Transcript

At Florence we were to commence our Journey accross the Plains with Ox teams that were on the way from Utah to meet us, they, or at least some companys arrived here a few days after our arrival from the East, and it was only about two weeks after we arrived here that all was ready to start out one Company on their Journey across the plains.

Myself & Wife [Marian Brown Redington] (We could carry our Darling no further) were in the first Company under the charg of Captain John Murdock, then of Lehi, Utah, we commened this part of our journey on June 30th [18]63.

I agreed to drive a team of two or three Yoke of cattle to S.L. City and was afterwards given the team that bro. Wm Mc[C]lellen of Payson drove down. I drove this team all the way to S.L. City, Bro. Mclellen having other duties to perform in the Company. My wife travelled with the same team. While I do not personally know, how near our trail of those days, I have just past over, I understand that the U.P.R.R. travels in the same general direction, crossing & recrossing the old Ox Trail. I distincly remember one place here in the mountains in which there can be no mistake, I mean the road down Echo Kanyon [Canyon]. Of course the Main line of the U.P. starts from Omaha, the branch I have just come over starts at Kansas City & runs to Denver then to Cheyenne near where it connects with the Main line. Our Ox train of 63 started only a few miles from Omaha & we travelled the whole length of the State of Nebraska, this part of our journey is generally designated as the Plains crossing which we travelled for whole days & weeks without seeing a hill large enough for a horse to hide behind, it reminded me of the sea and seemed as limitless, the latter part of the journey is mountains, my health was good & I enjoyed this part of our journey, one of the worst feitures [features] was the dust. We arrived in Salt Lake City on the 29th of August, making just one day less than 4 months from the time we were towed out of Liverpool docks.