Transcript

At Winter Quarters I took another man into my mess. & when the Pioneer company of 143 men was organized into hundreds, 50, & 10, with Captains over each division[.] I was appointed Captain of the 13th ten & was also appointed a hunter to kill game for the camp, having a good riding horse & a number 1 rifle & necessary outfitt, & with my early training in the woods & experience on the plains the preceding summer among the wild game, enabled me to be of great service to the camp in obtaining food. The company had a scanty stock of provisions to start with & had to depend on game for subsistance to a great extent. The spirit of this calling rested upon me & I was remarkably successful, so much so I was often astonished at the results. Our journey across the plains was quite an eventful one. Attended with great fatigue & labors having to make the road & watch by day & by night amidst savages & wild beasts, for 3 long weary months arriving in Salt Lake valley on the 24 July 1847.