on horses ahead to look out for a good camping place for the night. They would ride back and meet us and guide us into camp. We always kept good watch over our stock by each one taking his turn and to be sure and keep their powder dry. All these rules we strictly observed and lived up to them as a general thing. We journeyed on day by day without jar or contention and landed in peace and safety on Sunday, 27 July, 1853 in Salt Lake City, Utah.