Transcript

We were then put in cattle cars for the train trip west to Laramie, Wyoming. The cars were so crowded we could hardly sit down. There was little food or water for the next ten days. When we got to Laramie we were met by wagons and mules. There were 50 wagons for six hundred immigrants, under the leadership of Captain John R. Murdock of Beaver, [Utah]. The wagons were so loaded we could not ride. My mother walked every step of the way. They would put me in once in a while, but not when the driver knew it. While crossing the plains we stopped wherever there was a stream for the women to wash. They would hang the clothes on the wagon tongue and wheels to dry. Although we were poor, we were always clean.

At night when we camped Mother would hold her apron opened while we children gathered buffalo chips. That is all we had to burn. Some nights we could not even start a fire; because, of the fear of an Indian attack. We would camp only two hours and then go on to another camping place while it was dark. We found the Indians were quite friendly along our way however.

Joe Rogers of Fillmore, [Utah] drove our wagon. We reached Salt Lake City in late September 1868.